Chapter 42: 回钟家
( Return to the Zhong Family)
The next day, after finishing work, Zhong Ziqi went to the market to re-buy a few catties of meat, bought two boxes of pastries and took the fabric he had bought last time to the Zhong family’s house.
To have some effect, they passed through the crowded area. Someone asked them where they were going by carrying so many goodies? Then Zhong Ziqi would smile and reply, “Back to the Zhong family to see my grandfather and grandAmu.”
Then, they would be complimented. The Zhong family treated Zhong Ziqi really badly, selling him even before his mourning period was over. His grandparents, as the elders, were even weaker and incompetent. They only blindly follow their eldest son’s family and classify them as their family. If they had such relatives, they wouldn’t have bothered with them.
[馬首是瞻 mǎ shǒu shì zhān: to follow blindly (idiom) / to take as one’s only guide]
When they arrived at the Zhong family home, they all happened to be there. Zhong Ziqi ignored Li Xiu Juan’s disgusted smile and greeted the Zhong family elders directly: “Grandfather, grandAmu, I’ve come to see you, this is for you.”
Zhong Ziqi put the items in his hand on the table. Li Xiu Juan immediately smiled and went over to look at each item. There was meat and pastry, it was not cheap so that meant the family could have a good meal. When he saw two old dark-coloured fabrics, he tossed it aside with displeasure.
Zhong Ziqi didn’t notice, but Zhao Zheng’an was secretly laughing. When Zhong Ziqi chose the fabric, he chose the colour that was suitable for the elderly, which was particularly old and would make if the young people wore it, they would look very ugly and old-fashioned. Li Xiu Juan probably wanted to keep the fabric for himself, but he didn’t like this old fashioned fabric.
“Qi Ge’er,you are back! Your grandfather and I have missed you.” The GrandAmu grabbed Zhong Ziqi’s hand as he smiled kindly and affectionately. He was not at all the same as when Zhong Ziqi got married, with his entire face cold. At first the predecessor of this body had begged these two elders not to sell him, but the two elders had not even given a fart.
[Tl notes; They hadn’t even given a fart mean that they don’t even care at all]
“That’s right, this kid! We are not far away from each other, yet you don’t often come back to visit us. Your grandfather and grandAmu always tell me that they miss you and want to see you.” Zhong Zhen Ping agreed before he turned his eyes to the silent Zhao Zheng’an: “I heard that Zheng’an has recovered. That’s good! Otherwise, Qi Ge’er would have resented us for the rest of his life.”
Zhao Zheng’an smiled politely but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t understand what was going on in this Zhong family, so being silent was the best.
On the contrary, Zhong Ziqi did not even look at him (Zhong Zhen Ping) and said to the two old men: “In the future, I will come to see you on New Year’s Day. I think this is the biggest concession I can make. I am a married ger so I have no obligation to support you, but when I have free time, I will come to see you. With this, you guys should be satisfied.”
The crowd was silent …
They didn’t expect that Zhong Ziqi would not even be willing to save face. Just like this, in front of his own husbands, he reveals their true faces.
“Grandpa, GrandAmu!” A clear voice rang out before they saw two children about the same age as Zhong Ziqi running out of the room which once belonged to Zhong Ziqi’s family. It was none other than Zhong Zhen Ping’s two children, Zhong Zijun and Zhong Ziheng.
The two of them ran into the hall and finally saw that there was someone else in the house. It was none other than their cousin in the name, whom they hated the most.
Zhong Zhen Ping hurriedly pulled the two children to reprimand them, “What’s all this noise about? Why don’t you say hello when you see your cousin? Call him quickly!”
Although Zhong Zijun and Zhong Ziheng were reluctant, they did not dare to confront their father, so they reluctantly called out to him, “Cousin.”
Zhong Ziqi looked at both of them with a smile yet not a smile but he did not say anything. ‘If you have such a father and an Amu, you will have a child that is similar to his parents’, this saying has a good point. Although it wasn’t always the same in every case because Zhao Zheng’an is not like that. But these two children of the Zhong family are just like their parents. Undoubtedly,when they grow up they will be another Li Xiu Juan and Zhong Zhen Ping.
Zhong Zhen Ping didn’t know what had occurred to him, but his eyes twinkled as he bootlicked and went over to him: “Qi Ge’er, I remember how close you guys were when you guys were still a child.
We are not strangers, right? From now on, let Zijun and Ziheng go to your place when they are free. Besides, you are so busy now, let them help you out, so they don’t have to stay at home all the time.”
