It took two hours to arrive in the city from the suburbs. It was noon, the sun was at its highest point, and there were few pedestrians walking on the streets.
On the main road leading to the Municipal Bureau Guesthouse, the shade of the trees on both sides could not block the strong sunlight. Sitting in the car was like being in a furnace, with waves of heat coming towards you.
Even when he ate the popsicle he had longed for, Ping An was unhappy. "Dad, I want to go home. It's hotter here than at home."
Zhang Guoqing held a wet towel and wiped the child's sweat over and over again, comforting him, "It won't be hot inside. Didn't Great Grandpa say it would rain today? It will be cool after the rain."
Yi Jiefang shook his head. Northerners really weren't in good shape. His nephew never stayed indoors for even a quarter of an hour during the hottest summer temperatures. He was either swimming in the river or climbing trees to play mischief.
After finally stopping at the Municipal Bureau Guesthouse, Zhang Guoqing opened the car door, picked up the child and ran inside.
There was a young girl at the lobby counter, staring wide-eyed at the father and son who had suddenly barged in. She craned her neck to look at the car outside and said, understandingly, "The woman in room 205 is out. I'll get you room 207."
Zhang Guoqing smiled and nodded. He had heard from his friends that a room cost 1.5 yuan a night, and his mother-in-law had generously booked two rooms at once, without considering that they were only staying in the village for two nights. He felt really bad for her.
If the atmosphere hadn't been so sad, he would have laughed out loud. This was the beginning of his mother-in-law being successfully brainwashed by his daughter, otherwise she would have gone to stay in a luxury hotel again.
Before leaving, her mother-in-law secretly told him that she would take all the two thousand yuan that Jiaojiao left at home with her so that he could use it without worry and not worry about running out of money.
He was constantly worried in the car about her getting robbed. How much is two thousand yuan? There were only ten-yuan notes left, and even if they were all new, they would still be a thick stack of two hundred. Where could she hide them in the middle of summer? He was always curious!
In room 207, Zhang Guoqing took out toiletries from his bag, brought a face tray, and took Ping An's hand, then followed Yi Jiefang to the bathroom, where someone was already inside.
"Oh, the water is scalding. It's scorching hot out here. Did you complete your mission?"
"That's for sure!"
"It wasn't easy coming here. I wanted to bring some goodies back, but they were too expensive."
"That's because you want to bring high-end goods."
"I have no choice. My eldest daughter is getting married on the 11th. Radios and sewing machines don't require tickets, but the prices have been raised a lot."
Zhang Guoqing and Yi Jiefang smiled at each other after hearing this. It seemed like everyone from outside the city wanted to bring something back. Aren't the products from other big cities made by the same manufacturers?
Ping An took off all his clothes, covered the bird, and hurriedly shouted: "Dad, pour water on me quickly, I'm going to catch fire."
As soon as he finished speaking, several people in the bathroom saw him and burst into laughter.
"It's really hot this time. Where are you from, little one?"
Ping An replied obediently, "Hello, Grandpa, we are from the capital."
"Oh, that's a nice place. Why are you out here in such hot weather?"
Ping An, while enjoying his father's shower, replied cheerfully, "I can't help it. I have too much work to do and the task is too heavy. I have to come out."
The old man was amused by him and laughed. The other party was also a wonderful person. He asked, "Excuse me, where are you working?"
Ping An replied with a smile: "Not worth mentioning."
Zhang Guoqing smiled and patted him, "Stop talking nonsense." He looked at him and nodded in greeting. If he hadn't interrupted, his son could have kept teasing until dark.
"Your son is good, he's not afraid of strangers. For those of us in this line of work, children usually run away when they see us."
Zhang Guoqing laughed and said, "That's right. My son is so generous!"
Yi Jiefang rolled his eyes speechlessly. This guy acted like a fool just talking about his own son. Shouldn't he be more modest and say, "What's that?" He hurried on, intending to leave as soon as possible. The father and son were so familiar with each other that they might even have to go to the bathroom during lunch.
After lunch, the three of them didn't rush out shopping. They opened the windows and doors, let the breeze blow, and lay on the two single beds, drowsy.
