Chapter 56 Discovering the Layoffs
On the day he received his acceptance letter, Gu Chen'an felt like he had suddenly become a big kid again. With money in his pocket, he ate and strolled around the streets with his classmates, bidding farewell to his time in Wu'an. After his classmates all went home, Gu Chen'an rummaged through his pocket and found he had two yuan left. He decided to buy some snacks for Lulu to take home.
At this moment, Lulu was tugging at Ji Wei's arm: "Mom, why hasn't brother come back yet?"
“My brother is with his classmates, he’ll be back soon,” Ji Wei explained.
"He's been gone for a long time," Lulu said, frowning in displeasure.
“Your brother is not only your brother, but also himself. He has his own social life. There will be many more situations like this in the future, so you have to get used to it.” Ji Wei patted her head and explained to her gently.
"No." Lulu didn't quite understand the first part of the sentence, but she understood the second part. Without thinking, she frowned and refused.
Ji Wei pinched her cheek without saying anything. This wasn't something they could decide, but she probably wouldn't be so conflicted once she made new friends.
"How about Dad plays shuttlecock with you again?" Seeing that she was really bored, Gu Zhiyuan picked up the shuttlecock next to him.
"Okay!" Lulu said happily. That's how kids are; they need someone to play with them all the time. Ji Wei felt that she had already used up all her energy at school, and she simply didn't have the energy to play with her when she got home. So she remained seated, watching the two of them kicking shuttlecock all over the yard. Lulu was too small and could only kick one at a time; she usually couldn't catch the second one. Gu Zhiyuan wasn't much better off, managing at most five. Ji Wei's smile grew wider and wider.
"Mom's coming too." Perhaps her laughter was too loud, because Lulu realized it was mockery, so she tried to pull her over to kick it together.
Ji Wei quickly refused, but fortunately Gu Chen'an returned from outside at that moment, stopping Lulu from continuing to pull her. The little girl skipped and hopped to Gu Chen'an: "Brother, you're back?"
"Yes, this is a small cake I bought for you." Gu Chen'an handed her a small cake.
"Wow, brother is the best!" Lulu's mouth was full of honey when she saw the delicious food.
As expected, these words pleased Gu Chen'an. He opened the lid of the small cake for her, handed her the small spoon, and didn't forget to tell her about his shopping trip that day.
"Now we can take a break." Ji Wei turned her head to look at the person walking towards her.
"I'm fine, not tired. But you, do you need to exercise?" Gu Zhiyuan asked seriously.
"Exercise what?" Ji Wei felt she didn't need to exercise.
“I think there’s a big gap between us in terms of physical fitness,” Gu Zhiyuan said, staring intently at her.
His direct and intense gaze made Ji Wei suddenly realize the other meaning behind his words. Her face immediately turned red, and she glared at him, saying, "That's your problem, not mine."
To Gu Zhiyuan, her glare was no different from a coquettish expression. He chuckled and said, "My wife is right, it's all my fault."
Ji Wei was completely speechless. What was wrong with this guy tonight? Considering his incredible stamina, she thought it best if she ran away first.
*
The week after school let out for break, Ji Wei invited her close colleagues from the office to dinner and told them about her job transfer. While everyone was envious, they also offered their sincere blessings, which Ji Wei accepted with a smile.
She didn't plan to tell the Ji family about going to the city, and Gu Zhiyuan didn't have anyone he needed to inform either, so the family of four went directly to the city to find a house.
Ji Wei had only one requirement for the house: it had to be close to the school. She looked at Gu Zhiyuan and explained earnestly, "It will be much more convenient if it's close to the school."
"How about we check out Lulu's kindergarten first before making a decision?" Gu Zhiyuan suggested.
"I've already checked; the affiliated kindergarten of the Experimental Primary School is just across the street." Ji Wei was very satisfied with the distance.
"I shouldn't need to drive anymore when they start school, and I can take care of taking them to school." Gu Zhiyuan hoped to share some of the burden with her.
"Of course you can, but you need to talk to Chen An beforehand to see if he's willing to let you take him." At this time, most children go to and from school by themselves.
"Your words have reminded me. I feel that after this incident, he seems to have matured a lot all of a sudden." Gu Zhiyuan's expression was somewhat worried; he didn't know if this was a good sign.
"Having just gone through separation from friends and classmates, it's normal to feel like I've grown." Ji Wei felt this was a normal part of growing up.
"I hope so." Gu Zhiyuan concealed the worry in his eyes, but when his gaze fell on Gu Chen'an, the worry quickly disappeared.
"Dad, why are you looking at me like that?" Gu Chen'an asked, somewhat puzzled.
Gu Zhiyuan belatedly realized that he had changed his way of addressing himself from "Dad" to "Dad," and the careless man hadn't even noticed when he had started to change the way he addressed himself.
"What's wrong?" Ji Wei asked softly when she saw his expression.
“He used to call me Dad.” He used to think that using reduplicated words was too sticky and that boys shouldn’t call each other that, but after he actually changed his way of addressing me, he actually felt a little lost.
