Chapter 259 Year-end Bonus [6000 words]

As we enter the twelfth lunar month, the weather becomes colder.

According to Deng Shirong's estimation, the current minimum temperature is likely to drop to zero degrees.

In most parts of the country, temperatures as low as zero degrees are not worth mentioning, but for the Bobai area, such low temperatures can be said to be rare.

On this day, when Deng Shirong was warming himself by the fire at home, Zhang Qi, who had given birth to five daughters in a row, came over with a cloth bag and said with a smile, "Jiu Gong, my mother's family gave me some peanuts. I brought them here to make you drink."

Deng Shirong waved his hand and said, "Thank you for being so thoughtful. I don't lack anything at home. You can take these peanuts back and eat them."

Zhang Qi put the bag on the stool beside him, sat down and said while warming himself by the fire: "Jiu Gong, I know you have everything you need. These peanuts are a great snack to go with wine. I can only take them home to cook and eat them to satisfy my craving, so I might as well give them to Jiu Gong to go with wine."

Deng Shirong knew that she still remembered his kindness in her heart. When she gave birth to her fifth daughter, her mother-in-law didn't even cook anything for her. It was he who cooked a large bowl of nourishing sugar water for her with brown sugar, longan and eggs and asked her eldest daughter to bring it to her. He also scolded her mother-in-law, which changed her mother-in-law's attitude towards her to a certain extent.

It was not until three months ago that she finally gave birth to her sixth child, a son, and her status in her husband's family was finally greatly improved.

"Okay, I'll take it then."

Deng Shirong did not refuse too much. He just wanted to bring some things back for her when she returned.

Seeing that Jiu Gong was willing to accept it, Zhang Qi couldn't help but smile.

After pulling down, the two began to chat about family matters. Deng Shirong asked, "Zhang Qi, I heard that you were arrested and sterilized last month?"

Zhang Qi sighed and said, "Yes, after the sterilization, it is impossible to have another son."

Deng Shirong comforted her, "We are already considered good here. In other places, men and women are treated the same. In other places, people with your situation would have been forced to get sterilized long ago. We are willing to wait until you give birth to a son before forcing you to get sterilized. This is considered humane."

Zhang Qi was taken to the county hospital for sterilization. He also roughly understood the current situation and nodded, "That's true. One should be content. Although one son is a little less, at least there is no extinction."

Deng Shirong said: "It's enough to have descendants. You have five daughters. I guess few people in the village will be able to live as well as you in the future."

Zhang Qi smiled and said, "I dare not think about this. Married daughters are like spilled water. It would be good if they don't go back to their parents' home to move things."

Deng Shirong said: "In this era, daughters really can't take care of their parents, but it's hard to say what the world will be like in the future. By then, as long as one of your daughters marries well, you won't have to worry about your life for the rest of your life."

Zhang Qi sighed, "It would be nice if there really was such a day."

Deng Shirong poked the red-hot wood with a fire stick and asked, "By the way, how many more than the limit are you going to be fined?"

Zhang Qi spread his hands and said, "If they really have to be fined, it will be at least several thousand. But you know the situation of our family, Jiugong, where can we get so much money? I told them clearly that there is no money but life, anyway, if they like anything in the house, they can move it away.

Maybe it was because I had been sterilized, and there was really nothing valuable in my house, so they didn’t do anything to me, and the matter just passed.”

Deng Shirong was not surprised to hear this. In this era, other places have already cracked down very strictly, but for various reasons, their side has not yet entered the most severe moment. They are all fellow villagers and generally will not do anything extreme.

After all, this is Bobai, where the people are tough. If they are pushed into a corner, they will do anything.

The two chatted for more than ten minutes before Zhang Qi stood up and said, "Jiu Gong, I have to go back. The child needs to eat when he wakes up!"

"Wait a moment."

Deng Shirong picked up the bag of peanuts on the stool, went back to the room and poured out the peanuts, took out about a pound of brown sugar and a pound of longan pulp and put them into the bag, walked out and handed it to her, saying: "I see that you are a little weak, here are some brown sugar and longan pulp, take them back to replenish your body."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qi waved his hands and said, "Jiu Gong, this is too valuable. I can't accept it."

