Chapter 600: Raising the banner, failed in-laws meeting
Before Zhou Zhigang, Zhou Chen and others walked out of the door, Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei, who were guarding the door, had already greeted the arriving car.
But when they saw Secretary Huang was the only one getting out of the car, their expressions suddenly became very ugly.
Hao Dongmei couldn't hold back her anger and asked directly: "Secretary Huang, where are my parents?"
Secretary Huang quickly explained: "The chief and Director Jin are not here. Today, when the chief was visiting the chemical plant, he suddenly suffered from asthma and has been sent to the hospital. Director Jin is also in the hospital now."
As soon as these words came out, everyone in the Zhou family present was very surprised.
Such a coincidence?
Hao Dongmei, on the other hand, although there was a lot of concern on her face, she still asked: "Secretary Huang, didn't my dad bring his asthma medicine with him?"
Although Xiaochuan is serious and troublesome, under normal circumstances, as long as you take Xiaochuan medicine, there will basically be no serious problems unless the condition is particularly serious.
Her father had been suffering from asthma for so many years, and Hao Dongmei didn't believe that her father would forget to bring asthma medicine.
Secretary Huang said: "I brought it with me, but it disappeared after two uses, so I had to send it to the hospital for rescue."
After hearing this explanation, Zhou Chen laughed in his heart, but it disappeared after using it twice? Do you really think that others are fools?
Zhou Zhigang's original excited expression had subsided, but he still said to Zhou Bingyi: "Bingyi, hurry up, take Dongmei to the hospital and see her parents."
Secretary Huang said: "Uncle, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no."
Go there in a hurry; Director Jin specifically asked me to come over and talk to everyone so that you can rest assured and Dongmei can rest assured."
After hearing this, Hao Dongmei had a cold face and didn't say a word. Zhou Bingyi's face was also not very good-looking.
Although Zhou Zhigang felt uncomfortable, as the head of the family, he still asked with concern: "How is Chief Hao doing now?"
"It's nothing serious anymore. If something happens, I won't be able to come."
"That's good, Secretary Huang, come on, come in and sit down."
Secretary Huang said with a smile: "Don't worry. When I came, Director Jin specially asked me to bring a lot of things. He said that although they couldn't come for the time being, they must be given gifts. Everything is in the car. I will take it down now.
.”
As he said that, he opened the door of the back seat of the car. There were a large box and a small box of gifts inside. After Zhou Bingyi saw it, he immediately went to help, holding the big box.
Under Zhou Zhigang's reception, Secretary Huang sat down on the sofa in the living room.
In fact, he had nothing to do with the Zhou family, but he didn't dare to relax after Director Jin's instructions. He was now representing Mr. Hao and his wife, and even if they were just sitting around, they would have to sit there for a while.
"Secretary Huang, have a sip of tea. This is brought back from Yanjing by my brother. I heard it is a special supply. You can try it."
Although he is the son-in-law of the Hao family, Zhou Bingyi did not show off in front of Secretary Huang, but was very polite. Secretary Huang is not Hao Gaoguan's only secretary, but he is the most respected one. He is still white, so naturally he is not the same as Secretary Huang.
Derby.
After hearing this, Secretary Huang was very surprised: "Special tea?"
Zhou Bingyi said with a smile: "Yes, my brother's classmate has an unusual family. The elder is the deputy minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."
"Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs?"
Secretary Huang looked surprised. Although he didn't know which aspect he was responsible for specifically, he was at about the same level as the senior official Hao he was currently serving.
The Zhou family still had such a relationship. His eyes couldn't help but look at another young man in the room. He knew that this man was Zhou Bingyi's younger brother.
Zhou Chen listened to the conversation between Zhou Bingyi and Secretary Huang, and the corners of his mouth twitched unconsciously. His eldest brother could actually pull a tiger's skin to raise a flag.
He didn't like this kind of thing, but he could understand Zhou Bengyi's mood at this time. The fact that his parents-in-law didn't come was tantamount to slapping their Zhou family in the face, so Zhou Bengyi would do this to raise the flag.
, because they don’t want their Zhou family to be underestimated.
Just this kind of thing...
"Bingkun, come here."
While Zhou Chen was still deep in thought, Zhou Bingyi suddenly pulled him aside.
"Secretary Huang, this is my brother Zhou Bingkun, who is currently studying at Yenching Medical College."
