During dinner, Shen Anning told his grandfather about meeting Cao Jingheng on the street today.
Grandpa Shen ate the fire-baked bread his granddaughter brought back and said, "I went to pick up this old man Cao the day he came back. Hi, I heard that his grandson retired from the army and is now working at the Public Security Bureau."
"This old man has no worries now. Now that his grandson is by his side, he's in high spirits. He looks younger than when I was in the countryside. It's been a while since we last saw him. Let's find some time and come over to meet him."
Shen An Ning calmly took over the conversation, "Okay, then let's do it this weekend. Peng Wei happens to have that day off, and I start school next Tuesday." Peng Wei is the eldest son of my aunt's family. He is only one year younger than Shen An Ning. He is exactly twenty years old this year. After graduating from high school, he passed the selection and went to the Military Academy. He only has one day off a month.
"Well, it just so happens that Lao Cao has a big place. I'll call him later and ask him to get some mutton, and we'll go eat hotpot." Although the Shen family has both political and military personnel, they still can't compare to the Cao family, which has been doing business for generations. Now that supplies are scarce, only these old business families have wide channels and can get a lot of unplanned supplies. Grandpa Shen thought that since this was the first time he brought his children to visit, he had to ask Lao Cao to get more delicious food.
Early on Sunday morning, after breakfast, Grandpa Shen and Grandma Shen took the six children to Xidan by bus. In the past few days, the two old people have been fed by their eldest granddaughter from time to time. She ate a box of sachima tongue biscuits and had another box left. She was very happy, so today Grandpa Shen took the six boxes of snacks bought by his granddaughter and prepared to show off to his old friends.
There are still quite a lot of people on the bus on weekends. Fortunately, the journey is not far and there is no traffic jam these days, so it only takes about twenty minutes to get there.
Before getting out of the car, through the window, Shen Anning saw Cao Jingheng standing at the entrance of the alley waiting. Obviously, he also saw Shen Anning and hurried over to help with the things. "Hello, Grandpa Shen and Grandma Shen, Grandpa and Grandma started preparing early in the morning and were waiting for you to come."
Grandpa Shen looked at the tall and handsome Cao Jingheng and patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, good boy, I heard that you made great contributions on the battlefield and performed well. How is your work in the Public Security Bureau?"
"Thank you for your concern. I am doing fine, and I see you are in good health too."
The group walked into the Cao family's courtyard, which was a typical three-courtyard house with two side courtyards. The first house was an ordinary back house. The Cao family now had only three people, so they all lived in the middle courtyard. The courtyard was not particularly large, but it was clean and tidy.
Grandpa Shen and Grandma Shen walked into the yard and sighed: “This yard is well preserved, but it’s not as beautiful as it was ten years ago.”
"Hey, Old Shen, you, a rough guy, don't know what appreciation is. If this came from your sister-in-law's mouth, it would have some credibility." Grandpa Cao also spared no effort to complain when he heard what his old friend said.
Grandma Shen and Grandma Cao ignored the verbal arguments of the two old men. They took the children into the house and said, "A few days ago, Old Cao asked someone to get a lamb from Inner Mongolia. It weighed more than 20 kilograms. Jing Heng said that there are many young people coming today, so we should have barbecue and hot pot. I left a leg of lamb. You can take it back when you go back later. Let my nephews and nieces try it. They must be very hard at work."
Grandma Shen smiled and said, "Okay, I won't be polite with you. It just so happens that there are more boys today, so there are people to do the work. Xiaowei and Xiaozhe, take Anyu to the yard to help your brother Jingheng."
The boys were all very skillful, skewering meat, washing and cutting vegetables, and they did their work in a very professional manner. In the living room, Shen An Ning brought her sister and little niece to chat with the two grandmothers and eat and drink.
Although it was just getting warmer in March, a shed was built in the yard, and there was a fire under the barbecue grill and copper pot, so it was not cold at all to eat in the shed, and it was also very interesting to eat while grilling. Shen Zixi was small, unkempt and playful. He stood next to the grill with a skewer of meat, but he couldn't grill the meat for a long time and was very anxious.
Cao Jingheng took a small stool and carried the little girl to stand on it, "Come, stand still, uncle will teach you."
Grandpa Shen was secretly happy watching all this. As an experienced person, how could he not see the quarrel between his eldest granddaughter and the boy from the Cao family? The two families had a good relationship. The Cao family had a simple population, and Cao Jingheng himself was a man of noble character and ability. To be honest, Grandpa Shen was very happy to marry into the Cao family. You know, Shen Anning has been in the countryside for five or six years and is twenty-one years old this year. If it weren't for the incident back then, they might have been engaged and married.
After dinner, Cao Jingheng took Shen Anning to the east wing where he lived. The children were a little sleepy after dinner and rested in the guest room in the backyard. The four old people drank some wine and sat in the living room chatting, so no one paid attention to where Shen Anning went.
Cao Jingheng's house was very clean. The three rooms in the east wing were connected together, including a bedroom, a study and a living room.
"How is it, does it look okay?"
"It's pretty good, and it's cleaned up very neatly." Shen Anning looked at the bookshelf in the study, which was mostly filled with books on criminal psychology and trace detection, and asked, "Do you still read books when you get home from get off work?"
"Generally speaking, if I don't have to work overtime, I'll watch it for an hour or so after I get home. After all, I came from the battlefield, and what I learned before were combat methods, which are very different from what my current job requires."
The two of them sat in the room for a while. Relying on the wine they had drunk at noon, Cao Jingheng became bolder. Not only did he shamelessly say a few sweet words, he also held Shen Anning's hand, and he couldn't suppress the smile on the corner of his mouth.
When Cao Jingheng left the house, he had two more bags in his hands. "These are all the ones I bought before, and some I asked my former comrades to send over. Tell me when you've finished eating, and I'll buy you more."
Ana Shen was a little embarrassed, “I’m not a child anymore, I still have to eat so many snacks.”
Cao Jingheng looked at the girl in front of him and said, "An Ning, you can always be a child in front of me without any burden. I am happy to treat you well."
"Okay, then I'll see how you perform from now on." As an old lady, Shen Anning was not reserved at all. She took Cao Jingheng's hand and said, "I will report on the 26th. If you are free, wait for me at the gate of the military compound."
After eating and drinking to their heart's content, the Shen family didn't leave until four in the afternoon. In addition to the snacks prepared by Cao Jingheng, Grandma Shen also gave them a leg of lamb, two fish, and a rooster. So when they got on the bus again, everyone had something in their hands, and they were all hard to buy, which made the people on the bus with them envious.
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