"You only just realized it now?" Ji Wei looked at him with amusement; he had finally noticed.
"You already found out?" Gu Zhiyuan seized on the loophole in her words.
"Around the time of the first change, the child grew up and naturally changed how she addressed him. I wonder when Lulu will be like Chen'an." Ji Wei said with a touch of melancholy, feeling a little reluctant to see Lulu grow up.
"You're so observant." Gu Zhiyuan began to reflect on himself, realizing that he hadn't noticed this at first glance.
This was a phrase Ji Wei usually used to praise him, but now that he was using it to praise himself, Ji Wei felt like she was being sarcastic and didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Fortunately, the two didn't dwell on these minor details for too long, because there were still important things waiting for them. Finding a house wasn't too difficult. With the spring breeze of reform and opening up, more and more people chose to go out to work, so there were many houses for rent in the city. After comparing them for two days, Ji Wei finally found a satisfactory house.
This house used to be part of the ironworks' staff quarters. The large two-bedroom apartment had been partitioned into three rooms, which was just right for their family of four. The landlord had moved all their belongings out of the house. Ji Wei stared at the walls and suggested, "Just repaint the walls and move all the things from Wu'an over."
"Okay, I'll go buy some paint first, and find a few people to help me while I'm at it." He planned to ask the drivers who were resting at the freight depot to help. Painting walls doesn't require too much skill; most people can do it.
“Okay, it should only take half a day to get things sorted out. I can take them to the Children’s Palace and then we can have lunch together when we get back.” Ji Wei was happy to have some free time.
The task of painting the walls was put on the agenda. Ji Wei had just taken the children to the Children's Palace when Gu Zhiyuan came in with paint. There were two people who came to help, both of whom had worked with him before and were very familiar with each other. Wu Wenquan was even more envious: "Brother Gu, are you going to settle down in the city from now on?"
“Yes, your sister-in-law was transferred to the Experimental Primary School, and our whole family followed in her footsteps.” Gu Zhilian’s tone was full of pride.
"Your sister-in-law is really amazing; it's very difficult to get into the Experimental Primary School," Wu Wenquan praised.
“She’s always been amazing.” Gu Zhiyuan agreed with him. So, for the next while, Wu Wenquan and another colleague not only had to paint the wall, but also had to listen to Gu Zhiyuan praise Ji Wei, and they had to chime in from time to time. For a moment, Wu Wenquan felt regretful, regretting that he had brought up the topic. Fortunately, the light of victory was just ahead, and they only needed to finish painting the last wall before they could go home.
Ji Wei returned at this moment, and Gu Zhiyuan was somewhat surprised to see her: "Why did you suddenly come back?"
"It wasn't sudden, it's just that it's lunchtime." She had already ordered at the restaurant and was waiting for them to go together.
"Is it already noon? So fast!" Gu Zhiyuan exclaimed, staring at the watch on his wrist.
Wu Wenquan glanced at him, thinking that he finally realized he had been talking about it all morning. He turned to greet Ji Wei with his colleagues, then pointed to the part that hadn't been finished cooking: "Sister-in-law, it's almost done, let's finish cooking before we eat."
"That's fine, so you won't have to come over again this afternoon." Ji Wei thought about it and felt that this was a good idea.
The three of them painted one wall together, which tripled their speed. Soon, the last wall was finished, and Gu Zhiyuan led the other two to clean the paint stains off their clothes.
During the meal, Ji Wei offered tea instead of wine to express her gratitude. Wu Wenquan, who was a little more familiar with her, jokingly said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, you don't know, Brother Gu has been praising you all morning, and he doesn't repeat himself at all."
"Really?" Ji Wei looked at Gu Zhiyuan with some surprise. Gu Zhiyuan coughed lightly, a little embarrassed, and urged Wu Wenquan, "Didn't you say you were going to go back and take a nap after dinner? Hurry up and eat, or the food will get cold."
"Oh, is Brother Gu embarrassed?" Wu Wenquan looked like he had discovered something amazing, which made Gu Zhiyuan feel even more uncomfortable.
For Gu Zhiyuan, this meal was an eternity. After the two finally left, Ji Wei leaned over and whispered, "Tell me about it."
"What did you say?" Gu Zhiyuan pretended to be stupid.
"Tell me how you complimented me in different ways each time?" Ji Wei asked him, suppressing a laugh.
Sensing her ill intentions, Gu Zhiyuan glanced at her and asked, "Do you really want to know?"
"Mmm." Ji Wei nodded, indicating that she really wanted to know.
"What benefits would I get?" Gu Zhiyuan tried to get a reward.
"What benefits do you want?" Ji Wei began to bargain with her.
Gu Zhiyuan thought for a moment, then looked at her: "You'll find out tonight."
Ji Wei suddenly regretted her loose tongue: "Can I not know anymore?"
"It's too late, Teacher Ji. You must be honest," Gu Zhiyuan reminded her with a smile.
Unfortunately, before Ji Wei could hear his unique praises of her that evening, she first heard the news that Ji Shengzhou and his wife had been laid off.
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