Lin Yongnian knew that everyone was laughing at him for being a toad, and that he was both confident and stingy. Although he was furious, he was too ashamed to face them.
He just stayed home and slept, but it was too boring to just sleep at home, so he asked Lin Guodong to buy him a TV and install it in the house.
They even replaced the long bench in the house with a sofa, and now they lie on the sofa to watch TV.
When Junjun came home from school, he lay down with him and watched TV.
Zhang Jiao had a particularly strong opinion about this.
Firstly, it affects Junjun's ability to do his homework after school, so he just wants to watch TV.
Secondly, it wastes electricity.
Junjun failed both Chinese and Math in his final exams.
Zhang Jiao believes that Junjun's television addiction is what caused his academic performance to decline.
Lin Yongnian was instructed not to turn on the TV during the time Junjun was in school and after finishing his studies.
For the sake of his grandson's academic performance, Lin Yongnian still agreed.
But nothing changed. In the midterm exams of the new semester, Junjun achieved "good grades"—failing all subjects.
Zhang Jiao couldn't accept that her child was a poor student, so she asked Lin Guodong to tutor their son with his homework every day after work.
So every day in courtyard number 18, you could hear Lin Guodong yelling at his children in despair.
After a period of counseling, Lin Guodong's temper became increasingly worse. He was easily angered, especially towards Zhang Jiao. If Zhang Jiao did anything to make him uncomfortable, he would yell at her, and the couple's relationship deteriorated significantly.
Not only that, Junjun also became timid and sensitive, but his grades did not improve.
Zhang Jiao had no choice but to accept the fact that her son was a poor student and give up on having Lin Guodong tutor him.
Before we knew it, it was 1989, and Junjun was in the third grade.
Lin Yongnian, who is addicted to TV dramas, has not yet found a partner. His eyesight has deteriorated due to watching too much TV, and he has to squint to see anything. Half of his hair has turned white, and his back is hunched. He looks much older than he is.
Lin Yongnian went to the small shop in the alley to buy a pack of cigarettes. When he was almost at the entrance of No. 18 courtyard, he suddenly stopped and forgot what he was going to do.
"Old Lin, what are you standing there for?" Gu's father, who had just returned from his daughter Gu Dayan's house, asked Lin Yongnian, who was standing in the alley.
In 1983, Gu Dayan moved with her two children from the compound to the staff dormitory arranged by the factory.
Zhao Wenjuan also went to help Gu Dayan take care of her child, only returning home on her days off. Although Qiao Xiangliu had a lot of opinions about this, she didn't pay any attention to her.
In 1985, inspired by Li Yunshu, Da Yan took a leave of absence without pay and used her savings to open a clothing store.
The clothing store was doing exceptionally well, and she bought a three-bedroom apartment within two years.
With the shop so busy, Zhao Wenjuan and her husband simply moved in with their daughter to help take care of the children and run the shop, only returning home occasionally.
Lin Yongnian seemed to snap out of a daze, and said somewhat slowly, "I... I need to go buy cigarettes."
"Buying cigarettes?" Father Gu gave him a strange look and said, "Don't you already have cigarettes in your hand?"
It looks like it was just bought, it hasn't even been opened yet.
Lin Yongnian looked down at the cigarette in his hand.
Yeah, he still had cigarettes in his hand, so why would he go and buy more?
"Old Lin, is there something wrong with your brain?" Father Gu asked, pointing to Lin Yongnian's temple.
Lin Yongnian glared at him and said irritably, "You're the one with a problem in your head!"
After saying that, she stormed into the courtyard.
Looking at Lin Yongnian's retreating figure, Gu Fu shook his head and said, "Old Lin's temper is getting worse and worse."
When Lin Yongnian got home, he put the cigarette in his hand on the coffee table, frowned, and thought, "He really is getting old. His memory is getting worse and worse lately."
The thought of how old he really was made Lin Yongnian feel particularly bad. He didn't turn on the TV and sat on the sofa for the whole afternoon.
When Zhang Jiao got home from get off work, she had just stepped inside when she heard her father-in-law, Lin Yongnian, say, "Shuping, you're home from get off work?"
Zhang Jiao was taken aback. What?
She looked at her father-in-law, who was smiling at her, and frowned, saying, "Dad, are you confused?"
Who are they calling out to, Shuping?
Lin Yongnian: Am I confused?
He blinked at Zhang Jiao, realizing that the person in front of him wasn't Li Shuping at all, but clearly his daughter-in-law, Zhang Jiao.
Lin Yongnian shook his head violently. He was really confused. Cai Hui suddenly remembered Li Shuping and mistook her for her eldest daughter-in-law, Zhang Jiao.
Lin Yongnian stood up, turned around and went into the room, closing the door behind him.
Zhang Jiao looked at the closed door and shook her head in surprise.
Before going to bed that night, Zhang Jiao talked to Lin Guodong about this matter.
After hearing this, Lin Guodong sighed and said, "I guess my dad saw my mom on TV again, so he remembered her."
Recently, his mother, as a representative of the business community, attended the National Congress of Deputies and was interviewed by reporters and appeared on television. His father probably saw it again.
Zhang Jiao pouted and said, "Your mother is really heartless. So many years have passed, yet she still remembers what happened before. She can just disown you and abandon you like that."
She's a well-known entrepreneur, I heard she earns millions a year, and she's always in the news or on TV.
Even though she was so rich and her business was so big, none of the people who used to work with her in the business—workshop foreman, sales manager, finance manager—thought of her own son.
Two years ago, he and Guodong wanted to visit the Li family for the New Year, but they couldn't even get through the gate of the compound.
"Aren't you tired of saying all this again?" Lin Guodong rolled over irritably.
Zhang Jiao muttered to herself, "Tell me how to do it."
His mother was heartless to begin with; she thought of her son but never of her own. Even Wang Dama's daughter-in-law in their neighborhood, who was laid off from the factory, went to work at a dumpling shop nearby and is now the head of the kitchen.
Lin Guodong didn't want to hear these words. Over the years, he had seen his mother's business grow better and better, and she became more and more successful. People who were close to her and needed work all got jobs in her factory or shop, and they all did very well.
But he remained an ordinary welder at the steel factory.
He felt terrible and regretted his mother's sarcastic remarks after his divorce.
Having been rejected so many times, he was too ashamed to keep trying.
Lin Yongnian's memory is getting worse and worse. In the afternoon, he wanted to boil some water, so he put the kettle full of water on the kerosene stove, and then forgot about it while watching TV.
The kettle was burned through before the neighbor discovered it; fortunately, it didn't cause a fire.
The girl in the compound gave him a good scolding.
The houses in this compound use a lot of wood, so if a fire breaks out, they are the easiest to burn.
It is very dangerous for someone like him to not remember that something is burning on the stove and not watch the fire.
If a fire really breaks out, it won't just harm their family, but the entire compound.
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