Two-in-one
After staying at the Qin family for two days and having breakfast, Qin Yao and his wife packed up and prepared to go to the Gu family. Before leaving, Chen Guixiang said hypocritically: "Don't always go back to your parents' home first, stay at your husband's home for two days first, and then come to see your parents——"
Normally she spoke in a low voice, but this time she raised her voice, fearing that the people in the yard might not be able to hear her.
How proud of oneself.
Qin Yao and Gu Cheng had basically not discussed whose home to go back to first. Gu Cheng tacitly agreed to accompany her home to meet her parents first, and Qin Yao did not object, so that was it.
To a young person like her, it really isn’t important which home to go back to first. After all, aren’t they all going back? Some elderly people in the 1970s did care a lot about it. For example, Juying's in-laws wouldn't let her go home for the New Year every year. They also didn't like their grandson to get too close to their daughter-in-law's family, and they didn't allow "outsiders" to touch their children. Even if they were in-laws, they were still two families.
"Your mother is right." Qin Chuanrong took out a towel and wiped his hands with a smile. His face was wrinkled like chrysanthemums, and he was completely happy.
The couple really don’t care which home their daughter returns to first. It’s just that most girls nowadays rely mainly on their husband’s family after they get married, and have less and less connection with their own family.
They have only one daughter in their family, and she is the youngest. She has been cherished since she was young, and they are reluctant to let her go even after she got married. Of course, they hope that their daughter and son-in-law will come home more often.
The in-laws are also easy to get along with. It is said that a daughter-in-law will eventually become a mother-in-law. Even if the daughter-in-law wants to contact her parents' home, she has to consider the mood of her husband's family. If she goes back to her parents' home too often, it will easily anger her husband's family.
There are some rules in the mother-in-law's family. Alas, the mother-in-law simply thinks of herself as the Empress Dowager of a large feudal family. The less capable the family is, the more rules it has. The daughter-in-law is treated as a "house slave" and is bought with money and ordered around as much as she wants, because there is no one else who can order the mother-in-law around.
Qin Yao wore a plain cotton-padded jacket that she had made for her wedding. The two kids beside her were wrapped up like chubby little bears and wore red thick velvet boots. It was not entirely true to say that they looked like bears. In terms of body shape, they looked more like two round, inflatable "little puffer fish".
Both guys were wearing a plaid overalls. Kids of this age wouldn't wear overalls in the winter. They could play themselves into little coal balls without any concern.
Yesterday, Qin Yao discovered that these two naughty kids were grabbing charcoal with their bare hands, making their hands black. They then wiped the charcoal on their faces and bodies. They were so dirty that she wanted to throw them away. If they were not her biological children, she really would not want them and would have sent them to dig coal.
"Say goodbye to grandpa and grandma."
Qin Yao and Gu Cheng each held a child. Gu Cheng was also carrying a lot of luggage. Qin Yao was carrying a bag on her back. In her arms was her little son Mingming, with his little chin resting on her shoulder. Qin Yao walked in the snow with him in her arms for a while. She felt that she couldn't bear it, it was so heavy.
If you gain a little more weight, mom really won’t want to hold you anymore.
Fortunately, they didn't have to walk far. After they walked out of the alley, they saw a car coming to pick them up. They rushed the two little chicks into the car, but these two guys had never seen anything like it before. They were curious about everything they saw and even coveted the "mountain of cabbages" piled under the eaves of other people's houses.
There is hardly any green here in the winter, so the cabbage turns into green emerald in the winter, which is really rare.
Gu Cheng closed the car door coldly and ruthlessly, and got in with Qin Yao separately, squeezing the two little brats in the middle. He said coldly, "Sit down obediently."
The two children stood together, looked at each other, then raised their little faces to look at their father, then at their mother, and finally huddled together in silence.
——Dad looks different today than he did a few days ago.
Gu Cheng spoke a few words to the driver in a flat tone, and the car drove forward. Ruirui and Mingming no longer cared about their father, and crawled towards their mother, like two fighting and entangled caterpillars, squeezing to see the scenery outside.
Qin Yao patted her eldest son on the back and turned to look at the man next to her. He was sitting upright in the back of the car, wearing a military coat and no hat. There was basically no expression on his face, his eyes were indifferent, and the lines of his jaw were cold and hard. It was clearly the same face, but he couldn't tell what he looked like the day before.
The two children just had question marks in their heads. If they were older, they would probably call the police and say that their father had disappeared and turned into another person.
