Chapter 1151 - 1024: Mother and Son Return to Beijing

Chapter 1151: Chapter 1024: Mother and Son Return to Beijing

A week had passed since returning to Beijing; the same time, the same familiar platform, and of course, the same familiar scene.

But there was one less familiar person.

Zhou Jiao, watching Zhang Guoqing waving his hand in greeting, suddenly thought her dad would never be able to stand there waiting for her as he used to.

With loss comes gain, as one’s position rises, what is lost isn’t often freedom?

However, perhaps in ten years, maybe twenty, in the blink of an eye, the familiar platform would appear again, with different faces.

As Zhang Guoqing stepped into the carriage, he carefully assessed his wife’s expression—not bad. Then he glanced to the side at Ping’an, who was planning to carry the baggage, and appreciatively patted his shoulder, "Son, you’ve worked hard all along the way."

Ping’an’s lips curved into a beautiful arc, "Not hard at all, just revisiting memories." He spoke while not missing a beat in his actions.

"Oh? Seems like you had a good time. Got a gift for your brother?"

"I do. Dad, how come the brothers are here? Would they agree?"

Zhang Guoqing gave a knowing wink, casually grabbing the other two burlap sacks, "I told them one car couldn’t fit everyone; they are currently at home eagerly awaiting your return."

"Wife, did you also bring medicinal herbs?"

Zhou Jiao followed behind the father and son duo, watching them easily carrying the luggage, smiled with pursed lips, "Yes, first I’ll visit Master."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Guoqing immediately understood, nodding his head. The station’s a busy place, not suitable for discussing matters, so he avoided the topic.

Once the family of three boarded the military vehicle waiting at the station, Zhang Guoqing revisited an old topic, "While you were away from home, I also had someone collect some herbs."

"Is there enough money?"

"Doesn’t cost much. The old man isn’t in Beijing, but you will have your hands full soon."

Zhou Jiao had already planned, smiled and said, "I have three good helpers. Ping’an won’t go to the barracks this summer, he and Liu Yiwu can help."

"Son, how about it? Can you help your mom?"

Ping’an held the steering wheel and listened quietly, upon being directly addressed, he smiled and nodded, "No problem, the three of us brothers have learned quite a bit over the years."

"Jiao Jiao, I should’ve brought along the three brothers earlier, so you wouldn’t have to squeeze out time every weekend and work so hard."

Hearing this, Ping’an looked slightly thoughtful, it seemed some doubts he had recently might be answered, his parents weren’t just nearby every weekend.

His right hand instinctively tapped the steering wheel, as he slowly revealed a smile, just curious why his parents recently produced so much medicine?

This time, his mom didn’t keep it from him; it seemed a lot was preparation for hemostatic medicine and healing herbs. Interesting, really interesting. He hoped it wasn’t just for making money.

"Mom, should we prepare some more ointment for frostbite this time?"

From the back seat, hearing this made Zhang Guoqing burst into laughter, glancing at Zhou Jiao beside him, "What do you think? My son takes after me, smart, right?"

Zhou Jiao chuckled and glared at him.

"Son, recently the southern border often has conflicts, you must have heard your grandpa and me analyze this? Prepare some herbs, just in case. As for the frostbite ointments, forget it, it’s not needed for now, but insect repellent, preventative medicines, these could be prepared."

This was the excuse Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao had planned to give; otherwise, when the donation happens later, explaining the considerable effort would be challenging.

Ping’an didn’t doubt this reason, but started worrying about other issues. He furrowed his brow, thinking if his grandpa and dad’s analysis were true, then a future war would be inevitable.

While concerned about the unpredictability of the world, his eyes gleamed with calculations on how achieving merits repeatedly could lead to heights. Patriotic, right?

No nonsense, being born under the red flag, from a military family, how could he hide when the nation faced trouble? Besides, every crisis held opportunities, he wouldn’t miss the chance.

Zhang Guoqing had no idea that this random excuse he found stirred his eldest son’s ambition. At that moment, he was talking to his wife, discussing the trivialities around and outside the house over the week they were away, including recent letters from their hometown.

As a large family expands with generations, naturally, the number of people increases, and with it comes the inevitable rise in social obligations.

This time, the letter mentioned that Xi Zi’s wife had given birth to a chubby boy. Zhou Jiao didn’t need to think deeply to understand; since their first child was a girl, although Old Zhang’s family didn’t prefer sons over daughters, the status of their fourth-generation grandson was different. This wasn’t comparable to the twins Zuo You and their sons’ place.

Sure enough, in the letter Mr. Zhang happily mentioned the baby was born weighing six pounds five ounces, suggesting Zhang Guoqing and his wife should return home if they are available to celebrate the baby’s first hundred days and name him well.

In contrast, Zhang the Second was more composed, only casually mentioning that the next generation of Old Zhang’s family already had descendants. Indeed, in his view, a son is continuity.

The main focus was calculating for Zhang Guoqing all the social obligations they had fulfilled over the past half-year. Speaking of why he listed the details for Zhang Guoqing, there was a reason.

Ever since the nephews and nieces from the hometowns began having weddings, as their ages were similar, following came continuous social obligations, be it the Three-Day Ceremony for a nephew’s child or the Full-Month Ceremony for a niece’s baby...

This required Zhou Jiao to frequently send money and gifts. Sending money wasn’t a big deal, she had to send fifteen yuan every month as support to Zhang’s parents.

But some gifts required constant shipping, and with frequent occurrences, Zhang Guoqing couldn’t bear her queuing often, let alone preparing the gifts.

Therefore, he delegated these social duties to his second brother, for although Zhang the Second was selfish, he indeed couldn’t fault his brother.

In the past two or three years, after gaining his consent, Zhang Guoqing began sending him fifty yuan annually at year’s end, along with some tickets, to join him in fulfilling social obligations.

This way, the two brothers didn’t need to consult each time a duty arises. Instead, Zhang the Second was meticulous enough to send a detailed account to Zhang Guoqing every six months.

Zhang Guoqing always suggested he needn’t be so meticulous, but Zhang the Second regularly said honest accounts between brothers. If he truly lacked money, he’d rather seek it from his brother and sister-in-law than break the rules.

No wonder Zhou Jiao mentioned the couple was cunning, even Zhou Xiaozheng advised his son-in-law not to mistreat his second brother, suggesting to support him whenever possible.

"This time second brother has something for us to consider; Uncle Zuo’s granddaughter, the favorite little girl, what’s her name again?"