Chapter 689: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 689: Li Xiulan Comes Knocking!

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan warmly brought Li Zhongxian, Zhao Xintong, and Li Jianjia into the living room.

Although the living room was shabby, after being cleaned, it could be considered simple and clean.

Several dishes had already been set on the table.

Li Xiulan asked everyone to sit down and chat; she still had two dishes to cook.

Wang Xiaohua went to help serve the rice.

Wang Zhanggen handed Li Zhongxian a cigarette, and the two chatted warmly.

"When your eldest son and second son got married together, our family of three all attended; do you still remember us?"

Li Zhongxian asked with a smile, without any airs at all.

He also did not disdain this shabby and dilapidated environment.

"I have some impression, some impression!"

Wang Zhanggen responded with a smile, but actually he had no impression at all.

Back then, when Wang Dashan and Wang Erhai held their wedding together, they set up so many tables of wedding banquets at Huangsheng Hotel, with hundreds or thousands of guests coming; he couldn't even greet them all, so how could he remember Li Zhongxian's family of three?

"The two of you as a couple, under such arduous conditions, still managed to cultivate a talent like Xiao Hua; I truly admire you to the point of five-body prostration!"

Li Zhongxian praised Wang Zhanggen without reserve.

He sincerely admired this old couple, Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan, feeling that they must have a set of methods for educating their children.

It could only be said that he did not know the inside story.

He also did not know that learning actually depended heavily on aptitude.

For those who could get into Tsinghua University or Peking University, the importance of aptitude far exceeded so-called education and effort.

Wang Zhanggen was beaming with pride from the praise; Li Zhongxian's words hit right where it felt good, making him very comfortable.

He smiled brilliantly and said:

"What's there to admire? Our family was poor; besides studying, there was no other way out, so we've always been strict with our children. You might not believe it when I say this, but our three children, before graduating high school, were never allowed to touch any electronics—no mobile phones, not even MP3s, MP4s, or tape recorders!"

Li Zhongxian answered with a smile:

"So strict? No wonder you could raise such a good child as Xiao Hua!"

Wang Zhanggen's words even fooled Li Zhongxian, this old hand in officialdom.

However, this was not a problem with Li Zhongxian's judgment, but rather Wang Zhanggen himself sincerely felt that Wang Xiaohua's current achievements were entirely due to his strict education back then.

So when he said these words now, he spoke firmly and with conviction.

Wang Zhanggen then said to Li Zhongxian:

"Your daughter is not bad either. I heard from Xiao Hua that your daughter and Xiao Hua were classmates in the same class in high school; being able to get into the top class in high school means they're very excellent!"

Li Zhongxian smiled and waved his hand:

"My daughter, well, she lacks aptitude and can only make up for it with resources. You have no idea how many tutoring classes she attended from primary school to high school; just the money spent on tutoring classes is estimated to be two or three hundred thousand. How could she be as excellent as Xiao Hua?"

Wang Zhanggen then said:

"Xiao Hua never attended any tutoring classes; his studies relied entirely on himself. Our family couldn't afford two or three hundred thousand; how much money would that take!"

Li Zhongxian said with a hearty laugh:

"Different family circumstances, different educational methods."

Zhao Xintong then spoke up and asked:

"Didn't Xiao Hua win a three hundred thousand scholarship before? Why don't you fix up your house at home a bit?"

Wang Zhanggen hurriedly explained:

"Originally, a new building had already been built and was about to be renovated, but then some accident happened, so it's been left idle. That's why we can only keep living in this shabby house."

"What situation did you encounter? You can tell me; maybe I can help you smooth it over." Li Zhongxian hurriedly asked, "Was there a problem with the homestead land approval?"

"No, it's a long story; better not to mention it. We've already solved it. This coming spring, we'll build another new building. When the time comes for the housewarming of the new building, welcome you to visit our home again!"

Wang Zhanggen said with a hearty laugh.

Li Xiulan brought the dishes out.

Wang Xiaohua had served the rice.

Everyone ate lunch together.

The atmosphere was fairly harmonious.

During the meal, Li Zhongxian and Wang Zhanggen chatted enthusiastically.

Zhao Xintong and Li Jianjia didn't say much.

Wang Xiaohua and Li Xiulan didn't say much either.

During this time, Wang Zhanggen boasted a lot, and Wang Xiaohua didn't expose him.

Anyway, now everyone was harmonious and joyful; let him say whatever he wanted.

As long as it didn't affect the relationship between the two families.

After finishing the meal, Wang Zhanggen also took out wine and drank two cups with Li Zhongxian.

"Your health is not good; you can't drink alcohol." Li Xiulan interjected.

Wang Zhanggen immediately said:

"I'm happy today, so I'll drink a few cups. It's rare for our in-laws to visit; don't spoil the mood."

Li Xiulan said nothing more.

Xiao Hua did not try to stop her either.

Because he knew that if he did not go along with Changgen's wishes, Changgen might just lose his temper.

It was past three in the afternoon; the meal was finished, and the wine was nearly done.

Li Zhongxian stood up to take his leave.

Before leaving, he had Li Jianjia bring in the gifts from the trunk to give to Wang Changgen and Li Xiulan.

"Look at my memory—I bought gifts and almost forgot to give them to you!"

Li Zhongxian laughed and slapped his own forehead.

Li Jianjia brought in the gifts: two bottles of wine, two cartons of cigarettes, and two packs of Pu-erh tea leaves.

Giving this to a Leader would be merely ordinary, but giving it to rural people made it a gift of decent weight.

After Wang Changgen accepted the gifts, he smiled even more happily.

He quickly had Li Xiulan return the favor with gifts.

They had nothing good prepared at home, but there were plenty of rural local specialties.

So they gave two bottles of home-grown peanut oil, two roosters, and some dried vegetables, cured meat, cured sausage, and such.

A big pile, all in a jumble.

Li Zhenxing and Zhao Xintong said there was no need to give so much.

But Wang Changgen and Li Xiulan still stuffed them into the trunk of their car with all their might.

Li Xiulan also gave Li Jianjia a red envelope containing six hundred yuan.

Normally, a red envelope on this side would be at most one or two hundred.

This time Li Xiulan broke precedent and gave six hundred.

It showed how satisfied she was with Li Jianjia.

"In-laws, we're leaving. When you have time, come visit us at our home in the County Town!"

Li Zhongxian bade farewell to Wang Changgen.

"Fine, fine. When we have time we'll visit your home. Take your time going!"

Wang Changgen and Li Xiulan, along with Xiao Hua, all saw the car off to the Village Entrance before returning home.

Back home, Wang Changgen still could not stop smiling:

"You kid, you're something. Li Jianjia is good-looking and from a good family. I never expected you to win her over. Truly a blind cat finding a dead mouse!"

Though he spoke belittling words, Wang Changgen was genuinely happy for Xiao Hua from the bottom of his heart.

"What blind cat finding a dead mouse? Listen to what you're saying!"

Xiao Hua was quite speechless.

But he did not want to waste words arguing with Wang Changgen. Today, when he greeted the Li family, he had at least acted like a normal person; Xiao Hua could ask for nothing more.

On the way bringing Li Jianjia and the others over, he had still worried that Wang Changgen would stir up some trouble.

Now that everything was going smoothly, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

But just then, Li Yuncui came with her big belly.

Not only Li Yuncui, but her parents Li Zhenxing and Luo Jiaxin also came together.