Chapter 2356

At a table next to Er Min and the others sat seven people, including Dou Xiaomin and Che Hongwei, as well as their daughter Che Yan. In addition, there were Dou Xiaomin's older brother Dou Guoyong and sister-in-law Gui Fenge, as well as their two nephews, one named Dou Ziming and the other named Dou Ziyang. (Look back at Chapter 956 if you forgot.)

The reason these two families were eating at a street stall so late was because of the implementation of the new "Big Weekend" working hour system. The Beijing Municipal Committee, the Municipal Government, and the cultural authorities jointly launched a large-scale mass cultural activity—the '94 Beijing Summer Cultural Square Activity.

The scale of this activity was very large, unfolding simultaneously in eight districts and counties near the urban area and dozens of locations. The content of the activity was also very rich, combining the habit of mass open-air cooling, with more than ten open-air squares spread across the urban area, such as the North Gate of the Workers' Stadium, the Nationalities Cultural Palace Square, and Zhongguancun Science City, as centers to hold various mass cultural activities that were artistic appreciation, mass self-entertainment, and convenience-oriented.

Moreover, many professional art performance groups in Beijing, such as the Beijing Opera House, the Symphony Orchestra, and the Song and Dance Troupe, walked out of the theaters one after another, went deep into the various activity venues of the Cultural Square, and brought one wonderful free performance after another to the vast masses.

In addition, central art performance groups stationed in the district, such as the China Youth Art Theater and the Coal Mine Art Troupe, also actively responded and participated enthusiastically in the Cultural Square activities in this district, allowing the people of Beijing to enjoy higher-level art performances.

In addition, the Municipal Film Company also carefully prepared thousands of copies, sent them to the Cultural Square for free, and screened a hundred patriotic films for the masses. There were also climaxing sub-venues such as the Opera Fan Evening Party at Yuetan Park, the Water Sound Concert at Fengtai Garden, and the Cooling Street in Dongcheng.

It is worth mentioning that the Dicos Balcony Show was also included in this activity, and it had the greatest influence, none other. Not only the people of Beijing but also many tourists from other places came to watch the performance.

Nowadays, in addition to future cultural singers, professional actors such as the Beijing Opera House, the Symphony Orchestra, the Song and Dance Troupe, and the Art Troupe have come here one after another to offer free wonderful performances for the audience.

Therefore, the entire Beijing nowadays becomes exceptionally lively whenever night falls. Especially this summer in Beijing, the temperature is continuously high and dry, and it's too early at night for people to fall asleep, so the people of Beijing have walked out of their homes one after another.

Those who can sing and dance naturally participate in the activities and show off their talents to their heart's content. Those who can't sing or dance don't miss out either; they come out to watch the excitement and feel the enthusiastic atmosphere.

And Dou Xiaomin and Dou Guoyong's two families, because the children were all on summer vacation, made an appointment to take the children out for a stroll after dinner to watch the excitement.

When they came back, the children clamored that they were hungry. Just passing by here, seeing there was a street stall, Dou Guoyong and Che Hongwei also wanted to drink a little, and the two families hit it off and sat here.

And Er Min and the others had drunk a bit too much, and their voices were a bit loud; naturally, Dou Xiaomin, who was sitting next to them, heard everything clearly.

As an employee of Qiu Dongfang, she knew the grievances between Jingqi and Yuxi Real Estate too well. And the group these people were talking about was undoubtedly the Daguang Group.

From their conversation, it could be inferred that they should be employees of the Daguang Group. As for the "foolish leader" they were talking about, it must be the former group general manager Dong Yujun.

Not only that, she had also heard about the fact that Yu Zhengyi, the director of the Welfare Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was taken away by the State Security. However, this was actually just a misunderstanding, a farce event.

However, even if Yu Zhengyi wasn't a spy and hadn't betrayed the country, that guy still couldn't escape. Before the State Security could send him back, he was directly taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission to accept "two regulations" (shuanggui) investigation.

Nowadays, it could be said that the management of Jingqi had been wiped out. In addition to Yu Zhengyi, a department-level leader and a deputy department-level leader in the Ministry of Civil Affairs were also taken away for investigation.

This made the ministry leaders furious; it was said that they had lost their temper several times. Moreover, the ministry was studying whether to close Jingqi, but because more than a hundred employees had nowhere to go, no proper solution had been studied so far.

Dou Xiaomin pondered these things secretly in her heart, and unconsciously, her gaze turned to Er Min. Looking closely, she found that Er Min's age was indeed similar to the chairman's. His skin was slightly dark, and he wasn't tall, but he looked exceptionally spirited.

Just at this time, Che Hongwei noticed his wife's gaze, looked in the direction of her sight, and immediately understood what was going on, couldn't help but laugh, and said lightly: "You wouldn't think he's really your chairman's childhood friend, would you?"

Dou Xiaomin withdrew her gaze, picked up the iced black tea in front of her, took a light sip, and then said: "So what if he is? It has nothing to do with me, I'm just a bit curious."

