Time flies, and fifteen years have passed since Zhang Chongxin passed away.
In the past fifteen years, too many major events have occurred in the Federation, but they basically had little impact on the old Zhang family, and their lives were generally stable.
This year is Zhang Hao's fourth and final term as consul. In March next year, he will officially hand over the baton.
It is now the end of August, and the next term of office will only last for a little more than half a year.
In the consul's mansion, Zhang Guoxin, the grown-up Guoguo, rushed into her father's office like a gust of wind.
Xiao Huang, the consul's assistant who had only been in office for half a year, had no reaction at all and was already used to it.
Seriously speaking, in the entire Archon's Mansion, this little devil is the only one who behaves like this. Others either don't dare or are sensible enough.
"Dad, you have to help me make the decision."
Hearing his precious daughter's voice, Zhang Hao immediately put on a smile: "What's wrong? Did Little Fat Tiger and the others make your aunt angry again?"
In the past fifteen years, in addition to their successful careers, their eldest son and second son's two daughters-in-law have also not relaxed in having children, and have given him three grandchildren and three granddaughters one after another.
Among them, Zhang Guoxuan has a total of four children, two sons and two daughters; Zhang Guoji has two sons and one daughter.
There are three main reasons why the brothers had so many children:
First of all, the government has been vigorously promoting more children and more children in recent years. As the first family of the Federation, it is natural to set an example and not fall behind others;
Secondly, the Zhang Guoji brothers were originally born in a large family, and their grandparents have been nagging them for many years, so they are not opposed to having children;
Last but not least, the sisters-in-law Mihui Mitsui and Guan Tong, one is married for the second time and the other is from a low background. Both of them have a strong sense of crisis, so they both want to stabilize their marriage by having more children.
As for the effect, it is still very obvious. At least the two husbands have hardly had any scandals.
On the contrary, the two brothers-in-law are perfect negative examples. The two brothers did not want to get married at all. In order to cope with their mother-in-law's urging to get married, they even gave birth to several illegitimate children, which caused the old Zhang family to lose face.
Closer to home, Zhang Guoxin came directly behind her father and took the initiative to help him press his shoulders.
"Dad, this time it has nothing to do with Little Fat Tiger and the others."
Speaking of the eldest brother and the second brother, one is the mayor of Xinfeng Island and the other runs a company in Minde. They rarely come back, but several nephews and nieces stay in the capital, mainly to accompany their great-grandmother.
The old lady is already ninety years old, and she likes to be lively. No one dares to be disobedient and unfilial.
Zhang Hao put down the pen in his hand, picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea: "Stop being so pretentious, tell me, what is it?"
"Dad, please promise me first before I can say anything."
Zhang Guoxin said coquettishly.
"Okay, dad promised you, just tell me now!"
Zhang Hao said without hesitation.
"Hmm..." Zhang Guoxin excitedly kissed her father hard on the face, "Dad, you are so good."
Zhang Hao immediately pretended to be disgusted, stretched out his hand to wipe the saliva on his face: "You are now a big girl, you have to pay attention to your image, and don't do this again in the future."
"Huh, I don't care about what outsiders think. Dad, don't worry, I will always be your little cotton-padded jacket."
Zhang Guoxuan said nonchalantly.
Zhang Hao waved his hand and brought the topic back: "Dad is very busy at work and has no time to play around with you. Stop rambling and get down to business."
Zhang Guoxin immediately put away his smiling face and said straight to the point: "Dad, I don't want to go to college anymore. I want to apply for a job as a panda keeper at the zoo."
The eldest girl is just eighteen years old this year, which is the age to go to college, and the school has been decided.
"What?" Zhang Hao's expression changed and he refused without hesitation: "No, this is absolutely not possible."
Although he dotes on his daughter, he is not confused in his head. Of course he knows the truth that "parents love their children, and they have far-reaching plans." How could he allow his daughter to do such things?
"Dad...you just promised me."
Zhang Guoxin pouted her mouth.
"What dad just said doesn't count."
"How could this be? Dad, you are a consul, shouldn't you be consistent in your words?"
Zhang Hao said angrily: "Don't be clever with Dad, there is no need to discuss this matter."
"Wow, Dad, if you do this, I'll be angry."
Zhang Guoxin said angrily.
When Zhang Hao saw this, his heart suddenly softened: "My dear daughter, don't be angry. Dad is doing this for your own good. Why are you disobedient?"
