When Zhou Yu walked out of the train station with his bag and returned to his hometown, Xiangcheng City, it was already past 11 o'clock at night.

Zhou Yu's hometown, Xiangcheng, is a typical resource-depleted city, just like Hegang in Heilongjiang Province in the past. As local coal resources gradually dried up, the local economy also became increasingly backward.

However, Xiangcheng is now seeking a path to transformation.

Xiangcheng's urban area is not large, it can even be said to be very small. Even though Zhou Yu's home is in the suburbs, it only takes 5 minutes to get home by taxi from the train station in the city center.

It was already late at night, and there were still motorcycle taxis and black cars soliciting passengers outside the train station. When they saw Zhou Yu walking out of the station, they all surrounded him and asked him where he was going.

"Handsome guy, where are you going? Are you going to Suixi? Suixi is 20 kilometers away, and you only need one person to leave immediately. Are you going?"

"Where are you going, young man? Do you want a car to take you there?"

"But how's Suixi? I'm going back to Suixi, so I'd like to stop by and take a look back."

...

...

Zhou Yu had no choice but to stop and explain to the black car drivers who were swarming around him like flies, "No, my home is behind Xiangshan Mountain, not to Suixi."

Many illegal taxi drivers immediately scattered. Seeing that there were other drivers who wanted to come forward, they waved their hands and drove them away, "You are so stupid! Go back! Home is behind Renxiang Mountain!"

Zhou Yu skillfully avoided these illegal taxi drivers. He walked to the shopping mall opposite the train station, hailed a taxi, and returned to his long-awaited home.

With a "bang", Zhou Yu paid the money and got out of the car. After closing the door, the taxi drove away.

The sound of the car door closing was followed by a burst of barking from the yard in front of the door. "Woof woof woof woof!" A dog came out from the iron gate and barked at Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu shouted softly, "Ah Huang, stop shouting!"

Hearing Zhou Yu's scolding, the little yellow dog stood there for a while, and then, as if it had gone mad, it pounced on Zhou Yu while whimpering.

“Oh my god!”

The little yellow dog supported itself with its two hind legs and placed its two front paws on Zhou Yu's body. Zhou Yu happily stroked the head of the dog that he had raised for four or five years.

The sound of the dog barking suddenly lit up the lights in the house which was already pitch black.

With a creaky sound, the door was pushed open.

"Zhou Yu?" A woman with half-white hair poked half of her head out from behind the door and asked softly.

Hearing that familiar voice, Zhou Yu immediately smiled and said softly, "Mom, it's me!"

......

The little yellow dog lay quietly on the kitchen floor in the yard, looking at the hostess and the little master sitting at the dining table, wagging its tail from time to time to show its happy mood at the moment.

"Eat slowly! Don't be in a hurry!" Wang Yufang looked at the son that the old couple was proud of with a gentle face, and couldn't help but complain, "You are really something, it takes more than 6 hours by train from Jiangcheng to our home, and you don't even know to eat at school before coming back!"

"It's too late!" Zhou Yu lifted his head out of the bowl full of noodles, looked at his mother and smiled, "It's too late to eat! Burp!"

"Slow down! No one is trying to snatch the food from you!" Wang Yufang saw that Zhou Yu was choking, so she stepped forward and patted Zhou Yu's back gently. "Even if you don't have time to eat at school, there will be nothing to eat on the train? Can't you buy something to eat on the train?"

"You've been hungry all the way, be careful not to get hungry! You're still young, you must not have any problems with your stomach! If there's something wrong with your stomach, you may have problems everywhere when you get older!"

"There's nothing good to eat on the train! They only sell mineral water, eight-treasure porridge, instant noodles and the like!" Zhou Yu took a bite of the poached egg, and the orange-red liquid immediately flowed into the bowl of noodles. In a hurry, Zhou Yu quickly stuffed the whole egg into his mouth.

Zhou Yu swallowed the egg whole, and then continued, "By the way, where's my dad? He's not at home?"

Wang Yufang picked up a glass, poured a glass of water, and placed it next to Zhou Yu. He looked at his son and said softly, "Your father is not at home. He is on the late night shift today."

Zhou Yu paused holding the chopsticks, then continued to shovel noodles into his mouth. While eating, he chatted with his mother, "My dad doesn't need to work the night shift at his age, right? Did the foreman arrange it for him?"

Seeing that her son had misunderstood, Wang Yufang quickly explained, "No way, it wasn't arranged by the foreman, it was your father who took the initiative to ask for it!"

"My dad asked for it?" Zhou Yu asked in surprise. "The night shift is so exhausting and harmful to the body, but my dad asked for it? What was he thinking?"

Zhou Yu was a little angry. He couldn't understand what his father Zhou Dahai was thinking. He obviously didn't have to work the night shift, but he still asked to work it. This is not the way to promote style. Hadn't he worked enough night shifts when he was young?

Wang Yufang saw that Zhou Yu was a little angry, so she quickly explained, "Isn't this because you have already entered society and started working?"

"You should find a partner soon, get married, have children, and all that costs money! Also, your uncle told me last time that house prices are rising dramatically now!"

"The betrothal gift costs money, the three golds cost money, and buying a house also costs money. It just so happens that the night shift unit now offers an extra subsidy of 100, so your father took the initiative to apply for it."

"Your father and I are thinking about earning a little more before we retire so that we can save up a house for you in Xiangshan!"

Zhou Yu was a little dazed listening to his mother's words.

After a long while, he pulled the corners of his mouth, revealed a forced smile, looked at his mother Wang Yufang, and said, "It's my own business, why do you need to work so hard? When my dad comes back tomorrow, I will talk to him and tell him to stop working so hard. His health is the most important thing!"

Wang Yufang disagreed with Zhou Yu's words and retorted, "What do you mean by your own business? Go ask the villagers. If any young man says that, his parents' spines will be broken!"

"It's only natural for parents to help their children get married and start a career! Why don't you care about us? Don't say that in front of your dad, or he'll beat you up!"

"Mom, I've already started working!" Zhou Yu said, "My company doesn't charge for food and lodging, and it even pays me! The benefits are great! So, you really don't have to do this, you can just wait and enjoy the good life in the future!"

When Wang Yufang heard Zhou Yu talk about his unit, the wrinkles on her face instantly smoothed out. She said happily, "I heard you talk about it the last time you called me. Does the school you mentioned really offer such good treatment? Does it have dormitories and a canteen with free meals?"

Zhou Yu nodded repeatedly, "It's true, mom! The leaders of the school where I did my internship were very nice to us teachers. We don't have to worry about our lives at all. We just need to teach peacefully!"

Wang Yufang nodded with satisfaction. As the top student in the class for many years and the first 211 university student in the village, Zhou Yu has been the pride of Wang Yufang and Zhou Dahai since childhood.

Wang Yufang said earnestly, "Since the school is taking such good care of you, you must work hard and don't let the leaders down!"

Zhou Yu nodded, and after swallowing the last mouthful of noodles, he said, "I know, Mom. Let me tell you, I am still the head teacher of a senior high school graduating class! The students in our class..."

Zhou Yu excitedly talked to his mother Wang Yufang about some interesting things in school. Although Wang Yufang did not understand some of what Zhou Yu said, she still sat there quietly, looking at Zhou Yu with a smile in her eyes.