After dinner, the family filled the sofa to the brim, looking for some entertainment to pass the time.

Ace learned to play games at school, and Zheng Lanxiang was also a master at spoiling her child, buying him whatever he wanted, including Ludo, chess, Werewolf cards, and more.

Since he couldn't teach his older and younger sisters, he would bring them to school to play with his classmates. Now that it's winter break, there's no one to play with, so Jiang Shuyin can only play a couple of rounds with him when she has free time.

"You should learn from him, he's too addicted." Jiang Shu gave Xie Yin a look, picked up a black piece, and placed it in the middle.

Ace decisively moved down next to Kuroko.

After ten rounds, the white pieces formed a line, and Jiang Shu lost.

Ace looked at Xie Yin: "Want to come?"

Xie Yin picked up a piece and placed it down. Seeing this, Ace followed suit and placed a piece as well. One of them liked to expand, while the other was strict in defense. They managed to fill the entire board. Jiang Shu raised her eyebrows and smiled, "Impressive. You made our Game King Ace suffer a setback on your first game."

Xie Yin smiled slightly and asked Ace, "Want to come again?"

Ace frowned: "Let's play chess. The rules are: the knight moves in an L-shape, and the bishop moves diagonally... Got it?"

Jiang Shuyin helped arrange the chess pieces, and Xie Yin stared at the Chu River and Han Border for a long time before pushing his pawn forward.

Ace rode his horse, Xie Yin fired his cannon...

Another draw.

"How about we play cards? The three of us can play Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game), and if we lose, we'll switch players." Jiang Shuyin took a deck of cards from the TV cabinet, explained the rules to Xie Yin, and then started dealing the cards.

Ace carefully placed the card, glancing warily at Xie Yin.

Jiang Shuyin, being the landlord, went first: "A 3."

“4.” Xie Yin followed.

Ace says: "9".

Jiang Shuyin: "A".

"No." Xie Yin.

Ace: "2".

Jiang Shuyin: "I can't afford it."

Xie Yin: "Your Majesty."

Ace and Jiang Shuyin both looked up: No, what are you doing?

Then, Xie Yin played all his cards in one go, a hint of smugness in his dark eyes.

Jiang Shuyin smiled and announced, "The farmers have won, I've lost. Shui Ning, would you like to join in?"

Shui Ning, holding a Want Want milk bottle, shook his head blankly, his upper lip stained with a white mustache.

Xie Yin lowered his eyes, a hint of annoyance flashing in them. Ace also felt no joy of victory. At this moment, movement finally came from the bedroom.

Heimei opened the door and called out wearily, "Mom, I tried my best."

Xing Zhengfei stepped out from behind her, his eyes changing, a light pink tinge, bright and clear like crystal. He stared steadily in their direction, smiling innocently, "You can see now."

A world composed of blurry halos of black, blue, yellow, and white light. Xing Zhengfei was very grateful to his sister: "I can see now."

Heimei was not satisfied: "I'll treat you after I've rested, and I'll make sure you can see it clearly."

"Thank you, sister."

Zheng Lanxiang heated up the dishes and called them over to eat. Xing Zhengfei hesitated for a moment, but still picked up his bowl and ate the rice. It wasn't as delicious as raw meat, but he could still manage to eat it.

Heimei was starving, so she kept her food in her mouth for a shorter time. After finishing her meal, she hugged the energy stone her father had given her and went to bed.

Xing Zhengfei groped his way forward, his previous caution gone, his expression calm.

Ace's attitude towards him was quite good. Jiang Shu thought of what happened that night and asked Ace, "Can Xiao Xing sleep with you tonight?"

Ace looked up and exchanged a glance with Xing Zhengfei: "Of course."

He knew that this younger brother in front of him, like himself, was not related to Xie Yin by blood.

In Xing Zhengfei's eyes, Ace had a darker aura than others, and his expression was not visible, but judging from his tone, his brother probably didn't dislike him.

Tonight is not Lunar New Year's Eve. After 9 p.m., Zheng Lanxiang took the children to bed one after another.

Xie Yin went home alone, and Jiang Shu escorted him to the gate of the residential area.

When she returned, the security guard called out to her mysteriously, "Did the young man that Xiao Xie brought last time stay at your place?"

Jiang Shuyin never expected the security guard to have such a wild imagination: "Yes, so what?" The security guard's gaze became even stranger: "Are you trying to emulate Old Huang's daughter?"

Jiang Shuyin was full of questions: "Who is that? I don't know him. Just tell me."

The security guard shook his head and walked into the house. There were some things he couldn't say. The young girl was more thick-skinned than him, and if she said them, he would be the one who was embarrassed.

That evening, Zheng Lanxiang had nothing to do, so she thought she would call her second sister to chat, and Jiang Shuyin listened in from the side.

"Second sister, have you all packed your things? I've packed mine too. There will be a lot of people at the station, so don't bring everything back. Your train is at six o'clock tomorrow morning, right?"

Zheng Meixiang's family, who are far away at the southern base, had almost finished packing a couple of days ago. Now they are just packing up their food, sleeping, and toiletries. All four of them are carrying large buckets and backpacks.

Zheng Meixiang and her husband Zhong Dazhuang were elementary school classmates. After two years of schooling, they went back to their respective homes to help with farming. Later, they went out to work together and became acquainted. During the Spring Festival, the two families held a banquet after the first month of the lunar calendar and moved in together.

Zhong Dazhuang took a habitual breath. He used to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day but now he couldn't afford to and had to quit forcibly: "Will it be okay for your sister to move out? She's finally gotten to know the people around here, and now she has to move out again. It's too much trouble. Besides, your sister is so old and divorced. There's no man in her house. Would it be appropriate for me to move in? Who knows what people in the neighborhood will say behind her back."

Zheng Meixiang rolled her eyes at him: "My sister is better than you. If she says it's okay, it's okay. If she says it's not okay, she keeps calling me over. When I get angry, I hit her. So what if there's no man in the house? My niece can support her. She's living a much better life than me. She said she's prepared chicken, duck, fish and meat to welcome us. If you can't speak properly, then shut your mouth and don't upset me."

The two people sitting on the bed next to them were full of confusion and worry. They looked at whoever was speaking, and they could only learn about the new environment they were about to face from their mother.

Zheng Meixiang was young when she got together with Zhong Dazhuang. She got pregnant in her teens and gave birth to two children, but neither of them survived. Later, she spent money to go to a big hospital for advice, but Zhong Dazhuang scolded her and told her to wait three to five years before trying again. As a result, her two children were younger than her sister's children.

The older boy, Zhong Ping, is a year younger than Jiang Shuyin. He didn't get into university and worked for more than four years after graduating from vocational school, but he couldn't even save 10,000 yuan. The younger girl, Zhong An, is good at studying. She got good scores on the college entrance exam and was admitted to a university, but she didn't have enough money to study, so she borrowed 20,000 yuan from Zheng Lanxiang. She hasn't graduated yet this year.

In outdated thinking, people without houses or land are like rootless duckweed, drifting aimlessly.

Zhong Dazhuang is fifty-five years old. He is still single at this age, which makes him feel bad and sorry for his wife and children.

They've been married for so long, Zheng Meixiang was too lazy to coax him: "Go to sleep early. Your train is at six tomorrow, so you have to get up at five. Whoever can't get up can just be left here."

Train tickets are hard to get, and even family members can't sit together. Luckily, we're in the same carriage. There are still tickets available for the 6 o'clock train, but not many people are buying them because people think they can't get up in the morning.

But for Zheng Meixiang's family, getting a seat is more important than anything else. In the past, when they went home for the Chinese New Year, they would stand for seven hours to get back.