Deng Shirong said, "It's not worth much. You know I don't need these things. I've accepted all the peanuts you brought. Don't push the ones I gave you back."

As he spoke, Deng Shirong stuffed the thing into Zhang Qi's hand.

Ah Zhang Qi was holding the things in her hand, she was so moved that she almost cried. The pounds of peanuts she brought could never compare to the brown sugar and longan meat. Originally, she wanted to give some peanuts to Jiu Gong to help him drink out of gratitude, but in the end, she got the advantage.

"Thank you, Jiugong!"

"You're welcome, go back and see the kids!"

"Um!"

A Zhang Qi didn't say anything else, but just held the cloth bag tightly in his hand and kept Jiu Gong's kindness firmly in his heart.

…

Capital city.

In a corner of a cafeteria at Peking University, members of the Guangxi Hometown Association are having a meal together.

Every year on the eve of the school holidays, the Guangxi Hometown Association will take time to have a meal together, and everyone will exchange information about going home. Those who need to go home for the New Year will go back together, so that they can take care of each other on the way.

If you don’t want to go home, you can make an appointment to celebrate the New Year at school. You won’t be lonely with fellow villagers around.

Deng Yunheng, Song Yu, Zhao Changzheng, Chong Feilong, Sun Baoguo, Lin Jianjun and others had already agreed to stay in Beijing to celebrate the New Year this year. In addition, several fellow villagers from Guangxi also expressed that they would not go back this year and would stay in Beijing to celebrate the New Year.

Adding up, there are more than ten people.

At present, there are a total of 27 fellow Guangxi people in Peking University. Basically half of them choose to go back home to celebrate the New Year, and the other half choose to stay in Beijing to celebrate the New Year.

So, the fellow villagers who chose to go home for the New Year sat together and talked about going home together.

Those who chose to stay in Beijing for the New Year also sat together to discuss how to celebrate the New Year.

Among these more than ten people, there are only three girls, one is Song Yu from Bobai, one is Liu Xiaoman from Guilin, and one is Ding Qiulan from Liuzhou.

There is no need to say much about Song Yu. She is the girl with the best family background among the three girls. She has strong social skills and is a girl who can be treated as a brother.

Liu Xiaoman is a freshman who was admitted to Peking University this year. She has the best figure and the highest appearance among the three girls.

Ding Qiulan has an ordinary appearance and comes from an ordinary family. She is also the most hardworking of the three girls.

When talking about how to celebrate the New Year in Beijing, Deng Yunheng looked at Song Yu and said, "Sister Song, you are a girl and have spent the longest time in school. Tell us your ideas first and give us some reference."

Song Yu was not afraid of the stage, and said openly: "The great leader said that if you haven't been to the Great Wall, you are not a true man. Several of our fellow villagers have been to the Great Wall, but they all went there during the summer vacation. I heard that the snow scene of the Great Wall is a rare beauty in the world. I want to go to the Great Wall this year to see this snow scene. I wonder if you are interested in this?"

Liu Xiaoman's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she said, "Sister Song, your suggestion is very interesting. Going to the Great Wall to see the snow scene is so romantic. Count me in."

As a girl, Ding Qiulan naturally yearned for such romance, but as she was short of money, she could not agree with Liu Xiaoman. She could only sigh secretly and remain silent.

Seeing that both girls wanted to go to the Great Wall to see the snow scenery, the boys naturally did not want to spoil the fun, so they all spoke out in agreement.

Chong Feilong praised: "Sister Song, your idea is really genius. Going to the Great Wall to see the snow scene is indeed a very interesting thing. Count me in as well."

Lin Jianjun said: "I have longed to visit the Great Wall for a long time. Sister Song's suggestion is exactly what I want. I must be included in the list."

Sun Baoguo smiled and said, "How can I be missing from such an interesting event?"

