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Yuanbao became completely obsessed with practicing martial arts. Her friends were so eager to join in that they begged their families to sign up too, and that's how she ended up with five fighting partners.
Gu Yu was also eager to join in, and Gu Mannian couldn't resist, so he enrolled her in a class as well, taking her to the Children's Palace every Sunday.
"That's good. Now all that brute strength has a purpose, instead of running around aimlessly in the alleys."
Jiang Guiying was worried and repeatedly told Guyu not to run around aimlessly in the Children's Palace.
"Mom, I'm watching her from outside the classroom."
"We still have to be careful. Not just outside, but also in the alleys and residential compounds, we have to be careful. Kidnappers have so many tricks up their sleeves these days. In the new residential compound, a kidnapper went in with toys, drugged two children, and brought them out. Luckily, the kidnapper ran into another kidnapper, otherwise..."
As soon as the news of the human traffickers appearing in the new residential compound spread, the factory's security personnel went to Ginkgo Alley to spread the word, telling families with children to keep a close eye on their kids and not to leave too much money at home to avoid being robbed.
But even with these measures, people are still not reassured.
Children are so precious these days. Some couples only have one child. If that child is stolen, wouldn't it be like having their heart ripped out?
The color TV at the entrance of the alley was gone that night; the Wang family selling melon seeds had removed it.
Worried that adults might take their children out to watch TV but not be able to keep an eye on them, and that bad people might take advantage of the darkness to lure the children outside the alley, drug them, and abduct them, Guazi Wang felt he couldn't bear such a terrible crime, so he had no choice but to take the color TV back.
There's no color TV to watch at the entrance of the alley, but you can still watch TV at your neighbor's house.
Meanwhile, because of this incident, seven or eight more households in Ginkgo Hutong bought television sets in just one week.
Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku, who had just returned from get off work, discussed whether to buy a locally made color TV now or wait and buy something else.
"Buy a color TV from the Jinshi TV Factory?"
Guan Yuehe said "Oh," and then casually added, "I asked around. There's an extra subsidy for going abroad, and each person can bring back one large and one small household appliance."
Lin Yiku reacted quickly, exclaiming with delight, "The trip abroad is confirmed?"
A few days ago, the working group responsible for the political review went to his unit to understand the situation. They also said that it might be close to New Year's Day before there would be a result.
Guan Yuehe stopped pressing her lips and chuckled several times.
"It's settled! The leader told me to get ready and arrange my work as soon as possible. However," Guan Yuehe sighed, holding up three fingers, "this inspection trip might take three months, and I might not be able to make it in time for the New Year."
The final list of the inspection team was finalized faster than she had expected, and the departure date had also been set: the day after New Year's Day, with a tentative duration of three months.
She handed over almost all of her work to her new colleague, Tan Ailian. She guessed that if she were transferred in the future, Comrade Tan Ailian would take over her job.
Lin Yiku was only happy for a minute when she heard that she was going away for three months. It was impossible for her not to feel a little reluctant.
Lin, who couldn't understand anything, just kept laughing.
"Let me see how reluctant you are to part with it?"
After Guan Yuehe finished her banter, she saw him about to unbutton his shirt and immediately raised her hand to stop him, "Stop, your daughter isn't asleep yet."
It was still early before bedtime, but Lin Ting's eyes were brighter than the room's fluorescent light bulbs as she stared intently at them, as if afraid they would leave her out of the game.
Lin Yiku didn't stop unbuttoning her clothes. She turned around and went to the closet to get a clean set of clothes. She didn't say a word, but the meaning was clear: I didn't mean that. What are you thinking?
When Lin Yiku came back from taking a shower, the two of them were busy studying and coaxing Lin Ting to sleep. As soon as the power was turned off, they tacitly crawled into bed.
No one mentioned again which color TV they wanted to buy.
As soon as the document from the ministry came out, Guan Yuehe went home after get off work that day and announced the good news to her family.
She, Comrade Guan Yuehe, will be able to board a plane to represent the country on an inspection tour!
The elders in the family were so stunned by the good news that they had to confirm it three times before they believed it.
"The documents are out, how could they be fake?"
It's not that they don't believe it, it's just that they never imagined that their family members would one day represent the country on an overseas inspection tour.
Although I had thought that Guan Yuehe might have the opportunity to go abroad, I never expected that the opportunity would come so soon.
The point is not to go abroad, but to represent the country on an overseas inspection tour.
Guan Canghai and Jiang Guiying were so happy they were flustered and could only exclaim "Oh dear!" and "Oh dear!" incoherently.
"Second sister, what's the process for taking a plane? Is it expensive?"
Guan Yuehe didn't know either; she had never ridden in one before. The tickets were issued by the inspection team, and the price wasn't mentioned.
Guan Canghai was so happy that he insisted on having a drink with Uncle Lin to celebrate.
“I’ll have a drink too.” Guan Yuehe immediately raised her hand. Anyway, Lin Ting had already been weaned, so it wouldn’t affect her to drink a little now.
"Go get the good wine you've hidden away." Guan Canghai urged her to get it. He had been eyeing her wine for over a year, but since she couldn't drink it, he could only watch helplessly.
"I'll go get it." Lin Yiku got up and returned with a bottle of Moutai in less than three minutes.
Just as Guan Canghai was about to unscrew the cap, he noticed that the bottle was printed with the words "Three Great Revolutions" and a five-pointed star.
"Why is it different from the one I bought?"
"I bought it last year, you'll have to queue up to buy it." But with his old arms and legs, he might not be able to get one even if he queues up.
Last year, Uncle Chen Lizhong asked someone to buy a lot of wine, intending to give it as gifts to relatives and friends. Knowing that she liked to hoard wine, Chen Lizhong also helped her get half a case.
She was pregnant with Lin Ting at the time and couldn't drink it, but she would be tempted if she saw it, so she asked Lin Yiku to put the half case of wine in the cellar.
If her father hadn't specifically said tonight that he wanted to drink the wine she had hidden away, she would have almost forgotten that she had so many "treasures"!
Jiang Guiying also grabbed a cup for herself, "Give me some too, I'm happy today, I need to have a couple of sips."
Finally, everyone in the family except Lin Ting raised their glasses.
Lin Ting drank plain water, imitating adults, and exclaimed "Hah!" after each sip, making herself laugh.
Just a small cup was enough to get Guan Canghai drunk. He was slurring his words and even started crying while covering his face.
Jiang Guiying scolded him for being a heavy drinker despite his poor alcohol tolerance.
As if to make up for the wine she had missed, Guan Yuehe poured herself another glass and said with a smile, "That's great! My dad can drink one bottle of wine for half a year, which saves him money."
"I'm not even drunk yet and you're already talking bad about me!" What an unlucky girl, always badmouthing him.
"Haha, only drunk people stubbornly insist they're not drunk." Everyone in the family knows her father's consistently poor drinking capacity, which has remained unchanged for decades.
After drinking three cups, Guan Yuehe felt she might be a little drunk.
He talked to Lin Yiku for half the night, praising the leader's good judgment, and then lavishly extolling his own excellence. After praising himself, he didn't forget to thank Comrade Lin Yiku and Comrade Lin Ting.
"I feel very happy," she said three times already.
I'm happy for you too.
Her notebook was already half-filled; going abroad seemed to be an extremely big deal.
But half of the notebooks are still blank, and no one can say for sure what the future holds.
Within two days, several of her childhood friends learned that she was going abroad for a three-month research trip after New Year's Day, and they all said they wanted to celebrate with her.
Unfortunately, Xu Cheng and Qin Zilan were exceptionally busy in November, with no time to rest and no chance to celebrate with her.