Secretary Huang did not look down upon him and quickly reached out to shake Zhou Chen's hand: "Comrade Zhou Bingkun, hello, hello."
"Hello, Secretary Huang."
Zhou Chen was very calm, forget it, Zhou Bingyi was still his eldest brother no matter what, and he definitely couldn't let his eldest brother lose face.
Secretary Huang took a sip of tea, then smiled and said: "Yes, this special tea is really good."
Who is Zhou Chen? He knows the elegant meaning of the song after listening to it. Whether the tea is good or not is secondary, but asking about its origin is important.
"If Secretary Huang likes it, take some with you when you leave. My classmate Lao Wan knows that I like to drink tea, so he stole a lot from home for me."
Secretary Huang's eyes flashed. His surname was Wan. As Hao Guan's secretary, he naturally knew the names of many senior officials. He remembered that there was indeed a deputy minister named Wan in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital.
After receiving the confirmation, he naturally became more enthusiastic towards Zhou Chen.
"Then why are you so embarrassed?"
"It's okay, we are all a family."
Next, it was basically Zhou Chen and Zhou Bingyi who were talking to Secretary Huang. Zhou Zhigang sat next to him and smoked a cigarette without saying a few words.
Secretary Huang didn't stay long and left quickly. Before leaving, Zhou Chen brought him some tea and accepted it after a few shirks.
Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei went to see Secretary Huang off, while the others stayed at home.
As soon as Secretary Huang left, Zhou Zhigang couldn't stand it any longer. He sat there with an ugly face, smoking a dull cigarette without saying a word.
Li Suhua saw that he was in a bad mood, so he advised: "Dad, what are you doing? I didn't mean not to come. Isn't this a sudden illness? You see, they even asked their secretary to come and see us off."
The fact that we have so many old-fashioned goods shows that they are thinking about us."
"Hmm."
Zhou Zhigang hummed in disgrace. His eldest son and daughter-in-law were not around, so he didn't have so many worries.
"Yeah, they were thinking about us and asked the secretary to come over. What does that mean? We are nothing in the eyes of others. They just sent a secretary and sent them away."
Li Suhua complained: "You old man, why do you speak so unpleasantly? If Bingyi and Dongmei hear it, how uncomfortable it will be for them."
Zhou Zhigang shouted stiffly: "Did I just save face for them?"
"Okay, the children are all here. Look at your appearance, you scared Ruirui and the others."
Zhou Zhigang turned to look at the three children and found that they were indeed a little scared. Then he exhaled and his face recovered.
"Ruirui, Congcong, don't be afraid, grandpa is not angry."
Zhou Rui walked up to Zhou Zhigang and said crisply: "Grandpa, you can't be angry. My father said that people who are often angry will get sick and age quickly."
"hey-hey."
Zhou Zhigang was immediately amused: "Look at our eldest grandson, he still feels sorry for grandpa. He is really a good eldest grandson of grandpa."
Li Suhua walked to the box brought by Secretary Huang and said curiously: "Dongmei's family is a family of high-ranking provincial officials. I don't know what the New Year's gifts they send are like. Juan'er, come here, let us dig it out and take a look."
Zheng Juan responded immediately and went over to help Li Suhua organize it.
Zhou Zhigang said he was dissatisfied, but in fact he was quite curious. In his eyes, a family like that must be different from theirs, and the things they gave him must be unusual.
As Li Suhua and Zheng Juan took out the gifts from the box, they placed them on the table one by one. They were all exquisitely packaged gifts.
"Hey, the things given by my parents look more expensive."
Li Suhua looked at the exquisite gifts and said with a smile.
Zhou Zhigang snorted coldly: "No matter how good the things are, what's the use? What you give when you give things is your heart."
The implication is that the things were delivered, but the thoughts were not.
Li Suhua ignored him and continued to take gifts, but when she took out the last two gifts, her expression suddenly froze.
Zheng Juan also saw what was in Li Suhua's hand. She asked in shock: "Mom, this is not dad..."
Zhou Zhigang heard Zheng Juan talking about him, so he turned his eyes. The next moment, his eyes were focused directly on the two tubes of tea in Li Suhua's hand.
"Hoo, ho..."
Seeing Zhou Zhigang's expression, Li Suhua quickly put down the tea leaves and walked over to pat Zhou Zhigang on the back.
