In Dakang, adopting a godparent is a very serious matter.
An adopted son is eligible to inherit the family business.
Zhao Zheng's kneeling basically finalized the relationship between the two parties.
According to the old lady's temperament, after she passes away, everything in the Zhou family will belong to Zhao Zheng.
The Zhou family has the most land in the village. The old lady is kind-hearted and rents it out to villagers for farming. She only collects 10% rent a year. She is much more conscientious than the landlord.
Every year people from the village come to visit, and there is no shortage of rice, flour, and oilcloth.
All in all, Zhao Zheng got the advantage.
The old lady of the Zhou family was also happy. She had everything she needed except someone to take care of her in her old age and see her to the end of her life.
She searched for a long time in the village, intending to find an orphaned, half-grown child to raise and take care of her in her old age, but there was no one she liked.
Instead, it was the middle-aged Zhao Zheng who agreed with her thoughts.
"Get up quickly." The old lady hurried to support Zhao Zheng with tears in her eyes.
"Godmother."
"Yeah." The old lady nodded happily.
The two women in the kitchen also listened to the entire process of recognition.
"Zhao Di, Xiao E, kowtow to your godmother." Zhao Zheng shouted.
The two sisters-in-law both liked this kind-looking old lady and knelt on the ground, "We kowtow to our godmother."
"Okay, okay." The old lady smiled from ear to ear, "Child, get up quickly!"
She was so excited to have such a filial godson like Zhao Zheng and two such well-behaved and sensible granddaughters-in-law.
He immediately took off the two silver bracelets on his hands and put them on the two women's hands. "I didn't bring any money. These two bracelets were my dowry back then. Now I give them to you."
"This is too expensive."
"Just accept this gift from your step-grandmother to change your name," said Zhao Zheng.
"Your father-in-law is right. You must accept it, otherwise, I will be unhappy." The old lady said with a deliberately stern face.
The two women looked at each other, then nodded and thanked in unison: "Thank you, grandma!"
Both of them felt a little emotional.
After being married into the Zhao family for so long, not only did her grandmother not give her any gifts, she also never looked at the two girls kindly.
As soon as they changed their words, Grandma Zhou gave them the bracelet that had been with her for decades.
How can the gap between people be so big?
Seeing the two girls happy, Zhao Zheng also smiled happily and immediately wanted to let the old lady stay at his home overnight.
"No, I have to go back and tell my old man and others about this. They will definitely be very happy if they know that I have adopted you as my godson." said the old lady.
Zhao Zheng felt bad. Loyal and brave people are respected, but the surviving family members are the ones who suffer the most.
"I'll take you home." Zhao Zheng held her hand and walked out of the house, just like holding a child.
After sending the old lady back, Zhao Zheng returned home and found that Zheng Chunmei had come again.
He was speechless, "Why are you here again?"
Zheng Chunmei heard the displeasure in Zhao Zheng's tone and said hurriedly, "I, I'm here to massage your feet."
Zhao Zheng glanced at Zhaodi and Xiao'e, and seeing that both women were a little unhappy, he immediately pulled her out the door and said, "I told you not to come anymore, but you refused to listen. Why are you so stubborn?"
Dragging her to the door, Zhao Zheng lowered his voice and said, "Didn't I tell you not to come to my house again in the future, lest Zhao Di and Xiao E find out? You don't want to be a human being, but I do!"
Zheng Chunmei was so angry that her chest hurt. How could she, a pretty widow, not be worthy of him, an old bachelor?
"I know, I just wanted to come and take a look!"
"You want to come over and take a look, but you don't have anything in mind." Zhao Zheng directly exposed her true purpose.
After being beaten up by Zhao Zheng, Zheng Chunmei relaxed and held her head high. "Why? Shouldn't I have come to see you? You complained yesterday that I was too thin and that you felt uncomfortable touching me!"
Those who have been through it are just those who have been through it. There are only zero times and countless times. Once they take a shortcut, they will be particularly relaxed.
"Do you think I'm a wealthy landlord? Why do you come here every day to extort money from me?"
Zheng Chunmei gritted her teeth in anger, "Who's asking for money? Didn't I make you feel comfortable?"
Zhao Zheng didn't buy it. Anyone who has ever raised a pet knows that you can't let the pet starve to death, or the pet will leave, but you can't let it eat too much, or it will become too arrogant.
"You sound uncomfortable." Zhao Zheng said with a straight face, "I told you that I'll come to you when I miss you. If I don't, don't come here casually. If you stay here for a long time, the villagers will definitely find out."
Zheng Chunmei still underestimated the extent of Zhao Zheng's shamelessness, but she was really hungry. After having a full meal yesterday, she could no longer swallow the rice bran porridge at home, and the wild vegetable cakes were not even worthy of being compared to the egg pancakes.
And last night was the fullest San Ya had eaten since she was born. She was so full that she burped.
Zhao Laosan was probably the only one in the village who could keep her fed, but she couldn't anger him. She complained, "If I don't come, how will you notify me? Wouldn't that make it easier for people to find out? I can't go to Jinji Mountain to chop firewood every day!"
Zhao Zheng thought so too. It is easy to catch a cold outside in such cold weather. Besides, it will be troublesome if someone sees you with such a tail.
We have to find a hidden secret base.
"I will dig a cave in the back mountain at that time, and we will meet there in the future. We should avoid contact in the village if possible and keep our distance. Do you understand?" Zhao Zheng said.
Zheng Chunmei wanted to take the initiative, but she was not qualified to make any conditions to Zhao Zheng at the moment. "Well, okay..."
"I have to make tiles these two days and don't have time. You can go to the intersection at the back mountain and wait at this time two days later!" After Zhao Zheng said this, he closed the gate.
Listening to the footsteps gradually fading away, Zheng Chunmei stamped her feet in anger, "Damn it, Old Zhao, I ran out to see you in this cold weather, at least give me something to eat, even if it's just rice crust!"
After Zhao Zheng returned to his room, Yang Zhaodi hurriedly asked, "Father-in-law, has Widow Zheng left?"
"Well, explain everything to her. She won't come to our house again." Zhao Zheng said.
"That's great." Zhang Xiao'e breathed a sigh of relief. "You don't even know what the villagers say..."
"Xiao E!" Yang Zhaodi interrupted her.
Zhao Zheng frowned, "What do the villagers say?"
"No, nothing." Realizing that she had said the wrong thing, Zhang Xiaoe hurriedly shook her head.
"Just tell me when I ask you!"
Subconsciously, Zhang Xiao'e was still very afraid of Zhao Zheng, so she bit the bullet and said, "The villagers said that my father-in-law, my father-in-law... is taking advantage of Widow Zheng to blackmail her!"
"What else?"
"Father-in-law, they don't have anything good to say. They can even make the dead look alive." Yang Zhaodi interrupted.
Zhao Zheng laughed inwardly, thinking, who made the profit in the end?
Widow Zheng's was a second-hand one, but she owned the original. She got the first place and made a fortune!
But I can't say this no matter what, just know it in your heart.
It wasn't just the old ladies in the village who were gossiping, but also the restless young people and old men. Who wasn't eager to get close to Widow Zheng and taste her fragrance?