He is really good at "putting on airs" and speaks less. Gu Cheng's acting skills and ability to control facial expressions are like a spring, which can be retracted and released freely, making people have to admit defeat.
The couple couldn't help feeling a little nervous at the thought of returning home.
The last time she went to the Gu family was when she got married. Qin Yao was only familiar with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. As for her father-in-law, the old man, and Brother Gu, she had hardly spoken to them, so she couldn't say she was familiar with them.
Therefore, there was still some tension in the past.
Gu Cheng was thinking that he had indeed changed a lot after three years of marriage, but he didn't want to go home and turn into a missile to blow others to pieces, especially since he had an older brother at home.
Thinking back to when he brought Qin Yao home three years ago, Qin Yao was still very pretentious and stuck to him like a little bird... It was impossible that after three years of marriage, he had inexplicably become a "henpecked husband".
Comrade Gu Cheng does not feel that he is "dominated by his wife". How is he controlled by his wife?
A few days ago, I left a "red cheek" on my wife's face.
...In the past year alone, he has done a lot of strange things. Now he feels embarrassed when he reflects on it. When he returns home and faces the serious old man, the serious father, and the serious elder brother...he cannot tell anyone about it.
Unlike the nervous couple, the two kids were the most relaxed. When the car drove into the compound, the little ones were stunned. The courtyards in the city were crowded, but the open space and playground here were large, with large areas of white, and many young soldiers were shoveling snow.
There was a huge snowman in the middle, with black eyes and a carrot as a nose. It was almost taller than a person, which shocked the two short guys.
There are also snowmen piled at the gate of the yard. They are in various shapes, including big turtles, big dogs, and some of the snowmen are even wearing clothes. Crystal icicles are hanging on the wall.
The two little pufferfish got out of the car, but instead of rushing into the house, they happily stepped on their little boots to give the snowman a bear hug.
It scared the pigeons that were secretly pecking at food in an open space not far away.
"Ruirui, Mingming, you've grown up so much." Liu Shuqin had been waiting for the children to come back home. When she heard the noise, she didn't care about anything else and hurried out to greet them.
“I’m a grandmother.”
Qin Yao asked the children to call grandma, and the two children called her obediently. They wanted to play in the snow again, so Liu Shuqin said, "Let them play. That's what Sister Miaomiao made."
Old Master Gu was also at home at this moment, but he was not as anxious as he was on the phone before. When he saw Gu Cheng, he just nodded lightly. The grandfather and grandson talked for a few words, and they looked very serious.
At noon, my niece Gu Miaomiao came back from the Cultural Palace. "Uncle, aunt, you are back? Oh, and my two younger brothers! Wow, aunt, this one looks like you. Wow! This one looks like uncle."
"Yes, your little cousin looks a lot like your uncle. They are almost cut from the same mold."
Liu Shuqin looked at her grandson with a face full of memories, as if she had returned to many years ago, when her son was still young, with the same beautiful eyebrows and eyes, also in this icy and snowy place, but - "Your uncle was not so chubby when he was a child, it was because your aunt raised him well."
"Little guys, Mingming, Runrun, you have to call me sister!" Gu Miaomiao finally felt proud of being the eldest sister. She had been fighting alone in the Gu family for so many years, and now she finally had younger brothers under her.
In addition to these two younger brothers, her mother and An are also pregnant now. It won’t be long before she has a younger brother or sister.
Gu Miaomiao sighed: "My mother's little brother should not look like my father."
Qin Yao laughed: "Who do you want your brothers and sisters to look like?"
"Like mom, or like little aunt. Look, Ruirui looks like little aunt. He is so beautiful!"
Gu Cheng teased her coldly, "Isn't it good to look like your dad?"
Gu Miaomiao said in a condescending manner: "If it's a sister who looks like my dad...what should I do?"
The worry on her face made the other adults in the room laugh.
That time, Mr. Gu was anxious on the phone. After Qin Yao and his wife had lunch at noon, they learned that the Gu family had hired professionals to write an autobiography and stories for the old man as a commemoration.
We found two people to write it together. Both of them worked in newspapers as writers. They had solid skills and had published many articles. One of them was named Ji and the other was named Yang.
They have collected the materials and have started writing now.
Qin Yao suddenly relaxed when she heard the news. She knew that it would never be her turn to write an article for Mr. Gu, as this was the place with the largest number of literary and artistic workers in the country.
The last article she wrote for Sister Gu consumed a lot of her brain cells. Recently, she wanted to write some food articles to change her mood, or write about the love, hate and vengeance of the people in the slum.
