Chapter 88: My relatives are here today, I am here to offer this toast...
Chapter 88: Relatives Arrive
Nowadays, long-distance calls have to be transferred, the signal is not very stable, and the voice is a bit distorted. If it weren't for the loud call of "relatives", Secretary Chen really wouldn't have been able to recognize who it was.
But now, "Ahh, it's my father-in-law, what are you doing..."
Normally, if there is nothing urgent, you shouldn't call, at most you can send a telegram, but the excitement in his voice was mixed with a sense of comfort, it didn't sound like there was any bad news.
Secretary Chen's mind was in turmoil, and he probably guessed what the good news was.
Sure enough, Yan's father laughed out loud, "I have good news for you. The eldest and his wife have both been admitted to university!"
"Also, and also, there's that... Yancheng University, it's so good, it's the best university in the country."
Grandpa Yan and others around were very anxious when they heard this. What he said was not to the point. It was just nonsense. It was a waste of time and money.
"Get out of the way, give me the phone!"
Yan's father was ruthlessly pushed down by his own father.
"Well..." The old man forgot the words in a hurry!
Fortunately, Secretary Chen took over the conversation, and Grandpa Yan finally thought of what to say.
"Yeah, yes, it's your Uncle Yan... Yes, the two kids did well in the exams... That's what happened. I'm going to set up a few tables for the kids, so you in-laws have to come."
Secretary Chen's heart was already flying after the ups and downs.
Guessing she'd get in and knowing for sure she'd gotten in, and to the top university in the country, are two completely different things! Especially since my daughter actually got top marks, even better than my son-in-law.
"Hahaha! Great, great!"
Secretary Chen burst into laughter as soon as he put down the phone.
The team leader, who had just finished arranging the work and came back to drink some water, was startled!
"What's going on? Why are you so happy?"
Secretary Chen turned around twice and said, "Of course it's a good thing. No, I have to announce it on the loudspeaker. The two children are also considered members of our team."
"Attention, members of the brigade, attention, I have good news for you all..."
***
"This... the Yan family's eldest son and his wife both got admitted to Yancheng University?!"
"Oh my god, this is awesome! I was wondering why everyone else got in, but these two haven't made any progress."
Tian Xiaolian dropped the tools in her hands and ran to the brigade headquarters. Uncle Yan did the same as her.
Secretary Chen was just about to tell everyone the news when he saw his wife and others running in.
"Look at him panting so hard, what's the rush?"
Tian Xiaolian glared, went up and twisted it, and said angrily: "Why are you not in a hurry? Tell me quickly, what's going on?"
Others are afraid of him as the secretary, but Tian Xiaolian is not. When she is angry, she will still pinch or twist him.
Secretary Chen grinned but didn't dare to say anything. He quickly said, "Well, Uncle Yan and Brother Yan called to say that our daughter and son-in-law were admitted to Yan University. Didn't the son-in-law go on a mission a while ago and just came back? He said that the two children would hold a banquet to celebrate on the 22nd of this month and invite relatives to Yancheng..."
"It's just right, there's nothing important to do in the fields right now, so I can spare some time.
His second uncle, go back and tell Ruchun and his wife to make arrangements at home and find someone to look after the family and take care of the chickens, ducks, geese, dogs, etc. . . . . . "
"Let's decide who's going, and Jiuru will buy the tickets."
After a chaotic scene, everyone went their separate ways.
***
Looking at the trees and houses flashing by outside the car window, the people in Xinghua Village still felt like they were in a dream.
"Are we going to the capital now?"
The train trudged along for more than a day and a night, and with the delays, it didn't arrive at Yancheng Railway Station until nearly 3:30 the next afternoon.
"Oh my god, my butt is numb." I used to envy people when I heard them say they had never taken a train before, but only after I had taken one did I realize how painful it was.
Wen Weidong, Uncle Yan and Uncle Tian squeezed to the door of the car with backpacks and umbrellas.
"Don't worry, this is the terminal, everyone can get off. Check everything carefully, don't leave anything behind~"
The train conductor was entrusted to look after these people and was very caring along the way.
Seeing them getting off the bus, he did not forget to give them a few words of advice with a smile.
"Thanks a lot, big brother. This is our first time going out. Hehe, I'm so anxious."
