412

Bai Qiongyu sat in the car, her brows slightly furrowed.

“Miss, oh, coming here is like coming to another world,” Xianglan said. She grew up abroad and only came here before liberation with her mistress and former son-in-law, but that was in Nanshi, not in this remote mountain village.

“Yes,” Bai Qiongyu said, “I want to take my son and granddaughter with me.”

"What price do we need to pay?" Xianglan asked. In Xianglan's mind, as long as things are accomplished, there must be a price to pay.

They couldn't take people away quietly, so an exchange was the only option.

"Hehe, it's nothing more than what China wants but can't get," Bai Qiongyu said. "That's not a difficult problem. My Bai family has it, and they want it, so it's a perfect match. The only thing that's making things difficult for me now is that girl, Tiantian."

"What's wrong?" Xianglan asked suspiciously. "That young man is quite nice!"

“That Huo family is not simple. I heard Tian Tian say that Huo Yingjie is a scientist, and the Huo family is involved in the political career. Tian Tian is in love with Huo Yingjie, but I’m afraid…” Bai Qiongyu didn’t finish her sentence, but Xianglan already understood what her mistress meant.

"You mean the marriage between the two young people will be difficult because of their different family backgrounds?" Xianglan asked, looking sympathetically in He Tiantian's direction.

Bai Qiongyu nodded and said, "Yes, son and daughter-in-law, it might be easy to persuade them to leave, but Tiantian is stubborn and probably won't come back to America with us."

"Didn't you also come to China with your former son-in-law back then?" Xianglan said. "Miss followed you and did everything for love, but she still left heartbroken. However, I hope Miss can be happy."

"Forget it, let's not talk about it anymore," Bai Qiongyu said. "Let nature take its course. Huo Yingjie's work means he can't pay much attention to his family, and Tian Tian will have to wait a lot of time alone."

Seeing that her mistress was in a bad mood, Xianglan suddenly thought of Qi Shuliang's son and said, "Miss, have you noticed that Qi Zhenghan is paying a lot of attention to our young lady?"

“That young lad doesn’t know how to hide his feelings, of course I can tell,” Bai Qiongyu said. “But I can also see that Tian Tian doesn’t have any feelings for that boy…”

"Alas, what a pity. We and the Qi family are a good match," Xianglan said. "If the young lady likes Qi Zhenghan, she can come back with us."

Bai Qiongyu smiled bitterly and said, "When it comes to love, it's not up to us elders to tell the younger generation who to like. If Tiantian had grown up by my side, I might have been able to be ruthless and separate her from Huo Yingjie, so that they wouldn't be left only with unrequited love. But now I can't bear to do that. I just hope she has a beautiful love story. As for marriage, let fate decide. I won't interfere, lest it create distance between us."

Without raising children, one lacks the confidence to manage them, especially in matters of the heart.

"Children and grandchildren have their own blessings," Xianglan said. "At least we've found the young master and young lady, which is better than anything else. Let's not expect too much."

“You’re right, as long as you’ve come to terms with it,” Bai Qiongyu smiled. “I really hope to see my son and daughter-in-law soon.”

“Yes, I want to too,” Xianglan said. She had taken care of the young master before, and even after returning to America, she often couldn’t sleep at night because of it.

Inside the car, Bai Qiongyu was speaking, but they were speaking English, which the driver couldn't understand at all. The passenger in the front seat was a member of the Bai family.

Qi San's Grandma's car, Qi Zhengmin, and He Tiantian were in the same car.

He Tiantian opened the car window and introduced the surrounding scenery to them.

Riding back and forth in the oxcart, with nothing else to do, Secretary Qi often told them stories, most of which stemmed from the strange trees and rocks along the way.

“Grandmother, the scenery here is beautiful,” Qi Zhengmin said. “I love it here.”

“But it’s very poor here, and material life isn’t abundant. You’re used to life in big cities, and you won’t be used to it here,” Grandma Qi said with a smile. Even if Qi Zhengmin wanted to stay, she wouldn’t allow it because the education here is inadequate. If her granddaughter stayed here, she wouldn’t be able to receive a good education, which would have a great impact on her future.

Qi Zhengmin frowned, wanting to refute.

"I'll give it a try," Qi Zhengmin said. If she could get used to it, she would stay longer.

He Tiantian smiled but didn't say anything.

Grandma Qi's family is relatively well-off; they can eat their fill. But some families have trouble getting enough to eat.

In Qi Zhengmin's mind, such a thing was simply unbelievable.

Despite the poor road conditions, the car was faster than the oxcart. It took us a little over two hours to reach Qijia Village.

Qi Dazhu and his men had been waiting at the village entrance for some time, having received a telegram informing them of the exact date.

The villagers, young and old, men, women and wives, all came to the village entrance.

Before, when Grandma Qi and He Tiantian went missing, they even went to their door to ask about it.

He Jingyu said that Grandma Qi accompanied He Tiantian to visit relatives, but he wasn't telling the truth.

Now that Qi Shuliang has made a grand return to his hometown to pay respects to his ancestors, he can no longer hide it from everyone. Secretary Qi told them directly, and only then did the villagers realize that Grandma Qi had gone to see her son.

Many people speculated that Grandma Qi's son had amnesia and didn't recognize his family members, so he asked Grandma Qi to go and identify them.

Some say that Qi Shuliang made a fortune outside and didn't want to come back, so he secretly took his mother away. There are many different opinions.

······

The row of jeeps left Qi Dazhu and the villagers behind him dumbfounded.

Some of the older people had never seen so many cars in their lives!

Even when the Japanese invaded Huai City, they only lingered in the county seat. Qijia Village, being remote, was not greatly affected.

Zhao Dajiao was taken aback, and said, "Secretary, look at our lunch..."

"Big Foot, see how many people there are. Take some time to prepare more food for lunch. We can't let our guests go hungry," Qi Dazhu said. "Oh dear, I see County Chief Niu, followed by the Secretary of the Huai City Party Committee. My goodness, Big Foot, hurry up and make sure lunch is prepared properly."

Zhao Dajiao nodded and said, "I understand. The autumn harvest is over, but the grain hasn't been distributed yet. There won't be any problem with the grain."

"Well, with so many people, we can't let them eat for free. We'll distribute the food coupons and money to everyone equally," Secretary Qi said. "Alright, you and Hongyu go and prepare. There can't be any mistakes. I'll go and greet them now."

Secretary Qi walked quickly forward, followed closely by Qi Shuli and Qi Shuming.

Qi Shuliang stared wide-eyed at the person walking quickly towards him.

Sigh, it's been over twenty years. The young and strong lad from back then has become a middle-aged man.

Haha, he's middle-aged now.

Qi Shuliang strode forward, calling out in surprise, "Brother Dazhu..."

Qi Dazhu was taken aback, then overjoyed, and said, "Liangzi, you're finally back..."

The middle-aged man, with deep emotions, reached out his rough hand and patted his distant cousin on the shoulder.

"Brother Dazhu, I'm back," Qi Shuliang said. "Thank you for taking care of my mother and second uncle all these years."

"You little rascal, how dare you say that? They're my elders too," Qi Dazhu laughed, his eyes reddening. "Alright, it's good that you're home. You probably still remember Shuming and Shuli from back then, right?"

******

The Tragedy Pavilion, "The Master is Online": The master is online, come and fight if you dare! (To be continued.)