"Jianguo, are you taking your family to Chunmei's parents' house?"

"Yes, yes, take Chunmei back to stay for a few days."

When it was still barely light, Xia Jianshe dragged two suitcases and took Li Chunmei and Xia Minmin to town. They planned to go to a breakfast shop near the station to eat rice noodles and steamed buns.

The smell when the bowl was served was still the same familiar smell; so many years have passed, and it hasn't changed at all.

There weren't many people taking the minibus in the morning, and it only took about twenty minutes to reach Ankang Town.

"These must be Chunmei and Jianguo, right? I haven't seen you two setting up a stall all year. Where have you been making your fortune?"

"Brother Wang, we've gone to Shenzhen. We're just here to work and make a living!"

"Don't be modest, kid!"

"Brother Wang, talk to you later. My daughter urgently needs to use the restroom, so I'll have to go now."

Xia Jianguo picked up Xia Minmin and started running, with Li Chunmei dragging the luggage behind. After they got some distance away, Xia Jianguo slowed down.

Li Chunmei sneered, "Xia Jianguo, is it really necessary? Brother Wang just wants to have a chat with you."

"Li Chunmei, don't be ungrateful! I'm just trying to get you home sooner. Brother Wang can chat with anyone for two or three hours. If he gets too engrossed in the conversation, we won't be able to leave."

Li Chunmei laughed heartily, "It's because you chatted with him and made him happy back then that he wants to talk to you every time he sees you."

“I wasn’t young and ignorant,” Xia Jianguo argued.

On their way to Li Zhonghua's house, Xia Jianguo and Li Chunmei encountered many acquaintances and exchanged pleasantries. What should have been a short five-minute journey took them half an hour.

There are many factories and mines in Ankang, so few people go out to work. Everyone who goes out to work and returns home for the Spring Festival has had the same experience.

Li Zhonghua's small restaurant was open, with fresh vegetables piled up in the lobby. Sun Erni had probably just returned from grocery shopping.

Li Chunmei called out loudly towards the kitchen, "Sister-in-law, are you home? It's me, Chunmei."

Sun Erni wiped the water off her hands with a towel and ran out from the inner room. "Chunmei, when did you get back? Why didn't you call us?"

"Sister-in-law, I just wanted to give you a surprise!"

"Sister-in-law."

"Auntie."

"Chunmei, Jianguo, Xiaomin, please sit down, I'll pour you some tea." He said, picking up the thermos to pour water.

Li Chunmei quickly refused, "Sister-in-law, no need. Jianguo and I are planning to take Xiaomin to find Mom. Mom is probably still at the market!"

"Mom, we're still at the market. You guys go ahead first! I'll put your suitcases in the back room for you."

Fortunately, they didn't run into any acquaintances at the market, which really relieved Xia Jianguo and Li Chunmei.

"grandmother!"

"Grandma! I'm home."

Xia Minmin called out to her maternal grandmother from a great distance.

"Oh my, my little one is finally back! I've missed you so much!" Grandma Xia took Xia Minmin from Xia Jianguo's arms.

"When did you get back? Why didn't you call?" Grandma Xia asked.

"Grandma, Mom and Dad said they want to give you a surprise."

Grandma Xia bought and gave away the last bit of pickled vegetables from her stall to the last customer before packing up and going home.

"Mom, Jianguo and I plan to stay at home for a while and keep you and Dad company."

“Well, your dad asked you when you were coming home the other day. So I stopped going to the market to sell pickled vegetables before the New Year. I’ve also been trying to hand over the restaurant business to your sister-in-law recently.”

"When did this happen? I haven't heard about it. Did you and your sister-in-law have another argument?"

“The decision was made half a month ago. Now your sister-in-law should be able to handle things on her own. I’m getting old and my back isn’t good either, so I should take a break.”

"It's good that we didn't argue. Now that you're not busy with the restaurant anymore, how about we go to Shenzhen for a few days after the New Year?"

"No problem! Your dad and I can go and broaden our horizons too."

Before we knew it, we had arrived at the restaurant entrance.

"Sister-in-law, we're back."

"Jianguo and Chunmei, let's have lunch here!"

Li Chunmei quickly declined, saying, "Sister-in-law, no need. You're all busy at noon. We'll go back to Dad's place later. We'll stay here for a while. Once you and Brother are less busy, we'll have lunch together."

"Erni, I went back with Chunmei today too. You did a great job the past few days, so I can rest assured that I can leave the restaurant to you." Grandma Xia patted Sun Erni's hand.

The group picked up their luggage and left the restaurant.

"Big sister, your daughter and son-in-law are back! Aren't you happy?"

"Happy, of course I'm happy! When are your son and daughter-in-law coming back?"

"I couldn't get a ticket, so it might be two days before the Lunar New Year."

"It's okay, I'll be back in a few days."

Xia Minmin had no idea where her grandmother knew so many people; her face was frozen from smiling.

Grandpa Xia had already heard from the people who rode home on bicycles that his wife and second daughter's family had also returned, and he stood at the door looking around.

"Grandpa!"

"Grandpa!"

Xia Minmin slid off Xia Jianguo and ran towards her maternal grandfather.

"Dad, we're back."

"dad."

"Old man, come and carry these things, you're exhausted!" Grandma Xia brought back all the clothes and blankets that were left at Li Zhonghua's house. Li Chunmei and Xia Jianguo were carrying a lot of things.

"Old woman, didn't you say I'd push it with the cart?"

"We thought it would be easy to carry back since Chunmei and the others came back. We didn't expect it to be so heavy."

When Li Chunmei returned to her parents' home, she opened her suitcase and took out the gifts for her maternal grandparents.

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