Time flies, and it’s 1988 in a blink of an eye.
Zhou Cong and Feng Yue finished their high school entrance examination and entered high school, while Zhou Ming and Zhou Ling also entered junior high school.
Even the smallest little tail is now a young pioneer who wears a red scarf every day.
In 1986, when Little Wei went to preschool, Zheng Juan had some free time. Apart from picking up the children every day, she also cooked. Zheng Juan, who couldn't rest anymore, went to Guangming's store to help out every day.
Wang Zhong saw that Zheng Juan was really bored, so he suggested that she open a restaurant.
In the past few years, Wu Qian and Yu Hong have partnered to cook for the construction team of Xiao Guoqing and Sun Qianchao, and their monthly income is much more than what they used to do as pedicurists and waiters.
Zheng Juan thought about it and agreed, saying that she would try opening a small restaurant first.
But how could Wang Zhong let Zheng Juan open a small restaurant? Not to mention it was tiring, and he didn't earn much. If he wanted to open it, he would open a higher-end restaurant. If he wanted to earn money, he would have to earn money from the rich.
Anyway, he had a lot of money in his pocket, and Jichun happened to be developing rapidly in the past few years. He couldn't find the place he wanted after looking around, so Wang Zhong simply changed his mind and bought a piece of land directly by the lake, which occupied a large area. Four or five acres, I spent more than 100,000 yuan on building a house, made a private kitchen, and spent money on advertising on the radio. I only took orders for seven tables a day, making it very high-end.
Naturally, there was no business at the beginning, but I couldn't bear people's curiosity. Most people were put off by the price of private kitchens. But since Wang Zhong Company arranged to discuss the project at Zheng Juan's private restaurant, Ji Chun Those who were talking about business actually regarded being able to discuss business in a private restaurant as a sign of dignity.
At this point, if you want to order a meal at Zheng's private restaurant, you have to call and make a reservation one or two days in advance.
Just stand still and make money.
The branch has also reached the extreme of steady development. With the implementation of reform and opening up in Jichun in recent years, the branch has Wang Zhong in charge and the company in Shencheng endorses it, so there is no shortage of work.
Qiao Chunyan was also ambitious. Wu Shangyi only stayed in Jichun for two months before leaving all the trivial matters of the company to Qiao Chunyan and returned to Shencheng to reunite with Lao Wu and his children.
Qiao Chunyan is indeed capable. After taking over Wu Shangyi's job, she handled everything in an orderly manner. Although it has something to do with the small size of the company, it also illustrates Qiao Chunyan's ability.
At the end of 1985, a construction company was established under the branch company, which incorporated the original construction teams of Sun Qianchao and Xiao Guoqing, as well as their new construction teams.
Many unemployed young people were recruited into the construction company one after another. There were hundreds of people in total. Although there was no establishment, the company couldn't wait to find big jobs. It solved more than a hundred jobs at once. Related The department also gives the green light to construction companies and has signed contracts with construction companies. Whenever there is a big job, construction companies will be given priority.
However, although there is a subordinate relationship between the construction company and the construction team, the company does not pay monthly wages to the construction team. The team members can also take over the work themselves, but if the company has work, the construction team must give priority to the company. Work here.
At the beginning of 1987, Qiao Chunyan took the initiative to apply for a job in the marketing department and start from scratch. At the beginning of 1988, because of her excellent business ability, she was transferred to the construction company by Wang Zhong. She was mainly responsible for the business, allowing Qiao Chunyan to develop freely.
Even a second-rate guy like Luo Shibin, who has no bottom line and no morals, can start from scratch and earn such a family fortune. Qiao Chunyan has more things to do than Luo Shibin, and is not as arrogant and has no bottom line as Luo Shibin. With Wang Zhong's support, There is no shortage of capital, opportunities, and markets. Wang Zhong does not believe that Qiao Chunyan cannot start a construction company.
The reality was just as Wang Zhong expected. In just half a year, Qiao Chunyan had done a great job in the construction company, bringing in countless orders. Qiao Chunyan was indispensable for the development of the construction company to its current scale.
Early in the morning, it was snowing outside and a cold wind was blowing.
Wang Zhong returned from his morning jog with the children as usual, and Li Suhua and Zheng Juan also made breakfast.
The four older ones are already able to go to school on their own and have long since stopped being driven by Zheng Juan. However, the little tail is still young and still needs someone to take them to and from school.
After breakfast, Li Suhua went to school with her little tail wrapped tightly, Zheng Juan went directly to the private restaurant, and Wang Zhong went to the company.
After sending the little tail into the school gate, Li Suhua couldn't wait to go straight to the photo-card.
This is Li Suhua's unshakable habit in the past few years.
When Zhou Zhigang sent letters, he either sent them to Guangzijia or Zhou Bingyi. He never sent them to Wang Zhong's new house, and he never mentioned Wang Zhong in the letters.
