Gifts brought

"A work unit? You're a sent-down educated youth, where would you get a work unit from?" Sha Zhu didn't hold back and directly pointed it out.

"You Sha Zhu, don't look down on people! Our Dongchuan is now a legitimate employee of a work unit!" Zhao Dongchuan's mother, Guo Ping, couldn't help but retort.

Sha Zhu finally understood now; it seemed that Zhao Dongchuan had been recruited for a job.

"Oh, really? Is that true?" He Yuzhu asked loudly, his face full of disbelief.

"Of course! Our Dongchuan has made something of himself now, working in a big work unit in Huangyuan City!" Guo Ping said with a proud smile.

"I haven't heard that your family has anyone over there. How much money did it cost to get this done?" He Yuzhu's eyes darted around, and he chuckled.

"Given our family's situation, we don't have that kind of money. You don't need to guess wildly; it truly is Dongchuan's own ability. We've actually been trying to find connections to transfer him back, but it never worked out. We never expected him to manage to find a job locally by himself! To be honest, Guo Ping and I feel quite guilty!" Zhao Zhengguo's face sank as he saw He Yuzhu still talking nonsense, and he slowly said.

Seeing Zhao Zhengguo's face sink, He Yuzhu no longer dared to joke around. He quickly chuckled, revealing his seemingly honest, wrinkled smile.

"Then I must congratulate Uncle Zhao and Aunt Guo! Little Dong has made something of himself, and you can finally rest easy!" He Yuzhu quickly tried to smooth things over, realizing he had spoken out of turn.

He turned to Zhao Dongchuan and said, "Little Dong, I, your brother, haven't read much, and I speak rather bluntly, so don't mind me, okay? Later, I'll make a few dishes, and you can come to our house for dinner. We'll welcome you back!"

"Brother Zhu Zi, you don't need to go to that trouble. I haven't eaten my mom's cooking in a long time, so I'll just eat at home. Thank you!" Zhao Dongchuan said with a slight smile.

"Hehe, you really have made something of yourself; even your speech is more pleasant now. No problem, I'll treat you next time when you're free!"

"By the way, what work unit recruited you? What rank were you given? How much is your salary? How much is your ration?"

...

A string of questions followed one after another.

Seeing Sha Zhu still ready to chat, the kind that wouldn't stop, like he was checking household registration, Guo Ping quickly gave Zhao Zhengguo a look.

Zhao Zhengguo returned a look that said, "Received!"

"Sha Zhu, our Dongchuan just got back. He's tired from the long journey. Let him rest. Besides, he's hungry, and dinner will be ready soon. Do you want to join us for a bite?" Zhao Zhengguo interrupted Sha Zhu's persistent questioning and said with a smile.

"Oh... uh, no need, no need. You all eat, you all eat. Little Dong, you rest well, okay? We'll chat later!" Sha Zhu was outspoken but not foolish. He clearly sensed that this was a "dismissal order," so he naturally felt awkward staying any longer. He knew when to quit and quickly went back to report to Qin Huairu.

"Take care!" Zhao Zhengguo saw Sha Zhu out, speaking politely.

Once the person had walked far away, he closed the door and locked it, to prevent anyone from being disrespectful and pushing their way in.

"Good heavens, treating our Dongchuan like a spy, asking all sorts of questions. When did He Yuzhu become so nosy? I never saw him care about these things before!" Guo Ping said, looking speechless.

"Who knows? Maybe someone instigated him to come and inquire about my affairs!" Zhao Dongchuan said with a meaningful chuckle.

"Dongchuan, you have a point. It's probably true. Everyone in the courtyard knows you went to the countryside. For you to suddenly come back, they must be trying to get information!" Zhao Zhengguo said, his expression solemn.

"They really can't stand to see others do well. If this isn't made clear, who knows what kind of trouble will arise later!" Guo Ping said as she opened the suitcase.

"Let me do it!" Zhao Dongchuan quickly supported the suitcase when he saw Guo Ping's actions.

"Uh, do you have any dirty clothes? I'll wash them for you!"

"Mom, no, I've already washed all my clothes clean!"

"Hehe, you used to not even touch dirty clothes; I always washed them for you! Now you've finally grown up and become sensible!" At this, Guo Ping's eyes started to redden again.

"Mom, I'm sensible now, why are you still crying? Dad, Mom, look, I even brought you gifts!" Zhao Dongchuan said as he opened the suitcase.

"This is malted milk, this is brown sugar, this is lychee canned fruit... Mom, you can eat more of these to supplement your nutrition!"

Zhao Dongchuan took out a large assortment of nutritional products from the suitcase.

He had prepared them when he came, taking them from his space and putting them into the suitcase.

"Our little Dongzi has made something of himself and become sensible!" Guo Ping smiled with satisfaction, stroking Zhao Dongchuan's head.

"Cough, cough, cough!!!" Zhao Zhengguo suddenly started coughing for some reason.

"Dad, no need to be envious, I prepared something for you too." Saying that, Zhao Dongchuan took out a good amount of cigarettes and xifeng liquor from the suitcase.

"I didn't know what you liked, so I just bought some randomly. This is Daqianmen, this is the popular xifeng liquor from Huangyuan, and this is some local loose-leaf tea. You can try them all..."

"You rascal, buying so many things! Where did you get so much money and food coupons?" Seeing Zhao Dongchuan take out another pile of items, Zhao Zhengguo couldn't help but ask with a bit of surprise.

"Dad, my ration at the work unit is quite a lot. I can't finish or spend it all by myself, so I've been saving it. And now, thinking I was coming back, I bought a bit more!" Zhao Dongchuan said with a chuckle.

"Oh, my son, you still need to save money to get married! Why are you spending so lavishly? You should save your money and coupons; they can be useful when you need to get things done. Using them now is too wasteful!" Guo Ping also said with a pained expression.

"Don't worry, I still have plenty of money and coupons!"

Saying that, Zhao Dongchuan pulled out a thick stack of 'Great Unity' banknotes and various coupons from his pocket. The money was at least a hundred yuan, and there were all sorts of coupons.

Seeing his parents about to start questioning him again, Zhao Dongchuan preemptively explained before they could speak: "This money and these coupons, part of it is my salary and rations from the work unit, part of it is my writing fee from the magazine, and some of it is a reward from the work unit and the Revolutionary Committee!"

"These coupons are all national coupons; it took me quite a bit of effort to get them!"

Some of these coupons were rewards from the magazine, and some were national food coupons that the system had dropped. He had come rather hastily and hadn't thought about exchanging for national food coupons. It was only when he was chatting with Geng Weiguo on the train that Geng Weiguo mentioned it unintentionally, and Zhao Dongchuan realized he had completely forgotten about it. As a modern person from the future, he sometimes overlooked common sense. Fortunately, the system dropped national food coupons, and there were also many national food coupons among the tickets he had taken from Huangyuan Hei Lao Da, which was enough for him.