Chapter 109: Zhou Dazhong Treats Everyone

“Auntie Chen, I’m here.” At that moment, Zhou Dazhong’s voice rang out.

Zhou Dazhong turned his head to greet Zhou Yimin. “Sixteenth Uncle!”

“Mhm! Come help carry the stuff inside!”

“Thank you, Sixteenth Uncle!” Zhou Dazhong quickly jogged over.

The shopping basket was packed full.

“Be careful, there are eggs inside,” Zhou Yimin reminded him.

“Got it!”

Just then, Zhou Dazhong’s mother came out as well, looking at Zhou Yimin with deep gratitude. Trailing behind was the cook, who came over to help carry the basket inside.

“Yimin, bring the bicycle in too!” someone from Courtyard No. 55 called out enthusiastically.

Zhou Yimin waved his hand. “No need, it’s so close. I’ll go park it properly first and come back in a bit.”

After Zhou Dazhong and the others went inside, they first took out the vegetables: string beans, tomatoes, baby bok choy—all fresh, hardly any pest damage.

Then came the eggs.

The cook lived up to his title; with just one lift, he could roughly estimate the weight.

“Around five jin. Whoa! There’s also pork, fish, and pork offal. Damn! Your Sixteenth Uncle’s really good to you!” Master Quan couldn’t help but exclaim.

These ingredients were incredibly hard to gather these days. It wasn’t just about money—you needed ration tickets too. And even with the tickets, it wasn’t easy to get this much.

Forget “Sixteenth Uncle”—even a real father might not go this far.

Zhou Dazhong grinned honestly. “My Sixteenth Uncle really does treat me well.”

His mother nodded in agreement too. Not only had he found her son a job, he even helped him get a place to live. Sure, they had paid for it, but everyone knew how the market for a work unit spot worked.

She couldn’t help but feel a bit of heartache.

So much meat, all for treating others to a meal. Even if it wasn’t her son footing the bill, this kind of favor still had to be repaid!

The kids in the courtyard who didn’t go to school had all gathered around, drooling at the sight of the ingredients.

A lot of them hadn’t eaten meat in a long time.

Master Quan kept busy with his work, while the women of the courtyard pitched in—some picking vegetables, others gutting fish, and some handling the pork offal.

Those intestines, as long as they were cleaned well, were a popular dish to pair with liquor.

Foreigners always criticize Chinese people for eating animal organs, calling it unsanitary and whatnot. That’s just because they don’t know how to clean them properly. And since they don’t know how to cook them, of course they taste bad to them, so they don’t like them.

Really, they just don’t know what’s good.

Offal is actually the best part!

Just look at carnivorous animals—whenever they catch prey, they always eat the organs first. That shows the offal is the essence. Even animals know this. And foreigners don’t?

Truth is, they do know. They just don’t know how to handle it.

“Add more salt, scrub it well,” Master Quan called out.

In those days, no one used flour or anything like that to wash pig intestines. People were already reluctant to eat flour themselves—who would waste it on cleaning?

“What a shame! No pig’s blood,” Master Quan added.

If there had been pig’s blood, that could’ve made one more dish.

Master Quan turned to Zhou Dazhong. “Dazhong, are we cooking all of this?”

Zhou Dazhong was torn. Cooking it all did feel a bit painful. He had grown up through hard times, eating things like wild veggie cakes and steamed corn buns.

Just as he hesitated, Zhou Yimin’s voice came from outside.

“Cook it all. Since we’re inviting everyone to eat, there’s no need to be stingy. After this meal, I hope everyone will take good care of Dazhong and his family—they’re the new tenants here.” Zhou Yimin said warmly.

Since his Sixteenth Uncle had already spoken, Zhou Dazhong said to Master Quan, “Uncle Quan, go ahead and cook it all.”

“Alright! That’s what I call generous.” Master Quan gave him a thumbs-up.

The others in the courtyard echoed Zhou Yimin’s words, saying from now on Zhou Dazhong was part of Courtyard No. 55, and no one was allowed to bully him. Just like that, Zhou Dazhong fully integrated into this big family.

“Sister-in-law, you came over really early today?” Zhou Yimin asked with a smile.

Zhou Yimin had plenty of “sisters-in-law”—many of them had white hair by now.

“Not that early. We worked half the day, then had lunch at the village canteen before coming with Xiaoxue. Sixteenth Brother, thank you so much!” She had even gotten a referral letter from the old Party secretary. The mother and daughter had walked the whole way here.

“Why are you thanking me? I’m hoping Dazhong can help me out with things in the future!”

“That’d be his good fortune,” Zhou Dazhong’s mother replied.

Zhou Yimin looked at Xiaoxue, who was working hard. “Xiaoxue, how old are you?”

Although she didn’t understand why her Sixteenth Uncle was asking her age, she still answered honestly. “Sixteenth Uncle, I’m fifteen this year, two years younger than my brother.”

One of the aunties joked, “What’s this? Yimin, are you trying to set your niece up? We were just talking about finding someone for Xiaoxue!”

As soon as those words came out, Xiaoxue blushed.

Zhou Dazhong’s mother, on the other hand, looked expectant.

If her Sixteenth Brother introduced someone, he’d definitely be reliable—she wouldn’t even have to think twice.

Zhou Yimin smiled wryly. “Xiaoxue’s only fifteen—what matchmaker talk are you going on about? Let her work in a factory for a few years first.”

A factory?

What factory?

Everyone was confused. A village girl getting into a factory? They all knew how hard it was to get a factory job. People were begging everyone they knew and still couldn’t secure a spot.

These days, even jobs sweeping streets or carrying manure had waiting lists.

Xiaoxue looked up at Zhou Yimin. “Sixteenth Uncle!”

“In a little while, the noodle factory might be hiring. I’ll do my best to get you a position. Just don’t go spreading the word around the village yet,” Zhou Yimin said, casually throwing Courtyard No. 55 a favor by revealing the inside info.

In reality, word would get out in a few days anyway.

“Yimin, is that true?” In an instant, all the aunties turned to look at him, eyes bright with excitement.

Zhou Yimin nodded. “Just don’t spread it everywhere.”

Spread it?

This kind of news—people could barely keep it under wraps! The more people who knew, the more competition there’d be. Who would shoot themselves in the foot?

“Of course not.”

The aunties were all fired up. This news was even better than the feast they were about to have.

Who didn’t need a job in their family?

Zhou Dazhong, his mother, and his sister Xiaoxue were all stunned by the surprise.

Zhou Dazhong asked, “Sixteenth Uncle, how much would it cost?”

Even if it meant borrowing money, he had to borrow enough for his little sister to buy the position. He knew exactly how rare this opportunity was.

“We’ll talk about it when the time comes. I’ll cover it for now. You and your sister can just pay me back a bit each month.” Zhou Yimin replied.

Of course, it wasn’t for free. This time, he’d go by the going rate.

And he also thought about how Zhou Dazhong’s father had sacrificed his life in the Korean War—a true hero—so emotionally, he was inclined to help the family.

“That’s only right, only right! Thank you, Sixteenth Brother!” Zhou Dazhong’s mother finally snapped out of her daze and quickly expressed her gratitude.

A dual-income household!

That was something she never dared to dream of.

“Thank you, Sixteenth Uncle,” Xiaoxue also said gratefully, full of emotion.

She had been so envious of her older brother—being a worker, eating state-provided food, and living in the city. She never imagined she’d have a shot at it too.

All of this was thanks to her Sixteenth Uncle.

(End of Chapter)