Free Web NovelChapter 1023: Chapter 896: But Isn’t Everyone Like This?
Zhang Guoqing occasionally visits a few times, and he still has some impression of the family next door. They are a very gentle and elegant middle-aged couple, and the lady even gave some gifts.
Their well-raised children are also very polite.
He subconsciously glanced at his wife and frowned. This buddy was going to start complaining again...
"The man had an article from early years uncovered, and two days ago, a family of six was assigned back to their hometown. Xiao Wu, this is the eighth person at my unit."
"I read that article; there’s really no big issue..."
"Did your wife go to your mother-in-law’s because of this matter?" Zhang Guoqing quickly interrupted, otherwise a lengthy diatribe would follow.
"Yeah, Xiao Hui still wants me to transfer units."
"What do you think? Have you discussed it with Uncle Li?"
Li Qinglin sighed, "These things are hard to bring up in letters, and we don’t know the specifics at home, so we want to go back earlier."
Zhang Guoqing patted him on the shoulder; truly, they shared the same woes, and he understood his buddy’s feelings well. Every time there was news of something happening, he couldn’t help but worry.
The two of them looked at each other and shared a helpless smile.
Zhou Jiao asked from the side, "Has Taozi written recently?"
"Yes, a letter came just two days ago. I’ll let you take a look; his silly state is hopeless." Li Qinglin said with a sigh and stood up.
"No need to look; I just got his letter too. I can already guess the gist without reading it. Is he showing off again about how smart his wife’s unborn child is?"
Li Qinglin laughed heartily and nodded repeatedly.
Zhang Guoqing pulled him back to sit down, "Taozi is settled; what about you? Aren’t the elders urging you to have kids sooner?"
"How could they not? If traditional Chinese medicine hadn’t become taboo, my mother-in-law almost dragged Xiao Hui and me to see an elder doctor. What do you think this is about?"
Li Qinglin was also helpless, not much he could do, these complaints could only be shared with a good buddy, "The elders just don’t understand us. We want to wait a bit longer, at least until things are more stable."
Wait for what? Zhang Guoqing secretly thought. "If you wait any longer, my Ping’an will be old enough to get married. Better sooner, while there’s time to have a few more."
"We aren’t like you and Taozi, there’s no one to help with the childcare. Truly leaving a child to grow up in my hometown with my mom? Not even Xiao Hui, I wouldn’t bear it either."
"Sigh..." Li Qinglin sighed softly, "Wanted to settle down before marriage, but once you have a family, a heap of things come. Nothing aligns with my original plans."
"I had it all planned out, with both of us working, the salary would be enough to hire a nanny, and there would be someone to help with the kids. Now... Xiao Hui’s stepfather mentioned it a few times, that when there are kids, they could leave them with a nanny at his house, but think about it, even his own kids don’t have that privilege..."
Zhang Guoqing shook his head with amusement, "Life is like this, just gets by. When your wife gives birth, there will naturally be a way. With so many elders on both sides, how can they not help you?"
Li Qinglin felt like hitting him a few times!
Does he think everyone can be as lucky as him? When Ping’an was born, Zhou Jiao happened to be at home; and when the twins were born, there was a dedicated aunt to help.
He and Taozi were busy studying hard, striving every day, while he was all settled. Got married, had a son, drew a salary, attended university...
By the time he and Taozi were anxious to settle down and build careers, the guy had done all the essentials.
By the time Hu Xiaohui returned, Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao had already said their goodbyes and left. After all, she went to her mom’s, and the mother-daughter chatted, far from the "quick return" Li Qinglin suggested. freēwēbnovel.com
As she entered the courtyard, she received the news that there were soldiers at home, seemingly a couple. From the kids’ bustling descriptions of the visitors’ appearances, Hu Xiaohui guessed it might be Zhang Guoqing and his wife.
Sure enough, as she entered the house, Li Qinglin greeted her with a smile, regretting why she returned so late. Zhou Jiao had waited for her quite a while, inviting them to visit the Big Courtyard when free.
"How long have they left?"
Li Qinglin shook his head, "Too late, they left about half an hour ago, probably caught the car by now."
"What a pity! I wanted to discuss something with Jiao Jiao."
"If you’re looking for help, forget it; for girl talk, well, that’s fine." Li Qinglin believed he understood Zhou Jiao well, having studied her closely back then.
"Are you hungry? I’ll cook you something."
Usually, they ate at the unit cafeteria and only occasionally cooked meals at home using the coal stove. Seeing dinner wasn’t far off, Hu Xiaohui shook her head, thinking it too troublesome.
Supposing she’d had a snack at her mom’s, Li Qinglin didn’t insist, instead handing her a cup of hot water, "Xiao Wu brought us a piece of cured meat, we can cook dinner a bit earlier."
Hu Xiaohui nodded, "Did you return the favor?"
Li Qinglin smiled and waved it off, "The bond between me, him, and Taozi since childhood doesn’t need such formalities. We can buy something for Ping’an next time we visit. Back when we were in school, we’d bring several days’ worth of food, and could stay at his house for a whole semester."
Hu Xiaohui had heard about these things too. Especially after meeting Zhao Yuanyuan, she envied the friendship between the five of them, as close as siblings.
"It’s just because Taozi isn’t in Beijing now; if he were, he’d be there seizing the goodies himself. Don’t be fooled by Uncle Zhou’s stern face; he’s actually very easy to talk to."
Hu Xiaohui scoffed at that. Every time she saw Zhou Xiaozheng, she couldn’t help her legs going weak, while only they seemed unaware of the Northeast Tiger’s aura.
"See, you don’t believe it again!" Li Qinglin ruffled her hair, "Don’t be fooled by Uncle Zhou’s stern demeanor; he’s even easier to deal with than Jiao Jiao."
Hu Xiaohui turned away, rolling her eyes at Li Qinglin, "Did my best friend’s offense today put you out of sorts?"
Li Qinglin chuckled.
"What’s so funny? I still think Jiao Jiao’s better, much more so than Zhang Guoqing. My mother also mentioned him today. Do you know how she commented on your little buddy?"
Not very interested, Li Qinglin casually turned and sat down. A buddy he grew up with, what else did he need to understand? What was the need for outsider opinions?
Back in their days of getting into fights and causing trouble, whose terrible ideas weren’t his? And after the fact, how often didn’t that guy end up being the hero?
It wasn’t just him and Taozi; even the closer circles knew that guy had a smile on his face all day, yet lurking behind were plenty of mischievous ideas.
"She said she doesn’t like Zhang Guoqing. The guy seems gentle and calm, and usually expresses every emotion fully. But you can’t tell if what you’re seeing is real or deliberately shown to you."
Li Qinglin remained silent with a smile.
His buddy didn’t need his mother-in-law’s approval, so why should it matter if she liked him or not? At least his buddy was generous and genuine, never playing games with him.
He knew what his mother-in-law meant. Wasn’t she just implying that understanding someone like that and finding their limits would be hard? And if you accidentally cross their line, they won’t be merciful?
But isn’t everyone like that?
