121 Social Dance Party
"The car factory is hosting a social dance!"
When Lin Sitian heard the news, her first reaction was to go find Guan Yuehe and her two childhood friends and ask them if they wanted to sneak in to see what was going on.
But then he realized that more than twenty years had passed since he last sneaked into the auditorium to "attend" a ball.
Guan Yuehe's eyes remained fixed on the book in her hands as she asked directly, "When are you going?"
After thinking for a moment, she added, "I'm only free on Sundays."
She's too busy at other times. Just now, Lin Sitian came over excitedly to find her, interrupting her as she was spinning around. The first thing she said was about the car factory holding a social dance party again after many years.
Before Lin Sitian even started persuading anyone, Guan Yuehe, one of her three childhood friends, readily agreed, much to her delight.
"Don't worry, it's still early. We'll hold it on National Day." The factory's labor union wanted to organize an event for the workers, but they couldn't choose a weekday and also take away the workers' time to practice dancing, so they set the date for National Day.
Lin Sitian had already planned it when she came over: "Let Xu Chengcai and Zilan go together. They can team up, and we can team up too. Let's skip Ding Xuewen and not invite him."
The main concern was that other people at the car factory might see this and inform Aunt Ding.
Guan Yuehe paused in her book-turning motion. "Aren't you going to ask your brother if he's going or not?"
“I asked him last night, and he said he can’t take a break during the National Day holiday this year.”
Fine, ever since she joined the foreign trade department, she hasn't had a single day off that overlapped with Lin Yiku's. She was even thinking of going dancing and on a date with him...
Lin Sitian retorted, "You two lie on the same bed every day. When you get home from get off work in the evening, you can just jump around at home. Do you still need me to help you get family planning supplies?"
"......want."
She and Lin Yi had discussed it thoroughly and decided to wait until she was more settled in her job before considering having children. Otherwise, even if she got pregnant, she wouldn't be able to take good care of the baby, and both the mother and child would suffer.
Lin Sitian secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although Lin Yiku was her brother, Yuehe had been her childhood friend for nearly thirty years. She would feel it was such a pity if Yuehe had to miss work because of having a baby, especially since she had finally gotten into such a prestigious company...
"Then nobody's going?" Guan Yuehe then remembered that Chen Lizhong was also there.
"Huh? Ah, he and Ding Xuewen are busy making money, they definitely don't have time. Do you think making big money is addictive?"
"Probably. But then again, if it's legitimate money, why not make it?"
In other words, since she is currently a public servant, it's not appropriate for her to use her expertise as a tour guide. Otherwise, she might have started a tour guide training class in Ginkgo Hutong, leading the unemployed women in the hutong to contribute to the country's foreign exchange earnings.
“That’s true. Since someone will always make money, why shouldn’t it be one of our own?” Lin Sitian laughed. “When they make money, they should treat us to a meal.”
"By the way, you mentioned a joint venture restaurant under construction. When will it be completed and open? We'll have those two big shots treat us to a meal there."
Guan Yuehe shook her head, "It's hard to say when it will be completed, but this hotel is built to receive foreign guests, so it might be a bit difficult to get in for a meal."
With an increasing number of foreigners visiting Beijing, and given that the city only has seven hotels catering to foreigners, many foreigners are unable to book rooms. The Jianguo Hotel, the first Sino-foreign joint venture hotel, was established to alleviate Beijing's insufficient capacity to accommodate foreign tourists.
Lin Sitian, however, was blindly confident: "Sooner or later we'll be able to eat there too. I want to see what kind of food those foreigners eat!"
I don't know what foreigners eat, but her family is having cold noodles today!
"No, you're either at work or studying every day, how do you have time to learn cooking?" Lin Sitian looked at her like she was a bull. Aunt Jiang was right, Yuehe was indeed as energetic as a bull!
Guan Yuehe rolled her eyes, put the book aside, got up to get some change from the drawer in the room, then went to the kitchen to find a large bowl and a basket. With a wave of her hand, she said, "Come on, it's my treat today."
Lin Sitian followed him out, completely bewildered. They walked along the alley, turned into courtyard number nine, and headed straight for the west wing of the courtyard.
