Rebirth 1983: Building My Business Empire-Chapter 130 - 123 years ago
Chapter 130: 123 years ago
Lu Jiajie, after hearing a thorough analysis from Lu Jiaguang, went to question Ma Lili about this matter. Under his pressing, Ma Lili admitted that she indeed told her parents about it.
Ma Lili said, “Jiajie, I only mentioned it to my mom, and even then, it was in passing conversation, not with the intention to tell her.”
Lu Jiajie asked, “How did your parents treat us that day? They had money but were unwilling to lend it to us to buy a house, Yan Jixiang bullied Qiangqiang and Xiao Feng, yet she still wanted both children to give way to them. Have you forgotten all this?”
Ma Lili dared not meet his eyes and said, “They are my parents, can I really avoid them for the rest of my life?”
“So you still don’t think you are in the wrong?”
Ma Lili said, “I was wrong; I should have told you earlier.”
After a big fight, Lu Jiajie went home. As night fell, Lu Jiajie went out and did not return in the evening.
Ma Lili thought he was out drinking with friends, maybe too drunk to come home and stayed at a friend’s place, but getting closer, she couldn’t smell any alcohol on him. Her expression turned stern, “Where were you last night?”
Lu Jiajie ignored her and went straight back to his room.
Knowing he was still angry, Ma Lili, in a rush to get to work, quickly reminded the children of a few things before hurriedly leaving.
After marrying, Lu Jiajie lived in the Ma family home, and he did feel a bit guilty, taking on laundry and other household chores. He was skilled at tasks like moving coal, lifting bags of rice, washing clothes for the children, and feeding them. It was for this reason that both children grew very close to him.
He asked the children to help pack up the clothes, then they went out to eat lunch at a restaurant before he took the children out with him.
When Ma Lili came back, she saw a note on the table stating that he had taken the children back to his hometown.
Looking at the note, Ma Lili was so angry that she was steaming, but since they were already on the train and couldn’t be chased down, she had to swallow her anger. Just thinking about how Zheng Panlan had said she was waiting for the money to prepare for the New Year’s shopping, Ma Lili felt overwhelmed with worry.
As the New Year approached, every household began making snacks. Lu Jiaxin wouldn’t eat anything fried in oil, as it was heaty and not nutritious, but even so, she found herself longing for the delicious aromas wafting over each day. She first asked Xue Mao to buy ingredients such as glutinous rice flour and sticky rice flour, then called Lu Ping and his siblings to come over the next day to make some rice cake together.
Lu Jiaxin was preparing to make two types of cakes, one was sugar rice cake, and the other was flower cake. Under her guidance, they quickly steamed a batch.
Lu Zhenzhen, smelling the scent, cried out that she wanted to eat. Lu Jiaxin glanced at her watch, waited five minutes, then opened the steamer, checked its color before taking out a piece.
After cautiously tasting a bite of the sugar rice cake, Lu Zhenzhen exclaimed how delicious it was, and after finishing her piece, she clamored for more.
Lu Jiaxin took the steamer, placed it on the table, and let everyone help themselves. She too ate a piece; it was sweet and soft, leaving an aftertaste craving more. Her skills were still intact.
Xue Mao, after his meal, excitedly said, “Sister Xin, teach me how to make these! I can sell them if I learn; they will surely be popular.”
Lu Jiaxin felt he was too focused on making money, “You will have to start taking classes after the Lantern Festival. If you don’t study properly then, there’s no need to set up the breakfast stall at all.”
“Ah…”
Lu Jiaxin scolded, “Ah what? Do you really want to be illiterate for the rest of your life? If you’re planning to run a breakfast stall forever, then I won’t bother with you anymore.”
Xue Mao didn’t really want to go to school, but he was afraid that Lu Jiaxin might really stop caring for him in the future. His good life now was all thanks to Sister Xin’s help; without her, Xue Mao feared falling back to his old ways, “Sister Xin, I practice writing every day. If you don’t believe me, I can show you right now.”
Lu Jiaxin said, “No need, the books are for you to read and the characters are for you to practice. If you cheat, you’re only cheating yourself.”