Che Hongwei couldn't help laughing out loud, teasing: "Perhaps, what he said is all true."

Dou Xiaomin glared at her husband and shifted her attention to the children: "Are you all full?"

"Full!" Che Yan patted her round little belly excitedly, saying with a face full of smiles: "Mom, take me to eat Datang Barbecue tomorrow, I heard from my classmates that the barbecue there is delicious!"

"I think you look like barbecue." Dou Xiaomin glared at her daughter, then shouted at the top of her lungs: "Boss, bill!"

Seeing this, Che Yan pouted her little mouth and muttered: "Lin Ling has already eaten it, but I haven't."

This girl had a pitiful look, and Dou Guoyong, the uncle, saw it and hurriedly hugged his niece, comforting her: "Alright, alright, don't be angry, Uncle will take you to eat tomorrow, okay?"

As soon as Che Yan heard this, she was immediately overjoyed, hugging Dou Guoyong's neck and acting like a spoiled child: "Uncle, you are not allowed to lie to me."

"Of course it's true, when has Uncle ever lied to you?" Dou Guoyong smiled and touched Che Yan's little head.

Dou Xiaomin looked at this scene, feeling a bit dissatisfied in her heart, glared at her older brother, and said irritably: "You just spoil her."

"My niece, if I don't spoil her, who will?" Dou Guoyong smiled disapprovingly, his face filled with doting smiles, and then said: "Otherwise, I also want to take your sister-in-law to try it."

Dou Guoyong was now driving a taxi; if he worked hard, he could earn more than 10,000 a month. If he didn't want to be so tired, leaving early in the morning and coming home early in the evening, 7,000 or 8,000 a month was easy. So going to Datang for a barbecue was really nothing to him.

"Thank you, Uncle!" Che Yan hugged Dou Guoyong's neck and kissed him on the face with a "pop."

Che Hongwei sighed helplessly: "I also want to try the legendary Datang Barbecue, I heard it's delicious. How about this, let's go together tomorrow, my treat!"

Sister-in-law Gui Fenge's face revealed a bright smile, and she responded readily: "Okay, if you want to go, let's go together. But you don't need to treat. Now your brother and I are living well, we can afford a barbecue meal!"

Dou Xiaomin finished paying the bill, and Dou Guoyong waved his hand: "Then it's settled, let's go, go home, let's go to Datang for barbecue tomorrow!"

Che Yan jumped up excitedly, cheering: "Going home, going to eat barbecue tomorrow!"

And at this time, the wine at Er Min's table was almost finished. Everyone chatted for a while, and the slightly older young man took the initiative to stand up to pay the bill.

The others went to the roadside one after another, looking for their bicycles. Not long after, the older young man finished paying the bill and walked over, greeted everyone, and everyone rode their bicycles and scattered.

Er Min took a box of cigarettes out of his pocket, lit one, and pushed his somewhat dilapidated bicycle, walking slowly toward home along the roadside.

He had never told anyone that he was Zhou Andong's childhood friend, including his wife. Also, his mother and second sister hadn't mentioned anything about Tanghezi to anyone.

He was still young when he first came to Beijing, often missing home, missing the people and things in Tanghezi. Slowly, as time passed, he adapted to life in Beijing and was admitted to university.

At that time, he always had a wish, which was that he must go back to Tanghezi to see after graduation. However, when he really graduated and started working, he thought, let's save some money first, and after going back, treat Dong Ge and the dead fatty to a good meal. After all, he was a Beijinger, how could he let those two "country bumpkins" treat him? That would be too embarrassing.

It's just that before he saved much money, he met a woman who made his heart beat, got married in less than a year, and then had a child the following year.

At this time, he thought again, he had a wife and children, so of course he had to take them back to Tanghezi together, let Dong Ge and the dead fatty see. By then, when they saw the cute nephew, would they be embarrassed not to give a big red envelope?

Just like this, time passed, and before he knew it, the child was already three years old, but he never had the opportunity to return to Jiangzhou. Days passed one by one, and it seemed the wish to return to Jiangzhou was getting further and further away.

Until one day, he suddenly saw Zhou Andong in the news, and couldn't believe his eyes; Dong Ge actually served as the factory director of Jiangzhou Winery, which made him so happy.

From then on, he started paying attention to Zhou Andong's news from time to time. If Dong Ge was blackened, he would curse; if Dong Ge achieved new success, his inner heart was like being lit by a fire, incomparably excited. However, his desire to return to Jiangzhou became lighter and lighter.

"Hoo!" Er Min took a deep breath of the cigarette, then exhaled slowly, the smoke spreading in the night sky. Then he threw the cigarette butt on the ground, raised his head, stared at the vast starry sky, and muttered to himself.

"Dong Ge, brother wishes your career becomes more and more awesome, and you earn more and more money."

This sentence was both a beautiful blessing for Zhou Andong and a farewell to his own past.