While Li Ziqiang was busy in the kitchen, his cell phone in the living room rang.
A white-haired old man stood up with some difficulty and shouted in the direction of the kitchen: "Ziqiang, your phone is ringing!"
"Dad, it's not a phone call, it's a WeChat video call. It must be Qingqing, please talk to her!" Li Ziqiang was in the kitchen, and the roar of the range hood forced him to speak at a higher volume, as if he was shouting.
The old man put on his reading glasses, lowered his head and clicked on the screen to open a WeChat video call.
Soon Li Qingqing's bright smiling face appeared on the phone screen.
"Grandpa!" After seeing the old man, her clear voice popped out through the phone screen.
"Hey! It's Qingqing!" The old man laughed.
His wife next to him put down the mobile phone he was holding and came closer: "Let me take a look at Qingqing."
"Grandma!" Li Qingqing waved to the camera on the mobile phone screen.
"Qingqing is good..." Grandma squinted her eyes and looked at her granddaughter on the screen, "Well, it seems like she's tanned a bit. Didn't I tell you to put on sunscreen?"
"I've applied it, and it's not darker. Grandma, this is called wheat color. Wheat color represents health..." Li Qingqing started to act coquettishly.
Seeing her granddaughter like this, grandma couldn't even close her mouth with laughter.
"Grandpa and grandma, you are in good health!"
"Okay, okay, don't worry about it. But Qingqing, you have to pay attention to safety when you are outside. I saw on the news that Europe is not peaceful..." Grandpa said.
The grandmother next to her glared at her husband who said this: "Can you talk? You're celebrating the New Year, say something nice!"
The white-haired old man quickly waved his hands in front of his mouth, making a fanning gesture: "Okay, okay, I'm not talking nonsense..."
"It's okay, grandma. Everything is fine for me here. My teammates and coaches are taking good care of me. Besides we train and compete, we also train at the training bases of professional clubs. We don't go out usually, so it's safe...
..." Li Qingqing smiled and came to the rescue for her grandfather.
"Hey, we don't let people come back during the Chinese New Year. Why don't we go out to do some training... Let's not mention that you were studying in Dongchuan before. Since you went to Shanhai to play football, I haven't seen you for almost a year. I was originally thinking about it.
See you during the Chinese New Year..." Grandma said nonchalantly while holding her cell phone.
Li Qingqing on the screen always kept smiling and did not interrupt her grandmother's words, allowing her to tell her thoughts about her granddaughter.
"...Although you are not around, the New Year's money this year is still necessary. Your grandpa and I will only be able to send you red envelopes on WeChat. You can keep them yourself..."
"Okay grandma, happy New Year!" Li Qingqing quickly clasped her hands and cupped them in front of the phone's front camera.
Then she raised her hands to her grandfather who came over and said, "Happy New Year, grandpa! You must take care of yourself and wait until I come back to see you during the Chinese New Year next year!"
"Okay, okay..." The two old men were nodding in response to their granddaughter. Their son-in-law Li Ziqiang had already walked in with a plate of tofu sausage.
After putting the dishes on the table, his father-in-law handed him the phone: "You and Qingqing, please have a word, I'll go to the kitchen..."
"I'll just come, Dad."
"Just bring a steamed fish from the steamer, and I'll be fine." My father-in-law ignored him, put the phone on the table, and walked to the kitchen with his hands behind his back.
Li Ziqiang had no choice but to reach out and wipe it twice on his apron, then picked up the phone and smiled at his daughter on the screen: "Today is Chinese New Year, how are the team planning to spend it?"
"I said that when I get back from training in the afternoon, the team will organize everyone to make dumplings together. There are also reporters coming to interview." Li Qingqing said with a smile.
"We are going to have New Year's Eve dinner soon, and we also want to watch the Spring Festival Gala." Li Ziqiang switched the camera to the rear, and then showed Li Qingqing the sumptuous dishes on the table. The TV hanging on the wall next to him was also playing the Spring Festival.
