As the days passed, with Zhang's father and mother stationed in the village, the courtyard in the county town returned to peace.
After a period of review, Zhang Guoqing and his wife faced their first exam in this world.
Last night, a heavy snowfall covered the three snowmen in the yard. Zhang Guoqing was now carefully clearing out the original shapes. These three snowmen were the work he and Zhou Jiao had spent an entire afternoon building yesterday.
There was a knock on the door in the yard, and Zhao Yuanyuan's loud voice.
Zhang Guoqing checked the time and rolled his eyes. This girl was relying on his family, his wife and son. What best friend? What talking about girls' privacy? It was so annoying!
"Stop yelling and come in. It's still early for school. Why are you up so early?"
Zhao Yuanyuan rolled her eyes at him and walked quickly towards the main room. As she walked, she said, "My mom asked me to remind you to bring your grain book to the grain station tomorrow. Don't forget like last time. Tell me, how could you be so stupid? You forget to collect your monthly rations? And remember to order Ping'an's half pound of milk? It's just for Jiaojiao. Don't give it to anyone else."
"Old lady..." Zhang Guoqing muttered softly when he saw her enter the living room.
He actually forgot about collecting rations for the first time, and it was thanks to Aunt Wang from the neighborhood committee who reminded him.
According to their food ration books, he and Zhou Jiao each received 28 kilograms of grain, plus their son's 7 kilograms of food rations, totaling less than 70 kilograms. Furthermore, besides 3 kilograms of flour and 1 kilogram of rice per person, the rest consisted entirely of semi-processed corn and sweet potato chips. They had to be bought from the grain store and then processed at a grain processing plant.
It's a shame his brother's store isn't in this neighborhood. Last time, he stood in line in the snow for over six hours, freezing cold. This month, he'd already arranged with his neighbors to buy some together.
"The milk's already been ordered. Why are you here so early? Have you eaten?" Zhou Jiao heard Zhao Yuanyuan's voice the moment she came out. Even Ping An was used to her loud voice now.
"I haven't eaten yet. I'll ask Aunt Fen to make less. Qinglin and the others will bring the buns over later." After saying that, Zhao Yuanyuan hurried to the kitchen.
The Aunt Fen she was talking about was Zhao Dashan's distant cousin, the kind you only see once in eight lifetimes.
The other party lost her husband at a young age and raised a posthumous child. Now her son is attending university in the provincial capital with Zhao Hongjun, leaving her alone in her hometown.
This time, Zhao Dashan returned to his hometown in the neighboring province to see his parents. When he saw her, he suddenly remembered that her son was in the provincial capital. After talking with her, he brought her to Zhang Guoqing's house to help.
She told everyone she was Zhou Xiaozheng's cousin, coming to take care of the children. Privately, they agreed to help out for a short period of time. If it was suitable, she would wait until her son came to the county town for the holiday at the end of the year before deciding whether to stay or go. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, she would continue to care for Zhang Guoqing and his family of three until they returned to Beijing, while her son worked.
She had been here for a week now, and Zhou Jiao was quite satisfied with her. She was efficient and effective, and most importantly, she was discerning and tight-lipped.
She and Zhang Guoqing had already agreed with Zhao Dashan to not raise her salary, but instead give her a yearly hard work allowance. Aunt Fang, on the other hand, also liked the place; she had her own room and no worries about food and clothing. Furthermore, Zhao Dashan had said her son could stay here during the winter and summer holidays, as well as during the Lunar New Year holidays. She could also visit her son in the provincial capital for two days each month.
Aunt Fang came out of the kitchen and said, "Okay, I heard you. They haven't used up all the flour they brought last time. Next time, tell them not to buy it from outside. If they want to eat it, I'll cook it for them."
Over the past two weekends, Li Qinglin, Zhang Yuntao, and Zhao Yuanyuan have been staying in the courtyard, using the excuse of improving their lives and their grades. Zhang Guoqing and the others let them do what they want; they bring their own food and vegetables, so they can't be chased away.
