Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 163 Hospitality
The road to university is long and arduous.

Dongyang County is such a remote place that it doesn't even have a train station, let alone an airport, so if you want to get to Harbin, you have to transfer through several places first.

Harbin Institute of Technology did propose a plan where their admissions officers from the province of Bulk would drive the top-scoring student all the way to Harbin.

Zhai Da rejected it.

The straight-line distance is 1400 kilometers, and the travel distance is 1800 kilometers. What's the difference between this and being tortured?

However, we still had to take advantage of the opportunity, so after some deliberation, we decided to split the trip into segments:

First, they would hitch a ride on Harbin Institute of Technology's shuttle bus to Xuzhou, avoiding the arduous journey by bus. Then, they would take a train from Xuzhou to Jinan, where Zhai Da had a distant relative. Yu Xiaoli planned to visit him there, while Zhai Da also had a place he wanted to go.

After all, bringing my mom along also meant a trip. Going straight to Harbin would just be rushing around. We'd stop in two places, spending half a day or a day in each, which would be more relaxing.

Finally, I flew from Jinan to Harbin.

By the way, apart from the three large suitcases I brought with me, the rest of my things, including equipment that's inconvenient to pack, are still in Dongyang County. We'll deal with that after things settle down there.

At this very moment, they are on a green train from Xuzhou to Jinan.

In 2007, which was last year, the first "high-speed train" in the country started running, and it was on a test section of the route. So Zhai Da and his team took a T-series train, which took four hours.

The soft-seat carriages were arranged in pairs, and there were no more seats available when we bought our tickets, so Zhai Da and Lu Wei sat together, while Yu Xiaoli sat to the side and behind them.

Across from the two sat a mother and son. They seemed to be from a well-off family. The woman was in her thirties and had a well-maintained figure, but her complexion looked somewhat hormonally imbalanced, with a sallow skin tone that was only slightly lighter than Pikachu's. She was with a chubby little boy of about seven or eight years old.

Zhai Da's hands flew, and a stack of cards darted around like a dragon, finally gathering in his left hand.

The chubby boy's eyes widened, his attention completely focused on Zhai Da's left hand. Then, Zhai Da snapped his fingers with his right hand, revealing a new card in his hand: "Is this the one you just picked?"

The chubby boy took it with a bewildered look. Sure enough, it was the 8 of diamonds from before. He had even secretly marked it by pinching it with his fingernail.
She immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Big brother, you're so amazing! Can I learn magic from you?"

Zhai Da glanced at the other person's chubby hands, which resembled Doraemon's, and shook his head, saying, "This requires a bit of... talent."

Don't let her age fool you; she looks heavier than Lu Wei.
The chubby boy pouted in disappointment, then secretly glanced at Lu Wei beside him. In fact, before Zhai Da performed the magic trick, his attention had been focused on this pretty lady.

The child, lacking manners, stared intently.

So Zhai Da silently took out his Ten Thousand Souls Banner. Jokingly, he took out his "coin": "How about we play a game? Guess heads or tails with a coin. If you lose, you have to close your eyes for three minutes and you're not allowed to open them. If I lose, I'll give you a piece of chocolate."

Lu Wei, who was reading the book, reacted and turned to look at Zhai Da with a puzzled expression.

Because they don't have chocolate.

Zhai Da smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, it's not needed at all."

So the chubby boy barely opened his eyes again before getting off the bus.

The key point is that for some reason he didn't dare to cheat and listened to Zhai Da's words, which surprised even his mother.

Finally, the train slowly pulled into Jinan South Station, and passengers began to disembark with their bags and belongings.

Zhai Da's family had three large suitcases, which was relatively few; he had fought hard for it.

Yu Xiaoli originally planned to bring several thick cotton quilts, worried that it would be cold there in winter, as one of those quilts could fill a whole suitcase. In the end, Zhai Da presented the facts and reasoned with her: "There is heating there, so they don't need these things at all. Everyone just wears a pair of shorts indoors."