"Dad, don't be angry."
Zhou Zhigang threw the cigarette in his hand to the ground and leaned back. Although he didn't say a word, everyone could see that he was in a terrible mood.
At this time Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei walked in from outside and found that something was wrong with the atmosphere at home.
"Mom, Dad, what's wrong with you?"
Zhou Zhigang stood up suddenly and pointed at the two barrels of tea on the coffee table: "What's wrong? See for yourself. Didn't you say that Dongmei's parents are very satisfied with the tea I gave them? What does that mean?"
After saying that, he ignored Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei, turned around and walked into the house, closing the door with a bang.
Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei were both startled, and then they saw the two tubes of tea on the coffee table. The familiar packaging was undoubtedly the two tubes of tea they brought back yesterday.
Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei's expressions suddenly became very ugly, especially Hao Dongmei's heart skipped a beat and she looked at her husband Zhou Bingyi eagerly.
Zhou Bingyi didn't notice his wife's actions. He just walked to the coffee table, picked up two tubes of tea leaves, looked at several other things on the coffee table, laughed twice, and then sat down and stopped talking.
"Bingyi." Hao Dongmei called worriedly.
Zhou Bingyi waved his hand and said: "Okay, Dongmei, I know this matter has nothing to do with you, but..."
He didn't say any more, but Hao Dongmei already understood what he meant.
Hao Dongmei looked at Li Suhua helplessly: "Mom, this matter is a misunderstanding. My parents were in the hospital at the time. Secretary Huang must have taken it privately without knowing the situation. Mom..."
"Dongmei, stop talking."
Zhou Bingyi interrupted Hao Dongmei, and Hao Dongmei became even more anxious: "Bingyi, this matter is really..."
Li Suhua walked up to Hao Dongmei, grabbed her hand, patted her gently, and said softly: "Dongmei, it's okay, don't take it to heart, and don't tell your parents when you go back.
Your father is in the hospital, and we are very satisfied if you can still think of our family."
Hao Dongmei pursed her lips, her eyes were red, and she tried not to shed any tears.
Their family had done something like this, and her mother-in-law still comforted her in a friendly manner, which made her really feel ashamed.
The old lady's words also surprised Zhou Chen. The old lady's speaking skills have improved now.
But he also knew that at this time, Hao Dongmei wished that Li Suhua could blame her and say a few words to her, so that she would feel better.
The more Li Suhua behaves like this, the more uncomfortable and guilty she feels.
Suddenly, Zhou Zhigang, who had gone back to the room, came out again. He looked at Hao Dongmei and said, "Dongmei, the old woman is right. Your parents have so many things to do, so we are very happy and touched that you can remember us. You are too."
Don’t think too much, by the way, do you want to stay at home for New Year’s Eve dinner, or go back to eat?”
"Oh, look at my brain, Dongmei's father is sick. Bingyi, Dongmei, you should go back and take a look."
Hao Dongmei originally agreed with her parents today that after visiting Zhou's house in the afternoon, they would go back to have New Year's Eve dinner together.
But now her parents didn't come over, and they made such an mistake, which made her feel extremely guilty and angry. Even though she wanted to go back and question her, she thought of her injured parents-in-law, and she felt that it was really inappropriate for her to leave like this.
I feel sorry for myself.
Zhou Bingyi was also troubled. His parents-in-law really taught him a lesson today, but it was a negative lesson.
But although he was also very angry, he still remained rational. He knew that his father wanted them to leave at this time, more because he didn't want to embarrass them.
So he walked to Hao Dongmei and whispered: "Dongmei, let's go back first."
Hao Dongmei said angrily: "If I don't go back, we will stay here to eat. We will talk after eating."
Facing his impetuous wife, Zhou Bingyi was helpless. He was obviously the one who had been wronged the most, but he had to persuade Hao Dongmei in turn.
At this moment, a voice suddenly came from the door.
"They're all at home."
Everyone looked towards the door. Li Suhua was the first to react and happily went forward.
"Xiao Rong, you are back."
Standing outside the door were none other than Zhou Rong and Feng Huacheng. The two of them were dusty and walked in cautiously, carrying their things.
Zhou Rong and Feng Huacheng walked to the living room and put down their things. Zhou Rong's eyes glanced at her father, eldest brother and sister-in-law suspiciously.
