The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 228 Reunion, Too Sudden

Qian Jin thought the two men looked familiar...

"What's wrong, Comrade Qian Jin? Don't you even recognize your older brother and second sister?" Wei Qinghuan smiled and took his handbag. "Or are you so excited to see your relatives that you've gone crazy?"

Upon hearing this, Qian Jin couldn't help but slap his forehead.

The eldest brother and second sister of the predecessor.

Qian Cheng and Qian Xi!
It's not that he didn't recognize the two people; the main reason is that he had never actually met his predecessor's relatives in person.

His memories of his predecessors, his eldest brother, second sister, and third brother, all came from photographs, but those photographs were taken before his brothers and sisters went to the countryside.

Back then, my brothers and sisters were young and hadn't experienced the hardships of working and living in the countryside. Their skin and mental state were completely different from what they are now.

Wei Qinghuan's words gave Qian a way out.

He didn't have time to think about why his older brother and sister had suddenly come to his door; he quickly recalled the heroic deeds of the martyrs, bringing tears to his eyes.
"Big brother? Big brother!"

"Oh my brother, you, you, brother, how come you've gotten so old? Brother, what happened to you!"

Qian Jin's eyes reddened, and he tightly grasped Qian Cheng's hands before quickly hugging him.

Qian Cheng was even more excited and hugged his younger brother tightly, saying, "I'm getting old, really old. I went to the countryside in 61, how many years has it been? You were only ten years old when I went to the countryside, but your nephew is already ten years old this year!"

The children who were playing around stood quietly together when they saw Qian Jin suddenly appear.

The other three adults came over.

Having learned from Qian Cheng's experience, he naturally recognized the second sister, Qian Xi, at a glance.

Third Brother Qian Lie probably didn't come.

Qian Jin quickly scanned the faces of the remaining three people, recognized Qian Xi, and continued to hug her: "Second sister, my second sister! How many years has it been since we last met?"

"Fourth brother!" Qian Xi burst into tears, hugging him and stroking his hair with one hand while gently patting his back with the other.

Qian Jin tried hard to squeeze out tears, but he couldn't quite get the emotions right.

These people were strangers to him.

So he could only wail, "Second sister, why did you come so suddenly? Why didn't you tell your little brother beforehand? You said your little brother didn't know..."

Qian Cheng smiled and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

The woman next to him quickly handed him a handkerchief and winked at him, meaning he shouldn't embarrass himself.

Qian Jin noticed this and wiped his eyes with his sleeve as well.

Knead vigorously.

Let it rub until it turns red before doing anything else.

Wei Qinghuan went to greet the woman and another man: "Sister-in-law, brother-in-law, please sit down. You must be tired after traveling by train for several days. We are all family, there is no need for you to stand up to greet us."

The woman smiled shyly: "Not tired at all. You don't know, sister-in-law, the eldest son was so happy to hear that he could come back to reunite with his younger siblings that he couldn't sleep on the train."

"From Bingcheng to Jincheng, and from Jincheng to Haibin City, the whole journey took about a hundred hours, right? I estimate that the boss only slept for about ten hours!"

Qian Cheng said sadly, "I'm not only happy, but also sad."

“I left home when I was young and returned when I was old. I should have come back long ago, but my father always told me to stay in the Loess Plateau and contribute to the country’s development, and wouldn’t let me come back.”

"I should have come back last year when he passed away, but unfortunately, when the fight against sandstorms was at its most critical, they wouldn't approve my leave. Sigh! Sigh! Sigh!"

The tough guy who had been battling the wind and sand for so many years couldn't help but shed tears at this moment.

Qian Jin choked up: "It was all that bastard Bai Dongfeng's doing. By the time I heard the news, my father had already been buried."

"This isn't our fault, brother. Don't blame yourself. We've met again now, and it's good that we can see each other again!"

Qian Xi also sighed, "Yes, it's good that we can still meet."

“I did come back in 71, 74, and 76, but my fourth brother was in Qiongzhou and couldn’t come back then, so I never got to meet him. We are four siblings born of the same mother, but we have been separated for many years and have not been able to see each other. It’s really a cruel twist of fate!”

Qian Jin asked happily, "Why did you all come back together this year?"

Qian Cheng immediately pointed at Wei Qinghuan: "Because you have a good wife!"

Qian Xi also exclaimed, "Fourth brother, you're really capable! Your eldest brother, third brother, and I never dreamed you could be this good."

