In the evening, Li Zhengguo apologized to his wife. He just wanted Zhang Fangcao to fulfill her last wish and truly didn't intentionally hide this from his wife.
Tian Jing twisted his ear: "What else are you hiding from me? You received a call from an old lover and didn't say a word?"
Li Zhengguo quickly protested: "Wife, I didn't receive her call. I, I tucked a note into her last paycheck."
Tian Jing tightened her grip on his ear, the twist increasing in amplitude: "Alright, you dared to secretly slip her a note?"
Li Zhengguo gently pulled his wife's not-so-painful earlobe from her grasp, turned around, and embraced her:
"I don't know if it's old age, but looking back, I feel some of the things I did back then were too extreme."
"She doesn't have much time left, and we also promised to let her see the four children."
Tian Jing chided: "Haven't you gotten old before?"
Li Zhengguo lowered his head: "Gotten old again. My heart has aged along with my body."
"I don't know if after bidding farewell to this world this time, I'll be able to reunite with you next time."
"While we still have time, let's get more familiar with each other's scent."
After being carried to bed and kissed for half the night, Tian Jing, who had been playfully pinching him in annoyance, wondered if this was what being old felt like.
Li Zhengguo still had a reason: "A person doesn't get old, but I have to keep up."
...
The next day, Tian Jing naturally slept in.
Ouyang Meihua chuckled.
Tian Jing glared at her.
She leaned closer: "Your village chief Li's capabilities are very strong."
"Pah!" Tian Jing spat at her: "Did you eavesdrop?"
"No, no, no." Ouyang Meihua shook her head: "Village Chief Li got up to boil water, and he even got up early to fetch water. Everyone in the courtyard saw it."
Tian Jing covered her face.
Ouyang Meihua grabbed her hand: "If your Hao Hao were more promising, you could already be a grandmother."
"Back then, weren't there many mothers-in-law giving birth alongside their daughters-in-law? It's human nature, don't worry, no one will say anything about you."
"Go away!" Tian Jing pushed her: "Aren't you talking about me? You're doing this on purpose. I'm going to tell Village Chief Li to find his older brother."
"No, no, no." Ouyang Meihua quickly begged for mercy: "I was teasing you. No one saw Village Chief Li fetching water, really. I should go change Yuanyuan's diaper."
Watching Ouyang Meihua disappear in a flash, Tian Jing was filled with anger with nowhere to vent, so she could only gulp down a bowl of porridge.
...
The village distributed the money with great fanfare.
Villagers went into the city to buy New Year's goods and some appliances they had long desired.
Li Zhengguo accompanied them to the city and purchased the "four major pieces": color TV, refrigerator, washing machine, and air conditioner.
Seeing the washing machine, Zeng Jingliang exclaimed at Village Chief Li's benevolence, knowing how difficult it was for him to wash clothes and diapers.
Li Zhengguo pushed one of the washing machines towards him: "Take it to the back courtyard, it's solely for your daughter. I'm concerned about Yuanyuan's clothes and diapers drying slowly; why should I be concerned about your hands?"
Zeng Jingliang extended his hands, covered in frostbite, and asked Village Chief Li to help him carry it.
A Feng shyly thanked Li Zhengguo, feeling she had caused trouble for the second uncle's family.
Li Zhengguo waved his hand: "We're family, why be so polite? Take Yuanyuan to the second courtyard, the air conditioner will be installed here soon."
A Feng became even more embarrassed: "The room has a kang, we don't need air conditioning, right?"
Li Zhengguo's concern was genuinely for the children, not the adults: "You don't need it, but Yuanyuan does. Are you going to have her stay on the kang all winter? Stop talking nonsense and take her out quickly."
Zeng Jingliang reached out to scoop up his daughter: "Village Chief Li is right. Besides, he's installing it in his own house."
A Feng lightly patted her husband's arm, thinking he was too impolite.
