Zhang Guoqing had gone out of the Fat Master's yard three times on various pretexts, but his father-in-law still hadn't returned. He was starting to feel uneasy. It had been two hours since they'd left. Was there a thief in the house, or was something else wrong?
Finally, I heard the sound of a car in the distance and ran out in a hurry. After waiting for a while, I saw the car stop and my father-in-law came out. He shouted happily, "Dad, is everything okay at home?"
Zhou Xiaozheng looked at the snowflakes above his head and complained, "Why are you out in such cold weather? Come in quickly. What could have happened at home? Come in and have some hot soup."
Zhang Guoqing followed him quickly inside and sighed inwardly. This daughter-obsessed man forgot the time as soon as he saw his daughter. He could even imagine the scene of their separation tomorrow.
As soon as Zhao Dashan saw them come in, he immediately picked up two glasses of wine and handed them over. "Brother Zheng, you're late. Have a drink first to warm yourself up. How's everything going? Are you settled in?"
Zhou Xiaozheng took the wine and said with a smile, "Sorry, I have to leave tomorrow. I was delayed because I talked to Jiaojiao for a few more words. Come, let's continue drinking."
Zhao Dashan was secretly thinking, what have they been talking about for over two hours? These two father and daughter really know how to chat. It's hard to imagine how these two taciturn people can talk.
Zhou Xiaozheng led Zhang Guoqing to start playing the game, starting with Mr. Cheng. He first thanked the old man and respectfully toasted him. After finishing, he asked Zhang Guoqing to fill Mr. Cheng's glass. The father-in-law and son-in-law cooperated tacitly, one drinking while the other poured.
When he arrived in front of Zhang's father, Zhou Xiaozheng solemnly toasted him. After drinking, he expressed his gratitude to the couple for taking care of his daughter. He personally took the wine jar from Zhang Guoqing's hand and filled it up for his in-laws.
Zhao Chuangguang, standing nearby, understood what he meant and stepped forward to cooperate. "Second Brother Zhang, let's have a drink too. Thank you and your wife for always taking care of our daughter. Let's visit each other often in the future. If you need anything, just let me know and I'll be there soon."
Zhang Daddy happily drank the cup, picked up the wine jar on the table and filled it for him. He said, "This is a toast to you. Come to our house often when you have nothing to do. If Xiaowu does something wrong, you should scold him and spank him. Treat him like your own child."
Zhao Dashan started to jeer, "Did you hear that, Xiaowu? You're the youngest here. If you don't behave well in the future, we uncles will beat you with sticks."
Zhang Guoqing responded cheerfully, "Of course."
After Zhou Xiaozheng finished his drink, he said to Li Aiguo and Zuo Lin, "Xiaowu will need you uncles to take care of him from now on. Don't be fooled by his tall and strong appearance, he is old. If he does anything wrong, you must remind him."
Seeing that they all responded happily, Zhou Xiaozheng brought Zhang Guoqing to Cheng Sijin, held down Cheng Sijin who was about to stand up, and said to Zhang Guoqing: "This is your cousin, your real uncle. Dad's brother. You will see your second cousin and your younger cousin in the future. Come. Fill up your eldest cousin's glass." He greeted him after seeing him refill Cheng Sijin's glass.
He said to Cheng Sijin, "Brother, we have a small family, and we will have to trouble you again when the child returns to Beijing. You should treat him as your own son from now on."
Cheng Sijin's eyes flashed with surprise when he heard this. After thinking for a moment, he immediately understood and said solemnly, "Don't worry, big brother."
Zhou Xiaozheng patted him on the shoulder, and the two smiled at each other. Cheng Sijin saw that he had drunk several glasses in a row and was still hungry, so he pulled him to sit down under the pretext of talking and winked at Zhang Guoqing.
Zhang Guoqing understood and immediately brought back his father-in-law's bowl and chopsticks and placed them in front of him.
