Chapter 947: Northern Xinjiang is my home

Watching the train go far away, Gu Xiao Yu felt lost. Walking out of the platform, she returned home in a daze—her mother was cooking after getting off work, and seeing her enter, she was a bit surprised: "Not working today?"

"No, nothing this morning," Gu Xiao Yu shook her head, looking at her busy mother, thinking about whether to say this matter.

"Your brother is getting engaged in a few days, you have to come back then," Fan Wenli didn't look at her daughter, cutting cabbage while saying, "I gave your dad a part of the money you gave me, plus the savings, and your dad found a house near your brother's unit. A bungalow, one inner and one outer, spent 4,800."

"Your brother's girlfriend knew about it and said to your brother, the time they've been together isn't short, wanting to get engaged before the New Year, wait until spring to tidy up the house, get the furniture ready, and then they can get married."

Speaking of this, she stopped the knife in her hand, turned her head to look at Gu Xiao Yu, and said: "Your brother is not young anymore. Being able to get married this year, you contributed a lot of effort. Don't complain to Mom, this money is just sitting there, it's better to handle urgent matters first."

Gu Xiao Yu nodded. That five thousand was given to her mother in the first place, so she certainly had no objections.

"Mom is saving the rest for you, and Mom will take it out as your dowry when you get married," Fan Wenli thought her daughter was so well-behaved, and her voice became gentle. "Your brother also said, he will work hard to save money and give you a big item when you get married."

Gu Xiao Yu nodded subconsciously, she was still thinking about her sister's matter.

But what Mom said was all about the situation of this "home" here. She didn't know how to open her mouth.

"Your dad has been so happy these few days. Once your brother's matter is solved, he has finally removed a big worry," Fan Wenli had a smile on her face. "He speaks louder in front of the neighbors, and can finally be considered to have raised his head."

Huang Yufei was almost thirty, and still hadn't gotten married. The neighbors naturally had gossip. Huang Jiuzhang was a small leader and cared about face, often being talked about behind his back, so his heart naturally wasn't comfortable.

"And you, you are not young anymore. Didn't you say... your sister is married and has children?" Fan Wenli mentioned Gu Xiaoxia. "You should also think about your own lifelong event.

We haven't introduced you, just thinking that the quality of people in your unit is higher. If you can't find a suitable one, then your dad and I will introduce you."

Finally hearing her mother talk about her sister, Gu Xiao Yu was about to talk about her sister's matter, but Fan Wenli's voice sounded again:

"You are a girl, you don't need to prepare a house. When you get married, we will buy a few big items as a dowry. Of course, I will give you that money at that time, you hold it in your own hands. A woman is married, only when she has money in her hands can she have confidence."

Fan Wenli sighed when she said this, put the cut cabbage into the vegetable basin, and started washing. While washing, she said: "When I brought you to marry over, I had no money in my hands. It was your dad who didn't dislike us mother and daughter; otherwise, we would have suffered.

Don't believe it, among the neighbors, how many married-out daughters are bullied? Your dad is considered good. Of course, he was also happy about the money you gave this time, saying that you didn't waste your university education, and that being a university graduate is different..."

Gu Xiao Yu didn't want to speak anymore.

Mom's eyes were full of the situation in this family, or rather, she had completely integrated herself into this family in these twenty years. Logically speaking, she had stayed in this family for twenty years, and should have integrated too.

But thinking of the faint estrangement from her stepfather and stepbrother over the years, Gu Xiao Yu felt more and more that the other side was more like her relatives, and more like her home.

Recalling the joy of being with her sister and brother-in-law's family these few days, and then thinking of the caution of living in this home over the years, Gu Xiao Yu had the impulse to resign and go to Northern Xinjiang.

Of course, it was just a temporary impulse. Her brother-in-law and sister bought a courtyard, and she still had to take care of it. It was just hoping that they could come over when they had time, and she could go over when she had a vacation.

The road was long, but it couldn't stop her heart that wanted to go over.

Huang Jiuzhang and Huang Yufei returned one after another. Seeing Gu Xiao Yu at home, both of them took the initiative to greet her politely, which made Gu Xiao Yu's heart full of mixed feelings.

"Gu Xiao Yu, don't worry, I will definitely return that money to you after I get married," Huang Yufei promised while patting his chest.

Huang Jiuzhang also smiled and said this was as it should be.

"No need to rush," Gu Xiao Yu lowered her head to eat, swallowed the food in her mouth, and said: "This money was originally for Mom to decide, Mom says how to use it, then use it."