“No, save your breath! I’m not busy at all, besides I have people to help me, I’m not short of people at all”, said Zhong Ziqi, refusing this request with ulterior motives. He would be a fool if he agreed to it.
“How can that be the same? You still have to pay someone for their work when you get those two Zhao Family’s kids? If you let Zijun and Ziheng go, since they’re your family, you don’t have to pay them,right? You can save money, it’s for your own good.” Li Xiu Juan said in ‘a kind and understanding way’.
“No, I’m just afraid that if someone works for me and learns the skills,they would set up their own business, then I’ll lose more than I gain.” Zhong Ziqi took a sip of water and said idly.
Zhao Zheng’an, who was on the other side of the room, truly felt that his wife’s mouth was too powerful, extremely making people dislike him.
Master Zhong’s face was not happy, so he slapped the table and said, “What are you talking about? What do you mean by setting up a new business? You let those outsiders help you, yet you’re not afraid of them stealing from you, but on the contrary, you don’t trust us. We are all one family, that means we should help each other. What’s with this, your family is yours and my family is mine’s attitude? If there’s something good, we should all be involved in it.”
Zhong Ziqi didn’t even bother to laugh at this moment.This family is so brain-dead that they blame him.
Zhao Zheng’an patted his hand comfortingly and looked at the old man’s voice who sounded gentle but at the same time not warm at all: “I think everyone seems to have forgotten about me. I am the one who is in charge of our family. I have ‘the say’ in everything in this family, unlike some people who listen to their wife.” Zhao Zheng’an made a sarcastic remark about Zhong Zhen Ping listening to Li Xiu Juan who had sold Zhong Ziqi.
“Zhong Ziqi is married to me. He’s already my person. You’ve also heard about this saying, right? ‘A married ger is just like water that has been poured’, since this water had been forced out,so it’s no longer your family’s. He’s not likely to agree to this. Even if he did, I wouldn’t agree! To have somebody coming along, just any cat, any dog, just like that, I should give him a share of my business? We aren’t that kind. I wouldn’t even agree if my Amu’s side wanted to chip in, let alone you.” Zhao Zheng’an said while putting on a fake smile. Sure enough! Every family has their own difficult lesson to bear. His family wasn’t the only one that was extremely annoying but his wife’s family wasn’t any good either.
[The original idiom is this one: ‘A married daughter is just like water that has been poured’—so she doesn’t belong to her parents any more.]
The Zhong family’s faces turned all sorts of colours, Zhao Zheng’an’s words clearly told them not to think too highly of themselves, no one took them seriously.
“You are an unfilial son! the Zhong family raised you, but in the end you raised ‘a white eyes wolf’.” He could not say anything about Zhao Zheng’an, who was not one of his family after all. He could only point the finger at Zhong Ziqi.
[White eyes wolf= thankless wretch / an ingrate]
“Stop it! It’s my father and my amu who have raised me. You guys have never raised me. If you want to talk like that, I have to tell you, my father’s salary of two Guan a month, why does he have to give you all one Guan every month? My father paid for the renovation of the house you live in. You guys live in Uncle’s house, but who is the one who pays for our family’s daily expenses! Has he (Zong Zhen ping) ever given you a penny? I’m afraid, I haven’t even seen a penny, have I? Why do you think my father has to support the family? When they died, you sold their only child in a hurry and took over our house and now you want to take over my husband’s property. Aren’t you afraid that my father will come to you at night to reason with you? When you die I will see how you will face him.” Zhong Ziqi said in a cold tone, he knew he had to get into trouble just for coming back here for a trip.
The old man’s face was blue and the grandAmu’s eyes were teary, not knowing whether it was caused by guilt or fear. Zhong Zhen Ping and his wife were calm, but Zhong Zijun and Zhong Ziheng were not, they were arguing that they no longer wanted to live in that house and wanted to move back.
“All right, I won’t stay too long. From now on, less looking out for me! It’s good for people to know what they’re doing, so that I don’t get upset and do something bad. You know I work in the town,Zheng’an also used to work there too, so I know a lot of people! It’s just a matter of hands to deal with you.” After saying this, Zhong Ziqi and Zhao Zheng’an got up and prepared to go home. He believed that these words would deter them for a while.
When they came out of the Zhong family’s house, Zhong Ziqi looked Zhao Zheng’an up and down with a thoughtful look on his face.
