Qian Rao rode his bicycle to Yuanbao Village and arrived at his uncle's house. Just as he was about to reach the door, he met Jin Shen, who had just returned from the fields.
Jin Shen saw Qian Rao and smiled, saying, "What brings you here?"
Qian Rao said, "Isn't there something I need to do? Why did you go to the fields in this rainy weather?"
Jin Shen smiled and opened the door. The two entered the courtyard, and he said, "I'm worried about the water overflowing in the fields. By the way, what could be wrong with you, kid?"
Qian Rao glared at him, parked the bicycle against the wall, and went inside. Jin Kuohao was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), fast asleep. Hearing the 'bang,' he was startled and cursed, "Which brat is that? You scared me half to death."
Qian Rao walked in with a smile and said, "Uncle, spring drowsiness, autumn fatigue, and summer naps are all the rage, how come you're taking a nap?"
Jin Kuohao lay back down and said, "Why aren't you sleeping on a rainy day?" But when he saw Qian Rao coming over in the rain, he frowned and said, "You little rascal, have some ginger soup later. Why did you come over in this rain? Something wrong?"
Qian Rao nodded and said, "Yes, something's happened. And it's a big deal."
Jin Kuohao was taken aback and asked, "What's the big deal? Explain yourself."
At this moment, Jin Zun and Old Man Jin arrived at the room, making the already small room feel even more cramped. When Jin Kuohao saw his father arrive, he stopped lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) and sat up to make room for Old Man Jin.
Old Man Jin said, "I just came in and you said you had something important to say. What is it?"
Qian Rao smiled and helped Old Man Jin onto the kang (a heated brick bed), making him sit down. He said, "I've come here for two things. The first is about my third brother."
Old Jin asked anxiously, "What's wrong with Third Brother? Is he going to be the mayor's secretary again?"
Qian Rao smiled and said, "No, it's because my third brother has a girlfriend."
Upon hearing this, Old Man Jin immediately slapped his thigh and said, "Good, that's great! This third son is already 30, and he finally has a girlfriend! Where is she from? What does she do?"
Qian Rao took the water Yuan Fang handed him and said, "Thank you, Aunt." Then he looked at Old Man Jin and the few people next to him who were gossiping, and said, "My third brother's girlfriend is from Haishi. She is my third brother's classmate and also a college student."
Upon hearing this, Old Man Jin exclaimed, "She's a college student too?"
Qian Rao nodded and said, "He was in the same year as my third brother, but he's younger than him. After all, my third brother was already quite old when he got into university." There was a hint of teasing in his tone as he said this.
This happy news made the Jin family very happy. Jin Shen asked, "Then what is the second thing you mentioned?"
Qian Rao cleared his throat and said, "This matter is related to Duo Duo."
Jin Shen and Jin Zun exchanged a glance, and Jin Shen said, "What's wrong? Did someone bully our sister?"
Seeing the two brothers' appearance, Qian Rao suddenly remembered that he seemed to be the same way at home. He smiled and said, "Duo Duo said that something important has happened and he wants all the brothers at home to help out."
Jin Shen and Jin Zun were stunned for a moment. The farthest they had ever been in their lives was Harbin. They had never been to any other place that was too far away.
Jin Kuohao asked, "Do you need me to go?"
Grandma Jin said, "You should go too. Otherwise, you'll just stay at home all day, like a pig. It's so annoying to look at you."
So, under Qian Rao's organization, several members of the Qian and Jin families took a train from the county town to Harbin, found Qian Xiang and Qian Gui, and the two brothers arranged for them to stay in a courtyard not far from Qian Xiang's house.
Jin Kuohao looked at the several rooms and said, "This courtyard is nice, quite large. Is it rented?"
Qian Xiang said, "This is Duo Duo's yard. Not far from here, there's another one that's similar to this, which belongs to Qian Mao. Back when they were still in Harbin, they bought houses, and I benefited from that too. If Duo Duo hadn't helped us choose a place, we probably would have chosen one near Guo Ni's workplace. Now that many educated youth have returned to the city, the property value of our house has gone up."
It wasn't that no one wanted their house; as long as Duoduo, a college student, still had his household registration there, and he was going there for study tours with his teachers, the housing management office didn't agree. It was even less likely for Qian Mao, since he was Mayor Lu's secretary at the time.
Looking at the house, Jin Kuohao couldn't help but exclaim, "It's really good to be cultured!"
Qian Gui smiled and said, "Uncle, you don't need to say that. You won't suffer if you follow Duoduo. Look at me. When I got divorced, many people looked down on me. But look at me now. I have a proper job and help Duoduo sell goods to earn some money. But Duoduo thinks it's too little money, so she let me buy a house in Harbin."
Jin Kuohao smiled and said, "That's right, Duoduo has always seemed smart and clever since she was little." This statement was agreed upon by the others, after all, they only had one daughter, and if she thought the sun in the sky was square, then the sun that rose the next morning would definitely be square.
After resting in Harbin for two days, the group received a telegram from Qian Mao, which indicated the train number and sleeper berth they had purchased.
Looking at the dense text, Jin Kuohao couldn't help but say, "This telegram isn't a letter, so why are there so many words?"
Qian Gui said, "I'm just going for the latest and most fashionable styles here, but Qian Mao's side is where the real money is. Where else can you find clothes? It's Shanghai, where people earn more money and there are more wealthy people. They don't have to haggle over the price of clothes, so Qian Mao's sales volume is much higher than mine."
Qian Gui bought a sleeper berth according to Qian Mao's train number. Luckily, their carriages were next to Qian Mao's, so they could meet up.
Jin Kuohao sat in the sleeper car with his two sons, curious about everything. However, seeing that apart from Qian Yin, who was also looking around, the others didn't seem interested, he felt a little guilty towards his children. So, feeling guilty, the father handed over all his savings to his sons on the train, saying, "Buy whatever you want to eat."
The Jin brothers looked at the five yuan in their hands and felt like crying. The allowance their wives gave them wasn't even worth that much, yet their father treated it like a treasure. However, considering that their mother controlled the family finances, it was already quite an achievement that their father had managed to save up five yuan.
Swaying and swaying, the three members of the Jin family had long lost their initial excitement. They were either sleeping or spacing out in their respective bunks. Finally, in the afternoon of the second day, Qian Mao boarded the train. Qian Gui went to the location Qian Mao had indicated and actually found it. However, Qian Mao was not alone; he was with a pretty and elegant young woman, and the two were chatting and laughing.
This put Qian Gui in a somewhat awkward position.
When Qian Mao saw Qian Gui coming over, he smiled and introduced him to his girlfriend, Zhang Muyao.
Zhang Muyao learned that this was Qian Mao's cousin. Although they were close in age, he had a wealth of life experience.
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