"Dad, what's wrong with you? Aren't you happy to see me back?"
Zhou Rong felt strange, it was just that the others were not as happy as expected, but why was his father also keeping a straight face?
Zhou Zhigang said forcefully: "Rong'er, Hua Cheng, you are back. Go wash your face. Damn it, you can prepare dinner."
After saying that, he sat on the sofa and smoked a cigarette.
Zhou Rong and Feng Huacheng both felt embarrassed. They had just come back from such a long way, so why didn't everyone look good on them? They didn't do anything, right?
"Mom, what's wrong with my dad, brother?"
But Zhou Bingyi didn't have the energy to deal with her at this time, so he just casually replied: "Nothing."
Zhou Rong looked at Li Suhua again, but Li Suhua didn't say anything, which made Zhou Rong even more confused. Looking at this situation, it didn't seem to be directed at her.
Feng Huacheng was better at reading faces than Zhou Rong. He pulled Zhou Rong and said softly: "Let's go, let's put down the things first, and then wash our faces."
This year's New Year's Eve dinner, although the whole family was reunited, was not very enjoyable, mainly because Zhou Zhigang was not in a good mood.
Although Zhou Zhigang had tried hard to control himself, his unintentional expression of emotions still affected the atmosphere at the dinner table.
Several people ate this meal very awkwardly. Needless to say, Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei, Zhou Rong and Feng Huacheng were also cautious and did not dare to speak.
After three reunion dinners, Li Suhua felt very melancholy every time.
After finally hoping for a reconciliation between her husband and her youngest son, something happened to her eldest son again. Even the old lady with a gentle personality couldn't help but complain in her heart at this moment.
The eldest son’s in-laws are really like this. You said that if you didn’t mention this issue, it would be fine if you didn’t come. But you said you would come, but you didn’t come. This is not purely to mess with people’s mentality.
The three children, on the other hand, didn't pay much attention to it. They happily devoured the big fish and meat on the table.
The breathtaking New Year's Eve dinner ended quickly. Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei said to their parents and prepared to leave.
Before leaving, Zhou Bingyi pulled Zhou Chen aside.
"Bingkun, what happened today is my problem. I didn't think it through. Dad must be very angry. He will definitely not be relieved by what I say now. When we leave, you can go and persuade him. What you said
, he should be able to listen."
Zhou Chen: "Brother, are you not mistaken? If you let me persuade you, aren't you afraid that I will add fuel to the fire?"
"You kid, I'm telling you something serious. Stop being poor and help me. Just treat it as if I'm begging you. Dad only comes back once in several years. I don't want him to be in a bad mood because of something like this. He should start a holiday during the Chinese New Year.
Happy."
The previous two times, Zhou Zhigang had conflicts with Zhou Chen, which resulted in a bad year. Zhou Bingyi did not expect that this time it would be his turn.
"Okay, I understand. However, brother, I have to say that your father-in-law and mother-in-law are really good at calculating. In order to achieve their goals, they even used this method."
Zhou Bingyi did not refute again this time, because he did not believe that there would be such a coincidence, but he was different from Zhou Chen. Zhou Chen could say it in front of him, but he had scruples and did not dare to say it casually.
Seeing that Zhou Bingyi was silent, Zhou Chen could also guess his psychological activities. On the one hand, he was indeed very dissatisfied, but on the other hand, he did not dare to speak out because he still relied on the power of the Hao family.
Zhou Bingyi is a person who can see reality clearly. He just wants to pursue an official career, so he knows that having a father-in-law who is a high-ranking provincial official will definitely be of great help to his future career.
So many times even when he was wronged and frustrated, he still gritted his teeth and endured it, and even tried to help Hao Dongmei.
Anyway, in Zhou Chen's opinion, this eldest brother's life is really tiring.
"Brother, actually you don't have to compromise so much. I know that the position of my sister-in-law's parents can provide you with convenience, but if you have to compromise because of this, it's really not worth it. With your ability, you don't need to do this at all."
Zhou Bingyi's face drooped: "Bingkun, I know you have opinions about me now, but you don't understand, nor do you understand the importance of a strong backer for an official career; not to mention that they are Dongmei's parents, and they are also mine.
Parents, I don’t feel wronged.”
Zhou Chen shook his head. If this is not an grievance, then what is an grievance for a man?
