Despite being incredibly wealthy, I want to be a prosecutor.

Chapter 127 Graduation Banquet

The banquet for Zhou Hong's college admission was only for family relatives, mainly his mother's relatives. Zhou Hong's grandmother passed away a long time ago, his grandfather passed away a few years ago, and his father has a half-brother, but he moved to another county twenty years ago and they rarely keep in touch.

My mother has many relatives: two brothers and four sisters. However, only my second aunt's family lives in Zhoucun; the rest live in the countryside, and one of them lives in a neighboring county.

Although Pengpeng grew up in her own home and attended the former Zhouzhuang Elementary School, her maternal uncle and aunt's village is far from the county town. A few days ago, her uncle came to the city on business and gave the money for the gift to her mother. Neither of them came today.

My second uncle and aunt recently came to the county town to set up a breakfast stall. They rented a room in Zhouzhuang to live in, all arranged by my second aunt's husband.

Business seems to be doing very well, earning more than most people imagine. The two of them used to praise their second aunt's husband, and now they follow his lead even more closely.

Zhou Hong felt a pang of emotion. Although his second aunt's husband had many shortcomings, he had done a great job in taking care of and guiding his family members, considering his circumstances. He thought that if he had grown up normally, he might not have been able to do what his aunt's husband had done.

My third aunt and uncle also gave their gifts early on, but they didn't come.

My aunt came to visit. My uncle was a newspaper deliveryman at the rural post office. He didn't have a fixed holiday and didn't earn much. Many women in the village, whose husbands worked as bricklayers and hoeers, often said that my uncle should just quit his job.

My aunt is currently hesitant, wondering if it would be better to have my uncle quit his job.

Today, while we were eating pistachios and drinking tea at the table, the topic came up again. My second aunt's husband said, "Just tell Guoxin to quit. He can drive. How much does he earn driving a truck with me? He only makes about 200 yuan a month, right?"

Zhou Hong scratched his head. His second aunt's husband was still a bit short-sighted. Of course, who could have imagined this now? Someone like his aunt's husband, in a dozen years, will have a soaring salary, ample benefits, and a high pension. How can today's migrant workers compare?

In this chaotic period of reform, contract workers like him at rural post offices are in a Schrödinger-like state of being either half-laid off or not laid off. In some areas, they are laid off directly, while in others, they are just getting by.

Just as Zhou Hong was about to express his opinion, his second aunt suddenly said, "What are all these? It's not as satisfying as eating sunflower seeds."

The snacks we're having for chatting are different today than usual.

My aunt's husband immediately scoffed, "What do you know? These are pistachios! One pound of them can buy ten pounds of sunflower seeds!"

As they were talking, my mother and sister-in-law Chang Yue brought out plate after plate of food.

"Yue'er, you work for the government, come quickly, don't be busy!" Second Uncle hurriedly made arrangements. In many rural areas of the north, women don't sit at the table, but those who work for the government are an exception.

There weren't many people today, with children at one table and adults at another, but Chang Yue was busy serving at the table while her second aunt's husband was busy talking.

"It's alright." Chang Yue smiled gently and continued to follow her mother-in-law around as usual.

My aunt's husband's attention was quickly drawn to the dishes. "The cook here has something special today!"

"Wow! Good stuff is here!" Second Uncle clicked his tongue again, and served two "big yellow" chickens to each of them.

"Xiao Hong, you've gotten involved with those people who go to the sea now?" Second Uncle looked at Zhou Hong with a smile. He knew that only this kid in the family could get his hands on a big yellow crab. He himself had only eaten one when he was young. Since the reform and opening up, such a big crab has become a rare sight. It's only served on high-end dining tables in the city.

Zhou Hong smiled and said, "Yeah, I know a few."

"Wow!" My second aunt's husband suddenly started using the latest trendy kids' slang.

But Chang Yue was carrying a large basin containing a huge lobster, simply steamed.

Zhou Hong laughed and said, "Second Uncle, this is an Australian lobster."

My second aunt's husband clicked his tongue, unsure how to comment. Anyway, he'll definitely have a few more things to brag about when he drinks with people in the future.

