The Beginning of the World: Going to the Countryside as an Educated Youth

Chapter 126 New Year’s Eve

Before entering the courtyard, I saw an old lady carrying a basket and preparing to go out to buy vegetables.

"Oh my, are you robbing the store? Buying so many things?" The middle-aged woman was quite humorous and said with a smile.

"Haha, it's the New Year, a festive day. Our family has suffered for so many years, we must celebrate the New Year well. And now that Dongchuan is back, I bought more!" Guo Ping also responded with a smile.

"Haha, I really envy your family for having such a promising son. I heard he is working in Huangyuan?

Very good, our kid is still in Xinjiang now, let alone coming home for the New Year, he hasn't even received a letter from me!" The aunt nodded first, then shook her head bitterly and said.

Guo Ping didn't know how to comfort her, so she could only say with a smile: "I heard that many people have returned, and your baby will probably be back soon too!"

The old lady knew that these were words of comfort, so she just nodded, said goodbye and left to buy groceries.

"There are several families in our yard whose children went to the countryside to work in the production team. They haven't come back yet, and I don't know how they are doing~~" Guo Ping was a soft-hearted person, and suddenly she became melancholy.

"Mom, in my opinion, the day of returning is not far away. However, after all these years, many people probably can't come back even if they want to. Many people have married local wives~~" Zhao Dongchuan said with a smile.

The two entered the yard, neither of them talking about this topic, and walked all the way to the middle yard.

When the people in the yard saw Zhao Dongchuan carrying so many things in large and small bags, they were all surprised and envious.

"How can we live like this? You bought so many things... You have so much money but you don't even give me some to spend..." Old Mrs. Jia saw this from a distance and muttered to herself.

Qin Xiaoru, who had taken a leave of absence from get off work and returned home early in the morning, was speechless when she heard her mother-in-law speak like this.

Who are you? I'm giving you flowers! If I didn't want a city hukou and a job in the steel mill, I would have taken my kids back to my hometown, Qinjia Village. Who would serve you, a demon-like old woman?

Although he was complaining in his heart, he finally just smiled and dealt with it.

"You should go again in the evening. They bought so many good things today. They will definitely prepare a big dinner tonight. Bring some food over, but don't let them get away with it!" Old Lady Jia turned her eyes and said to Qin Xiaoru.

"It's New Year's Day tonight, we can't go to other people's homes and knock on doors!" Qin Xiaoru said speechlessly.

"Um...this...I don't care, you can do whatever you want..." Old Mrs. Jia narrowed her eyes and turned to go into the house.

"........."

"Mom, are we being too high-profile?" Zhao Dongchuan was carrying a lot of bags, and when he saw the look in his neighbor's eyes, he asked with some confusion after entering the house.

"I did it on purpose. Before, our family was looked down upon by the people in this compound because of my illness and your affairs. Now that I'm better and you've become successful, you have to be more high-profile and piss them off!" Guo Ping said with a smile.

"We live our lives and are not afraid of them!"

Zhao Dongchuan nodded to show his understanding.

Then the mother and son got busy, sorting the things they bought into different categories, washing and cutting the vegetables and pork, preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner.

At noon, Zhao Dongchuan cooked several home-cooked dishes, which Guo Ping praised highly and kept praising her son's superb cooking skills.

Just like that, amidst all the household chores, time soon passed into the afternoon, and the bell rang.

People kept riding bicycles home in the yard.

The workers at the steel mill all left work early today.

Zhao Zhengguo also pushed his bicycle into the yard, locked it, and went into the house.

"I'm back!" Guo Ping said with a smile.

"Dad!" Zhao Dongchuan called out while cooking the pork in his hands.

Looking at the things in the room, Zhao Zhengguo also looked curious.

But he was not very surprised. He had discussed this matter with Guo Ping yesterday and did not express any objection.

If your wife is willing, let her go.

"Have you taken your medicine today?" Zhao Zhengguo asked Guo Ping.

"Oh, I forgot!" Guo Ping said as she took out a wooden box from the drawer in the inner room.

When he opened the wooden box, there was a ginseng inside.

Guo Ping took a small knife, cut some roots and put them into the casserole for decocting the medicine. She then took out some Chinese medicinal materials and weighed them one by one and put them in.

Then add water and start boiling.

Guo Ping's movements were very skillful, and one could tell at a glance that she often boiled and decocted medicine.

With his basic skills in traditional Chinese medicine, he knew that this was "Shenling Baizhu San".

It is composed of Chinese medicinal materials such as ginseng, yam, poria cocos and lotus seeds, and has the effects of nourishing the spleen and stomach and benefiting the lung qi.

It has a better effect for people with weak Qi and body.

This is also the reason why our family was relatively poor before. It was because these medicinal herbs, especially ginseng, cost a lot of money.

Fortunately, he is different now. Not only does he not need financial support from his family, he can also subsidize the family. All in all, his life will definitely be much better than before.

This is probably why Guo Ping went on a shopping spree today. After all, she must have been ridiculed a lot before and lost a lot of face. As for relatives at home? It’s good enough if they don’t cheat you. It’s a gesture of friendship if they can lend a hand.

After a while, a strong smell of Chinese medicine filled the air.

"Don't just stand there, help me cut the meat!" Guo Ping couldn't help but remind Zhao Dongchuan when she saw him just watching.

"Oh, right away!" Zhao Dongchuan started to get busy immediately.

With the addition of Zhao Zhengguo, delicious dishes were soon served on the table one after another, and the aroma filled the air.

Zhao Dongchuan also took the time to use some glue to replace the couplets on the door with new ones.

And because of the lesson from last time, they sealed all the doors and windows this time to minimize the spread of the fragrance. Life is hard these days for everyone, and it's not good to stand out too much, as who knows what kind of trouble might arise.

This time we have an agreement that no matter who knocks on the door, we will not open it. We will just lock the door and spend our own New Year's Eve and eat our own New Year's Eve dinner.

As the food and wine were ready, the three of them sat down.

Zhao Zhengguo opened a bottle of Xifeng wine that Zhao Dongchuan had brought back and poured a glass for each of the three of them.

"Today is New Year's Eve. The happiest thing for us this year is the changes in Dongchuan. We don't ask you to be very successful, but at least you have to be an upright person and do your job well. You can't be idle and mess around. Cheers to the great writer who is the pride of our family!" Zhao Zhengguo straightened his face, picked up the wine glass, and said seriously.

"Mom, I don't ask you to achieve anything big, just find a partner as soon as possible!" Guo Ping said with a smile and raised her wine glass.

"I wish my parents good health and a happy New Year!!!" Zhao Dongchuan didn't dare to respond, and directly picked up the wine glass and started to say New Year's greetings.