Wen Weidong is considered to be the younger one in the group. Other families also have teenagers, but no one feels comfortable bringing their whole family with them to the capital for a banquet, as it would be a laughing stock.
Of course, Ruchun's family of three is an exception. After all, she is his biological sister. Yan's father specifically instructed that his second brother and eldest daughter's family must also come.
Yan Jiuru brought his second brother Rushan and his mother, and specially bought platform tickets to come in to pick them up.
"Ruchun! Second Uncle!"
Yan Jiuru also waved excitedly and called for help, squeezing forward with his second brother and his mother.
The train stopped a little too far forward, and I was originally waiting in carriage number five, but ended up being more than one carriage away.
There were quite a lot of people who bought platform tickets and came in to pick up the passengers. When they squeezed through the crowd, people from Xinghua Village just got off the bus.
"Dad! Second Uncle!"
"Uncle, why didn't my aunt and grandma come?"
"Oh, didn't you say not to bring anything? It's so troublesome to come all this way."
"Hurry, go home!"
After a brief greeting, Yan Jiuru quickly asked everyone to leave the station.
Secretary Chen looked at his son-in-law: Well, not bad!
My son-in-law has become more handsome and taller in the past two years. He originally had a bit of the rusticity of the village, but now it has been completely ingrained in his bones.
However, one can still see a bit of sharpness and arrogance in his eyes and eyebrows. In short, everyone who sees him feels that he is not easy to mess with.
***
Fourteen people came to Xinghua Village and settled in the house in Kuihua Hutong. Since they were close to each other, they couldn't help crying, laughing and playing together.
Once everyone has cleaned up, it's time to eat.
Yan Jiuru couldn't let his mother prepare meals for so many people, so he simply invited everyone to a nearby restaurant for a private meal.
Although eating out costs a bit of money, you don’t have to work hard and don’t have to wash dishes and clean up afterwards, which is quite convenient.
When we got home, it was still light outside and everyone couldn't help but visit the front and back yards.
"This house is so spacious and big!"
After showing the relatives around, Dad and Grandpa Yan even went to see their own backyard. "This piece of land was originally used to grow flowers, but last year we turned it all over to grow vegetables."
The team leader and Uncle Yan took a special look at the leveled vegetable patch and ridges, and couldn't help but point out: "This vegetable patch is too short, not even as high as the ridges. These ridges are too narrow to hold water, and the potatoes have to be exposed..."
Father Yan coughed lightly twice and said defensively, "I was too busy the past two days, so I just made a sample first. I'll start over after I'm done with the work in a few days."
The team leader said bluntly: "What kind of work are you doing? We farmers can do anything but farming. You have less work to do since you came to the city. You have degenerated."
"Where has it degenerated? It's because they were working in the dark and didn't see clearly. Jiuru came back a few days ago and said it was dark too. That's why they pulled a light in the back garden."
The men were arguing in the back garden, but Aunt Yan and her mother-in-law didn't want to listen, so they turned around and went back to the front.
***
Aunt Yan and Tian Xiaolian each held their eldest grandson in their arms, smiling from ear to ear.
This one asked: "Zhuangzhuang, do you still remember grandma?"
The one holding candy teased the child: "Hu Zi calls me grandma."
Zhuangzhuang was still young when he left the village and he has forgotten it a lot.
However, they are close relatives after all, and it didn't take long for me to become familiar with my grandma, grandpa, aunt and others.
He fluttered his little arms and legs in his grandma's arms, "Grandma, candy, candy!"
Seeing that Grandma Tian was about to give some candy, Chen Yin hurriedly stopped her and said, "Mom, please don't give it to her. If you eat too much, your teeth will be damaged.
There are a lot of people at home these days, so I give one to this person and one to that person. My pockets are full of candy every morning and evening!"
Zhuangzhuang was exposed in public by his mother. He snorted twice, twisted his butt, buried his face in his grandmother's arms, and turned his butt to his mother.
Grandma Tian's heart melted. She patted her grandson's back and muttered, "Okay, we won't eat anymore. Let's save our little belly for the big feast tomorrow."
Even though Grandma Tian dares to bully her own husband, she is a little afraid of her eldest daughter, which is quite unfair.
Alas, every family has someone they can’t afford to offend, and in her family, that person is the eldest daughter.
Maybe because she is the eldest in the family, she has been in charge of things since she was young. In the words of the old lady in the family: Chen Yin's face is tense, and she is in charge of everything, including the couple.