"I told you to prepare for the garment factory's recruitment exam, but you wouldn't listen. Look at them, even with three shifts, they're still busy with orders. Their bonuses this month must be over a hundred!"
Grandma Bai munched on sunflower seeds with a smug look on her face. "Not only that, the factory workers get even more."
The factory kept getting orders, and Xiang Hong had been earning over a hundred yuan a month for the past six months. So, when Xiang Hong mentioned wanting to buy her own bungalow, she went out early and returned late every day to inquire about private bungalows in the vicinity.
Aunt Bai's words made everyone else jealous and scared them away.
Guan Yuehe felt a pang of jealousy, covered her ears, and ran home.
Aunt Bai turned her head and was dumbfounded. She was just thinking of asking Yuehe if she knew any suitable men to introduce to Xiang Hong when Yuehe had disappeared in the blink of an eye.
—
In early December, everyone started using their kang (heated brick bed).
The alleyway was bustling all morning, with everyone busy stocking up on cabbages and potatoes for the winter.
Guan Yuehe, Gu Yu, and Lin Ting leaned against each other, half-lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the small room. They were all wearing newly made red sweater vests and red sweaters, and the room was filled with a festive atmosphere thanks to these three splashes of red.
Lin Ting clung tightly to Guan Yuehe's left arm with both hands, her small body pressed against Guan Yuehe. Gu Yu hugged Lin Ting tightly, occasionally leaning down to kiss Lin Ting's chubby cheek, and after kissing her, she would say with a look of intoxication, "Little sister is like White Rabbit ice cream."
Actually, Lin Ting had drunk too much milk powder, and her body smelled of milk.
On a freezing cold day, Jiang Guiying forbade Guyu from eating ice cream, so Guyu mistook Lin Ting for ice cream.
Guan Yuehe was afraid that Gu Yu might not be able to resist taking a bite. Even as an adult, she felt the urge to bite the sleeping Lin Ting.
To keep Gu Yu from thinking about the ice cream, Guan Yuehe continued to tell them stories from her books.
The book was left to me by Cheng Shuang; it's a martial arts novel that was only introduced and published last year.
The book was very interesting, but unfortunately Guan Yuehe's narration wasn't very engaging, and Gu Yu and Lin Ting couldn't understand it very well. When Guan Yuehe noticed that the two of them had fallen silent, she looked down and saw the two sisters snuggling together and asleep.
Gu Mannian, that big liar, promised to help her take care of her child once she had one.
And the result? She's now mentoring two people!
Feeling guilty, Gu Mannian brought Gu Yu a pomelo as an apology when he came to pick her up.
"The fruit came from the south; it was brought back by the purchasing department's driver."
Its thick, greenish-yellow skin has a pleasant, fresh fragrance when you get close to it.
Guan Yuehe had never tasted this fruit before, and instantly forgot all her resentment.
"By the way, Mom said you want to buy a color TV?" Gu Mannian asked, puzzled. "You're going abroad anyway, wouldn't it be better to bring one back from overseas?"
"Lin Yi and I have discussed it at length, and we've decided to buy one from the Beijing TV Factory. Do you want it? I can bring it back for you."
She also asked Ding Xuewen, but Ding Xuewen also planned to buy a color TV from the Beijing TV Factory.
Gu Mannian hesitated for a moment before saying, "Okay, if you don't want it, bring one back for me."
—
At the end of December, everyone finally found a Sunday when they were all free and gathered at Grandpa Ming's small restaurant.
Grandpa Ming generously gifted a fish dish to celebrate Guan Yuehe's upcoming trip abroad and Ding Xuewen's upcoming marriage registration.
Ding Xuewen breathed a sigh of relief, "Next year I won't have to be nagged by Uncle Ming about being an old bachelor."
A group of people laughed.
It was snowing heavily outside at that moment.
A timely snowfall promises a bumper harvest; next year is sure to be a good year.
Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! See you tomorrow. [Peeking while covering face]
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