Guan Yuehe knocked on the door familiarly, then went inside, paid, and said, "Uncle Quan, I'd like two large bowls of cold noodles, with whatever you want, and extra chili in one bowl."
Uncle Quan glanced at Lin Sitian behind her, who looked familiar, replied with a "Okay," and went into the kitchen to get busy.
After receiving the money, Aunt Quan served them tea and greeted them with a smile, inviting them to sit down before going into the kitchen to help.
Uncle Quan and Aunt Quan's only child sat on a small stool by the door, seemingly playing with toys, but actually keeping watch.
A dozen minutes later, Guan Yuehe came out of courtyard number nine carrying a heavy basket. Many people who knew the inside story couldn't help but glance at her basket, but they didn't see anything.
Only after entering the house did Lin Sitian ask, "What exactly happened?"
It's like an underground party meeting to exchange intelligence.
"Uncle Quan is Master Ming's apprentice, and his cold noodles are the best. Uncle Quan is generous; he treated me to cold noodles. Uh, he also treated everyone else in the alley to some."
Guan Yuehe shoved the chopsticks into her hand, "By the way, Uncle Quan only treats everyone to cold noodles on Sundays, so don't make the trip for nothing in the future."
Lin Sitian: "......"
That's a terrible excuse, but the cold noodles were really delicious.
The two ate one bite after another until they were half full, and then Lin Sitian sighed, "It's such a pity that Uncle Quan doesn't set up a stall at the entrance of the alley."
But thinking about it, it was impossible. Uncle Quan was a worker at the car factory, so it would be more appropriate for Aunt Quan to go and set up the stall. If Uncle Quan went, the union would definitely have a talk with him.
No one expected Aunt Quan to act so quickly; she set up a stall selling cold noodles at the alley entrance that very evening. She prepared each bowl individually, only needing to add the dipping sauce.
Uncle Quan didn't help out at the stall at all from beginning to end.
When Guan Yuehe went up to replace two tiles on the roof, she saw that the stall next to the ginkgo tree was surrounded by layers of people. Aunt Quan couldn't stop smiling. She was annoyed and told everyone to line up while collecting money for extra toppings.
Everyone wanted to try something new, and as soon as they heard that cold noodles were for sale, they all made their children take money and go out to queue up to buy them.
Jiang Guiying was squeezing in with money and a large bowl. Luckily, Aunt Bai was rushing in with her. She pushed her way through the neighbors and finally managed to get to the front of the stall.
Gu Yu was held tightly by Juan Juan, and although she wanted to squeeze in, she couldn't pull her hand away, so she kept jumping up and down outside the crowd.
It's so lively!
Seeing Jiang Guiying carrying a bowl in one hand and leading two children back to Courtyard No. 3, Guan Yuehe climbed down the ladder.
Aunt Hu was bringing back a bowl of cold noodles when she looked at her house and sighed.
"Aunt Hu, what did my house do to offend you?" she asked in a strange tone.
Aunt Hu thought for a moment, then came over and tried to negotiate: "Yuehe, is your little room for rent... Hey, hey, don't go yet, your daughter has a really bad temper, listen to me first."
Aunt Hu couldn't stop her, but followed her into the house. Afraid that Guan Yuehe would kick her out, she quickly said, "Your little room is just sitting empty anyway. Why don't you rent it to me? I'll make the window facing the outside bigger and turn it into a small shop."
To ensure better lighting, Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku decided to keep the back window.
Who knew that Aunt Hu would actually take a liking to the location of her small room and want to rent it to open a shop?!
That's really daring.
If we're talking about good location, then the gatehouse of Courtyard No. 1 is the best. After all, as long as you live in Ginkgo Hutong, you have to pass through the gatehouse whenever you go out, so it would be perfect to set up a general store there.
But the young couple who lived in the gatehouse had only moved in six months ago, and the woman was still in her postpartum period. No matter who it was, even if they coveted the house, they wouldn't dare to go to their door at this time and make an enemy.
Aunt Hu felt a little uneasy under his gaze, and chuckled awkwardly, "If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. I'm getting embarrassed by your staring."
"How could that be? You're really shameless! Use it to render oil, and you won't need to buy fatty pork to render oil for the rest of the year!"