Zhang Guoqing had been very busy and exhausted over the past two or three days. He was not worried about his money being stolen in the Municipal Bureau Guesthouse, as no thief had dared to come to his door on his own initiative.
The three of them didn't chat for a few words before falling asleep.
When Lin Lishan and Aunt Chen returned from outside, she was secretly delighted to learn from the waiter that they had returned. It was quite boring to go shopping without her own children around.
Going up to the second floor, she looked through the open door and saw that the three children were all fast asleep. Seeing this, she did not bother them and quietly followed the waiter into the next room.
After sleeping for more than an hour, Zhang Guoqing woke up, looked at his son in his arms and saw that he was sweating profusely, and quickly grabbed a paper fan and shook him.
He looked suspiciously at the position of the two people sleeping on the bed, unable to understand how his son had rolled into his arms, and wondering if he had subconsciously held him back while he fell asleep.
Ping'an's frown gradually relaxed with the wind from the fan, letting Zhang Guoqing, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, breathe a sigh of relief. It's really painful to get prickly heat this summer.
After a while, Zhang Guoqing stood up, took a towel and planned to go outside to wash his face, but found that Lin Lishan and Aunt Chen had already returned and were sitting there resting with the door open.
"Mom, when did you and Aunt Chen come back? Have you eaten yet?"
Lin Lishan's eyes lit up when she saw him, and she smiled, "Come back after you finish eating. Go wash your face and tell Mom how things went."
Zhang Guoqing wiped his face with a wet towel and sat on the sofa. "Forget it, let me talk to you first."
Lin Lishan rolled her eyes at him, but didn't stop him.
Aunt Chen took the towel and said, "You two can talk while I get some water."
Zhang Guoqing smiled cheerfully, "Aunt, don't be busy yet, sit down and listen."
"Ping'an is almost awake, I still need some cold water." Aunt Chen said, waved her hand and left. She still didn't intend to listen to their family affairs, she still knew this etiquette.
Zhang Guoqing smiled as he saw the person leave, "Mom, you don't know how much the old man misses Jiaojiao. When she comes back before the New Year, she has to come over to burn incense for the old lady and chat with the old man for a while."
Lin Lishan nodded, looking for an explanation.
"Last year, when Grandpa asked Dad to entrust someone to take the house deed over, I saw he had already made all the arrangements. He never mentioned family matters in his letters before. Only last night did he give me a detailed explanation and ask me to pass it on to Jiaojiao.
At the end of last year, his old coworker approached him again, still wanting a house. He'd heard his eldest grandson had been married for three years, and his employer still hadn't allocated him an apartment. This time, his grandfather relented, saying he didn't want cash, but gold, and he also wanted to publicize the close relationship between the two families. So, he took a few hundred yuan as a token of appreciation.
Grandpa said they were old friends and he knew the other man had a stash of small yellow croaker at home. He didn't dare tell anyone about the yellow croaker trade. If he used money, the amount would be too large and his family would surely know, which would be even more unsafe.
Grandpa also explained to me that he had to sell this small building. He and grandma both had a house in their names, which was allocated to him by his work unit. The two rooms over there were still empty, and it would be too eye-catching for just the two of them to occupy both places.
Lin Lishan nodded when she heard this.
Zhang Guoqing leaned over to her and whispered, "The small building was sold for 1,800 yuan. He asked for 300 yuan in cash and exchanged the rest for small yellow croaker at the price of 4 yuan per gram of gold. This time he wanted me to bring it back, but I refused."
Finally, my grandfather took me to see where the money was hidden and told me to remember that the house deeds and valuables were all there. The courtyard in the village was also named after Jiaojiao. What do you think we should do?
After saying that, Zhang Guoqing sat down and looked at his mother-in-law.
He felt rather embarrassed, a sense of getting something for nothing. After all, apart from sending the old man some food coupons and other things in recent years, he hadn't visited them many times.
Lin Lishan frowned, touched her head, looked at her son-in-law, and said uncertainly: "Or, go back and tell your dad and let them handle it."
Zhang Guoqing laughed dumbly and nodded quickly. This was the only way to deal with it. We'd talk about it when we got back.
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