Hua Bao’s eyes turned red with anxiety upon hearing this. She swung her fists and started hitting Zhang Da Tou, "You're the one who was picked up! You're the one who was picked up!"
The two of them traded blows in the yard, neither giving way.
In the end, because Zhang Da Tou hadn't eaten, Hua Bao beat him until he ran off crying.
After Zhang Da Tou left, Hua Bao also noticed Zhang Liu Nian. Her little mouth turned down, and she reached out for a hug, "Daddy, Hua Bao isn't picked up, right?"
Zhang Liu Nian's heart ached upon hearing this. He put down his things and held his daughter in his arms, comforting her, "Hua Bao is Daddy's precious treasure. How could she be picked up? Don't listen to their nonsense. You are Daddy's good daughter."
Hua Bao's uneasy little face finally improved after her daddy said so, "Hua Bao only believes Daddy's words and doesn't listen to their nonsense."
As Hua Bao spoke, she tightly hugged Zhang Liu Nian's neck, refusing to let go, "I am Daddy's good baby."
"That's right, you are Daddy's good daughter, Daddy's, and cannot be anyone else's."
"Mmm, Hua Bao is only Daddy's daughter."
"Hua Bao is so good."
"Hua Bao listens to Mom and Dad." Hua Bao regained some confidence and proudly puffed out her chest.
Zhang Liu Nian smiled and stroked her head, then went into the house and found no one in the main hall.
He went to the kitchen and saw his younger sister and wife cooking. Ya Ba was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is Ya Ba?" Zhang Liu Nian asked, not seeing Ya Ba.
Zhang Xiao Mei replied, "He went to help us pick up firewood."
"Oh!" Zhang Liu Nian responded lightly, not giving it much thought.
However, it wasn't until the meal was prepared at home that Zhang Liu Nian saw the injured Ya Ba return.
Looking at his old wounds covered with new ones, and his leg still not quite steady, Zhang Liu Nian knew he had been beaten by someone.
"Was it your eldest brother who hit you?" Zhang Liu Nian asked, holding his daughter. He turned around, intending to go settle the score with Zhang Guang Tou.
But before he could take a step, Ya Ba grabbed him and shook his head vigorously.
This meant he didn't want Zhang Liu Nian to step in for him. Zhang Liu Nian said in a deep voice, "Are you sure you don't want me to?"
Ya Ba shook his head firmly.
Seeing him like this, Zhang Liu Nian withdrew and turned back into the house.
However, after only two steps, he smelled the scent of crayfish.
He sniffed again and confirmed it was the smell of crayfish. It seemed that after learning crayfish could be eaten, the villagers couldn't wait to try them.
Perhaps some people also wanted to make money selling crayfish.
Zhang Liu Nian was mentally prepared and didn't feel upset. He went inside to eat.
Meanwhile, at Wang Xiao E's home, not far from his own, the family was gathered around the dinner table, staring at a plate of boiled crayfish in the center. They didn't know how to start.
"Mom, you're too rushed. Brother Liu Nian just said crayfish can be eaten, and you immediately sent Big Brother and Second Brother to catch them, wanting to snatch his livelihood. It's really not decent." Zhang Liu Sha somewhat disdained his mother's behavior.
Brother Liu Nian had just provided him with a good job, and his mother went home thinking about selling crayfish. She even sent her eldest and second sons to catch crayfish from the stinky ditch to experiment. It was truly not decent.
"It's not just us. Many other families have done it too." Wang Xiao E rolled her eyes, picked up a crayfish, and started to tear it apart. Seeing the meat, she hesitated again.
Although Zhang Liu Nian said crayfish could be eaten, for some reason, her heart still felt a little uneasy.
Seeing his mother like this, Zhang Liu Sha simply refused to eat the crayfish.
His eldest and second brothers, however, had no reservations. They picked up the crayfish, tore them apart, and put the meat-like substance into their mouths to taste.
After tasting it a couple of times, they felt it could be eaten, but it was bland and tasteless. Selling it to others was unlikely, but it was fine for them to eat when they had no other food.
In fact, there were many in Zhang Jia Village who were like them. Knowing that Zhang Liu Nian had made money by selling crayfish, everyone's thoughts became active.
However, because they had not seen how Zhang Liu Nian prepared his crayfish, nor had they tasted them, they could only resort to their own haphazard methods.
In the end, all they made was bland and tasteless food, which could only be eaten when there was no grain.
As for selling them like Zhang Liu Nian did, that was absolutely impossible.
...
After dinner, Zhang Liu Nian went to the village chief's house. He first inquired with the village chief about anyone in the village who had construction skills. Then, he invited Aunt Cui Hua to help him peel shrimp shells tomorrow.
The price was the same as her sons: one yuan for half a morning's work.
Wang Cui Hua was so happy she almost fainted. She immediately agreed that she was willing.
"Liu Nian, at noon, Auntie almost believed Tu Mei Li's words and misunderstood you. Please don't take it to heart." Although Wang Cui Hua hadn't said anything in the morning, she had truly blamed Zhang Liu Nian for harming her entire family in her heart.
If she hadn't been so scared that she froze, she might have also voiced her suspicions.
Thinking about it now, she was fortunate not to have spoken, otherwise, she would have been proven wrong.
That damnable Tu Mei Li was too wicked, always stirring up trouble. She truly hoped she would be locked up for a longer period.
"You can't blame Auntie. Anyone hearing those words would be suspicious. I didn't want to bother explaining, so I told Xiao Si and Xiao Wu not to say anything.
Now that the truth is out, there's no need to keep it a secret."
Zhang Liu Nian did not blame the village chief's family. On the contrary, he was grateful that the village chief still stood up for his family at that time.
"Your idea was correct. If you had spoken up about it, we really would have had a hard time believing that poisonous insects could be eaten."
After Wang Cui Hua finished speaking, Zhang Lao Shi suddenly chimed in, "Liu Nian, are you really going to build a house? That will cost quite a lot of money.
Also, you signed a contract with the county magistrate for Daming Lake. That should also cost a lot, shouldn't it!"
How much money had Zhang Liu Nian actually earned to be able to rent Daming Lake and build a house?
Was being a self-employed individual this profitable?
Sensing the village chief's curiosity and doubt, Zhang Liu Nian gave a wry smile, "Yes, I still owe the county magistrate several thousand yuan, but the county magistrate is a good person and gave me two months.
As for building a house, there's no other way. My house is too old and cannot withstand the autumn storms."
Speaking of this, Zhang Liu Nian couldn't help but think of a patch of wasteland behind his house. He then continued, "Uncle, I want to expand my house and make some space for growing vegetables.
There happens to be a piece of wasteland behind my house. Can you sell it to me?"
The wasteland behind Zhang Liu Nian's house belonged to the village. If Zhang Liu Nian wanted it, they could give it to him.
"Okay, if you want it, I'll talk to the village secretary later and have him allocate the land to you. It won't cost any money; that land isn't valuable."
Zhang Lao Shi replied.
"How can that be? Charge something! I can't take advantage of the village."
Zhang Liu Nian refused. Although the land was not valuable, he had to give something.
"If you make your private business successful and hire more villagers, that will be helping our village." Zhang Lao Shi didn't care about that piece of land. No one in the village cared about the barren wasteland behind Zhang Liu Nian's house; he could have it if he wanted.
"That's what they say, but money still needs to be paid for it to be convincing."
"..."