Birds of a feather flock together.
The Lin family dinner had not yet ended when a secret whistle sounded outside.
After three rounds of drinks, Zhang Guoqing winked at Zhou Jiao. The two of them, carrying their children, left first, followed closely by a group of cousins, besides Lin Dingsheng and Lin Xuelin.
Lin Xuelin looked at Yang Liqun hesitantly, then finally stopped. She listened to the cheers outside with regret and glanced toward Old Man Lin, hoping he would speak. Unfortunately, the old man was drunk that evening and didn't notice them.
As soon as Zhang Guoqing came out, he saw several of his friends looking around not far away. He shouted, "Let's go to my house and move some things first." After that, he ignored the howling of wolves and ghosts behind him and hurried home.
At this time, Mrs. Cheng of the Zhou family was already waiting in the living room with her grandchildren. She took the children and waved her hand for everyone to go to the kitchen to move things.
In the kitchen, there was a pile of meat and vegetables skewered together, and a few girls were moving bowls and chopsticks into baskets.
Several boys came forward and picked up the little one who came to join in the fun, and carried him towards the auditorium in a bamboo basket.
"Brothers, you guys should at least move the heavy things first." Zhang Guoqing shouted hurriedly when he saw that several people started to move the vegetables first, leaving the big pots and charcoal to the girls.
Liu Yuxue and the others laughed and said, "There are already three large pots boiling soup in front of the auditorium, waiting for your barbecue."
"Xiaowu, hurry up. Brother Xiaofei, Brother Feng and the others have already built a bonfire and are waiting for us to come over. We've already collected a lot of things tonight, and these are more than enough to carry over."
"Hurry up and go over, you'll only be able to drink soup later."
Zhang Guoqing quickly ran to the warehouse, picked up two jars of wine, and walked out, shouting, "Jiaojiao, you girls, remember to bring your accordion and harmonica. Auntie, I leave Ping'an to you."
Old Mrs. Cheng burst into laughter and told Zhou Jiao to come over and play with them. It was a rare sight to see children from the compound gather together, so she even offered them a generous helping of sunflower seeds and candies tonight.
Soon, only Mrs. Cheng and Ping'an were left in the living room. She held the child and said with a smile, "Ping'an, please grow up quickly and go out to play with the uncles. Oh, little Ping'an likes the hustle and bustle, right? Your dad is so good at playing, you must take after him in the future. Our little Ping'an is also a little smart guy."
In the small square in front of the auditorium, as night fell, bonfires and large iron pots were lit everywhere. In addition to young people and children, many elders gathered around to watch.
Zhang Guoqing went over and placed two large jars of wine outside the rows of bottles and jars on the middle table. Seeing the table full of wine, he called out in surprise, "Are you guys going to drink or bathe in it?"
"This is not enough. Someone has already gone home to bring the fruit wine. Xiaowu, come and help me start the fire." Li Qianjin heard Zhang Guoqing's shout from a distance and waved hurriedly.
Zhang Guoqing looked over and saw large iron pots placed in all four corners. He burst out laughing, "Brother Jin, what's going on? Why are the pots so far apart? We're running from one end to the other to eat, and we're starving."
Li Qianjin kicked him, but when he dodged, he pointed at him and cursed, "Brother Li, next time you call me Brother Jin, I'll show you how I'll punish you."
"How can Brother Li come in and be intimate with me? Brother, where are Brother Xiaofei and the others?"
Li Qianjin pointed towards the service center and said, "Just now they couldn't light the fire, so they all made excuses to go buy alcohol and cigarettes. Let's quickly get some firewood. Look at those old men, they're laughing like crazy."
Zhang Guoqing laughed heartily when he saw it. "It's such a mess! We won't be able to eat tonight if we don't clean it up." He quickly herded the children who were watching over to the table to eat some sunflower seeds.
A few people came forward and replaced the two large iron pots in the middle, poured charcoal into the fire pans, lit them, and placed them on the iron net. A few people kept calling the little guy to go home and get his lunch box and chopsticks.
The pig's head from the service center had already been reserved by Zhang Guoqing and his group last night, and now it was being moved from the outer pot to the large one in the middle, where it was gurgling loudly. In the other pot, everyone, without thinking twice, poured all the local specialties they had gathered together into a stew.
From a distance, Fang Fei and his companions were carrying things over here. When they saw that the table was already set up, they all cheered loudly, causing the children to join in the cheering and shouting.
Several female comrades who love playing musical instruments and Zhou Jiao and others came with their instruments, and the naughty children even lit firecrackers and shouted "Happy New Year".
Zhang Guoqing winked at Fang Fei and the others, and together they carried chairs out of the auditorium and placed them outside for the old men to sit down. By this time, many people had gathered in front of the auditorium. Even the old cadres like Mr. Cheng and Mr. Fang sat down and cheerfully directed the younger generation to start pouring wine.
Seeing that the atmosphere was getting lively, Zhang Guoqing shouted to the restrained female comrades on the side: "Sisters, hurry up and sing! Come on!"
"Come on, come on!" Everyone at the scene applauded and cheered.
A group of girls looked at each other, all smiling and postponing.
Seeing this, Zhou Jiao suggested, "How about we start with a chorus, and then everyone perform a show?" After she said that, seeing that everyone agreed, she picked up the accordion and began to play the prelude.
As the familiar melody of "Without the Communist CD, there would be no New China G" sounded, everyone present began to sing along as the girls sang. In the end, even the relatives who arrived late were singing happily.
After the song ended, Mr. Fang and others started to request songs.
The atmosphere reached a fever pitch as everyone belted out one hit song after another. What had originally been a fun gathering of young people with Zhang Guoqing and his group turned into a grand performance.