"What you wrote to Qingqing is very good and worth reading." Old Master Gu was wearing reading glasses at this time, and he suddenly looked much older and more haggard than he was three years ago.
One is to secretly read his granddaughter's stories in the middle of the night; the second is to start searching for materials related to himself. If he doesn't have any, he will start writing his memoirs... It seems that such an old guy is even busier than his student Gu Miaomiao.
Old Master Gu sighed inwardly, thinking what kind of task had he been asked to do. He didn't want to write an autobiography anymore. The two guys from the newspaper were so thorough in their research, asking for all kinds of information in great detail, and made Old Master Gu look thirty years older...
People are like this. The more they recall the past, the more surprised they are to find that they have lived for such a long time, and that in the past few years, they have seen so many people pass away.
I couldn't help but ask myself: Why have you lived so long?
This old man is immortal, this old man is immortal. He has really become an old man who is immortal.
Recalling my former bravery in front of the younger generation is a happy and boastful experience. Those glorious years are like shining stars in the dark sky. The past that people have experienced is like the night sky, which is dark most of the time, with only a small number of "stars" twinkling.
Mr. Gu really admires Mr. Qin for being able to write his autobiography for so many years. There are too many ups and downs in a person's life. The real life is shocking in the words.
Others may not feel anything, but the owners described in these words will inevitably sigh in their hearts when they see them.
It would be better to let future generations write these things after you die, it’s just torture.
"As long as you like it, Grandpa." Qin Yao smiled, feeling quite ashamed in her heart. The story she wrote for her second sister was mixed with many routines of cool novels. It was not very literary but full of fun. She was afraid that it would not be presentable, so she did not dare to show off her skills in front of an expert.
However, she didn't know that these routines of hers were pioneering at this time.
People at that time had never seen it, but Qin Yao had read a large number of articles after the prosperity of print media and the explosion of online literature. Her writing context can be said to be extremely mature.
"Grandpa, what's wrong with your energy?" Gu Cheng looked Grandpa Gu up and down, surprised at how old his grandfather looked. This was not just physical old age, but a kind of mental fatigue, as if someone had taken away his backbone all of a sudden.
Clearly, he was acting like a naughty boy the last time I called him, but now his face was like a bowl of boiled Chinese medicine, emitting a strong bitterness.
My grandfather is already very old.
"You're too tired. You should work harder recently." Liu Shuqin shook her head. She strongly disagreed with her husband Gu Zhuyong's decision to hire two people to write an autobiography for the old man. The old man might not be able to withstand such mental exhaustion.
Thinking too much about the past will make you depressed.
"Grandpa, how about I write a few stories for you to cheer you up." Qin Yao had heard a lot about the old man from Gu Miaomiao. She didn't dare to write a serious autobiography, but it was okay to exaggerate this kind of fantastic and made-up story.
It has to be full of twists and turns and passion, making people scream that it was so exciting after reading it. Qin Yao is also a vulgar person. When she reads martial arts novels, she likes to read similar plots such as the six major sects besieging Guangmingding.
As an author, it is very exciting to write.
Old Master Gu sighed, "Will you write for me? I don't want to write about these things anymore. Are you annoying? Just let them disappear. I don't want to mention the good or bad ones. It's boring. I might as well go fishing."
"I'm not like Lao Qin. I'm a very loyal person. I've seen too much of the past... I feel bad. Don't mention it anymore."
Gu Miaomiao tilted her head and said, "Aunt, please write one for me. It just so happens that our teacher asked us to learn to write stories last semester."
She has been a loyal listener of her great-grandfather's stories since she was a child. Her ears are almost callused from listening to them. Recently, her great-grandfather has stopped talking about them, and she sometimes misses him a lot.
"Aunt, I am your loyal reader!" Gu Miaomiao is a little shrew. She used to hang out with old men and was very sweet-mouthed. Now, she is full of flattery towards Qin Yao.
Qin Yao agreed: "Okay, I'll write it for you."
"You guys go ahead and write it, just don't ask me." Mr. Gu waved his hand, indicating that he didn't want to get involved in this matter anymore.
Gu Miaomiao talked with Qin Yao for a while before going to school. This little mouth chattered, pouring out everything she knew like taking out garbage. Qin Yao became more and more happy as they talked. Inspiration started to come to her, and she soon came up with an introduction.
