Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei returned to Jichun in January 1978, and no one informed them.
After getting off the train, the two planned to go back to meet Hao Dongmei's parents first, and then visit Li Suhua.
What they didn't expect was that they saw Wang Gang as soon as they got out of the train station.
"Brother, sister-in-law." Wang Gang pushed his bicycle and walked to Zhou Bingyi.
"Bingkun, why are you here?" Zhou Bingyi felt a little unnatural when he saw Zhou Bingkun, and lost a bit of the joy of seeing Zhou Bingkun again after a long separation.
"Dad sent a telegram and told me the train number for your return," Wang Gang said.
Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei looked at each other, and Hao Dongmei said: "Bingkun, we didn't want to trouble you to pick him up."
Wang Gang smiled and said, "Did my sister-in-law's parents send a car?"
A black car drove slowly and parked on the side of the road. It had a public license plate.
Hao Dongmei was a little embarrassed.
Zhou Bingyi said: "Bingkun, you go home first, your sister-in-law and I will go over to see our mother later."
Wang Gang took out a piece of paper and handed it to Zhou Bingyi and said: "I have moved. This is the new address. I came here this time just to be afraid that you would go back to the wrong place."
"Have you bought a house again?" Zhou Bingyi took the note.
"I bought a bigger house so that the whole family can live together." Wang Gang got on his bicycle and said, "If you go home for dinner, you should have it at my sister-in-law's place."
Zhou Bingyi said subconsciously: "Go home and eat."
Wang Gang nodded and rode off.
Zhou Bingyi looked at his younger brother's leaving figure, a little dazed.
He felt that during this meeting, the brothers were obviously divided, and there was an indescribable barrier.
"Bingyi, the car sent by my father has arrived, let's go home first!" Hao Dongmei pulled her husband's arm.
"Ah, oh, okay!" Zhou Bingyi came back to his senses and got into the car with Hao Dongmei.
Wang Gang was riding a bicycle when a black car whizzed past him. Through the car window, he saw Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei cuddling together, talking and laughing.
Shaking his head, Wang Gang stepped on his feet hard and soon returned home.
After entering the door, Wang Gang saw Li Suhua standing at the door with a crutch. When he saw Wang Gang coming back alone, disappointment immediately appeared on his face.
"Mom, my sister-in-law's parents sent a car to pick them up at the train station." Wang Gang parked the car and said, "Brother said he would come back in the evening."
Li Suhua said disappointedly: "Your sister-in-law hasn't seen her parents for more than ten years, so she wants to say hello first."
Wang Gang supported Li Suhua, walked into the room, and said, "Mom, what do you think about going to the capital with us?"
"You and Juan'er go to school, why should I go?" Li Suhua said, "I'd better stay in Jichun!"
Wang Gang said: "Mom, you are alone in Jichun, how can I rest assured?"
Li Suhua smiled and said: "You are alone, you have forgotten that your sister-in-law was admitted to Jichun's school."
Wang Gang pursed his lips and said: "My sister-in-law will definitely live with her own parents when she returns to Jichun. You can't live in her natal family!"
Li Suhua said nonchalantly: "Dongmei married into our Zhou family, so naturally she came to live with us. How she can live back in her parents' family is a joke."
Wang Gang saw that Li Suhua still naively thought that Hao Dongmei could live with her, and he couldn't bear to hit her.
"Mom, please be mentally prepared! When my eldest brother comes back this time, he will definitely tell you about staying at my sister-in-law's house."
Li Suhua suddenly stopped and said with an unhappy look: "Bingkun, don't talk nonsense, your eldest brother is not a heretic son-in-law."
Wang Gang sighed: "Mom, tell me, if my sister-in-law lives with you, where will you live? Will you return the photo?"
Even if the sister-in-law is willing, would her parents be willing for their daughter to go to Guangzi Film and suffer hardship?"
Li Suhua was stunned. She really had never thought about this. In her mind, Hao Dongmei married Zhou Bingyi and was the Zhou family's daughter-in-law.
"Mom, please be patient! Sister Dongmei's parents were in trouble before, so our two families could get married." Wang Gang comforted:
"Now that Senior Official Hao has resumed his original position, things are different for Sister Dongmei. It's hard to say whether this family can continue to operate."
Li Suhua has completely come back to her senses now.
"You mean Dongmei's parents will regret their marriage?" Li Suhua asked.
Wang Gang shook his head and said: "Repenting of the marriage may not be the case, but dissatisfaction with my daughter's marriage is absolute. Otherwise, how long have they been back in Jichun? Why don't they want to meet their in-laws once?"
Li Suhua opened her mouth in surprise, wanting to refute her son, but she couldn't find a reason.
"Let me think about it!" Li Suhua said with a sullen face and went back to her room to think about Wang Gang's words.
