By the end of the last lunar month, He Lang had given his employees their New Year bonuses and sent them off for the holidays, closing up the supermarket.

In years past, when Xue Yue was around, He Lang had never found the idle days so difficult. Now, with Xue Yue gone, he’d come home to find Daya taking such good care of the other two children that there was nothing left for him to do.

When Wang Hai asked him out for a meal, He Lang brought his three children along.

Seeing He Lang’s children made Wang Hai green with envy.

"I’m telling you, He Lang, you’ve really got it all. You’re one happy man."

He Lang nodded. "I am. I’m very happy. It’s just... my wife is abroad and can’t come back for the New Year."

Wang Hai roared with laughter. "You sap. Miss your wife already?"

He Lang didn’t see any reason to deny it and nodded right away. "I do. But what’s the use? She’s overseas. I can’t even write her a letter or give her a call."

Wang Hai nodded. "True. It’s not surprising that someone from your wife’s work unit would go abroad."

He Lang asked him, "How are things going with you and Meng Ye?"

At the mention of her, Wang Hai sighed. "Don’t get me started. I’ve been showering her with attention for ages. That woman’s a block of ice. I figured she ought to have thawed by now, but then she tells me she’s never going to get married. It made me so mad. I thought, ’I’ve put in all this effort, it can’t be for nothing.’ She’s good-looking, so I figured I’d just sleep with her. Who cares if she wants to get married? I had to get some interest back on my investment. But the second I touched her, BAM, she slapped me."

He Lang couldn’t help but laugh. "My man, can you even get the job done?"

Wang Hai retorted furiously, "Who the hell says I can’t? I’m damn good at it! It’s not like I’ve never been with a woman."

He Lang looked at him. "So you’re giving up just like that?"

Wang Hai snorted. "Not a chance. I refuse to accept this. I swear I’ll conquer that woman. After all, I’m a veteran when it comes to women. You think I’m going to let her be the one I admit defeat to?"

He Lang tried to reason with him. "Why don’t you just let it go? You’re not getting any younger. Find someone suitable and get married. If you want kids, have one. If you wait until you’re too old, you might not be able to have them even if you want to."

Wang Hai pointed at He Lang. "Are you looking down on your big bro? Let me tell you, I’ll still be potent when I’m eighty."

He Lang put a hand to his forehead and burst out laughing.

The three children stared at the two of them, puzzled as to what could be so funny.

Wang Hai turned to the children. "Order whatever you want. It’s Uncle Wang’s treat today."

The children looked to He Lang, and only after he nodded did they happily start listing the dishes they liked.

Once the waiter had left,

Wang Hai said to He Lang, "Your kids are very well-mannered."

He Lang smiled. "My wife taught them well."

Wang Hai tutted. "It’s ’my wife’ this and ’my wife’ that. Seems like you’re completely under her spell."

He Lang nodded. "You’re right, Brother Wang."

Wang Hai gave He Lang a surprised look, feeling a bit lost. ’Could this be the appeal of marriage?’

They didn’t celebrate the Lunar New Year overseas, but Xue Yue stared at the calendar anyway. Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve.

"Homesick?" Feng Yujie asked.

Xue Yue nodded. "Yes. I wonder how they are. Have they gone back to our hometown for the New Year?"

"Where’s your hometown?"

"Black Province."

"I hear it’s especially cold there. The winters must be particularly hard, right?"

Xue Yue pursed her lips. "It’s okay. You get used to it. We don’t go out much in the winter."

On New Year’s Eve, the expatriates from Hua Country decided to celebrate. Conditions were limited, but they could at least make some dumplings.

People from several departments gathered together. The men played chess while the women wrapped dumplings. A few men who knew how to cook also pitched in, borrowing the apartment’s kitchen to stir-fry a few dishes.

Xue Yue was quite surprised to find that Wei Yuyang actually knew how to cook; he had made almost all of the stir-fried dishes himself.

In that era, it was rare for a young man to know how to cook. "I learned in the army," he explained.

One of the women praised him, "Such a great young man—handsome, a bright future, and most importantly, you can cook! How are you still single?"

Wei Yuyang replied with a smile, "Maybe they just don’t have a discerning eye."

"Haha, you’ve got a point there! Don’t worry, when we get back, I’ll set you up with someone."

Wei Yuyang just smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Xue Yue focused on wrapping her dumplings, not joining in the conversation.

Meanwhile, back with He Lang, he took the children out to set off fireworks after dinner. The kids played for a while before getting sleepy. Only He Lang couldn’t sleep. He stood by the window, gazing at the moonless, gloomy sky. It looked like it was about to snow.

On the morning of the first day of the New Year, he opened the door to find that, sure enough, a layer of white snow had blanketed the ground, just deep enough to cover the soles of his shoes.

He had planned to take the children out to play, but that was clearly out of the question now.

He Lang called his family back home to wish them a happy New Year. He was happy to hear that Xiao Yang’s marriage had been arranged for the spring. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Starting on New Year’s Day, He Lang kept busy, taking the children to visit their maternal uncle’s family one day, Shitou’s house the next, and even stopping by Qin Haize’s home to pay his respects to Mr. Qin.

「Time flew by, and soon it was March of ’83.」

Their business in Country A was finally wrapped up, and they were scheduled to return home the next day.

Xue Yue was so excited she could hardly stand it, returning to her dorm early to pack her belongings.

Because they were returning to their home country the next day, their leadership had another meeting that evening.

Coming out of the meeting, Feng Yujie called out to Zheng Guofeng, who was walking ahead.

"Mr. Feng, is something wrong?"

Feng Yujie looked at Zheng Guofeng and said, "Can we find somewhere to talk?"

Zheng Guofeng assumed she had an issue with something from the meeting, so he nodded. The two of them went up to the rooftop of the apartment building, where there was a place to sit.

"So, Mr. Feng, what’s on your mind?"

Feng Yujie took a small box out of her purse and handed it to Zheng Guofeng.

"Happy birthday. This is a gift for you."

Zheng Guofeng froze.

He thought for a moment before realizing that it was, in fact, his birthday.

Zheng Guofeng smiled. "Look at me, I’ve been so busy I completely forgot. I’m surprised you remembered."

Feng Yujie said softly, "I’ve always remembered." She pushed the box toward him again. "See if you like it."

Zheng Guofeng glanced at Feng Yujie, then opened the box on the table. Inside was a necktie. Zheng Guofeng recognized the brand—it wasn’t cheap.

"You shouldn’t have, Mr. Feng. I’ll have to treat you to dinner some other time."

Refusing the gift would have been awkward, so Zheng Guofeng figured treating her to dinner would serve as a return gift.

Feng Yujie nodded and agreed.

Zheng Guofeng checked his watch. "It’s getting late. We should head back."

He stood up, but Feng Yujie stopped him again.

"Teacher Zheng."

Hearing Feng Yujie use that name for him, Zheng Guofeng’s eyelid twitched. He turned to look at her, his expression unreadable.

"Is there anything else?"

Seeing the distant look in his eyes, Feng Yujie knew that if she hadn’t mentally prepared herself, she would have lost the courage to say anything more.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"Hmm?"