Anyway, if it were him, he would definitely not tolerate it, let alone suffer such injustice. This may be the biggest reason why he is not suitable for an official career.
The waist can be bent, but it cannot be bent all the time...
"Okay, I can't control what you think, but I won't treat today's incident as if it didn't happen."
When Zhou Bingyi heard this, he suddenly felt something was wrong and asked eagerly: "Bingkun, what do you want to do? Don't be stupid."
He had seen his younger brother's audacity and was afraid that Zhou Chen would do something out of his mind.
"You'd better stop caring about me and care about my sister-in-law. Look how angry she is."
"Hey, Bingkun, don't act like this."
Zhou Chen waved to him and walked into the room. Zhou Bengyi had no choice but to go back with his wife Hao Dongmei first.
When I walked into the room, I heard my mother Li Suhua telling Zhou Rong and Feng Huacheng what had just happened.
After Zhou Rong heard this, she stood up and yelled angrily: "It's too much, it's too much. How could such a person be like this? He's just an official. If you don't want to recognize our family, don't say it. If you say it, the result is no."
Come on, you said you were sick, is it such a coincidence? I think they did it on purpose."
Li Suhua hit her: "Keep your voice down, your dad will be angry again if he hears it."
Zhou Rong yelled: "Can you blame my dad for being angry? Who wouldn't be angry? It's so disrespectful. I think my sister-in-law is usually very kind. Why are her parents like this? Being an official is great. Although our family
It’s not as prominent as theirs, but there’s no need to suffer this kind of injustice.”
She was originally the kind of person who had a high self-esteem, but now she found out that her family was looked down upon by others, even her eldest brother's parents-in-law, she was still unhappy.
Feng Huacheng whispered from the side: "You can't say that. Maybe she is really sick. After all, she is a high-ranking provincial official and would not do such a thing."
Zhou Rong retorted angrily: "What do you know? I think my sister-in-law's parents did it on purpose. Mom, I'll go into the house to persuade Dad."
After saying that, she walked towards Zhou Zhigang's room.
"This girl is already a mother, and she's still so arrogant."
Li Suhua shook her head, saw Zhou Chen, and asked: "Kun'er, what did your elder brother just say to you?"
"Nothing, just let me persuade dad."
"It's not easy for your eldest brother either, don't blame him."
"Mom, what do I blame him for? This matter has nothing to do with me in the first place, but what Zhou Rong just said is right. I think you should let our father take it easy and don't think about getting married.
It's over, why should we stick to someone else's cold butt?"
"You child, you can just talk about this at home, but you can't say it in front of your sister-in-law. No matter how Dongmei's parents are, my mother still likes Dongmei's child. Although she comes from a high-ranking family, she still
There’s no airs at all.”
Hao Dongmei is indeed a person who knows how to be grateful, but sometimes she is too naive and does not look like the kind of person who comes from a family.
What happened this time is a bad thing done with good intentions, but it cannot be said to be a bad thing completely. At least after today's incident, Zhou Zhigang should have understood it clearly and will no longer be entangled in things like meeting his in-laws.
No one in the Zhou family knew that when Hao Dongmei returned, she immediately had a big fight with her parents and was slapped hard in the end.
After Zheng Juan coaxed Congcong to sleep, she leaned against Zhou Chen and murmured: "Bingkun, what's going on? Every time our family gets together, something goes wrong? This Spring Festival is so weird.
"
As the daughter-in-law of the Zhou family, she has experienced a total of three reunions since she married into the Zhou family, but each time she ended up unhappy.
Zhou Chen comforted him: "It's okay. When we wake up tomorrow morning, everyone will have recovered. It's good to clarify some things."
Zheng Juan said: "I just see that our dad is very sad. The first two times we quarreled with you, although they were fierce, he was more angry. But this time, I feel that his energy and spirit are not right. It seems that all of a sudden
He has aged several years."
Zhou Chen sighed: "He is blaming himself. He blames himself for being incompetent and not giving his eldest brother a good background, which makes it difficult for him to be a good person in the Hao family."
"Oh, it's not easy for our father, and it's not easy for our elder brothers and sisters either."
Zheng Juan sighed quietly. She didn't have these worries. She just felt uncomfortable when her family was unhappy. If she wasn't happy and uncomfortable, how could she have a good New Year?