"Let's leave aside the house and job; let's talk about your wife. You're really something, managing to marry such a wonderful girl as Teacher Wei!"

Qian Jin chuckled and said, "It's not that I'm particularly capable, it's just that our Qian family has good genes, and I'm handsome. There's nothing I can do about it, my physical attributes are just too good!"

All four of them laughed.

Wei Qinghuan slapped him: "You, are you talking nonsense because you're so happy to see your relatives?"

“Aren’t you my family? Don’t I see you every day?” Qian Jin tried to steer the conversation toward someone he knew.

Such words are nothing in private, but Qian Jin dares to say all sorts of lewd things when he's alone with Wei Qinghuan.

But when faced with her brother-in-law and sister-in-law whom she was meeting for the first time, Wei Qinghuan still felt shy when she heard such words: "Have some shame."

"Alright, you brothers and sisters can chat first. The ribs I'm stewing in the kitchen are almost done, I need to go check on them."

Qian Jin said, "Don't cook for yourself tonight, let's go to the No. 2 State-run Restaurant..."

"I started preparing this meal yesterday, and it's almost done," Wei Qinghuan laughed. "Let's skip the state-run restaurant. With that money, you can give your nephews and nieces a red envelope as a token of respect for their elders. Isn't that better than anything else?"

Qian Xi hurriedly said, "Let's not go to a restaurant. Why would we go to a restaurant for a family reunion? It's much better at home. I'll help Teacher Wei with the chores."

“I’ll go too,” the older sister-in-law said, rolling up her sleeves.

Wei Qinghuan stopped them: "There's no rush for this meal. You can have some water, rest, and catch up."

She called to the five children, "Come on, let's go to the kitchen and guess what delicious food and drinks are in there?"

The five sturdy big kids cheered and ran outside.

Wei Qinghuan chuckled: "Our kitchen isn't outside, it's here. Come with me."

The sister-in-law explained awkwardly, "We've always lived in the countryside, and our children rarely visit relatives in the city. Our relatives in the county town all use those communal kitchens..."

“A communal kitchen,” Qian Xi explained. “My family used to cook with this in the seaside area before we went to the countryside.”

Wei Qinghuan said, "Same here, it's all the same. It was only after your good brother became a cadre at his workplace and the workplace allocated this house that I realized some of the houses even have kitchens!"

She patted each child's head and led them to the kitchen.

Qian Jin fought back and forth.

He knew his wife meant well, wanting to give his brothers some alone time.

Unfortunately, it was a fake!
And he wasn't even prepared!
How could he have known that his brother and sister's families would suddenly come to kill him?

So he didn't dare dwell on the past and quickly started talking about the present: "Big brother and second sister, why did you suddenly come? I didn't receive any news, otherwise I would have gone to pick you up at the station today."

Qian Xi smiled and said, "With your good wife here, you can just focus on your work."

"It was Teacher Wei who wrote us a letter, inviting us to come back together this year for the Reunion Festival."

“She originally wrote to invite us last December, but now the topic of educated youth returning to the city is sensitive, and we couldn’t come back before the New Year. We had to come up with a lot of ideas to be able to get together today.”

Qian Jin knew that Wei Qinghuan occasionally wrote letters to her older brother and sister, but he never expected her to organize such a sudden gathering.

He understood that Wei Qinghuan wanted to give him a surprise.

The surprise was there, but the joy was just so-so.

It's not that Qian Jin is heartless.

To him, Qian Cheng and Qian Xi were no different from strangers; he had only seen them in photos.

The eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law also talked about Wei Qinghuan:
“Brother, you’ve really married a good wife. I heard that the other educated youth are going back to the city, and the brothers and sisters who stayed in the city are afraid that they will come back and take over the family houses, so they’re trying to drive them away…”

"Teacher Wei is perfect. Not only did she welcome us back to the city, but she also didn't stop Lao Si from sending us money and tickets. She's so kind..."

Qian Jin was stunned.

He didn't actually send many things to his older brother and sister. It was just that when he was handling the property transfer procedures, he received a gift from his older brother and sister, so he sent a gift in return.

At other times he was too busy to care about this, nor did he have the heart to pay attention to it.

But Wei Qinghuan clearly remembered.

And she has been quietly sending subsidies to the three companies.