Aunt Hu left in anger, and as she walked through the front yard, she almost tripped over the threshold.
When Lin Yiku came back that night, he also had cold noodles. Seeing how much he enjoyed them, Guan Yuehe couldn't resist taking a piece of peach shortbread from the cupboard to eat with him.
"Do you think our alley will turn into a food alley in the future?"
Lin Yiku looked up at her and saw that her eyes were full of expectation. She guessed that she was already thinking that she wouldn't have to travel so far to the state-run restaurants anymore.
"The only delicious food we've found so far is Aunt Quan's cold noodles."
These words were like a bucket of cold water being poured over Guan Yuehe, bringing her back to her senses. Indeed, in this alley, besides Aunt Quan's cold noodles, there were four other not-so-great steamed bun breakfast stalls!
She was so busy thinking about the delicious food and replying to Shenghua's letter that she completely forgot to tell Lin Yiku that she and Sitian wanted to sign up for the car factory's social dance party.
In the evening, after watching TV, washing up, and finishing her studies, Guan Yuehe was writing a letter while giggling to herself, which made Lin Yiku turn his head to look at her several times.
Suddenly, he remembered his comrades-in-arms in the south.
Yuehe said that her college class monitor and roommate finally replied to her letter, muttering that they had lost contact after graduation and he didn't know what she had been doing all these years.
If a soldier doesn't contact the outside world for an extended period of time and doesn't talk about his work or life, he has most likely been assigned to a classified mission.
Some people will return to a normal life after a few years, while others may...
"Lin Yiku, help me find a photo, a picture of the two of us from our wedding banquet. I remember there was one that was printed twice. Send it to Shenghua to take a look."
She wanted to clarify to all her roommates with whom she had lost contact and then reconnected: she really didn't date her handsome neighbor when she was in school, but they did get married!
Lin Yiku got up and went to rummage through the drawers next to the bookshelf to remind her to stop wagging her tail.
Guan Yuehe didn't listen. Little did she know, her college roommates were all show-offs.
She filled five pages with her writing, and when she looked at the time, it was almost midnight.
We were still not satisfied.
She was already looking forward to a reply even before the letter was sent.
—
Guan Yuehe felt that her casual remark had an element of "good luck" involved.
On Tuesday morning, the breakfast stalls at the entrance of the alley had undergone a major change.
There used to be four breakfast stalls, but now Aunt Xu is frying dough sticks, Aunt Chen is selling noodles with soybean paste, and the remaining matchmaker Liu and another aunt are still selling steamed buns.
Aunt Chen's steamed buns are so-so, but her noodles with soybean paste are pretty good. Aunt Xu's fried dough sticks... are alright too. After all, everyone's short on oil, so how bad can fried food be? You could even fry a shoe sole in and it'd be fragrant.
Guan Yuehe believes that Ginkgo Hutong will soon become a "food alley".
She left home later than Lin Yiku, but still went out with him to buy breakfast and escorted him to the alley entrance.
We just saw someone off today, and now we're welcoming Gu Mannian, as well as Gu Yu sitting on the small seat on the front of the bicycle and Juan Juan sitting on the back.
My second brother and sister-in-law called to say they wanted to take Juanjuan back home. Her mother said that children can play anywhere, so they might as well let her stay in the city for the whole summer vacation and then send her back before the start of the new school term.
So Juanjuan stayed.
The two sisters spend time together every day, either living in Ginkgo Hutong or in the Zhuoyue Garment Factory's residential compound. They've become familiar with each other everywhere.
Upon seeing a stall selling fried dough sticks at the entrance of the alley, Gu Yu's mouth watered, and she cried out that she wanted to buy some for her grandmother.
It's obvious that he just wants to eat it!
What a thief!
"It's delicious!" Yuanbao, who lived across the street from her, rushed home with a plate of fried dough sticks in his mouth, his face greasy.
Children only care about what tastes good, while some adults are more concerned about where these breakfast vendors get so much food to sit here and cook.
The other adults who paid for the treats said irritably, "You're so nosy, why don't you worry about whether the public toilet in front is clean or not?"
"You... ugh, could you please not say such filthy things while I'm eating?"
