There are a total of 253 Jihua lanterns on Chang'an Street in front of Tiananmen Square.
Since the founding of the Republic, these lanterns have witnessed many important historical moments in our country’s journey of great rejuvenation.
On New Year’s Eve in 1983, they also illuminated the longest street of the Republic as always.
And continue to use solemn gestures and soft light to set off the majesty of Tiananmen, a symbol of the political power of this great country.
But at around eight o'clock in the evening, a Jim car drove out of the parking lot of the Jingcheng Hotel. It seemed to be quite eager to escape the solemn atmosphere of this street, and drove straight to the direction outside Jianguomen at an extremely fast speed.
.
The light from the bright lights only left a long arc like lightning on the car.
This Jim car blended into the dark shadows and the sound of fireworks and firecrackers that represented the atmosphere of the city.
"Hey, I've been out for so long. When I come back, there are still no changes in the country. Yanping, just take a look at our ten-mile long street. The light shines within the scope of ten miles. As soon as you leave Jianguomen, it is pitch black. The street
The streets are the same, the shops are the same, the people are the same, there are still so many bicycles, and the cars are too few and too shabby..."
Sitting together in the back of the car was a middle-aged couple wearing long black woolen coats, and the woman who expressed this emotion was the woman who looked like a lady.
She is in her early forties, but she looks like someone in her thirties.
Not only did he have a perm of his hair in a fashionable style, but he also wore a European-style hat.
Anyone who looks at her will know that she must be a returnee from overseas.
However, the equally handsome man wearing gold-rimmed glasses did not agree with her words.
Immediately make a negative argument with an objectionable attitude.
"...That's why we need to build the motherland well, that's why we need to develop the economy. Don't always be so negative. Just because there is no change now, does not mean there will never be change. I believe that our country, under the policy of reform and opening up, will
Everything will get better and better..."
As he spoke, he patted the back of the woman's hand.
The woman immediately woke up and quietly glanced at the driver Xiao Li who was driving silently in front of her through the rearview mirror.
This is a new driver assigned to them by the ministry, and they are not familiar with it yet.
Hence, he quickly made up for his rash remarks.
"I'm also worried about the country. You're right, I'm a little impatient. After all, our starting point is too low. We cannot compare with those old capitalist countries. It will take time for us to catch up...
…”
She smiled softly and changed the topic.
"Hey, but speaking of this, you seem to be a little impatient today. Why are you leaving in such a hurry? You are already the director and one of the protagonists of today's reception. Why don't you take this opportunity to talk to your new subordinates?
Let’s get acquainted with it, okay?”
Unexpectedly, the man actually refuted her words.
"Jinghua, you are a bit incompetent as the wife of the director. The more this happens, the less we can stay. At this kind of reception, our task is just to entertain the international friends and guests of the embassy.
Good is enough. The rest of the time should be left to the subordinates to let everyone relax. What's more, today is New Year's Eve. If we don't leave, how can others leave early? Everyone has to celebrate the New Year. Also
Don’t you yourself want to reunite with your daughter as soon as possible?”
This last sentence, the woman really couldn't bear it anymore, and she couldn't help but complain with resentment.
"You are really capable of knocking someone off. It's not you who insists on letting me accompany you. In fact, I wish I could stay at home and cook a reunion dinner for you and my daughter. It's better now, so we can only go to my sister's house and borrow the money.
It’s wrong for me to miss you when we celebrate the New Year in someone else’s place. I feel bad when I think that it’s been more than a week since I came back and I haven’t spent a day with our daughter. I think it’s you, the chief secretary, who
It’s just your job. There’s no sense of licking the calf at all, and I’ve even forgotten about my daughter…”
While the couple was talking, the car had already arrived at the intersection of Jianguo Hotel.
The man was afraid that the driver would go the wrong way, so he no longer cared about his wife at this time.
Instructed the driver to turn the car into the intersection and parked it in front of the iron gate of the Foreign Affairs Courtyard.
After getting out of the car, he took two cigarettes and two bottles of wine from the trunk from the driver.
He also shook hands with the driver in a polite manner.
“Xiao Li, thank you for sending us back. We can just walk in by ourselves. You should go home for the New Year. Today has taken up a lot of your time. Your family must be waiting impatiently.”
Xiao Li couldn't bear the gratitude.
“Director Huo, my job is to serve you. You should wait as long as you want. You and I must not see each other outside. Whenever you use the car, just say a word and I will be there.”
And his words obviously won the favor of the leaders.
Because the man quickly took out a mechanical pencil from his arms and handed it to him.
