The next day at noon, Zhao Chuangguang drove to the county town in person, went directly to the Armed Forces Department to find Zhao Dashan, and asked him to go to Zhang Guoqing's house together.
Faced with a secondment notice, Zhao Dashan rolled his eyes at Zhao Chuangguang several times, causing him to choke several times while drinking.
Seeing him coughing so hard he was on the verge of tears finally made Zhao Dashan feel relieved. Over the dinner table, he kept complaining about Zhao Chuangguang making a fuss. There was no need for all this trouble; he could simply transfer Zhang Guoqing out of town for work.
Zhou Jiao smiled at Zhang Guoqing. "See! I tossed and turned last night, worried about not being able to go to Beijing. Isn't that silly?"
After dinner, Zhou Jiao sent them off and immediately packed up her things. This time, there was no one guarding the door, so she was determined to clear out all the valuables in the house.
When the agreed departure time arrived, Zhang Guoqing returned to the village alone to bid farewell to his parents.
This time, apart from Zhang's father who knew the inside story, everyone thought Zhang Guoqing had been transferred to the nearby city to do hard labor. As for Zhou Jiao, her godparents seemed worried about her and personally took her home to stay for a while.
After a long and bumpy journey, we finally arrived at the destination three days later - on May Day.
Zhou Jiao looked at her father on the platform with tears in her eyes. It was so hard to finally see her dad. This time, they didn't have a soft sleeper, and the treatment was much worse. The sleeper berth next to her made her want to just shower and sleep.
Zhou Xiaozheng smiled and touched Zhou Jiao's head, then reached out to take his grandson who was crying "Let's go", and looked at his daughter in front of him with concern again.
He noticed that she hadn't lost weight in the past few months and looked even better than last time. He rarely praised his son-in-law, Zhang Guoqing.
Compared to the last time they came in the cold winter, this time the group was not in a hurry. Accompanied by Zhou Xiaozheng's new secretary, guards, driver and others, everyone walked out while chatting.
In a car ahead, Zhou Xiaozheng and his old friends were happily meeting. After chatting about each other's recent situations and talking about a few brothers they hadn't seen in over a decade, they soon began planning a get-together for their old friends.
In the back car, Zhou Jiao pulled her godmother, Huang Huimin, and pointed out the buildings outside the car window, beginning to introduce them. Zhao Chuangguang had come for a meeting, and Huang Huimin had come for sightseeing. She had received so much care from them in Northeast China, and this was a rare opportunity to show her filial piety. She also planned to take her godmother out for a nice stroll.
Soon, the car drove into the compound and slowed down. Li Qianjin and others, who had received the news in advance, were already shouting at Zhang Guoqing to get out quickly.
Zhou Xiaozheng signaled the driver to stop the car. "Your aunt and her family are waiting for you. Remember to go home early. We'll go out and meet them in the evening."
After Zhang Guoqing nodded and got out of the car, the driver started the car again and went home.
Zhao Chuangguang turned around and looked at the young men playing together outside the car, and said with a smile, "Xiao Wu is a nice guy. These people are waiting for him to come back even though he hasn't arrived yet."
"This is still not enough. There will be more at night. He was at home before the New Year and didn't even close the door." Zhou Xiaozheng said with a smile in his eyes and shook his head.
There's still not much news going on these days, and tomorrow we might not even have enough people sitting in the living room. This has been much better, though; he's finally had some peace and quiet. Before, when he was exercising every morning, he'd run into a lot of old men asking him when his daughter and her husband would be back, not to mention the children in the compound.
After getting off the car, Zhou Jiao heard Zhao Chuangguang's laughter and glanced at the nearby Lin family courtyard. She was most curious about how Lin Xuelin would look when she met her godfather.
She heard that Uncle Wang from the Northwest didn't meet Lin Aidang and his wife in the capital, and missed them and let them escape back to the Northwest. She sighed with regret.
Zhou Jiao glanced at her father with resentment. He had no interest in gossip and hadn't even written to tell her about the Lin family's current situation. They really couldn't be good friends anymore.
When Old Lady Cheng and the others at the door saw Zhou Jiao's expression as she got off the car, they burst into laughter.
"Did your father offend you? Tell your aunt quickly. I'll help you vent your anger." Old Mrs. Cheng immediately joked. How could her nephew be willing to give up this precious child?
Zhou Jiao noticed that except for her mother, no one from the Lin family was there in the crowd. She raised her eyebrows and smiled, "My dad loves his grandson so much now that he ignores me. Aunt, why are you here too? Where's my uncle?"
Cheng Ruzhu quickly pulled Huang Huimin, Lin Lishan and others in and said with a smile, "Your uncle-in-law is on duty and asked me to bring you a message, asking you to make him something delicious tomorrow. Come in and tell your aunt how you've been doing in the Northeast these past few months."
Lin Lishan looked back and felt very strange. "Jiaojiao, where's Xiaowu? Didn't the telegram say we were coming together?"
"I'm fine. I'm just bored out of my mind. Don't worry, Mom. Your precious son-in-law is here. He just met someone getting off the car at the gate and will be in soon."
After saying that, Zhou Jiao walked into the living room and sighed, "Home is still comfortable. I want to stay home longer this time. I miss you guys so much. Aunt, let's go to my room. This is for my dad and the others. I brought a lot of interesting things for you. Come with me to take a look."
Seeing Zhou Jiao, who was usually calm and quiet, speak so much in one breath, the old lady knew that the child was overjoyed. It seemed that only relatives like them could make the child so excited.
She immediately and cheerfully invited everyone to the east wing, ran over to take the child, and said with a smile, "Come on, let's go see what goodies you brought."
Zhou Xiaozheng watched his daughter run away helplessly, and could only pull Zhao Chuangguang and the Cheng family to sit together. They knew each other and did not need him to introduce them.
In the east wing, Zhou Jiao opened a large bag and poured out carvings, shadow puppet stickers, and other small handicrafts for them to choose from. Seeing Ping An sitting next to the old lady, she was not afraid of strangers.
She glanced at her mother and quietly retreated back to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Aunt Chen's face lit up when she saw Zhou Jiao. She said, "What took you so long to come home? There were so many people just now that I didn't feel comfortable surrounding them. You must have suffered in your hometown. Your father has been unhappy for several days since you left. Listen to me and stay home to accompany your father."
Zhou Jiao nodded with a smile. It wasn't that she didn't want to stay. If she did, she'd probably only see her dad at dinner. She had to wait a little longer, until her family settled down and she wasn't worried about not having time to watch over her dad.
"Aunt, why is no one coming to my grandpa's house today?" Zhou Jiao looked outside and whispered. She was really curious about whether Lin Xuelin was married, but she was too embarrassed to ask.
"The Lin family..." Aunt Chen hesitated for a moment, then continued, "Mr. Lin has moved. Now your grandparents live with their three granddaughters. Your grandpa went on a business trip a few days ago and hasn't returned yet."
Zhou Jiao immediately understood that Lin Xuelin hadn't married yet. Her mother had mentioned postponing the wedding in her letter without explaining the reason. How unlovable!
Seeing that Aunt Chen didn't want to gossip, she immediately changed the subject to dinner. Before coming, she estimated that the storage room at home was not full, so she brought a lot of easy-to-store items this time.
For a moment, the sound of chopping vegetables could be heard in the kitchen, followed by the sizzling sound of dishes being poured into the frying pan. The mixed aroma of braised pork, chicken stewed with mushrooms, and seafood filled the air.
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