Chapter 221 Two in One
Ding Guo turned around and smiled when he saw the person coming: "Aren't you not responsible for this area?"
The postman who came was none other than his dear sister-in-law, Song Yuling.
Song Yuling said happily, "It's noon now, I can go to another district, haha." She raised the letter in her hand, "Sister, I specially asked for it to be sent to you."
After the college entrance examination, their work returned to their previous pace and they were no longer so busy.
In the past two days, in addition to the usual mail, we have also started to receive letters from various major universities, but the number is not large.
After all, the college entrance examination, which had been closed for many years, was resumed, so my colleagues were very excited as long as they sorted out the letters from major universities. They couldn't help cheering every time they turned over a letter, especially from top universities such as Wuhan University and Tsinghua University.
Song Yuling specifically reminded other colleagues to let her know if there was an admission letter for someone named "Ding Guo".
As luck would have it, she had picked out the letter from her sister from a pile of letters waiting to be sorted.
She told her colleagues here, put it in her own mail bag, and ran over to deliver it in person during lunch time. She also solemnly took the signature book and asked Ding Guo to sign it.
Li Shumei looked at the couple in shock and bewilderment, and said, "Ding Guo got into college! Are you two still calmly chatting about other things?"
Her heart was pounding like a drum just now, and these two girls were actually able to exchange pleasantries?
If this happened to her, she would be unable to help but jump up at her age.
Song Yuling had been to the bookstore before. Li Shumei had seen her and knew that she was Ding Guo's sister-in-law.
Song Yuling and Ding Guo were both stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
Song Yuling laughed and said, "I've been happy all morning, haha."
Although she hasn't received her admission letter yet, it doesn't stop her from being happy.
Ding Guo carefully put the wool wrapped around his hand onto the table, signed, and took the letter.
Li Shumei was more crude than her. She simply threw the half-wound ball of yarn onto the table and came over to look at it, anxiously asking, "Which school? Which school? Huazhong University or Tsinghua University?"
"Huada!" Song Yuling took out a handful of candies from her bag, including fruit candies and milk candies, and handed them to Li Shumei, saying with a smile, "Sister Li, please share in my sister's good fortune."
Li Shumei even laughed and yelled "Aiyo, aiyo" twice: "Your sister got admitted to university, and you, as her sister-in-law, have already prepared candy?"
These two aunts and sisters-in-law have such a good relationship!
Then he laughed and teased Ding Guo: "It doesn't count, you still have to treat us."
Ding Guo had carefully opened the envelope and took out the admission letter inside, saying, "Please, you must. Find a time to call the director and the accountant and let's go to the state-owned restaurant for a meal."
Li Shumei immediately felt embarrassed and said with a smile: "Well, there's no need to spend so much money, just treat us to two more candies."
She was just trying to make trouble, but she didn't expect Ding Guo to take it seriously.
But if such a big happy event happened to her, she would have to take it seriously.
"How can I eat two candies?"
Director Liu came over from behind and said with a smile, "We have a college graduate from our company, and he is from such a good school as Huazhong University. We must eat this treat."
After saying that, he added, waving his hand: "The company will reimburse you!"
Li Shumei couldn't help but cheer: "We must go to the state-owned restaurant and at least order a roast duck."
Ding Guo hurriedly said with a smile: "No, no, no, it's my treat, it's my treat as agreed."
Director Liu received a call from another branch and came over to count the books in preparation for transferring some to other stores. Coincidentally, he heard about Ding Guo getting the admission letter.
"As long as the store has it, we'll order roast duck and roast chicken!" As he said this, he came over and stretched his neck to take a look.
At this time, the admission letter is just a thin piece of paper, part of which is printed and part of which is handwritten: XXX Revolutionary Committee forwarded to XX student, with XXX's approval, you are admitted to XX school to study XX major...
The content was not long, and this was not the first time that Ding Guo received a college admission letter, but the one he was holding in his hand had a different meaning. Ding Guo read it several times, and a smile could not be stopped from spreading in the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.
Li Shumei and Director Liu also watched it several times, and Li Shumei even read it once.
But neither of them took it, fearing that the paper would tear into pieces if they reached out to take it, thus ruining Ding Guo's future.
It was the first time that Song Yuling met the leader of Ding Guo's unit. She was not afraid and smiled as she grabbed a handful of candy and handed it over.
Ding Guo smiled and introduced her to the director: "This is my sister-in-law Song Yuling." He then introduced their director to Song Yuling.
Director Liu smiled, peeled a candy and put it in his mouth, saying, "Your sister-in-law is happier than you."
