After eating noodles, we said goodbye to our relatives and friends.

A simple yet lively birthday ceremony passed by in a hurry.

In the living room of the Zhang family courtyard, Zhang Guoqing was holding his son, and Zhou Jiao was recording the interpersonal relationships.

"The most regrettable thing is that Dad didn't come both times. Son, remember you must never become a soldier in the future. It's okay to play with the wooden warehouse grandpa gave you, but don't take it seriously..."

Zhou Jiao couldn't help laughing as she listened to Zhang Guoqing muttering.

"Don't laugh. Ping An will be in the army soon. We don't know how many times a year we can see our son. My son, whenever I think of you, my heart aches..."

Zhang Guoqing and his son were playing on the kang, and he fell to the ground pretending to be heartbroken.

This made Zhou Jiao laugh out loud.

Instead of worrying about her son's future, she should worry about him first. If her father hadn't tried his best to stop her, Zhang Guoqing would have been a soldier long ago.

Zhou Jiao shook her head and closed her notebook, thinking of the old man who was still in the guesthouse. "Grandpa came here so suddenly this time, I guess my dad didn't expect it. What do you think we should do?"

"I don't know. I couldn't be cruel to his face."

"Godfather is really disloyal. He just ran away like that. I don't want to accompany grandpa and the others to the provincial capital tomorrow."

Zhang Guoqing frowned and thought carefully.

After a while, he shook his head and said, "I really have to go over there tomorrow. I guess Grandpa's main purpose for coming here this time is to see an old friend."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jiao immediately sat up straight and said seriously, "Who else does he want to transfer here? Lin Aiguo is impossible! The Lin family must have someone in the capital, and he is the most suitable candidate. Lin Ai has just been transferred, so it is also impossible. Then the only ones left are the two grandsons - the Shengli brothers. Do you think it is necessary?"

Zhang Guoqing whispered, "It's absolutely necessary. Lin Dingsheng's place in the training program suddenly ran out, his father was transferred, and his mother has a stain on her record. Do you think he really intends to rely on his limited skills?"

Zhou Jiao shook her head. No matter how much Lin Dingsheng was trained, he would never be as good as Xiao Zhou, let alone be compared to Fang Fei and other outstanding high-ranking officials.

It wasn't that she looked down on Lin Dingsheng. Lin Dingsheng, whom Old Master Lin had considered his successor, lacked the courage and responsibility of a man who should be the head of the family.

When the Lin family was in trouble, Lin Xuezhen and her sister knew about it and wrote a letter of apology to try to ease the relationship between the two families. However, her father Zhou Xiaozheng and she had never met Lin Dingsheng before.

What was Lin Dingsheng's ability? Ever since that day when he had the audacity to change the subject in front of her father and talk about borrowing and repaying money, she no longer held that so-called outstanding young man in high esteem.

The more Zhang Guoqing thought about it, the more certain he was of Mr. Lin's intentions. Otherwise, why would he stay in the provincial capital when everyone else was returning to Beijing the day after tomorrow? And why would he let Zhou Jiao accompany him?

Lin Xinsheng’s grandson and Zhou Xiaozheng’s nephew—Lin Dingsheng?

The couple looked at each other. With this status, they could indeed take shortcuts in the Northeast Military Region.

"Perhaps when we were in Beijing last year, the old man had already planned to use the two families to push Lin Dingsheng up. Otherwise, when the elders in the courtyard pressured me to join the army, he wouldn't have kept it a secret in front of me. If I don't join the army, who will benefit from Dad's resources? It's just that he didn't expect the feud between the two families to be so deep.

It is not suitable for Lin Dingsheng to return to Beijing at the moment, and the old man can't influence his father, so the only best way is to transfer Lin Dingsheng to this military region.

He calculated that no matter how many rumors there were, as long as Mom was at the Zhou family, outsiders would think differently. He also calculated this opportunity and our personalities. This time, for our son's first birthday, he just wanted you to accompany him to the provincial capital. You can't refuse him, are you embarrassed?