Apart from the air conditioner installation taking some time, the washing machine and refrigerator only needed a test run.
As for the color TV, hehe, Village Chief Li scratched his head: "A mistake. Next spring, the whole village will have cable TV."
"Let's also apply for running water."
Tian Jing's suggestion was agreed to by Li Zhengguo: "It's also inconvenient for the hot spring valley to get water. We'll build a large reservoir on the mountain north of the lake valley."
Next year's plans were settled in a few words by Village Chief Li and Team Leader Tian.
...
On New Year's Eve, the courtyard was in a festive uproar.
Because three young men who were usually away from home had returned.
Ouyang Meihua grabbed her eldest son: "You're only returning today, when are you going to see your maternal grandfather?"
Li Weiyan didn't want to argue with his mother during the New Year and replied obediently: "I'll go on the second day of the new year, alright?"
Ouyang Meihua was also decisive: "Fine! Your grandfather is old, he can't wait for you year after year."
Li Weihao and his brother quietly stayed by their grandmother and mother's side, helping the two women they loved most.
Li's mother, while chopping vegetables, asked: "Hao Hao, after the New Year, Xiao Fu will propose. You'll be twenty-one after the New Year, have you found a girl you like?"
Li Weihao: "..." No wonder the brothers in the team disliked going home. As soon as they got home, they faced pressure to get married.
"Grandma, I won't consider marriage until I'm twenty-five. If Grandma thinks it's not good, then you can just pick one for me, and I'll marry her directly."
"Get out! You sly kid." Grandma Li lightly admonished her grandson: "You know very well that Grandma would never force you into a loveless marriage, yet you speak to me like that."
"If you don't want to look, just wait. At the latest by twenty-five, alright? If you still haven't found someone, Grandma will personally find a wife for you."
"Alright, alright, alright." Li Weihao repeatedly agreed.
Grandma Li turned to her third grandson: "Xiao Bo, what about you?"
Li Weibo: "..."
He was only nineteen! It was all Fu Ge's fault.
So, after replying "The same as Big Brother," he went to find his Fu Ge and cause trouble.
Chen Fu was being gently punched by his cousin, and he didn't understand why his cousin was throwing a tantrum.
Li Weibo, angry, put more force into his punches until Chen Fu cried out in pain, then he lessened his strength:
"You're not going out, you're staying home to be a farmer. Fine, we didn't force you, right? But you're thinking about love and lust so early, what are we supposed to do?"
Chen Fu grabbed his cousin's fists: "Do you know how effeminate you sound? Like a little girl throwing a tantrum."
"Pah!" Li Weibo exerted force and lifted him, weighing over a hundred catties, into the air:
"Tell me, how should I hit you?"
His cousin effortlessly lifted him, weighing over a hundred catties?
Chen Fu quickly begged for mercy: "I was wrong, put me down."
After being put down, Chen Fu patted his chest, and only then did he understand the gap between himself and his cousins.
It was no wonder that his cousins had been in the army for several years and hadn't returned. Now, it seemed they might remain soldiers for life.
He tidied his clothes and sat down: "I know you're definitely being pressured to get married. But aren't ordinary people supposed to earn money and procreate? I'm trying very hard to be an ordinary person."
"Quibbling!" Li Weibo sat down opposite him: "You've learned to be bad, the honest and simple Fu Ge is gone."
Chen Fu scratched his head: "I have to deal with all sorts of guests, I can't not learn a thing or two."
The cousins then began discussing the business of the hot spring valley.
Li Weibo greatly admired his father. If it were him, even knowing that the hot spring valley could attract tourists, he wouldn't dare to borrow ten million yuan.
Li Weihao, after helping to pick the vegetables, was sent out of the kitchen by his grandmother. As soon as he entered his cousin's room, he overheard his second brother's lament.
He patted his second brother's shoulder: "The pressure to marry is just something to avoid for a few years. Have you thought about our parents' careers?"