In the special program "Year After Year", Li Qingqing can even faintly hear the BGM music she is familiar with.
"Wow, dad, if you do this, how can I eat dumplings at night?"
"Ah, dumplings. Yes, we will cook the dumplings later while watching the Spring Festival Gala." Li Ziqiang seemed to have not heard his daughter's complaints, and he would not open any pot.
When he thought of his daughter, a black-hearted little cotton-padded jacket, who turned her elbows out early, he decided to "clean up" her daughter. Of course, he didn't dare to really do anything to his daughter, so he could only tease her in this regard.
.
"Grandma!" Li Qingqing suddenly shouted loudly on the phone...
"Oh, what's wrong with Qingqing?" Grandma, who was checking her cell phone, came over.
"Grandma, dad is bullying me, just letting me see what you eat, and deliberately irritating me!" Li Qingqing complained from a distance.
Before his mother-in-law could make any move, Li Ziqiang immediately gave in: "Are you kidding me? Can't you even joke? When you come back, I will make a table for you."
Grandma also smiled and smoothed things over: "Qingqing, don't scare your dad. He has worked hard all day just to celebrate the New Year for me and your grandpa..."
At this moment, grandpa's voice came from the side: "Be careful, it's hot..."
It turned out that he was walking out of the kitchen carrying a steamed fish plate.
Li Ziqiang handed the phone to his mother-in-law and rearranged the dishes on the dining table to make room for his father-in-law to put steamed fish.
The grandmother took a cell phone and took a picture of this scene for Li Qingqing to see, and then she came into the picture and waved to her granddaughter: "There are fish every year, Qingqing!"
"There are fish every year, grandma!"
Li Qingqing, who was thousands of miles away, smiled happily as he looked at his grandfather and father who were busy on the phone, and his grandmother waving to him.
※※※
After finishing the video call with Li Qingqing, Li Ziqiang accompanied the two elderly people to their seats. He first poured a glass of wine for his father-in-law, then a glass of juice for his mother-in-law, and finally poured a glass of wine for himself.
After putting the bottle back, he picked up his wine glass and said to the two old people: "Dad, Mom, another year has passed and I won't be able to visit you often. You must take good care of your health..."
"Sit down and talk, sit down and talk." His father-in-law waved his hand to him and motioned for him to sit down. "I know you are busy at work, so you don't need to worry about us. Your mother and I are used to it. We take good care of ourselves. But you
My parents... let’s take Qingqing back there to celebrate the New Year next year.”
Li Ziqiang shook his head and said firmly: "My parents all know this, and they understand it. Just have a video chat with them later. I will go back tomorrow. I will definitely celebrate the New Year with you today!"
Seeing this, the father-in-law sighed: "Thank you for your hard work..."
The mother-in-law clicked her tongue next to her: "It's the Chinese New Year, so don't talk about this."
Then he picked up his own juice and said to Li Ziqiang: "I wish you a successful career in the new year and lead Dongchuan Middle School to win the championship!"
After saying that, she took a big sip of juice.
My father-in-law also picked up the small wine glass and drank half of it.
"Whatever you want..."
But Li Ziqiang still poured the white wine from the glass into his throat despite the persuasion of his two elders.
While he was grinning at the pain, the sound of celebratory music came from the TV, the lights flashed on the gorgeous stage, and the Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Ox began.
In the small living room, Hu Lai picked up a cup with a drink and said to his parents: "Mom, Dad, Happy Chinese New Year!"
"Happy Chinese New Year, son!"
"Happy Chinese New Year, study hard..."
"Tsk, Lixin, didn't you agree not to mention studying?"
"cough……"
At this moment, countless people in countless families across China raised their cups.
Singing was singing on the TV, and people were drinking and drinking at the dinner table.
There were bright fireworks rising outside the window and suddenly exploding in the night sky.
Bang - bang!
The sound of fireworks bursting was drowned in the laughter and laughter of thousands of households.