Chapter 436 - 213: This Is the Feeling of Counting Money Until Your Hand Cramps

Chapter 436: Chapter 213: This Is the Feeling of Counting Money Until Your Hand Cramps

"Alright, that’s easy enough," Mrs. Zhao nodded. She took a rubber-banded bundle of cash from the box and started counting. After confirming the amount was correct, she re-banded it and tossed it into a basket beside her.

Comrade Zhou started counting money alongside her.

"Six yuan and fifty cents."

"Twelve yuan and seventy cents."

"Thirty-six yuan and eighty-two cents..."

The low murmur of their voices overlapped.

Surrounded by the smell of money and the task of counting it, it was hard to feel tired.

It took over an hour to check all one hundred and seven bundles of cash. There were errors in three of them: one was short by thirty cents, one was short by two cents, and another was over by ten cents.

The error rate was very low.

They added what was missing and removed the excess, and everything was basically settled.

"My hands are a little numb. I’m finally experiencing what it’s like to count money until your hands cramp up," Mrs. Zhao said with a laugh. "It feels amazing!"

"This is the first time I’ve ever counted this much money, too," Comrade Zhou added, grinning.

"There will be plenty more opportunities to count money in the future," Zhou Yan said. He set aside the seven largest bundles and packed the remaining one hundred into a burlap sack.

’The simpler the packaging, the less likely it is to attract attention.’

Mrs. Zhao spoke up. "Tomorrow, your dad and I will go with you to deliver the money. After you’ve gone to the Qiu Family’s place, the two of us will go look around Jiazhou."

"Okay," Zhou Yan agreed with a smile and a nod. He took out two bundles of cash, pulled out four ’Great Unity’ bills separately, and handed it all to Mrs. Zhao. "Mom, I have enough for the house. I’m paying you your salary now, so you’ll have spending money for your outing tomorrow."

Mrs. Zhao accepted the money with a laugh and a nod. "Alright, I’ll take it. I’ll take your dad out for a grand day in Jiazhou tomorrow."

"I never thought we’d save up ten thousand so quickly. You really know how to make money, kid," Comrade Zhou said, looking at the bulging burlap sack, feeling both happy and emotional.

"Exactly. If word of this gets out, the whole village will be jealous of us," Mrs. Zhao added with a laugh, though her eyes were glistening with tears.

Zhou Yan, feeling their emotion, said with a smile, "The good days are still ahead. Ten thousand is just the beginning. I’m going to earn many more tens of thousands and make our lives better and better! We’ll move from the village to the town, and then from the town to the city! We’ll make our home in the city in the future."

"Mom believes in you. I just knew you could do it this time," Mrs. Zhao nodded, turning her head away to wipe a tear.

Zhou Yan smiled, tied the burlap sack shut, and looked at his parents. "Why don’t you two go wash your hands and get some rest? Dad, you don’t need to get up early tomorrow. I’ll go buy the groceries for the meal myself."

"Alright," the two of them replied.

Lying in bed, Zhou Yan glanced at the burlap sack on top of the chest, pulled the light cord, and drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

In the next room, Mrs. Zhao and Comrade Zhou were once again wide awake.

"So this is what it feels like to count ten thousand yuan. The feeling of counting money is just pure happiness. My hands are a little numb, but my heart is so content," Zhao Tieying said with a sigh.

"It is," Zhou Miao agreed with a nod.

"Zhou Miao, Zhou Yan said he wants to move the family to the city. Should we still go back to the village and rebuild our house?" Zhao Tieying asked, looking at Old Zhou seriously. "He said that after the New Year, he wants to send Momo to the factory-run kindergarten. In the future, he’ll open the shop in Jiazhou and buy a house there, too. Momo will definitely have to go to school in the city—kindergarten, elementary, middle school, high school... that’s more than ten years."

"If Momo is going to school, we’ll definitely have to go with her to take care of her," Zhou Miao said without hesitation. "It’s not easy for Zhou Yan to run a shop. If he asks, we’ll go with him to Jiazhou and help out, take some of the workload off his shoulders.

"As for rebuilding the house, I think we can save up first. If we have extra money later on, we can come back and build a small place, so we have somewhere to stay when we come back for holidays."

"Alright, that’s what I was thinking, too," Zhao Tieying nodded, calculating aloud. "The two of us are making over a thousand yuan a month now. In a year, we can save up ten thousand. We could come back and build a house next New Year’s."

"I think that’ll work," Zhou Miao said with a smile and a nod.

"When the house collapsed, I felt like our whole world had collapsed. Who would have dared to imagine that Zhou Yan would be buying a house in Jiazhou so soon? It’s like a dream," Zhao Tieying said with a smile that radiated happiness.

"Want me to pinch you again?"

"All that Kneeling Beef soup every day has really made you bold, huh?"

"Why don’t you try me?"

"Bring it on! Who’s afraid of who?"

...