Qi Xili sighed and nodded: "Alright, then let's wait a little longer. I really don't know when we can be reunited as a family."
Shen Yanming patted him on the shoulder without saying a word.
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Bi Qiaoan picked up Shen Yanming's backpack and said with a smile, "Come on, guess what good things are inside?"
An'an and Nuannuan's eyes lit up, and they gathered around. Qi Xili was also stirred up by their emotions.
Bi Qiaoan had already touched it and, seeing that there was nothing inappropriate, she then openly unzipped the zipper.
"These are pine nuts, walnuts, and chestnuts. They should all be roasted, right?" Bi Qiaoan asked Shen Yanming.
Shen Yanming glanced at it and nodded: "Yes, it's been stir-fried. But it's edible even if it's not stir-fried."
Bi Qiaoan smiled so hard her eyes crinkled: "Stir-fried is good, stir-fried is more fragrant."
After saying that, he grabbed a handful of chestnuts for An'an and Nuannuan, and then grabbed a handful of pine nuts for Qi Xili.
Qi Xili took the pine nuts, glared at them, and asked, "Are you treating people differently?!"
"What, you're not happy even though I'm offering you something expensive?" Bi Qiaoan raised an eyebrow.
Qi Xili didn't say anything, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the chestnuts.
"Take what you want, who can stop you?" Shen Yanming said with a smile, grabbing a handful of chestnuts for him.
Qi Xili glanced at him, thinking to himself, "I can't be shameless."
Bi Qiaoan suppressed a laugh and explained, "Those chestnuts won't last long, you have to eat them first. As for the pine nuts, I really wanted you to eat something good."
Qi Xili nodded: "Thank you!"
"No need for that. There's plenty of food anyway, and the few of us can't finish it all in a short time."
Qi Xili smiled, not taking it seriously.
An'an peeled a chestnut and warmly stuffed it into his mouth, which moved him deeply. The family was laughing and joking when they suddenly felt the house tilting to the east.
"Oh dear, another earthquake." An'an sighed as she looked at the sloshing water in the bowl on the coffee table.
Qi Xili rubbed his head: "You're only a few years old, yet you act all old."
"Eight years old, eight years old!" An'an took Qi Xili's large hand away, looking somewhat aggrieved. "In ancient times, eight years old was considered a little man."
"But this is modern times, and you're still our little darling."
"No, I'm a little adult now. Nuannuan and I are both in the second year of junior high school."
Qi Xili's smile froze: "Don't you two need to take a break? Leveling up too fast, don't you find it less enjoyable?"
“Studying doesn’t bring much joy. Right now, all we want to do is finish high school and stay home with our parents.” An’an didn’t hide her thoughts.
Qi Xili smiled but didn't say anything.
What can you say? That you're going to university in Beijing after graduating high school? What if you get detained? Isn't Qi Lin enough?
Besides, at this rate, the two kids will only be eleven or twelve when they graduate high school. They're so young, would Lao Shen and Qiao An really let them go to Beijing? Probably not.
Besides, the two kids are so young; even if they graduate, they won't be able to work. In short, studying too fast isn't necessarily a good thing.
Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan heard this, but didn't say anything.
Their family is different from others; separation is impossible. Whether their two children will go to the capital city in the future is something they need to carefully consider. The couple always hold onto the hope that, in a few years, the planet might return to normal?
"By the way, how are the two kids from the Wei family doing?"
"The older one is in fourth grade and the younger one is in second grade. Although they don't come to school, their family teaches them very well. It's just that neither of them are in the team, so they haven't had any training in physical skills."
"There's nothing we can do about it."
"Yeah, so I didn't mention it to them."
The family chatted for a while longer before starting to prepare dinner. Qi Xili had dinner at the Shen family's house before leaving.
Time flies by day by day, and another year has passed in the blink of an eye.
The earthquakes continued throughout the year, but they were all only magnitude 2 or 3, and did not cause much of an impact.
Qi Xili waited a year, but his son Qi Lin never returned. He did manage to speak with his son once, and Qi Lin promised that he would definitely return to Haishi.
Qi Xili also asked, "You and that professor, you're not together, are you?"
Qi Lin was speechless: "No, I'm going back to Haishi. How could I possibly have anything to do with this place?"
Qi Xili breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good. When are you coming back? Nuannuan has grown into a beautiful young lady. If you don't come back soon, your Uncle Chen will arrange for Nuannuan to marry someone else!"
Qi Lin's forehead vein throbbed: "Dad, that's enough! Nuan Nuan is my little sister!"
"What's wrong with my sister? Can't she be my girlfriend? Let me tell you, Nuannuan is so pretty now, with those big eyes and double eyelids, her smile is so sweet. The key is, she's very talented; she's already in high school at such a young age. Nuannuan, she..."
Qi Xili got more and more excited as he spoke, but Qi Lin quickly interrupted, "Dad, Nuannuan is still young. Don't talk nonsense and ruin her reputation. If Uncle Shen finds out, he'll definitely beat you up!"
Qi Xili touched his nose guiltily and changed the subject, saying, "Anyway, you better come back soon!"
Qi Lin nodded: "I understand."
"When will you find out?"
"Probably one or two years!"
Qi Xili: "...Oh my, little Linzi, your dad's getting old. Have you been seeing the glitz and glamour of Beijing?"
Qi Lin rubbed his temples helplessly: "Dad, stop acting. If you want to come to the capital, it's just a matter of minutes."
Qi Xili's sobbing stopped immediately, and he said apologetically, "You brat, take care of yourself!"
"Yes, I know, Dad. Take care of yourself and wait for me to come home."
After hanging up the phone, Wen Chao looked at Qi Xili and smiled meaningfully.
"What's wrong, Lao Wen? This is giving me goosebumps."
"You're quite something, setting your sights on the Shen family's daughter so early? No wonder you wanted to become her godparents."
Qi Xili was displeased and looked at Wen Chaohui, saying righteously, "No way! I recognized Nuannuan as my goddaughter because I genuinely like her, and I let Qi Lin pursue her because I genuinely like her too. It's a liking without a trace of self-interest."
"You!" Wen Chaohui remained noncommittal, but sighed, "If I had a son that big, I would definitely ask Xiao Shen for his hand in marriage too."
"Hehe, that just shows we're on the same page." Qi Xili asked with a smile, "By the way, how's the base doing lately?"
"Not good, the food is almost gone. You're smart, running off to the school and not caring about anything, don't you know we old men are almost bald?"
Qi Xili shrugged: "Even if I knew, it wouldn't make a difference. It would just cause one more person trouble. By the way, how much longer can we hold out?"
"At most a year." Wen Chaohui didn't hide anything: "It's winter all year round now, so it's impossible to farm. Although the mutated plants on Wensheng Mountain haven't died, they won't survive."
"Looks like we need to prepare in advance. Have we spoken to the people in the capital yet?"
"I already told them, but there's nothing the higher-ups can do. General Li said that supplies will be delivered to the bases later, but the amount probably won't be much. We'll probably have to tighten our belts."
"It's good enough to be alive, why think about so much?"
You're right.
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