Old Master Jin twitched his nose twice, "Oh dear, what's this burnt..."
The others could also faintly smell a burnt odor.
Zhou Hongmei, forgetting her tears, rushed to the kitchen, crying, "My ducks..."
Wu Jianjun hurriedly caught up, "Watch your step..."
Jin Deji laughed at the others in the room, "Isn't that perfect!"
Zhou Hongmei's ginger duck accidentally burned, ruining a major dish for tonight.
Li Xiangdong checked the time; it wasn't too late yet. He said to everyone, "Let's go eat roast duck! Yuxi hasn't had it yet!"
Guo Yu liked to shout "Good!" and the others readily agreed.
Jin Deji went back inside and brought out a bottle of baijiu (Chinese liquor). "We have roast duck, perfect for pairing with this liquor!"
————
The next day, Li Xiangdong took Li Guoqing and Guo Yuxi to Yanjing Department Store and Yong'an Department Store, where they met with relevant personnel and had a casual meal together.
Guo Yuxi was extremely excited, "Second Brother, this feeling is amazing!"
Li Xiangdong asked him with a smile, "How does it feel?"
"Uh, how should I describe it? It's that feeling of being respected by someone wearing a white shirt, it's quite nice. By the way, at the dinner table just now, they had to fawn over you, Second Brother, just to get some free little green dragon meat!"
Guo Yuxi scratched his head, chuckled, and added, "Aren't we farmers who grow crops?"
Although I've become wealthier in recent years, the deep-seated feeling that urban, non-agricultural, and white-shirted public officials are superior to farmers, and the sense of inferiority I feel in front of them, cannot be changed overnight.
Let alone people from the capital, even regular employees in county towns have a natural sense of superiority over farmers.
Now they can stand on equal footing with the regular workers in the capital, something they never dared to dream of before!
Li Xiangdong laughed, "So what? The reason we farmers used to be looked down upon was simply because life was hard. But those are all stereotypes! We farmers are just as smart as city people! We can still get rich and be treated like honored guests!"
Second brother's words are truly inspiring!
Guo Yuxi and Li Guoqing, who were already feeling unsteady on their feet walking on the streets of the capital, suddenly felt a surge of pride rising from the bottom of their hearts!
yes!
What are we farmers lacking?
We can still get rich and live a good life that city dwellers envy!
Just now at the dinner table, the purchasing manager said sourly that he, a vocational school graduate, had worked for more than ten years and only earned 84.56 a month, which was less than the salary of a farmer in Lijiapo!
Is this normal?
Is this reasonable?
Should we?
At that moment, Guo Yuxi thought, "That's normal! That's reasonable! That's right!"
Why can't we farmers earn more than you?
Why should we old farmers suffer, toil, and endure hardship generation after generation?
We want to live a good life, a life that city dwellers would envy!
————
Time flies like an arrow.
Rain falls on the tea mountain, swallows fly across the lake, pear leaves fall to the ground, and winter plum blossoms bloom in the snow.
The big tree in front of Li Xiangdong's house turned green and withered, withered and turned green again, and two years have passed in the blink of an eye.
A lot has happened in the past two years.
Bai Yulong and Li Lan got married and had a lovely little daughter named Bai Tian, whom Li Xiangdong and the others usually called Xiao Bai Tian.
Xiao Baitian has a pair of big, bright eyes, like black grapes, that blink every day. The corners of her eyes are slightly upturned, making her both playful and adorable. Zhang Huan and Li Yan fight over who gets to hold and play with Xiao Baitian every day.
Oh, by the way, Zhang Huan isn't called Zhang Huan anymore.
Zhang Huan changed her name to Li Weiran, a name she chose for herself.
The child said that she neither wanted to be surnamed Zhang, nor did she want her name to simply mean summoning a younger brother.
She wants to take root in the soil of Lijiapo and grow into a lush and towering tree.
Everyone approved of her decision, so whenever they saw her, they called her by her full name, "Li Weiran".
Liu Junbo and Li Zhen are about to graduate.
Their jobs had already been arranged: Liu Junbo would become a court clerk at the Changping District People's Court, while Li Zhen would join the Earthquake Bureau.
Both of them were now officially employed and their household registrations had been transferred to Yanjing City.
The two had always had a good relationship, and it was time for them to get married. Zhao Sufang and Li Jin discussed how to hold a wedding for them.
Liu Junbo was an orphan, so he didn't need to get married. The Li family took full responsibility for all the wedding arrangements.
Li Xiangdong originally wanted to give Li Zhen and Liu Junbo a newly purchased small courtyard house as a wedding gift, but Li Zhen and Liu Junbo firmly refused to accept it.
Li Zhen said that her workplace provides dormitories, enough for two people.
Liu Junbo whispered to Li Xiangdong, "Our unit's former director is only living in a two-bedroom apartment. If I were to build a small courtyard house, it would be too conspicuous!"
Li Xiangdong nodded to indicate that he understood, "When you give birth to my nephew, I will transfer the property directly to him."
Liu Junbo chuckled and accepted his uncle's generous gift without any hesitation on behalf of his future son.
The couple set their wedding date for the tenth day of the sixth lunar month.
Their graduation ceremony is on June 1st, and they officially start working on June 23rd, so Li Jin chose this date.
Liu Junbo initially felt the schedule was a bit rushed, but Li Jin waved his hand dismissively, "You two don't need to do anything. Just come back a day early for my wedding!"
Liu Junbo, ever the obsequious one, poured his father-in-law a glass of Wuliangye liquor, saying, "Then I'll trouble you, Dad!"
Li Jin was flattered by the word "father" and found him more and more pleasing to the eye. Where could he find such an outstanding son-in-law?
He's capable, handsome, and treats his daughter well. Most importantly, he doesn't have any biological parents, so his daughter won't have to worry about mother-in-law/daughter-in-law conflicts after marrying into the family!
Li Jin downed the liquor in front of him in one gulp. He was satisfied, but he still needed to give her a good talking-to before the wedding.
"Junbo, after you and Zhenzhen get married, you must treat my daughter with utmost devotion. You can't be fickle or half-hearted! If I find out you've done anything to betray my daughter, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Liu Junbo smiled wryly, "How could I dare! Zhenzhen is the school beauty at her school. I don't know how much effort I put in to win her over. How could I possibly be fickle!"
Thinking back to how much effort he had put in to finally win Li Zhen's heart, Liu Junbo felt like she was shedding a tear.
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