Song Yuling smiled and said, "That's Huada, the pride of our Ding family."
After he finished speaking, he realized what he had said and his face turned slightly red.
Ding Guo couldn't help laughing.
Director Liu suddenly realized something. Seeing that Song Yuling's eyebrows and eyes looked familiar and her last name was Song, he couldn't help but ask, "Do you know Song Chengli?"
Song Yuling laughed and said, "I know him so well. He's my dad."
Director Liu said, "I was just saying that your features look a bit like Song Chengli's. Hey, who's older, you or Song Feng?"
Song Feng is Song Yuling's second brother. He said, "Song Feng is my brother, and I am the youngest child in our family."
Director Liu nodded: "I have met Song Feng."
Old Song seems to have four children, and he has never seen the other two.
Ding Guo was a little surprised, but after thinking about it, he felt that it was not that surprising.
She got this job through the old man's connections, and if he could use connections, he must know the man. The Song family and the Pei family are friends, so it's not surprising that Director Liu knows Uncle Song.
Li Shumei was secretly surprised.
I didn’t expect that their director also knew the father of Ding Guo’s sister-in-law, and it sounded like they had a good relationship.
What exactly does Ding Guopo’s family do?
Although she was curious, she didn't ask any more questions.
Director Liu had already finished greeting Song Yuling: "Give my regards to Old Song later."
Deputy Director Song made many brilliant remarks on the proposal to resume the college entrance examination some time ago.
I guess the word "deputy" will be removed soon.
Song Yuling smiled and said "OK".
Director Liu began to arrange for Li Shumei and Ding Guo to sort out the books that were to be transferred in the afternoon, and said, "Sort them out after dinner. They will come over at two or three o'clock to pick them up."
Not long after Director Liu left with the candy, Accountant Sun came shamelessly to ask for candy.
Song Yuling hadn't left yet and was happy to give out candy on behalf of her sister.
Ding Guo smiled and said, "I'll reimburse you later."
Song Yuling: "No need to reimburse, this is a big happy event for our family, I can still afford this little bit of candy."
She came with a lunch box, stayed here for lunch, and then left on her bike.
Li Shumei asked Ding Guo how long he planned to finish this job. She just saw that he would report to the school at the end of February.
Ding Guo smiled and said, "Let's go through the formalities when we are almost reporting."
By then, food issues and other things will be transferred to the school.
Li Shumei: "You are really patient. If it were me, I would not have the mood to continue working. I would be the boss at home and let my family serve me, haha."
The two of them were chatting as they took books off the shelf based on the list the director had sent over.
Because Ding Guo had received the notice, Li Shumei didn't bother to transfer the books to other stores. When people from other stores came over in the afternoon, Li Shumei didn't hesitate to show off.
It's an honor for them that a university graduate from Huazhong University came out of their store.
The people who came to borrow the books were from Wangfujing Street. Whether out of politeness or other reasons, they really gave Li Shumei and Ding Guo enough emotional value and made them happy.
Ding Guo still felt a little embarrassed.
Li Shumei said, "Don't be embarrassed. The Wangfujing store used to rely on its larger size than ours, and every time we came there, it would turn its nose up at us. Now, I'm borrowing your light, and I'll turn my nose up at people too."
After saying this, I couldn't help laughing.
The two of them finished their afternoon work in an orderly manner, closed the door and went back to their respective homes.
Ding Guo pushed the cart into the house, and Bubai came out from under the cotton curtain of the main room, wagging his tail and rushing over to her, circling around her feet.
From inside the house came the sound of two kids shouting "Pu Pu Pu Pu".
Aunt Qiao lifted the curtain and looked inside, then said to Dabao and Xiaobao, "Mom is back."
The two little guys no longer said "pu pu pu" but "mama mama" instead.
Ding Guo walked into the house with a smile, washed her hands with hot water, and Bubai followed in and continued to circle around her feet, his little tail shaking like a propeller.
Aunt Qiao said, "Today, the compound sent tofu and pork belly. I fried some tofu cubes and stewed some cabbage with the meat, and added vermicelli."
Ding Guo nodded repeatedly: "Great, it's so cold today and we can warm ourselves up with some stew."
Of course, there is more than one dish. Since we are frying tofu cubes, we also fry some radish balls and mung bean flour balls, and stir-fry pork with garlic chives.
There are still a lot of braised dishes at home, so I cut some cold dishes and serve them up. The cold dishes and hot dishes go well with the fragrant rice, and then I drink a bowl of sweet potato and cornmeal porridge, and I feel relaxed.
Ding Guo paused for a moment, then smiled happily and said, "Aunt Qiao, Sister Chunhua, let me show you something."
After saying that, he reached into his bag, took out the letter, and showed it to the two of them in a showy manner.
It gets dark early in the winter, and the wattage of the light bulbs is low. Aunt Qiao is a bit presbyopic, so before she could see anything, Wang Chunhua exclaimed, "This is... a letter from Hua University. Could this be an admission letter?"
Ding Guo smiled and nodded: "I got the admission letter!"
Aunt Qiao exclaimed: "Guoguo, you were accepted? Oh, you should have told me earlier. We could have added another dish. Such a big happy event..."
Ding Guo smiled and said, "There are meat, vegetables and fried meatballs. Isn't this considered a celebration?" He added, "I'll go to the compound and tell Grandpa."
Aunt Zhang came over at noon, but she didn’t mention this matter, which means that people in the compound don’t know about it yet.
By the way, call my parents-in-law and Pei Che.
Aunt Qiao smiled and reminded: "Then go quickly, remember to tie the flashlight, be careful on the road, and watch out for the ice on the road."
"I know, Aunt Qiao!"
The two kids only knew about the "big compound". Going to the big compound meant going to their great grandfather's place. When they heard Ding Guo say they were going there, they started to chatter: "Looking for Grandpa, yeah yeah!"
Ding Guo smiled and pinched the two little soft cheeks, saying, "I won't take you two with me tonight. Mom will be back soon."
When they heard that they were not going to be taken with them, Dabao and Xiaobao both pouted. But when they thought about how their cruel mother would never fall for their tricks, they all changed their tactics and rushed over to act like a spoiled child.
Sometimes, their old mother doesn't buy into their pampering and just leaves without wanting anything.
The two kids went to Grandma Qiao and Aunt Chunhua feeling aggrieved. They hugged and coaxed them. Even Bubai came over to coax them, wagging his tail and nuzzling at the two little ones' feet.
Aunt Qiao said, "Mom has been admitted to university, and she will be a college student in the future."
Dabao and Xiaobao had no idea what a college student was. They pouted and were angry that their mother went to the compound without taking them.
When they arrived at the compound, the old man had just walked in and was having a meal. He was a little surprised to see Ding Guo coming over at this time, and subconsciously looked behind her, but did not see the two little ones.
"Guo Guo, why are you here at this time?"
Aunt Zhang thought that she had just been there at noon, and Ding Guo must have something wrong when he suddenly came over at this time, so she looked over.
Ding Guo didn't hesitate and said with a smile: "Grandpa, I have good news for you. I received the admission notice from Hua University. Let me borrow the phone to call my parents and Pei Che and tell them."
Aunt Zhang was pleasantly surprised: "Did you get the notice?"
"Okay, okay! This is such a great joy!" The old man was also happy, and slapped the table, "Xiao Zhang, give me that half bottle of Moutai, I want to have a drink."
And let Ding Guo make any phone call he wanted.
Aunt Zhang happily went to get the wine, saying, "It's time to celebrate."
The old man smiled and said, "Celebrate. When Xiao Che comes back, call Zhengzhong and his wife and Xiaoyu's family over. Let's celebrate properly. Hahaha!"
Ding Guo smiled and made a phone call, first dialing the military academy. While waiting for the school to help call someone, he called his parents-in-law's unit.
The in-laws answered the phone right away. They didn't even let Ding Guo hang up. They just turned around and called out. Shao Xunping came over soon after: "Hello?"
Ding Guo's smiling voice came over: "Mom, it's me. I received the admission letter from Hua University today!"
There was silence on the other end of the phone, and then Shao Xunping's high-pitched and joyful voice came through the microphone: "What? Guoguo, you were admitted to Hua University? Did you get the admission letter? Oh, that's great, you will be a student of Hua University from now on!"
Ding Guo: Why does my mother-in-law's voice sound so weird?
Shao Xunping laughed loudly on the phone, and her voice changed direction, as if she was talking to someone else: "Yes, yes, my daughter-in-law was admitted to Huazhong University."
Ding Guo was sure, so she said that her mother-in-law just spoke like she was shouting, and she was showing off.
This is showing off too fast.
But he still echoed Shao Xunping's words. Pei Zhengzhong, who heard the news, also rushed to the phone and leaned in to ask, "Guoguo, did you get into Hua University?"
Ding Guo smiled and said, "Dad, I passed the exam and I have received the admission letter."
Pei Zhengzhong: "Okay, okay, I'll go back with your mom this weekend and we'll celebrate!"
"Okay, Dad!"
After chatting for a few words, he hung up the phone. Not long after, the phone rang again. It was Pei Che calling back.
On the other side, Shao Xunping hung up the phone and called her eldest son in the south. Unfortunately, her eldest son and daughter-in-law were not on duty tonight, so she could only call again tomorrow.
At home, Ding Guo had already started chatting with Pei Che.
Pei Che smiled and said, "I knew my wife was amazing and would definitely be admitted to university. I'll go back this weekend and we'll celebrate."
Someone seemed to be talking to Pei Che over there, and Pei Che's voice changed direction, "My wife was admitted to Hua University!"
Ding Guo vaguely heard a few words of congratulations, and some people even urged Pei Che to treat them.
Pei Che: "Please, you must!"
After that, the voice came back and the couple chatted for a few words. Pei Che also asked about the two children's situation. Knowing that they could eat, sleep and make noise, he hung up the phone with peace of mind.
When Ding Guo went out, the old man had already started drinking. Not only that, he also sang a few lines from a model opera, with a smile on his face, showing how happy he was. He also reminded Ding Guo: "Remember to tell your uncle and aunt the good news!"
Ding Guo nodded: "I'll send the letter tomorrow!"
Aunt Zhang invited Ding Guo to eat with a smile.
Ding Guo smiled and said, "I've eaten it at home!"
The old man was busy arranging a car to take Ding Guo back, but Ding Guo quickly refused and rode his bike back to Zizhu Bridge.
Before Ding Guo could tell Yu Shaofen, Yu Shaofen went to the bookstore the next morning with Huang Aifeng and Yu Qian.
Yu Qian met Song Ailing on the street and learned that Ding Guo had already received the notice. This was no small matter, so she went to the cannery to find her aunt.
Huang Aifeng and Yu Qian haven't received the notice yet, but they didn't miss the chance to come and share in the good news.
Li Shumei couldn't help but admire again that Ding Guo had so many friends.
Yu Shaofen also gave Li Shumei a can of food.
Li Shumei was a little embarrassed and wanted to take the money, but Yu Shaofen pushed it back and said with a smile, "Just take advantage of your good luck. You have always taken good care of our Guoguo, whether she was pregnant or preparing for the college entrance examination."
Not to mention the special care, Ding Guo would also be relieved if Li Shumei could take on more work.
I have to take Guoguo to a restaurant for dinner later, and I have to trouble someone else to be on duty.
Li Shumei: "It's not like I can say I take care of him, Ding Guo is very hardworking!"
However, since Yu Shaofen gave it to Li Shumei sincerely, she accepted it and the next day gave Ding Guo a few duck eggs that she had pickled herself.
Next, Ding Guo had another meal at the restaurant.
The company helped her celebrate, and Ding Guo wanted to take the money and tickets, but Director Liu disagreed: "It's reimbursement, and you are the pride of our store!"
If you submit an application for this kind of thing, no one from the higher-ups will disagree.
Li Shumei was happy: "From now on I will tell people that my colleague is a college student from Huazhong University, haha!"
Ding Guo stopped being pretentious and had a lively time with his colleagues.
We get together again at the compound on weekends.
Ding Guo and her family just got off the car, and several neighbors who saw her greeted her from afar: "Ding Guo, I heard that you were admitted to Huazhong University?"
There was a college student in the family, and the old man boasted about it in front of a few old comrades-in-arms who were on good terms with him. After that, there was no need for the old man to say anything himself, because the whole compound knew about it after a few families spread the news.
The old man wanted to hold a banquet, but Ding Guo stopped him, not wanting it to be too ostentatious.
Ding Guo responded with a few words with a smile, and the family hurried upstairs.
Pei Yu, who heard the noise, had already opened the door and called out to them, "It's cold, come in and warm up."
Although we didn't go to a restaurant, the food was just as sumptuous as that in a state-owned restaurant.
Pei Che also went out and packed a portion of roast duck.
Pei Yu bought braised pork elbow and roasted lamb leg.
It’s so cold today, but I bought a box of soda from somewhere and am warming it with warm water.
Aunt Qiao and Wang Chunhua also came over and helped Aunt Zhang in the kitchen. The table was filled with cold and hot dishes, and in the end, plates were piled on top of each other.
The happiest ones were the children. The older children led the younger children, and the younger children were happy to follow behind the older children, making so much noise that the roof was almost blown off.
Pei Zhengzhong also regretted: "We should hold a banquet."
