After the eldest child's touching thanks to his parents, the banquet officially began.
Zhao Qinglan and Li Huai, along with their son, went around toasting and thanking people.
Even Zhao Qinglan, who doesn't usually drink much, drank quite a bit today because it was her son's happy occasion.
However, the father and son ended up bearing most of the burden.
Later, Zhang Yu and Erwa both came out to help drink.
After the banquet, Li Huai got drunk and was driven away by his attendant and Zhang Yu.
Zhao Qinglan was still conscious and quickly directed the other cleanup efforts.
Many parents came over to her to get close and ask about her experience in educating children. Some even wanted the textbooks and exercises their older children had used.
Zhao Qinglan gave the materials according to the circumstances, since some of the learning materials used by her eldest son could still be kept for her other children to use.
After the graduation banquet was over, my uncle and aunt, who had come from afar, all went back to their home to stay, along with my two younger sisters who had brought their children.
Zhao Qinglan's house suddenly became as lively as during the Chinese New Year.
Besides the red envelopes given by their family members at the graduation banquet, many others prepared gifts for the eldest child.
Da Wa accepted all the kindness from his relatives and felt incredibly happy. The unpleasantness he felt at the restaurant entrance caused by his biological mother, Zhu Kexin, gradually dissipated because of the care and concern from his relatives.
When Zhao Qinglan sat down to chat with her mother and sister, she didn't shy away from bringing up the matter of Zhu Kexin's appearance.
Putting aside Zhao Qingju and Zhao Qingzhu's reactions, Madam Sun, the eldest aunt, was the first to become unhappy.
“You’ve been raising this child for so many years, how dare she show her face in public?”
"Auntie, that woman, tsk tsk tsk, I'm not saying this, but she's shameless." Zhao Qingzhu commented.
"Shh, keep your voice down, don't let the children hear," Zhao Qinglan reminded them.
Although she didn't like Zhu Kexin either, it wouldn't be good if the children, especially the eldest and second children, heard them talking about her.
Zhao Qingju even got up to take a look.
"Don't worry, sis, they're all watching TV together over there."
"What did Li Huai and Da Wa say?" Madam Sun asked about her son-in-law and grandson's behavior.
"Neither of them, father and son, were kind to Zhu Kexin and told her to leave."
"That's good. Your efforts weren't in vain. It shows they still have a conscience," Madam Sun said with a smile.
Even if she treats Da Wa, Er Wa, and even Li Huai well now, it's definitely only because of her niece.
If neither the father nor the son treats their niece well, she naturally won't be kind to them either.
People always have varying degrees of closeness and distance.
The two brothers, Da Wa and Er Wa, were quite in sync and didn't mention the existence of their biological mother, Zhu Kexin, at all, so Xiao Duo and the other three brothers were unaware of it.
The brothers were happily watching TV with their bunch of kids.
Wei Yaohui and Zhou Jingsheng couldn't come because of work, but both uncles asked their wives to give red envelopes to their eldest son.
Because of today's graduation banquet, the eldest child's savings have increased considerably.
The second child, shameless enough, directly asked his older brother for pocket money to buy something.
The eldest child said speechlessly, "Where's your New Year's money?"
The parents didn't want the New Year's money that the siblings received; they kept it for themselves. Even without the red envelopes from uncles and aunts at his graduation banquet, he had actually saved quite a bit of New Year's money before.
To everyone's surprise, Erwa said directly, "Brother, I'm saving that little bit of money to treat everyone on my birthday. Please have pity on me."
The eldest brother had no choice but to give his younger brother some pocket money. He didn't show favoritism and gave some to the younger brother as well as the third brother.
Xiao Duo and Sanwa beamed with joy at being able to get pocket money from their older brother; who would complain about having too much pocket money?
I heard that Zhao Qinglan's hot pot restaurant is delicious, so her whole family went there for a big meal.
Mrs. Sun immediately discussed with her niece about opening several branches in Hong Kong, so that she could often enjoy authentic mainland hot pot in Hong Kong.
Zhao Qinglan had never really thought about opening a branch in Gangcheng before, but now that her aunt is strongly supporting her, she will face far fewer difficulties in opening a branch in Gangcheng.
Not only the hot pot restaurant, she also included all the branches of Junminhe.
However, she and her aunt didn't need to worry about these things; they could simply instruct their respective employees to follow up and carry them out.
The whole family stayed together for several days, making merry, before gradually dispersing.
Meanwhile, the eldest child started packing the things he would need for college.
“Military academies are strict; there are many things you can’t bring. Don’t let the child take everything; they won’t be allowed to use it anyway,” Li Huai nagged his wife, having already inquired with acquaintances.
He stepped in to stop his wife because he saw that she wanted to bring everything to their son.
"Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, my eldest child is already old enough to go to university."
That's right, my wife and I have been married for over ten years.
“This year it’s the eldest child, next year it will be the youngest, and the year after that it will be the second child. We’ll have to slowly get used to the days when the children aren’t around,” Li Huai sighed.
Despite his constant complaints about the children disturbing his and his wife's time together, he, as a father, is actually quite reluctant to let his child go off to university.
"Thank goodness, at least the eldest child is still studying in China. If one of them goes abroad in the future, then it will be difficult to see them even if you want to."
"That's true."
Zhao Qinglan didn't know that her words would later come true, and more than one of her children went abroad.
The thought of their older brother going to university and not seeing him until at least the Lunar New Year made Xiaoduo and Erwa feel reluctant to part with him, as did Cheng Tao, who was going to a different school than Dawa.
Cheng Tao now wishes he could live at their house every day.
Cheng Tao did quite well on the exam. Seeing that Zhao Qinglan held a graduation banquet for her eldest son, Cheng's mother and husband even discussed whether they should hold one for their son as well.
However, considering Cheng's father's job and fearing it might have a negative impact, they decided to celebrate at home with their own family.
However, Cheng Tao was not unhappy about this. Born into such a family, he enjoyed some benefits, but he also had to bear some responsibilities.
Moreover, he wasn't someone who particularly cared about these things; he just privately asked his parents, grandparents, and other elders for his red envelopes, which made Cheng's father say that his son was greedy for money.
Da Wa's military academy was in Beijing, while Cheng Tao's was in Hebei Province.
Although Zhao Qinglan followed her husband's advice and didn't pack too much for her son, she still planned to personally send him off to university.
It just so happened that Cheng Tao was going the same way, and Cheng's mother had also discussed it with her and decided to travel together.
Li Huai and Cheng's father were unable to personally send their son off due to work commitments.
The two children's school start dates were only a few days apart. They bought their train tickets in advance, and on the departure day, the two mothers and children, along with Zhao Qinglan's two followers, boarded the train together.
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