Chapter 989: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 989: Can't Finish the Durian, So Send Some to the Neighbor

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

The old couple couldn't finish a single durian, and leaving it too long they feared it would spoil, so they decided to send some over to Doctor Zhong next door, not far away.

"Doctor Zhong, want some durian?"

Li Xiulan and Wang Zhanggen came over carrying the durian flesh.

"What?"

Zhong Jianguo was old now, already a bit hard of hearing.

"Durian! My eldest son bought it back!"

Wang Zhanggen raised his voice, still wearing a stern face: "Stinks to high heaven, we're not used to eating it, giving you some to eat! Ever had it before!"

Zhong Jianguo chuckled:

"Never tried it, that stuff's so expensive, who'd be willing to buy it?"

Li Xiulan laughed and said:

"You have a taste, if you find it good, another day have your son buy a few back for you!"

Zhong Jianguo ate a piece, hurriedly laughing in praise:

"Delicious, delicious, fragrant and glutinous, and so sweet!"

Wang Zhanggen looked puzzled:

"Strange, how come I only smell the stench, can't sense any fragrance?"

Zhong Jianguo laughed heartily:

"Fragrance taken to the extreme is stench! This durian isn't stinky, it's just too fragrant!"

As they ate, Zhong Jianguo couldn't help but sigh, growing melancholy:

"Your son's really good, comes back to visit every few days, unlike my son, hasn't come back in ages!"

Zhong Jianguo's sons are all in their forties now.

They've settled in the city, not only have to work but also raise kids, truly not much time to come back and see Zhong Jianguo.

"Your son's made something of himself, it's the ones with no promise who stay in the countryside!" Li Xiulan comforted Zhong Jianguo, also saying: "Look at our Shanggou Village now, which young person still stays in the village?"

Zhong Jianguo chuckled:

"Isn't your second son still in the countryside? He's our Village Cadre! I heard he even contracted over two hundred acres of land!"

Wang Zhanggen pulled a long face:

"Him, just messing around! He has a career in the county town, yet comes back to do agriculture, honestly I'm strongly opposed, if he loses money that's a small matter, losing face and becoming a laughing stock, that's the big thing, but he wants to do it himself, I can't stop him either, otherwise he'll just complain I'm nagging again!"

Wang Zhanggen indeed strongly opposed Wang Erhai returning to do agriculture.

Being a Village Cadre is fine, why spend money contracting so much farmland?

Those so-called high-standard farmlands, anyone who's ever plowed fields in the countryside knows, high-standard my ass, dug out by excavators, piece by piece, the yellow clay from underground all turned up top, where's any fertility, how can good grain grow?

But Wang Erhai wants to do it, he can't stop him either, he's old himself, no longer has the energy to meddle that much, so he just ignores it.

The only thing he worries about now is the marriage of his three sons, and the matter of grandchildren, everything else, he couldn't care less.

"Your Erhai, he's got the makings of a career man, energy too abundant, runs a company in the county town, a restaurant in the town, a farm at home, serves as Village Cadre, ordinary people couldn't handle this much work, yet he pulls it off!"

Zhong Jianguo laughed heartily praising Wang Erhai, making Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan both very pleased.

As simple rural folk, nothing makes them happier than others praising their son as promising.

Wang Zhanggen was happy inside, but his mouth still had to belittle Wang Erhai a few sentences:

"He's just big-hearted, wants to do this, wants to do that, most afraid he'll do nothing well, all half-baked, before he ran a company selling houses, sold and sold till it went bankrupt! Still his eldest brother's steadier, been selling houses in Guangzhou all these years, hasn't changed a bit!"

Wang Zhanggen only knew Wang Dashan sold houses in Guangzhou, as for what he specifically did, he was completely unaware.

Even more unaware that at this time Wang Dashan had long shifted his focus to Wanjia Commodity Company, doing IoT supply chain business.

That Shanhai Real Estate, now almost entirely handed to subordinates to manage, he just occasionally checks the financial report, checks the performance.

"Speaking of your eldest son, even more promising, I heard people say, your eldest son made it big in Guangzhou, even lives in a Dabie Villa!"

Zhong Jianguo laughed heartily, ate another piece of durian.

"Buying a house is true, far from making it big though, about the same as your son, just scraping by in a big city!"

Zhong Jianguo added:

"Your eldest son's wife is pregnant isn't she, did they say, after the baby's born will you two go down to help care for it?"

Li Xiulan gave a dry laugh in reply:

"Didn't say, Xiao Juan has her own plans, when the time comes if they really need us to go down and help, we'll go, if not needed, then forget it, living in the city, we still can't get used to it anyway!"

Zhong Jianguo nodded:

"True, lived in the countryside long, hard to adapt to the city's pace, last time I went to my son's, couldn't even ride the subway, tossed about half a day, left me with heart palpitations, also have to stay cooped up in the house all day, afraid to go out for a stroll lest I get lost, city roads, far more complex than our countryside, and so many cars!"

Wang Zhanggen hurriedly nodded:

"Right right right, us rural people, which of us can get used to the city, countryside air's fresher, breathing's smoother too!"

Zhong Jianguo added:

"Speaking of your three sons, still your youngest son's most promising, he's the only one in our Shanggou Village, a proper university student!"

Wang Zhanggen grinned:

"That's a given, my youngest son's future material for an official!"

What made Wang Zhanggen proudest was this son Wang Xiaohua.

Although Wang Xiaohua used to talk back to him constantly, constantly oppose him, and even infuriate him to the point of cerebral hemorrhage, these were all small matters; as long as Wang Xiaohua was promising now, he felt proud of him!

Thinking about the future, once Wang Xiaohua went out and became an official, how much face would he have as the father!

"Has your youngest son graduated yet?"

Zhong Jianguo asked.

Wang Changgen answered:

"Not yet, this year he's a junior, after finishing this year, he won't graduate until next year!"

Li Xiulan hurriedly corrected:

"You've got it wrong, right now Xiao Hua is in the first semester of junior year, next winter he'll be a senior, meaning he won't graduate until the summer after next!"

Zhong Jianguo laughed heartily and said:

"Soon, soon, thinking back, your youngest son was still a little brat, and in the blink of an eye he's already a university student, time passes too fast, people get old before they've even had a chance to properly savor it."

As Zhong Jianguo laughed, he couldn't help but let out a sigh.

It was very obvious, he was lonely.

His health actually wasn't good, he kept running this health station, aside from treating the villagers, it was also to keep himself busy, have more contact with people, make his days fuller, so he wouldn't feel so lonely.

His wife had passed away a few years ago, his son had settled in the city outside, he had always lived alone.

When it came down to it, he also counted as a rural left-behind elderly person.

It was just that his family's economic conditions were a bit better than the average left-behind elderly person.