Chapter 576: Chapter 457: Return to Beijing, Son

“Mom, I’m here…”

As soon as Zhou Jiao got off the train, she heard Ping’an’s familiar voice. Without a moment of surprise, she followed the direction of the voice and saw her parents with the child up ahead.

“Dad, Mom, didn’t I tell Godfather not to send you a telegram? It’s such a hassle for you to pick me up.”

Zhou Xiaozheng glanced at her, how silly! With a car and driver at home, isn’t it better to pick up and drop off for school on ordinary days, than to not be picked up when coming back from afar?

Lin Lishan cheerfully sold out her husband, “As soon as your Dad got the call that you were coming back, I knew he’d definitely come to pick you up. Afraid he wouldn’t let me come along, I brought Ping’an with me…”

Zhou Xiaozheng coughed a couple of times, stopping his wife’s endless chatter, “Let’s go. Xiao Wang and the others are bringing out the luggage.”

Zhou Jiao turned her head and indeed saw that the two of them, dressed in military uniforms, stood out. She laughed and said, “Dad, is there enough space in the car? You won’t make them jog back, right?”

Ping’an quickly held up two fingers, indicating, “Mom, there are two cars. Dad, I’m here, Dad…”

“Dad, Mom, you both came over personally.” Zhang Guoqing happily sped up a few steps to take the child and greeted Zhou Xiaozheng and his wife.

“Grandpa and Grandma missed Mom and Dad, and I missed you too. The elders in the courtyard also miss Dad. They said, why hasn’t Xiao Wu come back yet?”

Everyone was amused by how Ping’an imitated others so vividly, chuckling heartily.

Upon reaching the drop-off point, Zhang Guoqing didn’t need to be told, and he promptly took the driver’s seat, while Xiao Wang and the others in the car behind shook their heads with a smile — they’d find out soon enough.

Sure enough, upon reaching the gate of the big courtyard, they were stopped. Of course, not by the sentries, because aside from Zhang Guoqing, no one was as familiar with the sentries.

“What are you guys doing here? Just head to the house.” Zhang Guoqing stopped the car and shouted at Wan Dayong and the others.

“You come out after a while, we have something to discuss.” Wan Dayong and the others quickly waved for him to go inside first. Thunderous, how could they have seen Old Zhou also in the car?

Zhang Guoqing observed their expressions; they didn’t seem anxious. He nodded with a smile, waved to them, and slowly drove into the big courtyard.

Once the car had driven a short distance, Lin Lishan laughed, “They’re afraid of your Dad. They already asked me several times on the road when you would return. I guess it isn’t anything urgent, maybe they just want to see if you brought any meat back.”

Zhang Guoqing shook his head speechlessly. His father-in-law was such a good person, he really couldn’t understand why those people couldn’t appreciate it!

Ping’an, restless on the side, interjected, “The grandma and auntie in the courtyard are also afraid of my grandpa; my grandpa has a gun, if you’re naughty, he’ll shoot you.”

The family was amused once again by his childish, innocent words.

Zhou Jiao chimed in, “Right. So, children must behave. If not, they’ll get spanked!”

Ping’an looked at her pitifully. He was well-behaved, never crying for Mom, more obedient than any child. Even his grandpa praised him, so why couldn’t Mom praise him?

Zhou Xiaozheng ruffled his fine hair, “Ping’an is very good, keep it up.”

At the words, Ping’an’s eyes curved with happiness, but recalling something, he immediately straightened his little body, composed his smile, “I’m a man, I do what I say.”

Everyone suppressed their laughter, knowing that if they laughed out loud, the child would probably feel wronged and upset. After praising him a few more words, seeing his small face held with seriousness, his eyes shining bright—they realized that no matter how smart kids were, praising them often was necessary.

At home, with the help of a few soldier brothers, the luggage and items were quickly moved into the living room. This time, the packed sacks were filled with all sorts of wild game, fine grains, and several barrels of oil for proper passage.

Since the separation and cooking for themselves, Zhou Jiao forgot that nowadays everyone used cloth dipped in oil to wipe the bottom of the pot to fry dishes, even Aunt Chen used just a couple of chopsticks’ worth of oil for her dishes.

