Looking at the adobe and black tile house of his family at the bottom, after being exposed to the wind and rain, some of the brick surfaces have peeled off a layer. The window frames made of logs are blackened, and even the window glass is not the same colour.
A house like this is very ordinary, even in the countryside. Now some of the people sitting in the room, such as Zhang Yuanchao and that distant uncle who works in the tax office, are probably thinking unkind thoughts about the poor hardware in their home while smiling and fawning.
It must be hard. All of this is down to one thing: money!
'Yiping, why are you eating so fast?' Lin Hui shouted from below. She and Wang Chenglin were holding hands as they walked out of the house, probably for the same reason: they didn't want to socialise.
The last part of the road to work had a slight incline, and Xiao Zhijie reached out and gave her a hand – he just liked doing things like that.
'We've already eaten three meals today, including this one, so we can't eat anymore,'
'You're so hospitable,' Wang Chenglin said with a smile. "I've done some calculations. If we eat three meals a day, from this morning until now, those who invited us to dinner would have to eat for at least four days before they're done,'
'Haha, it's like this in the countryside," Wang Changning said.
'No, I think this is pretty good. The city New Year's Eve is getting less and less interesting every year,'
'Yiping, thank you!' Lin Hui said.
'Thank me for what?' In fact, Feng Yiping could probably guess what it was.
'We checked after we returned to the city, and indeed, you were right to worry. It's really not very optimistic to do this kind of business in the city. Fortunately, you woke us up. We came here today just to say thank you.' These were the words of Wang Chenglin.
'Really? Then I was just a blind cat that happened to catch a dead mouse.'
'So, about that furniture store thing you mentioned, can we still do it?' Lin Hui said.
'Of course you can. My brother-in-law's family lives in Meijiawan. If you're free these days, you can go and see him directly. You can ask my sister-in-law more about this.'
'Great, then we'll go tomorrow. Also, in the future, you have to help us with business matters a bit. This time, if it weren't for you, some of our savings might have gone down the drain without even a sound.'
After obtaining the relevant data from the Administration for Industry and Commerce, Wang Chenglin, who had originally felt that Feng Yiping was just making excuses, exclaimed that they were lucky to have gone to Feng Yiping.
'Experience is also accumulated slowly. I am the same as you, but if there is really something, these two are also good. They are in the provincial capital and will also go to the company to help this year. If there is something, you can discuss it with them. Two heads are better than one,' Feng Yiping said, pointing to Xiao Zhijie and Wang Changning.
After attending that meeting, the two of them were quite happy with the arrangement that Feng Yiping had proposed, to go to the company for an internship whenever they had time.
'It may not be a good idea, but they can help advise on things,' Xiao Zhijie said.
'No, you're both too modest!' After it was proven that Feng Yiping's words had hit the nail on the head, Wang Chenglin now didn't dare underestimate his two classmates either.
The story doesn't end there. When they went downstairs, their neighbour Feng Jiansheng came to the house with his two nieces and a nephew. They were a pair of sisters, poor but beautiful, and Xiao Zhijie was a little dumbfounded.
Feng Yiping of course remembered these two girls. Every summer holiday, they would bring their younger brother to their rich uncle's house to play. However, they got along well with Feng Hongbing and rarely interacted with Feng Yiping, whose family was in a poor condition at the time.
As far as I remember, the second one of them later happened to marry Feng Hongbing.
'Uncle San, these are my sister's two daughters. You know her family's situation well. They already had a hard time making ends meet, and they were fined a lot of money for having my nephew. We are just average, and we can't help them much. Now my nephew is in junior high school and his grades are not bad, but there will be a lot of expenses in the future, and it really makes me worried when I think about it.
The two sisters worked in a garment factory in the south last year. After a year of hard work, they didn't earn much money. They came here today to ask you for a favour, to see if you can help them find a job in the provincial capital.
'You're saying this. Our two families have lived together for so many years, and you've helped us a lot before. It's too formal to say these things. As long as you ask, of course there's no problem. I'm just afraid that these two girls won't look down on the work we arrange for them,' Feng Zhenchang said.
