Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space-Chapter 554 - 436: Holiday

The once silent city is now bustling day and night, with crowds of people everywhere.

After squeezing through the crowd, the family returned to the Big Courtyard. Zhou Jiao settled her sleepy son, and she and her husband were also exhausted, falling asleep the moment they hit the pillow.

At dawn, the sound of the military bugle woke Zhou Jiao. She found that Zhang Guoqing was already gone, probably off to exercise again. Looking at Ping’an who was sleeping soundly, undisturbed by the noise, she shook her head with a smile.

Her child must be a pig in his past life, with a quality of sleep that she envied so much.

Zhou Jiao went outside the room, confirming that her father did not come home last night, and as for her mother, it was needless to say; she probably would be busy for the next three days.

In the kitchen, Aunt Chen had already started preparing breakfast. Seeing Zhou Jiao enter, she smiled and said: "Why don’t you sleep a bit more? Last night, the boss asked Xiao Wang to come back and check if you all were home. I saw you were already asleep, and since he didn’t have anything important, I didn’t let him disturb you. Is that okay?"

Zhou Jiao smiled and shook her head. "I guess my father was worried. You can just call me from now on."

Aunt Chen understood the intention in her words and nodded. It would be better to get authorization in the future; some matters might be inconvenient for Xiao Wang to relay.

"This time, I was too hasty. Would you like to have breakfast first?"

Zhou Jiao smiled. Past matters were already settled, and it was well-intentioned from others. She shook her head, "I’ll wait for Xiao Wu to come back to eat. Could you please keep an eye on the child’s movements for me? I’ll go for a run first."

"Go on, don’t run too long."

As Zhou Jiao jogged outside, she indeed found Zhang Guoqing already exercising.

Zhang Guoqing slowly approached her, "Why didn’t you sleep a bit more?"

"Got used to it at school." Zhou Jiao said and gestured with her hand for him to stop talking. She couldn’t chat while running; her stamina couldn’t keep up.

Zhang Guoqing shook his head with a smile. Clearly a delicate woman trying to act tough. If she were an outsider, he would at most say ’well done’, but since it’s his own wife who insists on running with her classmates every morning, he felt it necessary to show concern. With the sick leave certificate handled by her father, she didn’t have to push herself so hard.

After the morning workout, Zhang Guoqing declined his friends’ invitations. Relishing the rare day off, he preferred spending time with his lovely wife and adorable child.

After breakfast, the couple held their child’s hand and went out. They were usually hurried and spent little time with the child, but on such a rare holiday, taking the child out of the Big Courtyard to see more of the old city’s sights was always Zhou Jiao’s intention.

The high walls of the Big Courtyard kept everything outside at bay. Many children didn’t know the world beyond the walls, and she was worried that over time, her son too would be like a frog in a well.

"Daddy, so many people here, and kids too."

Ping’an pointed at the long queues of people lined up.

Zhang Guoqing pointed with a smile at the sign above, "Look, this is a restaurant. This one doesn’t require food stamps, you just need to have money. It has a nickname ’High-Price Shop’. Do you know what that means?"

Ping’an nodded, "This is not the high-price shop. Grandma said Old Mo is the high-price shop. Old Mo is bigger and doesn’t have long lines. There are lots of meats inside, and ice cream too."

Zhang Guoqing laughed silently as he saw him lick his lips after speaking.

"Do you want Dad to take you to Old Mo?"

Ping’an hesitated for a moment and shook his head, "Grandma said she’d take me in a few days."

Zhou Jiao pursed her lips and smiled. It seemed her mom often secretly took the child to such places.

"Where else has Grandma taken you? Does Grandpa know?"

"Grandpa knows. He doesn’t like Old Mo, he often takes me to play at many of Great Grandpa’s friends’ houses. Grandma is nice, she takes me to the group, many aunts give me chocolate bread. Grandma can also drive..."

