"All I know is how to sell fabric. Who told you to suddenly leave back then? If you’d been around, I definitely would’ve followed you. Whatever you bought, I’d have bought. If it had really gone that way, the two of us could just be doing nothing now, eating and drinking all day. Lili, actually, even now we could do that. Xiao Wu is grown, we don’t need to worry about him anymore. How about we both put our work down for a while and go out for a trip?"

Zhang Xinli actually nodded for once. "Sounds good. There are quite a few famous scenic spots around here I still haven’t been to."

"No rush. Once our son leaves, I’ll take you everywhere."

But Zhang Xinli shot him a sideways glance. "How could it be that soon? Didn’t you just promise Little Star you’d help her find a school? You have to get her settled properly first."

Chen Haichang smacked his forehead; he’d been happily muddled. "Don’t worry. After the New Year, we’ll go over there together with our son, and while we’re at it we’ll get Little Star’s schooling sorted out. Once she’s arranged, we’ll take a little tour around nearby."

"Alright." Zhang Xinli smiled. She’d worked hard for so many years; it was time she got some rest.

All these years, she and Chen Haichang had gone in circles, with both bitterness and sweetness, you could say they’d gone through growth together. The fact that in the end they could still end up together—that was fate.

It was destined that in this lifetime they wouldn’t abandon each other.

After they finished tidying up on their side, only then did Chen Haichang take his wife and child over to the eldest’s place. But as luck would have it, this year Mei Shuping and Xie Lingzhi had gone to Shenzhen to spend the New Year with Mei Langchi. Mei Langchi now had a son and a daughter, living a comfortable life, enough to eat and spend, a moderately well-off life. His only regret was that leg of his. Over the past few years he’d seen plenty of doctors, but it still hadn’t been cured; in the end he himself gradually gave up.

His kids must be quite big now. Over these years, Xie Lingzhi had gone over there plenty of times, but it was unexpected that this year even Mei Shuping went as well.

Mei Shuping was already retired now; he could completely go live in Shenzhen with them, but he hadn’t. Over this, Xie Lingzhi had tried hard to persuade him. She also knew why he didn’t want to go.

Wasn’t it all because he couldn’t bear to leave Han Yi’s family? If he really went to live with Xiao Chi, then he definitely wouldn’t come back often in the future. Things with Han Yi’s family were pretty good as they were; if he just up and left, after a few years they’d definitely get distant again, especially the kids—they’d surely find this grandpa of theirs unfamiliar and wouldn’t want to be close to him.

Now that he lived in the Capital City, whenever he missed someone he could just go stay a few days with them and have a look. He didn’t want to permanently settle down at any one son’s home.

Xie Lingzhi also had no way to deal with him; she could only go along with what he wanted. After all, he was her husband, and after all these years, no one could be separated from the other anymore; they were already used to it. Although she often ran off to Shenzhen, she never stayed too long either. When the kids were on break, she’d ask Xiao Chi to let the kids come back with her.

That way the couple could relax a bit, and the two elders could have some proper fun with the children. Although Mei Langchi and Han Yi hadn’t seen each other for many years, thanks to Mei Shuping, the little ones actually met quite often.

Kids, after all, never care about the adults’ business. Plus, with Mei Shuping around, the children could all play together just fine.

Gradually, they even started calling each other big sister, little brother, little sister. Every time they came back, the adults would ask about things over here, but after they asked, they never commented much.

With the eldest not home, Chen Haichang could only take his wife and son to go see Mei Shuqing and Liang Qian. Junzi and his wife had already met them back in Z City. This year they weren’t coming home for the New Year, but their child came back. As soon as winter break started, Mei Shuqing and Liang Qian drove over to pick up their grandson.

Little Red Flag was already in fifth grade now, about to start middle school. Both his parents were elites of the elites, so the child they’d had was high IQ too. Little Red Flag had always been outstanding in every subject at every school.

Even though he was only in fifth grade now, he’d already learned quite a bit of middle school material. Liang Qian wanted the child to study here; after all, the education here was a bit better than over there. But Junzi and Tao Jia couldn’t bear to be apart from the child.

There was nothing they could do; they were also running back and forth all day, and now they spent most of their time in Z City. But this year, there was an old veterans’ retirement reunion at Mei Shuqing’s former army unit, so they came back. If not for that, they would have been in Z City with Junzi’s family for the New Year as well.

They had no choice but to bring their grandson along.

Liang Qian had also heard that Chen Haichang had a wife now and even a grown child, but she’d never met them. Now suddenly seeing them, she really was a bit surprised. But as the Saozi, she should show something.

So they’d long prepared gifts for Zhang Xinli and Xiao Wu: a Jade Bracelet and a Jade Ring. Both were top-quality pieces.

On the market they’d be worth several hundred thousand. Zhang Xinli was a bit dumbfounded—this Saozi of Chen Haichang’s was so generous, so loaded, and gave them such expensive things the first time they met? It scared her so much she didn’t dare accept them. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

But beside her, Chen Haichang was not polite at all and told her to take them.

"What the Mei Family is least short of is this kind of thing. Lili, just take them." Actually, when he’d said his assets couldn’t compare to Zhang Xinli’s, he’d just been coaxing her. With the two of them together, Zhang Xinli never asked about his work or any other matters. So she really had no idea what she actually had.

"This..." Zhang Xinli wanted to say it was too expensive, but she’d been saying that ever since they came in, and in the end she didn’t even know what to say anymore. Seeing that she really couldn’t decline, she simply stopped being polite.

It was the first time she’d met Chen Haichang’s elders, and suddenly she’d received such importance from them; she couldn’t help but feel a bit moved. She didn’t know what things would be like at the eldest’s house, but the second son’s family really made her see them in a new light. This was what a mother-in-law meeting her daughter-in-law for the first time should be like—a domineering first-meeting gift.