Chapter 44: The Interview

Zhou Yimin chatted with Zhou Dachun’s maternal grandfather for a while. Then, the old village secretary and a few others arrived, bringing with them another round of pleasantries and congratulations.

The old village secretary informed Zhou Yimin that Qianqian’s household registration had been settled.

Additionally, he asked Zhou Yimin what would be good to plant on the riverbed. The team leader had already taken people to reclaim the land, and progress was fast since the riverbed soil was naturally loose.

In reality, Zhou Yimin thought that anything could be planted.

He knew that for the next two or three years, this river would likely remain dry.

But that wasn’t something he could say.

For crops with short growing periods, vegetables were the obvious choice. Many vegetables could be harvested within one to two months, while grains like corn would take over four months.

However, vegetable prices were low—only two or three cents per pound.

Of course, since the riverbed was large, the best approach would be to plant a variety of crops with different growing cycles.

Otherwise, if everything ripened at the same time, it would be difficult to distribute. Even a steel mill with thousands of employees couldn’t consume that much at once.

Zhou Yimin shared his thoughts.

“Hmm! Yimin, you’re right. We should grow multiple types instead of relying on a single crop,” the old village secretary agreed, believing Zhou Yimin’s perspective was thoughtful and reasonable.

“Alright then! I’ll see what seeds we can get. Whatever we have, we’ll plant.”

Even corn, if planted now, should be ready to harvest before the winter snowfall.

In Zhou Yimin’s opinion, even if they didn’t wait for full maturity, the seedlings could still be used as animal feed, which would still be profitable.

As expected, Zhou Dachun returned with his bride on a bicycle. Upon entering the village, he immediately began handing out candy to the children who gathered around.

There wasn’t much wedding candy left, so each child only got one piece.

After receiving blessings from the crowd of little kids, Zhou Dachun, feeling elated, pushed his bride home. Once inside, he introduced her to the elders present, paying particular attention to Zhou Yimin, his Sixteenth Uncle. Then, he served tea to his father.

The wedding ceremony was simple. Given the hard times and rural setting, there weren’t many formalities.

Things like bowing to the heavens and ancestors? They simply didn’t happen.

Zhou Yimin glanced at the bride—her name was Xiufang. She was a head shorter than Zhou Dachun, a bit thin, but her face radiated the joy of newlywed bliss. She was polite and seemed like a good match.

“May you grow old together and have children soon!” Zhou Yimin offered his blessing.

“Thank you, Sixteenth Uncle!”

Zhou Dachun had just heard from his father that his Sixteenth Uncle had brought two cured ducks and several pounds of rice—clearly showing support for his wedding.

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t grateful. The grain for his wedding feast had been traded by Zhou Yimin, who also gifted him a pair of new towels, lent him a bicycle, and even contributed rice and a premium dish to the wedding banquet.

Even his biological uncles wouldn’t necessarily have gone to such lengths.

Xiufang, the new bride, had also heard from Dachun about this Sixteenth Uncle. He was a procurement officer at the steel mill, highly capable, and the well-known water pump installation that everyone was talking about was his doing.

Moreover, he had shown kindness to her husband’s family.

So, she treated Zhou Yimin with great respect.

During the meal, seeing the rice, chicken, and cured duck on the table, Xiufang felt both joy and relief. This meal, at the very least, indicated how her new family viewed her.

And their financial situation was clearly much better than her own maiden family’s.

Marrying into this household meant she wouldn’t have to starve.

At the table, aside from Zhou Yimin and his grandfather, who ate in a somewhat refined manner, the others moved their chopsticks quickly— even the old village secretary. However, everyone was consciously restraining themselves.

After finishing the meal and chatting for a bit, the sky began to darken, so people left the newlyweds to their own matters.

Zhou Yimin pushed his bicycle back home.

—

He had no idea that reporters from the newspaper had gone to the courtyard house looking for him today.

In fact, they had initially gone to the steel mill, only to find that he wasn’t there. The reporters could only interview a few employees and leaders at the mill. Then, they went to the courtyard house, but he still wasn’t there, so they ended up interviewing a few residents instead, gathering opinions about Zhou Yimin.

This incident caused quite a stir, both at the steel mill and in the courtyard house.

After all, getting featured in the newspaper wasn’t something that happened to just anyone.

When the news reached Director Li of the neighborhood office, she was thrilled and instructed the neighborhood to assist in promoting the story.

On one hand, having a local celebrity brought prestige to the neighborhood, so they had to publicize it. On the other hand, Director Li had personal motives—she considered Zhou Yimin one of her own.

She had recognized Zhou Yimin’s potential early on and had intended to build connections with him. She just hadn’t expected him to bring her such a pleasant surprise so soon.

The next day, Zhou Yimin went on his usual “store rounds.”

Today’s one-yuan flash sale included 100 pounds of noodles and 100 pounds of cured sausage.

After breakfast, he played with Qianqian for a bit before riding his bike back to the city.

As soon as he arrived at the courtyard house, he was surrounded by residents eagerly chattering about how reporters had come by for an interview the previous day. Zhou Yimin was dumbfounded.

“Yimin, also, Director Li from the neighborhood office asked you to stop by,” an older woman informed him.

The message had originally been passed to the courtyard’s elder, but since he hadn’t seen Zhou Yimin return before leaving for work, he had entrusted the task to his wife.

“Alright! Thanks, Auntie.”

“What’s with the formalities? You’re part of our courtyard family!” she replied with a smile.

Other women in the courtyard nodded in agreement, all praising Zhou Yimin.

Some even took the opportunity to complain about Zhou Yimin’s father—how could a man with such an outstanding son be content with just doing labor? If he wanted to find a wife, given Old Zhou’s conditions, it wouldn’t be difficult. He should just marry properly instead of working like that.

If only such an exceptional son were theirs!

Just then, Dapeng and Li Youde arrived to settle the previous night’s earnings from the cured ducks. The profits were about the same as the day before. While cured duck didn’t sell as well as beef jerky, they had managed to sell 80 pounds.

“Yimin, you’re amazing! Too bad you weren’t home yesterday.”

“What’s there to regret? Won’t the reporters come again today? Yimin, if you ask me, you shouldn’t go anywhere—just stay home and wait.”

Dapeng and Li Youde were both excited, as if they were the ones being interviewed.

Zhou Yimin ignored them. After settling the accounts, he started shooing them away.

“Wait, Yimin, take this.” Dapeng handed him something.

“A painting? Why are you giving me this? Where did you get it?” Zhou Yimin asked, puzzled.

He took it, unrolled it, and discovered it was an ancient painting. Judging by the signature, it was a work by Tang Bohu.

“I stumbled upon it last night—traded two cured ducks for it. Didn’t you say before that you liked this kind of thing?”

Zhou Yimin didn’t let his expression change, but he thought to himself, Did my past self ever say that?

Even though he had inherited his predecessor’s memories, he didn’t remember every little detail. Even his predecessor wouldn’t remember every single sentence they had ever spoken.

Still, an ancient painting like this would be valuable in the future. If he came across such things, he definitely wouldn’t pass them up.

Fortunately, he had the store’s inventory space—he could stash it inside without fear of searches.

“If you find more, get them for me. I’ll pay for them. But don’t go out of your way looking—safety first.” Zhou Yimin instructed.

(End of Chapter)