Chapter 553: Chapter 435: Celebration

After the opening ceremony, the students officially entered their academic life. Morning runs, formation training, heavy coursework, running back and forth between different classrooms every day.

What is considered a stressful life for others is a piece of cake for Zhou Jiao. After completing her school tasks, apart from taking time to be with her child, she was deeply engrossed in the library with the rest of her time.

To avoid being seen as a bookworm and to better integrate into the social scene, Zhou Jiao followed Zhang Guoqing’s advice and joined the school’s student council.

Zhou Jiao never took the initiative to speak, never contended for credit, and her sincere smile earned her a good reputation. She did not compete with others’ strengths, appearing in public with a harmless image. Compared to Zhang Guoqing’s social expertise and constant busyness, she quietly acted as a wallflower.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the National Day holiday.

The night before, Zhang Guoqing was busy leading the team and coordinating with school leaders. As for Zhou Jiao, she was regretfully pulled to the front of the formation by her student council colleagues.

The reason was her good looks. Haha, Zhou Jiao felt a bit embarrassed. But soon, she sincerely appreciated the kindness of these senior students.

At two in the morning, they gathered, and after long prior formation training, they smoothly formed up on the sports field by two-thirty. Each team started marching off one by one.

A long train waited for them at the small train station, and Zhou Jiao didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Zhang Guoqing, in fact, she couldn’t even find him. She was among the first group to be pulled onto the train heading into the city.

Once in the city, they walked to the designated assembly point. Arriving early had its downside; they had to maintain their image and wait wide-eyed at the front of the team until past four in the morning when everyone finally arrived.

How burdensome! Such a grand festival, and their family of five was split into five places. Especially their son today, when she thought about it, it brought tears to her eyes.

The chill of early autumn and the early morning fatigue didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the students. Everything was in an orderly arrangement, awaiting the solemn moment to arrive.

At 10 o’clock, the grand 10th-anniversary conference with 700,000 participants began. When the familiar military music played, it resonated from eastern to western long street through speakers, and the entire venue was excited.

After the music, the national anthem played, and the whole venue was solemn. In those two minutes and seven seconds, there was unforgettable shock and emotion.

When it was Huaqing University’s turn, everyone was spirited; listening to the military music, they all turned westward and marched. The students couldn’t contain their excitement, shouting slogans as they advanced, with passion burning in the jubilant crowd, they fervently passed through the city tower.

Zhou Jiao never considered herself an emotional person. But when she heard the stirring horns of the military band, saw the solemn salutes of the soldiers, and the fluttering red flag, an innate sense of pride and national sentiment made her heart pound intensely. Looking at the elders on the city tower, she thought she finally understood what a country is, what a family is.

After the conference ended, a crowd still gathered spontaneously to celebrate the great motherland. The square was packed with people singing and dancing, a sea of joy.

Watching everything around her, Zhou Jiao wished she could preserve this prosperity and let time stand still.

In the evening, there was another carnival on the square. To get a good spot, the teachers and students of the school went to the square and circled a good position in the university carnival area.

Zhou Jiao didn’t go looking for Zhang Guoqing. Before setting off in the early morning, after hearing about his schedule today, she understood he was busy establishing himself. So it is said that successful men need sacrifices made by the women behind them. Indeed, she had to put effort into her family and son.

Zhou Jiao bid farewell to her friends, promising to bring her child out before dusk. She didn’t invite anyone home, not intentionally, but because entering the Big Courtyard and then into the small courtyard involved troublesome checks.

Thinking of the Big Courtyard, Zhou Jiao couldn’t help considering how to arrange her in-laws if they came to Beijing. Short-term stays in the Big Courtyard wouldn’t be an issue, but for the long term, Mr. Zhang and his wife might not be able to handle it.

Seeing how busy Zhang Guoqing was, Zhou Jiao didn’t rush to discuss these matters with him. Anyway, the earliest they could have time to accompany them would be when their winter vacation arrived. By then, they could all stay in Houhai.

Returning home, apart from Aunt Chen, the house was empty, not a single person around. Originally planning to visit Old Mrs. Cheng, she found the elderly lady was also taken to watch the ceremony.

Seeing it wasn’t yet time to pick up her child, Zhou Jiao didn’t plan on getting him back early. Today, their daycare was also celebrating, so she decided to let Ping’an enjoy a group activity first.

For a moment, she felt bored and started knitting yarn.

Aunt Chen saw her and shook her head, saying she never saw her take a break, “Is this color knitted for your mother-in-law?”

“No, it’s for my great aunt. Last year I knitted two sets for Xiao Wu’s parents; this year, I don’t need to worry about that.”

Aunt Chen said with a smile, “The old lady must be overjoyed. Why didn’t Xiao Wu come back with you? Should I prepare his dinner for tonight?”

“He’s busier than my dad, running around in circles. He’s probably with some classmates from the Big Courtyard or the neighboring courtyard and won’t come back for dinner. With the holiday, there’s extra supply; he’ll surely go drink at someone’s place.”

Aunt Chen chuckled, “Then I’ll make some porridge tonight, just in time for when the chief comes back.”

“That works. My dad likes salted egg yolks, so cook a few more.”

After speaking, Zhou Jiao didn’t want to chat idly, and she busied herself knitting a sweater, pondering what still needed preparing for the winter. The holidays were three days long with the weekend, giving them four days just enough to prepare.

At four in the afternoon, Zhou Jiao went to the daycare.

As the child of a soldier, there is loneliness. On this national celebration day, the children could only go home to reunite with their families tomorrow. Even with such a good environment, they lacked parental care.

“Mom, you’re here after school.”

Ping’an, carrying a small backpack, ran out the gate quickly.

Zhou Jiao stepped forward a few steps to pick up her child, bidding farewell to the caretaker, exchanging warm and intimate words with him. The cozy scene made the leaving caretaker look back and smile repeatedly.

Passing the gate, Ping’an keenly noticed Zhang Guoqing coming and waved happily, drawing teasing remarks from the two young guards at the gate.

Zhang Guoqing exchanged a few words with them, took his son, and the family first went home to grab thicker clothes for the child before slowly making their way to the square.

This time, Zhang Guoqing specifically had Zhou Jiao carry their son, following him on a walk. This implied move made Zhou Jiao silently laugh. But she didn’t think deeply into it. With her emotional bluntness, it’s unlikely Zhang Guoqing could clearly expose many people’s ulterior motives towards his wife.

To extinguish those intentions, he had to assert his sovereignty with their son—no one should think of taking his wife away. He believed that his son’s presence would cause those with wicked intentions but no courage to back off.

Not mentioning Zhang Guoqing’s little scheming. At this time, the carnival began, and the whole square instantly came alive with joy, with singing, dancing, and music echoing around, as people sang and danced, thoroughly enjoying the festivities.

Simultaneously, several searchlights illuminated the sky above Tiananmen.

Ping’an looked curiously at the lights. Zhang Guoqing watched the child with a smile, not telling him it was to guard against enemy aircraft attacks.

Today was a peaceful night. Let the child remember this grand event. Perhaps long into the future, when Ping’an becomes a young man, he will still recall this night.

Accompanied by the beams of light, the fireworks began at eight-thirty in the evening. Beautiful fireworks soared into the sky, colorful, in various forms.

That night, there were two fireworks shows. During the second one, Zhang Guoqing held his son, grabbed his wife’s hand, and slowly began to leave early.

The flamboyance retreated, no need to watch. The splendid fireworks lit up the night sky; beautiful, so beautiful that the world sighed with admiration. It was its ultimate blooming once, after which there would be eternal silence.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep