yournovel Chapter 212 Yuanfang, what do you think?
Chapter 212 Yuanfang, what do you think?
Chapter 212 Yuanfang, what do you think?
After leaving the city, the density of streetlights decreased significantly, and the intervals between each streetlight were accompanied by a short stretch of deep darkness.
The interplay of light and shadow, the warm air from inside the car brushing against her cheeks, made Yu Huan yawn involuntarily.
At this point, my perception of time is no longer as sharp.
With wide eyes, I forced myself to stay until I reached my doorstep, then slowly turned the steering wheel to the right.
Two beams of light pierced the darkness of the flat ground.
Yu Huan saw that the windows on both sides of the front door were lit, indicating that everyone in the family was home.
After turning off the engine, I got out of the car carrying my KFC.
Amidst the alternating heat and cold, the increasingly biting wind in the countryside made him shiver, finally rousing him.
At that moment, the front door opened slightly.
Yu Chengcheng squeezed out sideways.
She looked at Yu Huan, her large, clear eyes wide open: "Brother Huan, you're back! How come you got here so quickly, only an hour?"
"You're talking with your lungs again."
Yu Huan joked, while lifting the plastic bag high into the air:
"Here you go, the family bucket you wanted, it should still be warm."
"okay!"
Yu Chengcheng stepped forward excitedly and took the heavy bag.
She grabbed the bag by one handle in each hand, opened it, and looked inside. She found a family bucket of instant noodles and some other cardboard boxes.
A huge bag, completely full.
"Why did you buy so much? You really can't finish it all, can you?"
Yu Huan turned around and opened the back door: "Call Yaowen over."
"He went to his younger brother and sister-in-law's house in Yancheng."
"Oh."
Yu Huan nodded slightly, indicating that she understood.
He picked up the gift bag containing Moutai liquor and closed the car door.
The door light suddenly turned on.
The dimly lit front yard suddenly became brighter.
Teacher Wu peeked out from the slightly ajar door: "Oh, Huanhuan's back?"
"Fourth Aunt, I taught Grandpa how to make video calls before—"
Yu Chengcheng shrugged and playfully began to complain:
"We had to call him back from all sides, it's not like we don't have a car!"
Yu Huan remotely locked the car door: "That's an exaggeration! I'm just going to Guangzhou to visit your sister-in-law this weekend."
Teacher Wu nodded.
She picked up where Yu Chengcheng left off, teasingly saying, "Chengzi is right. Now that he has a wife, he's almost forgotten his mother. He doesn't even call her once a day, let alone your grandfather, that old geezer."
"I'm just too busy, it's impossible for me to forget!" Yu Huan walked a few steps to the front of the car.
In the dim light, Teacher Wu caught a glimpse of the Moutai liquor bag in his hand and exclaimed in surprise, "Moutai?"
“My uncle and I were at a dinner party outside, and we had a bottle left over. They let me take it with me, and I brought it back specifically for my grandfather.”
Yu Huan lifted the gift bag high with one hand and patted it with the other, saying:
"How was it? Putting everything else aside, I think I did a pretty good job showing filial piety, right?"
The voice just fell.
The front door was suddenly pushed open, and the old man swaggered to the entrance: "What? Moutai!?"
“That’s right!” Yu Huan said firmly.
Teacher Wu, standing to one side, couldn't help but laugh out loud, and gently urged, "Alright, alright, don't stand at the door in the cold wind, come inside quickly."
"Yes! Come to my room to talk!" The old man rubbed his hands together with a look of anticipation and turned around first.
Yu Huan noticed that Old Yu hadn't shown up for a while, and casually asked, "Mom, where's Dad?"
"He's gone to play cards." Teacher Wu stood behind the door, waiting for him to come in and close the door.
"Oh."
Yu Huan nodded slightly and took a step.
The old man's room was brightly lit and about 30 square meters in size. The rectangular space looked quite spacious.
On the left side of the entrance, there is a brand-new, gleaming old bicycle.
The old man cherished it very much, and would often wipe it clean to prevent it from getting dusty.
Yu Huan turned to the right.
On an old-fashioned TV cabinet against the wall, there is a small LCD TV, and the CCTV news broadcast is playing on the screen.
This made Yu Huan, who was forcing herself to stay awake, realize that it was still very early, not yet 7:30.
Diagonally opposite the TV cabinet is a bed, next to which is a rocking chair, and on the other side of the rocking chair is a small bamboo chair.
It must have been Yu Chengcheng who moved in earlier, sitting here to keep the old man company.
Apart from the four-door boxwood wardrobe at the very back and the complete boxwood dressing table with a high stool in the corner, the overall setup is quite simple.
Yu Huan noticed the old man glancing left and right at his hand.
With a wry smile, she handed him the gift bag and said, "Grandpa, this isn't just any Moutai; it's for the factory's 60th anniversary!"
The old man took the gift bag, plopped down in his rocking chair, and eagerly peered inside.
The bright red and golden wine box made him look suspicious.
All the bells and whistles!
Yu Huan simply lay sprawled across the old man's bed.
Seeing Yu Chengcheng carrying a bag in one hand and pulling over a bamboo chair with the other, placing the KFC on the chair, and looking expectantly ready to start eating.
Seeing his impatient manner, Yu Huan couldn't help but tease him:
"Doesn't the US have KFC?"
"That's two different things! You know how bad my mom's cooking is, so little salt and oil, it's so bland it's like food has no leaves!" Yu Chengcheng swallowed a chicken piece in one gulp, chewing it with relish.
She chewed and chewed, then looked at Teacher Wu, who was standing with her hands on her hips and smiling, and said, "Fourth Aunt, you should eat some too. Huan-ge bought too much; he probably can't finish it all!"
"Oh? There's still food you can't finish?"
The old man chuckled as he replied, then turned to look at Yu Huan on the bed, changing the subject abruptly:
"Is this genuine Moutai?"
“Genuine, no doubt about it!” Yu Huan put his hands behind his head and said casually, “Open the box and take a look. Common Moutai bottles are white with red caps and red ribbons, but this bottle is gold and red. It must be worth several thousand yuan a bottle.”
Ms. Wu was gnawing on a chicken wing when she looked at Yu Huan on the bed and asked, "Who did you and You Rong's uncle eat with? And why did you drink such expensive wine?"
"Both of these real estate tycoons travel in Rolls-Royces with their chauffeurs." Yu Huan looked up at the ceiling and yawned comfortably.
The aroma of fried chicken wafted through the air, but I had absolutely no desire to eat it.
I'm really tired.
Upon hearing that Teacher Wu seemed to have asked something again, he simply closed his eyes slowly.
The world instantly went dark.
……
Under the same sky.
Chen Yaoyao, who has been busy with client-side projects lately, is living a busy and fulfilling life every day.
Taking a shaky bus to and from get off work and not getting home until seven or eight o'clock every night has become her daily routine.
After entering the house, she didn't even have the energy to greet her parents who were watching TV in the living room.
He silently walked into his room and slumped into his computer chair.
I felt as if all my energy had been drained, and I was in a brief state of blankness.
After a short rest, Chen Yaoyao picked up her phone and opened the Weibo app.
Her finger slid lightly across the screen, browsing the trending topic #The Leader of Jiangnan Morning Post is Too Handsome#.
Suddenly I saw the trending Weibo post about 'Your Little Bear'.
Those who rarely post on Weibo but were usually lurking couldn't help but share their honest opinions in the comments section this time:
"As a member of the Jiangnan Morning Post's new media department, let me correct you: our leader isn't actually 1.85 meters tall; his actual height is only 1.83 meters!"
After clicking send, she felt a strange sense of ease and pleasure.
When your boss becomes a trending topic because he's handsome, you can't help but feel a sense of participation.
This is called sharing in the glory!
Put down the phone.
Chen Yaoyao shook her stiff neck, got up and pressed the power button on the computer.
After a busy day, it's natural to need to relax.
Ready to binge-watch TV series!
But before that, she habitually opened her browser and went to Zhihu through her bookmarks.
At this time, Zhihu was still a niche Q&A community, using an invitation-only system, with a total of just over 40 registered users.
Although it is undoubtedly a niche Q&A community, the quality of its users is very high.
However, after March of this year, with the opening of registration to the public, the user base expanded, and the market penetrated into lower-tier cities, it gradually transformed into a farmers' market.
Page refreshed.
Chen Yaoyao discovered that her account had received a notification:
I'd like to ask for a set of cut cakes, and I look forward to your answer.
"The boss of Jiangnan Morning Post is famously handsome, Yuanfang, what do you think?"
Chen Yaoyao wasn't surprised that a stranger had invited her to answer so precisely.
