Wang Yongfu was prepared for his daughter's possible marriage, not to mention that Xu Shuang's conditions were not bad. But he had so much to say to his daughter that he was in no mood to spare any time for Xu Shuang.
Old Mrs. Xu was extremely anxious. Why was Xu Shuang so stubborn now that her father-in-law was back? Wouldn't Wang Ying's father feel that his daughter had lost out by marrying him
She secretly pushed Xu Shuang, but Xu Shuang still waited dryly for Wang Ying and her daughter to speak without interrupting at all.
Old Mrs. Xu was really at a loss, so she simply pushed Taotao out.
Taotao was a little elf. She looked around with her big eyes blinking, and squeezed her little body between Wang Ying and Wang Yongfu in a baby voice.
"Mom, who is this?"
Wang Ying pulled her little finger down: "This is grandpa, call him."
Taotao called out obediently, and Wang Yongfu's heart softened all of a sudden, and he picked up the little girl.
"Is your name Xu Tao? What a good name!"
Before Wang Ying could explain, Tao Tao put her hands on her hips and shouted, "Not Xu Tao! Call me Wang Mantao!"
She thought that adults were so stupid. Every time, people would ask her if her name was Xu Tao. No, she wasn't. The little girl thought Man Tao sounded much better than Xu Tao.
Wang Yongfu looked up at Wang Ying in surprise, and Wang Ying nodded: "It's my last name."
She pulled Xu Shuang to her side: "Your son-in-law decided."
Wang Yongfu looked at the little girl who looked very much like Xu Shuang, and said in a dry voice: "So you plan to have another one in the future?"
Wang Ying: "No, this little devil star is enough to give me a headache."
Wang Yongfu didn't know what to say. Of course, he didn't care, otherwise he wouldn't have been thinking about his daughter all these years. But he also knew that it was still a traditional idea in the countryside to give birth to a son. Xu Shuang actually let her granddaughter take her surname and didn't even mention having another one...
The little bit of good impression I had for Xu Shuang suddenly increased to ten points.
Wang Yongfu patted Xu Shuang on the shoulder and said, "Okay, okay, I feel relieved to have you take care of them."
Wang Yongfu has suffered enough from separation from his family, and now thinks Xu Shuang is pretty good. She doesn't have to go far away like himself and can take care of her family.
Taotao grabbed the epaulettes on Wang Yongfu's shoulders.
"Grandpa, what is this?"
Wang Yongfu saw her little hands picking at the two bars and two stars on the epaulettes, and said with a smile, "It's the epaulettes, Taotao, do you want them?"
Taotao nodded happily, then shook her head: "If grandpa gave it to me, I would have no clothes to wear!"
Wang Yongfu: "Don't be afraid, Grandpa will give you another one."
He took out a paper package wrapped in newspaper from his pocket and said, "You can read it after grandpa is gone."
Taotao looked at Wang Ying timidly, and when Wang Ying nodded, she happily put it away: "Thank you, Grandpa."
The time we spend together is always short, and after a while, Lan Yue came with Cheng Shufen.
Cheng Shufen seemed to have cried, but her face was now flushed with shyness.
Lan Yue carried Cheng Shufen's luggage, and Cheng Yu followed behind.
Wang Ying held Cheng Yu's hand and said, "Finally, we made it through."
Cheng Yu, who has always been carefree, also had tears in his eyes. Yes, he finally made it.
She came to this small mountain village from the old city and has been here for seven years. She was twelve or thirteen years old when she first came here, and now she is a twenty-year-old girl.
"Sister Ying, don't worry, I will always remember you after I go back! Just wait for me to send you something!"
Wang Ying wiped away her tears: "Well, I'll wait for your letter."
Mai Ya from Qian**'s family hugged Cheng Yu's thighs and cried. Parting is always hard to bear in a child's eyes.
Qian ** also burst into tears and held Cheng Shufen's hand: "When you go back, just write to me often. Don't worry about us."
Cheng Shufen bowed to Qian** and Wang Ying: "Thank you."
