The Zhou Brothers

Zhou Yan instinctively took a step back.

The two burly men grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth in the dim light. Their faces became clear under the lamp as well.

"Haizi, Jie." Zhou Yan relaxed and greeted them with a smile.

These two burly men were his cousins: Zhou Hai, his eldest uncle's second son, and Zhou Jie, his second uncle's eldest son.

His father had four brothers, and each of his three elder uncles had two sons.

Because they slaughtered cattle, the Old Zhou family never lacked food or meat. All his cousins had grown taller than five foot nine and were sturdy as oxen.

In Zhou Village, nobody dared bully the Old Zhou family. Even the commune's hooligans had to avoid them.

After all, the Old Zhou family saw blood every day. They possessed the brute strength to pin down an entire cow, and they wore boning knives at their waists. They were not to be trifled with.

"Long time no see. I heard you jumped into the river to save the deputy factory director's niece, and the girl offered herself in marriage. You even got your marriage certificate?" Zhou Hai asked with a broad grin.

He was about the same height as Zhou Yan, but nearly twice his size. His dark skin made him look like a black bear, imposing at first glance, yet his smile gave people a reassuring sense of reliability.

"When are we drinking your wedding wine? Third Brother will go snatch the bride for you then. I can drink an entire table under by myself!" Zhou Jie said with an honest smile.

He was half a head shorter than Zhou Hai but just as powerfully built. His face was round, and his most striking feature was his earlobes, which hung nearly to his shoulders and made him seem especially approachable.

"Huh?"

Σ(⊙▽⊙"a?

Zhou Yan was completely baffled.

Where had this rumor come from now?

The people slaughtering cattle nearby all slowed their work and turned to look at Zhou Yan, their faces full of curiosity.

This had been Zhou Village's hottest topic for the past two days. The information hub at the village entrance discussed it passionately every day, saying Zhou Yan had latched onto a wealthy branch and his whole family was about to rise with him.

Yesterday evening, Zhao Tieying had returned home with a pile of Friendship Snow Cream, Pechoin Cold Cream, and cigarettes in her arms, saying they were gifts from the city girl. That had become powerful evidence for the rumor.

It had made the women at the village entrance green with envy. Even their sweet potato porridge had lost its appeal these past two days.

But the Old Zhou brothers had been delighted. If they had not all been busy these past few days, they would have gone to town to ask Zhou Yan about it already.

Today, Zhou Hai and Zhou Jie had come to help slaughter cattle. They had heard from Fourth Aunt earlier that Zhou Yan would be coming to collect meat, so they had been waiting eagerly.

The moment they saw Zhou Yan ride over on his bicycle, they had rushed over without even putting down their knives.

"That's not true. I did save her, and her family was being proper, so they gave me a Twenty-Eight Bicycle and a bunch of gifts to thank me. How could they possibly make their daughter marry me for that?" Zhou Yan waved his hands repeatedly as he seriously dispelled the rumor. "I'm still a genuine golden bachelor."

"You really didn't get the certificate?" Zhou Hai and Zhou Jie were greatly disappointed.

They had been looking forward to drinking wedding wine. The brothers had even discussed how much to put in the red envelope.

Zhou Yan was the youngest of the brothers. Before Zhou Momo was born, he had been the family favorite. Although Zhou Momo had since taken over that position, the brothers still cared deeply for Zhou Yan.

"Really not. That girl is innocent and respectable. We can't ruin her reputation," Zhou Yan said, shaking his head.

"Right, right." Zhou Hai and Zhou Jie nodded repeatedly. This was not something to be vague about.

The others, however, looked thoughtful.

So the rumors really could not be trusted. Zhou Yan had failed to latch onto a wealthy branch, which made them feel somewhat more balanced.

"This is the new bike they gave you? It looks great, way better than my eighth-hand wreck where everything rattles except the bell." Zhou Jie changed the subject, his eyes falling on Zhou Yan's bicycle.

"Yeah, a Phoenix PA-18. It rides pretty well." Zhou Yan smiled and nodded. "Jie, want to take it for a spin?"

"Then I won't stand on ceremony." Zhou Jie stuffed his knife into Zhou Hai's hand, washed his hands in the water bucket nearby, then took the handlebars from Zhou Yan. He rode two laps around the yard before returning, kicking down the stand and praising it repeatedly. "This bike rides so well! Once I save enough money, I'm getting a new one too!"

Men's obsession with vehicles had already started showing itself in the age of bicycles.

"Jie, how has your soup pot business been lately?" Zhou Yan asked, looking at Zhou Jie.

Zhou Hai and Zhou Jie usually helped their family slaughter cattle, and they also partnered up to sell soup pots.

Zhou Jie handled most of that business. He looked more approachable and had a knack for business talk, while Zhou Hai helped out.

The four Old Zhou households slaughtered cattle, and for the past two years, Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai had been responsible for setting up stalls to sell the offal.

Since Zhou Yan wanted to sell Qiaojiao Beef, he did not intend to do it secretly. He had to explain it to Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai first, lest it create friction between the brothers later.

"The weather's getting cooler, so business is decent. We can sell seventy or eighty percent of the offal every day, and there's not much left over." Zhou Jie looked at Zhou Yan with an earnest expression.

"Zhou Yan, is your restaurant business not doing too well? Why not close the shop and sell soup pots with Haizi and me? You can make two or three hundred yuan in one winter, and there's no rent. Save for two or three years, and you'll be able to marry a wife."