Less than half an hour later, Li Qinglin and his friend ran in, shouting they were freezing to death, and rushed to the yard. Seeing the snowman in the yard, they burst into laughter. In a moment of excitement, they threw their steamed buns at Aunt Fang, unfazed by the cold. Together with Zhao Yuanyuan, the three of them ran to the warehouse, got out shovels and shovels, and started building a snowman.
"Stop playing, eat quickly and go to school. We're almost late." Aunt Fang made the porridge and saw that the buns were almost cold, so she had to run to the yard and shout.
After breakfast, Zhang Guoqing and his group handed the child over to Aunt Fang and walked towards the school.
The county high school was only a ten-minute walk across the street from the courtyard. Zhang Yuntao winked at Li Qinglin on the way, and the two of them laughed from time to time.
Before they even reached the school gate, they saw classmates who had gone on to high school gathered at the gate.
As soon as they saw Zhang Guoqing and the others, everyone gathered around them.
Zhang Guoqing said with a smile: "Are you here to watch the fun, or to welcome us back to school?"
"Xiaowu, you two are so mean! You didn't tell me you were going back to school earlier. And Linzi and Taozi ran away so early in the morning without taking us. You two better be careful!"
"Brother Xiaowu, you are our junior now. You need to tell us what you feel at the moment."
"That's right, tell me quickly. Call me brother so I can hear it."
"I don't feel anything. I just want to go into the classroom early. Aren't you cold?" Zhang Guoqing looked at everyone shivering. Where did they get the energy to make a fuss?
"It's freezing. If I didn't want to see if you really came to school, I would never come out." A classmate pulled Zhang Guoqing inside.
A short male student couldn't squeeze in and shouted anxiously, "Don't go to the wrong place. Remember the principal said to find him first."
"Haha... Let's go back to the old place first."
A girl in a black cotton-padded jacket came running up, shouting, "Jiaojiao, Yuanyuan, hurry into the classroom. Our head teacher and principal are waiting for everyone to come in. Hurry up."
Zhao Yuanyuan grabbed Zhou Jiao and dragged her forward, yelling, "Miaomiao, is it time yet?"
Ding Qingmiao was running breathlessly. He pointed to the classroom behind him and said after catching his breath, "The principal is waiting for them. Hurry up."
Zhou Jiao finally stood firm and turned to look at Zhang Guoqing. Logically, they should go to the first-year class teacher.
"See the principal first and then go see the teacher." Zhang Guoqing probably mentioned the skipping grade exam when he visited the old principal a few days ago, and he arranged for the exam to be held in the original class.
"Hello, principal, hello, teacher." As soon as I entered the classroom, I saw the old principal and others waiting at the door.
The old principal looked at Zhang Guoqing and the other man with a smile and said, "Have you decided?"
Zhang Guoqing knew he was talking about skipping grades and nodded seriously.
"The two front seats on the podium are reserved for you. Study hard these next two days and try to pass on your first try. The exam time has already been agreed upon with the invigilator. I'll be waiting for your good news."
The old principal finished speaking, then walked out with his hands behind his back. He would stay until the results came in. He wanted to see how big of a surprise these two kids would give him.
The two-day exams were finally over. It was no problem for Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao to finish the six subjects of the first and second year of high school at once.
After the exam, Zhou Jiao began to prepare gifts and pack her luggage. This time, she was going to the capital. Zhang Dad and his family were taking care of the village courtyard, so this place was left to Aunt Fang and her son.
Everything that could be arranged had been done. The family would have to wait until after the Lunar New Year for them to come back, and she still needed to prepare New Year gifts.
Besides the Cheng family in Beijing, the old lady of Zhou Village and the grandson of the old patriarch had to be dealt with in the next two days. Her father had already sent two consecutive telegrams asking when she would leave. Zhao Chuangguang and his wife from the provincial capital were sending gifts every few days, urging the three of them to stay at his house for a few days.