Other fellow villagers also expressed their support.

In the end, only Ding Qiulan, Zhao Changzheng and Deng Yunheng remained silent.

As the president of the Guangxi Hometown Association, Zhao Changzheng is a well-rounded social expert with extraordinary observation skills. In addition, he also knew that Ding Qiulan's family background was not very good, so when he saw that she didn't say anything, he guessed what was going on.

Under the guidance of his father, Deng Yunheng has been actively making friends over the past year and a half, and his social skills have long been honed. His observation skills are no worse than Zhao Changzheng's. He can naturally see the problems that the president can see.

The two looked at each other and suddenly had a tacit understanding.

So Zhao Changzheng said: "My fellow villagers, don't worry. It's not easy to go to the Great Wall to see the snow scene. As far as I know, the Badaling Great Wall is dozens of kilometers away from our school. Whether it is snowing or after a heavy snow, the buses will not run. We should wait until it is possible to go there. Maybe we won't be able to see the beautiful snow scene.

Therefore, if we really want to go to the Great Wall to see the snow scenery, we have to wait near the Badaling Great Wall in advance, and we must first solve the problems of food and accommodation.

Please give me some time. I will ask local classmates first, and then tell you after I have arranged food and accommodation. "

Deng Yunheng continued, "President, please go ask first. We boys will be responsible for the food and accommodation expenses. The three female students only need to bring their mouths."

Lin Jianjun responded immediately: "I agree, and I hope the three female students will give me some face."

Unless they are in real difficulty or are naturally stingy, male students are generous in front of female classmates.

Therefore, when they heard Deng Yunheng's proposal, everyone agreed.

Song Yu was also smart. After hearing what Deng Yunheng said, she quickly thought of the key point and said in cooperation: "Okay, then I won't be polite. Thank you all for your generous male classmates."

Liu Xiaoman also smiled and thanked him.

Ding Qiulan was a thoughtful girl. She vaguely guessed that the president and Deng Yunheng were taking care of her. However, since they had already said so much and the two female classmates had thanked them, if she didn't express her opinion, she would be out of touch.

So, Ding Qiulan also thanked him sincerely.

Seeing this, Zhao Changzheng and Deng Yunheng looked at each other again and were both happy about the result.

…

"Aunt!"

At Suifeng Hotel, Xiao Dong'er waved her little hands and staggered towards her aunt Deng Yunzhen.

Xiaodong'er is already one year and two months old. She has already learned to walk and talk. However, the weather is cold now, so she is wearing a lot of clothes, wrapped tightly from head to toe. So she walks unsteadily and looks very unstable.

Deng Yunzhen opened her arms, picked up the little guy, and asked with a smile: "Xiao Dong'er, we will be going home for the New Year soon. Do you miss grandpa?"

Xiao Dong'er didn't understand what it meant to go home for the New Year, but she obviously understood the last sentence and said in a cute voice: "I miss grandpa!"

Deng Yunzhen laughed and said, "It seems your grandfather's love for you is not in vain."

The most fun stage for children is between one and three years old. Xiao Dong'er is now at the cutest age. She can be said to be the restaurant's happy pill. Everyone likes to tease her when they are free.

Deng Yunzhen played with her niece for a while before she carried her to her elder brother and sister-in-law and asked, "Brother, sister-in-law, the students are on holiday now, and the New Year is just over ten days away. When are we going to close the shop and go home for the New Year?"

Deng Yuntai pondered for a moment and said, "It's almost the end of the year now, everyone is busy, and fewer people come to the restaurant to eat than before. I don't think it's necessary to keep it open any longer. Let's just close the restaurant tomorrow and go home to celebrate the New Year. What do you think, Pingmei?"

Zhang Xiuping nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll do some statistics and distribute everyone's salary and year-end bonus, and then we'll also set a time in advance for when to go back to work next year."

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Deng Yunzhen said: "During the New Year, everyone is busy visiting relatives, so no one will come to the restaurant to eat. If the restaurant opens too early, there will be no business. It is better to wait until after the 15th to open the restaurant."