“What are you looking at?” Zhao Zheng’an looked down, took a look at himself, but found nothing wrong with him.
Zhong Ziqi approached him harboring malicious intentions: “Did you just say that you are in charge of our family? Then I have to listen to you on everything?”
“No …… how is it possible? Our family, all listen to you. I also listen to you.” Seeing that he still looked suspicious of him, Zhao Zheng An raised his hand: “I swear.”
Only then was Zhong Ziqi satisfied. He patted him on the shoulder with a gentle expression, “Let’s be the head of the house together and discuss things together!”
Zhao Zheng’an looked at him with a funny smile. He took the soft hand from his shoulder and held it in his hand, “Okay, I’ll do as you say.”
Zhong Ziqi was startled by the warmth coming from his palm and reflexively struggled, but the more he struggled, the tighter the grip became. Zhong Ziqi simply gave up and let him pull his hand. His ears turned red from this so he glared at him, “Go home!”
Zhao Zheng’an looked at Zhong Ziqi’s red ears then he exclaimed in his heart that it was cute. Before, he was afraid that Zhong Ziqi would not be able to adapt, that he (ZZQ) was a very noble character so he did not do anything too much to him, but now it all seems to be worth it.
The result was like Zhong Ziqi thought, the Zhong family have been very quiet and have not come to him again to cause trouble.
The topic of Zhong Ziqi’s family was also replaced by another topic. That is the topic of the Zhao Amu family business. Zhao Bao Gen was an honest man, his ancestors of three generations were all honest, yet did not have great success. How could it not be a surprise that he was suddenly going into business?
Many people thought that Zhao Bao Gen’s family must have learned from Zhong Ziqi so they wanted to set up a new business! Everyone in the village was waiting to see the joke. But what they didn’t expect was that the Zhao Amu family’s cooking had nothing to do with what Zhong Ziqi was selling. Besides that, they also heard that they were going to work in partnership with the Zhao Wang Cai family’s tofu workshop. Didn’t they see that Zhao Wang Cai’s wife was so happy that he hardly could even keep his mouth shut these days.
The sensible people could see the signs that Zhong Ziqi was involved.
The people were jealous! How could everything good always be theirs? But it was useless for them to be angry, as the Zhao Amu family’s business was still ‘booming’.
Chapter 42: 回钟家
( Return to the Zhong Family)
The next day, after finishing work, Zhong Ziqi went to the market to re-buy a few catties of meat, bought two boxes of pastries and took the fabric he had bought last time to the Zhong family’s house.
To have some effect, they passed through the crowded area. Someone asked them where they were going by carrying so many goodies? Then Zhong Ziqi would smile and reply, “Back to the Zhong family to see my grandfather and grandAmu.”
Then, they would be complimented. The Zhong family treated Zhong Ziqi really badly, selling him even before his mourning period was over. His grandparents, as the elders, were even weaker and incompetent. They only blindly follow their eldest son’s family and classify them as their family. If they had such relatives, they wouldn’t have bothered with them.
[馬首是瞻 mǎ shǒu shì zhān: to follow blindly (idiom) / to take as one’s only guide]
When they arrived at the Zhong family home, they all happened to be there. Zhong Ziqi ignored Li Xiu Juan’s disgusted smile and greeted the Zhong family elders directly: “Grandfather, grandAmu, I’ve come to see you, this is for you.”
Zhong Ziqi put the items in his hand on the table. Li Xiu Juan immediately smiled and went over to look at each item. There was meat and pastry, it was not cheap so that meant the family could have a good meal. When he saw two old dark-coloured fabrics, he tossed it aside with displeasure.
Zhong Ziqi didn’t notice, but Zhao Zheng’an was secretly laughing. When Zhong Ziqi chose the fabric, he chose the colour that was suitable for the elderly, which was particularly old and would make if the young people wore it, they would look very ugly and old-fashioned. Li Xiu Juan probably wanted to keep the fabric for himself, but he didn’t like this old fashioned fabric.
“Qi Ge’er,you are back! Your grandfather and I have missed you.” The GrandAmu grabbed Zhong Ziqi’s hand as he smiled kindly and affectionately. He was not at all the same as when Zhong Ziqi got married, with his entire face cold. At first the predecessor of this body had begged these two elders not to sell him, but the two elders had not even given a fart.