Over there, the mother-in-law, Aunt Yan, also put the candies in her pocket awkwardly. She couldn't help herself and gave a lot of candies to her little grandson during the past half day...
They all lay down to rest at night.
Tian Xiaolian poked her husband and said, "Hey, why is our daughter becoming more and more... what's wrong with her?"
Secretary Chen was worried about everyone's safety and their eating, drinking, and defecation along the way, which was more tiring than physical work. He was almost asleep now.
Being woken up by someone next to me, I could only mumble a response: "Isn't it great? Go to sleep, I'm sleepy..."
"Sleep, sleep, just sleep." Tian Xiaolian felt sorry for her man, so she muttered and gradually fell asleep.
***
The day for setting up the banquet has arrived.
Yan Jiuru arranged for a taxi to take everyone to Yancheng Hotel around eleven o'clock.
In addition to the dozen or so people from my hometown, there were more than twenty neighbors, plus people from the two people's unit, and some educated youth from the village who had returned to Yancheng, as well as several people from the cowshed. They somehow got to know the news and came with their families.
There was also the Xue family who sold the house to them, Secretary Chen's former comrades-in-arms and old leaders, and so on. There was no room for the six tables originally planned. Fortunately, two tables were prepared, and a table was added temporarily for the children, so they were able to sit down.
There are twelve main dishes in total: braised sea cucumber, baked crab with egg yolk, blanched large prawns, stewed sea fish with pork belly, braised lamb, stewed beef brisket with tomatoes, crispy chicken, braised pork, fruit wood roast duck, braised lion head, boiled cabbage, and sweet and sour shredded red and green radish.
Two soups: beef and water shield soup, pig's trotter and soybean soup.
There are also four snacks: egg tarts, milkshake fried buns, chive and egg pot stickers, and pea yellow.
The staple food is steamed buns and rice.
The person who gave the opening speech at the banquet was not Yan Jiuru and Chen Yin, but Secretary Chen.
After Yan Jiuru's introduction, Secretary Chen stood up, holding his glass, and said to everyone with a loud smile, "I'm here today to give this congratulatory speech. Originally, my father-in-law should have said it first, but he was so nervous that he kept running to the bathroom~"
"Hahaha..." Everyone clapped and laughed, and the atmosphere suddenly became a lot more relaxed.
"Oh, he spent half the night reciting the lyrics yesterday, but we still managed to catch them. It shows that good things never come late! Hahaha..."
Everyone laughed until they cried.
Secretary Chen changed the subject and said, "Today's protagonists are my daughter and son-in-law, both of whom are from the Xinghua Village Brigade of the Red Star Commune in our northern province.
Like other children in the village, he has been hardworking and simple since he was a child. As the eldest child in the family, he started helping the family by doing what he could when he was three or four years old.
When the adults went to the fields, they had to look after their younger brothers and sisters, feed the chickens and ducks, and help their parents, who had worked all day, pour a bowl of water to quench their thirst, or scoop water to wash their hands and faces;
When someone comes to visit while the adults are away, they learn to greet them and serve them tea and water...
Secretary Chen choked up, tears welling in his eyes. He paused for a moment before continuing, "The elders keep saying that if you don't study, you'll be blind and unaware of being deceived. They studied hard in school and have always had good grades. Even during the years of unrest at school, they studied hard and never ranked outside the top five on exams. If admissions hadn't been suspended, they would have been admitted to university long ago."
"Not only are they good at studying, they are also good at militia training. The children in the village have been running up and down the mountains and rivers since they were young. They have good physical fitness, train hard, and have outstanding results. They have become elite members of the militia and have even joined the Party..."
"Fortunately, the country has foresight and the university has reopened. Opportunities always favor those who are prepared. They walked all the way from the village to Yancheng, and now they have been admitted to Yancheng University. This has been their long-cherished wish!"
"As a father and father-in-law, I'm proud and happy to have such children. I also hope that they will not forget their original aspirations and where they came from, study hard, train diligently, and always be ready to contribute their own strength to the country and the people!"
Secretary Chen specially changed into a set of clothes that were almost new today, and he still wore black cloth shoes. There was white frost on his temples, but he looked energetic and his voice was clear, which made people in the hall and the box on the second floor admire him a little.
"Jiuru, this father-in-law, is quite something!"
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