When Hanhan and her brother came back from the beach, they were like different people. They had both grown quite a bit taller. Hanhan was tanned, but her younger sister was still fair and tender.

From her younger sister's well-maintained, rosy face, Qin Xiaoyu imagined Zhou Xing's mother wrapped in a scarf and carrying a small parasol, running after her.

Getting a tan at the beach is easy, but not getting a tan is incredibly difficult.

They said they would be back in half a month when they left, but on their way back from Beidaihe, they took the two children to Beijing for ten days. One reason was that Commander Zhou wanted to see his old comrades-in-arms, and the other was that they wanted the two children to broaden their horizons.

"Mom, I took a picture at Tiananmen Square!" Hanhan pulled Qin Xiaoyu to look at the photos. Zhou Xing's mother took out a thick stack of several hundred photos from her bag.

The photos captured their entire trip, and Qin Xiaoyu was glad she had agreed to let the children go; their happiness was written all over their faces.

"We had the projectionist come over tonight, and they even filmed a short video." Zhou Xing's mother sat down on the sofa, just within reach of her little sister, and casually tightened her loose braid.

Hanhan's little mouth kept talking, introducing the stories in the photos to Qin Xiaoyu. The little sister couldn't wait any longer and kept pulling Qin Xiaoyu's hand.

She carefully opened Qin Xiaoyu's hand and placed a small seashell on it.

"This is the first seashell my little sister picked up. She brought it back for you. She's still closer to her mother." Zhou Xing's mother's words were clearly tinged with jealousy.

"Thank you for your hard work." Qin Xiaoyu looked up at Zhou Xing's mother, her heart filled with a thousand words, but she couldn't say a single one.

"What's so hard about it? I've never had so much fun. When I used to go there, I would sleep until late every night, swim around the beach a couple of times, come back for dinner, and go to bed early. Apart from listening to the sound of the waves, it was no different from being at home. But with two little ones here, we can only stay by the beach every day, watch the sunrise in the morning, see the moon rise over the sea at night, and swim with the tide. Life is so much more fulfilling."

“Exactly, what’s the point of just the two of us going?” Commander Zhou came downstairs. Qin Xiaoyu was startled when she saw his appearance. His tan was just like Hanhan’s. Looking at the dark-skinned guards, it seemed that they all had to accompany Hanhan to play at the beach.

"Uncle, I see your hair is getting a bit long, let me tidy it up for you."

“Little Yu is so perceptive. Your uncle kept saying on his way home that he wanted you to cut his hair. There are famous barbershops in Beijing, but he wouldn’t go in. He just wanted to wait for you,” Zhou Xing’s mother said with a smile.

Originally, Qin Xiaoyu kept her distance from Commander Zhou, but now she not only felt respect and gratitude towards this old man, but also gradually developed feelings for him, just like she would for an elder in her family.

"Little Fish, I brought you some things. Take them back in a bit." Zhou Xing's mother had the guard bring over the large and small bags. The "some things" she was supposed to bring amounted to more than twenty bags.

"This is for Mrs. Hanhan. The old lady needs calcium supplements, and her teeth aren't very good. These are top-quality prawn chips; fry them up for her to eat whenever you have time. This dried shrimp is for your mother-in-law; it's excellent for making soup. This is shark fin, and this is dried oysters. This dried squid is for the two children; I left some here, but you can take some back with you. They can eat it regularly to supplement their calcium intake... If I hadn't been detouring through Beijing, I could have brought back even more. Oh, and this dried sea cucumber and abalone are for you. You work so hard; you should make some soup with them to help you recover..."

Zhou Xing's mother laid out a table full of food. Qin Xiaoyu wanted to refuse, but after exchanging a glance with her, she swallowed her words.

"Okay, I'll take them all. Thank you, Auntie."

"I'll have Xiao Chen drive you back later." Seeing Qin Xiaoyu shake her head, Zhou Xing's mother glared at her and said, "You should listen to me, child. It's so inconvenient for you to be carrying so many bags and taking care of two children."

