Just when Huang Xinli and his parents were discussing what gifts to bring to Yue City for the New Year this year, and how to invite people to Shanghai City for a treat when Lin's parents were free, Lin Shugan was standing on duty at the door of the office of the highest leader in the government building.
After completing the recruit training, he was assigned to an agency as a security guard for the upper level.
A month had passed by now, and he had almost adapted to his new life. Compared to his comrades who had been assigned to combat squads, platoons, and field units, his current life could even be described as happy.
Chen Chunhua and Lin Guoqing felt relieved after knowing that he was assigned to be a guard. They also said that they could go and see him when they were free during the Chinese New Year.
This year is destined to be very busy. Lin Shuying also called to ask if they would like to go to Shanghai to have dinner with their future in-laws. If all goes well, they will bring people back to their village to have New Year's Eve dinner together.
Chen Chunhua and Lin Guoqing discussed whether they should finish their work arrangements and leave early. They would first go to Shanghai to have dinner with their eldest daughter, then stop by Jiang County to visit their second son. Qiu Sheng and Zhong Hui were also in Jiang Province, so they wondered if they were close to Shukao. If they were, they could go and visit them.
Perhaps because she is getting older, Chen Chunhua clearly feels that she always misses her old friends when she has free time in the past two years.
…
"Xiao Lin, I have a meeting soon. Please tell my wife that I won't be home for dinner. And this bag contains some fresh seafood from my hometown. Please take it back with me."
"Yes, Chief!"
Lin Shu saluted, then walked out of the building in an orderly manner and headed towards the military compound not far away.
The chief's wife was a very gentle aunt, who looked only a few years older than his mother. When Lin Shugan first arrived, she invited him to have two meals with her.
"Aunt Shen, the chief said he won't be back for dinner today," Lin Shu hurried to the compound and respectfully handed over the specialty package in his hand.
"And this, it's said to be sent from the chief's hometown. Please keep it."
Aunt Shen took it with a smile, and there was still some complaint about her husband in her words.
"Why didn't he tell me earlier? I've already cooked dinner... Xiaolin, why don't you stay and have dinner with the three of us?"
"No, no, no, this is against the rules..."
"What's wrong with this..."
…
Lin Shugan was finally invited to stay for dinner. Aunt Shen called her husband's office, and the secretary answered the phone and said she would convey the message.
The leader has a son and a daughter. The son is 18 years old, the same age as Lin Shugan, but Lin Shugan is a month older. He is studying at a local university. The other daughter is 15 years old and is in high school.
Everyone was of similar age, and the two young people didn't act like young masters or young ladies. They had been chatting happily and were now calling each other "Shugan Ge".
"Brother Shugan, when you came to school to give me something a few days ago, my classmates asked if you were my brother! Then I realized that you and my brother really do look a bit like each other!"
15-year-old Jiang Miao tilted her head and looked at Lin Shugan and her brother Jiang He, shaking her head and nodding.
"No, my classmates probably thought we looked alike, so they said you were my brother's... Hey, you look a lot like my mom too!"
Jiang He drank a mouthful of chicken soup and felt so warm that he felt lazy all over.
"Why don't you say that Shugange looks like an old man?"
Jiang Miao shook his head. "That's not true. We both have some similarities with our father, but Shugan-ge only looks like our mother."
"It's possible that my grandma's ancestors are from the same family, hahaha..."
Neither of them has ever seen anyone from their grandmother's side of the family. Their mother doesn't want to talk about it, so they ask their father. His father says there aren't many people there anymore, so they get curious occasionally.
Lin Shu hurriedly looked at Aunt Shen, who was the first person on the table. In fact, he felt a sense of familiarity when he saw Aunt Shen for the first time. He had been to his aunt's house in Shanghai with his parents, and he also knew that he had an older aunt outside.
However, he occasionally heard Chief Jiang call her... Xiaohua? Was it Chen Xiahua?
Chen Xiahua also looked over at Lin Shu. The young man who looked a bit like her was actually more like the little girl in her memory. Or perhaps a more handsome version of the little girl who had grown up.
When she left, the girl was only 13 years old.
Her eyebrows moved slightly and she smiled.
"Is Shugan from Yue City, Zhejiang Province?"
Lin Shugan put down his chopsticks, sat up straight and nodded, "Yes." It was no different from answering the leader's questions.
Chen Xiahua smiled again, "Don't be so serious, we're just chatting about family matters."
Lin Shugan was also a little nervous. He grabbed his pants at the knees with both hands and rubbed them carefully.
"...I'm from Yue City, but my family is in the countryside of Yue City, which happens to border the provincial capital. We're from Qingjiang Town, Shanyin County, and right next to it is Su County, the provincial capital."
As he spoke, his conversation became smoother and at the end he grinned, as if it was intentional and yet unintentional.
"There are many intermarriages between our two sides. My mother married from Su County. She has the same surname as you, Chen.
Her name is Chen Chunhua."
***
Ever since Chen Chunhua bought a car, Liang Shengdi no longer had to row a boat for two hours to pick up her children from school, and the children no longer had to sit in her boat and sway in the cold wind to get back.
This made Liang Shengdi not very happy.
Originally, when she rowed her boat to the city, she could sell some fish and shrimps on the way, and chat with the old men and women about their daily lives. With the money she earned, she could buy some snacks for herself and her granddaughter, and eat and chat on the way back.
Now, if she were asked to go on a special trip, she would find it too far, and there would be no one to eat or talk with her on the way back. But if she was not allowed to go on a trip, she would feel a little empty.
She felt that she was a bit of a slut, but she also wondered if she was being disliked?
In the past, people were looked down upon for not working, but now people are also looked down upon for wanting to work?
Liang Shengdi was really unhappy and even ate half a bowl less of dinner today.
This is a very serious matter in their family.
"Mom, are you feeling unwell today?" Lin Guoqing asked with a frown. He didn't suspect that the food was not tasty, because his mother would rather suffer the pain of her tongue than her stomach.
"If you're not feeling well, just tell me. Don't hold it in. Let's go to the hospital. It's a quick drive there."
When she heard about driving over, Liang Shengdi shook her head unhappily.
"No, I get carsick."
Lin Shumei exclaimed, "Grandma, weren't you happy when we went to Qiu Lake in the car last time? Didn't you get carsick?"
Liang Shengdi curled her lips. "I mean dizzy. I just started feeling dizzy these past two days. The gasoline smell is terrible! It's not as comfortable as being on the boat."
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