"Exactly! If us brothers work together, just having you stand in front of the stall will bring in all the young women and wives." Zhou Hai laughed as well.

The Zhou family patriarch had died during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Old Madam Zhou had raised five sons on her own. As a master at keeping things fair, she had trained her four daughters-in-law until they got along obediently, leaving no filthy household conflicts to speak of.

The brothers were united as one and helped each other, and the next generation of cousins got along very well too.

When Zhou Yan opened his restaurant, the entire Old Zhou family had supported him wholeheartedly. Every household had contributed money.

Seeing that the restaurant business was poor, they were anxious inside, but they usually did not dare say much for fear Zhou Yan would think they were asking him to repay the money.

Warmth rose in Zhou Yan's heart. Jie and Haizi wanted to lend their younger brother a hand by bringing him into the soup pot business, which meant giving him a share of the money that Zhou Hai and Zhou Jie could have earned themselves.

These days, nobody found it easy to make money. Selling soup pots in summer meant losing money, and they relied on the few winter months to earn some. Their openness and affection felt unfamiliar to Zhou Yan, yet deeply moving.

"I've switched to selling noodles now, and business has been pretty good these past two days. I can sell dozens of bowls a day." Zhou Yan hurriedly said, "The restaurant can stay afloat by selling noodles. I'm really not good enough at the other dishes, so I want to try selling soup pots on the side too."

"Really?" Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai both looked delighted.

"It's not impossible for you to sell soup pots on the side, but your restaurant is at the entrance of the Textile Factory. The factory workers have money, but they don't seem to like soup pots very much." Zhou Jie scratched his head. "We've been selling them for two years, but we rarely see women workers from the Textile Factory come to eat."

"My mom mentioned that too, but I think it's because they haven't tried it. If I set up a pot outside the restaurant, once the beef fragrance starts drifting through the air, they'll come over just by following the smell." Zhou Yan said with a confident smile.

"Fine. After you finish up in the morning, ride over to our stall. I'll teach you how to make soup pots." Zhou Jie took two steps closer and lowered his voice. "I improved the recipe this year and added two Chinese medicinal ingredients. It tastes better than any other soup pot in our village. I'll teach you everything."

"Jie..." Zhou Yan's feelings were complicated. Who just laid everything out so openly from the start? It made him feel strangely uncomfortable.

Zhou Jie reached out and patted his shoulder, smiling. "We're real brothers. There's nothing to say. Your brothers all want to see you make money and marry a wife."

"Alright. I'll come find you at eight." Zhou Yan nodded and chose to accept this brotherly affection.

The three brothers chatted for a few more moments before Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai went back to work.

Zhou Yan greeted his other uncles and cousins, then headed toward Old Zhou.

The cow had already been slaughtered, and they were dividing the meat now. A knife glided along the gaps between muscle and bone, skillfully avoiding the tendons and joints. At the places where bone and sinew intertwined, one gentle cut separated flesh from bone.

Zhou Yan watched from the side for a while and felt that the saying about a butcher carving an ox with effortless skill was indeed no lie.

Of the five Zhou brothers, all except his Fifth Uncle were slaughtering cattle. But the most skilled among them was actually Zhou Miao, who looked the most slender and frail.

Watching him slaughter a cow was an exceptionally pleasing performance. He relied entirely on deft technique, and it was rare to see him laboriously swing a large cleaver.

"Your mom went to wash the offal." Zhou Miao casually made a few cuts, separating four jin of hanging tender, three jin of brisket, and another half jin of hanging tender.

He also placed several large beef bones into a bamboo basket beside him. There was no need for a scale; his knife was the scale.

"I just told Jie and Haizi that I'm planning to sell soup pots. Jie said I should go learn from him later," Zhou Yan said.

"Didn't you say you were going to make medicinal cuisine?" Zhou Miao paused.

"We can learn from each other." Zhou Yan smiled.

"Not bad. Zhou Jie really knows his way around soup pots. His sell better than anyone else's." Zhou Miao nodded and continued portioning the beef.

Zhou Yan walked over to the wicker basket set aside nearby and lifted one corner of the small quilt. Zhou Momo was lying inside, sleeping soundly.

She was still too young to leave at home unattended, so whenever his parents went out to slaughter cattle, they carried her out in the basket on their backs.

After waiting for a while, Zhao Tieying came up from the river carrying a small basket of offal. Zhou Yan then took her and Zhou Momo back to the restaurant.

"Riding is so much easier. If I carried that basket all the way to your shop, my back would practically break," Zhao Tieying said as she set the basket down.

"Momo's gotten this heavy already. From now on, I'll ride over and pick you up." Zhou Yan carefully lifted Zhou Momo out of the basket. A cigarette slipped out with the little quilt, and he asked in confusion, "Didn't you tell Dad to take these home and smoke them?"

"What does he need cigarettes for? He's quitting! He smokes every day at home, choking the two of us half to death, and he coughs all day too. I'm not letting him smoke anymore!" Zhao Tieying curled her lip, then reminded him, "These are good cigarettes. Keep them. Either sell them for money or give them away as gifts."

"Quitting smoking is good too." Zhou Yan nodded.

Smoking less was a good thing. But it seemed Zhao Tieying had taken those cigarettes home yesterday just to show them off. She had probably made the village women wildly jealous.

"Remember, these aren't for you to smoke!" Zhao Tieying stared at Zhou Yan. "Learn good habits, not smoking. Otherwise, I'll break your legs!"