The once quiet city is now bustling with people day and night.
After squeezing out of the crowd, the family returned to the compound. Zhou Jiao settled her sleepy son down, and the couple, exhausted, fell asleep.
The bugle call sounded early in the morning, and Zhou Jiao woke to find Zhang Guoqing gone. He must have gone off to exercise again. Looking at Ping An, who was sleeping soundly, undisturbed by the noise, she smiled and shook her head.
Her child is born in the Year of the Pig, and she envies his sleep quality.
Zhou Jiao walked out of the room and found that her father did not come back last night. As for her mother, there was no need to mention her. She would probably be very busy in the next three days.
Aunt Chen had already started making breakfast in the kitchen. When she saw her come in, she smiled and said, "Why don't you sleep in a little longer? The commander asked Xiao Wang to come back last night to see if you were home. I saw that you were already asleep, and since he didn't have anything else to do, I didn't let him disturb you. Is that okay?"
Zhou Jiao smiled and shook her head. "I guess my dad is worried. Just call me from now on."
Aunt Chen understood the meaning behind the words and nodded. It would be better to ask for instructions in the future. It's possible that Xiao Wang might not be able to tell her some things.
"I was careless this time. Do you want to have breakfast first?"
Zhou Jiao smiled. It was all in the past, and they meant well. She shook her head, "Let's wait until Xiaowu comes back before eating. Auntie, please keep an eye on the child for me. I'll go run first."
"Go ahead, don't run too long."
When Zhou Jiao jogged out, she found that Zhang Guoqing was already exercising.
Zhang Guoqing slowly approached her and asked, "Why don't you sleep a little longer?"
"I'm used to it at school." Zhou Jiao said, shaking her hand to signal him to stop talking. She couldn't run and talk at the same time; her physique still couldn't keep up.
Zhang Guoqing smiled and shook his head. She was clearly a weak woman, insisting on imitating a strong woman. If it were someone else, he'd just say "good job," but his wife insisted on jogging with her classmates every morning, and he felt bad. With a sick leave certificate issued by her father-in-law, she wouldn't have to work so hard.
After his morning workout, Zhang Guoqing declined his friends' invitations. He preferred to spend time with his wife and daughter, a rare opportunity for rest.
After breakfast, the couple took their child out for the day. The past had passed quickly, and they had spent less time together than together. It had always been Zhou Jiao's dream to take her child out of the compound on rare holidays to see more of the old city.
The high walls of the compound blocked out everything from the outside world. Many children had no idea of the world outside the walls. She was really worried that if things went on like this, her own son would become narrow-minded.
"Dad, there are so many people here, including children."
Ping An pointed at the group of people lined up in a long queue.
Zhang Guoqing smiled and pointed at the plaque above. "Look, this is a restaurant. You don't need food coupons to buy this place. Anyone with money can buy it. It's nicknamed the High Price Shop. Do you understand what that means?"
Ping An nodded. "This isn't a high-priced store. Grandma said Lao Mo's is a high-priced store. Lao Mo's is bigger than this one, and there's no queue. There's a lot of meat inside, and there's even ice cream."
When Zhang Guoqing heard him finish speaking and licked it with his tongue, he couldn't help laughing.
"Do you want daddy to take you to Lao Mo?"
Ping An hesitated for a moment and shook his head. "Grandma said she would take me there in a few days."
Zhou Jiao pursed her lips and smiled. It seemed her mother had taken the children to these places quite often in private.
"Where else did grandma take you? Does grandpa know?"
"Grandpa knows. He doesn't like Lao Mo, so he always takes me to many great-grandfather's houses to play. Grandma is good, she takes me to the group, and many aunts give me chocolate bread. Grandma can also drive..."
Zhou Jiao shook her head at him, indicating that there were many people outside and he couldn't say anything more.
Zhang Guoqing finally understood why the child didn't cry and make a fuss for him. With so many things to do, how could he have time to think about the two of them?
"The children in the village still remember the canteen, right? Many children don't have food to eat. Don't let your grandma take you to expensive restaurants in the future. Let your mother prepare whatever you want to eat."
Ping'an secretly leaned over to his ear and whispered, "Grandpa said that grandma took me there on purpose because she was greedy." What he meant was that he didn't want to go.
Zhang Guoqing tried to suppress his laughter. This little kid was already thinking about something. "Grandpa is teasing grandma on purpose. Did you see grandma order something you like?"
Seeing this, Zhou Jiao pulled the father and son, "Let's talk about it when we get home. Come down safely and see what you like."
The largest department store has added a lot more supplies than before, and the counters are crowded with people.
Zhou Jiao looked over from the doorway and quickly stopped. She had thought that apart from the cakes and candies in the grocery store, there wouldn't be any panic buying of other items. This seemed beyond her imagination.
"Let's go. Let's take the kids to the bookstore. It's crowded everywhere today."
Zhang Guoqing grabbed her and took the children away. Expecting a quiet vacation was impossible. If his father-in-law hadn't been home, he'd have wanted to take the children to the suburbs, get closer to nature, and broaden their horizons.
The family wandered around, bought a few new children's newspapers and comic books, and then, seeing there was nothing much to do, decided to go home.
When Zhou Xiaozheng returned home, the sun was already setting. As soon as he entered the house, he found that they had not gone out. He asked curiously, "Why don't you go out for a walk today?"
"I thought you would be back at noon, so I wanted to wait for you. Dad, you don't have to go out tonight, right?"
Zhou Xiaozheng pointed outside and said, "The car is still waiting outside. There are too many foreign guests these two days, and we have to be busy. Do you want to go with Dad? There is a big performance tonight."
Zhou Jiao quickly shook her head. She was too lazy to deal with the big shots she would have to meet once she got there.
He looked at Zhang Guoqing.
Zhang Guoqing also shook his head. The others didn't bring their families with them, so if they went there, they would have to face a lot of curious looks and all kinds of suspicion.
Seeing this, Zhou Jiao quickly informed Aunt Chen to prepare dinner. Fortunately, she had prepared a lot of dishes early, otherwise, with her father's taste, she would have gone home hungry again.
After dinner, Zhou Xiaozheng changed his clothes and patted his daughter. "It's a rare day off, go out for a walk, don't be afraid to spend money. Dad will be busy these days, so please talk to Secretary Chen if you need anything."
Seeing that Secretary Chen was frequently looking at the wall clock, Zhou Jiao knew that time was running out, so she quickly nodded to reassure him.
After seeing Zhou Xiaozheng off, they didn't leave. Every day, their parents left early and came back late, and they were worried. At least seeing them safely return late at night, cooking a bowl of midnight snack, and chatting for a while, they felt a little comforted.
Moreover, there were many visitors during the day, either friends from the compound getting together, or Yi Jiefang bringing his good friends from the empty compound.
The guests were a mixed bunch, and it was hard to tell if they had other intentions. Zhou Jiao immediately created a new space for them to work on.
The long-unused west wing finally found a new use. Zhou Jiao simply asked Aunt Chen to clean it up, letting them do whatever they wanted inside. This way, it wouldn't affect their daily lives.
Time flew by, and before Zhou Jiao could finish making two pairs of large cotton-padded shoes for Ping An, the holiday was over. Before she could even chat with her father, it was time to go back to school.
If Zhou Jiao had to choose, she really didn't like holidays. On weekdays, she could still see people when she returned home, but now, she had so much to say that she didn't even have time to say it.
No matter how much she thought about it, life still had to go on, and she could only leave reluctantly and return to school.
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