Zhang Xiuping smiled and said, "Ah Zhen, other people go back to work on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, and the better ones go back to work on the sixth or eighth day. If we open the door to do business right after the fifteenth day, won't people think we are too lazy?"

At this time, Deng Yuntai was also teasing his daughter, so Deng Yunzhen simply let him hold Xiao Dong'er and said, "Sister-in-law, we are not lazy, but we don't want to do things that are counterproductive. Everyone eats a lot of meat and fish during the Chinese New Year. Except for a few people, most people probably won't choose to eat in a restaurant at the beginning of the year.

So even if we open early, there won’t be much business. It’s better to wait until after the 15th, so that the family can spend more time together.”

Zhang Xiuping nodded and said, "That makes sense. Then let's open the store on the 16th day of the first lunar month. Brother Tai, do you think it's okay?"

Deng Yuntai hugged his daughter and said, "I think it's all right. You can just set the time."

Zhang Xiuping hummed and said, "Okay, it's settled. Ah Zhen, go tell everyone. I'll do some statistics and distribute everyone's salary and year-end bonus before the end of get off work today."

Deng Yunzhen responded and went to tell the employees about it.

Knowing that they were going to have a holiday, the employees were all happy. Whether now or in the future, taking a holiday is a happy thing.

Of course, there are still some differences between this era and later generations. For example, the holidays are not so early, and everyone is actually willing to work until New Year's Eve. After all, if you work longer hours, you can naturally earn more.

It was afternoon.

Zhang Xiuping began to pay salaries and year-end bonuses to employees.

Needless to say, the salary is fixed.

The year-end bonus is floating, and the amount is entirely decided by the boss.

In the end, after discussing with Deng Yuntai and Deng Yunzhen, Zhang Xiuping decided to give each person an extra month's salary as a year-end bonus.

However, there is one exception, that is Mr. Zhang Guangzong. Mr. Zhang’s year-end bonus is one hundred yuan, the highest among all employees.

After paying out the wages and year-end bonuses, Zhang Xiuping smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work over the past six months. Go home and have a good year. Come back to work on the 16th day of the first lunar month next year."

When they heard the date of returning to work, all the employees were very surprised, especially Zhang Guofu, who used to work in a state-owned restaurant. He asked in surprise: "Boss, did you say the right date just now? Are you coming back to work on the sixth day of the first lunar month, or the sixteenth day?"

Zhang Xiuping smiled and said, "You're right, it's the 16th, not the 6th. The restaurant definitely doesn't have much business at the beginning of the year, so we'll take a longer holiday and reopen after the 15th."

Zhang Guofu said happily, "That's great. When I worked in a state-owned restaurant, I had to rush back to work at the beginning of the year. I was so nervous during the Chinese New Year that I didn't have any joy at all. Now it's great. I can finally relax and spend the Chinese New Year at home!"

Others who do not have relevant work experience do not have such feelings, but no matter what, being able to play at home during the Chinese New Year until the 15th and then come back to work is indeed something to be happy about.

After paying the employees their salaries and year-end bonuses, we had a staff meal together, cleared away the dishes and cleaned up, and then the restaurant officially closed for holiday.

The few remaining ingredients in the restaurant were also distributed to Zhang Guangzong, Zhang Guofu, Zhang Wenjuan and Zhang Wenying to take back home as a benefit from the restaurant.

…

The next day.

Deng Yuntai, Zhang Xiuping, Deng Yunzhen, Xiao Dong'er, Bu Dashi, Liu Aihong and other relatives boarded the bus back to their hometown.

In the afternoon, when they were about to arrive at Shuangwang, Deng Yuntai asked, "Cousin, are you going home directly or to our house first?"

Bu Dashi thought for a moment and said, "Then let's go see uncle first. I will go back with your cousin's wife on the second day of the New Year, so I won't be able to come and wish uncle a happy new year then."

Deng Yuntai hummed, then looked at his mother's relatives and asked, "Cousins, what about you?"