Guan Yuehe frowned in disgust. Exactly! Can't they even shut up?! Who cares where they got it from? Even Officer Song came in uniform to buy it, which means there's nothing wrong with it!
Guan Yuehe cursed under her breath as she left for work, choosing only shady spots to ride her bike.
"Good morning, sir!"
Just as the old man in the security room was about to respond to her greeting, he saw her greet the cleaning lady as well: "Good morning, ma'am."
This new female colleague, who had only been there for a short time, became familiar to him within a week because she greeted him every day. Later, he learned that this woman, who looked like she had only been working for a few years, was actually a department head and had a high degree.
Director Guan is quite outgoing and friendly.
Director Guan parked his bicycle and strode quickly up the stairs, taking three steps at a time, quickly leaving his colleagues behind.
She felt she was early today, arriving at the office a full ten minutes ahead of time, whereas she used to be someone who arrived at work right on time!
But some people arrived before her; several colleagues wearing shirts and carrying briefcases were already waiting in the corridor outside her office.
Sure enough, as soon as she entered the office, before she even sat down, there was a knock on the door.
"Director, we're from Jiangsu Province. We submitted our application for a Sino-foreign joint venture last month..."
"Oh, I remember. Please come in and have a seat." Guan Yuehe calmly invited them in. There was no water provided; she was the only one in the office and was too busy to help everyone. She thought they should get their own water, but then remembered she hadn't had time to get any, so she decided against it.
"What's the situation now?" Guan Yuehe asked as she precisely located the information about Jiangsu Province's application for a Sino-foreign joint venture in the filing cabinet.
Actually, she was also feeling a bit dizzy. Most of the applications for Sino-foreign joint ventures across the country fell under her purview. She hadn't even been working there for a month, so how could she be familiar with everything so quickly?
But as long as she doesn't panic, no one can tell that she's unfamiliar with the place.
Fortunately, after a busy morning, another colleague in the office finally came to report for duty.
Director An brought the person over. "Comrade Gao Zhiyuan was transferred from the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and just arrived today. This is the Director Guan Yuehe I told you about."
As always, Director An was concise and to the point. After introducing them to each other, he asked Guan Yuehe to directly assign work tasks, adding, "New comrades will be joining at the end of the year, so you two should familiarize yourselves with the work as soon as possible."
After the leader left, Guan Yuehe and Gao Zhiyuan exchanged awkward smiles.
Okay, I see, this person doesn't seem to know how to say polite things.
That suited her perfectly.
Gao Zhiyuan thought so too, and felt that although his new leader looked young, he should be easy to get along with and seemed like someone who could get things done.
He wasn't wrong.
He had just tidied his desk when Guan Yuehe brought him a bundle of documents.
“Since you’re new here, take a look at the materials first to familiarize yourself with them. This one,” Guan Yuehe patted the top of the book, “Law on Sino-Foreign Joint Ventures,” “I suggest you read it when you have time.”
She doesn't like being "number one" anymore.
Whether she was among the first batch of worker-peasant-soldier college students, the first batch of graduate students, or the first batch of newcomers to this office, she always felt that she was always taking the path of "starting from scratch," always feeling her way across the river by touching the stones.
But no matter what, with the arrival of new colleagues, a significant portion of her workload has been shared.
Her family can clearly feel her good mood when she comes home from get off work recently.
"I'm so happy, a new colleague has joined the office." Guan Yuehe looked at Guan Yuehua across from her. The upright official looked preoccupied today, and she wondered what he was thinking.
Gu Mannian explained to her, "Your sister is considering where to work in the future."
"Besides the courts, procuratorates, and judicial bureaus, where else?" Guan Yuehe thought her sister would definitely choose one of these two systems.
"Her classmate plans to work for a joint venture."
I almost forgot about this. Guan Yuehe thought about it seriously; maybe her sister really would choose to go to the joint venture.
"As far as I know, the lawyers involved in Sino-foreign joint venture hotel projects charge by the hour. One hour's salary is probably equivalent to a month's wages for an average worker."
Gu Mannian was shocked. This is so profitable?!
"Yes, it made me want to switch careers right then and there," Guan Yuehe said with great regret.
