Chapter 69 A Nighttime Talk Between Husband and Wife

At this time, Mr. Huo was unaware that his eldest son had already set his sights on the family fortune.

After returning to the military region, he attended two meetings in a row and did not go home until after 9 p.m.

Seeing that the house was quiet, Mr. Huo began to move more quietly.

"Mom and Dad, are your wife and children asleep?"

"Yeah, they waited for you for ages but you didn't come back. They were so tired that they went to sleep first."

"By the way, we're taking our daughter-in-law out for a stroll tomorrow morning, so we won't be back for lunch. You'll have to eat at the cafeteria by yourself."

Mr. Huo had an "I knew it" look on his face. "Okay, I'll have Xiao Chen drive you there tomorrow."

"No need, our daughter-in-law can drive. I already filled out the vehicle request form at the car rental office this afternoon, and we'll drive ourselves out tomorrow."

Beijing is, after all, the capital city, and the military region specially arranged for the dispatch office to reserve three vehicles to facilitate the travel of military families.

If you need a car, you can apply for one in advance.

The fuel cost is only 0.12 yuan per kilometer, which is more than half the price of state-owned taxis in the city.

Seeing that Mrs. Huo had arranged everything in an orderly manner, Mr. Huo said nothing more.

He took out all the money and bills from his pocket. "Take these. It's your daughter-in-law's first time in Beijing. Don't be stingy with money when you go out and have fun."

"Do you even need to tell me?"

Mrs. Huo smiled and accepted the money, then took out a piece of brown fabric from the wardrobe.

"Here, this is what your daughter-in-law prepared for you."

"For me?"

Mrs. Huo nodded and began to measure the fabric against Mr. Huo's body.

Fearing he wouldn't recognize its value, Huo's mother even gave him a special explanation.

"This is 'Huada' fabric produced by the Third Factory in Shanghai. Not counting the labor costs and receipts, just one meter of this fabric costs more than twenty yuan."

"The problem is that you can't buy it even if you have the money. It's been out of stock in Beijing for a long time."

“Our daughter-in-law was thinking of you, so she specially brought this back from Qiongzhou Island. You must remember this kindness.”

"So expensive?"

Mr. Huo clicked his tongue: "Such fine fabric, it's such a waste to give it to me to wear."

“I said the same thing, but my daughter-in-law said, what’s the point of wasting or not wearing clothes that are for family members?”

"You know what, the color of this fabric really suits you."

After finishing her story, Mrs. Huo didn't forget to mention that Jiang Si had given the old man and his family a century-old ginseng.

Mr. Huo paused for a moment, then said, "This gift is quite substantial."

"Yes, they argued about this for a long time this afternoon, and in the end they couldn't persuade our daughter-in-law and had to accept it."

"You don't need to worry about that. Your parents know what's going on and they won't mistreat our daughter-in-law."

Mrs. Huo wanted to say something else. "Old Huo, please sit down first. I have something to tell you."

Seeing his wife's stern face, Mr. Huo sat down, feeling somewhat puzzled.

"Just tell me what's on your mind, why are you making such a fuss?"

Mrs. Huo thought to herself, "Can I not be serious?"

As expected, after she expressed her thoughts, Mr. Huo was stunned for a long time before he could come to his senses.

"Why don't you agree?"

Whether Mr. Huo agrees or not is not important, because Mrs. Huo had already discussed it with the old man and the others this afternoon.

But seeing that he remained silent for a long time, Huo's mother was still a little angry.

Fortunately, Mr. Huo quickly realized what was going on and said, "I didn't disagree. Even if you hadn't brought it up today, this was still my plan."

Mrs. Huo was stunned: "Didn't you always say before..."

Mr. Huo gave a wry smile: "You said it yourself, that was before."

Seeing his expression, Huo's mother understood everything. "Is it that the eldest son and his wife are causing trouble at home again?"

Originally, Mr. Huo did not want to mention these unpleasant things, but since she asked, he had no choice but to tell her everything.

"The eldest son's wife wants a divorce and says she wants to take all three children with her."

"Tingtao knelt down and begged me to let the Su family off the hook for the sake of the three children."

If she had heard these things before, even if Huo's mother didn't tremble with anger, she would have at least cursed her eldest son and his wife.