Chen Bangguo said: "Cousin, let's go home first and come back to pay New Year's greetings to my uncle on the second day of the New Year."

"Okay, then you three brothers and sisters should be safe on the way back. See you on the second day of the New Year!"

"Got it. We'll pay attention."

…

Naye Village.

Deng Shirong was warming himself by the fire at home with his four children, Deng Yunzhu, Deng Yunsong, Deng Yunhua and Deng Yunheng.

The school is now on vacation and the final exam results are out. Overall, Deng Shirong is very satisfied. His third son, who has the highest expectations, has consistently ranked first in the grade. If he doesn't perform poorly in the high school entrance exam next year, he will be able to choose either a technical secondary school or the best high school.

The younger son is also doing okay. Although he has never been able to get the first place in the class, he has been among the top few in the class for a long time, so he can be considered to have some education.

As for the youngest daughter and fourth son, there is no need to say much about these two poor students. Anyway, Deng Shirong's biggest wish is to let them finish high school, and he doesn't have any other requirements.

At this time, the father and his sons were talking about Xiaodong'er.

Deng Yunzhu asked, "Dad, when will my elder brother and sister-in-law come back? I haven't seen Xiao Dong'er for a long time. She should be able to walk and talk now. I don't know if she still recognizes me."

Deng Shirong smiled and said, "You should be back in the next few days. Xiaodong'er hasn't seen you for a whole semester. How old was she then? She definitely wouldn't remember you."

Deng Yunzhu said: "When she comes back, I have to play with her more. I can't let her forget me, her aunt."

Deng Yunheng immediately said, "Second sister, you can't snatch Xiao Dong'er from me. When she comes back, I will catch a Pao Hu (a small insect that likes to build a nest in the leaves of the bud tree. It is only the size of a soybean, but very aggressive. As long as two Pao Hu meet in the nest, they will fight. Local children like to look for this thing everywhere and fight each other to see who is better at finding it, just like fighting crickets). She will definitely like it."

Deng Yunzhu rolled her eyes at her younger brother and said, "That's something you boys like to play. Girls don't like to play this. Besides, Xiaodong'er is still so young. How can she understand watching tigers fighting? You are just messing around."

Deng Yunhua said with a smile: "Xiao Heng, Xiao Dong'er is still young, and she really can't understand the fight between the Paohu. It's better to take out the slingshot to play, or play with water skipping stones for her to watch!"

Deng Shirong quickly stopped them, saying, "You can take her out to play, but don't take her to the river or pond. She's still young and doesn't understand anything. That's too dangerous. Do you understand?"

"Got it... Hey, Xiao Dong'er is back!"

"It's really my elder brother and his wife who are back!"

“…”

The brothers and sisters stopped warming themselves by the fire and quickly ran out to greet their eldest brother and his wife. To be more precise, they all went to greet their little niece.

"dad!"

"dad!"

"uncle!"

Deng Yuntai and others entered the house and greeted their father (uncle) first.

Deng Shirong smiled and said, "I thought you should be back these days, Dashi, Liumei, why don't you stay at your uncle's place today and go home tomorrow. It just so happened that a few younger generations in the village roasted a few beehives for me the day before yesterday, and I haven't eaten them yet!"

"Okay, then we're in for a treat!"

At this point, Bu Dashi said to his wife, "Aihong, you don't know, the fried bee pupae of my uncle are so delicious, we are lucky enough to have caught up with him."

Liu Aihong said with a smile on her face: "Then I am really blessed!"

Deng Shirong smiled and said, "Okay, the weather is cold, put your luggage away first, then sit down and warm yourself by the fire. I'll make some good dishes and we'll all have some drinks tonight."

Deng Yunzhen said, "Dad, let me help you."

Bu Dashi said, "Uncle, you can fry the bee pupae, and leave the rest to me."

Deng Shirong waved his hand and said, "No need. You just came back and you must be tired from the car ride. Just sit here and warm yourself by the fire while you wait for your meal."

(End of this chapter)