[Tl notes; They hadn’t even given a fart mean that they don’t even care at all]
“That’s right, this kid! We are not far away from each other, yet you don’t often come back to visit us. Your grandfather and grandAmu always tell me that they miss you and want to see you.” Zhong Zhen Ping agreed before he turned his eyes to the silent Zhao Zheng’an: “I heard that Zheng’an has recovered. That’s good! Otherwise, Qi Ge’er would have resented us for the rest of his life.”
Zhao Zheng’an smiled politely but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t understand what was going on in this Zhong family, so being silent was the best.
On the contrary, Zhong Ziqi did not even look at him (Zhong Zhen Ping) and said to the two old men: “In the future, I will come to see you on New Year’s Day. I think this is the biggest concession I can make. I am a married ger so I have no obligation to support you, but when I have free time, I will come to see you. With this, you guys should be satisfied.”
The crowd was silent …
They didn’t expect that Zhong Ziqi would not even be willing to save face. Just like this, in front of his own husbands, he reveals their true faces.
“Grandpa, GrandAmu!” A clear voice rang out before they saw two children about the same age as Zhong Ziqi running out of the room which once belonged to Zhong Ziqi’s family. It was none other than Zhong Zhen Ping’s two children, Zhong Zijun and Zhong Ziheng.
The two of them ran into the hall and finally saw that there was someone else in the house. It was none other than their cousin in the name, whom they hated the most.
Zhong Zhen Ping hurriedly pulled the two children to reprimand them, “What’s all this noise about? Why don’t you say hello when you see your cousin? Call him quickly!”
Although Zhong Zijun and Zhong Ziheng were reluctant, they did not dare to confront their father, so they reluctantly called out to him, “Cousin.”
Zhong Ziqi looked at both of them with a smile yet not a smile but he did not say anything. ‘If you have such a father and an Amu, you will have a child that is similar to his parents’, this saying has a good point. Although it wasn’t always the same in every case because Zhao Zheng’an is not like that. But these two children of the Zhong family are just like their parents. Undoubtedly,when they grow up they will be another Li Xiu Juan and Zhong Zhen Ping.
Zhong Zhen Ping didn’t know what had occurred to him, but his eyes twinkled as he bootlicked and went over to him: “Qi Ge’er, I remember how close you guys were when you guys were still a child.
We are not strangers, right? From now on, let Zijun and Ziheng go to your place when they are free. Besides, you are so busy now, let them help you out, so they don’t have to stay at home all the time.”
“No, save your breath! I’m not busy at all, besides I have people to help me, I’m not short of people at all”, said Zhong Ziqi, refusing this request with ulterior motives. He would be a fool if he agreed to it.
“How can that be the same? You still have to pay someone for their work when you get those two Zhao Family’s kids? If you let Zijun and Ziheng go, since they’re your family, you don’t have to pay them,right? You can save money, it’s for your own good.” Li Xiu Juan said in ‘a kind and understanding way’.
“No, I’m just afraid that if someone works for me and learns the skills,they would set up their own business, then I’ll lose more than I gain.” Zhong Ziqi took a sip of water and said idly.
Zhao Zheng’an, who was on the other side of the room, truly felt that his wife’s mouth was too powerful, extremely making people dislike him.
Master Zhong’s face was not happy, so he slapped the table and said, “What are you talking about? What do you mean by setting up a new business? You let those outsiders help you, yet you’re not afraid of them stealing from you, but on the contrary, you don’t trust us. We are all one family, that means we should help each other. What’s with this, your family is yours and my family is mine’s attitude? If there’s something good, we should all be involved in it.”
Zhong Ziqi didn’t even bother to laugh at this moment.This family is so brain-dead that they blame him.
Zhao Zheng’an patted his hand comfortingly and looked at the old man’s voice who sounded gentle but at the same time not warm at all: “I think everyone seems to have forgotten about me. I am the one who is in charge of our family. I have ‘the say’ in everything in this family, unlike some people who listen to their wife.” Zhao Zheng’an made a sarcastic remark about Zhong Zhen Ping listening to Li Xiu Juan who had sold Zhong Ziqi.
“Zhong Ziqi is married to me. He’s already my person. You’ve also heard about this saying, right? ‘A married ger is just like water that has been poured’, since this water had been forced out,so it’s no longer your family’s. He’s not likely to agree to this. Even if he did, I wouldn’t agree! To have somebody coming along, just any cat, any dog, just like that, I should give him a share of my business? We aren’t that kind. I wouldn’t even agree if my Amu’s side wanted to chip in, let alone you.” Zhao Zheng’an said while putting on a fake smile. Sure enough! Every family has their own difficult lesson to bear. His family wasn’t the only one that was extremely annoying but his wife’s family wasn’t any good either.