Huang Yufei's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he looked at Fan Wenli.

Huang Jiuzhang reached out and patted him: "How come, you are so old, and you really have no responsibility? Gu Xiao Yu is at the age to find a partner, that also needs money."

"Right, right, right," Huang Yufei nodded hurriedly. "By the way, there are a few young people in our factory who are not bad. Gu Xiao Yu, when you have time, I will introduce you to meet."

Gu Xiao Yu didn't respond.

After eating and helping her mother tidy up, she left. On the way back to the unit, by some strange coincidence, Gu Xiao Yu came to the courtyard Li Jianguo bought.

There was basic furniture in the courtyard. When Gu Xiao Yu opened the door, she was bumped into by a neighbor, who asked if she had newly bought Shao's courtyard and asked which unit she was from. Knowing she was from the university, the neighbor who asked really had a sense of awe.

After all, being able to work at a university in this era was definitely not ordinary.

Cleaning up here, Gu Xiao Yu's mood calmed down instead. Simply, when she had nothing to do in the next few days, she cleaned up this courtyard, including Li Long's two courtyards—the snow in those two courtyards was thick, and Gu Xiao Yu couldn't handle it alone, so she spent money to find a few people to clear the snow inside and clean up the garbage.

A few days later, looking at the clean courtyard, Gu Xiao Yu had quite a sense of achievement.

Then she felt the courtyard was a bit empty, so she simply went to the consignment store again, spent money to buy some second-hand furniture, and decorated these two courtyards, at least feeling that the courtyard could be lived in.

Li Long said he would come over to renovate after the New Year, but in Gu Xiao Yu's view, the courtyard that had been cleaned up could be lived in, which was actually quite good.

During this period, she was also asking about houses nearby and also asked through colleagues.

Because she only wanted places near these few courtyards, she looked for over a week before she had a clue. Near the two-courtyard house Li Long bought, there was a small courtyard. It wasn't the kind of courtyard house, but three bungalows and a small courtyard, not near the street.

This was originally a family courtyard of a unit. The owner of the house Gu Xiao Yu bought had retired and was moving to his son's place to live in a building and help look after his grandchildren, so this small courtyard was left empty.

Gu Xiao Yu had inquired clearly that the neighbors nearby were all good before she had the idea of buying the courtyard.

This courtyard was sold for 3,000 yuan, and Gu Xiao Yu didn't bargain and bought it readily.

Although the neighbors nearby later said it was bought expensive, she liked it. Mainly, the furniture and such in the house were all complete, and the pots and stoves were all there. That old couple actually couldn't bear to part with these things, but the building their son lived in couldn't put these things, so they simply packed the courtyard and sold it to Gu Xiao Yu together.

Gu Xiao Yu took a fancy to this place for another reason: not far away was the neighborhood office, a public place, and there was someone on duty every night, at least ensuring safety here.

After getting all these things done, Gu Xiao Yu went home once and found out she had missed her stepbrother's engagement ceremony.

Fan Wenli complained that she didn't go home during this period, and the in-laws' side also intended to see this person working at the university. Gu Xiao Yu didn't argue, only saying she had some things to handle recently.

Fan Wenli didn't pursue the question. Gu Xiao Yu guessed she might know that she contacted Northern Xinjiang more, but estimated she didn't want to know those things, so she didn't ask.

Missing it was missing it, Gu Xiao Yu didn't have much feeling and regret. She now liked staying in the courtyard alone more and more, whether busy or dazed, it was better than staying in this "home."

Now some places here had replaced program-controlled exchanges, and the way of making phone calls had changed. Gu Xiao Yu thought of what her sister said, that Northern Xinjiang would also replace phones after the New Year this year. At that time, if her sister's family really pulled a phone, they could have a good talk.

Li Long and the others took the train all the way west. This time he got off at every station, wanting to see if there were any local specialties to take back.

It was just that what made him a bit regretful was that he didn't buy any wine dates on the way back. The people in the same carriage changed one after another. The braised pork elbows and other specialties in Li Long's backpack were mostly eaten. At this time, the relationship with others also became harmonious.

The further they went, the emptier the carriage became. When they arrived in Wucheng, less than one-third of the people remained in the carriage.

After Li Long and the others got off the train, they found it was almost dark. At this time, there was no bus to Maxian, so Li Long and the others stayed at the Bayi Hostel for one night. Early the next morning, after eating, they took the bus back to the county's large courtyard.

