Returning to the Production Brigade to Pick Up My Younger Siblings

Xiao Weiguo returned home, only to realize there was no need; why did he even come back?

Such great news certainly needed to be shared with his old man at the very first moment.

Without even opening the front door, he immediately hopped back on his bicycle and pedaled toward Xiao Pingle's repair shop.

Upon arriving at the repair shop, he told the gatekeeper that he was looking for Xiao Pingle from the loading team, and the gatekeeper promptly made a phone call inside.

Before long, Xiao Pingle emerged wearing a set of filthy work clothes.

"Dad, your clothes are filthy enough. If nothing else, buy another set and take turns wearing them," Xiao Weiguo said, touching the clothes and getting half of his hand smeared with grease.

Xiao Weiguo then reached out to a slightly cleaner spot, rubbed his greasy hand against it a few times, and transferred the grease right back.

"It's fine. Everyone's clothes in our group look like this. No matter how clean they are, they get filthy again in half a day.

By the way, Weiguo, why are you in such a rush to find me? Is something wrong at home?" Xiao Pingle asked somewhat nervously.

Mostly because Xiao Weiguo had never come to the factory to look for him before, and this abrupt visit made him terrified that something had happened at home.

With a mysterious air, Xiao Weiguo pulled out the household grain ration booklet, held it right in front of Xiao Pingle, and said secretively, "Dad, look at what this is."

"Isn't this my grain booklet? What, do you want to buy grain? I just bought this month's grain for our household booklet," Xiao Pingle said in bewilderment.

"Dad, your hands are too dirty. I'll open it and let you have a look." With that, Xiao Weiguo flipped open the grain booklet and held it up for Xiao Pingle to see.

Xiao Pingle didn't know many characters, but he certainly recognized his children's names. At that moment, when he saw all his children's names listed inside the grain booklet, his pupils instantly dilated.

"W-Weiguo, their household registrations have been transferred over? Really? Didn't they say it was extremely difficult to handle?"

"It's true. Dad, why don't you take a half-day leave this afternoon, let's head back to the production brigade together, and bring the four of them over first."

Xiao Pingle thought about how taking leave meant getting his pay docked. Sunday was a day off anyway, wouldn't it be much better to go pick them up then? Did they really have to go back today?

"Weiguo, can't we just wait until Sunday to go pick them up? Taking leave is no good," Xiao Pingle said hesitatingly.

"You might have the patience to wait, but I certainly don't. If you aren't taking leave, I'll just go back by myself this afternoon to pick them up," Xiao Weiguo said.

Hearing this, Xiao Pingle had no choice but to say, "All right then, I'll take leave after eating lunch at noon. That way I won't waste a free meal. Weiguo, wait for me at home."

"Alright, I'll wait for you at home, Dad."

Xiao Weiguo waved his hand, watched Xiao Pingle head back into the factory, and returned home to wait.

If it weren't for the fact that Xiao Pingle, as the head of the household, needed to be present for such a major matter, Xiao Weiguo would have already gone back to the Xiao Family Production Brigade all by himself.

Judging by his old man's words, he intended to eat the factory's meal before coming back, which meant it was still quite a while away.

Looking at the ingredients in his spatial dimension, Xiao Weiguo decided to show off his culinary skills at noon and whip up a lavish lunch for one.

It would at least help pass the time.

After finishing his meal, Xiao Weiguo saw Xiao Pingle pushing his bicycle back.

After a brief rest, the father and son each rode a bicycle and headed toward the Xiao Family Production Brigade.

"Dad, have you thought about what we should bring to the city, and how we're going to transport it?"

"Everything at home is useful; whatever can be brought should be brought over. When we get back, we can borrow the brigade leader's donkey cart for a day, and have your grandpa come along too. We can return the donkey cart tomorrow," Xiao Pingle thought for a moment and said.

Hearing this, Xiao Weiguo replied, "The city only has that little bit of space, don't bring a bunch of junk over. Just bring some small items and daily necessities, and leave the rest at the brigade. There's a chance we might go back to live there in the future anyway."

Anyway, Xiao Weiguo didn't want to bother with these trivial matters; his main purpose was simply to accompany Xiao Pingle on this trip.

Both of them were filled with excitement and pedaled very fast. This trip home would surely set a record for the shortest travel time.

Upon arriving at the brigade, Xiao Pingle went off alone to inform the brigade committee that the household registration transfer had been successful and to borrow the donkey cart.

Xiao Weiguo, meanwhile, headed straight to his grandparents' house.