It's a pity that Wang Zhong is not his original self, so he doesn't care about it at all.
The last time Zhou Zhigang wrote a letter, he said that he would retire after the Spring Festival and would come back from the mountain city. Li Suhua was so excited that he ran to the photo album in fear of being late and not seeing Zhou Zhigang's letter immediately.
At the end of 1988 and the beginning of 1989, the children ushered in the winter vacation.
On the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, when the New Year was approaching, Li Suhua, who got up early in the morning, could no longer contain her excitement. After breakfast, she couldn't wait to urge Wang to return to the optical film.
The reason is also very simple. Today is the day when Zhou Zhigang returns to Jichun.
Wang Zhong did not follow him, drove Li Suhua back to Guangzipi's old house, and left directly.
Over in the courtyard, Zheng Juan was holding a white enamel teapot in her hand, which contained hot tea that she had just brewed. At this time, Wang Zhong was writing at his desk in front of the window. Zheng Juan walked over to Wang Zhong, who had already left traces of time. With a look of hesitation on his face, he carefully placed the teapot next to Wang Zhong's hand and asked tentatively: "Are we really not going to return the piece of writing?"
Wang Zhong kept writing: "What are you going to do? There's no room for you here. You have to come back at night, and you're going to make yourself miserable."
"Dad has finally come back from retirement. How about you feel aggrieved and give in to dad?" After all, Zheng Juan still didn't want to see Wang Zhong and Zhou Zhigang fight to the death.
Wang Zhong stopped writing, put it next to the paper, turned around and looked up at Zheng Juan standing next to him: "Do you think your husband is the kind of person who can easily submit to others?"
Zheng Juan sighed, walked behind Wang Zhong, put a slightly rough hand on Wang Zhong's shoulder, and then started to rub it: "How can there be an overnight feud between father and son? It's not like you don't know dad's temper. Mom, these days Those who are worried about this can’t even eat.”
"When did you get bribed by mom?"
"What kind of bribery! Can you speak?" Zheng Juan squeezed her hand suddenly, causing Wang Zhong to take a breath of cold air and immediately turned around to look at her: "You want to murder your husband!"
"Bah, bah, bah!" Zheng Juan raised her hand and gave Wang Zhong a shoulder, "Speak carefully."
Wang Zhong let Zheng Juan's hand fall on him, then grabbed it and pulled Zheng Juan's whole body to sit on his lap.
She put her hands around Zheng Juan's waist, which was no longer as slender as when she was young, and said softly: "Okay, let's talk about it! But let's talk about it first. We can discuss other things. As for old Zhou's family, you can You have to listen to me."
Zheng Juan rolled her eyes at Wang Zhong helplessly.
"Don't always think about how good it is to be in harmony as a family. Those are just appearances. As far as the current situation of Lao Zhou's family is concerned, if there is harmony, it must be based on the pain of your husband."
"Can you bear it?" Seeing Zheng Juan's hesitation, Wang Zhong hurriedly added more fuel to the fire.
"Out of sight, out of mind, if we go over now, if we have a disagreement and start to fight again, can I still fight back? Or can you bear to watch your husband get beaten?"
"This..." Zheng Juan didn't know what to say. If this happened before, Zheng Juan might have survived by luck, but the last time she saw Zhou Zhigang had a disagreement, she gave Wang Zhong a slap in the face. , almost frightened Zheng Juan at that time.
"Hey!" Thousands of words turned into a sigh. Zheng Juan looked at Wang Zhong, her eyebrows tightened, and her eyes were full of worry: "Are you and Dad going to be in a stalemate like this? This is not the way!"
Wang Zhongdao: "There is an old saying: You can never wake up a person who is pretending to be asleep. Zhou Zhigang has never felt that his partiality is wrong. In his eyes, it is always me who is wrong."
"Children must be filial to their parents, but if they blindly obey their parents even though they know they are wrong, that is not filial."
"What should we do?" Zheng Juan didn't have the slightest idea, and jumped up from Wang Zhong's lap in a hurry: "We can't really live without contact, right?"
"Let nature take its course!" Wang Zhong said, "The key to this matter is not on me, so there is no point in worrying."
"Hey! What the hell is this!" Zheng Juan knew Wang Zhong, and it was precisely because of her understanding that she felt this way.
Wang Zhong was kind-hearted, tough-tempered, and upright. Especially in his treatment of his children, Zheng Juan felt the most deeply.
Wang Zhong is really like sitting on a bowl of water, evenly balanced. No matter which child he loves, he loves the same. Sometimes the children have conflicts and conflicts, but Wang Zhong will never take sides, even if he thinks about it. Whoever makes a mistake will be punished, and there will be no bias based on age.
Even Zhou Rong's daughter Feng Yue and Wang Zhong treated them equally. They didn't worry about this or that because she was not their daughter. They were fed and clothed like their own children, and they wouldn't be the most special to her. If she did If you do something wrong, you will be punished, and if you do something well, you will be rewarded.
