After washing up, Tao Xiaoxi was ready to have breakfast and then go out to greet guests. Just as she took a bite of the fried dough stick, the phone beside her rang. She picked it up and put it to her ear.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Third sister-in-law, I'm at the station now, please send a car to pick me up."
"Which station?"
"Which train station is there in Fenglai County? Isn't there just one station?" Li Nanqiu on the other side raised his voice, seeming a little angry.
"You're back?" Tao Xiaoxi reacted and tore off the fried dough stick in her mouth.
When she went out, her features were about to fly, and she pulled her eldest brother and said, "Quick, eldest brother, Nan Qiu is back, you drive the factory car to pick her up."
"Nan Qiu? Why is she back?" asked the second brother beside him.
"What are you talking about? This is her home. Second brother, has father come?" Tao Xiaoxi looked around.
"Look, isn't it over there?" Li Nanhai pointed.
Tao Xiaoxi saw Old Man Li watching a few kids rolling iron rings.
"Brother, bring dad along." Tao Xiaoxi winked at his brother.
The eldest brother understood and grinned, "I think it's okay."
The second brother didn't understand, "Why take Dad with you? Let me go." He was itching to touch the new commercial vehicle purchased by the factory.
"It's useless for you to go, second brother. Dad has to go." Tao Xiaoxi said.
The eldest brother took my father away. Old man Li thought they were distinguished guests and even asked if they needed to change clothes.
Tao Xiaoxi asked him to wait until they arrived at the station to tell him who they were picking up, otherwise, given the old man's personality, he might not get on the bus.
But the eldest brother's car drove directly to Li Nanqiu. Before he could tell his father, the old man Li had already seen his daughter. At that moment, his turbid tears blurred his eyes. He was so reluctant to show this appearance in front of his children, but when it really came to this, he could not control himself.
Nan Qiu naturally saw her father as well. She stood there in a daze, not daring to take a step forward. It was Liang Hengsheng who pulled her forward.
The eldest brother came down and walked around to Dad's side to open the car door. Old man Li held the trouser legs on the outside of his thighs tightly with both hands. He saw the trouser legs wrinkled and straightened out, straightened and wrinkled again, but he was reluctant to get out of the car.
The eldest brother of the Li family winked at his sister and said, "Call me daddy."
Li Nanqiu was shouting until his throat was at the peak, but no words came out. Only tears kept falling down.
The situation is at a stalemate here.
At this time, the old man raised his right leg, held the car door with one hand, and got one foot out first. Seeing this, the eldest brother hurried forward to support him. Old man Li waved his hand, not wanting his son to support him, and walked tremblingly to his daughter.
Only three or four meters away, Li Nanlin suddenly felt that his father had aged ten years. How could he have become so old?
Seeing this, Liang Hengsheng pushed Li Nanqiu forward two steps, and the father and daughter were finally one step away from each other.
But no one was willing to speak first.
Who said this: No one can defeat their children's parents. If there were, he would definitely lose the child. In the end, Old Man Li compromised.
He moved his lips and said, "I'm back." The words seemed to be squeezed out from his throat, deep and hidden, like a ghost that cannot stand the sunlight.
With just these words, Li Nanqiu finally returned home.
"Dad!" he finally called out.
Tao Xiaoxi, the worried third sister-in-law, finally put her mind at ease. She had originally planned to just treat everyone to a meal at a restaurant, but when she saw Li Nanqiu and Old Man Li both appear, she waved her hand and said generously, "Today I'm treating everyone to a meal at the Xiyuan Hotel. Everyone can eat and drink as much as they want, and it's all on my bill!"
"Boss Tao is so generous!" everyone shouted.
This opening ceremony was worth it. Who could understand Tao Xiaoxi's care? Her original intention was just because of a sigh from Li Nanshan on the phone, but she planned this opening ceremony regardless of anything else.
After hearing this on the phone, Li Nanshan breathed a sigh of relief and finally felt relieved.
Old man Li finally agreed to go to the provincial capital to attend his daughter's wedding.
The day Li Nanqiu returned to Mantou Village, the village was undergoing road construction. The people who were working on the road were none other than Liang Hengsheng and Tao Xiaoxi, each of them repairing a section. This was Liang Hengsheng's special "homecoming."
The villagers of Mantou Village were even more polite when they saw Liang Hengsheng again. When they saw Li Nanqiu, they were not only polite, but also submissive. Especially when they knew that Liang Hengsheng was going to build a road for their village and Li Nanqiu was going to become Liang Hengsheng's daughter-in-law, it was like Li Nanqiu had built a road in her hometown.
That evening, after dinner, everyone gathered at the village entrance to chat, their usual topic being the Li family. Unexpectedly, Tao Xiaoxi and Li Nanqiu joined in the fun after dinner. This was their first time joining the chattering crowd at the heart of Mantou Village.
Tao Xiaoxi first asked how the medicinal seedlings were doing. They all smiled and said they were good. Then Tao Xiaoxi glanced at Li Nanqiu and spoke again, "Everyone, uncles, aunts, and uncles, my Nanqiu is back today. She's a graduate student now, and a sought-after talent by many companies and organizations. But my sister has ideals and isn't going anywhere. She's chosen to do research. What is she researching? Look up at the sky and see what's flying there."
"Bird?" someone replied.
Tao Xiaoxi shook her head. "Birds are born to fly. My sister wants to study how to make airplanes fly like birds."
"Studying airplanes?" Everyone came to their senses and looked at Li Nanqiu again. They were not only impressed, but also in awe. They didn't expect that a little girl could really read books in a creative way and become successful.
"So, do you still think it's useless for girls to study? Do you still think women are inferior to men?" Tao Xiaoxi looked at everyone.
"Xiao Xi," the old village chief said, "We know what you mean. You've always advocated for gender equality. Your Li family has produced two talented people, both girls. That's truly remarkable. I'm determined to send my granddaughter to school. Even if we have no money, I'll sell everything I have to send her. In the future, she'll be able to build roads for the village and lead the villagers on the road to prosperity."
"Yes, the old village chief is right. I want my daughter Niuniu to go to school too..."
The living examples of Tao Xiaoxi and Li Nanqiu, standing before the eyes of the villagers of Mantou Village, are the best proof. They have dedicated years, even decades, or even their entire lives to proving to the world that men and women are born equal. This in itself needs no proof. Who says women are inferior to men? Success is not just the preserve of men.
Tao Xiaoxi is a hero for the changes that Mantou Village has seen today, but she does not take credit for herself, because this is also a big worry for her, and she still has another worry that has not been resolved: Mo Yatou.
She asked people secretly to inquire, but to no avail. Somehow, she always felt that Mo Yatou must still be alive. In some corner, she was living hard and tenaciously, fighting against fate and the world.
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