Gu Mannian didn't believe a word she said. If she really wanted to change careers, she would have done so long ago.
"It's strange that I'm still worrying about what job to choose in the future," Jiang Guiying said as she chatted with Aunt Fang at their doorstep.
In the past, we were just grateful to have any job at all, but now we can even choose whichever one we want.
"That's why I say, talent is talent."
After saying that, Aunt Fang waved her fan and said, "Teacher Xie is off work."
Xie Zhenhua is now an expert in materials research and development at the automobile factory. Everyone at the factory calls him Team Leader Xie, but in Ginkgo Hutong, the neighbors still call him Teacher Xie.
Xie Zhenhua forced a smile and greeted her, but then seemed lost in thought about some difficult problem, almost bumping into Tingting who was about to run out.
"Dad, there's cold noodles on the table. I'm going to find Yuanbao."
Jiang Guiying and Aunt Fang watched him enter the house before saying, "Looks like he's been busy tackling difficult problems at the factory; his hair is turning white."
Before Guan Yuehe returned home, Jiang Guiying pulled her aside and examined her hair. Guan Yuehe was so frightened that she thought someone in the family had caught lice, which was why her mother came to check her hair.
In the end, all I was told was, "It's fine, you haven't grown any gray hairs."
Guan Yuehe snorted. She was so young, and with all the good food, drink, and sleep, of course she wouldn't have any gray hair!
That evening, Guan Yuehe told Lin Yiku about signing up for the social dance party, and casually asked, "Are you free to go during the National Day holiday?"
Lin Yiku finally understood why Lin Sitian had repeatedly asked him if he was free during the National Day holiday this year.
He really wanted to go with Yuehe, but he simply didn't have the time.
"It's okay, there will be other opportunities in the future. The car factory can't just hold this once... Did you hear anything?"
Guan Yuehe frowned and pricked up her ears. The sound was coming from the backyard of No. 2 Courtyard. The music was accompanied by the laughter of several children and the embarrassed "ouch" sounds of adults.
Soon, Aunt Hu came back to spread the gossip.
"Chang Zhengyi and Cao Lili are so fashionable. They wear bell-bottoms and high heels and dance some kind of ballroom dance. It's hilarious."
It's just ballroom dancing, what's so funny?
Last year on New Year's Eve, ballroom dancing was still seen at the gala in the Great Hall of the People. Doesn't that mean times have changed and ballroom dancing can once again enter public places?
As for bell-bottoms, they actually started to become popular at the beginning of this year, but few people wear them at school. Guan Yuehe only recently discovered that young men and women are wearing bell-bottoms and high heels.
Guan Yuehe dragged Lin Yiku over to join in the fun, hoping to learn from their experience and see how to dance.
Lin Yiku is usually quite shameless; she used to sneak into the auditorium to watch others attend social dances. But right now, she really wanted to disappear into the ground.
Are you sure we should dress like this too?
He really couldn't imagine what he and Yuehe would look like if they dressed up like Chang Zhengyi and Cao Lili.
Guan Yuehe remained silent.
Chang Zhengyi and Cao Lili were known throughout Ginkgo Hutong for their trendy lifestyle, with permed hair, bell-bottoms, sunglasses, and high heels—they were just as out of touch with the times.
Even Aunt Zhao got her hair permed by them.
Ignoring their attire, Guan Yuehe objectively remarked, "They danced quite well."
Unlike what she saw when she was a child, some men and women dancing together seemed to be scrambling to step on each other's feet.
Men, women, and children from courtyard number two all crowded into Aunt Zhao's house to watch the excitement. The children pushed and shoved each other, laughing and eager to try. The older folks pretended to casually peek, wanting to try but too embarrassed to do so.
Aunt Zhao, however, urged them to follow along and learn, saying, "What's so special about this? Back when the factory held social events, countless young comrades would go dancing. At least several couples would form after just one social dance. If I hadn't gotten married and had children, I would have signed up to participate too."
Grandpa Chang coughed several times, signaling her to stop talking.
But Aunt Zhao pushed her out the door, saying, "There are too many children inside. If you cough, go outside to cough. Erni, why don't you and Hongchang dance? You two must have participated in the factory's social dances before, right?"