She knew clearly that if it were not for the kindness of Wang Ying and Qian**, she would not be able to endure such a life.
Many of those who were criticized along with her have passed away in the past few years. But she, who is so weak, has managed to hold on for seven years.
Wang Yongfu reminded Wang Ying: "You can contact me at this address. Remember to find me if you have any problems later."
Lan Yue also bowed to everyone in the room, and before leaving he insisted on giving Taotao a stack of big unity coins.
The military vehicle bumped away on the mountain path. Wang Ying waved her little hand and watched her father go away.
…
After seeing Wang Yongfu off, Taotao unpacked the paper bag on her body. Inside were more than a dozen medals of various kinds and a stack of banknotes.
Taotao liked this shiny medal and held it up to show Wang Ying.
Xu Shuang counted them silently and said, "There are more than 1,200 yuan."
Wang Ying was deeply moved. A father who had been away from his family for so many years must have put together all his savings, waiting to give them to his family.
Wang Ying put it away silently.
Xu Shuang held her hand, and Wang Ying said softly, "Let's go home."
After a few years, she will repair the original owner's mother's grave and leave an empty coffin for the original owner.
Cheng Shufen's rehabilitation seems to herald the arrival of a new stage.
Less than two months later, Old Mrs. Xu received a letter saying that Xu Ming had also been recalled to the provincial university.
Xu Ming was very excited in the letter, and his powerful penmanship was so powerful that it could be seen through the paper.
"The provincial university has restarted my teacher's research, and I will also obtain the teaching qualification of the provincial university. I will return home with my wife and children soon. I have been away for eight years, and I hope my family is well."
Old Mrs. Xu's face was filled with tears as she stayed with her youngest son every day. Even though her eldest son wrote in a letter saying that everything was fine, she was still worried as a mother.
Wang Ying persuaded her mother-in-law: "Don't cry, it's a good thing that my eldest brother and his family are coming back."
Although Wang Ying hasn't seen her sister-in-law and nephew in the letters in the past few years, they visit each other frequently. You send some cloth and I send some dried meat in return, so the relationship between the family is not distant.
Old Lady Xu: "I know, I just feel uncomfortable."
He was a good son with a bright future, but he was sent to the northwest to suffer a lot.
She feels heartbroken.
Xu Ming and his companions returned half a month earlier than stated in the letter. In the golden autumn of September, Xu Ming returned to Nanshao with his wife and children, carrying a lot of luggage.
Xu Shuang and Wang Ying both took leave, and Old Mrs. Xu put on her best clothes, and the family went to the train station to pick them up.
Old Mrs. Xu was anxious: "Is this the right station? Is this the one your brother is talking about?"
Xu Shuang: "It's this flight. It'll arrive in three hours."
Old Mrs. Xu was in a hurry to go around in circles, so Wang Ying simply bought a platform ticket for the old lady. The family did not wait inside and went directly to the platform to wait.
Xu Ming's family was also feeling anxious at this time.
Xu Ming's wife Song Ya was sitting on the train with their one-year-old son Doudou.
Song Ya: "You should save your energy. You are not as diligent as a donkey turning a millstone. We are almost there. Stop staring at your watch."
Xu Ming was extremely anxious: "I have been gone for so many years, I don't know if my mother is in good health."
Song Ya: "It's no use for you to be anxious now, isn't it almost here?"
However, Song Ya was not afraid of her mother-in-law whom she had never met. In the past few years, the two sides got along very harmoniously. Her mother-in-law understood that it was not easy for them to eat vegetables here, and she sent large and small packages of things here every year. The sister-in-law whom she had never met was said to be a doctor, and she never said anything petty to stop her.
Song Ya has a rather carefree personality, and she felt quite relieved.
She was afraid of meeting a weak and quiet young wife or sister-in-law.
Song Ya teased her son: "Doudou, you will see your sister soon, are you happy?"
Taotao is half a year older than Doudou from her family. Song Ya thought that if it was difficult to talk to her sister-in-law when she met her later, it would be a good idea to start with the child.
