As night fell, the lights of Haishi swayed gently in the evening breeze. Grandpa Qi paced back and forth under the dim street lights, looking up into the distance from time to time. Finally, a beam of car lights slowly approached.

"Oh, you're finally here!" The car door opened and Grandpa Qi hurried forward. "Are you tired, kids? We've got food ready at home. Let's go up and eat together."

Chen Chen got out of the car and handed the luggage to them. Politely refused:

"Grandpa Qi, thank you for your kindness, but it's getting late, and my family should be waiting for me, so I won't bother them for now. But I will come to see them tomorrow morning."

After saying this, he nodded gently to Xu Mengyao. After watching Chen Chen leave, they followed Grandpa Qi up the stairs and arrived at the Qi family's house on the third floor.

"Sister Juan! Sister Juan!" As soon as the door opened, Maomao excitedly rushed over and hugged her: "You finally came to see me! Maomao missed you so much!"

"Sister misses you too. Look, what did I bring you?"

As she spoke, she took out a new car from her backpack. Maomao took the gift and said happily:

"I knew Sister Juan was the best to me!"

Grandma Qi stood aside, her eyes slightly red, and called out to everyone: "You three children, come and eat quickly."

After dinner, Grandma Qi busily made the beds and prepared a place for them to sleep. Due to the housing shortage in Hai City, the Qi family's house was only a small two-bedroom apartment, which was nothing compared to the large courtyard in Huan City. Grandma Qi asked Xiaomei and Mengyao to sleep in Maomao's room, while she and Grandpa Qi squeezed into another room with Maomao. She took another thick quilt and went to the sofa and said to Shaozi:

"My child, I'm sorry to have wronged you. You have to spend the night on the sofa. Tomorrow, let your grandfather Qi take you to a guesthouse."

Shaozi waved his hand quickly: "Grandma Qi, please don't be so polite. We are not strangers. Why go to a guesthouse? Just stay at home."

While Maomao and Shaozi were playing nearby, and Grandpa Qi was taking Xiaomei to wash up, Grandma Qi quietly pulled Xu Mengyao into the house, took out a roll of money from the cabinet and stuffed it into her hand:

"I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time. How could you have stuffed two thousand dollars into my pillowcase? It's a good thing you're here this time, otherwise I'd have to give it to you next time I go back. Take it back now!"

Faced with Grandma Qi's serious expression, Xu Mengyao didn't say much and silently took the roll of money.

Seeing that she accepted the money, Grandma Qi smiled again, took her hand and asked about Grandma Huang's health and the details of the family's past year. Finally, she asked softly:

"Tell grandma, do you have anything else to do this time? Otherwise, you must have gone to the capital with your family."

Xu Mengyao smiled and said frankly, "Hey, I can't hide anything from you. I want to buy stock subscription certificates."

"Oh? You're interested in stocks too?" Grandma Qi was surprised, but also a little worried. "Your Grandma Li suffered a lot because of this a while ago. She queued up all night in Hongkou and still couldn't buy any stocks. She almost got into trouble."

"I didn't expect Grandma Li to be so up-to-date and start investing in stocks so early." But she didn't deny her thoughts, just said vaguely: "I'll buy the subscription certificates first, and we'll see what happens later."

The next morning, Grandpa Qi returned home after buying breakfast. As soon as he entered the door, he smiled and said:

"Chen Chen is already waiting for you downstairs. I asked him to come up and sit for a while, but he said we can just wait until you finish your meal and then come down. There's no need to rush. He's quite a gentleman."

They quickly finished their meal and went downstairs, and Chen Chen came up to greet them:

"Wenjuan, are you planning to buy warrants today? When I got here, I went to the entrance of Wanguo Securities, and there were already quite a few people lining up there. How about I take you to the nearest Industrial and Commercial Bank of China first?"

She shook her head: "No, let's not buy it yet. Let's see how things go in a couple of days. You can take us shopping today."

Chen Chen readily agreed: "Okay, then let's go to Nanjing East Road first. It's the most prosperous place in Haicheng and has all kinds of delicious food and goods."

Several people took the bus there, and after getting off, they were shocked by the scene in front of them: the street was lined with shops, and there were crowds of people, making it very lively.

"Look over there, that's the famous Peace Hotel." Chen Chen pointed to an elegant building not far away and said, "It's a landmark building in Haicheng."

"I know, I know, it's Xu Wenqiang from Shanghai, bang! bang! bang!" Whistle said excitedly, and at the end he made a few gun-shooting gestures, attracting the attention of passers-by.

As they entered the food company, the escalator became their new focus. Shaozi's eyes lit up, and he watched excitedly as the others climbed up. Xiaomei, on the other hand, seemed a little nervous, clinging tightly to Xu Mengyao's arm.

Chen Chen carefully warned, "Everyone, don't step on the gaps. Just stand firmly and hold on."

Xu Mengyao patted Xiaomei's hand, gave her a reassuring look, then took her hand and followed Chen Chen onto the escalator.

As the escalator slowly ascended, the second floor of the food company gradually appeared before everyone's eyes. The variety of goods here, from domestic specialties to imported delicacies, was dazzling.

At noon, Chen Chen took them to the Xinya Restaurant across the street for lunch. The dishes there were delicious and tasty, satisfying everyone's appetite.

After dinner, the group went to visit Zhongbai Company again. When the elevator door slowly opened, they were deeply attracted by the scene before them - there were multiple Christmas trees decorated with strings of lights and a huge Santa Claus statue placed in the center of the fourth floor.

Whistle pointed at the Christmas trees curiously and asked, "Huh? Why are there so many pine trees in the mall? And this one can even spin! And who is this old man in red?"

Chen Chen explained with a smile, "This is a Christmas tree and Santa Claus! In Western countries, Christmas is a very important holiday, just like the Spring Festival in China. People decorate Christmas trees, give each other gifts, and celebrate the holiday."

Hearing this, Xiaomei and Shaozi both showed expressions of sudden enlightenment. They continued to stroll in the mall, attracted and amazed by all kinds of new and fashionable things at every moment.

Afterwards, they lined up to enter the Linanju Supermarket. The interior of the supermarket was spacious and bright, with the goods neatly arranged. After storing their bags, they took their baskets and began to select items. Xiaomei nervously pulled Xu Mengyao's arm and whispered:

"Why is that person next to us staring at us?"

"It's okay. They are supermarket clerks. They are responsible for patrolling at different locations to prevent people from stealing things." Chen Chen explained.

When they came out of the supermarket with their full bags, it was already dark. The city looked even more prosperous under the night lights. Looking around, the neon lights and the endless stream of vehicles and pedestrians on the streets formed a breathtaking picture.

Shaozi and Xiaomei stood on the oval overpass, circling around, taking in the towering buildings and dazzling neon billboards hanging from the sides, their eyes gleaming with wonder and excitement. The pedestrians passing by, chatting in a language they couldn't understand, added to the allure of being in a foreign land.

Whistle couldn't help but sigh: "The sea city is really beautiful!"

Xiaomei also agreed: "Yes! That's great!"