"Okay, I'll be good, alright?" Qin Xiaoyu had no choice but to agree.

"By the way, have you seen Zhou Yue these days? We called her back for dinner, but she said she had something to do and refused. Your uncle was upset about it and had to coax her back. He'll be angry again after you leave." Zhou Xing's mother whispered to Qin Xiaoyu.

Qin Xiaoyu's heart skipped a beat. Since Zhou Yue had come to see her crying last time, she hadn't shown up again. She had been so busy that she hadn't even called to check on her, and she couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Don't worry, it's nothing. You know how temperamental Sister Xiaoyue is. Maybe she's just having a bad day. She'll be fine in a while." Qin Xiaoyu remembered that Zhou Yue had told her not to tell her family about her infertility, so she wanted to cover it up for now.

"Xiaoyue isn't coming back, and Zhou Xing isn't coming back either. He used to hate going to work the most, so why is he spending all his time at the hospital?" Zhou Xing's mother was full of resentment.

Qin Xiaoyu knew perfectly well that Zhou Xing was helping Tang Long recover and had no time to go home, but she couldn't say anything, so she could only chuckle.

The guard drove Qin Xiaoyu back to the Tang family home, where they were immediately surrounded by neighbors in the alley.

The children, who had already heard the good news, ran to tell Grandma Hanhan the news, and she ran out wearing an apron.

Tang Hu was on summer vacation, so he came out to watch the fun.

Children don't hold grudges, and given the blood relation and the fact that they hadn't seen each other for so long, Hanhan gave Tang Hu a toy.

Tang Hu is the type who forgets everything after a good meal. He's happy to run errands after getting the toys, and he'll carry the biggest bag inside.

After sending the guards away, Qin Xiaoyu went upstairs to talk to his wife.

The things we just brought back were all placed on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), arranged in a whole row.

"This is for your wife, and this is for you, Mom." Qin Xiaoyu started distributing the items. Seeing Tang Hu looking at her expectantly, she took a bag of dried seaweed and handed it to him: "This is for your mom. She can make soup for you."

Tang Hu was a foodie, and he dashed out in a few leaps.

"The Commander's family has been so good to us this week. These two children have grown so much!" The wife said, somewhat incredulously. She pulled Hanhan and her younger sister over, looking them over from left to right, admiring them endlessly.

"Madam, have some candy, I missed you." Hanhan's little mouth was as sweet as honey as she peeled off a piece of White Rabbit milk candy and stuffed it into her madam's mouth. She then peeled off another piece and held it to her grandmother's lips.

"You eat, you eat. It's a waste for Grandma to eat." Grandma Hanhan had never seen anything like this before, and her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Mom, what are you saying? We'll buy it whenever you want to eat it in the future," Qin Xiaoyu said reproachfully.

"Okay. Little Fish, look how thin you are. Stay home tonight, I'll buy you a chicken and make you some nourishing soup." Grandma Hanhan looked at the sea cucumber and abalone on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed) but didn't dare to touch them.

"Mom, take this. I'll teach you how to make it later." Qin Xiaoyu picked it up and placed it in her arms.

There was a noise at the courtyard gate. Qin Xiaoyu looked out the window and saw that her cousin-in-law had returned.

"Sister-in-law, make some soup for Xiaolong." Qin Xiaoyu handed over a bag of dried sea cucumbers.

"Keep it for yourself. I feel really bad about it, Qi Si keeps bringing me food. Why don't you tell him to stop? Xiao Long is almost done eating, don't bother him anymore," my cousin-in-law said softly.

"Sister-in-law, we're family, you're being too formal." Qin Xiaoyu followed her into the house and placed the sea cucumber on the table.

"Without you, I don't know how I would have gotten through this. Now we've finally gotten through one hurdle. By the way, Zhou Xing, you guys..."