With the call of her mother-in-law, Zhang Wanfen, the family gathered at the table in the small restaurant, forming a family gathering centered on Yan Bonian. Except for Liang Liang, who is far away in Beijing to go to university, the whole family is also counted.

Such scenes are often encountered during the New Year's holidays, and there will be them in ordinary times, but either this one is missing, or which one is missing, and it is always rare to have a uniform time. Especially Yan Yong and Qi Tianxiang, as two busy men in the family, many times they have a lot of phone calls, and there are very few times when they can sit next to the old man for a meal, and the time for two people to eat with the old man at the same time is even less, often Li Hongxia and Yan Li come more, and they spend more time with the elderly. Not to mention Yan Xiaobei and Liu Peng, work, communication, and study occupy most of the time, and when they have a little free time, they still want to get together and enjoy the sweetness of the world of the two, and they come even less.

Most of the time, Yan Bonian and Zhang Wanfen are two people who depend on each other, because they are far away from the city, some old colleagues and old friends in the past have rarely met and interacted, even if there are some interactions, they are very short, and only the two staff members arranged by the province spend more time with them.

This is also a rigid arrangement of the old cadres, according to Yan Bonian's character, if he retires, he will recuperate for a long time, recuperate quietly, live peacefully, do not trouble others, and it is best not to let anyone disturb the lives of the two of them.

In the early years, the old couple took care of each other, supported each other, and lived relatively peacefully, but later as Yan Bonian's physical condition became not very good, especially after Zhang Wanfen got older, it was a little difficult to take care of Yan Bonian's daily life, so the Provincial Veteran Cadres Bureau insisted on arranging two staff members to take care of their daily life.

Secretary, guard, health care, housekeeping, nursing, and daily life, two staff members, a man and a woman, all tried their best to take on it, which indeed made Zhang Wanfen save a lot. But for the working hours of the staff, the old couple resolutely refused to be accommodating, and did not agree to be here 24 hours a day, the old cadres finally couldn't resist the two stubborn old men, so they had to arrange for the two staff members to come early and leave late, and Zhang Wanfen simply didn't even need them to take care of dinner, which formed the current situation, the staff took care of Yan Bonian and Zhang Wanfen during the day, and only the old couple took care of themselves in the afternoon.

Although it is still not satisfactory, it is not easy for Yan Bonian to compromise to this extent, and there is some peace of mind for the children, and the old man is still not at ease when he is not accompanied at night, but Yan Bonian and Zhang Wanfen are in good physical condition, and they can take care of themselves in their daily life, and they don't want to force them too much for the time being.

It's just that the children come back more to see and spend more time with them, these are also done more by Hongxia's sister-in-law and Yan Li, Qi Tianxiang and Yan Yong can occasionally find time to come over, but it's just to have a meal and talk to the elderly, that's all.

Seeing that everyone was seated, Yan Bonian's kind eyes glanced at his family, cleared his throat and said slowly: "It's rare for the whole family to be able to sit together today, and what's even more rare is that Xiaobei and Xiaopeng also took the time to come and see us, the old woman was busy preparing such a big table of dishes, everyone let go of their stomachs to eat, and the more they ate, the happier the old woman was." ”

Yan Bonian was obviously very happy, and the look of satisfaction and joy on his face could not be concealed, seeing that everyone was looking at him intently, he picked up the wine glass on the table and said happily: "Happy today, let's drink at will, let's have a drink!" ”

Looking at the old man's happy look, Zhang Wanfen was even more happy, but looking at Yan Bonian's posture of leaning his neck to drink, he stopped him dissatisfiedly and said: "It's to let the children eat more vegetables, and let the children drink more, how do they deal with it, I think you just want to take advantage of this occasion to drink more, forget what the doctor told you, drink less, don't smoke, you just can't remember." ”

"You just don't open which pot to mention, aren't you happy today? You can't stop talking, clean everyone's interest. Yan Bonian was counted down by his wife in public, his face was a little unbearable, he put the wine glass on the table heavily, glared at Zhang Wanfen, and said angrily: "Just listen to the doctor's words, the year is wrong, the doctor also asked me to eat less pasta, eat less fruit, I don't starve to death when I listen to him." ”

Zhang Wanfen listened to Yan Bonian's unreasonable quibbles, she was really angry and anxious, looked at everyone and said dissatisfiedly: "Listen to what he said, is it unreasonable at all, is it old and confused." ”

"Mom, Mom, Mom, you dissipate your anger, dissipate your anger, you are completely reasonable, and we fully support you, stand on your side and never waver." Yan Yong saw that Yan Bonian and Zhang Wanfen were about to choke, and hurriedly stood up and lived with a smile on his face, "Isn't my dad happy today!" Usually you don't allow you to drink any alcohol, but today is a special situation, and it doesn't matter if you have a drink. ”

As Yan Yong spoke, he glanced at Qi Tianxiang who was sitting opposite, squeezed his eyes, picked up the wine glass and said to Yan Bonian: "I am happy today, Tianxiang and I toast you with a glass, but the happiness should also be moderate, you can only drink three glasses, too much!" ”

Qi Tianxiang also hurriedly stood up, first got up and picked up Yan Bonian's wine glass, handed it to him, and said with a low smile: "What my mother said is reasonable, what my brother said is also very important, just moderate, only three glasses, do what you say." ”

Yan Bonian took the wine glass in Qi Tianxiang's hand, glared at Zhang Wanfen fiercely, then gently touched the glass with Qi Tianxiang and Yan Yong, poured a glass of wine into his mouth with his neck tilted, closed his eyes and tasted it beautifully, and only opened his eyes for a long time, sighed with satisfaction, and looked at Zhang Wanfen with a smug smile.