The train pulled into the station at high speed. Xu Ming, along with his wife and children, carried the things off the train, sweating profusely.
Xu Shuang saw them from a distance, but that was also because Xu Ming's family was more conspicuous.
People don’t move around as often these days, and very few can travel far. However, there are very few people who can carry large and small bags at small stations.
When Xu Ming heard someone calling him, he looked up and saw his mother who had aged a lot, and called out "Mom".
Old Mrs. Xu cried and laughed at the same time: "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back!"
Xu Ming pulled Song Ya over and introduced them to both sides.
"Sister-in-law, let's stay in the city for one night and see if brother wants to go back to the village tomorrow."
Xu Ming: “Return!”
He has been away for so long, and this time he comes back he must be going to visit his father's grave.
The family returned home in great excitement. Xu Shuang prepared a large table of hot pot for lunch. Because Xu's father, who had passed away, was a Sichuan chef, hot pot was a rare childhood memory for Xu Ming and Xu Shuang.
The hot pot is spicy. Xu Shuang uses more than a dozen kinds of peppers, plus ciba peppers, and beef fat to make the base of the pot. She stir-fries onions, ginger and spices to bring out the aroma, and adds Sichuan peppercorns to enhance the flavor. The red half of the pot base makes your mouth water just by looking at it.
Xu Ming: "I've been thinking about this for many years." The conditions in the northwest are not really good, and there is no hot pot to eat.
There was a red spicy hot pot with many hot pot dishes on the side, as well as Xu Shuang's own fried meatballs, duck intestines, beef, mutton, etc.
The two little ones at home couldn't eat spicy food, so Xu Shuang prepared steamed fish fillets for them, as well as tender white milk stewed eggs sprinkled with some sugar osmanthus, small fried sweet potato meatballs and a small bowl of noodles.
Taotao saw a new little brother and started spinning happily.
She is finally not the youngest anymore!
Song Ya was about to feed her son, but was surprised to find that Taotao, who was only two years old, had stuffed a set of wooden bowls and spoons for her brother.
"Brother, eat!"
Song Ya looked at her son worriedly. Her one-year-old son couldn't use a spoon or bowl and chopsticks yet, so she had to feed him.
Seeing that her brother didn't do anything, Taotao quickly followed suit. She stretched out her chubby, washed hands and waved a small spoon to scoop up the stewed eggs. Doudou became interested and followed suit, almost dropping the bowl on the ground.
Taotao was very satisfied and went straight to the fish fillet. Xu Shuang had already removed all the fish bones when cooking the fish fillet, so Taotao started eating and taught her brother in a serious manner: "Here, eat it like this!"
The soft stewed eggs smell so good! You can eat the fried meatballs right away. Doudou didn't even look at Song Ya, and happily learned how to make them.
Wang Ying: "Let them eat by themselves, and we will eat too."
Sonja: “Is this okay?”
Wang Ying: "It's okay, just change your clothes when they get dirty."
Seeing her son eating properly, Song Ya felt relieved: "Taotao is only two years old, right? You taught her really well."
While eating, Taotao pulled up her bib to wipe Doudou's mouth. Not only does she take care of herself, she also takes care of others.
Song Ya said curiously: "These chopsticks are really useful, there are things on them that can be stuck."
Taotao immediately showed off: "My dad made this for me!"
There is a little rabbit head on each end of the small wooden chopsticks.
Wang Ying: "This is made to help children who are just learning to use chopsticks. Xu Shuang also made a few more pairs. If Doudou wants one, he can take one away."
After the meal, both the guests and the hosts were very happy.
Xu Ming, with a full stomach, sat together with his family and talked.
Old Mrs. Xu asked her eldest son about his plans: "Is everything really fine at your school?"
She was still worried that Xu Ming might encounter other accidents after returning.
