Chapter 143: Zhang Jianshe’s Shock

“Uncle Zhang, why are you bringing so much stuff?” Zhou Yimin couldn’t help asking.

There were clothes, hats, shoes—everything.

Wasn’t this overlapping with the gifts he had prepared?

Zhang Jianshe laughed and said, “Your aunt and I only prepared one set of clothes. The rest are from your father’s former colleagues. Just a token of their goodwill, nothing particularly valuable.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yimin gave a slight nod and thought to himself, Alright then. They really are just daily necessities. Might as well accept them.

The group set off—Zhang Jianshe rode with his wife.

Zhou Yimin rode with his Fiancee, Zhang Yan, while the two sisters-in-law shared another bicycle. Two people to a bike—just right.

Halfway there, Zhang Yan and the others saw what the countryside was like and were rendered speechless.

They knew times were hard across the whole country, but they hadn’t expected it to be this hard.

When they arrived at Zhoujiazhuang, all the villagers they passed greeted Zhou Yimin warmly. Seeing how well-liked Zhou Yimin was in the village, Zhang Jianshe and his family were all quite surprised.

Moreover, Zhoujiazhuang seemed different from the villages they had seen on the way.

More precisely, the villagers were different.

On the road, the people they had passed all looked pale and sickly, their faces filled with anxiety and confusion about the future.

But the villagers of Zhoujiazhuang, though also somewhat malnourished, wore noticeably more smiles on their faces. They appeared optimistic about the future and showed little worry.

The difference in mental outlook was obvious. The villagers of Zhoujiazhuang were clearly in better spirits.

That was Zhang Jianshe’s first impression.

“Zhoujiazhuang is quite nice!” Zhang Jianshe said with a smile.

Zhou Yimin smiled back. “It’s not that great, to be honest. We’re just barely getting enough to eat.”

As they passed the village canteen, the scent of meat wafted out, which caught Zhang Jianshe and his wife by surprise. Even at their research institute, the chances to eat meat were rare!

“Yimin, the two bags of pork bones you gave us—we’ve already started boiling them. Want to come try a few bites?” someone from the canteen spotted Zhou Yimin and called out.

Although they knew he wouldn’t come in just for a couple spoonfuls of soup, it was polite to offer. After all, today was his grandmother’s 60th birthday, and they were preparing a big feast.

Zhou Yimin waved them off. “No, you guys go ahead.”

Truth be told, the food in the canteen wasn’t really to his taste.

Not just the village canteen—even the steel factory’s canteen was the same. Since coming back in time, even after receiving a month’s pay just a few days ago, he had only eaten at the factory canteen twice.

Zhang Jianshe and his wife exchanged a glance, suddenly understanding.

Ah, no wonder!

So Zhoujiazhuang could eat meat because Zhou Yimin had provided them with two bags of pork bones. They both approved of his approach.

It wasn’t realistic to feed the whole village a full meal, but bringing back a couple bags of bones to cook into a big pot of soup—that was doable.

Bones were always the least popular item. At the butcher’s, the fatty meat was snapped up first, followed by pig head skin and offal, then lean meat. Bones came last.

Of course, even pork bones weren’t completely unwanted.

In times like these, pork bones weren’t something people got to gnaw on often.

Still, they could give off a meaty flavor and make a few bowls of soup, which was nutritional nonetheless.

After greeting the canteen staff, Zhou Yimin didn’t linger. It was getting late, so he carried his Fiancee straight home.

Soon, they passed by the school—just as classes were letting out. The children, each holding a wooden bowl, lined up to wait for their meal.

When they saw Zhou Yimin, the kids all greeted him at once, and the scene quickly turned chaotic.

The greetings were a jumble—some called him uncle, some great-uncle, some even sixteenth-grandpa, and so on…

The Zhang Jianshe family was stunned.

“Yimin, are you really that senior in the family tree?” Zhang Yan asked with a laugh.

Zhou Yimin stopped his bike, planted his feet on the ground, and spread his hands. “Yup! And not just me—same goes for you. They’ll definitely call you auntie or even grandma later.”

Zhang Yan felt her scalp tingle.

She wasn’t even twenty yet!

Zhou Yimin said to the kids, “What are you all crowding around for? Go line up and get your food. After school this afternoon, I’ve got snacks for you—I’ll bring them over then.”

Hearing that, the kids obediently returned to the line.

Just then, Zhou Zhigao, the principal, came out to greet Zhou Yimin.

But he was a moment too late—Zhou Yimin was already pedaling away with his Fiancee, followed closely by her two sisters. Only Zhang Jianshe and his wife had yet to move on.

One glance at Zhang Jianshe’s clothing and bicycle, and Zhou Zhigao could tell this was an honored guest Zhou Yimin had brought from the city, so he greeted them warmly.

Zhang Jianshe pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “Comrade, your school is impressive. The children are all in matching uniforms.”

That was what had surprised him the most.

Earlier, they had also heard the kids call this man the school principal. To be able to run a school like this—Zhang Jianshe thought it was amazing.

Zhou Zhigao took the cigarette and smiled. “It’s all thanks to Yimin. The uniforms were his idea, and he helped with the fabric too…”

As he spoke, he began to share more about the school.

Since this was someone Yimin had invited, he must be a close relation. There was no need to hold back—he could chat freely.

By the time Zhang Jianshe and his wife had finished listening, they were practically dumbfounded.

They never imagined the school had been revitalized by Yimin. The children attended for free, got free meals, and even had new clothes—all thanks to him.

From what the principal was saying, Yimin was the school’s biggest supporter.

And not just the school—many things in the village were closely tied to their future son-in-law.

They couldn’t believe that Yimin had done so much.

So now, the good spirit and morale they had noticed in Zhoujiazhuang… was actually all because of Yimin. Otherwise, this village would’ve been just like all the others.

Remarkable.

Even after parting with Zhou Zhigao, Zhang Jianshe’s mind was still reeling. He just couldn’t believe a young man not even twenty years old had accomplished all this.

Suddenly, he felt like even his college-student daughter wasn’t quite worthy of Yimin.

His wife, however, was thrilled. It was just like the saying went: “The more a mother-in-law looks at her son-in-law, the more she likes him.” With such an outstanding son-in-law, their family had truly struck gold.

“Hurry up, don’t be rude,” she reminded him.

Snapped out of his daze, Zhang Jianshe quickly picked up the pace.

It really wasn’t polite to keep the elders waiting.

They had chatted with Principal Zhou for a while, and now they couldn’t even see Yimin’s shadow anymore. But they weren’t worried—wherever the liveliest house was, that had to be Yimin’s grandparents’ home.

There were tons of people there—couldn’t be mistaken.

(End of Chapter)