Rebirth as an official

"This is a gathering of colleagues. It's not appropriate to take you there. When Li An's relationship with this girl stabilizes, we will go to the provincial capital to treat her to dinner." Li Lin replied to his wife.

"Oh, oh, it's up to you."

Na Wenyin nodded, feeling that what Li Lin said made sense.

Li An secretly wondered: "Didn't Zhai Bei's parents go to the south? Why are they back again?"

"No, Zhai Bei will tell me if I come back."

Li An suddenly realized something was wrong. Who was his father going to have dinner with at night?

"Come, let us have another drink." Li Lin raised his glass for the third time.

Li An raised his wine glass with confusion on his face, ready to ask who he was going to have dinner with tonight.

At this time, Li Lin spoke again, "I have met the girl from the Qiu family, and she is very nice. Although she is three years older than you, she has a good character and a good family background, which is enough. You have to treat her well. , if you dare to be half-hearted, see if I don’t break your legs.”

After Li Lin finished speaking, he drank it all in one gulp. Perhaps he was drunk and fell asleep directly on the table.

At this time, there was a "clang" sound, and the wine cup in Li An's hand fell on the table, and the wine was scattered everywhere.

"Anzi, who is this girl from the Qiu family? Why haven't I heard you tell me?"

"When did you talk about it?"

"What does this girl look like? Do you have any photos?"

Na Wenyin no longer cared about her husband lying on the table. All her attention was on her son's relationship. She looked at her son who was stunned and kept asking questions.

Li An's mother's voice kept echoing in his ears, and his heart was filled with turmoil.

"This is such a big misunderstanding!"

......

On the morning of New Year's Eve, as usual, the family would go back to their hometown to celebrate the New Year. This time, because Li An had a car, it was much more convenient to go back.

The car stopped in front of the fourth aunt's house, and grandma, who had been waiting at the door for a long time, came over to greet her. Behind her were the eldest aunt, the second aunt, and the third aunt.

"Grandma." Li An called.

"Hey! My good grandson."

Grandma kept holding Li An's hand to greet her. Li An was the eldest grandson of the Li family and had been very rare since he was a child.

His father had taken his grandma to live at home twice before. Grandma was not used to life in the city and returned to the countryside after living at home for less than a month. Therefore, Li An saw her very rarely.

The last time I saw Li An and grandma was during the Spring Festival last year. Li An stayed with grandma all morning and talked.

Mother went to the kitchen to cook with some aunts. Several children of the younger generation in the yard were jumping and screaming happily, holding in their hands the small toys that Li Angang gave them.

Li Lin and Li An's four uncles sat at the other end of the yard, chatting in the sun. From time to time, several uncles praised Li An for being promising and becoming the mayor of the township.

Li An could feel his father's pride, but he always corrected his uncles' words, "What kind of mayor is he? He's just a deputy mayor. He still has a long way to go."

"Brother, look what you said, the youngest of the deputy mayors in our township is in his thirties, and he has many talents. He is 25 and has a bright future." The second uncle said.

"Stop praising him. If you praise him again, his tail will reach the sky." Li Lin glanced at Li An, who was a few steps away, and said angrily.

Li An was speechless for a while.

Why am I so proud? You didn't ask me to become the deputy mayor.

In the relationship, you are the one who shows off, and you are the one who belittles me. I am just a tool.

After sitting in the yard for a while, an old man wearing an old navy blue overalls walked into the yard.

"Uncle Li is back." The old man's voice was so loud that the whole yard could hear him clearly.

The "Uncle" in the old man's mouth is pronounced as the name used by the eldest son in his hometown, and the second son is called "Second Master" and so on.

"The old party secretary is here, sit down quickly." Li Lin saw the old man standing up immediately and greeted him warmly.

This old man has been a party secretary for more than 30 years. He was also the captain of the production team before. More importantly, he gave his father a lot of help at two turning points in his life.

When my father went to join the army, because his height and weight were not up to standard, the old party secretary thought of a way to send his father to the army.

Later, after my father retired from the army and returned to his hometown, the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University came to select candidates. It was also the old party secretary who was busy with many connections, so that my father could go to university.

It can be said that my father's current achievements are inseparable from the help of the old party secretary, so my father has always been grateful to the old party secretary and would go back to his hometown to visit him every year and festival.

The old party secretary's son's job was the only time his father made an exception and found connections to help arrange it.

The father gave up his chair for the old party secretary to sit on, then moved another one into the room and sat next to the old party secretary, and respectfully handed over the cigarettes.

The two of them were idle for a while. The old branch secretary took out a piece of paper from his arms and handed it to Li Lin, "Xiwazi, can you see what this monument looks like?"

After Li Lin took it and looked at it, he said hesitantly: "Isn't it too ostentatious?"

The old party secretary waved his hand and said: "What's the point of showing off? The tomb that the second master of the Luo family built for his father two years ago was much larger than this. You are also a big cadre after all, but you can't let the villagers Saw the joke."

The second master of the Luo family mentioned by the old branch secretary is Luo Chuan, the deputy secretary of the municipal party committee.

Li Lin thought about it and felt that what the old party secretary said was reasonable, so he nodded.

"Okay, let's do it this way."

"Then when will you erect the monument? I can arrange it in advance."

"If it's quick, it will be in the second half of next year. Let's find the master to carve the tablet first."

Li Lin thought for a moment and said, then gave Li An a meaningful look.

Li An heard the conversation between his father and the old party secretary clearly, including the way his father looked at him just now.

My father is going to erect a monument for my grandfather. According to the custom in Linjiang countryside, there are three conditions for erecting a monument for a deceased relative.

No monument can be erected on a new grave within three years, no monument can be erected on a deceased person without heirs, and no monument should be erected on a person younger than 60 years old.

If a monument cannot be erected, it can only be called a tomb. A bare stone slab can only be erected on the head of the tomb, with no words on it. Only a tomb with a monument can be called a tomb.

Chinese people are all about returning home in fine clothes and honoring their ancestors. Although Li An's father is stubborn and old-fashioned, he is not immune to this custom.

In the past, there were many rules for erecting monuments, and it was a very expensive thing to do.

The first thing is to find a respected old gentleman to write an epitaph, then to renovate the tomb, then to find a Taoist priest to perform a ritual ceremony, and finally to set up a running water mat for three days and three nights.

In the old society, if you wanted to erect monuments and build tombs, it was something that only wealthy people or people with high status could do.

Although erecting monuments is much simpler now, it still costs a lot of money. This process costs at least 2 yuan.

However, Li An's family definitely did not erect a monument and build a tomb because of lack of money, but because one of the conditions was not up to standard.

That means being childless. What is called childless in my hometown means that Li Lin must have a grandson to be considered a child. In the past, it only meant boys, but now it is not so particular. Grandsons and granddaughters are all fine.

Li An thought of this and looked at his father and others chatting animatedly about repairing the tomb, and he suddenly felt very stressed.

"My father has already thought so far, how can this be possible?"

Li An couldn't help but feel melancholy.

The meal was ready in a short while. Since we had a reunion dinner in the evening, the lunch meal was very simple.

The old party secretary also stayed, and Li Lin served a lot of wine. Everyone had a happy and lively meal.

After lunch, Li Lin took Li An and set off to "Wangjiatang" with paper money and firecrackers. That was the place where his father was born and where his grandfather's cemetery is.

His father seemed particularly happy and talked a lot in front of his grandfather's grave. Li An sighed deeply while cleaning the weeds on the grave. .