Just as Xia Qingqing was considering whether to bring the package back, she saw Xiao Hui approaching with his men not far away.

Xia Qingqing waved to them: "Brother Hui, over here!"

Xiao Hui wiped the sweat from his forehead, glanced around, and then asked, "Qingqing, where's the stuff? Hasn't the delivery arrived yet?"

"The driver got the wrong place and just unloaded all the packages on the side of the road ahead. I thought it was too hot for him to carry them around, so I let him go," Xia Qingqing casually made up an excuse.

Xiao Hui nodded knowingly, not seeing any problem at all: "Then let's go load the goods now."

"Okay, follow me," Xia Qingqing said, riding her bicycle forward for about a kilometer before stopping.

"It's right here in the grass. You can see it by parting the grass."

Xiao Hui's two henchmen were very perceptive and immediately started working.

After the things were moved, Xiao Hui handed the money he had prepared to Xia Qingqing: "Let's go, let's go eat at the state-run restaurant together."

"Okay," Xia Qingqing said, stuffing several thick stacks of ten-yuan bills into her handbag and readily accepting Xiao Hui's invitation.

The other party has invited her several times already, and it would really hurt their feelings if she refused again.

Xiao Hui told his two underlings to take the things back and come back later, while he and Xia Qingqing went to the state-run restaurant to order food.

The two underlings naturally agreed. They thought they wouldn't get a share of the meal, but Xiao Hui actually invited them to join them.

During the meal, Xiao Hui told Xia Qingqing about his plans.

"I plan to put aside my current business in the second half of the year and go to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou to check out some suitable business opportunities."

After saying that, Xiao Hui smiled again and said, "I'll also take a trip to those big cities. I've made a lot of money over the years, and I can finally enjoy myself."

Xia Qingqing expressed her welcome: "Sure, come find me when you come to Beijing, and I'll give you a proper welcome."

Speaking of which, she has been in this world for so long, and apart from Pingxi County, she has only been to Beijing. She should go out and have some fun when she has the chance.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony," Xiao Hui said with a smile.

......

In the blink of an eye, Xia Qingqing and her group had been back at the Shihe Brigade for almost a month.

As they were going to sleep that night, Xia Heping suddenly said to the person beside him, "Wife, do you think we should go back to Beijing?"

He worried that if they didn't go back soon, the chili sauce business would really go out of business, and that the few remaining regular customers might also leave during this time.

Zhang Hongyan squinted and thought for a moment, then said, "Let's stay a few more days and then go back."

"Shouldn't we buy the train tickets in advance and talk to Qingqing about it tomorrow?"

"Hmm," Zhang Hongyan responded vaguely, her eyelids growing heavier and heavier until her breathing became steady.

Xia Heping chuckled silently, squeezed to the side, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Xia Qingqing and Gou Dan learned that their family was going back to Beijing.

"Ah, we have to go back so soon?" Gou Dan wailed unhappily. These days he had been going up the mountain and down the river with his friends every day and had been so happy. How could he bear to leave?

"Mom, there's still a month before school starts, let's stay a little longer."

Zhang Hongyan was amused by his words: "Half of the summer vacation is over, and you still haven't finished your summer homework? Since you like playing in your hometown so much, I might as well leave you there alone."

"No, I want to go back to Beijing with you!" Gou Dan's voice suddenly rose, and he said excitedly.

Xia Qingqing slapped him on the back of the head: "Keep your voice down, you're making my ears go deaf. Mom was just kidding."

Dog Egg immediately quieted down and didn't dare to express his own opinion. He just watched the others discuss returning to Beijing.

Xia Qingqing looked at Zhang Hongyan and said, "Mom, I'll go ask Xiao Hui to help me buy four sleeper tickets tomorrow."

"How about you three take the sleeper berths this time? I'm a tough guy, so I can sit in a hard seat too," Xia Heping said with a smile.

The sleeper ticket is almost twice as expensive as the seat ticket. Wouldn't it be better to save those ten-odd yuan and buy some meat? Anyway, he can fall asleep just the same way if he leans back in his seat.

The first two times, Xia Heping also wanted to buy seated tickets if his daughter hadn't bought them in advance.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hongyan immediately said, "Then I'll buy a seat ticket too. Qingqing, you and Gou Dan can buy sleeper tickets."

Back in Beijing, where everyone's spending power was roughly the same, city dwellers were much more willing to spend money than people from the countryside, Zhang Hongyan gradually got used to it.

After returning to her hometown, Zhang Hongyan spent her days chatting with her old friends, observing their frugal spending habits and suddenly began to reflect on whether she had become arrogant.

It's like taking a train. You can just buy a hard seat ticket and it'll be the same. It's only two days, you can just hang in there and it'll be over. Why do you have to buy a sleeper ticket? You could save that money and it would be enough for your family's living expenses for a month.

"No, we either buy sleeper tickets together or seated tickets together," Xia Qingqing said with a straight face.

She didn't expect that just going back to her hometown would cause her parents' spending habits, which had finally improved somewhat, to revert to their old ways, and they wouldn't even be willing to spend money on a train ticket.

Upon hearing Xia Qingqing's words, Xia Heping's expression immediately became somewhat troubled. Although he wanted to save some money for himself, he didn't want his two children to suffer as well.

“Qingqing, listen to your father. Hard seats are uncomfortable. Why do you have to suffer like this?”

Xia Qingqing stared intently at him and said, "So you and my mom can suffer? Anyway, I'm going to be with you."

"I want to go with Mom and Dad too," Gou Dan chimed in to support his sister.

Xia Heping glanced helplessly at Zhang Hongyan: "Wife, what do you think we should do now?"

Xia Qingqing always asked someone to help her buy train tickets. If they tried to buy them themselves, they could only get hard-seat tickets at most. So if Xia Qingqing decided to sit in a hard seat with them, Xia Heping really couldn't do anything about it.

“Let’s buy sleeper tickets together then. It’s only once a year anyway,” Zhang Hongyan said through gritted teeth, but the thought of the money she would have to spend on sleeper tickets still pained her.

But if she didn't do this, she couldn't bear to let her daughter suffer alongside her husband and daughter.

She knows her own daughter well; she even complains about the discomfort of a sleeper berth, so wouldn't it be even more uncomfortable for her to sit in a hard seat?

Seeing Zhang Hongyan compromise, Xia Qingqing said with satisfaction, "That's more like it. I'll go find Xiao Hui to buy tickets tomorrow."