Chapter 1446: The Return Journey

Tao Chunhe lay holding the half-asleep, half-awake Liu Tongtong that night.

"We’re leaving tomorrow."

"Mm. Going back early is pretty good too." Although it was bustling here, her heart still felt uncertain; living a steady life was better.

The happiest one was Li Manjiang. He hadn’t seen his parents for several years; of course he missed them. This time he’d been promoted. But he still couldn’t bring his wife and kids over, since once this vacation ended he still had another mission. He’d be gone too long. Letting his wife and children stay in a place where they knew no one was worse than keeping them at home.

The next day, everyone started packing their things.

Tao YanZhen heard knocking at the door. When she opened it, she saw Yang Zhongyi’s mother.

The doors of the other two rooms opened as well. Tao Chunhe and Wang Menglin both went into Tao YanZhen’s room.

They didn’t have much feeling about Yang Zhongyi’s mother. But people are always biased; they more or less had some prejudice against her.

"Yang, please sit. How come you have time to come over today?"

Tao YanZhen’s manners were impeccable; you couldn’t find fault with the way she treated people.

"Xiao Zhen, I know you’re leaving today. So I came to see you."

"Thank you, Yang. I should be the one going to see you and Uncle Yang. How can I let my elders come over to see me?"

Liu Hong took Tao YanZhen’s hand, getting more and more satisfied the longer she looked. Among all the daughters-in-law in the Yang Family, it was only her own daughter-in-law whose family conditions were the best. And the little girl was young and pretty. Now she somewhat regretted valuing Xu Ying so highly.

"Xiao Zhen, you two should hurry back and get your marriage certificate. With Zhongyi out there, I’m always uneasy."

"Mm, Uncle Yang and my grandpa have already set the date. We’ll go get the certificate on March sixteenth."

"Good. Xiao Zhen, I’m entrusting Zhongyi to you."

After seeing Liu Hong out, Wang Menglin didn’t rush to leave.

"Xiao Zhen, is your heart calm now?"

"Mm, it’s okay, much better than before."

Tao YanZhen smiled as she spoke to her cousin, not wanting her to worry about her anymore.

"Xiao Zhen, everything will turn out fine."

"Cousin, I really don’t have any problems."

There was too much luggage. The men took one load to the train station first.

Li Manjiang’s family of four had a compartment to themselves, and most of the luggage was with them.

They finally boarded the train heading back to the city. Everyone’s hearts felt much more at ease.

On the way, when two trains passed each other, Chaoyang happened to see his big brother. But it was just a brief surge of excitement; after all, their directions were opposite.

"Meng Lin, I think I just saw Chaoyang."

"You probably didn’t see wrong. Chaoyang came back for New Year last year. When we left, he still hadn’t come back."

Twenty days later, they got off the train. Yang Zhongyi ran off to make a phone call. They had too much luggage. Better call a car from the army.

Looking at his wife bundled up in three layers inside and three layers outside, Tao Chunhe found it pretty funny. Well, they’d been the same when they first arrived—feeling cold no matter what.

"Let’s go eat first." Having just gotten off the train, it really did feel freezing.

Li Manjiang was quite worried the two kids wouldn’t adapt, but from the way they looked, it seemed there wasn’t a problem.

By the time they arrived at Li Family Village in the afternoon, Liu Tongtong let out a sigh of amazement. She’d grown up in the countryside; of course she knew what life was like here. But looking around, it was almost all blue-brick, big-tile houses. After seeing mud houses all the way, these buildings suddenly appearing in her field of vision really took some getting used to.

The driver knew the Tao Family. The siblings jumped down to handle their luggage.

Qu Xiaoli heard the commotion and came out. With one glance she saw her daughter-in-law holding a child.

Her legs were nimble too. "Xiao Chen, Xiao Yu."

The two children heard their grandma’s voice and struggled to get down.

Wang Menglin heard her mother-in-law’s voice and got quite emotional too.

She put the two kids down and hurried toward Qu Xiaoli as well.

"Mom."

"Meng Lin, it’s so good. It’s so good you’re back. How come you’ve lost weight? Was the train too exhausting? Come on, hurry home, go lie down in my room, I’ll light the fire for you."

Qu Xiaoli spoke as she scooped up her two grandsons, urging her daughter-in-law along with a smile.

Li Manjiang took the step he’d just made and pulled it back. In his mom’s eyes, he didn’t exist at all. You could say she only had eyes for her grandsons and daughter-in-law.

Li Manjiang turned back and helped carry the luggage. After a bit, Qu Xiaoli ran out again.

"Xiao Zhen, let your brother-in-law and your brother take care of that. Hurry and take your sister-in-law to my place to lie down."

Everyone found it pretty funny, and of course they were moved too.

Tao Chunhe took Liu Tongtong’s hand. "Auntie, this is my wife. Tongtong, just call her Auntie. She’s Meng Lin’s mother-in-law."

"Auntie, I finally get to see you today. Meng Lin is always talking about you. Now I can see she wasn’t wrong at all. Auntie, you’re really wonderful."

"Haha, niece-in-law, you really know how to talk. Hurry inside. They’ve got the rest."

Qu Xiaoli pulled the two of them toward the house.

Tao Chunhe and the other two carried down the luggage and quickly lit the stove. It was still daytime, and once the stove was lit they had to fire up the big cooking range, so that at night they’d be able to sleep warm.

Li Manjiang carried his family’s luggage back home.

"Big Brother, I’m heading back too. I’ll come over tomorrow." Yang Zhongyi left as well.

Qu Xiaoli lit the fire in her daughter-in-law’s room. She usually lit it every day anyway, so it warmed up pretty fast.

"Mom, we already ate lunch in the city."

"That won’t do. I’ll cook you some noodle soup; you’ll feel warm after eating."

Qu Xiaoli had heard from Chaoyang that it’s really hard to adapt to the weather right after coming back.

"Meng Lin, your mother-in-law is really nice," Liu Tongtong said with a smile.

"Of course. My cousin treats Auntie like her own mother."

Wang Menglin just smiled. Only after coming back here did she feel truly at ease.

The twins followed right behind Qu Xiaoli, like little tails.

Li Manjiang came in. "Mom, I’m back."

"Hmph, you still remember to come back? Look at your sons, they’re running all over the place. What kind of father are you?"

Li Manjiang stood there obediently, waiting to be scolded. But his heart felt warm—so warm that this grown man almost burst into tears.

Li Yungui also knew his eldest son’s family had come back. He stopped working at the distillery; mainly he just missed his two grandsons.

Li Family Village was only so big. In no time, everyone knew that Li Yungui’s eldest had returned. They were all happy for Qu Xiaoli.

After they finished the noodle soup, Li Manjiang carried a big bag and took two gifts from the Yang Family over to the Wei Family.

Most of these had been prepared by Yang Yujie, and some were from Yang Run Tai for Jiang Feifei. He knew exactly what the little girl liked, so he just catered to her tastes.

Jiang Feifei got the gifts—she got the most, actually—but every single one hit the spot. Of course she was delighted.

Li Yungui ordered three big roosters and also went to tell Li Xue to bring her whole family over to their place for dinner that night.