Whether it was Li Jianguo, Li Juan, Li Qiang, or Gu Xiaoxia, they all felt very magical. A few days ago, they were still climbing the Great Wall and seeing the Forbidden City in Yanjing, and today they had already returned to Northern Xinjiang. The two sides were thousands of kilometers apart, and they had already returned?

It was just like a dream!

Li Long was quite emotional about their reaction. He thought to himself, wait a few decades, when you can buy plane tickets, you can run from the west to the east of the country in three or five hours, and even fly to several countries in one day.

Ordinary common people can also afford to sit.

Now telling them, they might not believe it.

Seeing Gu Xiaoxia and the others return, Aunt Yang was very happy, busy pouring water and preparing lunch. Li Jianguo, Li Juan, and Li Qiang were anxious to go back. Li Long didn't stop them, saying he would take the local specialties back from Wucheng Railway Station and then bring them back to the village.

Starting the jeep, he pulled Li Jianguo, Li Juan, and Li Qiang back. Gu Xiaoxia changed her clothes, and Mingming and Haohao fell asleep before the meal started.

During this period, although the two children slept a lot on the train, they really didn't rest well.

After Gu Xiaoxia tidied up, she chatted with Aunt Yang and Han Fang about the fresh things in Yanjing while helping to cook. When Gu Bo Yuan came over at noon, he was also very happy to see Gu Xiaoxia return.

Li Long and the others returned to the Fourth Team, which immediately attracted many people.

In Li Jianguo's west room, Li Long was telling the old father and old mother about those things in Yanjing, and Li Jianguo supplemented from time to time. The two old people especially liked to hear about things in the Forbidden City, as well as the old man's memorial hall.

Hearing that the Li family had returned, the first to rush over were the Lu couple.

Li Juan and Li Qiang had already couldn't wait to find their little friends to show off. Li Long stopped chatting. When many people came, Li Qing Xia and Du Chunfang went to their east room.

Liang Wenyu didn't feel deeply on the side, just that she hadn't seen her family for less than half a month, but Li Jianguo and the others felt very deeply. After all, in this less than half a month, they went to Yanjing, the center of the motherland. How could the feeling not be deep?

There were some specialty pastries in the bag they carried. Those who came over shared a little bit to eat, and all said that it was worthy of being something brought back from Yanjing, and it felt good to eat.

Others came one after another. They listened to the Li family talk about things in Yanjing, and heard that they had taken photos, and all said that they must see them after Li Long developed the photos.

There were too many people, and they didn't disperse until lunch. After eating, Li Long left in a hurry; he didn't want to be surrounded again.

Once upon a time, when he returned from Wucheng, those people asked him to talk about things in Wucheng, and he enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by stars at that time.

Now he only felt quite annoyed.

Returning to the large courtyard, he rarely found that Gu Bo Yuan was still there, listening to Gu Xiaoxia talking about things.

Seeing Li Long return, Gu Bo Yuan asked him about some things.

Although Gu Bo Yuan had been to many places, he hadn't been to Yanjing city yet. This time, hearing his daughter say that Li Long bought two courtyards and bought some calligraphy and paintings, he was quite curious and wanted to see them.

Li Long then took out the seven paintings in the painting tube from his backpack to show Gu Bo Yuan.

"They are indeed authentic works of famous artists." Gu Bo Yuan finished looking at them one by one, sighed, and returned them to Li Long, saying: "Gold in troubled times, collection in prosperous times. These calligraphy and paintings should be worth some money in the future, keep them well."

No matter how capable he was, he couldn't imagine that these paintings would be worth over a million each in the future, and even tens or hundreds of millions.

He couldn't think that far, just hearing that the two daughters got along very harmoniously, and then thinking that there would be a place to stay in Yanjing in the future, Gu Bo Yuan was even thinking, should he go over once when he had time?

Especially since Li Long and the others went as soon as they said they would, and came back as soon as they said they would, he found that it wasn't very difficult to go to Yanjing once!

"By the way, the supply and marketing cooperative came over the day before yesterday and said that the county will hold a representative meeting after the New Year, asking you to prepare."

Li Long only then remembered that the representative meeting was held every year, needing to review reports, have proposals, and there were many things.

Fortunately, it was after the New Year. If it were before the New Year, he went to Yanjing, the contact wasn't smooth, and it wasn't easy to ask for leave.

Gu Bo Yuan also said some things about the purchasing station.

