Chapter 38 Going home for the New Year
January 24, the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month
Cao Xuan finished all his work in the capital, entrusted the fortune to Jiang Yue, and flew back to his hometown of Zaoshi to celebrate the New Year.
There is no airport in Zao City, but there are airports in Xu City and Lin City nearby.
Xu City's airport just opened last year and there were relatively few tickets. Cao Xuan only grabbed tickets for Linshi and then hired a van to go home.
Zao City is the second-to-last city in Shandong Province, only stronger than Lai City, which has not yet been merged into Quancheng. Its economy ranks among the bottom three in Shandong Province, and its population is in the middle and lower reaches. Among the 17 prefecture-level cities in Shandong Province, Belongs to the little brother among the little brothers.
Cao Xuan's family is not well-known in Yixian County, which is under the jurisdiction of Zaozhuang, and there are not many celebrities.
The most famous among them is Kuang Heng, who cut through walls to steal light. His tomb is less than ten miles away from Cao Xuan's home.
When he was a child, Cao Xuan heard from his family that Kuang Heng and he were from the same hometown, and he felt proud. Later, when he heard his history teacher in high school say that Kuang Heng was driven back to his hometown because of corruption, he felt as if he had eaten fly shit.
In addition to Kuang Heng, the remaining more famous one is Jia Sanjin, the right minister of the Ministry of War in the Ming Dynasty.
This person has been speculated by historians to be the real person of Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng, the author of "Jin XX", the first of the four great books of the Ming Dynasty.
If this guess is true, including Cao Xuan, Ximen Daguan and Yixian are really close to each other...
The village where Cao Xuan's family lives is called Caoguan Village. The name comes from the fact that an official named Cao once lived here.
There are many villages like this in Zaoshi. Cao Xuan alone knows that there are Panguanzhuang, Jiguanzhuang, Gaoguanzhuang, Zhaoguanzhuang and so on.
Although Cao Guanzhuang has the character Cao, Cao is not a popular surname in the village. There are only about thirty households in the village, and they are basically all relatives of Cao Xuan.
Cao Xuan heard from his elders that his family came from Cao Xuan's generation who fled famine. He came to Cao Guanzhuang thinking that someone from his family would defect to him, but in the end, there was no one named Cao. Instead, there were quite a few people named Liu and Sun.
Although the surname was difficult to deal with, the Lao Cao family eventually took root here and has continued to thrive to this day.
Cao Xuan's house was on the edge of the village. It was already dark when he got home and he didn't see anyone on the road. When he opened the door, he saw crazy barking dogs and excited expressions on his parents' faces.
"Dad, Mom, I'm back."
Cao Xuan left home for Beijing in early 1995, and came back once during the Spring Festival that year. From early 1996, he did not return home for almost two years, and only occasionally contacted by phone.
He misses his parents, and their parents miss him even more.
"Why didn't this kid call when he got home? I asked your dad to pick you up."
Sun Lan, Cao's mother, looked at her son and almost shed tears on the spot. She held Cao Xuan's hand and refused to let go, for fear that her son would be gone again.
Cao Shuangguo, Cao's father, did not speak, but immediately snatched the luggage from Cao Xuan's hand and scolded the dog who was still roaring a few times.
"It's cold outside, let's talk inside."
Cao Xuan saw that the dog barked again and it was time to alarm the neighbors, so he suggested that his parents go back to the house to talk. At this time, Sun Lan's maternal love broke out, and her son said whatever he wanted.
"Take a walk, go back to the house and say, you are hungry, I will ask your dad to make you something to eat."
Cao Xuan rubbed his stomach. He was a little airsick after taking a plane for the first time. He didn't eat much after that. Now he was really hungry.
"Just make some, I'll pad my belly."
"Don't worry about it, let your dad do it."
Sun Lan dragged her son to the main room. Cao Shuangguo put down his luggage and went straight to the kitchen.
………
Cao Xuan's house is not big, with four tile-roofed rooms in the main house, a courtyard in the middle, a kitchen next to it, and a toilet and doghouse in the corner.
Entering the living room, the first thing Cao Xuan saw was a brand new 29-inch color TV.
"Our family bought a TV."
"I bought it a long time ago. Didn't you give 50,000 yuan to your family in September? Your dad didn't buy anything. He just bought a TV and a VCD to play the two songs you sang every day."
Sun Lan smiled and looked at his son with eyes full of pride.
"I was watching "Water Margin" on TV two days ago. It was a good performance."
