When the first snow fell, Zhao Qinglan received good news from the capital.

Her uncle got promoted again, but he kept quiet about it. She found out when she was on the phone with her younger sister, Qingju.

Wei Yaohui and Sun Guangming were in the same department. He knew about Sun Guangming's promotion immediately and naturally told his wife when he got back.

Sun Guangming's rank was already quite high before, and this promotion marks another significant milestone.

In any other family, they would certainly hold a small celebration with their own family, but Sun Guangming has no children and his only relative in Beijing is his niece Zhao Qingju, so he wouldn't bother with such a formality.

He got promoted, naturally taking the position from his rival. His rival's faction inevitably made some sarcastic remarks, basically implying that no matter how high he rose, it wouldn't benefit his descendants, leaving him all alone.

Sun Guangming has worked in intelligence for many years. He appears mild-mannered, but in reality, he is a man of ruthless methods.

Not long after, some members of that faction were found to have problems and were dismissed.

It wasn't Sun Guangming who framed him; it really happened.

He just used it to retaliate and establish his authority.

The effect of this return was immediate. Those people only knew how to mock Sun Guangming for being weak and having no descendants, but they forgot that such people also had fewer scruples.

As for Wei Yaohui, his position was not high, and his relationship with Sun Guangming was somewhat distant. However, as his nephew-in-law, Sun Guangming had never used his position to help Wei Yaohui get promoted or take advantage of him. In the eyes of outsiders, that meant he did not value Wei Yaohui.

Previously, Wei's parents had also had some complaints about their daughter-in-law's family because of this.

But is Sun Guangming really ignoring Wei Yaohui?

No, Sun Guangming couldn't easily talk to Wei Yaohui alone at work, but he gave him plenty of pointers when they met in private.

Moreover, with him protecting him, even if others felt that he didn't value Wei Yaohui, no one in Wei Yaohui could bully him at work.

He may not seem to be in a prominent position now, but he works diligently and practically, and the benefits are yet to come.

Wei Yaohui doesn't usually discuss work-related matters at home, but he will talk to his wife about things involving his uncle, Sun Guangming.

Knowing that some people were mocking her uncle, Zhao Qinglan could only sneer.

Even if my uncle has no direct descendants, given his current position, even if he retires in the future, the government will not send anyone to take care of him or help him in his old age.

And there are also her sisters.

Some people have many children and grandchildren, but those children and grandchildren are not necessarily filial, and they may also have many worries and troubles.

Those people are just saying "sour grapes" because they can't have them.

Knowing that her uncle was retaliating, Zhao Qinglan felt satisfied; it was the right thing to do.

She and her husband had discussed their uncle privately, and she even suggested that when their uncle got older and retired, if he didn't like living in the government-provided place, she would like to bring him to live with her so he could take care of himself in his old age.

Grandpa Dou has no blood relation to them, but since the couple were able to take him in, why would his own uncle look down on him?

If the house isn't big enough, then get a bigger one; if there aren't enough family members, then hire help.

Perhaps with my uncle's arrival, my mother's days will be more comfortable and her mood will be better.

Neither my mother nor my uncle has a spouse, so it's good for the siblings to keep each other company in their old age.

She's only talking about these things with her husband right now; she hasn't mentioned them to her mother or uncle yet.

Some things don't need to be said; they'll just need to take action when the time is right.

Li Huai had no objection to his wife's suggestion. He had no relatives left in the Li family, but after being with Qinglan, he found himself with several more elders who genuinely cared for him.

He was willing to take care of the elderly.

Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure; their family has several treasures.

When the children are no longer around, he and Qinglan may feel a little lonely. With a few elders around, the house will be more lively.

His biggest regret was that his mother passed away too soon. Otherwise, he could have taken care of his father and let his mother enjoy the blessings of her children and grandchildren.

But if it weren't for his previous hardships, he might not have met Qinglan.

As the children grew older, and once his youngest son also went away to study, they would truly have no children left by their side. In his spare time, he began to ponder more.

He pondered the first half of his life, the past life his wife had told him, and the future she spoke of.

He had heard a new term from his wife: the seven-year itch.

He didn't know if others felt itchy, but he felt that their marital relationship was like a fine wine, getting sweeter and sweeter, with different flavors at different times.

If his wife has suitors, he will be jealous and resentful; if he has unwanted romantic advances, his wife will also get angry and react accordingly.

But after the incident, their relationship actually grew stronger, something they couldn't reveal to outsiders.

Previously, only the eldest child, Xiaoduo, would occasionally contact her younger brother to inquire about the family, especially their parents. Now that the second child has finished the college entrance examination and gone away to study, she has started doing the same work.

The third child would call his older siblings to whisper secrets when his parents weren't around, and he would reply to three letters each time.

"Sigh, why am I the youngest, yet I always end up suffering the most?" he muttered to himself as he wrote the letter.

The three letters are largely the same, differing only in their answers to specific questions.

Zhao Qinglan and her husband knew that Sanwa corresponded with his older siblings, but they respected their child's privacy and never asked what was written in the letters unless Sanwa told them.

Sanwa was willing to tell his older brothers and sisters about everything that happened in the family, but the only thing he kept to himself was his curiosity and suspicion about his mother's secrets.

Zhao Qinglan had told her husband almost everything she could remember about major events in the past and future, and the two of them rarely talked about the "future" now.

It wasn't until Li Huai read the newspaper and discovered that the situation of the great power to the north was becoming increasingly dire that he expressed his feelings at home.

"Sigh, I didn't want to believe it when you said they would fall apart, but now things are getting more and more chaotic."

Zhao Qinglan did some quick calculations. "It'll be less than two years. Hey, now that you mention it, I remember. They'll sell anything these days. There must be a lot of middlemen on the trains heading north. Should I get involved too?"

"How so?" Li Huai asked curiously.

Zhao Qinglan then gave a brief account of how someone had traded airplanes with a large country in the north.

The northern countries have developed heavy industry but lack light industry, resulting in a shortage of everyday consumer goods.

These traders would take various daily necessities and even clothing from China and exchange them for large sums of rubles and US dollars.

That vast country is gradually declining; as long as the money is right, anyone will dare to sell anything.

After she said that, Li Huai was actually tempted.

"Weapon technology can be sold too?"

Although the country has made tremendous progress in recent years, it still lags far behind its older brothers in many technologies.

These things used to be priceless; it wasn't just about money, it involved many complex aspects between countries.

But if it could be obtained by spending money now, even the government would be tempted.

The two were so excited that they didn't notice their youngest son had already come home from school and was standing at the door.