Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space-Chapter 458 - 347: Returning to Beijing Again

The next day at noon, Zhao Chuan Guang drove to the county seat himself and went straight to the Armed Forces Department to find Zhao Dashan, arranging to visit Zhang Guoqing’s house together.

Facing a secondment notice, Zhao Dashan rolled his eyes at Zhao Chuan Guang multiple times, causing him to choke on his drink several times.

Seeing him cough to the point of tears, only then did Zhao Dashan feel satisfied. At the table, he kept blaming Zhao Chuan Guang for making a fuss over minor matters. There was no need for such trouble; he could simply assign Zhang Guoqing to handle tasks out of town.

Zhou Jiao smiled at Zhang Guoqing. See? She worried all night about not being able to go to Beijing, wasn’t she silly?

After finishing their meal and seeing them off, Zhou Jiao immediately started packing. This time, with no one guarding the door, she was determined to clear out all the valuable things from the house.

At the agreed departure time, Zhang Guoqing went back to the village alone to bid farewell to his parents.

This time, apart from Mr. Zhang who knew the situation, everyone thought Zhang Guoqing was transferred to Lin City for hard labor. As for Zhou Jiao, didn’t her godparents personally come to take her home for a short stay, as they weren’t at ease leaving her alone?

After a long bumpy journey, they finally reached the terminal station on May 1st, Labor Day.

Zhou Jiao looked at her father on the platform with tears in her eyes. It wasn’t easy, but she finally got to see her dad. This time, without a sleeper berth, the treatment had deteriorated a lot. The adjacent bunk made her only want to shower and sleep now.

Zhou Xiaozheng smiled, patting Zhou Jiao on the head, reaching out to take his wailing grandson who kept shouting ’go,’ while he again looked intently at his daughter in front of him.

Finding that she hadn’t lost weight over the past few months and looked more spirited than before, he rarely praised Zhang Guoqing, his son-in-law, a few times.

Unlike the last time in the dead of winter, this time the group wasn’t in a hurry. Accompanied by Zhou Xiaozheng’s newly appointed secretary, guards, driver, and others, they chatted as they walked out.

In the car ahead, Zhou Xiaozheng and his old friends joyfully reunited. After catching up on each other’s recent happenings, they started planning a gathering for old friends whom they hadn’t seen in over a decade.

In the car behind, Zhou Jiao was holding her godmother Huang Hui Min and started introducing the buildings outside the car window. This time, Zhao Chuan Guang came for a meeting, and Huang Hui Min came for sightseeing. They took great care of her in the Northeast, so it’s a rare opportunity to express her gratitude. She was also planning to take her godmother for a good shopping trip.

Before long, when they drove into the Big Courtyard, the car slowed down. Having received advance notice, Li Qianjin and others were already loudly yelling for Zhang Guoqing to get out quickly.

Zhou Xiaozheng signaled the driver to stop the car, "Your aunt’s entire family is waiting for you all, remember to come home early. Go out with them tonight for a gathering."

Zhang Guoqing nodded and got out of the car, responding, after which the driver restarted the car to head home.

Zhao Chuan Guang turned to look at the young guys outside the car, roughhousing with each other, and laughed, "Xiao Wu really gets along well. They are already waiting for him before he even arrives."

"And this is not many. There’ll be more tonight. Last year, when he was home, the gate was never closed," Zhou Xiaozheng said with a smile in his eyes, shaking his head.

Now it’s just that not many people have heard the news yet. By tomorrow, you might not even have space to sit in the living room. It’s been better for him recently; he’s at least been able to have some peace of mind. Previously, during his morning exercises, many elderly asked him when his daughter and son-in-law would return, let alone the kids in the courtyard.

After getting out of the car, Zhou Jiao heard Zhao Chuan Guang laughing heartily, glancing at the Lin Family courtyard not far away. What piqued her curiosity now was how Lin Xuelin would present herself to her godfather.

