By the end of December, the winter solstice had passed, and the coldest period of winter had officially begun.

These days it gets dark earlier and earlier, and the temperature drops significantly at night, so Xia Wenxi and her three friends didn't eat dinner out. Instead, after shopping, they headed home before it got dark.

Zhang Jiayi and Li Mengting naturally went back to school. Jin Wenyao had also been staying at a hotel near the school recently. The three of them didn't want to bother the Xia family's driver every time, and it was quite convenient to take a taxi outside the mall anyway.

After seeing the three off, Xia Wenxi continued to wait for her driver to pick her up in the mall. It was too cold outside, so she stayed inside until the driver arrived before going out.

While strolling around, I was drawn to a piece of clothing in the window of a men's clothing store next door.

The clothes were actually quite ordinary: a black knitted sweater with a fitted, high neck. The style was very simple, and there wasn't anything particularly unique about it. The only slightly different thing was that there was a knitted cat pattern on the chest of the sweater. Because the color of the pattern was similar to that of the sweater, you couldn't see it unless you looked closely.

When Xia Wenxi saw this dress, she pictured Lin Shen wearing it, so she walked into the store without hesitation.

After making the payment, I filled in Lin Shen's home address. Lin Shen will receive not only a set of cartoon coral fleece pajamas, but also a sweater.

She hadn't planned to buy any clothes when she went out today, but now that she'd bought some for Lin Shen... Xia Wenxi looked around the store again and decided to pick out a piece of clothing for her dad as well.

Of course, there's also Xia Wensheng. Xia Wenxi still had reservations about giving him clothes, so she simply picked out a briefcase in the store for him to use at work, hoping that Chairman Xia would lead Hengyuan Group to new heights!

After writing down her home address, the driver called. Xia Wenxi nodded to the sales assistant and went out.

She left home empty-handed today, with only her phone in her pocket, but returned carrying a bag.

The bag contained things I bought at the jewelry store upstairs, which I planned to give to my mother.

Xia Wenxi had observed that Ke Shurong almost exclusively wore custom-made clothes from the same brand, receiving new clothes every season. In other aspects, Ke Shurong, as a mother, lived a much more refined life than her daughter, Xia Wenxi.

So it seems like I can only give her one piece of jewelry, otherwise her other pieces won't be useful. The price is indeed not much compared to her other jewelry, but since her money comes from her parents, it doesn't seem necessary to insist on buying something very expensive.

After New Year's Day comes Ke Shurong's birthday. Xia Wenxi prepared other things, including the bracelet she bought today, as well as things for her father and Xia Wensheng, as New Year's gifts for her family.

As expected, as soon as Xia Wenxi returned home, she handed the gifts to her parents, and the two of them immediately put them on.

"Xiao Bao has great taste. Your dad looks much more handsome dressed like this."

Xia Wenxi, arm in arm with her mother, said with a grin, "Dad was always handsome, you must have had excellent taste back then."

Upon hearing this, Xia Hengyuan said with considerable pride, "Of course, didn't your mother choose me because I was good-looking?"

"Tch!" Ke Shurong said rudely, "You're getting cocky just because I said you're fat. Weren't you the same back then? Oh, I don't know who it was, but the first time they saw me, their eyes were practically glued to me."

Every time the two of them talk about who pursued whom back then, they argue for a long time, but decades later there is still no conclusion.

Before the two could bring up old grievances again, Xia Wenxi quickly stepped in to interrupt, taking out her phone to show her parents the photos of the houses Lin Shen had forwarded.

Hearing this, the two stopped arguing and sat down on the sofa, one on each side, waiting for their daughter to find the photos.

“Mom and Dad, the house in this building is only half an hour away from our home.” Xia Wenxi flipped to one of them and showed it to them. “What do you think of this place? It’s very close to our home; we can walk there.”

Ke Shurong looked at the house, then at her daughter, and said gently, "Xiaobao, don't just look at which one is closer to home. The most important thing is that you like it. Even if it's a little far, how far is it?"

Xia Wenxi was stunned for a moment when she heard Ke Shurong's words. In the other world, she always wanted to escape and get far away from home.

So now, her subconscious thought is that since her parents are good to her, she should not leave home, but stay closer to home and closer to her parents.

"I understand, Mom. We'll go see it in person when we have time."

"That's how it should be. Mom thinks these are all pretty good, and I think Xiao Shen has looked at them carefully. But since this will be your home together from now on, of course you should take a good look at them."

Xia Hengyuan nodded in agreement with his wife.

“Your mom is right. Anyway, we have plenty of time, so we can take our time to look at them. If we can’t decide, it’s okay to buy two more sets. Dad will pay for it.”

"Tsk tsk, listen to your dad's tone, he's really something." After saying that, Ke Shurong took her daughter's hand and asked, "Xiaobao, speaking of which, Xiaoshen is about the same age as your brother, has he ever said anything about being in a hurry to get married?"

Xia Wenxi shook her head, "No, Mom, you don't need to worry. Aren't there many people who marry and have children later in life these days? Getting married in your thirties isn't that late, is it?"

"Mom is worried that their family might be anxious and pressure you to get married and have children." In Ke Shurong's view, her daughter is still young, and she is still a child herself. It is too early for them to get married and have children now. However, they cannot only think about themselves. After all, Lin Shen is getting old. What if their family is anxious?

Xia Hengyuan said his wife was worrying unnecessarily, "They have many children in their family, and more than one grandson. There's no need to keep an eye on when their youngest son will get married and have children, right? Besides, Lin Shuyu isn't even here anymore. I don't think anyone in the Lin family can cause trouble anymore."

He had barely finished speaking when Ke Shurong slapped him on the thigh.

"No matter what, Lin Shuyu is still Xiao Shen's father. You should watch your words."

Ke Shurong felt that even if Lin Shuyu was not a good person, it was still wrong for them to talk about their future son-in-law's family behind their backs.

Xia Hengyuan said, feeling wronged, "I was just saying it at home, I'm not going to say it outside."

"No means no! It won't work no matter where you say it."

Xia Wenxi didn't speak. In fact, she hadn't heard Lin Shen mention his father recently. Although he hadn't mentioned him much before, he had completely disappeared from her life.

What Xia Wenxi didn't know was that not only Lin Shen, but the entire Lin family also adopted an attitude of "out of sight, out of mind" towards Lin Shuyu.

Although the children knew about their father's outrageous behavior in the past, knowing it was one thing, but actually facing the fact that their father was old and still had an affair and had a child was still very difficult for most of them. For a while, they simply didn't want to pay any attention to their father.