The Next Day

Knowing that Er Bao was back, Yu Chengci and his friends came to the Lin family early in the morning.

In the summer, everyone finds it hard to sleep because it’s too hot, so they all get up early.

Moreover, the kids don’t like to sleep in, so they wake up even earlier.

“Lin Haizhi, Lin Hairui, Lin Haiyang… we’re here!” Yu Chengci shouted with a voice that was slightly weaker than Er Bao’s.

“Lin Haizhi, we’re here!”

“Lin Hairui…”

“Lin Haiyang…”

The other friends echoed in unison.

The Lin family was having breakfast when they heard their voices.

The three siblings shouted from inside, “You’re here!”

Ning Shu went straight to the fridge to get them popsicles.

Just as she took out the popsicles, the kids came in. “Here, have some popsicles.”

This time, Ning Shu made a lot of mung bean popsicles, knowing there were many kids in the house.

Not just the little ones; even some adults like to come over on their days off.

Sometimes they come empty-handed, and other times they bring some vegetables, and Ning Shu treats them with popsicles as well.

Popsicles are the best snack to serve guests in summer, without a doubt.

In an era without air conditioning, enjoying a popsicle to cool off is simply too comfortable.

“Thank you, Auntie.”

The kids were not polite at all, speaking in unison.

Er Bao quickly finished the rice in his bowl and said, “I brought something from abroad for you. Wait for me a moment.” Then he ran upstairs.

“What did Lin Hairui bring?” Zhang Mingcheng asked curiously.

Yi Bao smiled: “You’ll know when he comes down.”

This made the others even more curious.

Fortunately, Er Bao came down quickly. Before anyone could ask, he exclaimed, “I bought some snacks from abroad to share with you!”

He had stuffed the snacks in his pants pockets, and as he spoke, he began pulling them out—chocolate, candies, and some snacks with names they couldn’t pronounce.

Snacks from abroad!

Everyone’s eyes lit up.

There’s an inherent traditional perception among ordinary people that foreign goods are always particularly luxurious and high-end.

Ning Shu shook her head with a smile; these kids are truly delightful.

After breakfast, the kids went to play in the backyard, chatting, playing with Da Mao and Tie Dan, and listening to Er Bao talk about his experiences abroad.

After all, for elementary and middle school students, these were the main topics of interest.

With nothing else to do, Ning Shu was writing a proposal.

Soon, with the reform and opening up, private businesses would emerge, and housing prices would rise.

With their family’s savings, they wouldn’t be able to buy a large estate, so she had already purchased two storefronts near the vegetable market.

She planned to use these storefronts for a group-buying store when private businesses became allowed.

Where would there be a large flow of people?

Obviously, right next to the vegetable market.

Her app is a food app, and the group buying would be mainly food-oriented.

What could be better than the vegetable market for that?

With the storefronts secured, she needed to plan as well.

This era is different from later ones; the strategies of the future can’t be directly applied here.

There’s no internet, no cars, and many inconveniences.

Sigh… private cars wouldn’t be available until the 1980s, and the country hasn’t opened up personal car purchases yet.

However, this isn’t a problem; Ning Shu already had an idea.

While individuals can’t buy cars, they can rent them!

She thought about renting a tractor from a freight company to procure agricultural products near the capital.

That would be very convenient.

As Ning Shu pondered and wrote her proposal, she suddenly heard a strange voice from outside: “Is anyone here?”

“Someone’s here!” Ning Shu hurried outside.

She usually preferred to work on the first floor because, in summer, the second floor of the small house gets particularly hot, and in winter, she can sunbathe in the yard.

So, regardless of the season, she liked to work on the first floor.

“Please come in.” Ning Shu saw three people standing at the gate: two men and one woman.

One of the men was the guard she knew, and the woman was the director of the local street office, whom she recognized.

But the other man was unfamiliar to her.

More importantly, the aura emanating from this man made her realize that he wasn’t an ordinary person.

“Sister-in-law…” The guard brought the two people in and introduced them. “Sister-in-law, this is the secretary of XXX leader, and this is the director of our street office; you should recognize him.”

“Hello, Comrade Ning. We’ve met before,” said Director Ji.

Ning Shu nodded. “Hello, Director Ji. Yes, we’ve met.”

They had first met when Ning’s family moved to the area and needed to go to the neighborhood office for paperwork.

Later, when they transferred their household registration so their children could attend school, they had to handle grain distribution as well.

People like Lin Guodong, who settled in the capital, could transfer their food rations to their new location.

After that, when Ning bought two shop fronts, she had more dealings with the neighborhood office, so she became even more familiar with Director Ji.

“Please, come in and sit,” Ning Shu politely invited them.

At this point, the guard left, and Director Ji, along with the leader’s secretary, entered the living room.

