Chapter 267: A Simple Method

Zhou Yimin said, “Grandpa, I’ll have someone bring some things over tonight. Don’t be stingy with them—eating them won’t make me go broke.”

Zhou Yimin was always generous with those close to him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have put so much effort into helping Zhoujiazhuang; his goal was to turn the entire village into an ironclad unit. Only shared interests could truly put people at ease.

“Eldest grandson, the stuff you gave us before—there’s still plenty left. You don’t need to send more,” the old man replied quietly.

He was afraid others would find out about the good things in the house.

Although the villagers didn’t dare speak openly, they’d been gossiping behind his back. It was a troublesome matter. Who knew if some jealous person might impulsively report them?

Reporting him was fine. The worry was that it might implicate his grandson, Zhou Yimin. That would be a grave sin. If anything happened, how could he face his ancestors?

Of course, it wasn’t really the villagers he was worried about.

It was the outsiders! Zhoujiazhuang now had quite a few people from Shuangtian Village.

Zhou Yimin said, “Don’t worry, Grandpa! I know what I’m doing.”

He knew his grandfather was worried that outsiders might stir up trouble. But it wasn’t necessary—he had long since prepared contingency measures. The old village secretary knew what to do.

Seeing his grandson being so firm, Old Master Zhou felt a bit helpless but also warm inside. With such a filial grandson, what more could he ask for?

He could only follow along and say, “Alright, alright. We’ll listen to our eldest grandson.”

Soon it was time for lunch. Zhou Yimin’s grandmother had made a relatively lavish meal. If there hadn’t been outsiders around, it would have been even more generous.

Still, for those who had come to help dig the cellar, this was a feast: a large plate of braised pork, smoked pork stir-fried with dried tofu, and even the stir-fried vegetables had visible chunks of pork cracklings.

Many people couldn’t help swallowing when they saw the spread. But without Zhou Yimin’s grandfather giving the go-ahead, no one dared pick up their chopsticks.

The old man spoke directly, “Everyone, dig in!”

After all, they were here to help build the cellar—he couldn’t let them go hungry.

With permission, everyone eagerly started eating.

Unsurprisingly, the first thing everyone reached for was the braised pork. These days, people could fill their stomachs, but meat was still a luxury. Most of the time, what they got was just pork cracklings.

“Eat up, don’t hold back,” Zhou Yimin said.

Hearing that, everyone relaxed and dug in with gusto.

Eating meat freely was truly satisfying. They even soaked up the meat broth with steamed buns—nothing went to waste. Soon, those helping out were so full they had to lean back against their chairs to rest.

Just then, Zhou Xucai let out a loud burp, drawing everyone’s attention.

Face a bit flushed, Zhou Xucai explained, “Sorry, I ate a little too fast just now.”

But hiccups don’t stop just because you want them to. In fact, they started coming faster, and louder too.

The people around him started joking, “We told you not to eat so much and drink so fast! Now you regret it, huh?”

Many hadn’t been able to compete with Zhou Xucai for food earlier, so this was a golden opportunity for payback—they weren’t going to let it slip.

“I didn’t—hic—eat that much. Daqing—hic—ate more than I did—hic,” Zhou Xucai tried to defend himself between hiccups.

Zhou Yimin suddenly remembered a folk remedy he’d seen online. He said, “Uncle Xucai, if you don’t want to keep hiccuping, I have a method. The only question is whether you’re willing to try it?”

“What—hic—method?” Zhou Xucai asked urgently.

Zhou Yimin tried not to laugh. “Just stick your butt out and drink seven sips of water. But you can’t swallow it right away—it has to stay in your mouth for forty seconds first.”

Everyone around burst into laughter.

“Yimin—hic—does that really work?” Zhou Xucai asked, still hiccuping.

If it worked, he’d try it even if it was embarrassing.

“Come on, try it. Even if it doesn’t work, no harm done,” someone urged.

“Exactly. Uncle Sixteen would never lie to you,” Zhou Daqing added with a grin.

After all, Zhou Xucai had dragged him into it earlier, so he definitely wasn’t going to pass up a chance to laugh.

Zhou Xucai had no choice. He poured a glass of water, stuck his butt out, took a big sip, held it in his mouth for forty seconds, and then swallowed.

He repeated this process seven times, and the people around him laughed from start to finish.

After the first round, Zhou Xucai had already wanted to quit, but since he’d already started, he had no choice but to carry through to the end.

Zhou Yimin couldn’t stop laughing either.

Seeing how happy Zhou Yimin was, Zhou Xucai quickly asked, “Yimin, this method wasn’t a prank, was it?”

“Uncle Xucai, look—you’re not hiccuping anymore. How did I trick you?” Zhou Yimin said, hands spread.

Only then did Zhou Xucai realize he’d actually stopped hiccuping. He quickly said, “Thanks! I didn’t think it’d work so well—it stopped my hiccups right away.”

“No problem—as long as it worked,” Zhou Yimin replied with a smile.

If Zhou Xucai found out that one round would’ve been enough, and he’d made him do seven… who knows how he’d react?

No one had expected such a silly method to actually work. Everyone mentally filed it away—just in case they needed it in the future. And only those present knew that it was Zhou Yimin who had suggested it.

The old man and old lady were both delighted. To them, their eldest grandson was the most capable of all.

They could never get tired of hearing others praise him.

After resting for nearly an hour, Zhou Xucai and the others resumed work on the cellar. Building a good cellar wasn’t easy—it was a serious undertaking.

Zhou Yimin said, “Grandpa, I’ll have Dapeng bring some supplies back later.”

He happened to be heading back to the city to pack for a business trip.

He also needed to tell Dapeng and the others to sell off everything during this period, then take a break. Once he returned, they’d decide what to do next.

Recently, Dapeng and the crew had helped him earn quite a bit of money through the black market.

But there was no need to go overboard. You could never earn all the money in the world.

To be honest, he was only making money to upgrade the store in his head.

Yes—it could still be upgraded.

Zhou Yimin was looking forward to seeing what the next upgrade would bring.

It already looked like a full-blown supermarket. Maybe with the next upgrade, it’d even start selling weapons? Who could say?

(End of Chapter)