CHAPTER 321: CHAPTER 323: MY DREAM IS TO BE A TRAIN CONDUCTOR

Xia Xiao looked at her humble home and wondered if Gao Jiaxing could drink alcohol; what if he got drunk?

So Xia Xiao suggested, "Dad, we can only drink a little today, just a sip or two, and save the rest for Grandma’s house where we can drink with Grandpa, Grandma, and our uncles."

Li Wenjuan strongly agreed, "Little sister is right. It’s better to drink at your grandma’s house. If your dad gets drunk, at least your grandpa, grandma, and uncles can handle him."

At Li Wenjuan’s words, Xia Weiguo was displeased, "I don’t go crazy when I drink; I just sleep, and it’s all fine."

"Wenjuan, your big sister is back."

Xia Xiao then saw Guo Yufeng coming in, with Wu Manni greeting her mother and welcoming Guo Yufeng inside.

"My son-in-law is back too." Li Wenjuan introduced Gao Jiaxing with a smile to Guo Yufeng, "This is my son-in-law, he’s currently in the military."

Gao Jiaxing nodded slightly, and Li Wenjuan added, "Yes, he’s just a platoon leader."

Although a platoon leader is a junior officer, he still commands dozens of men, and being an officer is different, after all.

At this point, even Xia Xiao could see her mother’s boasting, and seeing her mother’s flushed and proud face, Xia Xiao smiled indulgently.

Li Wenjuan indeed had a reason to boast; although her son-in-law was only a platoon leader, he was still an officer. Thinking of Yan Hao’s mother, Li Dongqing, who looked down on the Xia family, Li Wenjuan felt frustrated.

Now that her eldest daughter had brought her son-in-law home, and he had become an officer, Li Wenjuan wished she could let the entire building know.

However, soon both Xia Xiao and Gao Jiaxing felt the warmth of their neighbors as everyone gathered at the Xia family’s home, and because it was small, they went outside to talk to everyone.

"Happy New Year!"

Facing the elderly neighbors, Xia Xiao and Gao Jiaxing greeted each one, with smiles fixed on their faces. From this, it was evident that her parents had really worked on maintaining good relationships with the neighbors over the years, which now seemed even more genuine than when she had last visited.

As for the neighbor Wang Li, she didn’t come outside. Over the past few years, her son’s father-in-law had been laid off and had almost been ostracized.

Although Wang Li had managed to keep her job through her efforts these past years, it wasn’t very satisfying, and now that Li Wenjuan was also formally employed and her son-in-law was an officer, Wang Li, who had lost her previous arrogance, was lying low.

Upstairs at the Xia family’s, Li Dongqing also heard that the Xia family’s son-in-law, an officer, had come. She didn’t come downstairs, but scoffed, "He’s just a junior platoon leader; what’s there to boast about? Just look at Li Wenjuan’s smugness downstairs, really annoying."

Previously, Li Dongqing didn’t dislike Li Wenjuan; in fact, when Wang Li confronted Li Wenjuan, she even spoke in Li Wenjuan’s defense. But since Yan Hao started dating Xia Jing, Li Dongqing’s feelings towards the Xia family soured, especially knowing that Yan Hao had run off from the H troop to pursue Xia Jing.

These past few months, Li Dongqing constantly complained about the Xia family at home, which only her husband, Yan Hao, and his siblings, Yan Tao and Yan Yuan, heard.

Upon hearing Li Dongqing’s continuous complaints, Father Yan finally said, "Stop fretting, things are as they are; we can’t control our son, and you can’t possibly go to that production team to drag Haozi back."

"If I really could drag him back." Li Dongqing sighed, "I gave birth to such a disappointing son, always opposing me."

"Don’t overthink it. Your son has made up his mind. What can we do? The Xia family is well-known, just accept it, and don’t cause a scene and embarrass us."

"Old Yan, I just feel uneasy," Li Dongqing said.

"You feel uncomfortable because your son doesn’t listen to you, and I’m uncomfortable too, but what can we do? Can you really disown your son?" Father Yan looked at Li Dongqing and said, "If you truly disowned your son, that would really benefit the Xia Family."

"Disown him? Who said anything about disowning? My son would never benefit the Xia Family," Li Dongqing immediately replied.

Father Yan said, "That’s settled then. If you have the capability, make Xia Jing lean towards the Yans, wholeheartedly siding with our family. Don’t push your son away."

Li Dongqing nodded and then said, "Sigh, who knows when these educated youth can return to the city. We can’t control Hao Zi; it’s been many years since he went to the countryside. Our grandson is already several years old; sometimes we don’t even see him once in a year. It’s really worrisome."

"Who knows? If he never comes back for his entire life, we’ll accept it," sighed Father Yan, thankful that he still had a son in the city; otherwise, if all were sent to the countryside, what parent wouldn’t worry?

Downstairs, after the neighbors had dispersed, Li Wenjuan and Wu Manni finally started cooking.

She had prepared the ingredients early, not knowing when her daughter and son-in-law would return, so she hadn’t started cooking earlier.

As Xia Xiao offered to help, Li Wenjuan said, "We’ve finished cooking rice; just a few dishes will do. You don’t need to help; your sister-in-law and I can manage. You go sit with Jiaxing."

Xia Xiao could only enter the house helplessly, where Gao Jiaxing, Xia Weiguo, and Xia Chunrong were discussing matters. Since Xia Xiao wasn’t interested in the men’s discussions, she went to look at Xia Lin and Xia Hua’s textbooks.

Xia Lin said, "Big sister, our school has started classes again. After the New Year, I’ll be going back to school."

Xia Xiao nodded, "Then study hard."

Xia Lin nodded and said, "Big sister, I’ll work hard at my studies."

Xia Xiao said, "What do you want to be in the future?"

Xia Lin said, "I want to be a train conductor."

At this answer, Xia Xiao was speechless. She had never thought Xia Lin’s ambition was to be a train conductor. She said, "Why do you want to be a train conductor?"

"I just think of being a train conductor so that when Big Sister, Second Sister, Sister Xiao Wen, and Sister Xiao Fei return to the city, I’ll be able to see them."

Xia Lin’s words touched Xia Xiao, who immediately laughed and said, "Okay, then study hard and become a train conductor. I actually know a train conductor."

As soon as Xia Xiao finished speaking, Xia Lin’s eyes lit up and she said, "Sister, I can definitely become a train conductor."

Xia Xiao smiled and nodded in encouragement, thinking it wouldn’t be bad for Xia Lin to be a train conductor, as one couldn’t take the university entrance exams now, but one still had to find a job after studying. Being a train conductor was a formal job. Who knows which route she would take; perhaps there would be a chance to visit her and see Xia Fei, Xia Hong, and Xia Wen.

"Xiao Hua, what are your ambitions? What do you want to do when you grow up?" Xia Xiao asked Xia Hua.

Xia Hua said, "I want to fly an airplane."

Xia Xiao raised an eyebrow and said, "Flying an airplane is very difficult; only the very best students get to learn how to fly."

Anyway, Xia Xiao was appealing to her younger siblings’ aspirations, hoping their academic performance would be good so their chances of attending university entrance examinations in the future would also be higher.