Cao Xuan was happy but also a little embarrassed when he thought that his parents would see his scenes. After all, Ximen Qing had many passionate scenes.
"Did my dad watch it too?"
"Not only your father, but also your uncle and aunt, your uncle and aunt, and Erkui's house next door, all came to our house to watch together. Two days ago, I went back to my parents' house for a wedding ceremony, and I specifically told your uncle, aunt and second aunt, let's They go home and watch.”
Sun Lan showed off her excitement to her son.
In her opinion, her son being on TV, or CCTV, is something that doesn't happen anywhere in the world.
It was only passed on to relatives and friends, which was already the result of Cao Shuangguo's obstruction. Otherwise, Sun Lan would have wanted to go to the village and shout three times a day through a loudspeaker to let the whole county know that her son Cao Xuan was on TV.
Cao Xuan: "..."
He now had the urge to fly back to the capital overnight, otherwise he would die on the spot while visiting relatives in two days.
Sun Lan didn't know what her son was thinking, and kept sharing with her son what happened at home during this period.
Because of Cao Shuangguo's low profile, Cao Xuan's fame didn't break out in the village until October, when someone saw Cao Xuan singing on TV in Beijing.
Now the old Cao family has become quite famous in Cao Guanzhuang.
In Sun Lan's words, in the past no one greeted her in the village. Later, even the village chief had to call her "sister-in-law" when meeting her. Cao Shuangguo was even more remarkable. He had to be invited as a guest at any wedding or wedding in the village.
This was before the broadcast of "Water Margin". After "Water Margin" was broadcast, Lao Cao's family became even more powerful.
I dare not say that half of Yi County, at least a few surrounding villages, all know that the pretty boy who played Ximen Qing in "Water Margin" is from Cao Guanzhuang. It is said that even the mayor has heard of Cao Xuan's name.
Sun Lan spoke happily, and looked at Cao Xuan with a gentle expression.
Cao Xuan was an only child, and Sun Lan had some physical problems that made it difficult to give birth. When she first gave birth to Cao Xuan, she almost died. Later, she had Cao Xuan, and she had to be sterilized early.
At that time, family planning had not yet been designated as a national policy, and everyone emphasized having more children and more happiness, especially in rural areas, where everyone hoped that the family would be as prosperous as possible.
Because Sun Lan only had one son, he often suffered from behind his back. Later, Cao Xuan failed the college entrance examination and ran to the capital for several years without success.
There were more and more rumors in the village, and Sun Lan had several quarrels with others because of this.
Only now that Cao Xuan has become famous has Sun Lan finally felt proud and proud, clearing away all the resentment and grievances accumulated over the years.
Cao Xuan was originally worried about how to live in his hometown these days, but seeing Sun Lan's joyful expression, he suddenly let go of those worries.
In the past twenty years or so, he almost always let his parents worry about him, and rarely did anything that made them happy from the bottom of his heart.
Now that Cao Xuan has the capital to make his parents happy and proud, he will never restrain his parents.
As long as mom and dad are happy, it's all worth it.
While the mother and son were chatting, Cao Shuangguo came in with two plates: "I didn't know you were back, but there was nothing at home. There were some radishes left, and I scrambled an egg for you. You can eat whatever you want first. I'll tell you what you want to eat tomorrow. Go to the market and buy it.”
"It doesn't matter what dish you eat. I'll eat the pancakes first."
Cao Xuan took the pancake from his father's hand, rolled some scrambled eggs with chili pepper, took a big bite, and was so moved that he almost shed tears.
"It smells like this."
When people from Shandong Province are mentioned, many people have the impression that they are burly men with green onions wrapped in pancakes. In fact, most prefecture-level cities in Shandong Province do not eat pancakes as their staple food.
Only people in central and southern Shandong such as Zaoshi, Linshi, and Taishi like to eat pancakes. In other places, staple foods such as sesame pancakes, steamed buns, and rice are the main dishes.
Cao Xuan also had pancakes in the capital, but he always felt that they were not authentic.
Now back home, the taste buds developed since childhood made Cao Xuan feel that the pancake in his hand was particularly sweet.
Cao Xuan rolled up the vegetables and ate three pancakes in one go. He was overjoyed, but the cost was a dull pain in his cheeks that had not been used for a long time the next day...
Thanks to Yueyin Xingzang Ye Nong for 1500 rewards, the sense of direction I once had 131 rewards, and Xu Da Sao for 101 rewards