Chapter 245

Su Xinghui shook his head and smiled, helped him take off his clothes, carried him to his bed, and let him sleep. Then he went out to the kitchen and started making dinner.

Dinner consisted mostly of leftovers from lunch, and Su Xinghui also made a hot pot. Therefore, the meal was ready quickly. Su Xinghui also put the ribs and lotus root he had prepared earlier into a large pot, filled it with water, and placed it on the stove to simmer the lotus root soup for the New Year's Eve vigil.

After finishing the meal, Su Xinghui went to his room to check on his young nephew, who was sleeping soundly. He smiled and called his family to eat.

When Guo Suhua left the mahjong table, she said: "Xinghui is much more sensible this year. He didn't even need Mom to cook, which is such a relief."

Su Xingyun said: "Isn't that a good thing? In a couple of years, when Xinghui starts his own family, you and Dad can enjoy your lives."

Guo Suhua laughed out loud upon hearing this. Su Wenjun said: "Eat, eat. After eating, we'll clean up, and then we can wait to watch the Spring Festival Gala."

Tan Mingcheng asked: "Weisheng hasn't woken up yet?"

Su Xinghui said: "Not yet. I guess he was too tired today. Let him sleep a bit longer, and I'll make him something to eat when he wakes up."

Su Xingyun nodded and said: "Right, let him sleep a bit longer. Let him play a bit more tonight; we're keeping the vigil."

The family sat around the table in a lively manner and began to eat. Su Xinghui said: "By the way, it's snowing heavily outside."

Su Xingyun said: "Really?"

She put down her bowl, pulled back the living room curtains, and took a look. Sure enough, goose-feather snowflakes were drifting outside. She said happily: "It really is snowing! Tomorrow I can take Weisheng to build a snowman. I promised him a long time ago, but it just wouldn't snow."

Su Wenjun was from the countryside. He looked at the heavy snow outside the window and said: "A timely snow promises a good harvest!"

Guo Suhua was beaming with joy: "Mm, snowing on New Year's Eve is definitely a good omen for next year."

The family finished their meal and started playing mahjong again. Su Xinghui went to check on his nephew. Just as he turned on the light in his room, Tan Weisheng was woken up by the harsh light.

Tan Weisheng asked: "Uncle, is it dawn now? Can we go build a snowman and have a snowball fight?"

Su Xinghui said: "Not yet, it's still night. We have to wait until tomorrow to build a snowman and have a snowball fight. Are you hungry? Shall Uncle make you something to eat?"

Tan Weisheng nodded and said: "Okay."

Su Xinghui dressed Tan Weisheng, fed him, and took him downstairs to set off fireworks for a while. Because it was dark, the effect of the fireworks was much more beautiful, and Tan Weisheng was jumping with joy.

It was just a pity that the snow on the ground was still only a thin layer, not enough to build a snowman or have a snowball fight, so Tan Weisheng could only follow his uncle home.

Back home, the Spring Festival Gala had already started. The family stopped playing mahjong and stared at the television. The Spring Festival Gala of this era wasn't like the one twenty years later, which many people didn't take seriously. In this era, watching the Spring Festival Gala was the main event of the New Year.

Watching his family laughing out loud at the comedians and crosstalk performers, Su Xinghui's heart was filled with emotion. Being able to experience the joy of family life once again was truly wonderful.

After watching TV for a while, the phone rang. Su Xinghui picked it up and said: "Hello, hello!"

A young male voice came from the phone: "Is this Su Xinghui?"

Su Xinghui felt the voice was a bit familiar, but he couldn't quite remember who it was. He asked: "I am Su Xinghui, may I ask who this is?"

"It's only been half a year since graduation, and you can't even recognize my voice?"

The more Su Xinghui listened, the more familiar the voice sounded. The other party said it had only been half a year since graduation, so it must be a university classmate. He searched the depths of his memory, and after a while, he finally remembered: "Are you Old Bao?"

The other party laughed out loud: "Haha, I knew you wouldn't forget me. Happy New Year to you! Wishing your whole family a happy New Year!"

Su Xinghui said: "Thank you. Are you still working at Jiang Steel?"

Old Bao said: "Yeah!"

Old Bao's name was Bao Wenting. He was a classmate in the same dormitory as Su Xinghui in university. He was more than a year older than Su Xinghui and ranked second in the dormitory. Because he looked old for his age, everyone called him Old Bao.

Old Bao was the child of an employee at Jiangcheng Steel Factory, the largest state-owned enterprise in Hudong Province. After graduation, he returned to Jiang Steel and worked in the office. He was a person who liked making friends and was very generous, so he was well-liked and had a very good relationship with Su Xinghui.

Old Bao's call stirred up Su Xinghui's distant memories. The eight of them in the dormitory had gotten along very well during university; it was a rare and harmonious dormitory. At graduation, everyone drank a lot of alcohol, said a lot of heartfelt things, and were reluctant to leave.

However, after graduation, the situation changed. Because everyone was scattered in different places, for the first year or two, they would call each other to send greetings during the New Year. But later, they stopped calling. The five-year small reunion and ten-year big reunion promised at graduation were even harder to realize. Su Xinghui had only met up with Old Bao, who lived relatively close, once or twice. Many classmates hadn't seen each other for more than twenty years after graduation.

This was naturally related to distance, but it was also because Su Xinghui felt he hadn't done well for himself. Once a talented student at Jiang University, he had ended up in such a sorry state—work wasn't going smoothly, and his family life wasn't happy. He felt a bit embarrassed to see his former classmates.

Now, receiving Old Bao's call stirred up the classmate camaraderie that had been buried deep in his heart for a long time.

Su Xinghui smiled: "Old Bao, is work going smoothly now?"

Old Bao said: "It's alright. How about you?"

Su Xinghui said: "It's okay."

Old Bao said: "By the way, I think I saw a report in the 'Hudong Daily' last year with your name on it. I called your house at the time, but you weren't home. Later, I got busy and forgot about it. Was that report about you?"

Su Xinghui said: "It should be me."

Old Bao said happily: "That's great! I saved that newspaper. That's our classmate! You're amazing!"

Su Xinghui said: "It's nothing, just a bit of luck, I suppose."

Old Bao said: "When are you coming to Jiangcheng to meet up? Out of the eight of us in the dormitory, four are working in Jiangcheng now. If you come, I'll call them all."

Su Xinghui said: "On the fifth day of the New Year, I'm going to Jiangcheng to pay New Year's visits to a few elders. Let's meet up then?"