"Recently, before the New Year, many people are thinking of selling yellow sheep skins to make money to buy some New Year goods. This is good, they can collect a hundred or so skins a day," Gu Bo Yuan sighed. "According to this way of hitting, no matter how many yellow sheep there are in the Gobi Desert, they can't stand being hit."

"Not necessarily, if there are many hits here, the yellow sheep won't pass through here next year," Li Long said. "Yellow sheep are also very smart."

Li Long knew that yellow sheep still belonged to a large group at this time, and some could cross the border in groups of tens of thousands, and only slowly decreased in the next ten years.

Gu Bo Yuan left after dinner, reminding Li Long to remember to think about the topics properly and perform well when attending the meeting.

"Since you bought a courtyard in Yanjing, you have to find a way to run over there often," Gu Bo Yuan said. "Otherwise, if that courtyard is not lived in for a long time, it will definitely be targeted."

"What about you, Gu Uncle, do you have any thoughts of going over there?" Li Long asked.

"No. I feel it's quite good here," Gu Bo Yuan said. "Food and drink are not worried, money is so much that I don't know how to spend it, it's about the same wherever I stay."

Li Long didn't know if this was Gu Bo Yuan's true words or fooling him. Anyway, looking at the appearance, Gu Bo Yuan didn't intend to go to Yanjing for a short time.

It's also good not to go. Listening to Gu Xiaoxia and Gu Xiao Yu, their mother-in-law didn't miss old feelings at all. If that was the case, it was really not as good as not going.

The next day after breakfast, Li Long told Gu Xiaoxia and Aunt Yang, and then drove the jeep to Wucheng.

The paintings mailed from Yanjing hadn't arrived yet; regular mail was relatively slow. However, he estimated that the specialties consigned from there, such as pastries, must have arrived.

Arriving at the consignment department of Wucheng Railway Station, he took out the ticket, and the people gave him the goods. There were several large wooden boxes, and Li Long moved them onto the car one by one.

"Young man is not bad, quite strong," the person in charge of the consignment department looked at Li Long easily picking up the wooden boxes and praised.

"Heh, young," Li Long responded, closed the car door, and drove to the city.

Driving to a family courtyard, Li Long parked the jeep by the gate, opened the car door, took out a tool screwdriver, pried open one of the boxes, and took out two packs of pastries inside.

He entered the family courtyard, found the room number in his memory, and knocked on the door.

The one who opened the door was Professor Wu. After seeing Li Long, she was stunned for a moment, and then smiled and said:

"Yo, Comrade Li, rare guest, rare guest! Come in, come in!"

Now the school was on holiday, Professor Wu had nothing to do. Li Long guessed she should be at home. This was indeed the case.

"Hello, Professor Wu, I went to Yanjing a few days ago, and these are the specialty pastries brought back from there," Li Long put the pastries on the coffee table and said: "Two boxes, and there is another box for Professor Luo. I don't know where his home is..."

"Old Luo has returned to his hometown, I will pass it to him when he comes back." After Professor Wu poured water for Li Long, she sat down and chatted with Li Long.

Hearing Li Long say that he had contacted merchants inside the pass, flattened the melon seeds here, and sold them inside the pass, Professor Wu immediately smiled happily. Li Long felt that this professor heard his news, and her face was shining.

"Not bad, not bad, being able to lead the people in the village to get rich together, you young man are really okay! Old Luo said after returning last year that your career is getting bigger and bigger. Now it seems that people like you are really the ones who get rich first and then will drive others to get rich, not bad, not bad!"

Professor Wu highly praised Li Long's behavior. Hearing that Li Long was already a deputy to the county people's congress, Professor Wu felt even more that this was well-deserved; only such deputies could truly represent the people.

After chatting for a while, Li Long wanted to leave. Professor Wu insisted on Li Long staying for dinner, saying she wanted to hear about some things about rural agricultural development. The students Professor Wu brought also had majors, and some things couldn't be heard much in school, so she still had to listen more to the true words of rural common people.

Li Long was also happy to tell Professor Wu more about rural things, and by the way, he also met Professor Wu's family.

After this meal, Li Long came out and went to the jade factory to find Engineer Liu.

Knowing many people, it was almost the New Year, so Li Long intended to give gifts to those who had good relationships.

Wucheng had some, and Beiting City also had quite a few, Manager Qian, Manager Wei, Chen Hongjun, etc.

When Li Long returned to the county, one box was already empty.

Of course, the harvest was also quite big. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 948 =====