"I know, but I just... I just don’t feel right about it."

He Liuzhang puffed sadly on his cigarette, PUFF, PUFF. Liu Changyou frowned. Just as she was about to scold her husband, He Jiao spoke up from the side. "Dad, Mom, even if Brother Yi Han reunites with his birth family, he’ll still be my Brother Yi Han. The bond you formed by raising him won’t change."

"Brother Yi Han isn’t the type of person who would slack off after finding his relatives. I think your worries are for nothing."

In He Jiao’s impression, Yue Yihan was incredibly hardworking.

His career success today was all thanks to his own efforts.

As for why he worked so hard?

Of course, it was because her father was a brigade commander, and he had been raised by that commander. He didn’t want people to say he got ahead through connections, so he pushed himself to the limit in everything he did. Whether it was training or a mission, he was like a man possessed.

He never gave anyone a chance to gossip.

Who wouldn’t give Yue Yihan a thumbs-up? Everyone now said her father had raised a good kid, so diligent and hardworking. No one ever claimed Yue Yihan climbed the ranks by relying on the commander’s influence.

He Jiao’s words made He Liuzhang realize he’d been getting worked up over nothing.

"My daughter’s the smart one!" ’That’s right! Even if Yue Yihan wanted a transfer, it would probably be for his own reasons, not just because his biological family wanted to see him more often.’

Thinking of this, He Liuzhang walked over to He Jiao, held her head, and gave her a big kiss.

He Jiao recoiled in disgust. "Dad! If you do that again, I’m not talking to you anymore!" ’Why did he have to kiss me so hard? Now my face smells like smoke! Ugh!’

He Liuzhang wasn’t angry at his daughter’s disgust; he just chuckled happily.

It was as if he hadn’t been the one in a terrible mood just moments before.

-

On the drive back, Xie Changning sat in the passenger seat and turned to look at Yue Yihan, who was focused on driving. "Don’t you think He Liuzhang was a little strange today?"

"What?"

Yue Yihan hadn’t noticed. The whole time, he was either looking at his wife or his children.

He hadn’t seen anything wrong with his adoptive father at all.

Xie Changning sighed and shook her head. "You didn’t notice that He Liuzhang looked at you a lot more than usual today?" ’Every time he said something, he’d glance over, almost like... like each look was one less he’d get in the future.’

This realization made Xie Changning frown.

"Did he?" Yue Yihan frowned too, slowly shaking his head. "I didn’t notice, but now that you mention it, I do feel like Uncle He wasn’t himself today."

’Normally, Uncle He’s attitude toward me is never this good!’

’It’s all thanks to my wife and my children!’

"I feel like He Liuzhang is probably hiding something from you. When you get back, you should ask him what’s going on."

"Okay."

The group returned home and rested for a while before Aunt Wang started preparing dinner.

After dinner, Xie Changning went to bed.

She didn’t have to put the two children to sleep. Aunt Zhao and Aunt Wang were more professional at it than she was; when she tried, the babies would just cry.

There was nothing for it. She could only be a mother who put herself to bed.

Yue Yihan slept next to Xie Changning.

There were only two heated brick beds in the house. Aunt Wang, Aunt Zhao, and the children slept on one, while he and Xie Changning slept on the other.

As for the bed in the other room...

That was only usable in the summer. It was uninhabitable now.

Without heating, Xie Changning would be cold if she stayed in there.

The next day, Yue Yihan got up at the crack of dawn. He first stoked the fires to warm up the two heated brick beds before getting up to leave.

When Aunt Wang woke up, Yue Yihan was just heading out the door.

She quickly threw on some clothes and chased him to the doorway. "Yihan, aren’t you going to have breakfast before you go?"

"Auntie, I’ve already eaten!" He had eaten last night’s leftovers.

He had heated them up while tending to the stove.

Hearing this, Aunt Wang sighed in relief. "Alright then. Be careful on the road!"

"I will, Auntie! It’s cold, you should go back inside!" It was the coldest part of the day; even standing outside for a moment felt like it would freeze your head.

Aunt Wang obediently went back into the house and closed the door.

She turned and went to the kitchen, where she saw that some of the food was indeed gone. But there were no used dishes, meaning Yue Yihan must have washed his bowl and chopsticks and put them away after eating.

When Xie Changning woke up, Yue Yihan had been gone for who knows how long.

The bedding next to her was gone, neatly folded and placed on a chest to the side.

There was even a blanket covering it to keep off the dust.

His diligence made even Xie Changning feel a bit envious.

’If only I were that diligent,’ she thought.

After eating, Xie Changning played with the two children for a while before going to her workshop to tinker with her things.

Xie Changning usually waited until the two aunts and the children were asleep before entering her ’space’.

Going to the workshop now was really just to assemble those components.

There was a lot of scrap metal, but a lot of it was usable.

Whether it was useful or not, Xie Changning assembled it first. If her own factory couldn’t use it, she could sell it to other factories for them to use.

Either way, it was money.

Therefore, Xie Changning was very industrious, assembling all the scrap metal at top speed.

She was already halfway through the pile.

Even Director Zhao was eagerly awaiting a call from Xie Changning, hoping she could assemble more advanced machines that other factories could use!

After the New Year, everyone got back into the swing of work.

The factory was only closed until the sixth day of the new year; work would resume then.

Everyone used this break to visit relatives, and after their visits were over, they could return right on time to start work at the factory.

Once the New Year passed, the days flew by. Before long, it was the children’s 100-day celebration. Xie Changning prepared a small silver bracelet for each of them to wear on their chubby little wrists.

Aunt Zhao and Aunt Wang also made two sets of small clothes for each of the two children.

The 100-day celebration passed just like that.

On the day of the children’s celebration, the R&D team also brought good news: they had overcome the technical challenge Xie Changning had set for them!

With Xie Changning’s blueprints, plus the technical improvements they’d made from last year’s research, the development of the small printer went much more smoothly than the previous one.

They were now able to conduct independent research and development, and their trial run was a success!

After all, in the future, they would have to do their own R&D and design, not rely entirely on their team leader.

This printer project had a huge impact on them. They were ecstatic about independently developing it, as it meant that in the future, as long as they had blueprints, they could pretty much replicate an identical machine!

They! They now had the ability to replicate!

As soon as Xie Changning got the notice, she rushed over to Workshop Five without delay. There, she saw a brand-new small printer, only about forty to fifty centimeters in length, width, and height!

Just as Xie Changning had requested, it had multiple ports for easy connection to other machines!

Xie Changning was happy. Incredibly happy!

"Excellent work! Let’s see, is it a printer and copier all in one?" Xie Changning didn’t rush, instead letting the team members demonstrate it for her.

The machine wasn’t loud, and it printed quickly.

Passing workers who saw it all praised it!