Chapter 400 Grounded

"That's it!"

Wang Deming smiled and said, "Mom, even if you don't tell me, I will ask someone about it when I officially take up the post."

"I have no way to help Renchun and Yichun return home for the time being. I heard from my sister and brother-in-law that both children work in key state-owned factories, so I asked someone to find out more."

".As you know, there have been some big changes in recent years. Many of the people I knew in the government are no longer in their posts."

Wang Shuqin gently patted Wang Deming's hand, gently stroked his face, and said with emotion: "Deming, it's a good thing that the leader arranged for you to go to Hong Kong, otherwise..."

"My mother and I are not bad, but your brother-in-law's family is not good. Although you used your connections with some leaders to send them to college, they were directly assigned to the horizon when they were assigned."

The old lady sighed and said, "Sometimes when I talk to your sister, she cries. These children are implicated by the couple."

"Mom," Wang Deming held his godmother's hand. His godmother's hand was dry and cold. "In life, you either enjoy happiness early or late."

"No suffering in life is in vain. I heard from my sister these few days after I came back that these children are easy to take care of. The only reason they don't want to just find a partner casually is because of their background." Wang Deming couldn't help but smile when he remembered his sister Yan Baozhen telling him about the two Renchun children's views on choosing a partner.

"My sister said that the two children have lived with me for too long and have been too deeply influenced by me as their uncle. They almost got expelled from school when they let it slip that I was in Hong Kong."

He held his godmother's hands with both hands to warm them up, and carefully comforted her: "Mom, don't worry, I will have a good chat with the two children when I see them during the Spring Festival this year."

"In Hong Kong, it's normal for them not to get married at this age."

"Haha," he chuckled, "In Hong Kong, the more capable or ambitious young people are, the more serious they are about marriage, just like Renchun and Yichun. It's not because of organizational requirements or family pressure."

Wang Deming's persuasion made the worry on Wang Shuqin's face disappear. The old lady pulled her hands out of her godson's hands, stood up tremblingly, and said with a hint of apology: "Deming, I made you worry as soon as you came back."

"Mom, what are you talking about?"

Maybe it was because he was not her biological son, after not seeing her for more than ten years, when Wang Deming came back this time, he subtly felt that his godmother had a little distance towards him in her heart, and he became more polite to her.

The same is true for my sister's family. My brother-in-law's mother has passed away, and Chang Yourong married a divorced bannerman and moved out long ago.

Wang Deming understands this very well. Even if they are biological families, there will usually be a gap between family members after not seeing each other for many years.

Especially after the educated youth who went to the countryside returned to the city, there were countless cases of families with multiple children turning against each other in order to compete for that one formal job.
In fact, Wang Deming had hoped to bring his godmother Wang Shuqin and his master Xia Xiwu to Hong Kong. As long as they applied to live with their relatives, the mainland would approve it.

This is how Li Hanxiang's mother, his wife in China, and his daughter went to Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, on the one hand, these two elderly people are reluctant to leave their hometown and are worried that they will not be able to return to their roots. On the other hand, their elderly relatives are in Beijing and do not need Wang Deming to support them.

Wang Deming made an appointment with Zhao Shouyan the next day, but the house was not behind him on Dongsi 2nd Street, but on Cuiwei Road in HD District.

I don’t know whether their house on Dongsi 2nd Street was sold or occupied by someone else over the years.

Fortunately, when Zhao Shouyan's family lived in Cuiwei Road, apart from the years of labor in the cadre school, they had nothing else to do.

Wang Deming took out his old British Phoenix bicycle. The bicycle is almost 30 years old, but it has always been well maintained.

When Wang Deming was in Hong Kong, he always left the bike to his sister Yan Baozhen to ride. It can be seen that Yan Baozhen takes good care of the bike and regularly oils and maintains it, so it is still very labor-saving to ride.

The HD area has also changed a lot. In the past, there were farmlands outside Xizhimen, but now there is a wide road. The moat has been filled in, and there are many three-story temporary buildings on both sides of the road.

This kind of temporary building was named "temporary building" when it was built. It was used for transition and only lasted for a few decades. Cuiwei Road is located in the southwest corner of HD District, intersecting with Wanshou Road, facing Cuiwei Mountain in the distance, so it was named Cuiwei Road.

Zhao Shouyan lived in a government compound. When he was in Shanghai, he was an editor of the Commercial Press. When the Commercial Press moved to Beijing, it merged with the Higher Education Press in 57, but separated again shortly afterwards.

Zhao Shouyan moved here at that time.

He told the guard standing at the gate of the government compound the name of the visitor and only after registration did the guard let Wang Deming pass.

This was because Zhao Shouyan had reported to the gatekeeper in advance.

I remember watching Professor Wen Tiejun’s speech in my previous life. When he described the government compound where he grew up, he said that it was a complete society.

There is a special supply and marketing cooperative store in the government compound. Everything can be bought there, and it is completely isolated from the outside world.

He always thought that the environment he lived in represented China. It was not until he went to the countryside in 68 and worked and farmed with the farmers that he knew what Chinese society was like.

The government compound is full of lush vegetation, with several pine and cypress trees planted between each building, looking lush and green. Zhao Shouyan's home is on the third floor of the second row.

The government building here is not a traditional tube building. Although it does not have an independent kitchen and bathroom, it is shared by three families. The room is not small, with three bedrooms and a living room, about 70 square meters.

One room is the study for the couple, and the second room is the bedroom, one for them to live in and one for their son, although his son has not returned from the countryside yet.

Because the couple worked in the same unit, they were also assigned to the same cadre school.

Today the two of them were chatting with Wang Deming about life in the cadre school.

Maybe because they moved to the government compound, the Zhao family didn't have as many guests as before. Today, only Wang Deming came to visit. The three of them were in the living room, brewing coffee that Wang Deming had specially brought over.

The aroma of coffee permeates the small living room of only 7 or 8 square meters.

Zhao Shouyan and his wife smelled the aroma of coffee and looked intoxicated: "It's been a long time since I last had coffee."

“Especially with coffee beans of such high quality.”

"How is life in the cadre school?" Wang Deming took the teacup handed to him by Mrs. Zhao. Drinking coffee with a teacup had a different flavor.

"It was pretty good." Zhao Shouyan fell into reminiscence: "After we arrived at the cadre school and participated in labor, we knew what was right."

“Life in the cadre school is a bit hard, but only physically. However, it allows us intellectuals to truly integrate into the masses.”

"Instead of drinking coffee," he raised the teacup in his hand, "I fantasized about a petty-bourgeois life and being out of touch with the masses."

"Besides, we are just going to the cadre school to relearn, and we will still receive normal benefits. I heard that the higher-ups are going to recalculate prices and increase wages. Haha, how about you? You are enjoying yourself in Hong Kong, right? Why didn't you bring the children back?"

Wang Deming smiled and nodded, jokingly: "It's definitely better than what you and your wife enjoyed in the cadre school, but I don't really like the life there either."

"Life over there is completely capitalist. Although living conditions are good, everyone is struggling to make a living. The rich want more money. People rarely believe in material things. Gangs are rampant over there. Fortunately, they don't dare to mess with us."

"As for the children, the universities in China are still dominated by workers, peasants and soldiers. I think that will change soon. Let's wait until classes resume."

“Knock, knock!” Someone knocked on the door and shouted loudly, “Lao Zhao, you two are enjoying your coffee secretly, right? I can smell it. Open the door quickly.”

(End of this chapter)