Chapter 33: The Braggart
Hu Jianguo burst into tears, "God has eyes!"
Next came the medical procedure and all outsiders were cleared out, but everyone's face was filled with smiles, excitement and relief.
The happiest people were Hu Jianguo and his son. Looking at Ma Xiaowu with red and swollen eyes, they were filled with gratitude and kept nodding to express their feelings.
Ma Xiaowu felt a little embarrassed. It was really damaging to his self-esteem for a grown boy to cry so hard in public.
Walking into the small round forest nearby, Hu Jiao put his arm around Ma Xiaowu's shoulder and said intimately, "Study hard and try to get into Renmin University. It's my second alma mater."
Ma Xiaowu looked at him in surprise. Why was it the National People’s Congress?
“I want to study teacher training.”
Hu Jiao looked at Ma Xiaowu with a serious face. He could understand the young man's thoughts. He almost applied for a teacher training program, but later gave up after being persuaded by his mother.
"Yeah. It's good to have ideals. No matter which university you go to, learning real knowledge is better than anything else." Hu Jianguo interrupted and looked at Ma Xiaowu. He had never blamed the high school student in front of him.
Hu Jiao turned to the ward, which had been converted into a temporary operating room. Of course, there was no surgical operation to be performed. According to Professor Liu's previous plan, the focus now was on consolidating the results and trying to reduce the risk of future complications, such as concussion, memory loss, neurasthenia, etc.
Sitting around the stone tables and chairs in the garden, Banghui and her daughter brought food to everyone. It was not realistic to ask everyone to go out for dinner now, so it would be better to buy some fast food and eat on the spot.
After everyone finished eating, Li Juan quietly asked what happened. As Hu Jiao told her story, she couldn't hide the joy on her face, "It's good that Teacher Li woke up. Haha, Mom, Teacher Li woke up."
"I heard it! Old Hu, my girl can't wait. Let's discuss it when Aiju is discharged from the hospital. I really can't stand her harassment." He Banghui teased his daughter. He said jokingly, but his eyes were very complicated.
Hu Jianguo looked at Li Juan's embarrassed and angry expression. He had already known from Li Mingyong's hint that the young couple in front of him were probably already husband and wife.
Li Juan knew Hu Jiao's wife inside and out, and this girl was gentle in nature, and had the virtues of her mother. She was also talented and educated. When the two got together, their family background, status, work, and position were completely equal.
"Okay. I also plan to help Aiju celebrate the wedding. It just so happens that they are getting old. If we wait a few more years, I'm afraid that we old men and women won't be able to take care of our grandchildren."
Among those present, only Qian Dezhong understood the enormous energy generated by this marriage, which was not as simple as one plus one equals two.
Qian Dezhong looked at Hu Jiao with envy, a true child of destiny.
Hu Jiao has learned from his father that he will follow Secretary-General Wu Changjun for two years.
Hu Jiao has no negative thoughts about being a secretary. Among the people he knows, there are two outstanding secretaries who have now achieved remarkable success.
One is Tie Xiangqian, secretary of the Tong County Party Committee, and Li Mingyong’s secretary when he was secretary of the Fenghuang Municipal Party Committee; the other is Deng Shengni, former secretary-general of the Fenghuang Municipal Party Committee, and current executive vice mayor of Fenghuang.
In the Phoenix Municipal Party Committee, Tian Fumin is the top leader. The acting mayor Gao Yongzhi was parachuted in from the central government. He was formerly the deputy director of the Cultural Industry Department of the Ministry of Culture. He serves as a member of the Phoenix Municipal Party Committee, deputy secretary, deputy mayor, and acting mayor. Third in line is Li Bo, the deputy secretary in charge of party and mass organizations, followed by Deng Shengni, the deputy secretary and deputy mayor.
After Gao Yongzhi arrived in Fenghuang, he did not have any eye-catching performance. He was low-key and simple in style. After half a year in Fenghuang, he basically kept in step with the city party secretary Tian Fumin. The government's routine work relied on Deng Shengni.
So now the Phoenix Municipal Government is basically headed by Deng Shengni.
Hu Jiao was very familiar with these two people, especially the latter. After Li Mingyong was transferred to Fenghuang, he formed a comradeship and brotherhood with Hu Jianguo, Deng Shengni and Tie Xiangqian.
Deng Shengni was the secretary of Li Mingyong's predecessor. He later served as deputy secretary of the Fenghuang District Committee, deputy district mayor, district mayor, and district committee secretary. He was very capable in economic development and urban planning.
Since entering high school, Hu Jiao has participated in gatherings of several families during festivals and holidays, and Deng Shengni left a deep impression on him.
First of all, let’s talk about his appearance. Deng Shengni has short and thick eyebrows, small eyes, reddish skin, curly hair, a flat nose and a wide mouth. He looks a bit ugly.
However, he is quite good at arranging and organizing various activities. Although he seems slow on the surface, everything seems to be in order and there are rarely any mistakes. When there are emergencies, he responds very quickly and with effective measures.