Jin Hongchang and Wu Erni exchanged a glance, then waved their hands, too embarrassed to go in and learn.
After trying to persuade everyone, no one was willing to follow along. Guan Yuehe, who was outside the circle, was laughing happily, so Aunt Zhao invited her to join in.
"No, no." She wanted to go home and practice secretly before saying anything.
Unfortunately, she and Lin Yiku were all brawn and no brains, but not very agile.
After stepping on each other's feet again, the two looked up at each other for a few seconds and, without prior agreement, temporarily gave up on dancing.
But Guan Yuehe still planned to go to the ball with Lin Sitian.
"Let's just buy a bottle of soda and sit next to them and watch them dance. It's no fun dancing by ourselves."
Before she could continue trying to find excuses to persuade Lin Sitian, Lin Sitian immediately nodded, "That's right, just watch others dance."
Lin Sitian was also feeling guilty. She tried to jump for a while and stepped on Chen Lizhong's feet several times.
It's one thing to step on Chen Lizhong, but let's spare Yuehe's foot.
Neither of them had considered buying fashionable bell-bottoms for the social gathering.
The young people in Ginkgo Hutong practice dancing at home after get off work.
Some people don't want to train, but are pressured by their families.
For example, Bai Yuejin of Courtyard No. 2.
When Aunt Bai says she wants to introduce potential partners to Bai Yuejin and Bai Xianghong, she means it.
After their first relationships fell apart, the brother and sister threw themselves into their work, as if they wouldn't settle down until they made a name for themselves, which made Aunt Bai very anxious.
Sure enough, as soon as the car factory announced that they were going to hold a social dance party, Aunt Bai quickly submitted their names.
Bai Yuejin didn't want to attend the dance, but he forced himself to learn to dance.
Guan Yuehe herself wasn't good at dancing, but when she saw others dancing poorly, she would laugh at them.
She quickly stopped laughing.
As soon as August arrived, after the news broke that the state had decided to establish four special economic zones, Guan Yuehe's office phone rang incessantly.
Sometimes I had too much work to do that day, so I had to stay and work overtime. There were also a few times when I ran into Lin Yiku outside the alley after get off work.
They had completely forgotten about practicing dancing.
Jiang Guiying originally wanted to urge Guan Yuehe to have a child soon, but seeing that they were both busy from early morning to late at night, she swallowed her words of urging them to have a child.
Guan Yuehua came to pick up Gu Yu and Juan Juan after get off work. She heard Jiang Guiying worrying that if Guan Yuehe had been born a few years later, she would have developed health problems.
Guan Yuehua replied, "I was twenty-nine or thirty when I gave birth to Guyu, and I'm still perfectly fine. Guan Yuehe is even better off than me; you're just worrying unnecessarily."
"Didn't you say you were going to get your hair permed with Aunt Fang? Why haven't you gone yet?" Guan Yuehua didn't want to continue this topic. Before she gave birth to Gu Yu, she also hated people urging her to have children.
"The barbershop is too crowded lately, let's go again in a while."
Two years ago, some people thought that people who permed their hair were frivolous. Now it's different. Waves of young people are heading straight to the hair salon. They're all people who want to keep up with the times. Those who say that perming hair is frivolous are called "old-fashioned".
"Oh, right," Jiang Guiying said, "Your aunt called again to urge us. Weiguo and Qiuyue are coming to the city to visit relatives in a few days, and they'll take Juanjuan back with them on their way."
As soon as she finished speaking, Juanjuan was both happy that her parents had come to pick her up and sad that she couldn't continue playing there. She frowned for a moment and then smiled.
Gu Yu's emotions were very simple. She hugged Guan Yuehua's leg and cried and wailed, "Let my sister stay at my house to play!"
The screaming was so loud that Aunt Fang, wearing an apron, came out to check on the situation.
Why is Guyu crying?
It was Sister-in-law Ding, with whom she rarely interacted, who spoke up.
Sister-in-law Ding laughed and said loudly, "My daughter Er Ya got into university. Her grandma and dad insist on having a meal with relatives and neighbors this Sunday."
“Perfect timing! Aunt Jiang, Aunt Fang, Aunt Xie, you’re all here, so I don’t have to go around telling everyone. Come over for dinner on Sunday!”