"Is it right to steam this?" Auntie asked.

Zhou Hong laughed and said, "It's alright, I hired a chef from the city, so it should be pretty much the same."

Actually, a team of chefs came, but most of the people had removed the stove from the main room of the rural house, leaving only the head chef and two helpers.

The head chef was also frustrated. He was one of the most famous executive chefs in the city, in charge of the kitchen of the city's only five-star hotel. Now he was cooking for people in the countryside using stoves and gas cylinders, and he had become a big shot in the village. His apprentices were all trying to suppress their laughter.

Fortunately, the ingredients were really good, and they did not disappoint his cooking skills. In addition, he was paid a generous amount of money, and it was the hotel owner who instructed him to do so, so he reluctantly gave a demonstration.

They ate and drank, creating a lively atmosphere.

"Xiao Hong, you've really made something of yourself, much better than your second uncle!" On the table, smoking a cigarette and drinking Wuliangye, the second uncle sighed with emotion.

Zhou Hong's second uncle and aunt also praised him.

Zhou Hong hurriedly offered a toast, then changed the subject.

But before long, the topic shifted back to Zhou Hong's newly purchased second floor.

Zhou Hong picked up the wine glass on the table and downed it in one gulp, then laughed and said, "I think Pengpeng has already finished eating, so I won't eat either. I'm going to go see my maternal uncle, aunt, and uncle."

The main issue is that it feels like there's a bit of a distance between us at the dinner table; it's much better to chat with family and relatives.

When I brought Pengpeng out, there was a minibus parked outside the courtyard, blocking the way a bit. It was actually rented by the family to take the relatives home. The cigarettes and alcohol for the relatives were also loaded in the car, 10 cases of Moutai (60 bottles) and one case of Zhonghua (50 cartons) for each family.

This is a way of giving back to our relatives, especially the wine. If they don't want to drink it, they can keep it. It will be a considerable asset for the farmhouse in the future.

"Brother Hong, you bought another car?" Pengpeng asked, carefully fastening her seatbelt as she sat in the passenger seat.

Zhou Hong smiled and slowly drove away, quickly making way for his own doorway to avoid being scolded.

After the car entered the urban village and entered the county town avenue, it pulled over to the side of the road and stopped on the auxiliary road. Zhou Hong took a small box and a file folder from the back seat and handed them to Pengpeng.

"Brother Hong, what are all these?" Pengpeng asked curiously, holding them in her arms.

"I bought you a phone and a SIM card. You can install the SIM card yourself later. You don't need to pay for the SIM card; you can make calls as much as you want."

Pengpeng was stunned, her little face showing a mixture of excitement and disbelief.

Nowadays, mobile phones are not common among adults in county towns, so there are no regulations prohibiting them from bringing mobile phones into schools.

Moreover, nowadays mobile phones are just communication tools, with at most a few small games like Snake.

"It's alright, I'll talk to your uncle and aunt. You can keep this phone." He then pointed to the file folder. "Inside is a flat apartment I bought for you in the city, along with the key and a contact number. They're people from my company. The building is currently under the company's name. Just contact them and they'll take you to transfer the ownership."

Pengpeng was completely dumbfounded. "Huh?"

"If any of our children get into a good university in the future, I'll buy them an apartment. You're such a top student, you're sure to get into a good university. This apartment is a reward for you in advance. The reward for getting into university is separate. Whichever city you settle down in, I'll buy you an apartment there."

Pengpeng, of course, didn't know what a large apartment meant, or even how precious an apartment in the city was. A high school girl from the countryside at the beginning of the century, she didn't have these kinds of ideas.

But knowing how kind Xiao Hong was to her, her face flushed, and she said, "Thank you, Xiao Hong!"

She preferred her phone to the large apartment, clutching the phone box tightly but not daring to open it.

Zhou Hong smiled and started the car.

Then she saw a text message from Zhou Jingjing (Twenty-One Flowers), saying that Bai Zhi and Su Qi hadn't left and were waiting for her to go to the capital together.