After Li Suhua left, Zheng Juan came over and said, "Isn't it good for you to hit Mom like this?"
Wang Gang shook his head and said: "Mom actually knew it, she just didn't want to admit it. After Hao Gaoguan returned to Jichun, didn't mom ask me to clean the house? She was just thinking about meeting the in-laws."
Zheng Juan sighed: "I'm worried about mom's blood pressure."
"It's okay. Do you think Mom has any signs of high blood pressure?" Wang Gang said, "Actually, I've checked on Mom these past few days, and she'll be fine if she figures it out."
Zheng Juan nodded and understood that long-term pain is worse than short-term pain. Now that Wang Gang has pointed it out, when Zhou Bingyi takes over his wife's house, the blow to Li Suhua will be less.
"You should also pack your things. You will go to the capital to report in a few days." Wang Gang said to Zheng Juan.
"Are we really going to move to the capital?" Zheng Juan asked hesitantly.
"After four years of college, I can't live without moving to the capital. I have written to Zhou Rong and asked her to help find a house." Wang Gang said, "We will rent a house for the time being and wait until we have the opportunity to buy a courtyard house."
Zheng Juan rolled her eyes at Wang Gang and said, "I think you are addicted to buying a house, and you are in a panic when you have money."
Wang Gang smiled and said: "Believe me, the value of the courtyard house will definitely increase in the future, and we won't lose money if we buy one."
Zheng Juan said angrily: "It's up to you! Anyway, you earned the money, I can't stop you from using it however you want.
By the way, there is another letter from the newspaper, saying that they will send someone to the capital to discuss with you the royalties for the third part of The Condor, as well as the publication of the first part."
Six months ago, the serialization of The Condor came to an end, and the newspaper bought the rights to serialize the second installment of The Condor from Wang Gang for a fee of 80 per thousand words.
Now Wang Gang has nearly 100,000 yuan, so Zheng Juan has no objection to him buying a house.
After The Condor is published, Wang Gang can still get a copyright fee, which may be much higher than the manuscript fee.
Anyway, during the four years of college, their family didn't have to worry about money even if they had nothing to do.
Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei arrived at Wang Gang's house at seven o'clock in the evening. They came by car.
When Li Suhua saw her eldest son and daughter-in-law, she was happy but also worried.
Originally, the whole family was waiting for Zhou Bingyi to have dinner, but Zhou Bingyi said that he had eaten at Hao Dongmei's parents' house. Li Suhua's face became dark at that time.
"Brother, didn't you say you would come back for dinner? Mom has been waiting for you and you haven't eaten yet." Wang Gang also said a little unhappy.
Zhou Bingyi held Li Suhua's hand and said apologetically: "Mom, I'm sorry, Dongmei's parents rarely see us and insist on keeping us for dinner."
Wang Gang frowned and said, "Brother, you should send someone over with a message."
Zhou Bingyi said awkwardly: "Maybe I was so happy to meet again that I forgot. Also, you don't have a phone number at home, so it's not convenient to notify you."
Wang Gang noticed that Zhou Bingyi had begun to favor Hao Dongmei's parents.
"Okay, since you have eaten, let's eat it ourselves!" Li Suhua stamped her cane on the ground, deciding in one word.
Zhou Bingyi also noticed that his mother was angry and wanted to apologize, but Hao Dongmei spoke first.
"Mom, I'm sorry. I haven't seen my parents for a long time, and I got a little carried away. I had to drag Bingyi, so I came back late."
When Li Suhua saw Hao Dongmei saying this, what else could she say? Did she really care?
"After you have eaten, you can drink some soup with us. Juan'er killed an old hen early in the morning and stewed it for a long time."
Hao Dongmei nodded and said, "Okay, let's get some soup."
Zheng Juan ran to the kitchen and filled a bowl of chicken soup for Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei.
The family sat down and had a meal in silence.
After the meal, Li Suhua asked Zhou Bingyi: "You will stay here tonight. There are many rooms in the house, which is enough."
Zhou Bingyi said with some embarrassment: "We promised Dongmei's parents that we would go back to sleep tonight, and the driver has been waiting for us outside."
Li Suhua's face was extremely gloomy, but she said: "In that case, let's go!"
Wang Gang had given Li Suhua a lesson before, and she wasn't too surprised. She just lost all enthusiasm for her eldest son and daughter-in-law, and went back to her room in low spirits.
Zhou Bingyi felt very guilty and said to Wang Gang: "Bingkun, I really want to live here, but Dongmei's parents are so kind that I can't refuse!"
Wang Gang sneered and said: "Brother, you are free to live wherever you want, why are you so hypocritical."
Zhou Bingyi's expression changed and he said, "Bingkun, what do you mean?"