The younger daughter-in-law is even more cautious than them.
Being neither arrogant nor impatient makes people feel comfortable, but being too sensible also makes the elders feel distressed.
Ding Guo didn't want to take any risks. It was not the time to truly open up yet, so he decided to keep a low profile.
Although there was no banquet, Dante Guo received several thick red envelopes.
Wu Fang came home the next day and bought fish, meat, eggs, fruits and other things. She brought her sons, daughters and her husband Song to congratulate Ding Guo.
Ding Guo felt a little embarrassed.
Wu Fang smiled and said, "Why are you embarrassed? When our family receives the notice, you can come too and we can continue the fun."
Ding Guo said: "Okay, I'll go to your house for the wedding banquet then."
After some eating and drinking, Dayong came back from outside and brought back a big bag of hairpins, socks, cloth and ready-made clothes from the south for Ding Guo to see.
Knowing that his sister had received the admission letter, he was happy and surprised: "The admission letter was sent out so early? Did Yuling receive it?"
What about him?
Forget it, he gave up hope and asked again, "Sister, have you written a letter back home?"
Ding Guo smiled and said, "I have written it, but I asked your wife to take it and mail it for me. I haven't received Yuling's notice yet. Different schools have different paces, so Yuling won't have any problems."
Not a single word of encouragement was said to Dayong.
I also wrote a letter to Xiao Hong and Ding Tao.
Dayong nodded and asked his sister what she was going to do with the goods he brought back this time.
These things were ordered by Ding Guo. He also bought a lot of dried seafood, dried fruits and sausages from the south.
Ding Guo: "I have a channel to do it."
In fact, there is no rush to sell. Nowadays, clothes are not popular this year and will be out of stock next year. Especially for goods from the south, due to the inconvenience of transportation at that time, they will not be popular here for a while.
But she planned to ask Mosquito if they had any trade in such goods.
Ding Guo asked Dayong to write down the price of each item for her, and also asked about the normal selling price in the south to facilitate her pricing.
Dayong talked about what he saw in the south, and said: "The goods there are richer than here. By the way, sister, let me show you something good..."
He took out a few small things from his bag and handed them to Ding Guo.
Ding Guo took a look and was amused: "Electronic watch?"
This is also very rare in this era.
Ding Dayong was shocked: "Sister, have you ever seen a digital watch?"
They don't have any electronic watches here, and the seller said that this thing was brought in from outside, and it's not a formal process.
The price was not high, but unfortunately, when he saw this thing, the seller had very few left, only about twenty yuan in total.
Ding Dayong had a hunch that this thing would be very popular, so he bought all of it.
He was out strolling by himself when he saw them. He only gave two pieces to his master and didn't dare let anyone else see him.
"The other party asked for fifteen, and I bargained it down to twelve. It should be easy to sell if I bring it back and sell it for twenty."
He has been observing it for so many days, and the numbers on it are jumping steadily and accurately.
The key is that it is beautiful. Although its price cannot be compared with that of mechanical watches, its appearance is so beautiful that no one can take their eyes off it.
But the quantity is not large this time, and there will probably not be many pieces left after my family divides them up. If there are any left, I will try it out first. If there are no left, it doesn’t matter. Next time I go to the south, I will buy more if I come across it.
It can't hit my hands either way.
Ding Guo remembered that the prices of the first electronic watches brought here were not low. Ding Guo's black-hearted merchant attribute came to the fore, and he said, "Let's make the offer of thirty. Twenty is not worth it."
I only made eight dollars in profit after carrying it back from such a long distance, which feels like a bit of a loss.
Ding Dayong said, "Okay, if there's any leftovers, sell them out and it'll be thirty."
Ding Guo kept a few pieces.
Dayong kept the rest and said, "I'll send a few back home so that Dazhu and the others can wear them for fun."
I told him that I was afraid his sister would send it back.
Ding Guo: “Okay!”
This time, as there were no old acquaintances along the route, they got lost twice. In addition, the language became more and more difficult to speak as they went south. They did not make many transactions and did not make much money. Ding Guo got 230 yuan, and after deducting the things he took from Dayong, there was almost nothing left.
She also kept a lot of dried seafood, dried fruits, sausages, etc.
After distributing the things, Dayong went to the Song family and then to the post office. Because he had to follow the convoy and it was only a short stay, he did not even stay overnight. He went back to report first, then took a leave and took the train back, and went directly to Sanheli.
I tidied up the house and then went to pick up my wife.
Ding Guo also found some time to take some samples and go look for mosquitoes.
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