"Dad, are you back?"
"Keep your voice down. It's either in the study or upstairs."
"elder brother……"
Zhang Guoqing heard his three sons' voices, opened the study door, looked at his three tall and strong sons, and scolded them with a smile, "Where have you been wild again?"
Wuyi was the first to rush forward and hug him, "Oh, my dear, you are finally home."
"Did you have nightmares last night?"
Wuyi was so frightened that he quickly looked inside, let out a breath, and whispered, "Dad, we're fine. You mustn't show your true colors in front of my mom, or she'll worry again."
"Your mother is in the kitchen."
Upon hearing this, Wuyi immediately pushed him into the study and shouted behind him, "Brother, close the door."
Seeing his three sons come in, Zhang Guoqing glared at them and said, "You didn't even say hello to your mother before you came home. If it were in ancient times, you would have to pay your respects first."
The three brothers burst into laughter when they heard this.
"Yes, yes, father, your sons greet you first."
Zhang Guoqing was just talking.
Every time I saw the children in southern Xinjiang, the atmosphere around them was sad and heavy. The four of them, father and son, were not heartless, so how could they be in the mood to joke?
"What do the higher-ups say? Do we have to participate in missions while we're in school?" Zhang Guoqing asked this question while looking at Ping'an and Liuyi. What about his youngest son?
His military achievements on May Day were enough to give him a perfect resume.
Before leaving southern Xinjiang, the boy said this campaign was a testament to his abilities. Now that he's successfully completed his mission, he's ready to challenge another path.
His youngest son had his own life plans, and Zhang Guoqing didn't want to interfere. With such good skills, as long as there were no cannons firing at him, he didn't have to worry about his child wherever he went.
Ping An suppressed his smile and shook his head seriously. "In the short term, our mission is to study. Grandpa wants to improve the school textbooks through this campaign."
Liuyi added, "Now the leaders all recognize the importance of elite troops. The era of relying on quantity over quality is gone."
Zhang Guoqing nodded in understanding.
The special forces played a very important role in this battle, so it is no wonder that the higher-ups had such considerations.
The trend of history is to select elite soldiers, which is undoubtedly correct. However, it is a bit cruel to soldiers with low education and military merit.
He took off his beloved green military uniform and left with hidden injuries.
When Zhang Guoqing thought of these questions, his eyes dimmed.
Once the external environment eases, many areas will no longer need large-scale military presence. In order to save limited funds, they can be used to improve weapons and develop a new generation of weapons and equipment.
No one can stop the momentum of the million-man disarmament movement.
The country is still too poor and backward.
Wuyi keenly noticed the heaviness in his father's heart. He winked at his brothers and stretched out his arm, hugging his father's shoulders like two brothers.
"Dad, did my mom cry when she saw you?"
Zhang Guoqing slapped him angrily, "You have no respect for your elders!"
"Gently, gently." Wuyi feigned pain and gritted his teeth, muttering softly, "I haven't asked you yet, did my mother ask you to take off your clothes for inspection?"
Zhang Guoqing rolled his eyes at his youngest son and said, "Your father has a very high credit rating with your mother. Who else is like you?"
"Do you have any special tricks? Teach me a few!"
"I taught you to fly?" Zhang Guoqing clapped his hands again, jokingly saying, "Stop talking nonsense. Let's go see if your mom is done with her work. Don't always expect to have something ready-made."
"I was just thinking of taking you with me to find my mom. Dad, have you got those rocks back?"
"They're all in the old house. Let's just leave them there and talk about it later."
No one knew what was inside those raw stones. If his son hadn't already had them prepared, Zhang Guoqing really wouldn't want to spend the shipping money to bring them home from a long distance.
Maybe after you open it, there will be nothing but waste inside. Although it doesn't cost much money now, in less than 20 years, even the best jade will be worthless.
"Why don't you ask your comrades to buy the goods directly for you?"
"We have no money left. We three brothers donated all the money we had before, and this is just the one hundred yuan you gave us before we came back."
Zhang Guoqing was silent for a moment. "Well done. Please take care of comrades who are in financial difficulty. It's not easy for everyone. Dad will give you money later."
"We understand. You don't have to give us the money. We still have money in our passbook. Don't worry, we won't be stingy with the money we have to spend."
"Have you visited your uncle?"
"We went to the hospital the next day after we came back, and he is doing much better now,"
"Where are Shitou and the others?"
Wuyi touched his nose and said, "Not yet. I plan to go again after I return to school. The three of us brothers have a lot of social engagements these past two weekends."
Zhang Guoqing glanced at his sons speechlessly—each one of them was either scratching their noses or looking around with a guilty conscience. Was it really that serious? He wasn't blaming them, was he?
Wuyi looked at his face and said, "There's a pregnant woman at home, someone from the Zuo family, and Brother Shitou may not be home. We three grown men wouldn't know what to say if we went there."
Zhang Guoqing laughed and shook his head when he heard this.
Still a man?
"Dad, it's me, the eldest brother, who didn't think it through."
Zhang Guoqing led his son out of the study. "That's not the case. It doesn't matter whether you, as the brother-in-law, go or not. There's no rule that you have to go."
"I just spoke to your second uncle on the phone. He doesn't know you're on the front lines yet. Your mother didn't tell Shitou and the others about this either, so they probably still don't know about it."
Liuyi couldn't help but hold his forehead when he heard this.
Is his dad still asleep? Who is he kidding? He hasn't been at school for so long during May Day, and his little brother is in the Stone Dormitory. How could he not guess?
Ping An glanced at his father's back and gave his brother a warning glare.
Liuyi spread his hands speechlessly.
Is it really okay not to remind me?
According to his recent observations, during the time that the four of them were away, Shitou and Mai Sui never came to visit his mother once.
His mother would visit pregnant women every weekend. He didn't believe that those people couldn't see how much weight his mother had lost. She was almost as thin as a paper. How could they not see it?
It doesn't matter whether those people are self-righteous and well-intentioned, or they just don't take it seriously in their hearts.
To ignore his mother is to ignore him as a son.
He didn't care about any bullshit reasons, he would find a chance to poke his father in the face later. Didn't he keep telling him to listen to everyone he met?
The whole family gathered together that night.
After the belated New Year's reunion dinner, Zhang Guoqing accompanied his father-in-law into the study. Zhou Jiao, who was left, heard what Liuyi said and patted him with a smile.
"Mom? Be serious."
Zhou Jiao suppressed a smile: "Okay. What kind of person do you think your mother is? How can I not have a sense of justice? Son, you have too high expectations of your second uncle's family.
You have to remember that they are just relatives close to you by blood, but not family. Don't ask too much of them, and don't give too much either."
Liuyi pondered her words thoughtfully.
Zhou Jiao believes that if the child is given some time, he will soon understand what it means that there is no harm when there is no expectation!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