When Wei Qinghuan was mentioned, all four of them spoke highly of her:
"When I went to pick her up at the station, if Teacher Wei hadn't been holding up a sign with my name on it, I really wouldn't have believed that this beautiful and fashionable young woman was your wife..."

“Being good-looking is nothing. What's important is that Teacher Wei is a kind and compassionate person. Our children smelled terrible from the train ride, but Teacher Wei didn't mind at all. There were many people at the station exit, and she was afraid of losing the children, so she grabbed one in each hand…”

"Fourth brother, you're something else. I always thought you were going to get together with that Juan girl..."

"Luo Huijuan".

"Yes, Luo Huijuan, I don't think that woman is suitable..."

Qian Jin laughed and said, "That was absolutely not good, so I broke up with her and carefully selected Teacher Wei instead..."

Wei Qinghuan's voice came from the kitchen: "Oh, so you've been picking and choosing? Even choosing an empress from the emperor's seventy-two concubines wasn't as troublesome as you. How come I didn't know you'd chosen so many?"

The kitchen door opened, and the children, big and small, each with a bottle of orange juice, ran out happily.

Wei Qinghuan quickly called to them again, "You still have to peel garlic for me, why did you run off? Come back, let your parents have a good talk with your uncle."

“He’s my uncle.” Qian Xi’s youngest son is only five years old and speaks in a simple, honest way.

"Xiao Jin, we've missed you so much." Qian Xi couldn't help but hold Qian Jin's hand again.

Her eyes were red, and she couldn't help but gently pat Qian Jin's back.

Qian Jin chuckled awkwardly, "Big brother, second sister, I miss you too."

Everyone takes a seat.

He examined the two blood relatives closely.

No wonder he didn't recognize me at first glance.

Take the eldest son, Qian Cheng, for example. The weathered face he saw was completely different from the young man in military uniform in the family photo album.

Qian Jin poured them water, but seeing the four of them sitting on benches, he quickly took it back, saying, "You've been on the train for so many hours, you must be very tired. Come and rest on the sofa."

"We've rested, we've all rested," the woman laughed. "When we first arrived, Teacher Wei took us to the public bathhouse for a good soak to relax, so we're not tired now."

Qian Xi's husband is Chen Shoujiang, a straightforward man from Changbai Mountain.

He frankly spread his hands and showed them to Qian Jin: "Young man, I won't stand on ceremony with you. We all live in the countryside, and our hands are covered in calluses. The fabric on your sofa is so smooth, is it real silk? I can't touch it, or it will leave a chafing mark."

Qian Xi patted him on the back, annoyed and embarrassed by his bluntness.

Without saying a word, Qian Jin ripped off all the sofa cushions: "We really have to be careful with these public things. We can't let them get damaged. Here, now you can sit down."

"Come and sit down, brother-in-law. Let me tell you, Teacher Wei must have said that once we're at home, we're all family. Don't be shy or stand on ceremony, otherwise it'll be so awkward when we meet again."

Chen Shoujiang grinned: "Oldest brother is a straightforward man. Honey, you used to always say that your little brother is like..."

"Don't talk nonsense, go pack your things!" Qian Xi quickly interrupted him.

Chen Shoujiang realized he had almost said the wrong thing, so he quickly and awkwardly rubbed his earlobe and ran to open the bag he had brought: “These are all things from our Changbai Mountain Forest Farm, local specialties. Look, black fungus, hazel mushrooms, and this wild ginseng.”

"This black fungus is the best. It's not artificially cultivated here. I took your nephews and nieces to pick it in the forest after the rain and carefully dried it. After soaking it, it's thick and crisp."

"The hazel mushrooms are wild, and they make a wonderful stew with chicken or goose."

"And this ginseng, the elders in my family dug it up. Let me tell you, this ginseng harvesting is an experience-based job. Even though I've been wandering around Changbai Mountain for forty years, I still can't find this old ginseng..."

Qian Xi rolled her eyes: "Alright, just pack your things and that's enough. Stop talking so much. There's no one in the whole house who can talk as much as you."

"I love listening to my brother-in-law talk about things in the mountains," Qian Jin said, overjoyed.

Quickly steer the conversation in different directions, and don't bring up the past!
Chen Shoujiang laughed heartily after hearing this: "The youngest son is just like me."

He opened another bag: "This contains dried rabbit meat, hehe, and this too, dried pheasant meat..."