Yu Xiaoli said at the time, "How can you say that? Xiao Wei should at least wear a top, shouldn't she?"

Zhai Da:
Mom, you're so funny, but then again...
Emerging from the train station, the exit was packed with people, 80% of whom were unlicensed taxi drivers soliciting business, while 20% were genuinely there to pick up passengers, conforming to the Pareto principle.

A bespectacled, well-mannered man in his thirties was holding up a sign. Yu Xiaoli saw her name and went up to him: "Liu Hai? I'm Yu Xiaoli."

Liu Hai quickly shook hands: "Auntie, just call me Xiao Hai. Welcome to Jicheng. These must be our family's two top scholars over there! Oh my, I'm going to have to share in their glory."

She silently included Lu Wei as one of her own.

Zhai Da also shook hands with his cousin.

It was probably his cousin; he was a little confused.

Liu Hai is the grandson of Zhai Da's maternal grandmother's brother. He is much older than Zhai Da, but they are of the same generation. His maternal grandmother's ancestral home was in Shandong Province, but it was in a small village back then. Now, her eldest brother Liu Jiandao and his family have long since moved to Jinan, the provincial capital.

The two sides did not visit each other frequently after the grandmother's death, but compared to other relatives, they were relatively familiar with each other. According to Yu Xiaoli, this family valued relationships. When the maternal grandparents and Zhai Da's father passed away, they traveled hundreds of kilometers to pay their respects. They even advised Yu Xiaoli to take her child to Shandong Province, where there were many people to take care of.

Yu Xiaoli was quite moved when her "cousin" said such a thing, whether it was true or not. After all, her surname was Yu, not Liu, and Zhai Da was even more so, a cousin on top of a cousin.

Liu Hai drove a Santana 2000 and chatted with everyone the whole way.

Everyone says that Shandong Province is hospitable, and Zhai Da feels that it is true. Whether it is due to cultural influence or genuine affection, this kind of spirit is something that most people cannot learn. He kept talking the whole way.

Moreover, she is only six or seven years younger than Yu Xiaoli, and she calls her "Auntie" very naturally, and she is also very talkative.

"Xiao Da, you said on the phone earlier that you wanted to go to the Shandong Provincial Museum?" In the back seat, Zhai Da nodded: "Yes, it seems they don't have online reservations. I don't know if we can get in by buying tickets on the spot."

Cousin Liu Hai immediately said, "Of course we can't let you make a wasted trip. Your sister-in-law works near the museum, and I had her buy five tickets in advance. You can go tomorrow morning."

"Thank you so much, cousin, but why five?"

"Hey~, someone has to accompany us, right? Otherwise it would seem like we're not treating our guests well."

Liu Hai handed over an envelope containing the tickets:

"You're interested in historical artifacts? Then you've come to the right place. This is the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, one of the birthplaces of Chinese culture. Why don't you stay a couple more days, and I'll take you to see other places."

Yu Xiaoli took over the conversation, but declined, saying, "There's a lot of reporting to do at school, so I need to go there a couple of days in advance to get used to it."

"What a pity. If only we had come a few days earlier, we could have shown you around Shandong Province. It would have taken at least ten days to really get to know what it's all about."

The car drove to the hotel, where two more relatives were waiting at the entrance. In fact, Yu Xiaoli didn't even know their names. The main point was that someone had to accompany them at every step of the way. If they were allowed to walk even a meter alone, it would be considered a poor reception.

The hotel was a three-star hotel. As usual, Yu Xiaoli and Lu Wei shared a room, while Zhai Da slept alone. After putting down their luggage and resting for a while, they rushed off to eat.

There were even more people here. The large round table that could seat 20 people was almost full. My grandmother's eldest brother was already eighty years old and had four children, the oldest of whom was almost sixty and the youngest was over forty. They each had their own families.

