Chapter 99 Li Damao: I stirred up a sandstorm. ...
Qin Xiangxiang and her husband bought boat tickets to go home before the New Year. In the evening, the family boarded the boat under the setting sun. The sea was sparkling. Xiao Pang walked in front, looking back at his parents and sister from time to time.
Li Jianzhi held his daughter Sui Sui in his arms. The little one looked around curiously, babbling and drooling.
"Sui Sui, we're going to visit Grandpa and Grandma."
"Ahh!"
My little girl is a few days shy of her first birthday, but she still can't speak. She can only utter vague words like "daddy" and "mommy".
Little Fatty: "Mommy, when will we arrive? Will we see Grandpa and Grandma as soon as we get off the boat?"
Li Jianzhi: "Let's take a group photo with some passersby when we get off the boat."
Little Fatty: "Wow! Mmm."
Then he'll have something to talk about with his classmates when school starts next semester.
Qin Xiangxiang said, "We'll arrive in Shanghai tomorrow morning. When we disembark, we can have some pan-fried buns with beef soup first."
The chubby boy's eyes lit up: "Wow!"
Overall, his mother still knows how to eat.
They arrived in Shanghai around 7 or 8 a.m. the next morning. The crowds were dense. Not long after disembarking, Zhou Aodong, who had sharp eyes, spotted his daughter and son-in-law's family. It was mainly because Li Jianzhi was tall and had a daughter in his arms, making him more conspicuous than anyone else.
Qin Xiangxiang: "Mom, you're still here to pick people up?"
"Yes, it just so happens that our factory is having a morning meeting today. It would be good for you to come along and listen to it."
Qin Xiangxiang: "Huh???"
"I want pan-fried dumplings and beef soup."
Zhou Aodong: "No rush. Go and meet with the senior employees in the factory. They can pass on their past experience to you."
Little Fatty hugged his father's leg: "Mom, you and Grandma go ahead, Dad and I will take my sister to eat pan-fried dumplings and beef soup."
"Let's go, think about it, let's go over there first."
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Mom, I want to eat pan-fried buns and beef soup."
"Now that you've become the factory director, why are you still eating this kind of stuff? If you're going to eat, eat the rich experience from the older generation."
Qin Xiangxiang: "I am just a sheep that has fallen into the tiger's mouth."
Poor Factory Director Qin was taken away by his own mother. Li Jianzhi and his father-in-law took the child to buy pan-fried buns. Pan-fried buns are hard to buy before and after the Lunar New Year. Everyone is willing to eat something good during the New Year. Pan-fried buns, which are usually not something people can afford, now require queuing for one or two hours, just like the trendy restaurants of the future.
Li Jianzhi: "Freshly cooked pan-fried buns with beef soup taste really good."
Little Fatty: "So delicious."
Qin Wutong held her granddaughter in her arms and said, "Don't say that to your mother and your wife. That's just adding fuel to the fire."
"Tell Xiangxiang that it will taste good even when it's cold and packed up to take home."
Li Jianzhi thought to himself: Father-in-law, you're probably just adding fuel to the fire.
Qin Xiangxiang finally got to eat fresh, hot pan-fried buns with a bowl of hot beef soup the next day. On a cold day, you have to eat something hot to nourish your body and mind.
Back in Shanghai, the couple and their children stayed in Qin Xiangxiang's old room. Qin Xiangxiang's bed and Xiao Pang's two beds used to be side by side, and they didn't feel cramped when they slept there.
Aside from being cluttered with miscellaneous items, the room still retained the appearance it had when Qin Xiangxiang left.
Even the neighbor next door is still the same old jerk.
"Qin Xiangxiang, are you going to be taking over the kitchen every day now that you're back?"
"Oh my, your little chubby boy is so fat."
"Your man is cleaning fish in the kitchen again. Fine, let him do it."
The couple had only been there for two days when Qin Xiangxiang's grandmother, Zeng Fengyu, along with her aunt, Qin Wenxian, and a whole bunch of other people came to visit. Zeng Fengyu originally wanted to show some affection for her great-grandson, but when she saw Xiao Pang, she couldn't say a word.
"Xiao Bao is still stronger than other kids. Is he already in first grade?"
"Can you keep up? Are you the top student in the class?"
Qin Wenxian stood by with a smile, occasionally saying a word or two to show off his knowledge.
Qin Wenxian: "It's really unfortunate that Little Fatty came back. His uncle's nephews drank all the Coke in the house yesterday. Otherwise, I would have given the child a taste."
"You younger generation have never seen Coca-Cola before, have you? Last year, you could still see foreign visitors on the street. It was specially supplied to foreign guests by the Friendship Store. It was only because his uncle had connections that he was able to get two bottles."
Zeng Fengyu: "You should have left some food for Xiaobao, otherwise he would never have seen anything good while living in the countryside."
"I've had cola before," the chubby boy said casually. "My dad used cola to caramelize sugar, it was delicious."
"Huh?" Qin Wenxian's lips twitched: "This is a beverage, not soy sauce."
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Isn't that just sweet soda? Our family also got a batch by accident. There was too much to drink. Li Jianzhi discovered that it can be used to cook vegetables, caramelize sugar, cook cola ribs, and cola chicken cubes."
Qin Wenxian gave an awkward smile: "Really?"
After seeing off this group of relatives, it was Zhou Aodong's relatives again, his uncle and aunt's families. At this time, the uncle had already forgotten about being scared to death by his niece two years ago, and was still acting pretentious in front of the younger generation.
"Think about it, you'd better not be like your mother. Look how badly she scolded your father."
"Women ultimately still need to rely on men."
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Uncle, you must get scolded by your aunt a lot at home, right? You get scared by the smallest things."
...
Besides the good food and drinks, there was a lot of back-and-forth between relatives and friends. Everyone knew that Qin Xiangxiang had become the factory director, and they couldn't help but make a few sarcastic remarks.
On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, after celebrating Xiao Sui Sui's first birthday, the couple left Shanghai and prepared to continue their journey north by boat back to Li Jianzhi's hometown.
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Is this what you call going home to visit relatives? This is called going home to undergo tribulation, going through eighty-one tribulations."
"It's all the same, it's all the same. We're relatively relaxed. It's not easy for so many educated youths who returned to the city. They spend all their time in the shopping mall."
Being a personal shopper is hard work, but luckily Li Jianzhi only took on a few pairs of shoes and managed to buy them after two trips. Many of the educated youth who had returned to the city to visit their families needed to buy even more things.
The supply of 765 leather shoes is not sufficient. There are only a few more available around the Chinese New Year. On ordinary days, there are only about ten pairs available at a time. Once they are sold out in the store, you have to wait for the next supply.
Li Jianzhi's family in Northeast China lived in a rural area near Bincheng County. At that time, transportation was inconvenient. After arriving by boat, the couple and their child stayed at a guesthouse for another night before they could easily go to the countryside.
Qin Xiangxiang said, "You can ask around and find out what good food there is, so we can buy some local specialties to take back."
Li Jianzhi was silent for a moment, then uttered two words: "Seafood."
Qin Xiangxiang: "..."
The couple fell silent. Whether it was sea cucumber, abalone, large oysters, or large and small yellow croakers... they were all seafood, which didn't inspire any particular desire to eat them.
"Since we're already here, let's buy some sea cucumbers and abalone... I've heard sea urchins are delicious too."
Li Jianzhi: "The northern latitude is high, the seawater is cold, and the marine life is relatively large."
"Don't be fooled by the fact that they're all seafood; they actually have different flavors."
Qin Xiangxiang: "Listen to your wife's opinion... I want to eat pork."
The couple bought some dried seafood, candied fruit, and red sausages. The whole family got into the car and headed to the countryside in high spirits.
