Chapter 74 Talent
The Gu family didn't know about the dealings between the Zhang and Zhu families. Ever since Gu Erhui went to see Zhang Jingtong, they were worried for a few days. When they found out that nothing had happened, they were completely relieved.
There are only ten days left before the Chinese New Year, and the jackets and jeans are about to be sold out. They don’t plan to restock anymore and will close the store and prepare for the Chinese New Year after the goods are sold out.
Gu Jianguo and Wang Yueju discussed returning to the village for the Lunar New Year. The main task was to dispose of the grain harvested this autumn, selling what could be sold and figuring out how to get the unsalable grain to Lizhou.
"Yimin and Erhui need letters of introduction to attend night school, and Sanjing and Xiaosi need to go through the transfer procedures." During dinner, Gu Jianguo talked about the things he needed to do before going home for the New Year.
As he was speaking, there was a knock on the door. Gu Jianguo went out to open it and saw an old lady in her sixties standing at the door, holding a bowl filled with a few buns. Next to her stood a sturdy little boy of seven or eight years old.
"I'm your next-door neighbor. I made some steamed buns at home and brought them to you today." The old lady said with a smile.
Gu Jianguo quickly invited her into the house, "You are too polite."
"I made these big meat buns myself. The kids at home all loved them. You guys should try some too."
As they were talking, the two of them entered the kitchen. Wang Yueju saw them and quickly offered her a seat. After the old lady sat down, she talked a lot about the previous owner of their yard:
"That old lady had a miserable life too. She gave birth to four sons, but none of them were filial. She sold her house to support her sons. Now her sons live in spacious apartments, and she has nowhere to live."
Gu Jianguo and the others didn't know what the old lady meant, so they just smiled and agreed.
After the old lady finished her story about the previous owner of the yard, she sighed and continued, "Every family has its own problems. My family also has four sons, and they all need money for school, jobs, and marriages. And now, my fourth son is getting married in a few days, and everything is ready. But my daughter-in-law-to-be wants to buy her a flat coat, and she won't get married unless I buy her one. Isn't that infuriating? Your family sells flat coats, right?"
After going through such a long detour, it turns out I was going to buy a tucksuit. It was really troublesome.
Gu Jianguo smiled and said, "Yes."
"How much is it? We're neighbors, can you give me a discount? Normally, I wouldn't bargain with you, but my fourth son spent all his money on his wedding and is still in debt."
She had said so much, what else could Gu Jianguo say? He said helplessly, "Auntie, you should have asked the price of our bread. We sell it to others for 55. We are neighbors, so I'll give you the cost price of 45. If you go any lower, I'll lose money."
The old lady wanted to bargain again, but was choked back by Gu Jianguo's last words.
"Okay, I'll go to your store and buy it tomorrow." The old lady said as she was about to leave. Wang Yueju and Gu Jianguo saw her off. When they reached the gate, Wang Yueju touched the little boy's head and said, "This child has grown up really strong."
The old lady was so happy when her grandson was praised that her eyes were full of smiles. "This child has been sturdy and healthy since he was young. His father plans to send him to the sports team."
"How do I get into the sports team?" Gu Jianguo asked. A few days ago, Sanjing and Xiaosi had been talking about learning to swim and competing in the Asian Games, and he was just about to find out more.
"I don't know either. His father told me. If you want to know, I'll ask my eldest son when you come back," said the old lady.
Gu Jianguo hurriedly thanked her, and the old lady smiled and led her grandson away.
"Do you really want Sanjing to learn physical education?" Wang Yueju asked Gu Jianguo. Although she didn't know what physical education entailed, she knew without a doubt that it was very tiring.
Gu Jianguo: “Ask first.”
That day, Sanjing and Xiaosi talked about swimming. Sanjing's eyes were shining. She must like it.
The next day, the old lady went to the store to buy bread and butter, accompanied by her fourth son and his girlfriend. Gu Jianguo asked about joining the sports team again, and the old lady's fourth son Zhang Mingda also knew about it.
He said, "How can you join the sports team right away? You have to first get into a sports school, train for a while, and then get into the sports team."
"What does your child want to learn?" Gu Jianguo said as he handed him a cigarette.
Zhang Mingda took the cigarette and lit it. "He's learning table tennis because he just likes it. I don't know if he has the talent. My eldest brother plans to let someone see if he has the talent first. If not, he won't learn it."
Do you think anyone can join a sports team and win a championship?
Gu Jianguo didn't expect there were so many tricks involved, so he asked again: "Who can tell if you have talent?"
Zhang Mingda took a puff of his cigarette and said, "Let's go to the gymnasium. There are coaches from the sports school there."
Gu Jianguo knew that this was definitely not for nothing, so he said, "My daughter wants to learn swimming. I don't know much about this stuff here. Why don't you call me when you go to the gym?"
Zhang Mingda was also a straightforward person. He agreed without hesitation, "Okay, I'll go home and tell my eldest brother."
Although he agreed to this, when he returned home in the afternoon, Gu Jianguo still took the gifts and went next door to chat with his eldest son Zhang Mingli.
Zhang Minglis is gentle and polite, but he is straightforward in his actions. He directly said that they would go to the gym the day after tomorrow, and they would go together then.
After returning home, Gu Jianguo told Gu Sanjing about this, and she almost jumped for joy. Although Gu Jianguo didn't want to discourage her, he still said, "Just go and show it to the coach. If you have talent, we will work hard to get into the sports school. If not, just study hard."
Gu Sanjing nodded quickly. She was very confident in swimming and was the fastest swimmer among the children in the village.
At night, she was so excited that she couldn't sleep. She hugged her pillow and crawled into Gu Siqing's bed. "Xiao Si, what do you think the coach is looking at?"
Gu Siqing was so sleepy that she couldn't open her eyes. She said dazedly, "I don't know either. Just show your strengths when the time comes."
"Xiao Si, do you think I have talent?"
"Yes? No? I don't know?"
"Oh, I wish I had it." I also hope to be excellent.
Having an outstanding sister, Gu Sanjing feels a lot of pressure.
The next day, Han Deyi heard about this and brought Han Erpang to him and asked, "Xiaoer, Sanjing can swim, what can you do?"
Han Deyi wasn't worried about his eldest son, who was a good student and a potential college student. However, his second son was the worst student, so he wanted to find a way out for him.
Han Erpang lowered his head and scratched his black little hands for a while, then whispered, "Does it count if I dropped the bread well?"
Han Deyi: “”
"Think about it again."
Han Erpang: "Is it okay if you can make clay figures well?"
Han Deyi waved his hands helplessly, "Stop talking, it's getting more embarrassing. Let's go play."
When he heard that he could play, Han Erpang jumped up and down to play with Gu Siqing.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