On this visit home, she realized she was somewhat negligent. Worried about the health impact of animal oil, she specially found different oil mills to grind several large barrels of soybean and peanut oil.

Aunt Chen was delighted to see the couple bring back wild game, and ecstatic about the two barrels of over twenty pounds of oil. The oil allocation for each household had been reduced again in the past two months. She was fretting about reporting to Zhou Jiao, and now there was enough for the whole year.

Seeing this, Zhou Jiao didn’t mention that half of it needed to be divided amongst relatives and friends. Let Aunt Chen be happy first; sooner or later she’d be pained, so best to delay it.

Seeing her son-in-law leaving after a greeting, Lin Lishan hurriedly shouted, “Xiao Wu, take some meat over.”

Zhang Guoqing waved his hand. Taking it over, deciding who to give and who not to give, was a problem.

Seeing this, Zhou Jiao pulled her mother aside and whispered, “Xiao Wu has too many good buddies, wait for their gathering to bring it over; giving it to anyone now is out of place.”

Zhou Xiaozheng shook his head wordlessly at the mother and daughter, “Sort out the gifts to be given first. Your Aunt Granny can wait a bit; she went to your Little Aunt’s this morning, she should be over soon.”

“Is everything alright with my Little Aunt?”

Zhou Xiaozheng smiled with a raised corner of his mouth, “Yu got into a fight and was disciplined by his dad, the old lady went to ’put out the fire.’”

Zhou Jiao raised an eyebrow in surprise. Wen Congwen would actually lay a hand? Wasn’t he supposed to argue, not fight? She didn’t ask further, guessing that the boy would come to her for comfort in a bit.

“Dad, has everything been okay around home these days?”

“Everything’s fine, just much quieter without you home. How’s your in-laws? Did Uncle Dashan mention anything?”

Zhou Jiao smiled, “They’re all great. Uncle Dashan talked with Xiao Wu for a long time, still reluctant to transfer to the provincial city, feeling a small pond is better to be a big fish. The Zuo Family, however, wants to return to Beijing early. Aunt Zuo mentioned Old Sir Zuo will return to Beijing for rest before the end of the year. Has Zuo Sen been transferred back?”

Zhou Xiaozheng nodded, “Zuo Sen’s transfer order has been issued, he’ll take up the position after the New Year.”

Zhou Jiao initially wanted to ask which department he was transferred to but then thought better of it. Since her dad wasn’t concerned, it meant no surprises, everything as expected. They’ll see once the Zuo Family returns to Beijing.

Aunt Chen finally saw that the father and daughter were done talking, and softly suggested, “Sir, let’s eat first. Xiao Wu’s portion is already kept warm in the pot.”

Zhou Jiao smiled and tapped her forehead, forgetting that while she wasn’t hungry, her parents and child had been waiting at the station for her. She immediately stood, pulling him up, urging everyone to eat.

Halfway through the meal, as expected, Old Mrs. Cheng brought the twelve-year-old Wen Chengyu to the Zhou family.

Zhou Jiao promptly asked Aunt Chen to add a bowl and chopsticks, pulled the sulking Wen Chengyu aside, and whispered, “Quick, tell Sister what you like to eat. Our little Yu is an uncle now, can’t let the nephew laugh at you.”

Hearing that, Ping’an looked up at him with a giggle, “You got scolded for being naughty.”

With the instigating laughter, Wen Chengyu perked up and ran in front of him, retorting, “You little thing, what do you know? I wasn’t scolded. I won against two adults all by myself.”

Ping’an rolled his eyes, and casually muttered, “Silly.” Then he turned his head toward Lin Lishan, opening his mouth for her to feed him.

Old Mrs. Cheng, observing her bewildered grandson, couldn’t hold back her laughter and reminded him, “You forgot not to call him a little thing. Ping’an doesn’t like people saying he’s small.”

Wen Chengyu was so exasperated by Ping’an that he pointed at him, “I’ll never play with you again. You forgot when Uncle secretly helped you…”

Ping’an quickly tugged at him, pointing to the dishes on the table, “Look, there’s meat, come quickly and eat.”

Zhou Jiao and the others watched the two children’s clever exchange with satisfied smiles. A three-year-old little Douding engaging seamlessly with a twelve-year-old youngster, eating while not forgetting to chat.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep