Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space-Chapter 526 - 409: Sleeping in the Study

Pride comes before a fall, joy begets sorrow.

Zhang Guoqing deeply understood the meaning of these idioms.

He let out a long sigh.

Beside him, Ping’an also followed suit with a long sigh.

The father and son glanced at Zhou Jiao together and found her as steady as a rock.

Ping’an patted him and sighed again.

Zhou Jiao tried hard to suppress her laughter. Her son imitated his father’s sighing to perfection. Well done!

Zhang Guoqing patted Ping’an, "Son, don’t imitate dad. Your little sigh sounds terrible. Can you help dad plead with mom?"

Ping’an giggled after Zhang Guoqing finished speaking.

"Wife, honey, Jiao Jiao, I’ve been sleeping in the study for three nights. Look at me, restless night and day, look at how much weight I’ve lost."

"Mom, I want to sleep with dad."

Zhou Jiao glanced at them sideways, "Didn’t you sneak back in the middle of the night? Who are you fooling? And losing weight, you’re crushing me. Oh, I remember, it’s your turn to sleep together tonight with your son."

Zhang Guoqing said to Ping’an, "Son, it seems being soft isn’t working, we need to be tough. Let’s tickle mom and see if she dares?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jiao quickly ran outside, but she was caught before she could get out the door.

The father and son grabbed her and asked her if she dared not want them, making her laugh loudly and admit defeat, only then did they high-five to celebrate.

Tired from playing, the whole family lay on the kang.

Zhang Guoqing smiled and said, "Jiao Jiao, Uncle Dashan will definitely sleep in the study these days."

Zhou Jiao glanced sideways.

"Hey, don’t look at me with those eyes. The son’s here, I’ll let you off."

Zhou Jiao blushed and stubbornly changed the subject, "How do you know? Did Uncle Dashan tell you?"

"How could he tell me? We have our little fun, they probably have real conflicts. I think it’s still those issues from Uncle Dashan’s old home. Hongbing said his mom plans to volunteer for a trip tomorrow."

Zhou Jiao responded with an "oh" and lost interest. In her opinion, aside from respecting parents, any sacrifice that exceeds the family’s burden is unnecessary. Zhao Dashan isn’t one to be foolish. Maybe there’s something else going on in their family. As an outsider, it’s better not to meddle.

Zhang Guoqing mentioned casually, now he had the courage to bring up the tiger, observing her expression, "Jiao Jiao, Mr. Wang said tiger meat replenishes energy and boosts immunity. You should try it out, whether it’s good or not. You’re not yet twenty, your body should be easy to replenish."

Zhou Jiao nodded. The tiger is a treasure all over. It’s said Mr. Wang wouldn’t even let tiger feces go, you can imagine how precious it is. Over the past days, she’s been tidying everything up carefully, perhaps it will have great use in the future.

"I know your feelings, but safety is always the priority. Don’t rely on a bit of strength to take risks, it’s not worth it. I’d rather hear about capturing a tiger anywhere, you spend a lot to buy it, than see you take risks. Think about it, what if the sedatives don’t work on some animals?"

Zhang Guoqing hurried to explain, "I really didn’t think of touching the tiger. I kept my distance as soon as I heard any movement, never even reminding them, later the old man discovered they used a sedative to roast a pile of meat to lure it. At that moment, I ran."

Zhou Jiao didn’t believe his nonsense. If he truly ran, how would the tiger end up belonging to their family?

"Really, don’t doubt me. Haha, later when the tiger was sedated, I saw it wobbling and quickly sprinkled sedative downwind. When it fell, I didn’t dare approach, fearing it might be pretending to be dead. Wang Dasha got so excited, before we could stop him, he charged forward. I acted fast, and when I saw something wrong, before the tiger could get up, I stabbed it. Wang Sha was almost scared to pee."

Zhang Guoqing’s ability to adapt to situations, Zhou Jiao believed, but if he talked about it so lightly, she wouldn’t buy it—his clothes were torn again.

Men find it most annoying when women hold onto a single issue. To be honest, if anyone kept harping on her, Zhou Jiao would definitely smack them. She wasn’t planning on bringing it up again and smiled at him.

Seeing her expression, Zhang Guoqing got excited, he flipped over like a carp, sat up, and smiled mysteriously, "Mr. Wang said his house has all kinds of precious tonics. Asked if I would give him the two bottles of sedative in my hands, he can offer whatever I choose. He even suggested I quickly find the medicine seller, saying such a person is very talented. Oh, it killed me."

Zhou Jiao giggled silently. Just thinking about how he brought back a bottle, she knew the two of them were at it again with their mind games.

"I said I looked for him the very next day, but the guy had long disappeared, nowhere to be found. Each of us only got one bottle, no more. Recently, it’s said they took leave to visit relatives. I guess they’re either selling drugs or went up the mountain again."

Speaking until here, Zhang Guoqing suddenly remembered something, "Jiao Jiao, the old man took half of our tiger bone, promising to give us a jar of secretive tiger bone ointment. You must remember this. The old man said last time when I asked what could nourish dad, he said this was the most suitable, and at the time, there was no tiger bone available. We can get it by the end of this month."

Zhou Jiao happily gave him a thumbs up. That’s great news. If the tiger bone wasn’t so valuable, she would’ve considered using the rest to make more ointment.

At this moment, the couple couldn’t possibly foresee that Mrs. Lin had unexpectedly guessed rightly that Zhou Jiao had the formula. A stroke, that would be the best remedy. However, even if confirmed by the other party, Zhou Jiao definitely wouldn’t hand it over. So it’s said, in life, cause and effect circulate, all have fixed numbers.

On this day, finally not having to sleep in the study, Zhang Guoqing’s mood was high. Before dinner, he brought Mr. Zhang and Mother Zhang back home, and this time they had quite a few wild animals too. Good things must be shared with the elders, that’s for sure.

Mr. Zhang and Mother Zhang beamed with smiles along the way, unable to close their mouths. Whenever the youngest son said he had something to discuss with them, it was always a pretext. He and his wife must have something delicious waiting for them.

If not for worrying about the three grandchildren, Mother Zhang really wished to stay at the youngest son’s home. With a considerate youngest son, a daughter-in-law like her own, and a cunning little grandson, not having to worry about food and clothes, it’s as comfortable as can be. Unfortunately, the three grandsons eat poorly at school, and the kids are growing, so she helps out while she can.

Not quite home, at the doorway, Zhou Jiao stood holding Ping’an’s hand, and when she saw Mr. Zhang and them coming, Ping’an ran up immediately, grabbed Mr. Zhang and Mother Zhang’s hands, and giggled continuously.

Mother Zhang loved the laughter of the little grandson most. No matter how big of a worry she had, meeting with the little grandson made it vanish. The fair, chubby Little Genius, happy all day, always brings joy!

The family entered the yard, Zhang Guoqing closed the latch behind them. Once inside the living room, before Mr. Zhang could speak, Zhou Jiao started serving food, Zhang Guoqing poured the drinks.

Mr. Zhang and they saw the big plate of pickled fish on the kang table, a pot of braised meat, a large plate of meat buns. They didn’t refuse; the youngest son came over every three to five days, they’re used to it.

Mr. Zhang picked a piece of meat and put it in his mouth, paused, seeing Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao smilingly watching him. He picked another piece, savoring it in his mouth and smilingly pointed at the two—a wild game hotpot. This method is great, stew it in the pot, the aroma doesn’t escape.

Zhang Guoqing felt delighted seeing their parents enjoying the food. Zhang Guofu’s family was never short of cured meat, but unfortunately, the parents were used to saving, all the good stuff was reserved for the juniors. He wanted to be filial and could only often bring them home to change tastes, because sending it over would still end up not reaching their mouths. Alas, the hearts of parents in the world.