The three-day New Year holiday passed in a flash. Before the villagers had really felt it, Li Long and his family of four had already driven their Jeep back to the County Seat.
Gu Boyuan, however, had stayed behind. He would remain in the village until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month before returning to work. The Purchasing Station was taking a long holiday too. After all, it had been truly busy this past year, much busier than Li Long.
Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia were both a little reluctant to leave. It was so lively in the village. The young people they had known before took turns coming over to visit, the house was full of family, and even Mingming and Haohao were laughing and playing all the time.
As they left, Du Chunfang complained, "How is this celebrating New Year? You've only been back a few days, and now you're leaving?" Li Long comforted her, saying they would be back in a couple of days, and it was not far anyway. Only then did her mood improve somewhat. Older people liked a lively household, liked having their children around them and plenty of grandchildren, and feared loneliness. Having lived two lives, Li Long understood that very well.
His Second Older Brother Li Anguo's family and his older sister Li Xia's family had arrived on New Year's Day. They had not seen each other for six months or a year, so the adults were delighted to reunite, and the children were even more excited. In particular, when Hongqin, Xueqin, and Xueping heard that Li Juan and Li Qiang had gone to Yanjing, the envy on their faces was quite something.
Through his hard work the previous year, Chen Xingbang had been promoted to group leader at the