There was too much inspiration and the urgent desire to express herself was unstoppable. In the afternoon, Qin Yao left her two sons to Gu Cheng and wrote voraciously in the room. When Gu Miaomiao came back from school in the evening, she found that she had written 6,000 words.
I was inspired again in the evening and wrote three thousand words.
Before going to bed, Comrade Xiao Qin rubbed his wrists and couldn't help but brag to himself in his heart, "I'm so strong. I actually wrote ten thousand words a day by hand and also wrote a two thousand-word chapter outline."
After coaxing the two children to sleep, Gu Cheng took out safflower oil and massaged Qin Yao's wrists. He was afraid that she had written too much today and her wrists would hurt the next day, so he massaged them at night to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis.
Qin Yao's wrists were rubbed by him, and she felt dizzy and sleepy.
"Please help me check for typos..." Qin Yao yawned as she spoke. She turned over and fell on the bed, sleeping next to the two babies. She had originally planned to just take a nap, but she slept until dawn.
When she woke up early in the morning, she was surprised to find that Gu Cheng had dark circles under his eyes and was still writing and drawing.
Gu Cheng actually stayed up all night. Seeing her wake up, he felt a little tired: "I changed some of it and wrote some according to your outline. Do you think it's okay? I'll take a nap first."
"Go to sleep." Qin Yao touched the stubble under his chin, which was a bit prickly. The shadow under his eyes was heartbreaking. She took the initiative to kiss his cheek and let him go to sleep on the bed.
He used another vitality skill again.
Qin Yao turned around and looked at the manuscript revised by Gu Cheng. She found that Gu Cheng had added a lot of side descriptions and wrote another 5,000 words. This guy is indeed a man. What he wrote is full of passion.
If Qin Yao were to write it, she might not be able to write such awkward and passionate words, but reading them does make one's heart full of excitement. Qin Yao decided to save these passages.
The couple really worked day and night to write the manuscript.
Compared with Gu Cheng's writing, Qin Yao's writing is more delicate and less straightforward. She added a few paragraphs of Gu Cheng's description and supplemented the details. She also revised it to make the whole article more harmonious and smooth.
Qin Yao let the two kids follow their grandmother and wrote all day long. She was almost obsessed, as if she was possessed by something and she would not stop until she wrote them down.
It was not until another day passed and I had written 30,000 words and completed a small article that I finally relaxed and decided to take a break and stop writing.
Even with just 30,000 words, it's already a very good story and very readable.
"You two, why do you just stay at home when you get home? Xiaocheng, you should take Yaoyao and the kids out to play."
Qin Yao showed the freshly published 30,000 words to her loyal young reader Gu Miaomiao. Miaomiao had been following the progress of the article. "Is it time to read it? Auntie, let me see, hehe——"
It took Gu Miaomiao nearly two hours to finish reading the 30,000-word story. After finishing it, she was very excited: "Aunt, you wrote it so well! Your article should be in elementary school textbooks!"
Qin Yao didn't know whether to laugh or cry after hearing this, and thought to herself: Niece, just brag.
After a lot of boasting, Gu Miaomiao took the manuscript to tempt Grandpa Zeng, "Grandpa, you really don't want to read it? You really don't want to read it? My aunt wrote it very well."
Mr. Gu snorted: "I don't want to see it."
"Okay then, I'll show it to my friends in the yard." Gu Miaomiao decided to show off in the yard. Thinking of this, she didn't want to waste time with the old man.
It’s not as fun to tease the old man alone as it is to have so many children in the compound to do so. The more people there are, the better.
After saying that, Gu Miaomiao shot out like an arrow.
“Wait, wait for me, girl, don’t run, you little brat, don’t run, Miaomiao, stop right there!” Old Man Gu didn’t expect that the girl could run so fast, and he almost threw away his crutches to chase after her.
What a bitch! She really ran away when she said she would, without letting anyone finish their words.
He was not even allowed to read the work and was just taken away. What if it was not well written? Wouldn't he be embarrassed in front of his old comrades? What if someone saw it and tore it up?
"You are so clumsy and impatient, just like your father. Show it to Grandpa."
Little Gu Miaomiao sighed and had to temporarily give up the plan of going out to show off to his friends. He strode up to the old man with a heroic and high-spirited stride and handed him the manuscript.
"Look, look quickly, I can still go out and talk to Zhuangzhuang's family if I hurry."
Old Master Gu glared at her, then reluctantly took out his reading glasses and put them on. He was told to look faster, but he insisted on looking slower.
Once I slowed down, I was so engrossed in the movie that I spent six or seven hours alone, and only watched two-thirds of it.