Grandpa had gone to work as usual, and Grandma was busy making clothes. The defective fabric Xiao Weiguo had brought back when he first arrived in this era had now basically been turned into garments.

They were just waiting for the Chinese New Year so everyone could put on their new clothes and celebrate the holiday happily.

Although quite a lot of fabric had been given away due to various reasons back then, a large amount still remained. Working day and night, Grandma had now basically finished making all of them.

Thinking about how her grandsons and granddaughters would all be able to wear the new clothes she made with her own hands during the New Year, Grandma narrowed her eyes in pure bliss.

"My, am I getting presbyopic? How else could I be seeing my eldest grandson?"

"Grandma, your eyes aren't failing you, it's really me back." Xiao Weiguo chuckled warmly and walked over to Grandma's side.

He casually picked up a piece of clothing, which looked like it was meant to be Weijun's new outfit.

Poor Weijun, his clothes were actually made last.

"My precious grandson, why have you come back again? There's nothing wrong at home, you shouldn't keep running back and forth," Grandma said, setting down her needle and thread with a reproachful tone.

"Grandma, how do you know nothing's wrong at home? The reason I came back today is because a heaven-sent piece of good news has happened to our family," Xiao Weiguo said, deliberately keeping her in suspense.

"What kind of news? Could it be that my Weiguo has found a wife?" Grandma asked pleasantly surprised.

"Not yet, not yet." How did it manage to swing back to him finding a wife again? He was still so young; Grandma was just too anxious.

Not daring to string her along any further, Xiao Weiguo told Grandma, "The urban household registrations for the four of them have come through. From now on, all your grandsons and granddaughters are city people.

Today I've come back specifically to bring them into the city, Grandma."

"Really? The registrations for Hongmei and the other three actually went through?" Grandma asked eagerly, seeking confirmation.

Upon receiving a definite reply, Grandma shed tears of joy once more.

Xiao Weiguo hurriedly stepped forward and used his sleeve to wipe the tears from Grandma's face.

"Grandma, don't cry. This is a wonderful thing, you should be smiling instead."

"I'm crying because... because I feel so wronged on your behalf, Weiguo. During this time, you've been running up and down for this family. Your grandpa and I have seen it all, and everyone in the brigade has seen it too.

To have such a great outcome is entirely because you, Weiguo, put in an immense amount of effort.

In any case, it certainly wouldn't have been possible to rely on that father of yours—I know my own son best."

After Grandma finished speaking, Xiao Weiguo felt a surge of warmth well up from the bottom of his heart. All his hard work was recognized by his family members, and that was more than enough.

Just then, Xiao Weiguo saw Xiao Weijun leading his second uncle's twins, Xiao Laidi and Xiao Yingdi, into the courtyard.

Nowadays, the brigade's primary school basically only held classes for half a day, with the other half dedicated to manual labor.

Therefore, coming back mid-afternoon was completely normal.

Spotting his eldest brother's bicycle at the entrance, Xiao Weijun realized his big brother was back and eagerly rushed inside.

Every time his big brother came back, there were delicious treats, and he had to be the first to get his hands on them.

Of course, missing his big brother was part of it too, but whether it was mostly about the good food or his big brother was something only he knew.

Seeing Xiao Weijun, Xiao Weiguo dismissed him in a couple of sentences.

"Weijun, you came just at the right time. You're the fastest runner in the family, hurry up and go find your older sister, second sister, and younger brother."

Hearing the order, Xiao Weijun bolted outside without a second thought, completely forgetting about the twin sisters he had brought home.

Seeing the twins, Xiao Weiguo walked over and picked them up, one in each arm.

Until now, he had been so focused on his immediate household that he had often forgotten he had four other female cousins—Zhaodi, Pandi, Laidi, and Yingdi.

'It's just that your eldest brother isn't capable enough yet, and I can't take care of you all for the time being. I'll just have to see how things go later on.'

Xiao Weiguo thought to himself.

After holding them for a moment, he took a few White Rabbit creamy candies out of his pocket and placed them into the twins' hands respectively.

Upon seeing the White Rabbit candies, Laidi and Yingdi were overjoyed and repeatedly chirped, "Thank you, Big Brother."

Xiao Weiguo told them to go play by themselves in the courtyard.

Then, he peeled open a White Rabbit candy and, while Grandma wasn't paying attention, popped it straight into her mouth.

This earned him a playful scolding from Grandma.

Xiao Weiguo burst into a happy laugh.

He peeled another candy for himself and popped it into his mouth. It tasted exceptionally sweet.

Just like the future life of this family was going to be.