To be honest, Zhai Da had never experienced this kind of "big family" atmosphere before. In Dongyang County, it was just the two of them, mother and son, who came from other places and didn't have any "local clan". He had never seen so many relatives since he was a child.

Someone introduced them one by one: this is my aunt, this is my cousin, this is my brother, this is my sister. After going around in circles, everyone had forgotten everything before.

It's quite complicated. For this family, Yu Xiaoli is on the father's side, while for Zhai Da, they're on the mother's side. In short, they'll just call her whatever they want.

Being of a higher generation means you won't suffer any losses.

There was another man two years older than him, who was his nephew according to seniority, and he kept calling him "little uncle".

As for Lu Wei's relationship, it was assumed that she was tied to Zhai Da. Yu Xiaoli had mentioned on the phone that Lu Wei was her goddaughter, but no one asked for details.

Zhai Daben didn't intend not to drink that day, after all, the whole family was there, and he couldn't put the pressure on Yu Xiaoli alone. As a result, he was overwhelmed by the alcohol right away.

A very strange drinking vessel, the wine cup is like an hourglass that can be filled on both sides, and it is much larger than a regular wine cup, with a saucer at the bottom.

The result was: drink one cup upright, drink one cup backwards, and finally drink another cup from the saucer.
After three cups of baijiu, Zhai Da felt his face burning and quickly admitted that this was all he could handle. He suggested that since there was a child celebrating a birthday next door, he could sit in the next private room.

Fortunately, he was young and no one really tried to persuade him, so he eventually escaped.

What a close call! I almost missed the hot food.
The conversation then revolved around the fact that she was the top scholar in the imperial examination. My maternal grandmother's eldest brother, who was also my maternal uncle Zhai Da, even cried at one point, saying that his sister hadn't lived to see the day when she would bring glory to the family.

It's hard to say which side of the family or clan Zhai Da's father belongs to, but his relatives on his father's side have been out of touch for many years, while his relatives on this side are closer.

After the meal, the Ji family actually took out red envelopes, saying that according to the local custom, everyone who gets into university has to give a red envelope, let alone the top scorer. Each person received two envelopes, and Zhai Da and Lu Wei each received more than ten.

The price ranges from 2000 to 500.

Back at the hotel, Yu Xiaoli drank quite a bit, so Zhai Da simply stayed in their room a little longer.

After pouring Yu Xiaoli a cup of hot tea, Zhai Da sat on the sofa in the room and comforted her, "On the way back, I told my cousin Liu Hai that no one in our family drinks, so we'll keep the meal simple tomorrow."

Being hospitable is both a source of warmth and a source of pressure, but it truly warms the heart.

But I couldn't stand the burning sensation in my stomach.
Yu Xiaoli sighed and said, "It's alright, Mom is just happy. It's been many years since we've had so many people eating together at the same table."

Zhai Da laughed and said, "If you're willing, you can visit each other more often in the future. I see several old friends who are about your age."

Strangely enough, there was someone at the table today who looked remarkably similar to my mother, something Zhai Da had never encountered before.

The most amazing thing is that the other person was a man, the youngest son of my great-uncle. He had hardly ever met my mother, but when they sat together, they felt like siblings.

This feeling is amazing.

In the past, their family would avoid contact with others if possible. They felt that if they were not doing well in their own lives, it would be beneath them to be close to others.

Small matters are best left unsaid, big matters are best left unsaid.

But now Zhai Da feels that it's good that his mother has picked up some "kinship ties" since he has his own support.

Every family has its own problems, but unless there are special circumstances, Zhai Da is not opposed to getting closer to "suitable" relatives.

Kinship is like a mark, allowing people to see traces of themselves in similar brows no matter how far apart they are, like a spiritual umbilical cord.

Of course, some people may see it as a "shackle," but this requires a case-by-case analysis.

Zhai Da felt that his maternal uncle's family in Jishi were quite nice people.

(End of this chapter)