In the four-member group, Li Mingyong gave orders, Hu Jianguo was the planner, Deng Shengni was the perfect executor, and Tie Xiangqian filled in the gaps. The four-member small group cooperated well, advanced and retreated freely, and firmly controlled the development direction and speed of the Phoenix Municipal Party Committee.
Now the four have disbanded, Li Mingyong has been promoted to vice governor, Hu Jianguo and Deng Shengni are in charge of each side, and Tie Xiangqian has officially become independent.
Therefore, not all people who started out as secretaries are flatterers or house slaves in the eyes of the world, who are used to flattering and pandering to their superiors and suppressing their subordinates. Among them, there are also outstanding cadres like Deng Shengni.
Next, He Banghui and Hu Jianguo discussed some details. Of course, the prerequisite is that Li Aiju can recover as soon as possible.
Hu Jianguo was grateful to his future in-laws for diverting his pressure through their children's marriages. From this point of view alone, he had to marry Li Juan, his daughter-in-law.
Li Juan is older than Hu Jiao, and Li Juan is not the kind of beautiful and sexy woman. Instead, she has an intellectual beauty. This temperament is influenced by He Banghui and makes people feel very comfortable.
Li Juan's most distinctive feature is her height. She is nearly 1.7 meters tall. When she stands next to Hu Jiao, they give off an air of perfect match, a talented man and a beautiful woman.
In addition, the two had known each other since high school and had been classmates all along. They knew each other well and there was no forced element in their relationship. This would make for a good match and a closer relationship, so Hu Jianguo certainly strongly supported it.
Two hours passed before Professor Liu came out with a smile on his face. Only when Hu Jianguo saw his expression did he truly breathe a sigh of relief.
Before the people arrived, Professor Liu's voice was full of excitement, "Good news! The condition is good now. Optimistically speaking, he can be discharged from the hospital in half a month, but..."
What I’m afraid of is “But…”
Hu Jiao stared at him nervously, and Professor Liu still had a smile on his face. "As for the sequelae, it's not ideal. He needs to rest for a long time in the future. It is estimated that he will be able to basically return to normal in about a year. However, he may have intermittent memory confusion in the later stage. He cannot stay in a noisy place for a long time, and his language organization ability is not as good as before. He also has minor symptoms such as dizziness and headache. Fortunately, his previous memory is basically retained."
Hu Jianguo asked, "Intermittent memory loss? What are the specific symptoms?"
"Well, the most obvious is aphasia. For example, when I'm speaking, I suddenly forget what I'm saying and how to continue. This is only the current situation. After a year or even longer of rest, it should be alleviated."
Hu Jianguo nodded. The person has woken up, which is a great blessing. There is no need to dwell on these minor problems.
Professor Liu continued, "I suggest that you don't work for the time being after you are discharged from the hospital. Stay in Nanhu. The climate and natural environment here are suitable for recuperation."
Several people expressed their gratitude. After a long period of intense work, Professor Liu felt a little exhausted and left after a hurried excuse.
Led by Hu Jianguo, several people followed into the ward. At this time, there were only two nurses cleaning.
Li Aiju's long black hair had been shaved off, and her wig had been replaced with a net one. A roll of snow-white bandage was wrapped around her forehead. There was a gentle smile on the corner of her mouth, and her eyes were shining.
Hu Jianguo took a quick step forward, held his wife's hand tightly, and stared greedily into her beautiful eyes, "How do you feel?"
Li Aiju nodded, called Banghui and others, and waved to Li Juan, "Come, come and talk to the teacher..." Holding Li Juan's hand, a mischievous smile appeared on her face, "Juanjuan, I am very happy today, but I also have a little regret. Can you help me make up for it?"
Li Juan felt embarrassed by being stared at, but still nodded obediently.
"Before I woke up, I heard Xiaowu calling me mom, and Jiaojiao also called me mom, but I wanted to hear you call me the most. How is it?"
Li Juan blushed instantly and let her hair down, but she still couldn't avoid the gazes of everyone in the room. She was extremely anxious, but she couldn't run away. Everyone looked at her and smiled meaningfully.
He Banghui followed suit, "Juanjuan, shout! Shout! It's so easy to get a mother who becomes a hero. Shout, shout!"
Li Juan could only suppress her shame and said in a whisper, "Mom..."
Everyone smiled kindly. Li Aiju reached out her hand lovingly, gently pulled Li Juan down, and leaned against her side. "Juanjuan, now that you've called me mom, you can never regret it in this lifetime. After I'm discharged from the hospital, you and Jiaojiao can get married."
Ma Xiaowu hid at the back and looked at the teacher secretly.
When Li Aiju was still asleep, he prayed to gods and Buddhas every day, hoping that his teacher would wake up soon, and even cried his heart out.
Now that Teacher Li has woken up, he feels ashamed to face him. If it weren’t for his reckless behavior, how could the teacher be seriously injured?
After chatting with her family and friends for a while, Li Aiju turned her eyes to Ma Xiaowu.
"Xiaowu."
Ma Xiaowu was dejected, but he could not retreat. As a man, he had to act bravely and take responsibility.
"Teacher Li, I'm sorry..."
Li Aiju looked at him with complicated eyes, "Did you not do well in the final exam? Did you lose your ranking?"
