In the cold winter, unlike the grand occasion of buying New Year's goods at the market during the day, the car drove towards the provincial capital. As the sky darkened, there were fewer and fewer pedestrians and cars on the road.
With his wife and son, the most precious things in his life, in the car, Zhang Guoqing couldn't afford to be careless and didn't dare to speed up. He usually drove at lightning speed, but now he had to be careful.
When they arrived at Zhao Chuangguang's yard in the provincial capital, the three brothers, wrapped in quilts and holding hot water bottles in the back seat, were already drowsy with their eyes wide open in the embrace of Zhou Jiao and Aunt Chen.
As soon as the car stopped, Ping An immediately opened his eyes, looked at the one or two figures at the door, and shouted, "June 1st, May 1st, it's here, look, grandma is there."
"Grandma, we're back."
"Grandma, where is my grandpa? I want to go home."
Miao Lishan had already stepped forward and opened the car door. "Okay, let's go home. My dear children, come in with grandma first. Is it fun back home? Did you miss grandma last night?"
Zhou Jiao looked speechlessly at the four grandparents and grandchildren hugging each other and laughing foolishly. What a close relationship the generations have. Why didn't she see her mother being so enthusiastic towards her?
Huang Huimin, who was standing by, invited everyone to go in first and offered to help Zhang Guoqing move his belongings, but he quickly refused. Why would she be needed with just two or three packages?
As soon as he entered the living room, Zhang Guoqing smelled the aroma of stewed chicken and said with a smile: "When the son-in-law comes home, the chicken will be dead. Godmother, you are so grand."
"You only come back once every two years, so it has to be grand," Huang Huimin joked. "This morning, your mom and I went to buy two old hens, and we've been waiting for you to come."
"Jiaojiao, there's a big fair in the nearest village tomorrow morning. Godmother will take you there to buy some goodies."
Zhou Jiao looked at Miao Lishan when she heard this. Is there a change in the itinerary?
"Your godmother will let you stay for a few more days."
Zhou Jiao smiled and shook her head. "I'd like to stay a few more days, but the holidays are coming up soon. I'll come over and play with you for a few days when I have more time off."
"Sister-in-law, don't you know that you can't leave tonight?"
Huang Huimin finished speaking, looked at Miao Lishan, who looked bewildered, and said with a smile, "Didn't a young soldier just come over and say that A Guang asked us to rest first. You can't leave for a while, so you may have to change to tomorrow's train."
"Just when you came over, your mom rushed over to you. The little soldier left right after saying that. I heard they're still having a meeting there, so your dad probably didn't have time to notify you."
Zhou Jiao nodded. Military trains were faster than regular trains, and she and Zhang Guoqing had already arranged with their colleagues to cover New Year's Eve shifts, so there was no need to rush back.
Just after dinner, Secretary Chen came over on Zhou Xiaozheng's orders to take Zhang Guoqing to the military region, and also took the whole family to the guesthouse to rest.
Knowing they couldn't leave tonight, Zhou Jiao settled the children in and washed them before going to bed. She had a good night's sleep, not even knowing when Zhang Guoqing, the father-in-law and son-in-law, would return.
The next morning, just as the sky was breaking a light, Huang Huimin came and knocked on the door. Seeing Zhou Jiao and her daughter dressed for departure, she smiled knowingly.
When going out to the market to buy New Year's goods, of course the three little babies are indispensable to join in the fun.
Except for Zhou Xiaozheng, who was busy with official duties, the rest of the family went to the countryside to attend the big market. Walking along the busy dirt road, the loud clamor was filled with the festive atmosphere of the New Year.
The old farmers who ate cornmeal steamed bread and flatbreads, drank grits porridge and ate pickles were not stingy in preparing New Year's goods as they had encountered a rare bumper harvest.
Pears and persimmons frozen into iron lumps, melon seeds and pine nuts at the roasted food stalls, popcorn on both sides of the road, candied haws stuck on sorghum stalks...
Home-made cloth that didn't require coupons, straw sandals, baskets and winnowing baskets, dried wild fruits from the autumn harvest, mushrooms, fungus, and other dried goods, as well as the occasional wild game stall...
Whether buyers or sellers, the paper faces blown red by the strong north wind are filled with joy and satisfaction with their current lives.
Huang Huimin and Miao Lishan squeezed into the stalls early, and soon, the baskets they carried were filled with a lot of miscellaneous items.
Seeing this, Zhou Jiao also pushed Aunt Chen, who was taking care of the children, over to join in the fun. Unlike them, she and her husband didn't need to rush to go shopping right now. The most important thing was to spend time with the children and have fun.
Zhang Guoqing unbuttoned his military coat to hold the twins in his arms. Zhou Jiao, like him, also used a bandage to secure them. The family of five left the three women behind and took the children on a "market trip."
This time, the couple, in perfect sync, took out various banknotes and coins to teach their children about purchasing power, with the twins being their special focus.
To integrate into everyday life, one must first understand the prices of things. For one cent, I bought five maltose candies; for five cents, I bought three strings of candied haws; for ten cents, I bought a large bag of pine nuts...
As time went by, the twins gradually became familiar with bargaining and playing the buy a dime, get a dime free game. In the end, they were even able to fluently quote prices and exchange items.
The results are very encouraging, but the results are somewhat ridiculous.
After leaving the crowd, Zhang Guoqing had just finished praising his three sons' talent for arithmetic when the youngest, Wuyi, asked, "Dad, what do you mean by saying that if we give out a bag of gifts, they should also give out a bag of gifts?"
Children's Day is a close second. "One box of preserved fruit can buy ten kilograms of pine nuts, and two kilograms of White Rabbit can buy half a sack of mushrooms."
Wuyi frowned, "It doesn't count as honoring grandpa and grandma. A head of wild boar should be divided equally between uncle and uncle, and that can buy many sacks of gifts."
Little Ping'an in Zhou Jiao's arms looked at his two younger brothers proudly, smiling without saying a word.
Zhang Guoqing laughed happily, "You little brat! That's not how you count relatives. For example, did your aunt and the others make new clothes for you personally? Did Xizi and his brothers personally pick mountain products for you?"
Liuyi and Wuyi nodded after hearing this.
"Besides money, there's also love and affection between family members. This is the kind of love that money can't buy. When you grow up, you'll understand that nothing can compare to sincerity and love."
While waiting for Miao Lishan and the others, Zhang Guoqing gave examples of many acts of unity and friendship among the clansmen, and talked about the interactions between the three branches of the Zhang family over the years.
Perhaps the twins cannot hear how much is so much about such a beautiful and supportive family relationship, but that does not mean that Ping An, who is so smart as a child, does not understand it.
He shrugged his nose at Zhou Jiao and made a face.
Zhou Jiao chuckled and patted his butt. Many things have two sides. Similarly, there are no absolute good or bad people in this world. There are only human hearts.
As always, Miao Lishan loved to take care of everything. Concerned about the negative impact of having too much stuff, they went to the city to mail the package again. After lunch in the city, they let the children play again.
After a few whistles blew, the train took away the twins who were traveling far away for the first time, and also took away their first acquaintance with their hometown.
Whether they are close to their hometown or not, how can they feel a sense of belonging if they have not stayed on this black land for long? The relationship between people is always deep after long-term interaction.
Everything depends on the future.
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