This is because it's a mechanism on Zhihu that places her in the scope of invited Q&A sessions based on the keywords of the topics she follows!
For example, she had previously followed related topics in the Jiangnan Morning Post. Of course, she's generally very happy to 'thank you for the invitation' to discuss anything she's interested in.
I clicked on it with great interest and found that there were already twenty-seven answers to this question.
Chen Yaoyao began browsing with great interest, wanting to see what Zhihu users thought of Brother Yu:
"Thanks for the invitation. We're both born in the 90s, and I just got back from cleaning and am reading this in bed. PS: Don't ask me how I know the boss's age; it's on the Jiangnan Morning Post website."
Chen Yaoyao glanced at the user's nickname.
Upon seeing its brief introduction, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.
'Civil Engineering Bro'
Some are born in Rome, others are born to be beasts of burden.
Let's move our gaze down from this highly-rated answer.
The second answer, however, made her eyebrows rise:
"It's all about looks. Either the female boss has taken a liking to him, or he has connections at home."
I watched them one by one.
Chen Yaoyao continued to glance downwards:
"A recent graduate, barely out of school, already a deputy director at the provincial media outlet? Sir! Something's definitely fishy about this."
"Isn't the provincial media outlet a department-level public institution? If nothing unexpected happens, even if this leader becomes a slacker, he'll at least be a division-level official in the future. There's something fishy going on behind the scenes."
These sarcastic and unhelpful replies caught my eye.
Chen Yaoyao couldn't help but slam her hand on the table!
As Yu Huan's confidant from both his previous and current lives, he was already getting angry and couldn't stand it anymore!
She pulled the keyboard in front of her and typed rapidly, thanking everyone for the invitation.
After typing the last period, Chen Yaoyao checked it briefly.
I suddenly realized that I was being far too indignant, and that I was even calling him Brother Yu online.
I hurriedly replaced the text, changing it all to "Brother Leader".
Further edit out emotionally charged comments to make it more objective:
Thanks for the invitation!
Before becoming a leader, the "leader" was just a contracted reviewer.
"Our newspaper conducted a survey on December 1st, holding an internal competition to select a group of young people to form a new media department. Because the leader's application report was so outstanding, he was directly promoted to this position by the boss, without relying on his looks or family background, but entirely on his real skills! Moreover, the new media department is currently a special position, and the leader is only the acting deputy director."
"It can be said that our newspaper's new media department was established based on the plan written by our leader."
'Furthermore, the shooting incident on the other side of the ocean on December 14th last year was personally orchestrated by the leader, who followed up with the report immediately and grabbed the headlines.'
"The current development of our newspaper in the field of new media is obvious to all, so there is no need to say more!"
'above! '
Seeing her answer refreshed on the webpage, she let out a long sigh of relief, and the frustration in her heart dissipated.
She is a highly active user on Zhihu, having followed and answered many topics related to newspapers and journalists, and has over 700 followers, so her credibility is beyond question.
After expressing my feelings frankly, I felt much better.
……
At this moment, Yu Huan woke up after a short nap.
He opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed was that he was covered with a blanket, which made him feel hot all over and his throat felt like it was on fire.
Besides the dull sound of the television, the only other sounds were the old man's and Yu Chengcheng's lighthearted laughter.
He looked up and saw Yu Chengcheng holding a fried chicken in one hand, taking small bites, while the old man lay in a rocking chair, swaying back and forth.
The grandfather and grandson were happily watching "Day Day Up".
I haven't seen Teacher Wu since; she must have gone back to her room.
Yu Huan's throat was slightly hoarse as he asked, "What time is it?"
Yu Chengcheng turned her head and glanced at her eldest cousin, who had pushed back the covers and sat up: "Day Day Up has just started, it's a little past eight o'clock, you slept for an hour, right?"
"Oh." Yu Huan coughed and cleared her throat.
He slipped on his sneakers, which he had taken off at some point, and continued, "Give me a Coke, I'm a little thirsty."
Upon hearing this, Yu Chengcheng took out a cup of cola from the bag, inserted a straw, and handed it to her older cousin.
With eyes glued to the TV: "Here!"
Yu Huan reached out and took the straw, then sipped a large mouthful.
The icy liquid stung his lungs like fire poured into a furnace, causing him to let out a long sigh.
"Cool!"
Ten years from now, on such a cold day, it might really take some courage to drink a cold beverage like this.
First, my teeth can't handle it; second, my stomach can't handle it.
