It was a week later when I returned to Beijing. It was still the same time, the same familiar platform, and of course the same familiar scene.
But there is one familiar person missing.
Zhou Jiao looked at Zhang Guoqing waving and hello, and suddenly realized that her father would never be able to stand there waiting for her to come back as usual.
There is gain in loss. When you are in a high position, what you lose is freedom.
However, in the near future, maybe ten years, maybe twenty years, in the blink of an eye, this familiar platform will appear again, and the people there will be different.
As Zhang Guoqing stepped onto the train, he carefully examined his wife's face. She looked fine. Then he looked at Ping An, who was about to move some luggage, and patted him on the shoulder with relief. "Son, you've worked hard on the journey."
Ping An raised the corners of his lips beautifully, "It's not hard, just reliving the memories." He said this without delaying his actions at all.
"Oh? Looks like you had a good time. Did you bring a present for your brother?"
"Yes. Dad, how come my brothers will come? Will they agree?"
Zhang Guoqing winked and picked up the remaining two sacks. "I told them one car couldn't hold them all, and I'm waiting at home eagerly for your return."
"Wife, are you bringing medicinal herbs?"
Zhou Jiao followed behind the father and son, watching them carry their luggage with ease, and smiled, "Well, let's go to Master first."
Zhang Guoqing immediately realized what was going on and nodded. The bustling station wasn't the right place for conversation, so he avoided the topic.
After the family of three boarded the military vehicle parked at the station, Zhang Guoqing repeated his old words, "While you were away, I also had people collect some herbs."
"Is the money enough?"
"It won't cost much. The old man is not in the capital, but you will be busy from now on."
Zhou Jiao had already made plans and said with a smile, "I have three good helpers. Ping An won't be going to the military camp this summer, so he and Liu Yiwuyi can help."
"Son, how is it? Can you help your mother?"
Ping An listened quietly while holding the steering wheel. When his name was called, he smiled and nodded, "No problem. The three of us brothers have learned a lot over the years."
"Jiaojiao, if I had known earlier, I should have brought the three brothers along, so you wouldn't have to squeeze out time every weekend to work tirelessly."
Ping'an, who was looking straight ahead, had his eyes slightly flickered when he heard this. It seemed that the doubts he had had for some time were finally resolved. It turned out that his parents didn't go out to play nearby every weekend.
His right fingers tapped the steering wheel subconsciously and he slowly smiled. He just didn't know why his parents had been making a large amount of medicinal herbs recently?
This time, his mother hadn't hidden it from him. It seemed like many of the ingredients were for making hemostatics and wound remedies. Interesting, really interesting. But don't tell him his parents were doing this for the money.
"Mom, do you want to prepare some frostbite medicine this time?"
Zhang Guoqing in the back seat burst into laughter upon hearing this and looked at Zhou Jiao beside him, "What do you think? My son follows me, smart enough, right?"
Zhou Jiao glanced at him with a smile.
"Son, there's been a lot of friction on the southern border lately. I think you should have listened to your grandfather and I discuss this, right? Let's prepare some medicinal herbs just in case. As for the frostbite medicine, forget it; it won't be needed there for now. But you can prepare some insect repellent and epidemic prevention medicine."
This is the excuse that Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao came up with to the outside world. Otherwise, the amount of money donated after a while will not be a small amount. How are they going to explain it?
Ping An didn't doubt this reason, but instead worried about other issues. He frowned. If his grandfather and father's predictions were correct, then a war in the future would be inevitable.
He was worried about the unpredictable world, but his eyes gleamed with brilliance as he quickly calculated how many times he could achieve great success. Patriotism?
Nonsense, he believed that he was born under the red flag and came from a military family. How could he hide behind the country when it was in trouble? Moreover, every crisis brings opportunities, so how could he miss the opportunity?
Zhang Guoqing had no idea at this moment that the excuse he made up had already made his eldest son get restless. He was holding his wife's hand and chatting about some trivial things at home and outside during the week when they were away from home, including, of course, the recent letters from his hometown.
As a large family grows with each generation, its population naturally increases, and the amount of gifts given as gifts will inevitably increase.
In this letter, Zhang's father mentioned that Xizi's wife had given birth to a fat boy. Zhou Jiao didn't need to think too much to understand. Since the first child was a girl, although the old Zhang family did not favor boys over girls, the fourth generation of grandchildren still had a different status. This was no longer comparable to the twins on the left and right and their sons.
Zhang's father was very happy in the letter, specifically mentioning that the baby weighed 6.5 jin at birth. He asked Zhang Guoqing and his wife to come home for the 100th day celebration if they had time and to choose a good name for the child.
On the other hand, Zhang Laoer was much calmer. He just said that the Zhang family would have descendants if they married. Yes, in his opinion, only sons would have descendants.
The main purpose was to calculate for Zhang Guoqing what favors he had done in the past six months. Speaking of why he gave Zhang Guoqing a detailed list, this had to do with one of the things.
Ever since the weddings of my nephews and nieces back home started, since they were all around the same age, favors kept coming one after another, whether it was the third birthday of my nephews' children or the full month celebration of my nephews' children...
This meant Zhou Jiao had to send money and gifts frequently. Sending money wasn't a big deal, as she had to send 15 yuan a month to her parents-in-law as alimony anyway.
But some gifts require constant mailing, and Zhang Guoqing couldn't bear to have her queue up all the time and bother preparing the gifts.
So, he entrusted all these favors to his second brother. Although Zhang Laoer was selfish, he had nothing to say to his younger brother.
In the past two or three years, Zhang Guoqing, with his consent, began to remit him 50 yuan at the end of each year, along with some coupons, and gave them to him, following his instructions.
In this way, the two brothers would not have to discuss every time a favor was given. However, Zhang Laoer was a more meticulous person and would list the details to Zhang Guoqing every six months.
Zhang Guoqing always reminded him that he didn't need to be so particular, but Zhang Laoer often said that brothers should settle accounts clearly. If he really needed money, he would rather ask his younger brothers and sisters for it than break the rules.
Otherwise, why would Zhou Jiao say that the couple were a pair of sperm? Even Zhou Xiaozheng reminded his son-in-law not to treat his second brother badly, and to help him out if he had the chance.
"This time, Second Brother has something for us to think about. What's the name of Uncle Zuo's granddaughter, Zuo what? The little girl he dotes on the most?"
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