"It's really good for me. Then I should be allowed to go to the zoo. Dad, you don't know. I have wanted to raise a giant panda myself since I was a child."
"That's your hobby, not a career. You have to understand the reality and don't act randomly."
Zhang Hao said sincerely.
He really didn't expect that his little daughter had been harboring this problem in her heart.
About ten years ago, an animated movie about pandas was released. After watching it, Little Cotton Jacket immediately clamored to get a giant panda as a mount.
Although Zhang Hao was a consul and his family was not short of money, he still couldn't satisfy his daughter's "little" wish. In the end, he talked it over and accompanied his daughter to the panda house several times before the matter was settled.
Unexpectedly, it has been revealed again.
Zhang Guoxin retorted on the spot: "Dad, tell me, why can't a hobby be a career?"
"Well, it's not impossible. When you graduate from college, you can do whatever you want."
Zhang Hao was almost confused by himself.
"Why should I go to college? Can't I just go to the zoo and apply for a job?"
"Going to college can learn a lot of professional knowledge and skills, and you can also meet many new friends. It is an essential stage in life..."
Zhang Guoxin hurriedly interrupted: "Dad, stop giving me chicken soup. The college admission rate is so low that most of the students will not be able to get into college. According to what you said, what do you want other students to do?"
"Don't be ignorant of your blessings. Others don't have the conditions. If you have the conditions, ask your classmates if they are willing to go to college?"
"I don't care what other people do. Anyway, I don't want to go to college, so just promise me. Besides, I don't like music majors either. It would be a waste of time to go there."
Zhang Guoxin shook his father's arm.
Zhang Hao looked helpless: "Then you didn't tell me earlier? When I asked you what major you wanted to major in, you immediately chose music. I thought you liked music?"
"My mother helped me choose that."
Zhang Guoxin pouted.
"Okay, it's not too late to change your major now. You have decided what major you want to study. I will give you a call later." Zhang Hao couldn't help but sigh.
Zhang Guoxin suddenly became anxious after hearing this:
"Dad, why are you like this? I told you I don't want to go to college."
Zhang Hao suddenly had an idea: "Don't you want to be a panda breeder? Dad will help you choose a major related to panda breeding, so that you can get the best of both worlds."
“Does raising pandas still require professionalism?”
Zhang Guoxin said hesitantly.
In fact, her academic performance was very poor. The reason why she wanted to be a panda breeder was to avoid studying.
"It's not necessary. If you don't believe it, you can check the recruitment information posted by the zoo online. Even the most basic positions have professional requirements."
Zhang Hao patiently advised.
Zhang Guoxin frowned, her tone full of impatience: "Dad, I really don't want to go to college."
"Everything else can be discussed, but not this matter."
Zhang Hao said without wavering.
Zhang Guoxin's face suddenly fell and she said harshly: "Huh, it doesn't matter if you disagree. I'll go find my grandma. My grandma loves me the most."
"It's no use looking for your grandma. Although your grandma is old, she is still clear-headed and won't follow you into mischief. If you don't believe me, go ahead and try."
"Let's do this..." Seeing that his daughter was unhappy, Zhang Hao softened his heart again, so he took a step back: "Stop being sulky, dad allows you to work part-time while studying."
“What is work-study?”
Zhang Guoxin asked curiously.
"Work-study means that you can go to the zoo part-time as a panda keeper after studying. Whether you agree or not, this is dad's last condition."
Zhang Hao toughened his heart and issued an ultimatum.
Zhang Guoxin hesitated for a moment and tried to ask: "Can you give me some time to think about it?"
"Of course it's no problem. Just call me before school starts and I'll have someone help you handle the relevant procedures."
Zhang Hao smiled and nodded.
"Okay! Dad, I'm going out and I won't disturb your work."
Zhang Guoxin seemed to have lost his vitality.
Zhang Hao looked at his youngest daughter's back and subconsciously comforted her: "Don't be discouraged. College is not as scary as you think. It's very free. You'll know when you go there."
Zhang Guoxin did not speak, but waved his hand without looking back, indicating that he understood.
"Oh, the little cotton-padded jacket has finally grown up and knows how to confront daddy."
Zhang Hao couldn't help but muttered.
…
After leaving her father's office, Zhang Guoxin turned around and went to her grandma to seek some comfort.
"Huh? Third brother, when did you come back?"
Zhang Guodong looked at his little sister and replied with a smile: "We just got home not long ago. Did you go to dad's place just now?"
