Zhao's mother, her face flushed with excitement, leaned close to his ear and whispered something. Zhao's father frowned and said, "What did you say? Speak louder!"
Zhao's mother pinched him and said, "Xiao Wei agreed to marry your son and even took the initiative to propose changing her surname to Zhao out of patriotism."
Mr. Zhao stood there, rubbing his hands excitedly, unable to believe it. Mrs. Zhao said, "You should leave work early today, let's go pick up our grandson." She proudly puffed out her chest and raised her voice, "Let's pick up our own grandson!" Mr. Zhao just nodded repeatedly, stopping Mrs. Zhao who was about to turn and leave, saying, "Old woman, wait a minute, I need to hand over my work. I'll go back with you. We need to go out and buy our grandson some nice things so he'll like us old folks right away."
He turned and walked away, faster and faster, until he was gone in a flash. Zhao's mother smiled and whispered, "That old man! He said I didn't have any depth."
Before long, Zhao's father, beaming with pride, carried five pounds of pork, a lump of frozen ribbonfish, a bag of apples, and two pounds of biscuits—their New Year's bonus. As he walked, he said, "We were originally given wheat flour and cornmeal, but this year, since we have a child at home, I changed it to biscuits. These are made by our own food factory; they're delicious!"
Zhao's mother took some things and the elderly couple hurriedly went home. After settling their things, Zhao's father took a sip of water and slapped his thigh, saying, "I'll go buy some chicken feet and pig's trotters. Those things are soft and tender, the kids love to eat them, and they won't get stuck in their teeth."
Zhao's mother knew that he and his father had connections with the meat processing plant, so she didn't say anything and let him go.
She carefully washed and dressed herself, put on a new set of clothes and perfume, and waited for her father to come back. He brought her eight pig trotters, a bag of chicken feet, two catties of mutton and four carp.
When Zhao's father saw that Zhao's mother had cleaned everything up, he remembered that he had also washed himself, trimmed his beard, combed his hair, and put on his scarf and hat again. The two of them then started walking towards the nursery.
Qi Aiguo's appearance was inherited from the Qi family; he had big eyes and double eyelids, making him a strikingly beautiful child in that era.
The two of them stood outside the daycare, watching longingly. After more than half an hour, people started to leave. Then they saw Wei Shuqing and Zhao Dahu approaching from afar. When they got closer, Zhao Dahu said, "Shuqing, these are my dad and mom!"
Wei Shuqing quickly greeted them, "Hello, Uncle and Aunt."
The two of them were beaming with joy and said, "Okay, okay!" Then they said, "Well, I was thinking you guys go buy some things today, and we'll come pick up Aiguo."
Wei Shuqing nodded gratefully and said thank you. It was clear that the elderly couple genuinely loved Aiguo. When the aunt brought the person out, she told the aunt, "These are Aiguo's grandparents and father. They might come to pick him up in the future too."
After the aunt confirmed, she nodded to indicate that she understood. Wei Shuqing said to Aiguo, "Aiguo, be a good boy and call him grandpa and grandma."
Patriot said in a childish voice, "Hello, Grandpa and Grandma."
The elderly couple's eyes welled up with tears, and they nodded hurriedly. Shuqing said, "Mom is going to go shopping with Uncle. Can you go home with Grandpa and Grandma first? Mom will pick you up in a bit."
Aiguo nodded, knowing that Shuqing was busy and that this period of time had allowed him to get used to dealing with different people. He simply reminded her, "Mom, remember to pick me up."
Wei Shuqing patted his head and said, "Okay, go on!"
Mr. Zhao quickly picked up the child and walked away with Mrs. Zhao, heads held high and chests puffed out.
Zhao Dahu and Wei Shuqing watched their backs as they walked away. A short while later, they saw Aiguo being carried on Zhao's father's shoulders. Zhao Dahu even laughed and said, "When I was little, I used to sit on my dad's shoulders like this."
Wei Shuqing watched them walk away with a smile. Then the two of them bought four cans of food, took two catties of meat and a pair of wines, and went to Wei Shuqing's parents' home. The Wei family lived in a rural area on the outskirts of Beijing. They owned their own land, and their rural courtyard housed Wei's mother, Wei Xigun and his wife, along with their two granddaughters, all living happily together.
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