Zhou Jiao shook her head at him, indicating that there were too many people outside for him to continue.

Zhang Guoqing finally understood why this kid did not cry and fuss for them. With so many activities, there was no time to miss the two of them.

"The village canteen, remember the kids there? Many didn’t have enough to eat, so don’t let Grandma take you to the high-price shop. Tell Mom what you want to eat, she’ll make it for you."

Ping’an whispered in his ear, "Grandpa said Grandma took me there deliberately because she herself was craving. I actually didn’t want to go."

Zhang Guoqing tried hard not to laugh. This little guy already had his own thoughts. "Grandpa was teasing Grandma. See if Grandma always orders what you like to eat."

Seeing the situation, Zhou Jiao tugged at the two of them, "We’ll talk about it at home. Ping’an, come down and see what you like."

The biggest department store had added more goods than usual, with counters crowded with people.

Zhou Jiao looked in from the doorway and immediately pulled back. She had thought that except for the desserts and candies in the food section, other things wouldn’t be in short supply, but this seemed beyond her imagination.

"Let’s go. We’ll take the child to the bookstore. Everywhere is crowded today."

Zhang Guoqing took her hand and led the child away. It was impossible to expect fewer people during the holidays. If it weren’t for the father-in-law being at home, he might have wanted the child to go to the suburbs to connect with nature and visit the countryside to broaden his horizons.

After wandering for a while, the family bought a few newly published children’s newspapers and comic books. Seeing that there wasn’t much else to do, they decided to go home after all.

Zhou Xiaozheng returned when the sun was setting. Upon entering the house and finding they hadn’t gone out, he curiously asked, "Why didn’t you go out today?"

"I thought you’d be back by noon, so I was waiting for you. Dad, you’re not going out tonight, right?"

Zhou Xiaozheng pointed outside, "The car’s still waiting out there. There are too many foreign guests these days, so I’m busy. Do you want to come with Dad to an evening performance?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Zhou Jiao quickly shook her head. Going there would mean coming face to face with all those bigwigs, which she was too lazy to deal with.

He looked at Zhang Guoqing.

Zhang Guoqing also shook his head. Since others didn’t bring their family members, if they went, they would face many curious looks and all sorts of speculations.

Seeing this, Zhou Jiao quickly informed Aunt Chen to serve the meal. Luckily, she had prepared plenty of dishes early on, or else her father would come home hungry again due to his picky tastes.

After dinner, Zhou Xiaozheng changed clothes, patted his daughter, and said, "It’s rare to have a holiday, go out and enjoy, don’t worry about spending money. Dad can’t find time to relax these days, if anything happens, find Secretary Chen."

Zhou Jiao noticed Secretary Chen frequently glancing at the clock and knowing the time was tight, she quickly nodded and reassured him.

After sending off Zhou Xiaozheng, they didn’t go out either. With her parents leaving early and returning late every day, they weren’t comfortable at all, at least they felt reassured seeing them return safely in the late night, making a bowl of night snack and chatting a bit.

Moreover, plenty of guests came over during the day too. Whether it was the Big Courtyard buddies’ get-together or Yi Jiefang bringing friends from their empty courtyard over.

Among the visitors, the quality varied, and it was hard to say if anyone had other intentions. Zhou Jiao immediately opened up a space for them to entertain themselves.

The long-unused west wing finally found its purpose. Zhou Jiao asked Aunt Chen to tidy it up, allowing them to do whatever they wanted inside without affecting their daily life at home.

Time flashed by in a blink; Zhou Jiao hadn’t finished making two pairs of big cotton shoes for Ping’an, and the holiday was over. She didn’t even get much chance to chat with her father before it was time to return to school.

If Zhou Jiao were to choose, she wouldn’t really like holidays. At least on regular days, she’d see familiar faces at home, but now, there were so many words left unspoken.

No matter what else in mind, life goes on; she could only leave reluctantly to return to school.