Chapter 17: Business

Sun raised her hand and pinched Zhou Huailin, "Are you rebelling too? How dare you talk to your older brother like that!"

Zhou Huailin's eyes reddened, "If anyone dares to slander my daughter like this, I don't care who it is, I'll stab them with a knife."

After a pause, Zhou Huailin looked at Zhou Huaihai, his voice cold and mocking, "Big brother, you followed Qing today, didn't you? Hmph."

Zhou Huaihai's face instantly heated up, and he averted his gaze.

Zhou Huailin pulled his wife and daughter and left.

Seeing his third son also getting angry, Old Zhou anxiously stood up.

Not being pulled by his father, Zhou Ping stepped forward and hugged Old Zhou's leg, looking up with his black eyes, "Grandpa, are my father and second uncle just hired laborers in the family?"

These words pierced Old Zhou's heart.

Yet, Zhou Ping added another remark.

"Grandpa, did you ask first uncle to apologize to second uncle because you think first uncle was wrong? Or because you are afraid first uncle won't have money to spend if big sister stops giving him money?"

Old Zhou...

Zhou Ping's clean eyes made Old Zhou's face burn with shame.

Turning to Zhou Huaihai, he scolded, "After so many years of studying, yet you're not as perceptive as a child."

Actually, when Zhou Ping spoke, Zhou Huaihai had already realized the seriousness of the situation.

If Zhou Qing was serious and the second branch stopped helping entirely, and the third branch followed suit...

What would happen to the first branch?

How would they eat or drink!

The money he got from the village school wasn't enough for him alone.

Now Zhou Huaihai knew the seriousness of the situation, "Father, I'll go apologize to the second brother right away."

Sun, however, grabbed Zhou Huaihai. "You're not going anywhere. As long as I'm here, you won't be wronged."

Slap!

Old Zhou slapped Sun across the face.

"Will you only be satisfied when this family is completely torn apart!?"

Wang was so scared she almost started crying again.

Since marrying into the Zhou family, it was the first time she saw her father-in-law raise his hand.

Seeing this, Zhou Huaihai immediately pulled Wang and left.

Behind them, they could hear Sun's wailing and Old Zhou's angry rebukes.

Zhou Huaihai went to knock on the second branch's door, but Zhou Qing and Zhou Huaishan ignored him. Zhou Huaihai said a few perfunctory words through the door and left.

The commotion finally ended, and everyone in the village knew that the second son of the Zhou family wrote better than the first son.

For Zhou Qing, it was a blessing in disguise.

Now her father had more reason to study.

Even the clan leader had encouraged him!

"Daughter, how did I perform today?" Zhou Huaishan asked, seeking praise.

Zhou Qing smiled, "Luckily, no one noticed your leg."

Zhou Huaishan proudly said, "If someone bullies my daughter, I would fight them even with a broken leg."

The way Zhou Huaishan said "my daughter" was very affectionate.

Zhou Qing glanced at him.

Zhou Huaishan, suddenly inspired, smiled, "I used to have eight sons and always dreamed of having a daughter."

Zhou Qing... pfft.

"Daughter, did anyone bully you in town?"

Zhou Qing shook her head and explained the whole story to Zhou Huaishan, "…From now on, don't mention that poem to anyone."

Zhou Huaishan's expression turned more serious than Zhou Qing's after hearing this.

"Daughter, luckily you chose the biggest bookstore in town. Otherwise, the money we made from selling the poem wouldn't be enough to save our lives. That poem is too eye-catching. Unless absolutely necessary, we shouldn't sell any more."

In the capital, he had seen how big shops crushed small ones.

If a small shop didn't have a strong background and got a rare recipe, they wouldn't dare to use it alone. They would have to team up with a big shop, fearing the big shop might take everything from them with a flick of their hand.

After advising Zhou Qing, Zhou Huaishan smiled, "Daughter, you made money from your trip to town. Did you bring a gift for your father?"

Zhou Qing giggled and took out a book of The Analects of Confucius, "How about this?"

Zhou Huaishan let out a miserable wail, "Daughter, do you have a grudge against me?"

He looked like a student who received ten sets of difficult exam papers as a birthday gift.

