Chapter 366 - 363: Family Matters

Chapter 366: Chapter 363: Family Matters

"Bao’er, you and the sisters-in-law have a good chat. I’m going to take the men for a walk on the mountain," Li Xiu said gently to Zhou Lian, seeing how eagerly they were talking.

Glancing at the weather outside, Zhou Lian nodded lightly. "Alright, you all go ahead. Come back early!"

The four brothers strolled along the somewhat desolate hillside. Li Bao glanced at his eldest brother beside him, then at his two younger brothers, and asked Li Xiu softly, "Big Brother, is it really decided?"

"What other choice is there?" Li Xiu glanced at Li Bao. ’He’s still too inexperienced. Does such an obvious fact even need to be questioned?’

Letting out a long sigh, Li Bao said, "It’s just so much work for you and Sister-in-law. You have to go to such lengths to pave the way for every single one of our younger siblings, and here I am, unable to help at all!"

"You’ve done enough. You’ve already done what you were supposed to do. Besides, as the eldest brother, I’m still here."

Seeing the gloomy look on Li Bao’s face, Li Xiu offered a few words of mild rebuke. He glanced at Li Guo and Li Bo, took a deep breath, and continued, "What I can do is help set you on the path you want to take. The rest of the journey is up to you. How you walk it and where it leads are your decisions to make. If you need help, speak up. I’ll help if I can, but if I really can’t, don’t hold it against me."

"Big Brother!"

Looking at the three of them speaking in unison, Li Xiu smiled. "There’s no need for that. I’m your eldest brother, so it’s only right that I do these things. The future path for our Li family has been decided. Now, it’s all up to you."

"Yes, Big Brother! We will never forget our original intentions!"

That evening, after watching Sister Fang take the two children to their room to rest, Li Xiu turned to Grandma Li and said, "Grandma, you should get to bed early too. Tomorrow, have Sister Fang help you pack the things we’re taking to the Capital City. Bao’er and I will take the children to visit her father’s home. We’ll head back to the Capital City the day after tomorrow."

"Alright. You two go get some rest as well," Grandma Li said softly, waving her hand.

As she watched Li Xiu lead Zhou Lian out by the hand, Grandma Li sighed. ’I’m really getting old and foolish,’ she thought. ’I almost hurt the boy’s feelings. I finally understand. You can’t let people get away with everything. At my age, I was so accustomed to being doted on by my grandson and his wife that I nearly lost my sense of right and wrong. My eldest grandson will never reconcile with the second branch of the family. How could I have believed their words? It’s a good thing Fang stopped me, otherwise...’

Lying with her head in Li Xiu’s lap, Zhou Lian looked up at him as he diligently dried her hair and asked, "What’s with Grandma?"

"She’s either figured it out or someone knocked some sense into her," Li Xiu said nonchalantly, his hands never stopping. "It’s nothing. The elderly get lonely, and that leaves them vulnerable. It’s good that she sees things clearly now. Bao’er, don’t worry about any of this."

He truly didn’t pay much mind to such a trivial matter. Even without the experiences of his past life, he wasn’t a sentimental person at his core. In his last life, he was shackled by kinship, which led to him losing his wife and children. From the moment he opened his eyes in this life, he had let all of that go. Aside from his Bao’er and their two children, he would only give back as much as others gave him. This applied to the entire Li family, including his grandmother.

In his past life, he had been blinded by family ties. The first and third branches of the family were, after all, a step removed, so there were things that couldn’t be said and actions that couldn’t be taken. But what about Grandma? It was impossible that she knew nothing at all. Yet, she still allowed him to walk down that dark path to the very end. His father’s influence was surely a factor; after all, his father was her biological son, while he, the grandson, was still a generation removed.

But no matter what, Grandma had still been good to Li Xiu. Even if she was partial to his father, that was only to be expected. In this life, he would give his grandmother a worry-free old age and let her watch the Li family prosper step by step. This would be his repayment for her care across two lifetimes.

Setting the towel aside, he gently massaged Zhou Lian’s head with both hands, his eyes filled with a universe of tenderness. From the moment he’d regained the memories of his past life, he knew that in this one, he had no excess emotion to spare for anyone but his Bao’er and their two children. It was as if all those other feelings had been carried away with his death in that previous life.

In this life, Li Xiu never held any expectations for anyone other than Zhou Lian and their children. How others treated him was how he would treat them in return. If they were genuine, he would be genuine back. As for falsehood and hypocrisy... hah. But even for those who were genuine with him, he held no expectations. When their sincerity was there, he would cherish it. When it was gone, he wouldn’t cling to it or feel any regret. After all, when a person’s heart changes, it just changes.

「The next day」

The family of four arrived at Zhou Family Village. Zhou Lian’s three older brothers, her eldest sister, and her three younger sisters had all gathered at their parents’ small courtyard with their families in tow. The air was filled with the shouts of children and the calls of adults, making the entire yard exceptionally lively.

Her sisters and sisters-in-law gathered together. Looking at Zhou Lian, none of them said a word, but their hearts were filled with envy. Zhou Lian was already in her thirties, yet her appearance had hardly changed; she looked like a young, newlywed bride. And it wasn’t just her clothing, which was elegant from head to toe. Gazing into her eyes, still as clear as a spring, they all understood: those were eyes that had never been tainted by the world.

’It seems Li Xiu has been protecting and doting on her for over a decade, just as he did from day one. No wonder our mother-in-law (our mother) said not to worry about her. A woman in her thirties, yet she’s so pampered by Li Xiu that she’s like a little girl in her teens. She’s living a great life!’

’And what a good life it is. What other man dotes on his wife like Li Xiu does? He says he’s just loving his wife, but it’s more like he’s worshipping an ancestor. Otherwise, Zhou Lian wouldn’t be like this. After all, even her youngest sister, Zhou Ying, is nearly ten years her junior, but standing side-by-side, Zhou Ying looks older than Zhou Lian! Perhaps this is the difference between an excellent life and an ordinary one.’

During lunch, the sisters-in-law felt another pang of jealousy. Zhou Lian was eating a special meal Li Xiu had cooked just for her, while their two children, like Li Xiu himself, ate with everyone else. Seeing how accustomed the children were to this arrangement, they knew it must be a daily occurrence. The sisters-in-law couldn’t help but think to themselves, ’The difference between one person’s life and another’s is truly vast!’

Perhaps sensing something, not long after the meal, Li Xiu announced they should be heading back. He said they were returning to the Capital City the next day and needed to go home early to pack, and then he left with Zhou Lian and the two children.

What the remaining members of the Zhou family were thinking was anyone’s guess. Mrs. Zhou glanced at the expressions on her daughters’ and daughters-in-law’s faces and let out an almost imperceptible sigh. ’I knew this would happen,’ she thought. ’The gap is just too large. It’s no wonder they can’t feel close to her. Who would have ever imagined that my most plain second daughter would end up where she is today? I can’t tell if she was just born fortunate, or if this is all because she married a good man.’