At the same time, Zhou Xiao had finished dinner at Cheng's house and was drinking tea and chatting with Mr. Cheng and his son in the study room around the stove.
As they were talking, they talked about Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao's whereabouts after graduation.
"Time flies. They will be sent to work for internships in the second half of the year, and their assignments will be finalized by this time next year."
Zhou Xiaozheng nodded after hearing what Mr. Cheng said.
Cheng Sijin muttered to the side, "Brother, what are you nodding for? You need to keep an eye on things earlier and pay more attention. Let alone our Jiaojiao, Xiaowu is a serious problem. He's a transferred cadre. I heard Old Wu from the West City Armed Forces say to me that Xiaowu is a member of their system."
Zhou Xiaozheng smiled and shook his head, then poured some hot water for Cheng Sijin.
Old Cheng advised his son, "No matter how much Xiao Wu says, it's useless. You have to obey the assignment. The key is what your eldest brother plans to do."
Zhou Xiaozheng shook his head. "It depends on what the higher-ups decide. It depends on the child's interests. Old Wu won't force it for my sake. He also knows that Beijing is not as good as a county town in the Northeast. Working in the armed forces for someone who's not an active-duty soldier has some drawbacks, and there won't be much room for advancement in the future."
Cheng Sijin frowned upon hearing this and looked at Zhou Xiaozheng disapprovingly: "So what you're saying is, let the child do whatever he wants? If you don't intervene, he will really be assigned to another place. Don't regret it!"
Zhou Xiaozheng glanced at him, raised the corner of his mouth, and was in a good mood: "Then what do you say we should do?"
Old Cheng looked at him, then at his son, lowered his head to blew away the floating tea leaves, and sighed inwardly that this was the difference between the two.
“Brother…”
Zhou Xiaozheng glanced at him sideways: "Look at you! Stay calm first. There's still a year left, why rush?"
"When my eldest son was in high school, I planned his future path for him. How could there be a kid like Xiaowu who loves to make trouble? It would have been better if he had just gone to military school and graduated as a lieutenant."
Lieutenant? How rare! Zhou Xiaozheng smiled faintly and picked up the teacup. He tapped the lid against the rim a few times, blew on it gently, took a sip, then replaced the lid and placed it on the coffee table without haste.
——Some things about the two children cannot be said now. No matter how good their relationship is, he doesn't want to announce it to others before the final step.
As Zhou Xiaozheng's expression remained calm and his demeanor exuded an indescribable charm, Cheng Sijin gradually calmed down and picked up the teacup.
Old Cheng looked at Zhou Xiaozheng with admiration - now that he had lost the arrogance of his youth, the boy had become more reserved.
Back then, Brother Jinyu would often make tea and jokingly say, "Tea is like life; if you can understand it, you will attain enlightenment." Those scenes seemed to be right before my eyes. Some things really are inherited.
Seeing that it was getting late, Old Lady Cheng knocked on the door and pushed it open. Seeing the three of them drinking tea quietly, she smiled and said, "Don't drink too much and you won't be able to sleep."
She pointed to the clock in the study and said, "Are you guys done talking? If you are, Xiaozheng and I want to go meet Xiaowu's mother."
Zhou Xiaozheng supported her with one hand and quickly refused: "No, it's cold and slippery now. Let's go over tomorrow morning."
"You don't understand. Xiaowu's mother is coming, and as an elder, I have to go and meet her. It's not good to wait for them to visit tomorrow, and I have to go and see if our Jiaojiao is tired."
Old Cheng stood up and said, "You old fellow, I'll go with you."
"No, absolutely not. After all, we are a generation older. If the two of us old guys go, Xiaowu's mother will feel bad. Next time Xiaowu's father comes over, I'll take you."
As several people walked out of the study while talking, Liu Xiu, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Cheng family, who was knitting in the living room, quickly put down her work, stood up and walked forward to greet them.
"Dad, I'll go with Mom."
Mr. Cheng had no objection at this point. They were all female relatives, so his daughter-in-law was the right person to go. He smiled and nodded, telling them to be careful on the road.
