As soon as Yu Jiu returned, An An rushed over eagerly to claim credit, hoping to receive Yu Jiu's praise. Yu Jiu patted her head and praised her generously.
"Of course, our An'an is the best!"
"hey-hey."
Feeling delighted by her mother's praise, An'an rushed into Yu Caihong's arms again.
"Aunt Rainbow, how did your exam go? Dad said he'll send me to school next March too. I'll have to take exams then, but I don't know how difficult they will be."
"You did well on the test. Auntie won't exaggerate. But there are easy and difficult tests. You've been learning since elementary school, so it must be easy. You're so smart, you'll have no problem handling the test."
Yu Caihong picked up little An'an and cuddled her for a moment. The two then chatted for a few more minutes about school and exams before sitting down at the dining table.
"Dad said that if I can get 100 points on my exam, he will grant me one request. When I go to school, I will definitely study hard and try to get 100 points to get Dad's reward. Then I will go to university and take Mom and Dad to university with me!"
Little An'an has quite ambitious goals. She not only wants to go to university, but also wants to take Xu Zijiang and Yu Jiu to university with her, which made Zhang Yan laugh out loud.
"An'an, you have younger siblings, aren't you going to take care of them?"
"Bring them too! Bring them all!"
An'an is very generous; with a wave of her little hand, she makes sure no one in the family is left behind.
"Okay, then Mom will wait for An'an to take Dad and Mom to college and broaden their horizons."
Yu Jiu smiled and put a meatball on An An's plate. With An An, this little rascal, making everyone laugh during the meal made everyone laugh non-stop, and the meal lasted exceptionally long.
The next day, Xu Zijiang issued a certificate for Yu Caihong, who then bought a train ticket. On the third day, she packed her bags and went home to see her parents. She would stay home for more than half a month, until after the New Year, and then return to wait for further notice. As someone who was taking an exam, Yu Caihong was naturally even more nervous.
Yu Jiu and the others are doing alright; they've already finished their exams, and whether Yu Caihong passes or not is up to them to wait for the notification. Besides, with the New Year approaching, Yu Jiu and the others will be busy preparing for the holiday.
This year, Xu Zijiang reconnected with a former comrade-in-arms. Xu Zijiang retired from the army quickly, while his comrade retired two years later. They lost contact for a long time before finally getting back together this year. However, he was surprised to learn that his old comrade had developed a limp. They used to have a good relationship, and now that he knew his old friend was struggling to make ends meet with only a small amount of money, he decided to help him.
There wasn't much else he could help him with, but it was Chinese New Year, and he wanted to send some food to his old friends as a token of his affection. Besides, it was normal to exchange food and drinks during the holidays. His old friends probably wouldn't refuse, so these past few days, Xu Zijiang and Yu Jiu were not only busy preparing their own New Year's gifts, but also preparing gifts for Xu Zijiang's old friends.
Xu Zi prepared 5 jin of cured pork, dried sweet potatoes from his own sun-dried potatoes, some dried mushrooms, a large bag of red dates, a small bag of peanuts, and 30 jin of coarse grains.
Yu Jiu dried the sweet potatoes herself this year when she was bored at home. She dried quite a lot, and they tasted pretty good, so she sent some to Xu Zijiang's old friend to let him try them.
“I don’t know if this is enough. My old friend is also unlucky. He injured his leg, his mother is sick, his wife is weak, and his child was healthy, but last winter he fell into the water and caught a cold. Now his health is not good, and he has to take medicine from time to time. No matter how much money he has, it all goes into medicine. No wonder he has a hard life.”
Xu Zijiang sighed deeply. His old friend had retired from the army two years later than him and received a slightly higher allowance. The fact that his friend was struggling so much must be due to the heavy burden of family responsibilities. Sure enough, it was true. A family of four, with three people constantly on their hands and feet, simply didn't have enough money.
The reason Xu Zijiang reconnected with his old friend was because the friend was desperate. He had no money left, had borrowed from everyone he could, but his child was sick and urgently needed money for treatment. He had no choice but to ask around for Xu Zijiang's phone number and borrow money from him from afar.
He asked for 50 yuan right off the bat, but he had no choice. He frankly admitted that he couldn't repay the 50 yuan so quickly. It would take at least two or three years. If Xu Zijiang was willing to lend it to him, that would be best. If not, he wouldn't blame Xu Zijiang, after all, his family's situation was indeed like this, and he couldn't guarantee that he could repay Xu Zijiang on time.
Fifty yuan might be a lot for others, but for Xu Zijiang it was nothing. Given their past relationship, even if he didn't intend to repay it, Xu Zijiang would still lend the money; otherwise, his conscience wouldn't allow it.
Yu Jiu naturally supported Xu Zijiang, and it was Yu Jiu who first suggested sending gifts to his old friend during the Spring Festival.
“Since you two had a good relationship before and helped each other, you shouldn’t forget that friendship. He’s in a difficult situation now, but that’s only temporary. What’s the point of adding flowers to brocade? If we’re going to do something, we should offer help when it’s in need.”
Xu Zijiang was deeply moved; he had indeed chosen the right wife. The couple then busied themselves preparing a large amount of gifts. Since their family members were in poor health, the gifts they received should be appropriate for their circumstances—that way, the gifts would truly touch their hearts.
After making inquiries from various sources, Xu Zi had three prescriptions written and some medicines prepared and sent over. They were all for nourishing the body. Each person's prescription and medicines were different, and there were no contraindications. Even if some symptoms did not match, it didn't matter. These medicines were very mild and nourishing, and even healthy people could take them.
"These things should be enough. I'm afraid he won't accept too much if I send too much."
Xu Zijiang looked at the huge pile of things. He thought his old friend would definitely refuse, but it was, after all, a token of his goodwill. He had already sent them, so they couldn't very well send them back to him, especially since postage would cost a lot.
"Wait, put in a packet of longan too. They can cook it with red dates, longan, and peanuts. It's very nourishing."
Yu Jiu added a packet of dried longan to the box before Xu Zijiang sealed it up.
"I won't give him the money. Even if he takes it, he'll think it's a loan from me."
Xu Zijiang pondered for a moment and then said.
"Just give me a little something, it's for the kids, not for the adults. Give me fifty cents, consider it buying candy for the kids. Speaking of candy, I forgot to put some candy in for the kids. Quick, open the box, I'll put some more candy and snacks in."
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