It was mid-July, and Yu Yin and Lu Shurui were planning to take the children for a stroll. They hadn't decided on a location yet when they received an unexpected phone call.

"Yinyin, it's Dad." Yu Yin paused for a moment. She hadn't expected to receive a call from her father. Since Yu Kang graduated and returned to his hometown, she hadn't contacted any of the Yu family members except for her brother. Except for her sister-in-law, whom she had never treated as family.

"Are you listening?" After not hearing Yu Yin's voice for a while, Yu's father asked again.

"Ah, I was listening, but I suddenly got distracted. I didn't expect to receive your call. It's a bit of a surprise." Yu Yin said honestly. She hadn't received a call from her father in a long time. After he retired, she didn't know what he was busy with and they hadn't been in touch much.

“I’m taking care of your grandmother. She became paralyzed last year and needs someone to take care of her. I spend all my time on her.” Mr. Yu thought of his elderly mother and felt exhausted.

“Paralyzed? I haven’t heard of that. Why are you the only one taking care of her? What about the others? Don’t they have other children?” Yu Yin wasn’t familiar with any of the Yu family’s relatives and couldn’t think of anyone else for the moment.

"Sigh, every family has its own troubles. I won't talk about it, it's upsetting to hear about it. I called you today to ask if you could come back for a few days. Your younger brother is coming back too. The main thing is that your mother is sick and keeps asking to see you all." Even after saying this, Mr. Yu himself couldn't quite believe it. Mrs. Yu thinking of Yu Yin? How could that be!

"Sick? What's wrong?" Yu Yin hadn't expected her mother to be sick. Wasn't her mother usually very careful about taking care of herself? She had heard her sister-in-law mention a few times that her mother's retirement pension was almost entirely spent on supplements. Apart from Yu Qing's children, her other grandchildren hardly needed her money.

"Your mother went to the hospital for a checkup herself. They said it's nephritis, quite serious. She's getting injections at the hospital now." Mr. Yu didn't bother to ask for details; she was a nurse herself and knew more about hospital matters than he did.

Yu Yin didn't want to go back to see her mother, but she wanted to see her brother. Besides, it would be nice to go to Yang City and spend a few days exploring the surrounding area. She could also visit neighboring cities and see real warships.

"When will my brother arrive? I'll see what happens here. If I can make arrangements, I'll go back and visit him." Yu Yin didn't give a definitive answer; she would ask her brother how many days he could stay.

"Okay, if you can, try to come back and visit. Dad also wants to see An'an and the others."

"Okay, I'll try my best."

Yu Yin hung up the phone and called her brother.

"Hey buddy, when are you going back to your hometown?"

"How did you know I was going back to my hometown? Who told you that?" Yu Jun didn't expect Yin Yin to know that he was going back to his hometown. He had originally planned to take a vacation and visit Yin Yin's family for a few days, but before he could even tell Yin Yin, he received a call from his father saying that his mother was sick and wanted them to go back to see her.

"I just got off the phone with Dad. He said you're going back to your hometown. I was wondering whether I should go back or not." Yu Yin and her brother were very open with each other. She didn't need to hide anything. She wouldn't go back to her hometown just to see her mother.

"If you have time, you can go back home. We can get together and stay outside. I originally planned to visit you, but I got a call from Dad. Plans change so quickly."

Yu Jun also missed his sister; it had been several years since they last saw each other.

"Okay, I'll go back too. It's been a long time since we last met, I miss you."

Yu Yin decided to return to her hometown and take her child to see a real northern city.

That evening, before going to bed, Yu Yin talked to Lu Shurui about going back to her hometown.

"What day are we leaving?" Lu Shurui thought about the things he still needed to prepare before leaving.

"I still need to arrange things at my factory on the 20th, and my brother and his friends also have train tickets for the 20th." Yu Yin's main purpose was to go back and meet up with her brother, so the dates were close together.

“Okay, you go ahead with the factory work, I’ll take care of the rest.” Lu Shurui thought about what he needed to bring when he went out, including food and other necessities.

"Then I'll leave it to you. Let's travel light and not prepare too much. We can just buy whatever we need when we need it."

Yu Yin thought that now she could buy many things without having to carry around big bags, which was too troublesome.

The two had finished talking and went to bed.

Over the next few days, Yu Yin was busy arranging things at the factory, while Lu Shurui took the children to prepare for their trip. The children were quite excited, not expecting to be going to their mother's hometown. As for their mother's relatives in her hometown, they didn't have many memories of them. They were only familiar with their uncle, and didn't know the others well. Their mother rarely talked about her hometown.

Zhong Liang and the others knew that Yu Yin was going back to her hometown. They told her what needed to be done in the near future, and Yu Yin didn't have to worry about the rest. With Zhong Liang and the others around, she could just do whatever she needed to do.

"Zhong Liang, pay extra attention to the cooked food processing plant. With the hot weather, cooked food must be made and sold on the same day. As for Da Xiong, have him emphasize to the wholesalers that if they're worried about not being able to sell it all, they should order less. Have the security team check on it from time to time to make sure it's all fresh and hasn't spoiled."

Yu Yin knew that people nowadays have a habitual way of thinking that things shouldn't be wasted, and they took a chance, thinking that it wouldn't matter if they ate it.

"Understood, I'll talk to Da Xiong about how to prevent this from happening again." Zhong Liang carefully noted this down; he had to take it seriously.

Before leaving, Yu Yin visited the dried goods store and the cooked food processing plant, and gave instructions to Chang Qing and Da Xiong. She felt relieved and could go have some fun.

"Uncle Hu, Aunt Hu, why don't you come along too? Take a stroll, relax, and see some different local customs and culture." Yu Yin thought it would be more lively with Uncle Hu and Aunt Hu.

"We won't go this time. While you're out having fun, your aunt and I plan to go home and fix up the family graves." Uncle Hu thought that if they fixed the ancestral graves and even prepared the burial grounds for himself and his wife, it would save them a lot of trouble on the day of their deaths. He didn't tell Yu Yin and the others about this; it was his own decision.

"Alright then, we'll bring you some good food when we get back." Although Yu Yin cared about things like ancestor worship, she knew that people of Uncle Hu and Aunt Hu's age valued these things.

On the 20th, Lu Shurui and Yu Yin boarded the train with their four children.

"Mom, our berths are here." Pingping was the first to find their berths. The family of six had exactly six sleeper tickets, and they were all together.

"I know, all of you, don't forget what your mother said. You can't do anything on your own in the car. You have to call for your father or mother no matter what you do." Yu Yin was worried about safety when taking the children out, so she gave them a lot of instructions before leaving the house. She was very careful.

An'an and the others understood their mother's worries and repeatedly assured her that they would not wander off and would stay close to their parents.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful. You don't need to be too nervous."

Lu Shurui comforted Yu Yin. Although he didn't understand why Yu Yin was so nervous, he didn't take it lightly. Better safe than sorry.

When the family of six finally set foot on the soil of Yang City, Yu Yin's feelings were complicated; she never expected to return one day.