As the aroma spread, the children were no longer happy and pointed at the big pot and shouted that they were hungry, which made the adults laugh.
Zhang Guoqing and the others exchanged a smile, then all stepped forward to open the wine jars and pot lids, allowing the girls to help serve the food. Fortunately, everyone had plenty of bowls, chopsticks, and lunch boxes. Soon, the sound of everyone sipping soup could be heard.
Li Qianjin and the others winked at each other. They were in no hurry to eat, as the most delicious barbecue had not yet begun. They immediately went forward, picked up their instruments, and began to sing along.
Looking at the young people jumping and dancing in front of him, Mr. Fang said with emotion, "It's been a long time since we've seen such a lively atmosphere. Young people nowadays are so lucky."
Old Cheng nodded. "The world is peaceful, and people are living and working in peace and contentment. It's worth the life and death struggles of us old folks. They were born in a good time. This is a lucky and happy new generation."
"This party tonight is great! I've always seen these kids running around, either watching movies or fighting. They should get together like this, and it can help the kids get closer."
Old Cheng listened to the discussions of the people around him, looked at Zhang Guoqing who was chatting and laughing among the younger generation, and a bright smile gradually appeared on his face.
A few days ago, my wife told me that the kids had formed some factions, none of which were willing to submit to the others. They were all surrounding Zhang Guoqing and trying to form a small group. He was worried that Zhang Guoqing, being too young, wouldn't understand the stakes, so he was about to give him some advice. Who would have thought he'd come up with such an idea? That evening, he saw him navigating the young people with smooth and smooth tactics, jokingly and playfully getting a few with strained relationships to sing together. Now the atmosphere was harmonious.
He was truly relieved. He believed the old guys all saw that Zhang Guoqing was just trying to smooth things over. They were just lacking some kind of lubricant, so it was no wonder the old guys kept trying to get him to join the army.
As the wine was finished and the night grew late, Old Cheng looked at Zhang Guoqing in the crowd again and saw that he was at ease, already drinking with several small gang leaders.
He stood up and said, "Let's go, old guys. Let the kids have fun so we don't have to worry about them having too much fun."
"Haha... Let's go, let's have a get-together someday. This is great, it's really fun."
"Sure. One day, bring a pig over and we'll have a pig-killing feast. I dream about the pig-killing feasts my fellow villagers make every day. The taste makes my mouth water just thinking about it..."
As the old men left, more and more people left.
After more than an hour, everyone added firewood again. Seeing that they were all chatting with each other, Zhang Guoqing didn't stay there chatting and went to the barbecue wire fence.
The red bonfire shone on Zhang Guoqing's face, and his smiling face made people smile comfortably.
Fang Fei looked at him from afar, and was awakened by his buddy next to him. He immediately smiled at him.
"What are you laughing at? Are you stupid? What were you staring at just now? Could it be that Xiaowu was right? He said this was a bachelor's party. If you can find your target tonight, you'll be able to hold a big fat boy next year. Tell me, brother, which girl do you have your eyes on?"
Fang Fei laughed heartily and whispered, "Xiao Wu is just a liar. You believe him? Who does he think is as ruthless and quick as him?"
His words made the people around him laugh. Everyone looked at Zhou Jiao, then at Zhang Guoqing, and couldn't help laughing again.
Zhang Guoqing raised the grilled skewers in his hand and said, "Brothers, if you keep laughing you will only get bamboo sticks. Is there any kind-hearted person who can help the sisters grill the skewers?" After saying that, he winked at them.
Zhou Jiao was surrounded by the girls around her. She said with a mixture of laughter and tears, "Sisters, you're really overthinking it. Xiao Wu is just afraid of tiring everyone out."
Seeing that everyone was not giving in, Lin Xuezhen quickly said, "Let's go, we'll do it ourselves." After saying that, she casually pulled a few people around her and walked forward.
A group of people gathered in front of several fire plates and tables.
Zhang Guoqing squeezed over to sit next to Zhou Jiao with the skewers in his hand, and said with a low laugh, "Brother snatched the meat from you, how are you going to repay him?"
Zhou Jiao immediately looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that no one was around. She immediately glanced at him and spoke in a dirty tone.
"Haha... you're overthinking it, aren't you?" Zhang Guoqing said with a meaningful laugh. After a pause, he continued, "When we get back, you have to sing two songs for me and coax me to sleep."
Zhou Jiao covered her mouth and laughed. This guy is drunk. Looking at his shining eyes, she smiled and nodded. She had originally wanted to leave early, seeing that everyone was in high spirits, but now that he was drunk, she could only let it go.
Zhang Guoqing drank the soup in his bowl silently, feeling secretly proud. He said that whenever he was drunk, Jiaojiao would definitely be more nervous than he was.
After finishing his soup, he quietly looked at Zhou Jiao, watching her begin to wander. He couldn't help but wave his hand in front of her eyes. Seeing her come to, he immediately said, "Don't bother yourself with those trivial matters. If it doesn't concern you, just ignore it! I'll tell you my fortune: After many twists and turns, you may think there's no way out, but there's always a bright future ahead."
Zhou Jiao turned her back to him, reached out and held his hand tightly, nodded and smiled at him.
"I think it's almost time to disband. I'll send you back to be with your son first. I still have to wait for everyone to clean up the mess together." Zhang Guoqing sat for a while, then stood up and took her away quietly.
Only after she entered the gate did Zhang Guoqing return. He sat down with the others, listening to their idle chatter. He smiled knowingly, a young man who knows nothing of sorrow. He seemed to be unable to keep up with them.
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