'No, Grandpa Feng,' said the eldest sister sweetly, 'with our qualifications, it's already very good that you can help arrange a job for us. Don't worry, we can endure hardship and do anything.'
'No, the work won't be harder than what you did at the factory, and the salary won't be low either. You can rest assured of that. Yiping, what do you think?'
Feng Jiansheng's relationship with their family was neither distant nor close, but it turned out that when they were short of money, they also helped out a bit. Although the amount was not large, it was all from the heart.
Moreover, Feng Jiansheng's wife had a better personality than Feng Hongbing's mother. When their family was doing well, they would not say anything in front of other people. In the past, Mei Qiuping sometimes argued with Feng Hongbing's mother, but not with Feng Jiansheng's wife. All in all, they were very good neighbours.
This was the first time Feng Jiasheng had asked them for help, and it was the middle of the Chinese New Year, so Feng Zhenchang would definitely not refuse. Besides, they were just two girls, so they could be accommodated anywhere. However, of all the companies in the province, the only one he could actually make decisions about was the noodle shop. But the noodle shop didn't need any more staff at the moment, so he passed the problem onto Feng Yiping. After all, what did a grown son do? He helped his father share the workload and worries.
'Since Brother Jiaseng has spoken, there won't be any problems. You can work in a convenience store or a hotel, the pay is similar, and the working environment is good. However, you still need to attend pre-job training, and there will be a probation period,'
'Of course, the training is also for our benefit,'
'Sister, let's go to the hotel,' the second of the two sisters said immediately.
'If you've made up your minds, come to the county bus station before 1 pm on the seventh, and get on the bus we've booked. I'll take you to the personnel department.'
The older sister and her brother-in-law and the rest of them had to rush to the provincial capital on the sixth to receive the drivers and those accompanying the bus, and there was only Feng Yiping.
'Of course it's settled, they will definitely arrive on time on the seventh,' Feng Jiasheng agreed for them, "Yiping, your two classmates, and Yuxuan, you must come to my house for dinner tonight, I will cook personally.'
Xiao Zhijie nudged Wang Changning and nodded, "I was right, wasn't I!'
Indeed, Feng Yiping estimated that there would definitely be other relatives coming to the door.
However, both parents actually quite enjoy this feeling. But they are also very clear-headed, and won't be carried away by a few flattering words and agree to everything. This incident today is probably the most pleasant thing they have agreed to in the past few days.
Who knew that the weather would suddenly change, and it started snowing that night.
The snow was not light, and when they got up in the morning, there was already four or five centimetres of snow on the ground. With the snow, the roads in the mountains became difficult to navigate, unlike the previous two days, when there had been wave after wave of people visiting to wish them a happy new year.
However, the plan had been to take Xiao Zhijie and the others home today, and then go to Huang Jingping's house, but now it seemed that would not be possible, and they would have to wait until tomorrow.
After talking on the phone, Huang Jingping felt a little let down. She had informed everyone before the New Year that they would be visiting today, and many relatives were waiting to see Feng Yiping.
'It's fine. If it's still raining tomorrow, then we'll go to your family's home in the town on the sixth day of the lunar year, and you won't need to come to my hometown. Your safety comes first!' Huang Jingping said.
That's a good thing. Going to her hometown and being inspected by so many relatives is not an easy task, although I can handle it.
Xiao Zhijie was the most depressed. His parents were also leaving on the sixth day of the Chinese New Year. He had originally planned to go find Zhang Qiuling today and find a place to spend the next two days together, but now it looked like he would only have half a day tomorrow at the most.
Watching him walk back and forth in his room, sighing and occasionally going to the window to see if the snow had stopped, Feng Yiping and Wang Changning found it amusing. 'Just tell your parents that you're also leaving on the seventh day of the Chinese New Year with us, okay?'
'Yes, that way, you'll have another day or two,' Xiao Zhijie clapped happily and immediately called home.
This guy!