I'm back in 1990

Chapter 919: Comprehension

Huang Dahai patiently explained the general promotion regulations in the military to his father, but as for how much his father could understand, that was beyond his control.

In short, given his current situation, it would be extremely difficult for him to be promoted to the next level.

Old Huang realized that he had been somewhat presumptuous, but it was alright. His eldest son was now a full-fledged division commander, a very high rank, and the highest-ranking official in the Huang family's history.

Thinking about this, Lao Huang stopped insisting.

"Big brother! Big sister-in-law!"

"Hello, Uncle! Hello, Aunt!"

At this moment, Huang Erhe's family of five arrived. As soon as they entered, they busied themselves greeting each other. Huang Ruidan, who was just over a year old, was held in Cheng Jing's arms. Her two big, dark eyes stared at her uncle, because she didn't recognize him at all. Children are always curious about strangers.

At this moment, Jiang Rong took the little girl from Cheng Jing's arms and held her in her arms, looking as if she couldn't bear to part with her.

Jiang Rong teased the little girl, "Call me auntie, auntie."

Unfortunately, the little girl can only say a very few words. She is only quite familiar with "daddy," "mommy," "brother," and "sister." She can't even clearly say "grandpa," "grandma," "uncle," or "aunt."

Even though she was being held in Jiang Rong's arms, the little girl would still turn her head to look at her uncle from time to time, looking very curious.

Huang Dahai was amused by his little niece's appearance and reached out his hands: "Come here, let Uncle give you a hug!"

This startled the little girl, and she turned her head and snuggled back into her aunt's arms, feeling shy.

The elders laughed at the sight. Cheng Jing took her daughter's hand and coaxed, "This is your uncle, your brother Mian's father!"

Unfortunately, since it was their first meeting and they weren't familiar with each other, the little girl simply wouldn't give them any face.

Old Huang called out from the side, "Never mind, it'll be fine in a couple of days. Dahai, Erhe, come over and have some tea."

As soon as the two brothers sat down, Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Xiang came in with their two children. The family exchanged greetings and pleasantries, creating a lively atmosphere.

Zeng Lijuan loved seeing this scene; it made her extremely happy. What do you call this? This is what you call a house full of children and grandchildren, a thriving family.

"Big brother! Second brother!" Huang Xiaochuan greeted his two older brothers first.

Originally, Huang Xiaochuan wanted to arrange for someone to pick up Huang Dahai from the airport, but Huang Dahai refused, feeling that it was unnecessary to make a big fuss and only asked Jiang Rong to pick him up from the airport.

The women of the Huang family gathered together, and the children naturally huddled together as well, while the father and his four sons sat at the tea table and chatted.

However, Lao Huang gave up his position, since his youngest son was better at brewing tea. He always felt that he couldn't brew tea at the same level as his youngest son, even though he followed his youngest son's tea-brewing method.

"I heard about it from your eldest brother, and I realized that becoming a leader isn't so easy." Old Huang told his two other sons what he had just heard from his eldest son.

"Oh?" Huang Xiaochuan looked very interested, but Huang Erhe remained calm, because he had served in the army and was naturally familiar with the situation.

But since the old father wanted to speak, we were naturally all ears.

The father and his three sons chatted and drank tea. During a break in their conversation, Huang Dahai gave the two other boxes of rosewood chess sets he had brought back to his two younger brothers.

"This is a chess set, for your two fathers-in-law, one set for each of you."

Huang Xiaochuan opened it and glanced at it. He immediately recognized the material: "Huanghuali?"

"These are all scraps, leftovers from furniture making by the local people. I bought them and asked a few soldiers who know carpentry to process them," Huang Dahai explained the origin of these chess sets.

This is a unique tree species in Hainan, commonly known as Hainan rosewood. In recent years, the price of rosewood has been rising every year, so some locals specialize in making rosewood furniture. Naturally, there are a lot of scraps from making furniture. Usually, these scraps are either made into beads or sold to pharmacies as medicinal materials. Coincidentally, there were a few young soldiers in Huang Dahai's army who knew some carpentry skills. They bought some of these scraps and made them into chess pieces, which they gave as gifts to their relatives and friends.

As time went on, more and more people learned about it, and people would often buy scraps of huanghuali wood and ask these soldiers to make them. These chess sets were made by Huang Dahai after he bought the scraps and asked the soldiers to make them. In other words, it didn't cost much money in total, truly a bargain.

After putting the chess set away, Huang Xiaochuan told Huang Dahai what Lao Yu had asked him to do: "My father-in-law heard you're back and wants to invite you to dinner. See if you have time that day, and I'll talk to him."

The Huang and Yu families have been friends for decades, and they are also related by marriage, so Huang Dahai didn't refuse and readily agreed: "Okay, I'll thank Uncle Yu in person when I see him later."

The father and his four sons were having a great time chatting, while the daughters-in-law of the Huang family were also chatting enthusiastically.

Jiang Rong, in particular, was overjoyed when her husband returned. That's how it is for military dependents; they rarely see each other. When Huang Dahai was transferred to the south, she didn't raise any objections. Although Jiang Rong secretly wanted Huang Dahai to apply for a civilian job transfer, she didn't say anything. Instead, she clearly supported Huang Dahai continuing to work in the army.

Zeng Lijuan looked at her eldest grandson Huang Zemian and then at her eldest son Huang Dahai, and said to her eldest daughter-in-law Jiang Rong, "It's fortunate that Mianmian inherited your skin type. If it were like his father's, it would be troublesome."

Jiang Rong laughed upon hearing this, it seemed her mother-in-law also disliked that her eldest son was too dark-skinned.

Chinese women generally consider fair skin to be beautiful; otherwise, there wouldn't be the saying that "fair skin covers up three flaws." Therefore, from a global perspective, Chinese women place the greatest importance on sun protection.

Zeng Lijuan was no exception. While she disliked that her eldest son was too dark-skinned, she was also glad that her eldest grandson, Huang Zemian, did not take after his father, Huang Dahai, but instead took after his mother, Jiang Rong, who had fair skin and was not easily tanned.

Hearing her mother-in-law praise Huang Zemian for her fair complexion, Yu Xiang chimed in, "Yes, Mianmian has inherited all the best features from her older brother and sister-in-law."

Hearing her mother-in-law and sister-in-law praising her son, Jiang Rong hugged Huang Ruidan with great joy.

She smiled and said to Yu Xiang, "Xiao Dong and Xiao Duo have the same skin as you! And they have great personalities too."

When talking about her two children, Yu Xiang was also full of worries: "Don't even mention it. They can't compare to their brother Mian. Xiao Dong is a quiet type, not lively at all. Xiao Duo, on the other hand, is too lively. If only the two siblings could have a more balanced temperament."

Cheng Jing sat to the side, listening with a smile. Of the three sisters-in-law, she was the last to enter the family, and Maowa was not her biological child. Miguo was brought over after she married Huang Erhe. Fortunately, she listened to her mother-in-law and gave birth to another daughter. Only now did she deeply understand her mother-in-law's intentions. Her mother-in-law was doing it for her own good.

Thinking of this, Cheng Jing felt even more grateful to her mother-in-law.

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