Chapter 211: Enlightened

Chapter 211: Enlightened

The two sisters laughed and chatted as they walked into the alley.

Before they even got to the courtyard, they bumped into Lei Ming, who was just coming out of the yard.

Lei Ming greeted them with a smile as he walked, "Sister Chunmei, Chunyan, Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year."

"Chunyan, I heard your boyfriend is here. I was planning to stop by your house to say hi and get to know him, but I'm in a hurry today and don't have the time. Next time we can meet, and say hi to your boyfriend for me..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Chunyan had already passed him and ran into the yard.

As soon as she entered the yard, a neighbor said with a smile, "Chunyan, go inside quickly, your boyfriend is here."

"He's been here for a while now."

Chunyan ran all the way into the house, and as soon as she entered, she saw Zhou Jianguo standing in the living room, talking to her father.

"Why'd you come so early?"

Her father frowned and said, "You don't ask that way."

Zhou Jianguo stood up, "It's okay, Uncle."

Chunyan stuck her tongue out playfully.

She was just asking!

Chunmei entered the house right after her and was also surprised to see the tall and strong young man standing in the living room. He looked really impressive!

"Jianguo, right? Sit down quickly, don't stand."

Chunyan quickly introduced Zhou Jianguo, "This is my elder sister. My brother and his family are all out of town this year and didn't come back for the New Year."

Zhou Jianguo nodded, he already knew, "Happy New Year, elder sister."

"Happy New Year, Happy New Year. You guys chat, I'll go help in the kitchen."

Chunyan handed the braised meat to her sister and took it to the kitchen.

The kitchen was right next to the living room in their house. It was originally a passageway but was turned into a tiny kitchen—just big enough for two people, and there’s no room to move if anyone else comes in.

As soon as Mother Zhu saw her eldest daughter come in, she asked, "He looks good, right?"

Chunmei nodded, "He’s really handsome. Just now when we were walking back, Chunyan was checking everywhere to see if her boyfriend had shown up yet."

Mother Zhu then mentioned how Zhou Jianguo was brought in by the old man who had been playing Tai Chi, "He seems like a really honest kid."

Chunmei laughed, "Still a kid? He’s already a company commander with a bunch of soldiers under him."

"If he becomes my son-in-law, no matter how many soldiers he commands, he’ll always be a kid to me."

"You're just looking at your future son-in-law with a mother-in-law's eyes, the more you look, the more satisfied you become. Aren’t you dying to marry off your youngest daughter now?"

Mother Zhu said, "If they get married right away, I'll prepare the dowry immediately."

"Tsk!" Chunmei was a bit sour; when she got married, her mother wasn't this enthusiastic.

Zhu's mother shooed her away, saying, "Go wash this lamb so I can throw it in the pot."

Zhu Chunmei took the meat outside, and as soon as she stepped out, someone asked her about Zhou Jianguo's identity.

"What kind of soldier is your little sister's boyfriend?"

"He's a company commander in the army," Zhu Chunmei replied honestly, without hiding anything. Everyone will find out eventually anyway.

She couldn't wait for everyone in the yard to know that her little sister had found a good match, so they wouldn't think her sister liked Lei Ming and stop gossiping behind her back!

It was driving her crazy.

"Which unit is he in?"

"He's in the Sea City military district."

"That's good, it's quite close."

"He doesn't seem local."

"He's not from here; his hometown is up north."

"An outsider." The neighbor seemed to look down on outsiders. In their eyes, how could anywhere be as good as their Sea City? Maybe he'll transfer back to his hometown after leaving the army.

Zhu Chunmei turned off the faucet. "What's wrong with being from out of town? There are plenty of people from other places in the military district. My little sister's boyfriend's father is a regimental political commissar. Who would dare to look down on him for being from out of town?"

She shook the water off her hands and went back inside.

As soon as she left, someone asked the neighbor who had been asking, "What did she say her little sister's boyfriend's father does?"

The neighbor shivered as the water droplets hit her face. "She said he's a regimental political commissar."

"Wow! A regiment-level officer! No wonder he can afford to give such expensive gifts like Moutai! The Zhu family's son-in-law... a cadre's child!"

"What rank is a regimental political commissar?" Someone didn't understand.

"What rank? The kind that can become a county magistrate or county party secretary after leaving the army!"

The neighbors in the yard were all people who worked at the factory. To them, the rank of a county magistrate was a very high official.

They had thought that Lei Ming's father-in-law, who was the deputy factory manager, was already a big shot, but it turned out that the Zhu family had found an even more powerful in-law!

"Lei Ming can find a powerful father-in-law, and Zhu Chunyan can too. It's only natural. These two kids have always been excellent."

"That's true too..."

The neighbors hurried inside to share the news with their families.

Eavesdropping, Lei Ming's mother muttered, "...struck gold."

Lei Ming's father said, "What did you say?"

At the Zhu family house.

Zhu Chunmei's husband had come with their child to visit for the New Year. Before they even entered the house, Zhu Chunmei said to him, "Why did you come so late?"

Her husband, Chang Wei, was speechless. Isn't this early enough?

Chang Wei didn't have time to say anything else and quickly went inside with the gifts to pay his New Year's respects.

"Dad, Mom, Happy New Year! May you always be happy, healthy, and have everything go your way."

"Hehe, sit, sit." Chang Wei introduced Zhou Jianguo to him, "This is your younger sister's fiancé."

"Hello."

Zhou Jianguo stood up and shook his hand, "Hello."

Zhu Chunmei's two children also hurried over to greet him.

"Little Auntie's husband!" they called out repeatedly.

This made Zhou Jianguo turn beet red.

"Haha! After a few more times, you'll get used to it," Chang Wei laughed uncontrollably.

Zhu Chunyan blushed and stomped her foot, "Sis, look at Brother-in-law!"

Chang Wei said, "Cut it out, sis, or you'll scare Jianguo off!"

Zhou Jianguo glanced at Zhu Chunyan.

Zhu Chunyan glared back at him.

Zhou Jianguo grinned, revealing a set of big white teeth.

Zhu Chunyan couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The Zhu family watched the two of them with delight; it looked like good news was on the horizon!

…

Wang Chunhua never expected that after her son went to visit his future in-laws for the New Year, he came back saying they wanted to discuss marriage.

"Did Xiao Zhu's parents mention it?"

Zhou Jianguo nodded.

Wang Chunhua looked at her son in silence.

She used to think he wasn't proactive, kind of clueless, and couldn't even land a girlfriend.

Could her clueless son really have made the girl's parents bring up marriage on his first visit?

"Tell me, what did you do there? Did you offer to help with any chores?"

Zhou Jianguo shook his head, "There weren't any chores to do at Xiao Zhu's house."

"Then what did you do?"

Zhou Jianguo glanced at his mother, "I didn't do much, just had some normal conversations. Are you asking because you don't believe that the Zhu family brought up the marriage discussion?"

Wang Chunhua looked at her son, "I don't not believe you, I just don't trust you."

Zhou Jianguo: "..."

Is there any basic trust left?

Political Commissar Zhou chuckled, thinking it was his bottle of Maotai that did the trick, "Alright, stop asking so many questions; Jianguo’s got this figured out now."

Zhou Jianguo nodded.