[The original idiom is this one: ‘A married daughter is just like water that has been poured’—so she doesn’t belong to her parents any more.]
The Zhong family’s faces turned all sorts of colours, Zhao Zheng’an’s words clearly told them not to think too highly of themselves, no one took them seriously.
“You are an unfilial son! the Zhong family raised you, but in the end you raised ‘a white eyes wolf’.” He could not say anything about Zhao Zheng’an, who was not one of his family after all. He could only point the finger at Zhong Ziqi.
[White eyes wolf= thankless wretch / an ingrate]
“Stop it! It’s my father and my amu who have raised me. You guys have never raised me. If you want to talk like that, I have to tell you, my father’s salary of two Guan a month, why does he have to give you all one Guan every month? My father paid for the renovation of the house you live in. You guys live in Uncle’s house, but who is the one who pays for our family’s daily expenses! Has he (Zong Zhen ping) ever given you a penny? I’m afraid, I haven’t even seen a penny, have I? Why do you think my father has to support the family? When they died, you sold their only child in a hurry and took over our house and now you want to take over my husband’s property. Aren’t you afraid that my father will come to you at night to reason with you? When you die I will see how you will face him.” Zhong Ziqi said in a cold tone, he knew he had to get into trouble just for coming back here for a trip.
The old man’s face was blue and the grandAmu’s eyes were teary, not knowing whether it was caused by guilt or fear. Zhong Zhen Ping and his wife were calm, but Zhong Zijun and Zhong Ziheng were not, they were arguing that they no longer wanted to live in that house and wanted to move back.
“All right, I won’t stay too long. From now on, less looking out for me! It’s good for people to know what they’re doing, so that I don’t get upset and do something bad. You know I work in the town,Zheng’an also used to work there too, so I know a lot of people! It’s just a matter of hands to deal with you.” After saying this, Zhong Ziqi and Zhao Zheng’an got up and prepared to go home. He believed that these words would deter them for a while.
When they came out of the Zhong family’s house, Zhong Ziqi looked Zhao Zheng’an up and down with a thoughtful look on his face.
“What are you looking at?” Zhao Zheng’an looked down, took a look at himself, but found nothing wrong with him.
Zhong Ziqi approached him harboring malicious intentions: “Did you just say that you are in charge of our family? Then I have to listen to you on everything?”
“No …… how is it possible? Our family, all listen to you. I also listen to you.” Seeing that he still looked suspicious of him, Zhao Zheng An raised his hand: “I swear.”
Only then was Zhong Ziqi satisfied. He patted him on the shoulder with a gentle expression, “Let’s be the head of the house together and discuss things together!”
Zhao Zheng’an looked at him with a funny smile. He took the soft hand from his shoulder and held it in his hand, “Okay, I’ll do as you say.”
Zhong Ziqi was startled by the warmth coming from his palm and reflexively struggled, but the more he struggled, the tighter the grip became. Zhong Ziqi simply gave up and let him pull his hand. His ears turned red from this so he glared at him, “Go home!”
Zhao Zheng’an looked at Zhong Ziqi’s red ears then he exclaimed in his heart that it was cute. Before, he was afraid that Zhong Ziqi would not be able to adapt, that he (ZZQ) was a very noble character so he did not do anything too much to him, but now it all seems to be worth it.
The result was like Zhong Ziqi thought, the Zhong family have been very quiet and have not come to him again to cause trouble.
The topic of Zhong Ziqi’s family was also replaced by another topic. That is the topic of the Zhao Amu family business. Zhao Bao Gen was an honest man, his ancestors of three generations were all honest, yet did not have great success. How could it not be a surprise that he was suddenly going into business?
Many people thought that Zhao Bao Gen’s family must have learned from Zhong Ziqi so they wanted to set up a new business! Everyone in the village was waiting to see the joke. But what they didn’t expect was that the Zhao Amu family’s cooking had nothing to do with what Zhong Ziqi was selling. Besides that, they also heard that they were going to work in partnership with the Zhao Wang Cai family’s tofu workshop. Didn’t they see that Zhao Wang Cai’s wife was so happy that he hardly could even keep his mouth shut these days.
The sensible people could see the signs that Zhong Ziqi was involved.
The people were jealous! How could everything good always be theirs? But it was useless for them to be angry, as the Zhao Amu family’s business was still ‘booming’.