Gu Miaomiao sat opposite him with a gloomy face. She had finished her homework long ago. It was late at night outside and it was almost time to go to bed. The old man hadn't finished reading it yet. He sat there with a red face reading it carefully. He was also holding a notebook to write comments, more seriously than the teacher when correcting homework.
"Master, I think your review is not well written."
Mr. Gu raised his eyebrows: "What do you know? Do you know it or do I know it?"
Gu Miaomiao: “…”
"My comments will be added when the book is published..." Mr. Gu nodded with satisfaction.
Gu Miaomiao covered her eyes and shouted, "Help!" She felt so embarrassed! The old man is just like Emperor Qianlong. He has the audacity to stamp his seal on other people's fine works of art. Not satisfied with just stamping one, he wants to stamp all over the place with his own seal. He doesn't feel ashamed at all. How shameless!
"Grandpa, eat some Qianlong cabbage tomorrow to wake up your brain. You are like the sesame seeds on the sesame seed bun. You may be okay to eat, but you are an eyesore to look at."
Old Master Gu glared at her and said, "You are still young, you don't understand. In ancient times, there was Yanzhizhai commenting on Dream of the Red Chamber, and now there is also my commentary... commentary, uh, anyway, that's it."
Gu Miaomiao: “…”
Mr. Gu did not have a good sleep that night. He woke up very early the next day. He felt energetic as if he had been given an injection of chicken blood. It was all white outside. He anxiously guessed through the window: Are they awake?
He looked at the window, then at the alarm clock on the bedside table, wishing that the seconds would go faster and faster, so that it would be dawn soon and everyone could get up. It was winter, and don't miss your bed, just get up quickly.
Finally, the day dawned. Mr. Gu ate breakfast in high spirits, and went out with his notebook in his hand.
He was lucky enough to catch Mr. Qin first. He wanted to throw away his crutches. In fact, he didn't really need them. Now Mr. Gu felt like he had taken a powerful pill. His waist and legs didn't hurt anymore. He could climb to the fifth floor in one breath without any problem. He walked very fast.
"Old Qin!" The old man had a bright smile on his face.
Old Master Qin was startled by him. He said worriedly, "Old Gu, could it be that you are... having a last burst of energy?"
"Why did your family let you come out like this?"
Old Gu hasn't been in good spirits recently, and everyone has seen it. They are all worried that he may not survive the winter. They can't help but sigh for him in their hearts. Year by year, there are fewer and fewer people around.
"Ugh! You're just having a moment of clarity, can you speak?" Old Master Gu spoke with such a strong voice that Bai Xue beside him was shaking.
"Come, let me share it with you. My granddaughter-in-law and grandson wrote this. I think it's a great work. This will be our Gu family's heirloom, passed down from generation to generation."
Old Master Qin snorted. This old Gu was really talking nonsense. "Let me see what it is."
Mr. Gu handed it to him generously. Mr. Qin looked at it and became more and more frightened. In the end, he was even immersed in it, "This——"
His chest was filled with turbulent waves. Why? Why was Old Gu written like this...
I can't tell what's wrong. It seems to be the same as what Lao Gu said before, but when I heard Lao Gu say it, T wasn't that interesting. This... It must be this ingenious writing style that makes his experience magical and makes people so excited.
Old Master Qin was very jealous. He would ask his children and grandchildren to write for him tomorrow. Why did Old Gu have it but he didn't? His experience was even more legendary and amazing than Old Gu's.
"This heirloom of mine is quite good, isn't it? I feel relieved to think that after I am gone, my grandchildren can still see the 'ordinary deeds' of their ancestors. I am actually just an ordinary person. In those war-torn times, I had a little 'small' and unique experience, which is not worth mentioning -"
Although Mr. Gu said it was nothing to worry about, his tail was sticking up and swinging back and forth like crazy, and anyone could hear the smugness in his tone.
Upon hearing this, Mr. Qin immediately wanted to cut off his stinky tail.
"The story is well written, but the ant-like words on the edge are too annoying and ugly."
Mr. Gu curled his lips and said, "You are just jealous! I am going to publish it together, so you are jealous."
"Stop dreaming, you're still publishing, ugh—"
"Hmph, then you wait."
…
When other people came over, they saw two people arguing with each other. They were both quite old, but each one was more energetic than the other.
"Old Qin, are you guys...having a last gasp?"
Mr. Qin: “?!”
Mr. Gu: “?!”
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