"You two go and rest for a while. You've been on the train all morning. We'll go to your second uncle's house at two o'clock, as we agreed yesterday," Zhang Jinhua instructed the two of them.
The two of them didn't go back to the bedroom, but went to the table to drink tea and talk with their father.
After eating meat, they like to drink some tea, which makes their mouths feel better.
Zhao Fugui then inquired about Zhao Huanhuan's situation as a teacher, and Zhao Huanhuan told him everything. Zhao Fugui was relieved to hear that everything was normal.
Now he's actually quite happy for Zhao Huanhuan. She's married, has a job, her husband is a soldier and an excellent young man, and her in-laws are kind people. Everything is going well for her.
It seems that this is the outcome they have always hoped for for their daughter!
This means my wish has come true.
Perhaps the only imperfection is that our daughter married someone from a faraway place, too far from our home.
However, after the couple retires, they can move to Shanglin City to be closer to their daughter.
Lin Yuan didn't mention his desire to be transferred to Yuancheng when facing his parents-in-law. After all, it wasn't finalized yet, and it was an internal matter. The way he spoke to Huanhuan was only to the extent that he could say so.
He also told Huanhuan not to tell her parents-in-law about this, in case they couldn't come in the future, which would disappoint them.
Zhao Huanhuan understood what he meant, so that matter was a secret between the couple, and a direction they wanted to strive for in the future.
Of course, their plan also included bringing the Lin family elders along, since they only had one son, and wherever he settled, they would definitely bring the elders with them.
At 2 p.m., the family went to Zhao Huanhuan's second uncle's house to pay New Year's greetings.
When they left, their parents took them to the south room, where they saw that their parents had bought a lot of things, all of which they would need for visiting relatives and friends during the Lunar New Year.
Each of my uncles' and aunts' families had two bottles of wine and two buckets of malted milk powder.
Because they were the closest blood relatives, Zhang Jinhua and Zhao Fugui prepared double portions for them when they helped them.
After all, this is Huanhuan and Lin Yuan's first time visiting, and they don't know if Lin Yuan will be able to come back for the New Year next year. This time, all the uncles and elders will give them lucky money. This is the first time newlyweds visit relatives for the New Year, and relatives usually give them lucky money.
The Zhao couple felt that the gifts they brought should not be too small.
These two bottles of wine and two tubs of malted milk powder together cost about twenty yuan.
The expenses for the two maternal uncles and three paternal uncles totaled around one hundred yuan.
As for Huanhuan's cousins, they are of the same generation, so they won't buy anything for her.
The couple decided not to bring anything this year, but to give each family twenty yuan so that they could keep some money in their hands.
They also prepared two hundred yuan in new ten-yuan notes, which were to be given to their brothers' families and to the children as New Year's money; each child would receive ten yuan.
After all, among the four siblings' families, only Huanhuan's second uncle's family is doing well, and their family is the best. They are a dual-income family and also an only-child family, so they don't have many expenses.
We went to my second uncle's house, gave him some gifts and lucky money for the children. Afterwards, we sat and drank tea for a while and chatted for a bit before the car came to pick them up.
My second aunt brought an old quilt from home and placed it in the back of the car for them to sit on. She also took a blanket and covered the people sitting in the back so they wouldn't get cold.
Besides the driver, there were four other people in the car. The men let the women and children sit inside, while the men chatted on the outside.
Zhang Jinlan and Zhao Huanhuan, her second aunt, and her second uncle's youngest cousin Zhang Linhua, and her second uncle's eldest son Zhang Linguo, who is already a junior high school student, sat in the back with his father and Lin Yuan.
Zhang Jinhua's family home is a bit far from Yuancheng; it takes an hour and a half to drive there. But Zhao Fugui's family home is closer to Yuancheng; they could actually get there by bicycle.
Now that they had a car, they naturally headed to a more distant place first.
Around 4 o'clock, they went to their maternal grandfather's village, Zhangjiawan.
The person who drove them here was also a worker at the water plant. After dropping them off, he went back home.
My eldest cousin and his wife are not here; they went to my father-in-law's house today. The rest of the family is here and waiting for them.
When her older and younger cousins saw them arrive, they were overjoyed and immediately started whispering secrets to Zhao Huanhuan.
Lin Yuan smiled as he watched Zhao Huanhuan being led away, and then followed the Zhao couple to get to know his maternal uncle and aunt.
Lin Yuan greeted them politely and even apologized for not being able to attend the previous homecoming banquet, saying that she was very sorry because she had a last-minute assignment.
His uncle and aunt quickly comforted him, saying that they knew what was important and that national affairs were naturally more important.
Since getting married, Lin Yuan has become much more talkative. He is not timid in front of the elders and chats with them about his military life and how he met Huanhuan with a faint smile.
Huanhuan's elders naturally loved hearing about their own Huanhuan, so when Lin Yuan spoke, everyone listened with great interest.
Especially after her uncle and aunt learned that Zhao Huanhuan was now a private school teacher, they were filled with pride, thinking that their child was truly successful.
In the eyes of the elders, how much money the family has is not important; what matters most is that the children have stable jobs, or even secure jobs.
What they want is stability, security, and peace of mind.
Lin Yuan smiled and nodded, then told the story of how a group of educated youth had done a great thing by rebuilding the village's primary school.
Before they knew it, they had been talking for more than half an hour.
Seeing that Zhao Huanhuan hadn't returned yet, Lin Yuan finished talking with the elders and said he was going out for a walk, so he went out.
His two cousins from his second uncle's family also took the opportunity to go out with him, leaving only the elders from the three families chatting inside.
"Brother-in-law, I know where my sister and the others are!" Zhang Linhua said to Lin Yuan with a grin, leading him towards the backyard.
Lin Yuan smiled and patted the little guy's head, responded, and followed him.
Zhang Linguo followed behind them and suddenly asked, "Brother-in-law, how's the army?"
Lin Yuan glanced back at him, smiled and nodded, "Okay, the first three months of basic training might be a bit tiring, but you have to endure hardship to rise above others. After three months, you'll be assigned to a branch of service and assigned to a company, and then you'll start normal training and learning. For a man, being able to enter the military once is a worthwhile experience in his life."
After listening, Zhang Linguo felt a surge of passionate energy welling up in his chest.
He will be entering his final year of junior high school this fall. He wants to join the army after graduating from junior high, but his parents are reluctant to let him go.
But with his brother-in-law's words, he knew how to convince his parents.
"Brother-in-law, will you be recruiting soldiers in Yuancheng next fall?" Zhang Linguo suddenly asked.
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