Ma Xiaowu nodded and quickly explained, "But my score went up. I don't know what happened. Everyone in the grade did well this time. I thought I could be in the top 100, but I dropped out of the top 200."
Li Aiju shook her head. "I don't like making excuses. Although what you said is true, have you been more attentive? Have you studied harder? Are you still regretting the wrong things you did?" She asked and saw Ma Xiaowu nod his head.
Li Aiju changed the subject and said, "Now, you have seen with your own eyes that the teacher has woken up. So, I have a few words for you to take back and tell the whole class that I have woken up, but I cannot teach for the time being. I hope that when I leave you, my children will be able to produce results that will make me proud and proud!"
Ma Xiaowu nodded vigorously. Li Aiju looked at him with relief and joy in her eyes. "Xiaowu, the teacher doesn't blame you! Everyone makes mistakes, but you have to learn from them after knowing they are wrong. You can't make the same mistake over and over again. The teacher believes in you! Similarly, don't forget that you also called me mom. My children are all the best. Can you do that?"
He nodded vigorously again, his eyes feeling sore and swollen. He wanted to swear, but his throat seemed to be stuck and he couldn't say anything.
Afterwards, Hu Jianguo asked Qian Dezhong to arrange a driver to send Ma Xiaowu back to Hongjiang, and He Banghui also took his daughter to say goodbye.
This is a chance for a family that has suffered many disasters to get together.
In the ward, Hu Jiao carried the porridge and fed his mother spoonful by spoonful, "Mom, I didn't expect you to be such a boaster. Xiaowu was frightened by you and became nervous. Haha."
Li Aiju swallowed the porridge in her mouth and reached out to hit him, "You little bastard, that's my job. You dare to accuse me of bragging? It breaks my mother's heart. If I had known that I wouldn't wake up, I would have stayed here and slept until the seas dried up and the rocks crumbled."
Hu Jianguo sat aside with a happy face. Since his son was born, his favorite scene to watch was his wife and son playing together. Influenced by his wife, Hu Jianguo never put himself above his son in his mentality. The couple treated their son as a good friend.
I have communicated with him on an equal footing since he was young.
Li Aiju would never force Hu Jiao to stop doing anything, even if she knew it was wrong, she would let Hu Jiao do it. Only when Hu Jiao suffered losses would she tell him that this was wrong.
Nor would he force Hu Jiao to do anything he didn't like.
Therefore, Hu Jiao's superficial personality is largely influenced by her, but deep down he is still as rigid as Hu Jianguo.
This is what is called weak on the outside and strong on the inside.
Of course, they had no idea about the drunken adventure that happened to Hu Jiao later. In their eyes, Hu Jiao was more sensible and mature.
Although he matured quickly and exuded a shrewdness and sophistication that exceeded their expectations, they did not think much about it because not long after Hu Jiao got drunk, he was confined for three months.
Therefore, Hu Jiao has not caused them any anxiety yet.
Including Hu Jiao and Li Juan, they established a romantic relationship in a short period of time and even became husband and wife. Although this is considered normal in today's society, could Hu Jiao do it with his previous personality?
Even though Hu Jianguo had some doubts in his mind, he did not make blind guesses in other directions.
Now seeing his wife and children quarreling again, Hu Jianguo felt that this was the most satisfying and cherished thing in his life.
"What's the point of you staying together forever? Look, my hair has turned white with worry. If you don't wake up, I will have to come and stay with you forever."
Looking at her husband's graying temples, Li Aiju felt a surge of pain in her heart. She felt sorry for him and loved him. She smiled and said, "If Hu Jiao hadn't said I was bragging, I wouldn't have wanted to wake up. Jianguo, take care of yourself."
Hu Jiao put down the bowl, "Hey, hey, can you two old comrades restrain yourself a little? Don't treat me as a transparent person, okay? Dad, you continue to feed them, so that I won't interfere with your love."
Hu Jianguo stood up casually, not caring about his son's teasing, picked up the bowl, and slowly fed his wife. Hu Jiao said with a sad face, "Are you serious? You want to drive me away, right?"
Li Aiju rolled her eyes and said, "Go wherever you want. Don't think that mom doesn't know about your philandering thoughts. It's normal to forget your mother after you have a wife."
Hu Jiao was choked and speechless. Li Aiju didn't give her son a chance and quickly swallowed the porridge. "Get out of here. By the way, I want to remind you, Comrade Hu Jiao, bragging is also a skill!"
Hu Jiao raised his hands and made a defeated expression, "Okay, I'll make room for your world of two. So, Mr. Chui Niu, do you want me to bring you something delicious?"
Teacher Li's eyes flashed with cunning, "I want to eat braised fish, white-cut chicken, steamed pork with rice flour, and pork trotters in clear soup!"
These delicious foods were exactly the lines that Hu Jiao said to Li Aiju when he woke up from his drunken stupor. He didn’t expect to be used now.
Hu Jiao looked at his mother, feeling touched, and nodded seriously, "Don't worry, everything is the same! Mom, I like to hear you brag."
Amid his parents' happy laughter, Hu Jiao left the ward and called out to the nurse, telling her not to disturb his parents until someone called her.