Seeing this, the eldest sister-in-law also came to pack the packages they had brought: "Everyone says 'Great Northern Granary,' and it's absolutely true. Four brothers, we can't get such good stuff from our loess mounds."

"We have a local specialty, Tan sheep, which is delicious, but it has to be fresh. I can't bring any mutton on the train today..."

Qian Jin said, "Sister-in-law, look at what you're saying. I'll have to come over for a meal from now on."

The older sister-in-law laughed and said, "Whenever you go, I'll make sure you're well-fed!"

She untied the coarse cloth bundle and poured out some glistening jujubes: "These are jujubes from our ditch, they're very sweet."

"And this buckwheat noodle, your brother ground it himself."

Qian Cheng said, "Your sister-in-law wiped these dates clean one by one."

Qian Jin picked up a jujube and ate it, saying, "I can tell from its shiny appearance that it has been carefully wiped clean."

The older sister-in-law opened a bag, which was full of bright red apples, all the same size: "Xiao Jin, we didn't bring anything good this time, but these apples are very good. They get plenty of sunshine over there, so they're very sweet."

Qian Jin looked at the large bags and tote bags his older brother and sister had brought; they had really brought a lot of things to his door.

The friendship is deep and profound.

Unlike the 21st century, it's much more difficult to travel from the Northeast or Northwest to the eastern coast these days.

Take my older brother for example, he had to transfer trains several times, and it took him more than 100 hours in total.

There's nothing I can do, the car is too slow!
Judging from my brother and sister-in-law's financial situation, they definitely couldn't afford to buy sleeper tickets. They've traveled all this way with so much luggage; it must have been so difficult for them!

Qian Jin looked at these local specialties and was deeply moved.

He also knew that although these were local specialties, no one had any surplus food at the moment, and they were probably things that he would normally be reluctant to part with.

He sighed and said, "Big brother and second sister, you've worked so hard. These things are so precious."

"Your sister-in-law said you got a job at the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives and are a high-ranking cadre. You can't do without this, right?" Chen Shoujiang offered him a cigarette.

The cheapest economy cigarettes don't even have filters.

Qian Jin took the cigarette, put it in his mouth, lit it for his older brother and brother-in-law, and then lit it for himself.

"To be honest, my brother is doing well now and he doesn't lack material things, but he's severely lacking in emotional support. My brother and sister's visit this time has made up for that emotional void."

Qian Xi laughed.

The visit went much better than she had expected.

She was the person in the family who knew her younger brother best. In her memory, her younger brother was not close to anyone. He was introverted yet assertive. When they lived together before, the siblings would barely exchange two words a day.

Now that she knows from the letter that Qian Jin has been reassigned to the supply and marketing cooperative as a department head, she was worried that she would be neglected when she visited him, which would be too embarrassing.

Actually, she was lying just now.

She said that she and her older brother couldn't come to Haibin City before the Lunar New Year for various reasons, and that was the excuse she made.

When they received Wei Qinghuan's invitation, the three siblings privately communicated and decided that Wei Qinghuan was just being polite, and that it would be best for their three families not to visit.

From time to time, there were stories of educated youth returning to the city and being treated coldly by their own siblings.

As a result, Wei Qinghuan continued to correspond with them enthusiastically this year, and even mailed them money and coupons to help with their household expenses.

The three families felt Wei Qinghuan's sincerity and realized that Wei Qinghuan, their sister-in-law, genuinely welcomed them back to Haibin City for a reunion, which is why they agreed to come back together.

However, the third brother, Qian Lie, encountered an emergency and couldn't get away, so in the end, it was the two families that came.

One of the two families arrived this morning, and the other this afternoon, so they arrived at different times.

Upon arrival, it was discovered that Wei Qinghuan's enthusiasm in real life was just as evident in her letters.

When Qian Jin returned home, she found that he had changed a lot and his personality was completely different from before.

This deeply moved her, as life in the countryside truly tempered one's character.

Qian Jin didn't stand on ceremony with his brother and sister's families.

After sorting out the gifts, he categorized them and sent them to the kitchen.

The older and younger children who were huddled in the kitchen all ran out, still holding onto their orange juice.

Qian Jin asked Wei Qinghuan, "Where are the glutinous rice balls?"

Wei Qinghuan laughed and said, "There are a lot of relatives today, and I was afraid she would get in the way, so I left her in the study room to study numbers by herself."