Cheng Sijin looked at Zhou Xiaozheng and raised his eyebrows proudly, then rolled his eyes at him. "Alright, your son-in-law is still my nephew's son-in-law. Stop showing off. Fill your stomach quickly."
Zhou Xiaozheng put down his chopsticks after taking a few bites, patted him, and continued eating with Zhang Guoqing.
The banquet lasted until about ten o'clock that evening, and the group headed to the county government guesthouse in a flurry of activity. A few drunken people sang a tuneless rendition of "Returning from Target Practice" at the top of their lungs.
Mr. Cheng in the car ahead laughed out loud and jokingly said to Mr. Lin, "Old Lin, remember when we were young? You were no worse than them."
Old Master Lin glared at him, unyieldingly saying that he sang much better than them, and that his daughter Lin Lishan was the mainstay of the stage, having inherited her talents from him.
After arriving at the guesthouse, Li Aiguo and his friends arranged their rooms and gave instructions to the waiter before saying goodbye and leaving.
Zhou Xiaozheng looked at the time, discussed it with his wife, and decided not to return to the courtyard. He pulled Zhang Guoqing over and said, "You take your parents home. Jiaojiao should be asleep, so your mother and I won't go over. We'll go back tomorrow morning."
Zhang Guoqing said quickly, "My parents insist on going back. They say they're worried if I don't. I'll send them back later. You and Mom should stay at your own house. It's not as comfortable as home here."
Zhou Xiaozheng looked around and whispered, "Dad has something to talk to your Uncle Guang about tonight. If Jiaojiao asks, just tell her about your Uncle Guang's father and our family. Got it?"
Zhang Guoqing nodded in understanding and followed him to his parents' place. He listened to Zhou Xiaozheng instructing him on what to do if Mr. Zhao came after he returned to Beijing, and also on the interpersonal relations.
Seeing that everyone in front was gathered together chatting, the two of them stopped talking.
Zhou Xiaozheng walked up to Zhang Dad and whispered a few words in his ear, and saw him nodding repeatedly.
Zhang Dad and his wife said goodbye to everyone and left with Zhou Xiaozheng and the others. They chatted quietly until they reached the gate, where Zhang Dad stopped them and said goodbye.
After Zhang Dad and the others got in the car, they waited for Zhang Guoqing to drive a short distance before he said, "Just take us back to the village. They're going back tomorrow, so Dad has to prepare something in return."
"Dad, leave the return gift to me. It's too late, you can just stay in the county town for one night. My older brothers are at home."
Mother Zhang shook her head repeatedly. "No, your little car will be there in no time. Don't prepare anything. I'll ask your sister-in-law to prepare it this afternoon. I'm just worried that Jiaojiao's godfather hasn't prepared anything."
Zhang Guoqing stopped the car and turned to them, saying, "Don't prepare like last time. They can't hold much in their military aircraft, and there are so many relatives here that we can't afford to mess around. They came and went so quickly, so it's understandable that they didn't have much. As for the provincial capital, the seafood my father-in-law prepared is still in the small courtyard. We can just bring it back to them tomorrow. The return gift will wait until the New Year."
Zhang's mother looked at her husband hesitantly after hearing this and said, "Isn't this a little too little? Old Cheng brought a lot of gifts. And Jiaojiao's godfather brought Xiaoshan with him, too."
"Silly woman, even if her godfather gave her as much as Dashan, it would not be as valuable as the jade pendant that our Ping'an is wearing. Didn't you see that Jiaojiao jumped up and wanted to return it to her godmother?" Father Zhang said with a laugh.
Zhang Guoqing saw that her mother was even more bewildered after hearing this, so he quickly comforted her, "Mom, it's okay. I saw my father-in-law nodded to Jiaojiao. Our family has many more valuable things than this jade pendant. My father-in-law secretly gave Jiaojiao a lot of them. Our family doesn't care about these things. By the way, let me tell you something."
After saying that, Zhang Guoqing started the car and drove towards the village. It would be freezing to death if he parked the car so late at night.
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