This is what Zheng Juan admires most about Wang Zhong, so when it comes to educating children, Zheng Juan always obeys Wang Zhong's advice. Wang Zhong does not act arbitrarily, and often consults with Zheng Juan.
"Every family has sutras that are difficult to recite." Wang Chong said with a smile. This matter is not a problem at all in his opinion. "Compared with many unfortunate families, our family has such little things. It’s nothing at all.”
"Hey!" Zheng Juan sighed, thinking of her own family. If she hadn't met Wang Zhong, she didn't know what kind of life she would have been living at this moment: "It's just at Mom's place. I'm afraid she'll feel bad."
This is normal. My husband is back, and my son and grandson are here, but I have a baby and the whole family cannot be reunited.
"You don't have to worry too much about Mom. It's been so many years. She has accepted this reality a long time ago. She just still has hope, thinking that it can ease the relationship between me and Lao Zhou. Let her do whatever she wants. Whatever she does, let her do it, and it will save her from having to think about it all day long."
Wang Zhong suddenly looked serious and said very seriously: "But one thing, you have to promise that you will never be coaxed into rebellion by my mother."
Zheng Juan laughed dumbly: "Okay, okay! I'll listen to you!"
But on the other side, Guangzi Pian, the old Zhou family.
Zhou Bingyi took Hao Dongmei to the train station early in the morning, and around ten o'clock, he received Zhou Zhigang, who was carrying a lot of bags and salutes.
"dad!"
"dad!"
The couple were very happy to see Zhou Zhigang, with smiles on their faces.
Zhou Zhigang was the same, with a smile on his dark and wrinkled face: "Why are you two here?"
"Today is your first day back home after retirement, how could we not come!"
Zhou Bingyi was on leave, but Hao Dongmei came here on leave. Hao Dongmei had already graduated and was now working as a chief physician in the obstetrics and gynecology department of the city hospital. She didn't have much free time throughout the year.
Zhou Zhigang glanced around, the smile on his face gradually faded a lot, and he even spoke a little harder: "Just the two of you?"
Zhou Bingyi understood what Zhou Zhigang was asking, and while helping Zhou Zhigang carry his luggage, he replied with a smile: "It's just the two of us. I heard from my mother that Bingkun plans to start a publishing house of his own recently, and he is very busy all day long."
The smile on Zhou Zhigang's face has disappeared, his face darkened, he snorted and said angrily: "Busy? I think he is still blaming me in his heart!"
Hao Dongmei and Zhou Zhigang looked wrong and quickly changed the subject, "Dad! Mom has cooked a lot of delicious food at home and is waiting for you. Let's go back quickly and don't keep Mom waiting."
"Yes, Dad! Mom has been looking forward to your return for several years." Zhou Bingyi also hurriedly advised.
The mention of Li Suhua also aroused the longing in Zhou Zhigang's heart, so he didn't say anything more. Without any delay, the three of them went straight to the photo album after leaving the train station.
Lao Zhou's family.
Li Suhua felt happy and worried at the same time. On the way back in the morning, she asked Wang Zhong to go to the vegetable market and bought a lot of meat and vegetables.
Li Suhua started making dough very early in the morning and preparing Zhou Zhigang's favorite buns stuffed with pork and green onions.
The eighteen-pleat meat buns were delivered to the steamer, and Li Suhua made some side dishes, including pork stewed with vermicelli and pork sausage, all of which were hard vegetables, as well as pancakes and green onions.
The Zhou family came from Shandong and were not used to the soybean paste from Jiangliao, but green onions, pancakes and steamed buns were all Zhou Zhigang's favorites.
Jiangliao cuisine served with pancakes rolled with green onions is also a unique way of eating in Lao Zhou's family.
It was almost twelve o'clock when Zhou Bingyi, his wife and Zhou Zhigang finally returned home. Before they even entered the door, they smelled the aroma of food wafting out of the house.
Li Suhua was wearing an apron, with a happy and bright smile on her face, and the figure busy at the stove quietly appeared in Zhou Zhigang's mind.
"Mom! Mom! We are back!"
Zhou Bingyi shouted happily into the room.
Then the curtain was lifted and the door was pushed open. Li Suhua, whose face seemed to be a little rounder than before, still holding a spatula in her hand and an apron hanging in front of her, appeared at the door with a surprised look on her face: "Come back." Got it!"
Seeing the familiar figures in front of Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei, Li Suhua's eyes suddenly filled with tears.
"Old man!"
I was a little choked up when I spoke and cried with joy.
Looking at the old wife in front of him, Zhou Zhigang felt mixed emotions in his heart. Sometimes his steps were heavy and sometimes brisk. He walked to Li Suhua and said in a hoarse voice: "Old lady, I'm back."
These seven simple words express the longing for each other after several years of separation.
