Chapter 256 - 253: One Day

Chapter 256: Chapter 253: One Day

Holding the two thick books, Liu Shengnan felt a pang in her heart. They were handwritten copies. One look at the elegant script told her that Zhou Lian had personally annotated and transcribed them herself. They were practically strangers, having only met a few times. Even with Ping’an putting in a good word, Zhou Lian could have just given her the books and called it a day. But to help her learn as quickly as possible, Zhou Lian had poured an extraordinary amount of effort into this.

"Sister, thank you. I’ll work hard and cherish this!" Liu Shengnan said, her voice choked with emotion.

Seeing Liu Shengnan’s eyes fill with tears, Zhou Lian smiled gently. ’Knowing she was grateful made all her effort worthwhile.’ She said warmly, "It’s not such a big deal that you need to cry. Just do your best, stay true to yourself, and work hard to live a life that everyone will admire."

"Okay!" Liu Shengnan nodded in agreement. Little did the Liu Shengnan of today know that many years later, she and Ping’an would be revered and admired by thousands. And even as they wielded immense power, they would always remember the words Li Xiu and Zhou Lian had told them: "Stay true to your heart, and have a clear conscience before heaven and earth"!

By the time Liu Shengnan left, it was already noon. Sister Fang had lunch ready. Nuonuo came into the study and saw her mother sitting on the sofa, lost in thought. She asked curiously, "Mama, what’s wrong?"

Nuonuo’s voice pulled Zhou Lian back to reality. Looking at her daughter, her eyes softened. She said gently, "It’s nothing. I just miss your little brother and your papa."

"Mama, Papa and Little Brother probably haven’t even arrived yet. If you’re already missing them now, what are you going to do tonight? Why don’t I sleep with you?" With a twinkle in her eye, Nuonuo asked expectantly. It had been a long time since she had slept with her mother.

Hearing her daughter’s words, Zhou Lian felt a pang of guilt. ’She really had been neglectful these past few years. Li Xiu had been there for most of the children’s childhood while she was absorbed in her studies. She’d lost sight of what was important.’ That was why both children clung to her whenever she had a free moment. Gently pulling Nuonuo into her arms, she said softly, "Okay, Nuonuo will keep Mama company tonight. How about you keep Mama company for the next few days, okay?"

"Okay!" Nuonuo agreed cheerfully. "Mama, Mama, Aunt Fang has lunch ready. Let’s go eat! Nuonuo is a little hungry!"

"Okay, let’s go eat!"

Arriving in the dining room, Zhou Lian saw the busy Sister Fang and said gently, "Sister Fang, thank you for your hard work."

"Hah, what’s so hard about this? You two are just too polite. Hurry up and eat before it gets cold!" Sister Fang said dismissively. ’Zhou Lian and Li Xiu always gave her sincere thanks whenever they saw her busy. But honestly, after all these years, not only had her salary increased annually, but she had also grown to dote on little Nuonuo and Yanyan. Their relationship was no longer a simple employer-employee one; they all treated each other like family!’

"Okay. Sister Fang, join us!"

That afternoon, Li Xiu and the others returned to their hometown. After dropping off the Zhou family members at Zhou Family Village, they took Zhang Yizhen home. Li Xiu had originally intended for Li Bao and his family to head back first after dropping off the Zhou family, but Li Bao staunchly refused. So, after taking Zhang Yizhen home together, the two cars returned to the village one after the other before finally parting ways.

In the car, Wang Xiaojuan looked at Li Bao, confused. "Why did you have to go with Big Brother? It’s not like that road is far."

"It’s already afternoon. Once we got to our sister-in-law’s family’s place, they’d definitely have insisted we stay. Besides, with Yanyan in the car, they would’ve surely made Big Brother stay the night. It’s rare for him to come back. How could he not go home first, instead of staying at a relative’s house?" Li Bao said casually, glancing at his curious wife in the rearview mirror.

Hearing this, Wang Xiaojuan couldn’t help but burst out laughing. ’This Li Bao really has a major brother complex. Last time, she heard her sister-in-law say that Yanyan had a "sister complex," and she didn’t understand what it meant. She had asked her sister-in-law out of curiosity. After hearing the explanation, her first thought was that the Li family brothers—Li Bao, Li Guo, and Li Bo—were textbook cases of a "brother complex." They were always saying, "My big brother said this," "My big brother is like this," and "My big brother is like that." And now, Li Bao was so afraid his big brother would be kept overnight by relatives that he’d stubbornly followed them the whole way. No one would believe him if he said he didn’t have a brother complex.’

After parking the car at the entrance, he carried Yanyan, opened the door, and walked into the courtyard. He then heard his grandmother call out from the east wing: "Who’s there?"

Taking two or three quick strides at a time, Li Xiu hurried into the house with Yanyan in his arms, calling back, "Grandma, it’s me! I’m back with Yanyan!"

Grandma Li, who had already moved to the edge of the heated kang bed and was about to get down, looked at her grandson and great-grandson walk in. "Oh my, it really is you! I thought I was hearing things!" she said happily. "Quick, get up on the kang. It’s so cold out!"

Li Xiu took off Yanyan’s shoes and placed him on the kang. Then he took off his own shoes and sat down next to Grandma Li. Seeing that his grandmother had already gathered Yanyan into her arms, he just smiled without a word, listening to the old and the young chat away happily.

The warmth of the room, combined with being cradled in Grandma Li’s arms, soon made Yanyan drowsy. Li Xiu gently took off his jacket and laid him on the quilt Grandma Li had already spread out, patting him softly until he fell asleep. He was still so young, after all. After an eight or nine-hour car ride, he had been too excited by the novelty to sleep and must have been exhausted.

Watching Yanyan let out little snores, Grandma Li smiled lovingly. She could never get enough of looking at her sturdy little great-grandson. She whispered to Li Xiu, who was beside her, "Why are you back at this time? I thought even if you came back this year, it wouldn’t be until after the Little New Year. Why didn’t your wife and Nuonuo come back with you?"

"Grandma, something came up in the Capital City this year, so we can’t come back for the New Year. It just so happened that my father-in-law and his family were coming back for the holiday, so I brought Yanyan back to visit the graves," Li Xiu explained in a low voice.

Grandma Li was taken aback for a moment, but quickly recovered. "If you have things to do, then you can’t come back. That’s fine. But why did you have to bring Yanyan? The weather is freezing, and the child is still so little. If you wanted to visit the graves, you could have just come back by yourself. Why put the child through all this trouble!"

"Grandma, regardless, this is the first year. A death wipes the slate clean. Yanyan is the eldest grandson, so he should come back and add a scoop of soil to the grave," Li Xiu said softly, lowering his head. ’Bringing Yanyan wasn’t just for that, though; it was mainly for my master. I have to properly visit my master’s grave this year. Next year will be the fifteenth anniversary of his passing. Back home, we have a custom of observing the tenth anniversary in the ninth year, and the fifteenth anniversary in the fourteenth year. So, this year, I have to visit his grave for the fifteenth-year rites.’

Sighing, Grandma Li said softly, "You’re just putting the child through so much trouble. So, when are you heading back?"

"The day after tomorrow, probably. If we visit the graves tomorrow afternoon and then head back, we won’t get to the Capital City until the middle of the night. It’s fine for me, but Yanyan is still young, and I don’t want him traveling at night. We’ll leave early the day after tomorrow," Li Xiu said after some thought. The weather was too cold, and he couldn’t bear to make his son travel through the night.

"That’s good too. You get some rest. I’ll go make dinner," Grandma Li said softly, glancing outside.

Li Xiu got up and helped her down from the kang, whispering, "Grandma, I’ll go with you. There’s still stuff in the car I need to bring in."