Watching the aunt at home carrying a basket of frozen pears, frozen persimmons and other fruits and leaving behind the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the father and son returned to the living room and sat down.
Old Cheng looked at his eldest son and asked, "Your eldest cousin is very good at cultivating qi. You should learn from him."
"My eldest brother has become more cautious now. Dad, is he going to the grassroots tomorrow to avoid these relatives and women at home?"
Mr. Cheng nodded slightly.
This was just the beginning. In the past, wealthy families weren't so casual, and the Zhou family was especially particular about rules. He still remembered that his good brothers never entered his Yue family's inner courtyard, let alone other families.
At this moment, he was actually wondering why Zhang's mother didn't understand the ways of the world. Why bring two young daughters-in-law to the capital when there are so many other people to take with you?
Mr. Cheng sighed, “Times have changed, and so have the rules.”
Cheng Sijin said with a wicked smile: "If you tell my mother this, she will definitely scold you."
"These are things we only talk about at home between us, father and son. Sigh... the last time someone brought it up, I didn't even dare to agree. We really can't keep our ancestors' things. Our Cheng family has been running private schools for generations, and we're very particular about rules. Ultimately, we've betrayed our ancestral teachings. I don't know who's right or wrong."
Cheng Sijin couldn't bear to see his father sad, so he immediately changed the subject: "Dad, you said that Big Brother is confident. Has he already arranged Xiaowu's future?"
Mr. Cheng was in a rare mood to reminisce about the past, but being interrupted by his son, he glared at him angrily: "What do you think? I was just reminding him to hurry up, but you're just so good at it. You're not going to just casually announce something you're not 100% sure of?"
Cheng Sijin was blamed and smiled at his father disapprovingly: "So my eldest brother is already prepared, just waiting for the final move."
"It's not just one move; he's prepared several. Look at how many internships Zhang Guoqing has taken in the past few years. His family won't give up until the very end."
"What about Jiaojiao? She's my eldest brother's only daughter. She hasn't been to many places for internships. Apart from this trip to the south, I remember she seemed to stay at home most of the time."
Old Cheng smiled at him mysteriously: "This girl has already registered there, so why should we worry? Have you forgotten that she was sent on an internship for several months last year? You are such a foolish son!"
"Did you really go abroad on a secret mission that time?"
Old Cheng shook his head. "Don't tell me, don't tell me. If you tell me, it won't work. Didn't you see that girl doesn't gain weight no matter how much she eats? She only grows more cunning. I think every unit has confirmed her identity."
The father and son were discussing the cunning Zhou Jiao, and they were also helpless at the moment. Some things couldn't be solved by IQ alone, and when it came to social etiquette, she was at a loss.
In the bedroom of the east wing, while her two daughters-in-law and niece were chatting with Lin Lishan and others in the living room, Zhang's mother secretly told the old daughter-in-law what Zhang's father was thinking.
Zhou Jiao smiled as she heard this, but secretly groaned inwardly. How could she possibly know how to suppress the thoughts of her sisters-in-law? Was it appropriate for her to intimidate them when they came from thousands of miles away to visit her pregnant sister-in-law? Besides, the so-called sisters-in-law really had little to do with her.
"Your father said that you and Xiaowu must know what he means. So this time, don't mention anything like the courtyard is ready and asking us to come over. You have to let them know that your father is a high-ranking official, and it's not easy for you. Take them to see which old lady in the courtyard is powerful..."
"...We have to suppress their little thoughts now, so they won't cause trouble for the family in the future. You have to let them know that no matter how high your father's official position is, there are still many high-ranking officials above him, and if anything happens, you can't help. Then they will be honest and won't think that as long as Xiaowu is around, no matter how big the problem is, it won't be a big deal..."
After listening to her mother-in-law muttering for a long time, Zhou Jiao understood that the old woman was doing this for the future of the Zhang family, but also to eliminate future troubles for herself and her husband. Even if this method was inappropriate, how could she bear to complain?
Zhou Jiao smiled and accepted the so-called training plan. As for how to implement it? Taking them to see the dangers of the outside world is also good, letting them know how high the sky is and how thick the earth is, which is quite interesting.
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