Yu Huan craned her neck and peeked into the family bucket on the bamboo chair in front of Yu Chengcheng.
There was only one sweet corn cob left inside.
However, the three hamburgers, egg tarts, and fries inside the bag remained untouched.
Feeling a bit hungry, I took out an egg tart and sat back down on the bed.
I opened the cardboard box and started filling my stomach.
The old man glanced at him as he wolfed down his food and couldn't help but laugh: "Working at a newspaper is indeed hard work."
Yu Huan, a master of slacking off, quickly chimed in: "Actually, it's not too bad, it's just that there were a lot of things to do on this one day."
"You two young people..." The old man reclined in his rocking chair and swayed back and forth, then looked around at Yu Chengcheng: "Why don't you heat it up before you eat it?"
Yu Huan smiled and replied, "The egg tarts are actually fine; they don't matter if they're cold."
The old man sat up from his rocking chair and poked at the family bucket: "This fried food, I'm afraid it will upset my stomach if I eat it cold, right?"
Yu Chengcheng quickly said, "Can't you see I'm chewing slowly and carefully? I warm it up in my mouth first, then swallow it slowly. It won't affect me at all if it's cold!"
The old man shook his head helplessly, speechless at their twisted logic.
Yu Huan swallowed an egg tart in one gulp, looked around, and asked curiously, "What about the 60th anniversary?"
Upon hearing this question, the old man chuckled and said, "I've carefully saved it, planning to drink it when I'm eighty."
Yu Huan smiled brightly.
collect?
I'm afraid I'll have to take it out and show it off whenever an old friend comes to visit.
Suddenly, the old man changed the subject: "I heard you're living in your mother-in-law's company apartment now?"
“Yes, it’s just me and You Rong living together.” Yu Huan nodded slightly.
The old man chuckled with a hint of mockery and said, "Why do I feel like you've married into the family?"
Yu Chengcheng smiled and replied, "This son-in-law is worth it; he'll save me at least thirty years of hard work."
"We're just a few of us, grandfather and grandson, joking around in private. Huanhuan, you really can't be a live-in son-in-law!"
Seeing the seriousness in his smile, Yu Huan couldn't help but tease him, "Grandpa, you're the kind of person who doesn't learn from experience."
"Of course!" the old man said confidently.
He turned his head and glanced at the old photo frame on the bedside table.
The young men and women stood side by side, laughing.
These are very precious color photographs from the 1970s and 80s.
The old man swayed back and forth in his rocking chair and said:
“I spent three years in Yanjing back then, and I’ve never been so miserable in my life! Luckily, your grandma was devoted to me and was willing to give up her comfortable life there to come back with me and eat cornbread.”
As his grandchildren, they've heard so many stories about their grandfather's youth that they're practically sick of them; they can practically recite them by heart.
Back then, the old man worked in the production team during the day and studied diligently by lamplight at night.
He was well-read and approachable, like a firefly in the night, and unwittingly attracted the attention of the female educated youth from Beijing—that is, my grandmother, who fell in love with him at first sight.
Of course, this is his own version of events after his grandmother passed away.
According to my grandmother when she was alive, my grandfather was shameless back then and relentlessly pursued my grandmother, the most beautiful educated youth in the surrounding area.
Grandma saw that he was sincere and kind to her, so she reluctantly agreed.
Over the years, people from Yanjing have often come to visit my grandmother's grave.
However, many years later, after all of Grandma's brothers and sisters passed away, contact was lost.
It was past ten o'clock when Yu Chengcheng finished watching "Day Day Up". She finished the corn in the family bucket and patted her belly while sitting on the bamboo chair.
"--withdraw!"
The old man had been yawning non-stop for a while.
I just wanted to avoid spoiling the mood and send my two precious grandsons away.
Normally, he would have been asleep by eight or nine o'clock.
Upon hearing this, Yu Huan got up from the bed where she was half-lying down.
He said to Yu Chengcheng, "Take a hamburger home and heat it up for breakfast tomorrow. There are two left; my dad and I will have them as a midnight snack later."
"OK!"
Yu Chengcheng responded, then suddenly looked at the old man, rubbing her thumb and forefinger together a few times.
Upon seeing this gesture, the old man slapped his forehead, seemingly realizing something, and stood up.
He immediately went around the bed to the wardrobe to get the money: "Oh, I almost forgot, you are one idiot and the other is double idiot."
(End of this chapter)