Shan Lian used the embassy's phone to call back home.
Jiang Ci and Liu Ke stood outside.
"Xiao Lian doesn't seem to be doing well. Is she... is she alright?"
Jiang Ci shook her head seriously, "Not good."
With such a drastic change in her family, it would be very difficult for Shan Lian, who had been so well protected, to learn that her father and maternal grandfather were both heinous criminals.
After Jiang Ci saw the letter, she knew that if Shan Lian left like this, she would probably not be able to bear it and might do something extreme to hurt herself.
Instead of doing that, it would be better to find her some things to do.
To give her a little comfort from her pain.
Jiang Ci didn't know if her efforts would be effective, but if Shan Lian could listen to her advice, then her efforts would not have been in vain.
From inside the house came Shan Lian's heart-wrenching cries, "Grandpa! I beg you! Hand over all those things!"
"Your mother lost her life because of those things, do you want to drive even more people to their deaths?!"
Jiang Ci and Liu Ke fell silent, exchanging glances and saying nothing more.
After making the call, Shan Lian didn't linger or say anything to Jiang Ci before leaving quickly.
Later, Jiang Ci overheard that Shan Lian had returned all the money her father and grandfather had left her to China. She stayed in France to study painting, and every time she sold a painting, she would transfer the money back to China for charity.
Shan Lian himself lived a poor life in France. Even though he had become the most sought-after painter in France, the richest he was ever when his paintings were sold.
Someone asked her why she chose to live such a frugal life when selling a single painting would be enough for her to earn tens of thousands of francs and live a life of luxury.
Shan Lian said, "This is the only thing I want to do."
Shan Lian never returned to China.
Of course, that's a story for another time. Jiang Ci had no idea whether she would ever see Shan Lian again.
However, she felt that Shan Lian probably wouldn't want to see her, so she didn't want to make a fool of herself. After finishing her official business in F country, she went to D country and several other countries with tea trade relations.
While traveling back and forth between various countries, Shan Shengshuo finally revealed the location of those antiques in China.
The top leader sent troops to bring the items back.
When Jiang Ci visited the Shan family before, what she saw was only the tip of the iceberg of Shan Shengshuo's collection. The total number of antiques that Shan Shengshuo had transferred and collected in various places was actually over ten thousand pieces.
Not only were the military personnel shocked, but the archaeologists who went along to list and identify the artifacts were also astonished.
Dan Shengshuo's collection alone is almost more than the collection of cultural relics in a provincial museum!
Packing up these antiques alone took a long time. In addition, people who were involved with Shan Shengshuo were arrested and arrested, and the capital was once again engulfed in bloodshed.
Zhou Mingli, now that he was safe, didn't care about those things. He was counting down the days, waiting for Jiang Ci to return.
Zhou Yang and Zhou Miao have spent the entire summer vacation, but Jiang Ci still hasn't returned.
After the initial withdrawal symptoms subsided, the two children stopped crying and fussing, except for still missing their mother.
When school starts again, they will be in the middle class.
Zhou Mingli wanted Huang Zheyue to continue her studies. He consulted with Shen Conghe and arranged an exam for Huang Zheyue. Huang Zheyue passed the exam and went directly to junior high school.
After a summer vacation, all three children in the family went to school, leaving Zhou Mingli with some free time.
One day in September, Zhou Mingli, who had no other side jobs after get off work, cleaned the house and lit mugwort to repel flies and mosquitoes.
"Xiao Zhou, are you tidying up the house after get off work?" The auntie who manages the courtyard said with a smile as she entered the house carrying a basket of eggs and saw Zhou Mingli tidying up.
Zhou Mingli nodded, noticed the eggs in her basket, and asked, "Auntie, have the people from the countryside come to exchange eggs?"
"They're here! They're right at the alleyway intersection outside. If you want them, hurry up and get your money, or the eggs will be all gone!"
The family had almost run out of eggs, so Zhou Mingli agreed, tied up the mugwort, and went to buy more eggs.
Sure enough, I saw a farmer selling eggs. He was carrying quite a lot of things, including eggs, mung beans, and soybeans.
A large crowd had already gathered there, all buying eggs, mung beans, and soybeans.
Just as Zhou Mingli was about to squeeze through the crowd to buy something, he suddenly heard a voice beside him, "Zhou Mingli!"
He turned his head and saw a woman standing at the intersection, pulling several suitcases, wearing a light blue dress, with slightly long hair. She was also wearing a straw hat, and her face, which was not exposed to the sun, had a familiar smile on it.
Zhou Mingli's mind went blank. He forgot about eggs, mung beans, and soybeans, and suddenly rushed towards the people at the intersection.
Before Jiang Ci could even say "I'm back," Zhou Mingli swept her up in his arms.
She was startled and quickly held down her straw hat, which was almost blown away by the violent movement, and wrapped one arm around Zhou Mingli's neck.
He was very hot, and the arm around her waist kept tightening.
“You’re back.” He stared at Jiang Ci’s face.
Jiang Ci steadied herself and looked down at him. "Otherwise what? Is the person standing in front of you just anyone?"
Zhou Mingli hugged her tightly, buried his head in the crook of her neck, and inhaled her familiar fragrance, his heart pounding wildly.
He murmured, "Jiang Ci."
They were standing at the intersection, where people were coming and going.
Unlike decades later, when a hug on the street wouldn't be a big deal, right now a lot of people are looking in their direction!
They were pointing and gesturing, it was unclear whether they were gossiping or talking about something else.
Jiang Ci slapped the back of his head, "Put me down right now, there are so many people watching!"
Zhou Mingli tried to calm down for a long time, but he still couldn't calm down.
He was reluctant to let go, worried that Jiang Ci's return was just a dream.
Jiang Ci glared, "Hurry up!"
Zhou Mingli's eyes drooped as he looked at her face so close to his own, resisting the urge to kiss her, and reluctantly let go of her.
"Help me move these things back," Jiang Ci ordered him without any politeness.
Looking at the several suitcases on the ground, Zhou Mingli finally felt a sense of reality that Jiang Cizhen had returned.
He worked tirelessly and brought Jiang Ci's suitcase home.
Upon seeing Jiang Ci, familiar neighbors greeted him, "Comrade Jiang is back!"
"Yes, is the older sister buying eggs?"
"Yes, do you want to buy it?"
"I'll come back in a bit!"
"Hey, isn't this Xiao Jiang? You're back from abroad? How was it? Was it fun?"
"Auntie, I'm going to work, not to play. If you're curious, you can travel abroad sometime."
"Oh dear, how can we go abroad?"
Jiang Ci greeted her neighbors with a smile; the short walk took a full fifteen minutes.
I finally made it home.
Zhou Mingli placed his suitcase next to the kitchen and closed the door.
Jiang Ci had just taken off her hat when Zhou Mingli suddenly picked her up and hugged her tightly.
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