With the dismantling finished, Sheng Xiping had nothing much to do for the time being.
So he told his family, and together with Zhou Qinglan and their two children, they took a car to Songjianghe to visit Zhou Mingyuan and his wife.
Sheng Xinhua and Sheng Xinyu rarely take the train, so they were very curious and didn't sleep at all, just kept looking out the window.
As she looked, she kept asking, "Mommy, Mommy, what's this?" "Mommy, Mommy, what's that?"
Sheng Xinhua was like a walking encyclopedia of questions, pointing at everything outside the window, whether it was a boulder, a fallen tree root, or an eagle flying in the sky, he would ask what it was.
Zhou Qinglan was quite patient. No matter how many times her son asked, she would explain it to him with a smile.
However, when Sheng Xinhua asked for the twenty-eighth time what it was, Sheng Xiping finally couldn't hold back any longer. He pulled two persimmons out of his pocket, handed them to his son, and shut him up.
"Eat something, stop asking questions."
At this time of year, the persimmons were just ripening. In order to save seeds, Zhang Shuzhen forbade her family to pick them, saying that they should wait until more were ripe before picking them.
If Sheng Xiping and the others hadn't been going to Songjiang River, Zhang Shuzhen wouldn't have dared to pick the fruit, worried that there wouldn't be anything to eat in the car.
Even so, I only picked four this morning.
The forest farm doesn't usually have much fruit for the children to eat; cucumbers and persimmons are considered delicacies.
Sheng Xinhua had been thinking about the persimmons in the vegetable garden for several days. When he saw his father holding a bright red persimmon, he immediately stopped asking questions, took it, and took a big bite.
Sheng Xinyu was still young, so Zhou Qinglan broke open a persimmon, took half of it, and fed it to her youngest son, letting him eat it in small bites.
With food to eat, the two children finally stopped asking questions, and Sheng Xiping and Zhou Qinglan could finally relax for a while.
"Wife, what do you want to eat, cucumber or tomato?" Sheng Xiping looked down, took out cucumber and tomato from his pocket, and asked Zhou Qinglan.
"Let's have cucumbers, and leave the persimmons for them. He's been asking me questions all this way, and my mouth is dry." Zhou Qinglan reached out and took a cucumber.
The cucumbers grown by the Sheng family are of a good variety; they are juicy, have a distinct cucumber flavor, and taste excellent.
And so, the family of four ate, and finally things quieted down.
The little train arrived at the Sentie Station a little after 11 a.m. Zhou Qinglan led the eldest child, while Sheng Xiping carried the second child, and they got off the train with the crowd.
As soon as they got off the bus, they saw Zhou Qingyue waving at them from not far away.
“Son, look, it’s your uncle.” Sheng Xiping pointed at Zhou Qingyue and said to his youngest son. “Quickly greet him.”
Sheng Xinyu is still young and doesn't remember much. He only sees his uncle a few times a year, so naturally he doesn't remember him.
However, the child was obedient. When his father told him to greet someone, he immediately said, "Uncle."
Sheng Xinhua was quick-witted. Before his mother could say anything, he let go of her hand and ran towards Zhou Qingyue, saying, "Uncle, I missed you so much!"
Zhou Qingyue took one look and quickly bent down to pick up Sheng Xinhua. "Oh my, little fatty, you've gained weight again, haven't you? You're even heavier than you were during the New Year."
Zhou Qingyue adores her two nephews; she showers them with affection every time she sees them.
"Sister, brother-in-law, Xiao Xinyu." Zhou Qingyue carried Sheng Xinhua over and greeted Sheng Xiping and his wife.
"Have the results come out yet? How did you do?" Zhou Qinglan was most concerned about her younger brother's college entrance examination results, so she asked as soon as they met.
"The results are out. I just went to school this morning to check my grades. They're not bad, a little over 400." Zhou Qingyue nodded with a smile.
This year marks the third year since the resumption of the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE). The examination subjects remain the same: Chinese, Mathematics, Politics, History, and Geography for humanities students, and Chinese, Mathematics, Politics, Physics, and Chemistry for science students. Students majoring in foreign languages will also take an additional foreign language test.
Each subject has a maximum score of 100, for a total of 500.
Compared to the previous two college entrance examinations, the questions on the exams are getting more and more difficult, and students are getting higher and higher scores.
Zhou Qingyue scored a little over 400, which is quite good; she should be able to get into a university in her province without any problem.
"Well, it's alright. As long as I don't go astray with my application, I should be able to get into a school."
Zhou Qinglan nodded when she heard her younger brother's score.
It's not particularly high, and it can't compare to that prodigy Sheng Xikang, but overall it's acceptable.
Zhou Qingyue arrived by bicycle today. He then lifted Sheng Xinhua onto the front crossbar of the bicycle and placed Sheng Xinyu on the back seat.
Zhou Qingyue pushed the bicycle, while Sheng Xiping and Zhou Qinglan supported Sheng Xinyu behind them, and they walked towards the Zhou family home.
When they arrived at the Zhou family home, it was already around noon. Zhou Mingyuan had just finished work and was busy cooking with Wang Chunxiu in the kitchen.
"Dad, Mom, I've brought my two nephews here," Zhou Qingyue called out as soon as she reached the front door.
Zhou Mingyuan and his wife quickly dried their hands, came out of the house, and each picked up one of their grandsons and kissed him.
"Oh my, it's been so long since I've seen my grandson. He's grown so much. Look at him, all chubby and adorable."
Zhou Mingyuan held Sheng Xinhua in his arms, showing him immense affection.
"Come on in, the food is all ready, we've been waiting for you to come back."
Sheng Xiping and the others had called Songjianghe in advance, so Wang Chunxiu specially took a break from work to rest at home. This morning she went out and bought a lot of vegetables and cooked a whole table of food.
As everyone followed Zhou Mingyuan and his wife into the house, they saw several dishes laid out on the table in the east room.
Wang Chunxiu put her grandson on the kang (a heated brick bed), took off his shoes, and then went out to bring in the food.
"Come on, everyone sit down and eat. The kids must be hungry at this hour."
So everyone sat down to eat, chatting as they ate.
“Dad, Xiping originally wanted to get another truckload of firewood for the family, but I didn’t allow it. It’s too much trouble to go all that way, and we don’t know what might happen on the way.”
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
