In August, Qin Hanshu received a telegram from her hometown in the Northwest.
It is said that Zhou Ce has been admitted to Jiangcheng Academy of Fine Arts, and Zhu Jingsu is coming to send her son to university.
Qin Hanshu's office had just had a phone installed; it couldn't make long-distance calls, but it could make local calls. She dialed Zhou Weiguang's workplace, but after being transferred, she was finally connected to Zhou Weiguang's office.
Since Zhou Weiguang was transferred to the Third Regiment, the two have been separated by distance, and Qin Hanshu has never called him.
Upon receiving his wife's call, Zhou Weiguang, ignoring the chief of staff sitting on the sofa waiting to discuss matters, managed a slight smile from his downcast lips.
Calling him during work hours? Am I missing him terribly? It's been fifty-eight days since we last met.
"Hello?" Zhou Weiguang was secretly overjoyed, but his face remained serious. "What is it?"
Qin Hanshu felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing his tone. Had she disturbed his work?
She tentatively asked, "Shall I call back later?"
Zhou Weiguang hurriedly said, "Don't hang up, just say it!"
Qin Hanshu kept it brief: "My second sister-in-law's son, Cece, has been admitted to a university in Jiangcheng. My second sister-in-law will be bringing him over in a few days. Do you have time to come back?"
Is that all?
Without even thinking, Zhou Weiguang said, "We'll see. I can't give you a definite answer right now."
Qin Hanshu said, "Okay, I just wanted to let you know. I won't bother you anymore, I'll hang up now."
Zhou Weiguang wanted to ask, "How have you been lately?", but before he could even utter the word "you," the receiver went dead.
His upturned lips immediately drooped down again.
Chief of Staff Shao Cheng, watching from the side, kept pondering the situation.
Shao Cheng had been in the Third Regiment for several years, while Zhou Weiguang was a leader who was only transferred here this year.
He had heard of Zhou Weiguang's reputation before, but when they actually worked together, he realized that none of the rumors could be taken seriously.
More than half a year has passed, and he still doesn't dare to say that he has a firm grasp on Zhou Weiguang's temperament.
Shao Cheng wanted to get closer to Zhou Weiguang, so after thinking it over for a moment, he said with a smile, "If you're busy with other things, I'll come over later?"
Zhou Weiguang shook his head and said, "It's nothing, it's a call from home."
It turned out to be the home phone...
I've heard that Zhou Weiguang and his wife have a good relationship, so it doesn't seem like that at all. Could the rumors be wrong again?
Shao Cheng was eager to find out something, but before he could speak, Zhou Weiguang cut him off and got down to business, "I've looked at this training plan..."
***
Zhu Jingsu and Zhou Ce arrived at the end of August.
They didn't tell her the train's arrival time in advance. When Qin Hanshu got off work and came home one day, she saw Zhu Jingsu and Zhou Ce waiting for her at home.
"Second sister-in-law!" Qin Hanshu quickly put down her bag and went to greet her. "You should have sent a telegram in advance so I could have picked you up at the train station."
Zhu Jingsu laughed and said, "Why go through all that trouble? It's very convenient for us to just take a picture of the address ourselves."
Qin Hanshu turned her gaze to Zhou Ce and patted his shoulder, "Ce Ce is all grown up now, almost as tall as his third uncle."
The Zhou family has a tall gene, and Zhao Chunmiao is not short either. The descendants of the Zhou family are all tall with large frames, except for Zhou Chi.
Perhaps because he had been drawing since childhood, Zhou Ce had a rather quiet demeanor.
He smiled shyly at Qin Hanshu and called out, "Third Aunt."
Qin Hanshu nodded with a smile, "Congratulations on getting into university! The Zhou family is about to produce a great painter."
Zhou Ce waved his hand and said, "No, no, I'm far from being a painter..."
Zhu Jingsu looked at her son with pride, "The oil painting department in Jiangcheng is very difficult to get into. Only two people from our hometown in the whole province were admitted, and he is one of them."
"Then Third Aunt will definitely reward you handsomely!" Qin Hanshu turned to Gu Yan and asked, "What kinds of dishes are served at home?"
Gu Yan said, "There's a pound of pork that I bought this morning, as well as celery and potatoes."
Qin Hanshu thought for a moment and said, "You stay home and cook, I'll go to Sister Hongxia's house and get a chicken."
Fan Hongxia's daughter is also repeating her senior year of high school. She raises a few chickens in her yard, and she has to improve her daughter's meals every week when she comes home.
Zhu Jingsu and his group arrived suddenly, and the family hadn't prepared anything good, so they could only buy a chicken from Fan Hongxia first.
Zhu Jingsu quickly said, "Xiao Shu, don't bother! Just eat whatever you like, don't be shy! Besides, it's so late now..."
Ignoring Zhu Jingsu's attempts to stop her, Qin Hanshu went downstairs on her own.
I bought a young rooster and made a stir-fried chicken dish, which added a decent new dish to my repertoire.
"CeCe, don't mind the simple meal. When your third uncle comes back, we'll take you out for a better meal," Qin Hanshu said.
Zhou Ce quickly swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "The food is already very plentiful, Third Aunt, please don't say that."
Qin Hanshu asked, "When do you start school?"
Zhou Ce said, "Report on September 5th."
"Then you can stay at home for the next few days," Qin Hanshu said. "Although the house is a bit cramped, it's still more convenient than staying in a guesthouse."
Zhou Ce glanced at Zhu Jingsu, a hint of longing in his eyes.
Although he hadn't seen his third parents for many years and his memory of them was very faint, Qin Hanshu's warmth and thoughtfulness made him feel very close to her.
The Zhu family also has relatives in Jiangcheng. Zhou Ce went to visit them with Zhu Jingsu in the afternoon. However, none of the relatives there gave people the same feeling of being family as Qin Hanshu.
Zhu Jingsu had always had a good impression of Qin Hanshu. After receiving her son's message, she didn't hesitate for long and said, "Then I'll have to bother you."
Qin Hanshu laughed and said, "Why are we speaking like two different people when we're family?"
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