CHAPTER 400: CHAPTER 305: MEETING THE LEADERSHIP

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Zhou Xiaozheng received a notice early in the morning, asking him to take his daughter Jiao Jiao and her husband to meet with the leadership at two o’clock in the afternoon. Hearing about the leadership meeting, Jiao Jiao, who already had a premonition, also showed an excited expression.

Zhou Xiaozheng put aside all affairs and ended the group meeting. He returned home early and took the two of them to the study to carefully instruct them on where they needed to pay attention to their speech and demeanor. He roughly analyzed a few possible questions and explained how to use words and phrases appropriately in a face-to-face conversation. He went through every detail of his past experiences facing the leadership.

Finally, Zhou Xiaozheng emphasized that the interview time may be less than two hours. He advised the two to prepare their words in advance before speaking and to think twice before acting on anything. The key principles were to remain calm, maintain a sincere attitude, and keep words concise.

After the two nodded, he finally realized that he was even more nervous than the children were. He felt proud of his daughter and son-in-law’s composure and confidence. When Jiao Jiao suggested bringing embroidery, he paced back and forth, pondering for a moment, then nodded gently.

No one knows his leader’s temperament better than he does. Looking at the couple in front of him, he believed the children would perform as excellently as ever.

Since Lin Lishan was still busy organizing a performance in the army and couldn’t take care of the children, Old Mrs. Cheng and her maid were invited over. His family didn’t elaborate on where they were going; firstly, to avoid any undue excitement or influence, and secondly, so that Old Mrs. Cheng wouldn’t worry.

After lunch, Zhou Xiaozheng asked them to close their eyes and rest for half an hour, then personally drove the couple to Zhonghai, where they first met with the secretary. They arrived forty minutes early to avoid any misunderstandings regarding their attitude.

Zhou Xiaozheng was very familiar with these colleagues and declined the offer for prior notification.

At 1:50, the doors of the reception room opened, and several elders entered.

Upon hearing the commotion, when the doors pushed open, Zhang Guoqing and his partner immediately stood up and bowed to greet those who entered.

A voice with a thick accent burst into hearty laughter, then said, "How is it? Quickly see if they’re like old acquaintances? The little couple is truly a match made in heaven! What a quick response."

Following behind him, the adjutant and an office director smiled and praised the two.

"Have a seat, no need to be constrained. Xiao Zheng, you sit down too. You kids take it easy, treat it as though you’re meeting family elders. Xiao Zheng, isn’t your daughter called Jiao Jiao? And your young son-in-law’s nickname is Xiao Wu, right?"

Zhou Xiaozheng immediately stood up to respond.

"Sit down quickly, see, you stood up, now the kids don’t dare to sit. Sit down, keep us company and chat. This child really resembles her grandmother, truly seems like an old acquaintance has returned. Old Zhou, don’t you think her temperament is just like Senior Sister Gu?"

The adjutant nodded with laughter, agreeing. Seeing Jiao Jiao’s puzzled expression, he said with a smile, "Your grandmother, Ms. Gu, was once invited to lecture at various universities. She preferred being called Senior Sister, jokingly saying it was the best title. She was a highly educated early overseas returnee, an advocate of peace and equality. She and your grandfather, Mr. Yu, were close friends of Mr. Sun. Even now, Mrs. Song has some of their early correspondence."

Jiao Jiao stood up and bowed to them, sincerely saying, "Thank you for remembering them. And thank you, Commander, for acknowledging my elders."

The leader motioned for her to sit down and speak. He then inquired about which books she had read and whether she faced any difficulties. Upon learning that the young couple had returned to school, skipped grades to catch up, and achieved first and second best grades, he was very pleased. He encouraged them to keep striving, aiming to enter university as soon as possible, to inherit Mr. Zhou and Ms. Gu’s legacy as the new generation of young leaders. Then he asked about Zhang Guoqing’s current situation in the Northeast rural areas.

Zhang Guoqing provided several groups of data, both detail-oriented and concise, demonstrating the significant improvement in living conditions compared to before liberation. Except for some villages currently in a lazy state and unable to solve the subsistence problem, the average income was sufficient for everyday life.

The Commander and the adjutant kept nodding in approval, very curious about the data provided by Zhang Guoqing. Upon learning that he compiled the information through observation and summarization, they were taken aback and praised him for being well-read rather than mechanically studying. The Commander asked what hobbies he had aside from reading and studying.

Following the proposal from his father-in-law, Zhang Guoqing truthfully shared that he had passed the assessments and would complete the final procedure by the end of the month before starting work. He planned to utilize his spare time to combine practice with textbooks, with hopes of continuing his education and mastering more knowledge, thus making himself capable of contributing maximally to the nation.