The study room is still used by educated youth to study and prepare for exams.

There are no security issues.

Qian Jin observes his older brother and sister's five children.

Qian Cheng has three children: the eldest is a boy, and the second and third are girls.

Qian Xi's two children are both boys, wearing altered military uniforms with patches on the knees, and their faces have two rough patches of red from the high altitude.

"Have you called him 'Uncle' yet?" Qian Cheng called out to the child.

The three children were quite shy and didn't dare to look at Qian Jin. Instead, they ran to the TV to watch something new and interesting.

People from Northeast China have a unique talent for socializing; Qian Xi's two children greeted each other in unison, "Hello, Uncle."

Qian Jin laughed heartily: "You all have to call me Little Uncle!"

"Hello, Uncle!" the two children greeted him.

Qian Jin crossed his arms and thought for a moment, then said, "Wait for me, your uncle has some good gifts for you."

He climbed the steps to the top of the stairs.

Qian Xi's eldest son asked, "Mom, why is the staircase in my uncle's building in his house?"

Qian Xi was speechless.

She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Some buildings are like that."

"The apartment buildings aren't as good as the bungalows in our forest farm," the old man said casually.

The second child retorted, "Who said that? Apartment buildings are better; here we have electric lights, a TV, and running water..."

The three children of Qian Cheng's family gathered together, too shy to speak.

Qian Jin came downstairs again, carrying a cardboard box in his hand.

Qian Xi's two children immediately gathered around with interest, and Qian Cheng's three children were also curious, standing on tiptoe to watch from behind.

Soon, cheers erupted: "Car!"

"This is a metal car!"

Qian Jin took them out and gave one to each person: "Go, go racing. This car has a pullback mechanism. Do you know what a pullback mechanism is?"

He took a Dongfeng truck model, pulled it backward, and when he let go, the toy car ran forward.

The eyes of all five children lit up.

Not to mention the children, the other four adults had never seen a toy like this before.

Chen Shoujiang stared wide-eyed and asked, "Young man, what is this?"

Qian Jin laughed and said, "Toy cars? Actually, they are car models. Every time a car is produced in our country, the car factory will produce a corresponding car model as a souvenir."

This was something he already knew.

As early as 1960, Kangyuan Toy Factory produced Dongfeng brand miniature tin cars.

Qian Jin once considered buying various retro toy cars from the mall and reselling them on the black market, but later found it pointless and abandoned the idea.

Now that his younger relatives have come to visit, he remembered this incident and went to his study to buy a few toy cars from the mall.

In addition, he gave each of Qian Cheng's two daughters a kaleidoscope.

It is also a common children's toy nowadays.

Now the children are quite familiar with him.

Qian Cheng's eldest son, Qian Tu, asked, "Uncle, how come your water pipes come out of the house by themselves?"

“That’s tap water,” Qian Xi’s eldest son, Chen Aiguo, said, turning around. “You don’t even know what tap water is?”

Upon hearing this, Chen Shoujiang went over and kicked his son in the butt: "What's wrong? Do you have something at home or something?"

Chen Aiguo turned around, pointed at him with a Jiefang truck, and shouted, "I want to be a driver in the future and learn to drive a big truck!"

Hearing this, Chen Shoujiang was overjoyed: "Good lad, you have ambition! It seems my kick has finally enlightened you!"

“Then I’ll destroy you!” Chen Aiguo continued.

Chen Shoujiang was dumbfounded, then quickly became furious: "I might as well just kick you to death!"

The other adults laughed.

Qian Xi kept shaking her head.

She was used to it by now.

A delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen.

Qian Jin turned on the TV and said, "Big brother and second sister, you two watch TV and rest for a bit. Your sister-in-law and I will go to the kitchen and get busy. We'll be able to eat soon."

"You rest, I'll go." Qian Xi immediately got up.

Qian Jin waved his hand: "You guys come for the next meal. We'll all come together for the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion dinner tomorrow."

"Not tonight. You all rest tonight. Go back to the house Dad left us and get some rest. You'll have plenty to do tomorrow!"

Qian Xi, who was originally going to go to the kitchen, was stunned when she heard this.

She subconsciously looked at Qian Cheng.

Qian Cheng was also looking at her.

'In the house our dad left us!'
These words had a tremendous impact on the brother and sister!
Because they had some personal motives in mind when they returned to the coastal city this time...

(End of this chapter)