Time ticked by, and in the blink of an eye, the first snow arrived.
Some students who were short of food and clothing received notices from the school and were asked to go to designated locations to collect quilts, cotton-padded jackets, and cotton-padded pants. Apart from that, daily life seemed to be largely unchanged.
Crowds of people rushing to classrooms during breaks can still be seen everywhere on campus, and the sound of their tense footsteps is accompanied by the athletes' march and radio gymnastics played on the loudspeakers.
Experimental classes, open classes, ideological classes, and voluntary labor are all the same as before.
If there was any change, Zhou Jiao's most profound impression was that the food quality had deteriorated again, fewer and fewer people were participating in physical exercise, and she could not go home all the time.
Zhang Guoqing finished his meal and declined an invitation from his classmates downstairs to have dinner together. When he returned to his room, he saw Zhou Jiao again, holding a book. He was curious about how Zhou Jiao maintained such good eyesight.
"Jiaojiao, eat first."
Zhou Jiao heard the noise and looked at him dazedly for a while before suddenly coming to her senses. "When will you be back? Is your family okay? Have you seen Ping An?"
Zhang Guoqing happened to be in the city with a classmate on some business that afternoon, so he made an excuse to come back home. After seeing his son, he hurried back because he was worried that she would not eat on time.
"We'll talk while we eat." He took out his chopsticks and handed them to her. "I went into the nursery and saw my son. He was fine and having a great time. I stayed there and talked to him for a while. The auntie inside said he was fine and told me not to worry."
"What did you talk about?"
"Haha... Yesterday, Mom took him to Dong'an to eat mutton. The little guy is doing better than us. He even proudly told me to tell you that his grandpa took him to touch the real thing."
Zhou Jiao smiled and nodded. "That's good. I was worried that he wouldn't be able to adapt to the weather. Have you given all the things to Auntie?"
Zhang Guoqing gestured for her to eat. After she took a bite, he nodded with satisfaction. "I gave it to her. I also let her take the tonics. I gave Ping'an's clothes to Aunt Chen in front of her."
Zhou Jiao told him to eat first. If she didn't have any education classes in the evenings, she would go home.
After dinner, Zhou Jiao saw him stop her from washing the dishes, and he stood up to make two cups of tea and put them on the table. Was he planning to have a long talk with her?
"The Lin family moved back to the main compound the day before yesterday, and the youngest Lin has also returned from the south. I heard from my aunt that the second Lin seems to want to retire from the army and return to Beijing before the New Year. The old man has been looking for someone to handle a lot of procedures these past two days."
Zhou Jiao has never had a good impression of the Lin family, so just stay away from her.
"You see, there's a difference between close and distant relatives. As long as someone's surname is Lin, the old man will fight to the death."
Zhang Guoqing smiled and nodded. He understood Zhou Jiao's meaning. Just because her last name was Zhou, she wasn't under Mr. Lin's protection. Many things couldn't be compared. Human nature is selfish, that's how it is.
"That coward Lin Lao Er is really going to be reborn! I thought he'd stay for at least three to five years, but now he can't keep it. Where's his integrity? He's still a member of the D team."
Zhang Guoqing secretly wondered if he should intervene. Gu Ruyi cared deeply about her son. If her precious son didn't come back, he might get sicker and die. That wouldn't work. He wanted the old woman to live and see this wonderful world.
Zhou Jiao glanced at his expression and whispered to him, "Just watch and don't interfere. What the hell are the Lin family? Let's stay away from them. You're still trying to use tricks now. Who in the Forty-Nine City is stupid enough? Do you think they'll settle the score later?"
Zhou Jiao was persuading Zhang Guoqing, and at this moment, Mr. Lin from the Lin family was also persuading his wife.
In the bedroom, Mr. Lin secretly congratulated his wife for her normal hearing. He leaned over to Gu Ruyi's ear and whispered, "The better the company, the more people will be jealous. My plan is right. Let the second son and his family live in the suburbs for a few years, and then we can slowly make plans."