Although they weren't particularly close to Aunt Ding, everyone congratulated her when they heard it was to celebrate Er Ya's admission to university, and they all agreed to go over on Sunday.
Aunt Fang: "Do you need our help? If you need to borrow bowls, chopsticks, tables, chairs, or anything else, we can lend you any."
Jiang Guiying and Aunt Xie followed suit, saying they could borrow their own too, and they would go together to help out.
"No need, no need." Sister-in-law Ding smiled even more smugly. "My brother-in-law said he's treating us. He'll have a few tables at the state-run restaurant in Changhu Street. It's already booked. By the way, Yuehua, your family is coming too, and so is Yuehe."
Guan Yuehua didn't nod, as she was busy comforting the crying Gu Yu, but Sister-in-law Ding didn't seem to care.
"Wow, your fifth son is really generous!"
"It's a small token of appreciation from Er Ya's uncle. He said that since only one person in the family has gone to university, it's something to celebrate." Sister-in-law Ding waved her hand. "Alright, I still have to go and deliver the message to the other families."
As soon as she stepped out of the backyard, Aunt Xie snorted, "So what if she got into university? Look how smug she is. My Xie Zhenhua even got a master's degree, and my family didn't even go out to state-run restaurants to treat us."
Neither Jiang Guiying nor Aunt Fang responded. How can two years ago be compared to now?
Besides, Ding Laowu has money now. Even if he treats foreigners to meals at foreign restaurants, that's his skill, and they can't learn it.
But it has to be said, tinkering with old items and selling them is really profitable.
"Traitor, he'll be arrested sooner or later."
When Guan Yuehua returned home, she finally said those words while the two children were playing in the bathroom.
Gu Mannian hissed, "Does Ding Laowu's reselling of old objects count as treason? A relative of mine in my hometown said he sold a broken bowl for a hundred yuan. Does that count as treason?"
"That depends on who your relatives are selling to," Guan Yuehua said. "Selling our ancestors' things to foreign devils, what else is that but treason?"
Gu Mannian was relieved; his relatives back home had sold the produce to a purchasing agent from a state-owned factory who came to the countryside to buy agricultural products.
But a new problem arose: "How do you know he sold the goods to the foreigners?"
"Just guessing. A company reported that its antiques had been stolen. When the police investigated, they found that many of the antiques had been sold to foreigners."
Judging from Ding Laowu's current smugness, he must have made a lot of money. The foreigners offered high prices, so she didn't believe that Ding Laowu hadn't sold the goods to the foreigners.
"Those who study law are really impressive," Gu Mannian praised.
Gu Yu, half-soaked from playing, ran out and suddenly blurted out, "The upright official is really amazing!"
The room was quiet for about ten seconds. Guan Yuehua took a deep breath. This tone of voice that was so offensive was obviously learned from Guan Yuehe.
"Who is the upright and just official?" Juanjuan, who had chased after them, asked.
Gu Mannian, who was standing next to him, was trying his best to hold back his laughter, but he still couldn't help it and laughed out loud twice.
—
On Sunday, the neighbors of No. 3 Ginkgo Hutong all went to the state-run restaurant for dinner. When they returned, they kept praising the Ding family for their generous hospitality.
Only Ding Laowu, who had paid the money, was unhappy. He grabbed his sister-in-law and angrily asked, "Why didn't Guan Yuehua and Guan Yuehe come? Didn't you invite them, sister-in-law?"
Sister-in-law Ding found his behavior inexplicable. The people in question had only a casual relationship with her family and were all married off long ago, so it was normal for them not to come.
But it was Ding Laowu who paid for it. She explained in a gentle tone, "They said they were busy with work and didn't have time. We can't force them to put down their work to come and eat."
Besides, what face does the Ding family have that would make people put down their work to come here for a meal?
Ding Laowu left with a gloomy expression, clutching his briefcase.
"Really..." Sister-in-law Ding pursed her lips and called her daughter, who hadn't said much, to go home.
Dingxiang unconsciously reached into her pocket. Guan's two aunts hadn't come, but Aunt Jiang had secretly slipped her two red envelopes, saying they were from her two aunts.
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