"It's snowing so heavily, you don't need to go to the village. I'll go back to the village in the afternoon and talk to my parents, and then go to Zhoujia Village to deliver New Year gifts." As soon as Zhang Guoqing came in, he saw her holding her sheepskin coat for going out, and hurriedly stopped her.
Zhou Jiao hesitated for a moment and shook her head. "I still have to go there myself. You go to Zhoujia Village, I don't plan to go there. I have to go to my parents' place, I will be gone for at least a month. I also have to talk to my parents and ask them to come to the county town often when we are not at home. Let's go early and come back early."
"No need. Dad asked my eldest brother to bring a message to us, saying that he and Mom would come over before we leave, and asked us not to go back. I was worried about our village yard, so I went back to check it out and give some New Year gifts."
It would be better if he didn't have to go back. Who would want to go back and forth in such a heavy snow? Zhou Jiao handed him the gift, watched him leave in the carriage, went back to the room, took out a piece of paper and looked at it. It was indeed possible to set off in three days.
Zhang Guoqing came and went very quickly and came back in less than two hours.
"Dad told me not to send them over yet and to make arrangements for him. He told us to have less contact with the Zhou family. If I send them over, they'll come back and get close, which will be troublesome. The old patriarch said he would send them over personally."
Zhou Jiao nodded. It would be best if her parents-in-law could handle it. They understood the ways of the world better than she did.
On the agreed day of departure, Zhang's father and mother returned to the county town the night before with gifts for Zhou Xiaozheng.
Early in the morning, Zhao Chuangguang and his wife came with their men in a brand new car and a military vehicle.
Zhou Jiao couldn't help laughing when she saw her godmother take out four or five hot water bottles and hand warmers from the carriage.
For the sake of their child, Zhang Guoqing and her parents-in-law prepared all the heating supplies in the house. Now it's ready. If they put everything in, there will be no room for people.
Zhang Guoqing opened his coat and held his son against his chest. Sitting in the car, feeling the temperature adjust, he gently lifted a corner and saw his son sleeping soundly, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Don't worry! Godfather has already made all the arrangements. I guarantee you'll be safe and sound all the way to Beijing. Your father has been giving you a lot of bad advice on the phone these days. Don't underestimate your father's intelligence, but he's no match for me, your godfather." Zhao Chuangguang laughed heartily after saying this. His elder brother always had wild ideas.
"Godmother, you and godfather owe me a favor this time, right? Thank you and godfather." Zhou Jiao said goodbye to Zhang's father and mother, and got in the car when she heard it and hurriedly said.
"Don't be polite with godmother. My dear relatives, please come in quickly. We are leaving. We will send them to the train tomorrow. Don't worry. Everything has been arranged. I will send a telegram back when they arrive in the capital."
"Close the windows quickly and wait for the heat to dissipate. I won't keep you here any longer. Be careful on the road. Xiaowu, remember not to fall asleep on the train and be careful with the children."
As the car drove away, I could still see Zhang Dad and the others at the gate from a distance.
Zhang Guoqing looked around anxiously, but soon he would no longer see them. He would have to wait until the end of next year to see them again. He wondered if they would continue to work, if they would be bullied when he was away. A son's desire to support his parents was lost, and his parents' lives still needed to be taken care of.
Zhou Jiao patted his hand and smiled at him. It had been 58 years since the turn of the year, and a new editorial had been published in the newspaper a few days earlier.
The wheel of history has begun to turn. This year, a large number of companies will recruit temporary rural workers. A large number of people with rural household registration will move to cities. Then, over the next two or three years, the urban population will be streamlined, sending these people back to the countryside.
She estimated that her two sisters-in-law didn't need her and Zhang Guoqing's help in their work, as they were capable of handling it. Then the eldest and second sons of the Zhang family would move to the county town, and then Zhang's father and mother would follow the eldest son back to the county town.
Zhang Guoqing's concerns were resolved. As for the possibility that her sisters-in-law would lose their jobs and urban household registration in a few years due to the downsizing of the city, that was a future matter. Besides, what did it have to do with her?
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