Gu Henglin snorted in response: "Trying to pin the problem on me? Am I your father!"
Gu Yunze thought that his father was still the same; he would start acting like a chauvinist as soon as the conversation turned to other topics.
Li Huizhu shook her head. This family might really fall apart without her, so she took the initiative to start something herself.
"Yunze, you called before about sending clothes to a girl..."
Gu Yunze realized that he hadn't properly told his mother about having a girlfriend yet.
"Mom, I haven't told you yet, I have a girlfriend, her name is Lin Yu..."
Upon learning that the other party was from a rural area and was nineteen years old, Li Huizhu and Gu Henglin didn't react much; they never cared about such things.
Gu Henglin ran away from the countryside to join the army back then.
Li Huizhu joined the army as a battlefield nurse during a time of national crisis.
Having witnessed countless deaths and comings, the distinctions of social status and family background are meaningless.
Then Gu Yunze mentioned that she lived in Haicheng when she was a child, finished high school, was very capable, and is now the factory director of the brigade.
Speaking of vermicelli and dried fruit, Li Huizhu remembered them.
“I bought some at the supply and marketing cooperative the other day. Your dad had a cough, so I soaked dried pears in water for him to drink.”
Before Gu Yunze returned this time, Lin Yu went to the train station to see him off. Knowing that he was going home to visit his family, she gave him some things, which should have included dried fruit.
After he finished eating, he took out his bag and took out the package inside.
Li Huizhu asked curiously, "What is this?"
"This was given to you by Comrade Lin Yu. Take a look and see what it is?"
Li Huizhu opened it, and inside was a large bag, which was divided into small packets, each containing a different variety of fruit.
There was also a bundle of vermicelli and a bag of dried wild morel mushrooms.
"These are all things we don't have here, she put so much thought into it." You can tell how sincere this girl is just by looking at the packaging.
"Morel mushrooms, I heard they're great for making soup, but they're also quite expensive."
Seeing her distressed expression, Gu Yunze told him that the workshop also produced dried mushrooms, but they were all ordinary mushrooms; the morel mushrooms were picked by farmers from the mountains and sold to the workshop.
Upon hearing this, Gu Henglin asked, "This workshop sounds pretty good, doesn't it?"
He rarely went shopping, and only now did he realize that their workshop's products were being sold all over the north of the city.
Gu Yunze had been staying with Lu Yunfeng in the county town for some time and had a good understanding of the workshop's income.
He told Gu Henglin a number: "The workshop's monthly income."
The elderly couple's expression changed: "This...this makes so much money? A small workshop in the countryside?"
Gu Yunze nodded: "Yes, the goods are all sold to Beicheng. The price is not as high locally, but the volume is large. The price is higher in Beicheng, but the volume is smaller. Some are even sold to the south."
After hearing this, Lin Yu's value as a factory director instantly increased significantly.
Moreover, it is said that she founded the workshop herself and was the true decision-maker.
The elderly couple thought the girl was quite capable.
My son is 24 years old. It's not easy for him to find a partner, let alone someone so capable.
Li Huizhu has already started thinking about what to bring for the girl when her son goes back.
“You said you were going on a mission, how come you’re now a sent-down youth?” Li Huizhu couldn’t understand what her son was doing.
Gu Yunze glanced at his father, and seeing that his eyes already understood, he hinted that he should explain.
Gu Henglin glared at him and said to Li Huizhu, "This is his mission, so don't ask so many questions. If anyone asks, just say he's in the army and you don't know anything about the situation."
Li Huizhu had been retired for several years and hadn't been involved in those matters for a long time. Seeing the similar relaxed expressions on the father and son's faces, she agreed.
The news of Gu Yunze's return quickly spread throughout the compound.
After dinner, many people came to visit him at his home.
He is 24 years old this year. Because of his repeated merits, he is now a regimental commander and is considered a "promising" kid by many of his neighbors.
Some of the kids in the compound treat him like an older brother and ask him to teach them boxing.
After finally answering the neighbors' questions, night had fallen.
Seeing that Li Huizhu looked tired, those people said goodbye and left.
Back home, he was still envious: "If I could be like Huizhu in this life, having a good child, would I ever have to worry about not having a good life?"
The woman's daughter didn't understand, so she said, "I think Uncle Gu treats Aunt Li very well. Why are you saying things like she can't live without Gu Yunze?"
"What do you know, you're just a kid. Back in the day..."
Her husband forbade her to mention the past again, but seeing her daughter's expectant eyes and fearing that the child would repeat the same mistake in the future, she still secretly told the child.
"How old is your Aunt Li this year?"
"I'm 56."
“Yunze is 24 this year, and she was 32 when she gave birth to him.”
The daughter wasn't surprised: "Aunt Li has two other children, Brother Yunfei and Sister Wenwen."
"Those two ungrateful wretches weren't her children," the woman said with a disdainful sneer.
They have known Li Huizhu for many years, a fact known to many.
Gu Henglin was 30 years old when his first wife passed away, leaving behind two children, one 7 years old and the other 5 years old.
To ensure he had no worries on the battlefield, the military arranged blind dates for him and introduced him to potential partners.
Li Huizhu was only 18 years old at the time, working as a nurse in a field hospital. Originally, she was too young to be considered.
Gu Henglin took a liking to her and went to propose marriage.
Li Huizhu was young and admired heroes, so she married him against her parents' wishes.
Being a stepmother is not an easy task; the older child is already 7 years old and can remember things.
Whether it was to keep her at bay or not, the child's maternal grandparents, uncles, and aunts often came to visit them.
They will also take the child back to raise him for a while.
Li Huizhu raised her child with great difficulty, but never had any children of her own.
Back then, the child could still go to university, but after graduating, he disowned his stepmother.
Gu Henglin was missing on the battlefield for a time, and the two children even wanted to kick their stepmother out of the house.
If he hadn't returned in time, Li Huizhu would have been bullied terribly.
When the neighbors found out about this, they all cursed the two kids for being ungrateful.
Li Huizhu's actions towards everyone were so admirable, yet she ended up like this, which is truly lamentable.
Fortunately, Gu Henglin still had a conscience. He kicked the two ungrateful wretches out and even made a will stating that if anything happened to him, all his property would go to Li Huizhu.
Li Huizhu was disheartened at that time and felt that there was no hope in her life.
Even with Gu Henglin's comfort, he remained depressed.
Just when Gu Henglin was at his wit's end, Li Huizhu suddenly realized something and told Gu Henglin that she wanted to have her own child.
At that time, the couple was 43 and 31, so having a child shouldn't have been so easy.
Unexpectedly, Li Huizhu soon became pregnant.
And she gave birth to Gu Yunze the following year.
Her life was filled with hope from that moment on. No matter what stepchildren or husband she had, none of them were as important as her son.
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