But at this moment, Mother Huo was surprisingly calm; she didn't even bother to hum a sound.

"Wife, what are you thinking?"

"What can I think? They're both in their thirties. If they want to get a divorce, let them. Can I stop them?"

"Just tell them, they can take it or leave it."

"The child belongs to both of them, and they can decide for themselves who gets custody in the end. They don't need to ask for our opinion."

The couple were surprisingly in agreement on this matter.

After listening, Mr. Huo nodded. "That's what I think too. Let them do whatever they want."

However, after thinking about it, he still gave Huo's mother a heads-up in advance.

"The eldest son called his cousin over today. I think we should wait until she leaves before discussing the division of the family property."

"Otherwise, given how much she dotes on Tingtao, who knows what kind of trouble she would cause."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Huo immediately fell silent.

Dong Lihua was right when she said that the Huo family did indeed owe her something.

"Okay, stop thinking about these things and go to sleep early."

"Don't worry, she won't stay in Beijing for more than a few days. She'll be back in two or three days at most."

Mrs. Huo nodded, hoping so.

The next morning, after breakfast, the family set off to explore the old city of Beijing.

Besides the four members of their family, Liu Lin, the deputy commander's wife, happened to be going to the city and hitched a ride with them.

Seeing that Jiang Si drove so steadily and skillfully, completely on par with the veterans in the motorcade, Liu Lin was almost tired of saying "I envy her."

"Yue Ling, when it comes to your taste in choosing a daughter-in-law, I have to admire you."

"Where did you find this wife? Not only is she beautiful, but she's also good at handling things. The key is that she's poised and confident in front of everyone, without any stage fright."

After a few words, Mrs. Huo couldn't stop smiling.

"Sigh, that's the only good thing about my third son; he found me a good daughter-in-law."

However, she couldn't just be happy herself; she had to make others happy too.

Huo's mother immediately spoke up, "Your daughter-in-law is also very considerate. I remember when you were sick last time, she was running around taking care of you and stayed with you in the hospital for several days."

"That's true. My sons are so busy that you can't even find them."

"If you ask me, you still have to rely on your daughter-in-law when it comes down to it."

Mrs. Huo smiled and nodded repeatedly, "That's right, that's right."

Next, the two mothers went into overdrive, showering the audience with praise.

The journey to the city center was anything but boring, except that the Princess Tomb area is currently under subway construction, making the roads bumpy and difficult to navigate.

An hour later, Jiang Si found a parking spot near the square.

In the morning, they strolled around Qianmen Dashilan, and then visited the Great Hall of the People, including the Great Hall for 10,000 people and the banquet halls of various provinces.

The Great Hall of the People is only open to the public two days a week. No tickets are required, and you can enter and exit with a letter of introduction. Unfortunately, taking photos is not allowed inside.

However, this regret was soon made up for at the Forbidden City and the square.

In just one morning, the four of them used up two rolls of film.

It was almost midnight when we left the Forbidden City.

Jiang Si found a well-established roast duck restaurant nearby, which was none other than the famous Quanjude in later generations.

However, due to the public-private partnership, it has now been renamed Beijing Roast Duck Restaurant.

Furthermore, the private dining rooms have been removed and the entire space has been converted into a large dining hall for workers, peasants, and soldiers.

After a satisfying meal, the group took a stroll around Beihai Park in the afternoon.

After that, we went to the Temple of Heaven.

It has to be said that there are just too many places to visit in Beijing.

On the way back, Grandma Huo said excitedly, "Tomorrow we'll climb Fragrant Hills and then go boating at the Summer Palace."

"We're going to climb the Great Wall the day after tomorrow. Oh, and I heard that the Capital Theatre is showing a lot of new model operas and puppet shows. We can go and see them together then."

Jiang Si had no objections, but Huo's mother did.

Huo's mother was worried. What would happen when her third son came back if they went to all the good food and fun places in Beijing?

Wouldn't the young couple then have nowhere to go?

Just as she was thinking this, Jiang Si slammed on the brakes and brought the car to a steady stop at the entrance of the family compound.

The group had just gotten out of the car when a troublesome figure came into Huo's mother's view—