Looking at Yan Bonian's intoxicated expression and deliberately angry with her, Zhang Wanfen couldn't help but shake her head and smiled helplessly, knowing that she couldn't really be angry with the old man on such an occasion, so she smiled at everyone and said, "Eat all the vegetables!" Eat more. ”

A possible outbreak of turmoil Yan Yong was skillfully resolved, seeing him eating food casually, Qi Tianxiang secretly admired Yan Yong's adaptability. As the eldest son in the family, he bears a lot of mental pressure, especially after the two old people are getting old and the body is aging, the responsibility of taking care of the elderly has gradually become his mission and obligation, but in the face of stubborn and unconvinced old people, he can not show too much diligence and obvious, just through behavior to show his concern, and often with the mud when most, but even so, it still took a lot of effort.

Qi Tianxiang didn't want to think about the future and if, but he was also troubled by these from time to time, the two old people in front of him, his parents in the small city of the Central Plains, have reached the end of their lives, but filial piety is a luxury that is difficult to achieve. Not only are their parents who are far away, but also the two old people around them, and how many times they can serve from time to time, not only can they not be compared with Yan Yong, but even their sister-in-law Li Hongxia is also very inadequate.

Especially after his position continues to rise, what he could do in the past, simple housework, has been deprived by his father-in-law and mother-in-law without exception. Originally the identity of the son-in-law, many things are still polite than family affection, as the secretary of the municipal party committee, after becoming the governor, there have been a lot of obvious changes, the father-in-law no longer asks too much about his work, and the mother-in-law no longer nagged about the trivial matters at home, becoming more polite and more cautious, so that Qi Tianxiang does not know what to do.

As a result, Qi Tianxiang was a little envious of Yan Yong, and even a little jealous, by the side of his biological parents, no matter what he did or said, he could act freely and freely, there was no communication barrier, and there was no psychological defense, this is not only a blood bond, but also from natural family affection and tolerance.

Just like tonight's family gathering, although it didn't say anything clear, everyone, including Qi Tianxiang, knew that this was a banquet for Qi Tianxiang to pick up the wind and wash the dust, and it was still the care of the family. The preparation and operation of his mother-in-law, the busyness of his sister-in-law Li Hongxia, and Yan Yong's phone calls, including Yan Xiaobei and Liu Peng, all came back for him. Although Yan Bonian did not express himself too intimately, the waiting in the small vegetable garden, the expression and excitement at the banquet just now all showed his mood and concern, which was rare in the past, and this was also to treat Qi Tianxiang, if he treated Yan Yong, he would not need such fanfare at all.

This is just a change in the time that he has left the provincial capital for more than half a month, if he leaves for a longer time, or if he leaves Hehai Province to work in other places in the future, and then has time to sit together, what changes will happen to the two old men, Qi Tianxiang is really difficult to speculate. Besides, he is only the governor of the province now, if there is a greater change in his position, will his status in this family also change accordingly?

Qi Tianxiang didn't dare to think about it anymore, and a trace of sadness rose in his heart, he really wanted to go back to the good times when he was on temporary duty at the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, Yan Li was not around, and his mother-in-law Zhang Wanfen was like a mother who asked for warmth, and would call before getting off work at night, either asking if he would go back to eat at night, or asking what he wanted to eat at night, although he was a little annoyed, but his heart was always filled with a strong sense of warmth, and there was a deep sense of happiness.

Is it just because of a change in your position? Or what he did not do well enough, Qi Tianxiang was reflecting, but there was no answer, the only thing that could be clear was that he had become expensive in this family.

Thinking of this, Qi Tianxiang picked up the wine bottle on the table, got up and poured wine into Yan Bonian's cup, then picked up the red wine bottle, poured some wine into his mother-in-law's cup, looked at Yan Li beside him warmly, and said softly: "It's rare that Mom and Dad are happy today, let's two have a drink for Mom and Dad?" ”

Qi Tianxiang's expression changed instantly, and he did not escape the eyes of Yan Li, who had been silently paying attention to him, although it was impossible to fully know all of Qi Tianxiang's thoughts, but he could still think of Qi Tianxiang's intentions, so he picked up the wine glass in front of Zhang Wanfen with both hands, looked at Yan Bonian and Zhang Wanfen and said with a smile: "Dad, Mom, Tianxiang and I toast you two elders with a glass!" ”

Yan Bonian took the wine glass brought by Qi Tianxiang, glanced at his wife, and then said to Qi Tianxiang: "What are you doing standing, sit down, it's all your own family, why are you so polite!" ”