Although Wang Ying also advised her that things would change slowly in the future, didn't she see Cheng Shufen being rehabilitated and returned? In the letter she sent recently, Cheng Yu also said that once Cheng Shufen returned, she would be reinstated in her original position at the Peking Opera Theater after the investigation was completed, and her property that had been taken away from her was also returned.
Xu Ming comforted his mother: "It's okay. My teacher was also sent down a few years ago. He went back first this time. Now he wants me to go back and work with him on his unfinished research. The school has also allocated me a house, and Song Ya will be able to get a job in the school's logistics department."
Song Ya was a little embarrassed: "I don't have a high level of education, but Xu Ming said it shouldn't be difficult for me to be a logistics person."
When the news came that Xu Ming was going back to the city, Song Ya's parents were so worried that they couldn't sleep well. They used to think that Xu Ming was a good person and their daughter liked him, so they just wanted to marry him and live a good life.
But suddenly Xu Ming became a counselor in the university, and who knows, he might even be able to move up to an associate professor or even a professor in the future.
Song Ya's parents were afraid that Xu Ming would abandon his wife and children and return to the city, so they pulled Song Ya over and talked to her for a long time.
Fortunately, Xu Ming was not a conscienceless person. He reported his situation early and got a letter of introduction for Song Ya, preparing for the two of them to live together in the provincial capital.
Wang Ying calculated the time in her mind. This year is already 1976, and the college entrance examination will be resumed next year. It doesn't seem to be something incomprehensible to call all the teachers back this year.
Old Lady Xu also liked Song Ya very much. She felt that she was very lucky. Both of her sons met good wives when they were unlucky. Xu Ming was very lucky to find a daughter-in-law like Song Ya when he went to the northwest.
She said with concern, "Don't be afraid. Xu Ming has been in the provincial university for many years. If you have any questions, just ask him. He is a grown man who brought you from home to a place thousands of miles away. He should help you adapt. Don't think it's a bother for him."
The family chatted and laughed. Xu Ming was excited when he mentioned his return to the city. "I think the college entrance examination will be resumed someday. The situation is much more stable now. There is a shortage of talents in all walks of life. Universities can't remain empty forever... I also asked the teacher, and the teacher said that he was busy socializing recently..."
This is very straightforward. What can his teacher do when he socializes with others? Aren't all his old colleagues back
Xu Ming: "If you two have plans, get ready early."
This is, of course, the college entrance examination. Although Xu Shuang is a cook, he also studied in junior high school, and Wang Ying was still a high school student.
Xu Shuang: "Well, we understand."
He was actually not very surprised. Wang Ying had been talking about the college entrance examination all these years. Since last year, she would even occasionally look at a few books she found at the scrap collection station.
Wang Ying never hid her thoughts and speculations from Xu Shuang, and Xu Shuang fully supported her.
Xu Ming only stayed in Nanshao for a few days before going to the provincial capital to work with his wife and children.
After Xu Ming left, Wang Ying officially began to enter the review stage.
In between taking care of her daughter, Wang Ying read books without putting them down, explored the knowledge points as a whole, and also carefully reviewed the set of "Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry Series".
This went on for a year, and in the middle of the second year, the news about whether the college entrance examination would be resumed became increasingly heated.
Qian** rarely went into the city and brought some things to Wang Ying: "Wang Ying, please give me a definite answer, I am so worried. Mai Miao will graduate this year, and her teacher said that he could recommend a medical college for her. But Mai Miao feels that she will take the college entrance examination soon, and she doesn't want to go."
Qian** could never have imagined that one day she would have to worry about her daughter being too outstanding.
The option of going to medical college is once again in front of him. Qian** is afraid that he will miss this opportunity. The college entrance examination will not be resumed. What will Mai Miao do in the future
It is now August 1977, and the news of the resumption of the college entrance examination will come out in two months.
Wang Ying stopped being vague and reassured Qian**: "Tell Mai Miao to study hard recently."
"The college entrance examination will definitely be restored."
Qian** was finally relieved and thought, if the college entrance examination was resumed, then Mai Miao... would he become a college student
When Qian** thought of this possibility, he felt surprised, happy, and even a little panicked.