Xue Mao immediately assured her that he would study seriously and would not cheat.
Lu Zhenzhen had eaten six pieces and was already feeling a bit full: “Aunt, I want to bring some for mom to eat. She works so hard every day.”
Ah, she is indeed a thoughtful little padded jacket.
This time, Lu Jiaxin had prepared quite a lot. She said with a smile, “The chicken stewed in the kitchen was brought over by your mom this morning. Your parents work every day, they should eat well and nourish themselves more.”
After the chicken was ready, Lu Jiaxin asked Lu Ping and Lu An, the two older ones, to take Lu Zhang and Lu Zhenzhen respectively, to deliver the food.
Originally, the missions Lu Jiaguang was deployed on were often dangerous, and Sister-in-law Lu named their sons Pingping and Anan, hoping their eldest brother could always be safe and sound. The names were very common, yet they bore the most sincere feelings.
Lu Jiaguang was about to go to the cafeteria for lunch when he heard his sons had arrived and was surprised. Upon hearing they were there to deliver pastries and chicken soup, he was quite astonished. It was the first time in many years that family had brought food to his workplace. It wasn’t that Wang Xiaojie didn’t care about him, but she had to work and take care of the children, and didn’t have the time or energy.
Lu An said, “We made the pastries with our aunt. Zhenzhen said she wanted to bring them to you and mom. The chicken was bought by mom to give to aunt, and aunt said you and mom are busy all the time and you need to nourish yourselves more.”
Lu Jiaguang felt warm inside. He ate a piece of flower cake; the taste was not inferior to those bought from pastry shops. He didn’t like sweets, so after one piece he didn’t eat more.
Lu An was also getting hungry and wanted to leave as soon as the delivery was made: “Dad, we’ll head back now.”
“No need to go back, just have lunch here.”
The two brothers were reluctant to eat in the cafeteria. Lu Jiaxin was generous with food, and Xue Mao’s cooking skills were good, making the food delicious, something the cafeteria couldn’t compare with.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
“Okay then, be careful on the way back.”
Watching the two brothers zip out of the office, Lu Jiaguang chuckled softly, then took the pastries and chicken soup to the cafeteria. After reaping a wave of praise and envy, he walked back to his office with a beaming smile.
“Ring, ring, ring…”
The call was from Lu Hongjun: “Jiaguang, I heard Jiajie returned to his hometown. How come you didn’t tell me about this?”
He only found out yesterday that Lu Jiajie had returned. Originally, he had asked him to help out at home, but his niece-in-law said he took the two kids back to the old home for the New Year.
Lu Jiaguang knew about Lu Jiajie going back for the New Year’s celebration, as he was the one who bought the two sleeper train tickets. However, he thought that Lu Jiajie had already informed Lu Hongjun: “Jiajie has never been back to the Forty-nine City for New Year’s, and now he has taken a long leave and has the time, so it’s right that he took the kids back to celebrate.”
It wasn’t that Lu Jiajie didn’t go back, but the factory where he worked always closed for the holiday on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month and reopened on the third day of the first lunar month. Factories were busy at the end of the year and did not allow for leave. Like him, he was so busy at year-end that he couldn’t take any time off.
Lu Hongjun responded with a hum, “This New Year, come over to my place. Don’t bring anything; just come.”
The year Mrs. Lu passed away, Wang Xiaojie, finding Ding Jing’s attitude unbearable, decided to spend the New Year at her own home. Afterwards, every New Year, Lu Hongjun would call the couple, and they would visit, not wanting to upset anyone. Last year, when it was Lu Jiaguang’s turn for night shift on New Year’s Eve, Wang Xiaojie stayed home to celebrate with the children.
Hearing this, Lu Jiaguang’s good mood instantly faded: “Third Uncle, this year we’re going to Jiaxin’s place for New Year. It’s her first year in the new house, and you can’t leave a house empty on New Year’s.”
It was a tradition, and once he and his wife mentioned it to Lu Jiaxin, she immediately agreed.