Zhou Jiao nodded. "Many things can't be done as he pleases. Since we're thinking of Dad, he should know about these things. Let's not talk about him. Take a look at the list first. According to the quantity on it, we can't share the steamed buns."

Zhang Guoqing took the notebook and jokingly said, "Didn't Mom say it? It's over when people leave."

Zhou Jiao glanced at him. She didn't mind. It was him who said he wanted to send steamed buns, even if it was mixed with whole grains. Was it necessary?

Zhang Guoqing glanced at her for a few moments, then chuckled at Zhou Jiao. It was impossible to return the favor—some people just gave two pairs of socks, and even insoles.

After finishing the chores, the family took a rest and the couple took their child and slowly walked to the guesthouse.

This time, Mrs. Cheng had her eldest daughter-in-law come to celebrate on behalf of the Cheng family, while Cheng Ruzhu represented the Wen family. As for the Lin family, only Mr. Lin came to Northeast China with his two daughters. Knowing his granddaughter well, he refused to allow his daughter-in-law to come and celebrate with him.

Mr. Lin had just woken up from his nap and was sitting in the outer living room chatting with his two daughters.

Just as Zhang Guoqing expected, he was now persuading his eldest daughter to stay in the Northeast for a few more days to spend more time with Zhou Jiao.

Lin Lishan counted the days on her fingers and said with a smile, "Dad, I will stay for three days at most. I have a mission after three days, so I have to go back."

Old Master Lin nodded with satisfaction. "That's good. Let's go to the provincial capital and take Jiaojiao and the children for a good stroll. If Xiaoying isn't in a hurry, she can stay a few more days to enjoy the northern scenery."

Lin Liying glanced at her sister helplessly. "You brought guests here to celebrate your grandson's first birthday, and then you let them go back to Beijing on their own. Is that how you behave?"

"Sister, you should go and discuss with Ruzhu and her husband first. See if they can postpone their return with us for two days. I don't think it will be a problem. We can just take a trip around the Northeast."

Lin Lishan just stood up to look for someone when she heard the voices of people talking closer and closer outside. "It's Jiaojiao and Ruzhu coming over. I'll ask them right away."

Soon a voice came from the door, "Sister-in-law, are you in the old man's room?"

"Come in quickly. I was just about to talk to you about something." Lin Lishan opened the door and said happily when she saw a group of people.

A group of people entered the room, greeted Mr. Lin, and looked at Lin Lishan, waiting for her to speak.

Lin Lishan touched Ping An in her arms and said with a smile, "Do you want to postpone your return for two days? We left in a hurry the last time we came. We didn't know how the Northeast was doing after two visits. How about we go shopping this time? Postponing for two days is just taking a day off, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Cheng Ruzhu and her sister-in-law Liu Ting exchanged a glance. It wasn't a big deal for her. She usually had nothing to do at work on Saturdays, so taking a day off wasn't a big deal.

Seeing Liu Ting nod, she smiled happily and said, "I'll do as you say. What are the arrangements? Huang Huimin said today that she would take us out tomorrow."

Zhou Jiao followed suit and said, "Do you want to go somewhere farther in three days? I've been to City D before. It's quite nice. The port is huge, with everything from north to south and east to west."

Old Master Lin glanced at Zhou Jiao and saw that she looked very excited. He thought that the child must have made the suggestion unintentionally and was definitely not deliberately avoiding the provincial capital.

After hearing Zhou Jiao's suggestion, Cheng Ruzhu was quite tempted. She looked at everyone and hesitated for a moment.

Seeing this, Old Master Lin said, "How about we go back to the provincial capital for dinner? When we get there, you can discuss it with Zhao and his wife. It's best not to go too far, as it's inconvenient to bring the child with you."

The old man's proposal was agreed by everyone.

In the county town, many people were unable to move around easily. Everyone urged Zhang Guoqing to go back quickly and call Zhang's father and mother to go to the provincial capital for dinner and stay for a few days.

Zhang Guoqing listened to everyone's urging and looked at Zhou Jiao. Seeing her nod slightly, he smiled and said goodbye to everyone.

In order to celebrate his son's birthday, he reserved enough vacation time, so the original plan of the three of them traveling alone was no longer possible.