Wang Ying: "Maimiao's grades have always been good. Let her read some books first. When the news comes, I will go back to the village."
She plans to return to the village to prepare for the exam.
With Wang Ying's words, Qian** felt more secure.
So, on October 21, 1977, Wang Ying finally saw the news that the college entrance examination had been resumed in the newspaper.
After receiving the news, the family sat together for a meeting. The final decision was that Wang Ying quit her job and concentrate on preparing for the exam, and Xu Shuang also began to use his connections to apply for a transfer. If the application was unsuccessful and Wang Ying's result came out, he would quit his current job and follow Wang Ying to Beijing.
This was the first time that Old Lady Xu disagreed with the young couple. She felt that the risk was too great. Not to mention the question of whether Xu Shuang would pass the exam, she would also have to lose her job as a chef, which was really a pity.
Chen Dong, who came to join in the fun, supported Xu Shuang: "It's good to go to Beijing. Our place is still too small."
Even if Wang Ying had not taken the college entrance examination, he was still planning to give his apprentice a push.
How can one have a future if he just stays in this small county? Even though Xu Shuang is a top chef at a young age, it is not easy to move up further.
The special third grade and the second and first grades above them all require participation in cooking competitions to be eligible for selection. In Nanshao, Xu Shuang will participate again, that is, in the county or city, it is better to go to Beijing. By then, if she participates in a few competitions, she can move up again.
As for finding a job, given Xu Shuang's level, it is not difficult.
Besides, if I really can’t find him, doesn’t he still have him
Chen Dong was also unambiguous: "I also plan to go back to Beijing to take a look."
As a master, I must protect and escort my disciple who is so talented.
As for Wang Ying, she had good reasons for wanting to resign. After Dr. Yang retired a few years ago, the head of the medical office undoubtedly fell to Wang Ying, and Jiang Lin was also convinced.
There is not much to do in the infirmary, but not too little either. If Wang Ying doesn't resign, she will have no time to review.
Seeing that her son and daughter-in-law insisted, Old Mrs. Xu had no choice but to agree.
Wang Ying: "There's no time to lose. I'm going to the factory to hand in the documents first. Mom, I'll be back to the brigade the day after tomorrow. Can you bring Taotao with me?"
Mrs. Xu: "Of course."
Her son and daughter-in-law have made their decision, and she plans to go back and take good care of them. Since she's taking the exam, she'll get the result!
When Wang Ying went to handle the handover, Jiang Lin and Zhang Na were discussing whether to take the college entrance examination.
In a blink of an eye, several years have passed, and Jiang Lin and Zhang Na are still unmarried girls. At the beginning, Xiao Zhou from the infirmary pursued Zhang Na, but was soon defeated by Zhang Na's linear thinking. He gave up honestly and found a blind date with a family that his mother liked. In the past few years, his appearance has deteriorated greatly, and he is caught between his wife and his biological mother.
Zhang Na has never met the right person, and Jiang Lin doesn't want to go on blind dates at all.
I complained to Wang Ying about this many times.
Wang Ying told Zhang Na and Jiang Lin about her plan, which shocked them.
Although the resumption of the college entrance examination is very attractive to everyone, it is still rare to find people who are willing to take the risk and give up their jobs to take the college entrance examination.
Wang Ying: "We have to give it a try anyway. Besides, if we fail this exam, there's always next time. Half a year later is the next time, which isn't too far away, right?"
Zhang Na: "That's right, two chances."
Jiang Lin: "Then you don't have to resign, right?"
Wang Ying simply explained her family's plan: "We were planning to leave anyway, and my husband's job is also going to be transferred."
The current opportunity simply gave the two of them the opportunity to move at the same pace.
Wang Ying resigned in a very cool manner, which became a sensation in the sugar factory.
But in the blink of an eye, Wang Ying's resignation no longer attracted everyone's attention.
Because Zhao Jun from the Security Department also resigned, with the same reason being to take the college entrance examination.