As soon as they walked in, they heard a lively noise coming from the backyard.

“The kids are in the back,” Ning said. “My second son just came home today, and some of his friends came to play with him.”

“Is he the one who’s a world champion?” Director Ji wasn’t entirely sure about Ning Shu’s family situation and didn’t know which child was her second son.

But since the child had just returned, it was likely to be the one who had won the world championship.

Saying this couldn’t be wrong.

As the director of the neighborhood office, she paid attention to things like the World Middle School Games, especially since having a world champion in her jurisdiction was something worth noting.

“Yes,” Ning Shu replied. “Director Ji, Comrade, please sit. I’ll go make some tea.”

“Thank you, Comrade Ning,” the leader’s secretary said.

Ning returned with two cups of green tea. It was something she brewed herself and stored in the fridge.

Lin Guodong, her husband, would take two military water bottles to work every day—one for himself and one for his colleague, Xiao Hou.

Her tea wasn’t fancy like the green teas people drank in modern times. It was just tea leaves with a little sugar, mildly sweet.

“It’s sweet and cold—this is iced green tea. My husband likes it a lot. I’m not sure if you’ll like it, but give it a try,” Ning said with a smile.

“Iced green tea?” It was a novel idea, and since they’d never had it before, Director Ji and the secretary didn’t hesitate to try it.

“Thank you, Comrade Ning,” they both said, grateful for the refreshment.

The weather was hot, and the sight of the cold, misty tea was hard to resist.

They took a sip, and the taste of tea spread through their mouths, with a hint of sweetness in the middle.

Director Ji wasn’t picky; she enjoyed the tea’s fragrance, sweetness, and coolness. It was quite refreshing.

As for the secretary, who was used to drinking tea, he found this version of green tea quite enjoyable.

“This is really innovative, and it tastes great,” he said.

“If you like it, have more. There’s plenty in the fridge,” Ning offered generously.

This wasn’t something valuable, so they were welcome to drink as much as they wanted.

“You’re very kind, Comrade Ning,” the secretary said after taking a few more sips. “I’m here today on behalf of the leadership to check in on the family situations of national team athletes and the rewards for those who have won championships. Could I meet Lin Hairui?”

Ning Shu already knew from the moment the secretary mentioned the leadership’s interest that it was likely because of her second son.

There wasn’t anything else in their family that could attract the attention of leaders, except for Lin Guodong and Hairui.

If it were about Lin Guodong, they’d have gone to the military directly.

Since Lin Hairui had just won a world championship, it was clearly about him.

“No problem, please wait a moment. I’ll go get him,” Ning said quickly and went to the backyard. “Erbao..”

“Mom?” Erbao turned his head.

The kids were playing with Xiao Ba, their pet turtle, which was playing with the toy swimming ring Erbao had given it.

Everyone was laughing. Ning’s sudden appearance made them all look at her.

She waved at Hairui. “Come over here, I need to talk to you.”

“Okay!” Erbao ran over. “Mom, what’s the secret you want to tell me?” he asked playfully, raising his eyebrows, as if they were up to something mysterious.

Ning Shu couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s serious. You know how you just won the world championship and brought honor to the country? Well, a leader who’s been on TV before sent his secretary to check on you. The secretary wants to meet you and have a chat. You’ll need to step out for a bit. But remember to be polite. Also, don’t mention how your dad is busy working or how I’m weak—okay?”

Ning Shu was already a little embarrassed.

Even though the whole country probably knew about their family from the news, that wasn’t the same as saying it to someone’s face.

If Erbao mentioned these things, she’d feel like burying herself in a hole like Xiao Ba, who loved to dig and hide.

Erbao nodded. “Got it, Mom. Don’t worry. I won’t mention anything about you and Dad.”

“Are you sure?” Ning wasn’t convinced by how confident Erbao sounded.

Wasn’t a mother’s intuition supposed to be accurate?

She had a bad feeling about this.

“I’m sure, Mom! Don’t you trust me? I’m Lin Hairui, the one who brought glory to the country! I always keep my word.” Erbao patted his chest in assurance.

How could a world champion not keep a promise?

His mom had to trust him.

“Alright, let’s go then,” Ning said, leading Erbao inside.

The mother and son entered the living room side by side, and Director Ji and the secretary, who had been chatting, turned to look at them as they walked in.

“Comrades, this is Lin Hairui, my second son. He and my eldest, Lin Haizhi, are twins. People who don’t know them might get confused,” Ning introduced with a hint of embarrassment.

After all, no one who knew them ever got them mixed up.

The brothers had completely different personalities.

In the past, especially before last year, people might have mistaken them if they weren’t talking.

But after almost a year of training, Erbao and Yibao now looked different.

Erbao was taller and leaner than his brother!