Old Mrs. Lin didn't think so. She had suffered a stroke, but her brain was still there. She believed her IQ was no less than others. In a few years, no one would be willing to help her. It would be better to do it now.
Seeing that he couldn't convince her, Old Master Lin reluctantly told her the truth, "Mother, things are different now. I've already used a lot of favors to get my second son discharged from the army. To put it bluntly, he doesn't fall into the category of transfer to civilian life now. Do you understand what I mean?"
Old Mrs. Lin stared blankly at her husband. She felt immense regret. If she had known better, she should have let her child change his career two years ago. Why did they have to endure this dilemma until now?
"And then there's my second son's wife. She has a blemish on her record, and no unit or neighborhood committee is willing to accept her back in Kyoto. I still have to ask my eldest family for help on this matter. So, don't expect to achieve success overnight. Many things need to be done slowly. There's no point in rushing. Take care of yourself first, there's plenty of time to go."
Old Mrs. Lin grabbed the pen and quickly wrote two words on it.
Mr. Lin looked at it for a long time before realizing what the illegible words meant: "divorce." He looked at his wife in surprise, wondering if he was mistaken.
He sighed, "Wife, we can't do this. Old Jiang put in a lot of effort last time. It would have been easy to talk about it at the beginning, but it's too late now. And you've forgotten that the second son's family gave birth to children for our Lin family. Even if they didn't have any credit, they still worked hard. Don't mention this matter in the future. Our second son won't be willing to abandon his wife."
Old Mrs. Lin didn't object this time. After hesitating for a while, she wrote on the paper - let the eldest son and his wife come over.
"You don't have to tell me. I'm planning to have them over tonight too. Remember not to lose your temper with the elders. This daughter-in-law is very good. Don't let the child be heartbroken and alienate you."
Old Mrs. Lin glanced at her husband with disdain and closed her eyes.
"The boss's brother-in-law just got promoted to factory director." Then, Old Man Lin left the room. Since persuasion was useless, he let her figure it out on her own.
Old Mrs. Lin stared at his departing figure, stunned. The more she thought about it, the more unlucky she felt! How could such dead-looking beasts always get promoted and become wealthy? God must be blind.
When Lin Xuezhen saw the old man come out, she quickly stood up and looked at him helplessly.
"Good girl, sit down quickly. Don't be nervous at home, just chat with grandpa." The old man didn't know how much this child had suffered. A pure and lively girl had become a frightened bird.
Lin Xuezhen glanced at him secretly and lowered her head.
"You must have suffered a lot out there. You still remember what grandpa told you, right? People can only strive for higher things. What kind of fool would not want to live a good life and run off to suffer in the countryside?"
"Grandpa, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. If I hadn't played a prank on you that day, you wouldn't have fallen. If you hadn't fallen, all the things that happened later wouldn't have happened."
The old man smiled and said, "Silly child, the truth will be revealed sooner or later. What does it have to do with you? Grandpa should thank my little granddaughter, otherwise I wouldn't have discovered that I was in poor health."
Lin Xuezhen's tears fell down in torrents.
"Adult matters have nothing to do with you kids. Just go to your aunt's house and play with Jiaojiao."
Lin Xuezhen wiped her face with both hands, "I...I don't dare to go."
Seeing this, Old Master Lin laughed out loud, "Why wouldn't you be afraid to go? Your aunt's house is not a stranger. Jiaojiao is a good-natured child, she won't ignore you."
Lin Xuezhen remembered that Zhou Jiao hadn't even replied to her letter, so she lowered her head and remained silent. Listening to the old man's advice, she hesitated whether she should tell him the truth. What if he collapsed again?
The Lin family's grandfather and grandson each had their own thoughts. Unfortunately, they didn't know that Zhou Xiaozheng had already ordered the Lin family to leave. It was impossible to enter the Zhou family just because you wanted to.
The imagination was beautiful, but their aunt, the Zhou family, who were not outsiders, soon gave them a heavy blow. Many things were exposed and it was too late to undo what had been done.
How could a proud and aloof father and daughter like Zhou Xiaozheng and Zhou Jiao dance with wolves? What is lost is lost, how can it be found again?
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