After their grandfather passed away, they and their grandmother moved directly into the government residence, and they have lived here for more than ten years, and have long regarded this place as their real home.
"Well, dad was just telling you to set a good example for me and get married as soon as possible."
Zhang Guoxin joked casually.
Zhang Guodong rolled his eyes on the spot and said angrily: "You want to lie to me? If my guess is correct, you should have made up this yourself, right?"
Over the years, he has long understood his father's thoughts. His father neither approves of the brothers' unmarried status, but does not explicitly object to it either.
To describe it in one word, it is default.
"Third brother, to tell you the truth, I didn't make up these words. They were my mother's original words. If you don't believe me, ask grandma. Grandma can testify for me."
Zhang Guoxin stepped forward and took her grandma's arm.
Li Dajuan immediately echoed: "An'an, your sister didn't lie. Your mother did say this. You are not young anymore. Listen to grandma and get married as soon as possible.
Even if you don’t think about yourself, you still have to think about your two children, right? Do you want them to have the bad reputation of being illegitimate all their lives?”
After the old lady finished speaking, she glanced with pity at her great-grandson and great-granddaughter who were playing not far away.
"Grandma..." Zhang Guodong smiled bitterly, "What era are we in? There are so many people giving birth to children out of wedlock in today's society. How can there be discrimination?"
In the past ten years, as the climate has become colder and colder, the entire society has been filled with a sense of despair, which is reflected in specific events, such as the plummeting marriage rate.
Of course, it may also be a side effect of socialized upbringing. Once people lose the sense of urgency to raise children, marriage seems to become more and more dispensable.
Here is a brief introduction. After more than ten years of continuous efforts, socialized parenting has finally achieved phased results. The mainland, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand have finally fully realized socialized parenting.
Uh, it seems that I said it too much.
Seriously speaking, socialized parenting is indeed not 100% successful. At least the current socialized parenting still adopts the principle of voluntariness.
This is also the most efficient solution currently.
Because of this, foster care centers in various places have gradually turned into public welfare institutions with a rescue nature, completely deviating from the original idea.
This is probably the gap between reality and ideal!
Faced with the "nonsense" of her third grandson, Li Dajuan couldn't help but patted the other person's arm: "You don't even want to listen to grandma? Are you?"
"Grandma, that's not what I meant."
Zhang Guodong smiled.
"Then get married quickly?"
Li Dajuan quickly urged.
Counting from the day of her eldest grandson's wedding, Lao Zhang's family had not held a wedding for fifteen years, and her patience was almost exhausted.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Zhang Guodong was helpless and could only cast a look for help to his little sister. The little sister was the baby of the whole family, and sometimes words were more effective than him.
Zhang Guoxin thought of how good her third brother was to her, and immediately helped her out: "Grandma, actually what third brother said is right. There are better people to get married, and there are better people not to get married. We don't have to force it.
Third brother is getting married."
"Nonsense, what's the benefit of not getting married?"
Li Dajuan laughed and cursed.
"It's not obvious. If you don't get married, you can find more wives... No, it should be partners. Even if a partner only has one child, the total is more than..." Zhang Guoxin said forcefully.
"Stop talking." Li Dajuan hurriedly interrupted, "You are a little girl, you are not ashamed, but you have never heard so many fallacies?"
"What's this? Isn't this how it's done in TV dramas?" Leslie Cheung said boldly.
Li Dajuan sighed, and then nagged: "When I have time later, I will have a good talk with your dad and let him take charge of the TV station. You can't broadcast all the bad TV series outside. It will affect the children too easily."
"Grandma, things are different now. I eavesdropped on my dad's meeting, and my dad said it himself. The marriage rate is not important now. What's important is the fertility rate, which means having more children."
"Isn't this just messing around?"
The old lady was a little unconvinced.
Zhang Guoxin said in a strange way: "Hey, you, old man, touch your conscience and say, do you want a grandson-in-law, or seven or eight great-grandsons?"
"..." The old lady stopped talking immediately.
"Hehe..." Zhang Guoxin chuckled, "What? Did I tell you right?"
Li Dajuan glanced at her third grandson, and then waved her hand: "Forget it, they say that children and grandchildren will have their own blessings. Grandma can't control it even if she wants to. You can figure it out yourself!"
"Grandma, don't worry, I will definitely give you a few more great-grandsons and great-granddaughters."
Zhang Guodong immediately expressed his stance.
After saying that, he secretly gave a thumbs up to his little sister. This reason was indeed very powerful.