Zhou Qing couldn't help but laugh, "I told you to write The Analects of Confucius before I left. Did you finish it?"

Zhou Huaishan's miserable wail stopped abruptly.

Zhou Qing...

"Where's your homework? I mean, where's The Analects of Confucius?"

Zhou Huaishan reluctantly fished out a sheet of paper.

In a whole day's time, he had only written the title: The Analects.

Zhou Qing felt short of breath.

"In an entire day, you only wrote two words?"

Zhou Huaishan looked down, fiddling with his fingers, "I'm still not used to studying."

"Are you used to farming then?"

Zhou Huaishan tilted his head, "You're threatening me again."

"As long as you know it's a threat, now write!"

Zhou Huaishan pouted, "So fierce, be careful you won't get married."

Zhou Qing snorted, "Don't worry, I won't get married until you become an official."

Meaning, I'll supervise your studies every day.

Zhou Huaishan leaned back, looking utterly hopeless.

Why did he ever wish for a daughter! Weren't eight sons good enough!

After a moment of despair, Zhou Huaishan looked at Zhou Qing wistfully, "Daughter, I dreamt of someone last night who looked just like my future son-in-law. He said he wanted to treat me to beggar's chicken..."

Zhou Qing...

"Write! I'm going to talk to third uncle now. If you haven't written three pages by the time I return, you won't get any chicken tonight. I'll eat it in front of you."

Zhou Huaishan...

Third Branch's Room

When Zhou Qing entered, the third family was sitting on the kang, talking. Zhao's eyes were red, evidently from crying.

Seeing her, Zhou Yao immediately jumped off the kang.

"Sister."

Zhao wiped her eyes and looked at Zhou Qing, "Qing you're here."

"Third Uncle, Third Aunt, I have something to discuss with you."

"Is it about splitting the family?" Zhao immediately asked.

The third branch had always wanted to split the family and had tried many times, but the honest nature of Zhou Huaishan, being tightly controlled by Sun, always prevented it. 

That's why when Zhou Qing caused a stir, the third branch didn't immediately join in but chose to observe.

Zhou Qing shook her head, "I want to start a small business and came to ask if you want to join me."

"What kind of business?" Zhou Huaishan asked, a bit surprised.

"Every year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, families put big red characters on their grain jars and granary. I want to sell these red characters. I've been scouting the town these days, looking for a suitable business. I think we can try this."

Thanks to the original owner's clever idea.

This was indeed the original owner's idea, but the original owner planned to buy big red characters from the shop and sell them in the village.

Make a profit on the price difference.

Now she didn't need to buy them; her father could write them.

Zhou Huailin and Zhao exchanged glances.

The red character was simply a square piece of paper with the word "abundance" written on it.

Just now, Qing had come back with a roll of red paper and had asked Yao to help carry it to their room.

As for the writing, Zhou Huaishan could do it.

Zhou Huailin smiled bitterly, "Your father writes the words, and you've already bought the paper and ink. I really don't have a single copper to partner with you."

He truly had no money at all.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be so desperate to split the family.

He wanted to save money.

Zhou Qing smiled, "Third Uncle, Third Aunt, I'm just a girl. What if I encounter bad people selling these red characters from village to village?"

Zhou Ping, kneeling on the kang, patted his father's shoulder, "My father will protect big sister."

Zhou Qing nodded, "Exactly. Third Uncle and I will sell together. My father writes the characters, and after deducting costs, we three will split the earnings."

After a pause, Zhou Qing looked at Zhou Ping.

"My father is teaching Ping to recognize characters, right? Tomorrow, let him start by learning to write this 'abundance' character. Once Ping masters it, he can join in too, and earn a share."

Zhou Ping, hearing this, immediately jumped off the kang, put on his shoes, and ran out.

"I'm going to find second uncle right now."

_____

Footnotes:

The character "丰" (fēng) is a simplified form of "豐" (fēng), and both characters have the same meaning: "abundance" or "bountiful harvest." In ancient times, people would use the character "豐" to symbolize and wish for a good harvest and prosperity. The character "丰" is often seen as a shorthand or simplified version, especially in more modern contexts.