She heard that Uncle Wang Xi Bei couldn’t catch the Lin Aidang couple when he was in Beijing, narrowly missing them as they escaped back to the Northwest, causing her to sigh with regret.

Zhou Jiao resentfully looked at her dad. He really had no gossip spirit, nor did he write to tell her how the Lin Family was doing these days—couldn’t even maintain a good friendship.

At the entrance, Old Mrs. Cheng and others, upon seeing Zhou Jiao get out of the car, burst into laughter.

"Did your dad annoy you? Come tell auntie. I’ll help you vent," Old Mrs. Cheng immediately teased. How could her precious niece bear to leave?

Zhou Jiao noticed that apart from her mom, no Lin Family members were present and raised her eyebrows with a smile, "My dad dotes on his grandson now, he doesn’t pay attention to me anymore. Why are you here, dear aunt? Where’s uncle?"

Cheng Ruzhu quickly pulled Huang Hui Min and Lin Lishan aside and went in, laughing, "Your uncle is on duty, asked me to tell you to make him something delicious tomorrow. Come in and tell godmother how it’s been these months in the Northeast."

Lin Lishan looked around, feeling quite odd, "Jiao Jiao, where’s Xiao Wu? Didn’t the telegram say he was coming together?"

"It’s been good. Just bored to death. Mom, don’t worry, your dear son-in-law is here. We encountered people getting out of the car at the gate; he’ll be in soon."

Having said that, she entered the living room, and Zhou Jiao exclaimed, "Home is still the most comfortable. This time I’ll stay a bit longer. I missed you all. Auntie, let’s go to my room. I brought plenty of interesting things for you; come see."

Seeing that the usually calm and reserved Zhou Jiao was talking so much, Old Mrs. Cheng knew the child was overjoyed. It seems only family could make the child so excited.

She immediately cheerfully invited everyone to the East Wing and ran to take the child, smiling, "Let’s go, let’s see what good things you brought."

Zhou Xiaozheng looked on eagerly as his daughter ran off, pulling Zhao Chuan Guang and the Cheng Family members to sit down together, knowing well he didn’t need to introduce them. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

In the East Wing, Zhou Jiao opened a large bag of luggage and poured out carvings, shadow puppets stickers, and other small crafts for them to choose on their own. Jian Ping An, sitting beside Old Mrs. Cheng, didn’t seem afraid of strangers.

She glanced at her mom, quietly retreated back to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Aunt Chen’s eyebrows widened with a smile as soon as she saw Zhou Jiao. She laughed, "Why did you take so long to come home? Just now there were too many people, I didn’t dare squeeze in. Was it hard in your hometown? After you left, your dad was upset for days. Listen to auntie, stay home and accompany your dad."

Zhou Jiao nodded with a smile. It’s not that she didn’t want to stay. If she really stayed, she’d probably only see her dad during mealtimes each day. She still had to wait longer until the family was settled, and she wouldn’t worry about not having time to keep her dad company.

"Auntie, why didn’t anyone from my grandpa’s family come today?" Zhou Jiao glanced outside and whispered. She was really curious if Lin Xuelin had gotten married, but was too shy to ask directly.

"The Lin Family..." Aunt Chen hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Eldest Lin moved away. Now your grandmother and grandfather live with their three granddaughters. Your grandfather went on a business trip a few days ago and hasn’t returned."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jiao understood that Lin Xuelin hadn’t gotten married. Her mom had briefly mentioned in a letter that the wedding was postponed without explaining why. Truly unamusing.

Seeing Aunt Chen didn’t want to gossip much, she immediately diverted the topic to the dinner menu. Before coming, she figured there wouldn’t be much left in the household storage, so she brought quite a lot of easily stored items this time.

In no time, in the kitchen, the sound of chopping vegetables echoed along with the sizzling sounds from dishes being put into the oil pan, mingled with the aroma of braised pork, mushroom stewed chicken, and seafood filling the air.