“Okay, Xiao Li, I’ll give this to you. I brought it back from Europe, so I think it’s a New Year’s gift.”
I heard that it was a pencil that didn’t need to be sharpened. Xiao Li, the driver who had never seen such a thing before, couldn’t help but smile and was very happy.
Until he nodded and bowed and thanked me again, he drove away in the car.
This Director Huo, Huo Yanping, can coax his wife Huang Jinghua back to being a husband.
“You said I don’t care about my daughter? That’s nonsense. Look, I brought our Xinxin a novel gift back from the reception.”
As he was walking and talking, Huo Yanping suddenly shifted all the things he was carrying to his left hand.
Then he used his right hand to magically pull out two light brown objects, shaped like duck eggs, from his coat pocket and showed them to his wife.
“Do you know what this is?”
Huang Jinghua couldn’t help but reach out and touch the thing.
But no matter what she thought, it seemed that she had never seen it before, so in the end she could only say that she didn’t know.
This made the Chief Secretary feel a little proud.
"What's wrong with you? I really don't know you? This is KiwiF! It's the kind of fruit that the New Zealand ambassador brought tonight. It was placed in the last ice basin. It has emerald green flesh and black sesame-like seeds. It tastes sour.
It's sweet and delicious. But what you see is that the skin has been removed. This is the complete appearance of this fruit."
The wife couldn't help but laugh when she saw her husband dancing with pride like a child who had done a great deed.
“How come you, a dignified foreign affairs cadre, went to a foreign-related reception and picked up two pieces of fruit and put them in your pocket? This is outrageous!”
But Director Huo doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with it.
"What's so great about that! Foreigners have never seen more of our good things. I told the ambassador that today is New Year's Eve, and I will go home to be with my daughter soon. If I have this kind of fruit, I will take it back to express my condolences to my daughter.
Tell her that this is KiwiF breast milk from New Zealand, she will be happy. After hearing this, the ambassador immediately ordered someone to bring a box. I said it would be interesting if I only need two. I don’t need to pack it, just put it in my pocket. I am sincere. The ambassador kept saying:
Yes. In fact, this thing comes from our country. We don’t eat it or look at it. We only give it to monkeys and call it kiwi fruit. In turn, New Zealanders regard it as a national treasure..."
As they talked, they walked side by side to the unit door of a building.
However, just when they were about to go upstairs, the couple stopped again.
Because the wife took the initiative to beg her husband again.
“Yanping, should we wait another year or two before discussing our daughter’s study abroad? We have just come back. The whole family has not been reunited for a long time. I really can’t bear to leave her..."
“Look, you’re here again.” The man’s face immediately dropped.
“You think I don’t want to spend more time with my daughter. Don’t I long for the warmth of family? But we must always prioritize her future. That is the obligation of qualified parents.”
"I think it is necessary to send my daughter out. First, I hope that Xinxin can exercise outside for a few more years to improve her horizons, etiquette, and literacy. Second, I feel that the friends she has around her will have a bad influence on her. Many of them
People are too philistine."
“If Xinxin stays with these people for a long time, she will have no room for improvement. Mother Meng moved three times, you should understand this truth.”
Huang Jinghua was silent for a long time before sighing.
“I understand what this means, but I just can’t turn this corner emotionally. We have sacrificed too much time with our daughter. When will it end?”
Huo Yanping said extremely firmly.
"Xiao Ci is a thief of great mercy. If you really love your daughter, sometimes you have to be cruel. Our Xinxin has been too pampered since she was a child, and she has a straight temper. She doesn't know how to use tricks at all. If she only relies on academic qualifications in the future
and English proficiency, it is too insecure. It can only end up being a cow and a horse."
"So she must find a promising young man who is worthy of being entrusted to take care of her. The people around her are not qualified. I think her friends of the opposite sex are not from the ivory tower, they only know how to study death.
A good scholar who is a good boy. He is a playboy who only understands the benefits of being greedy for power but does not know how to use it. Considering this aspect, she should get out as soon as possible."
"Only by going abroad can she get in touch with the real upper class society and understand what a truly wonderful life is like. Only by learning advanced etiquette and cultivating a good temperament can she find a higher-level marriage in the future that can be entrusted to her for life.
Object. I sincerely consider my daughter’s future, do you understand? Besides, our daughter doesn’t have enough time, and women will grow old very quickly..."
Yes, the couple talking are Huo Xin’s parents who returned from abroad.
If Ning Weimin were here at this time, he would not only find that this is the downstairs of Aunt Huo Xin's house.
You must also be able to see that under the reflection of the fireworks in the sky, the appearance of this couple is very similar to Huo Xin.