In the winter in the north, there is almost no greenery to be seen. From a distance, it is a gray wasteland. There are many factories along the road, with red chimneys. The factories are mostly single-story buildings or two- or three-story buildings.
Unlike the scattered and irregular houses in the south, the houses in the north are very neat, in rows, like houses in the military.
People from Shanghai like them were not uncommon. Li Jianzhi's hometown was also a place where educated youth were sent to the countryside. People from Beijing and Shanghai came here to work in the countryside. On the road, open-top cars also transported batches of educated youth or young workers.
Many people go home to visit relatives during the Lunar New Year, and they are gradually returning now.
Looking at the empty road and the unchanging scenery, with only bare, withered branches remaining on the trees, Qin Xiangxiang asked Li Jianzhi in confusion, "Where is your hometown?"
Li Jianzhi: "..."
I don't know either.
Li Jianzhi's body also has a second younger brother, Li Jian'an, and a third younger brother, Li Jianping. Li Jianzhi has never met these brothers. His second younger brother is a school teacher who teaches in another township in the same county as his hometown. The two townships are about a two-hour bike ride apart.
Fortunately, at that time, rural schools were all built along the roadside, so Li Jianzhi and his wife got out of the car and quickly found out about Li Jian'an.
"Are you a relative of Teacher Li?"
"Teacher Li is at home."
The second brother, Li Jian'an, and his wife are teachers at the same school and have a two- or three-year-old son. Li Jian'an hadn't seen his eldest brother for a long time, so he rushed over after hearing the news. "Big brother!"
Li Jianzhi nodded expressionlessly. Another adopted younger brother.
The couple visited Li Lao Er's house for a while, brought some gifts, and then, led by Li Er Di, called a truck to take them home.
Qin Xiangxiang couldn't help but sigh at how vast the place was, how cold the wind was, how dust flew up when cars drove by, and how there were only a few people around when they passed a factory area by the roadside.
Li Erdi: "This is my eldest nephew, he's really good-looking!"
"His name is Li Qingfeng."
Li Erdi was a tall and thin man, with a gaunt face, but he was also very handsome. His wife, surnamed Nong, had a round face and a very plump and beautiful appearance. The couple were both good-looking.
But when they saw Little Fatty, they all stared wide-eyed.
Although the woman from the city was also beautiful, Li Erdi and his wife didn't dare to look at her indiscriminately. They only focused their eyes on Xiao Pang, repeatedly marveling at how healthy the child was.
Li Erdi: "Big brother, this child looks just like you!"
Li Jianzhi: "..." He couldn't laugh.
The car drove into the village, and Li Erdi and his wife got out first. When the villagers saw Li Erdi, they all called him Teacher Li.
"Why is Teacher Li back again today?"
Li Erdi: "My eldest brother and sister-in-law have returned with their nephew and niece."
"Your older brother is back? That's rare! He even brought the kids back?"
Li Jianzhi got out of the car and took his one-year-old daughter from Qin Xiangxiang's arms. Qin Xiangxiang then jumped down, while the little chubby boy landed with a thud, kicking up dust. He even found it amusing and jumped around on the ground a couple more times.
Little Fatty: "I stirred up a sandstorm."
Qin Xiangxiang warned him, "You better stay put."
Hearing that the eldest son of the Li family, who was an officer in the army, had returned, the entire commune and production brigade were in an uproar. The old men and women who used to chat at home stopped chatting and all came out with a handful of melon seeds and peanuts to watch the excitement.
"That's really rare. The eldest son of the Li family is back? And he even brought his wife from Shanghai back with him?"
"Where are you? Where are you? Where is she?"
An old woman in a cotton-padded coat walked ahead. As soon as she saw Li Jianzhi and his brother, she immediately exclaimed in a loud voice, "Oh my, Li Damao is back!"
Qin Xiangxiang: "???"
Li Jianzhi: "..."
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