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He Tiantian sensed Huo Yingjie's impatience and decided to end the lunch there.

He Tiantian took out five yuan from her wallet and placed it on the table as a tip for the waiter.

"We've already eaten, so we'll take our leave now." Huo Yingjie stood up and nodded slightly. "Goodbye!"

"Goodbye!" He Tiantian smiled and followed Huo Yingjie away.

After Huo Yingjie and He Tiantian left, Jiang Wenhui realized that although she wasn't very close to her cousin, they were being far too distant.

The man next to Jiang Mengyu is named Liu Chuandong. He works in foreign affairs and met Jiang Wenhui through an introduction. The two are currently dating.

"Wenhui, what do your cousin and his wife do?" Liu Chuandong, who was next to Jiang Wenhui, asked softly. Judging from their clothes and the baby in He Tiantian's arms, they were not people who could be bought in China.

“My cousin is a descendant of the Huo family,” Jiang Wenhui said. “His father is the vice mayor of Nanshi City in Jiangsu Province, and his wife was a sent-down youth. They are both college students at Nanshi University now.”

"An educated youth?" The man frowned, somewhat incredulous. How could an ordinary educated youth know to tip, and have such elegant and proper table manners? It was something most people couldn't do.

“Yes, she’s a sent-down youth,” Jiang Wenhui said. “But she’s good-looking and pregnant, she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Now the whole Huo family likes her very much. It’s just that I don’t know why, my cousin is very distant from our Jiang family.”

Liu Chuandong thought for a moment and said, "I guess it's because the Huo family suffered a major upheaval that time, and your Jiang family didn't lend a helping hand!"

Hearing this, Jiang Wenhui looked somewhat embarrassed. She knew about that incident, but at the time, the Jiang family was struggling to survive, so how could they possibly help the Huo family?

"Sigh, maybe so," Jiang Wenhui said. "What a pity..."

Liu Chuandong also felt it was a pity. Huo Yingjun was in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and at a young age, he had already reached a high position. He was an outstanding foreign affairs personnel.

If he can get in touch with the Huo family, his future will be limitless!

“Back then, the Huo family’s situation was indeed not something that just anyone could interfere with, so it was understandable that the Jiang family didn’t intervene,” Liu Chuandong said. “But things are different now. The Huo family isn’t very enthusiastic, but you should be more enthusiastic, otherwise this relationship will really fade away.”

Jiang Wenhui nodded and said, "Yes, some people want to get in touch with the Huo family, but they don't have the connections yet. We're relatives, so we can't let this connection be severed. We should find an opportunity to improve our relationship in the future."

Jiang Wenhui's words made Liu Chuandong's face flush slightly. He was the person Jiang Wenhui mentioned who wanted to get in touch with her but didn't have the connections.

But when it comes to climbing the ladder, these words mean nothing!

"Yes, we must make the most of this opportunity," Liu Chuandong said. Now that he knew the Jiang family and the Huo family were related, he wanted to continue spending time with Jiang Wenhui even more.

Meanwhile, He Tiantian and Huo Yingjie came out of the restaurant, hand in hand, and strolled along the snow-covered road.

With Huo Yingjie around, He Tiantian's hands were always warm and she didn't feel cold at all.

"Brother Yingjie, don't you like that cousin Mengyu?" He Tiantian asked, feeling that her husband's behavior just now was ungentlemanly.

However, there must be a reason why she understands Huo Yingjie.

“Hehe, we don’t usually keep in touch. If it weren’t for my mother, I wouldn’t even want to talk to her,” Huo Yingjie said. “That year, our Huo family suffered a great disaster, and we asked around for help. My maternal grandfather was away from home and couldn’t help us. My maternal grandfather’s younger brother, my second maternal grandfather, was in Beijing. They didn’t help us, but they told my mother some things and didn’t kick us when we were down.”

"If that were all, you wouldn't be so distant from this cousin, would you?" He Tiantian countered, implying there must be other reasons.

“Yes, I ran into Jiang Wenhui on the street that time. I’m sure she saw me, but she pretended not to see me and turned away, as if I would implicate her,” Huo Yingjie said. “What kind of relatives are we, after all!”

"Hehe, that is indeed a bit too much," He Tiantian said. If it were her, she would be even more upset.

“Yes, so I’ve become indifferent to it since then,” Huo Yingjie said. “Apart from my closest relatives, no one else matters. Even with good friends, you have to spend time together to truly be friends.”

"Okay, I'll do whatever Brother Yingjie says," He Tiantian said in a clear voice, appropriately showing her dependence and trust.

Huo Yingjie saw through the indifference of the outside world, but he was still very warm-hearted towards those he respected.

When the two returned home, they were covered in a layer of snow.

Seeing this, Jiang Lifang scolded Huo Yingjie, "It's so cold outside, and it's snowing. Don't you know to find something to cover Tiantian up?"

While talking, he helped He Tiantian brush the snowflakes off her body.

"Mom, I'm not cold," He Tiantian said. Even when her mother-in-law was scolding her son, she felt sorry for him.

"Go inside quickly and have a bowl of ginger tea," Jiang Lifang said. "Don't think that just because you're young you can neglect your health. You'll only know the bitterness when you get older."

"Thank you, Mom." He Tiantian felt a warm glow in her heart as she listened to Jiang Lifang's nagging.

When Zhao Huanhuan met her second aunt, He Tiantian felt an instant connection, like mother and daughter, and her eyes revealed a hint of envy. "Sigh, if only my second aunt were my mother-in-law, I wouldn't have so many worries."

Even though the Huo family had suffered a major disaster, Zhao Huanhuan hadn't considered divorcing Huo Yingjun. However, these trivial family matters annoyed and angered her, and she wanted a divorce.

However, the Huo family would absolutely not allow her to take her son with her when she thought about divorce, and she still liked Zhao Yingjun, so she could only endure it. But she usually chose to remain silent in front of her mother-in-law.

No matter what Song Chunli said, Zhao Huanhuan would nod if she was happy, and remain silent if she was impatient.

During this year's New Year celebrations, the men of the Huo family were in high spirits and talked eloquently, while the atmosphere among the women was somewhat awkward.

Finally, it was the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, the day Huo Zhekun and Jiang Lifang's family left.

Originally, He Tiantian and Huo Yingjie were thinking of going back home after a while since school hadn't started yet, but now that they found the atmosphere at home was not good, they decided to leave sooner rather than later.

To avoid any conflicts at the old house, lest they get themselves into trouble.

Despite Madam Huo's attempts to persuade them to stay, Jiang Lifang also disagreed with their decision.

That evening, they boarded the train back to Nanshi.

Once on the train and their luggage was put away, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, I'm so sorry you've had to go through all this trouble these past few days," Grandma Wang sighed. "The old lady even told me last night that she was sorry."

Upon hearing this, Huo Zhekun and Jiang Lifang said, "Aunt Wang, if you have time, please write more letters to your mother and advise her that some things shouldn't be taken too seriously. After all, she's not young anymore, and it's not good for her health to worry about her."

“I tried to persuade her yesterday, but you know your mother-in-law. She’s just a worrywart. She won’t stop until she’s on her deathbed,” Grandma Wang sighed. “Zhe’s daughter-in-law is indeed a bit muddle-headed, which explains why your mother-in-law is so worried.”