In the middle of the night, everyone in the carriage was fast asleep. Qian Xiao opened his eyes and glanced at Sun Kaicheng across from him, who had also opened his eyes. Sun Kaicheng carefully got out of bed and stood at the door of the compartment, watching.
Qian Xiao tried not to make a sound, put away the pickled vegetables he had brought, and put out several identical bags containing grain. In this way, the number of bags did not change, but there were three extra bags of grain. As long as no one had handled them, no one would know that the bags had been switched.
Qian Xiaochao nodded to Sun Kaicheng, and Sun Kaicheng then went to lie down on the opposite bunk. This was a solution the two of them came up with, as it wouldn't be good to switch bunks in broad daylight or after getting off the train, as it would be easy to be discovered.
...
Qian Jiefang looked at the unfamiliar young man in front of him, wondering what was going on. His daughter was so young and already bringing a boyfriend to their door. Wasn't that a bit too early? Had his daughter tricked this young man?
Thinking of this, Qian Jiefang's face turned as dark as if it were about to hail. Qian Xiao could see the unhappiness on her father's face at a glance, but she didn't know why. He seemed fine just now. Could something have happened at work?
"Dad, what's wrong? Did I come at the wrong time?"
"Ah! No, nothing's been happening lately. And who is this?"
"This is Grandpa Zhou's grandson, don't you recognize him?" She thought her father knew him.
Grandpa Zhou? Qian Jiefang thought for a moment before remembering who Grandpa Zhou was, the family his daughter had asked his parents to take care of.
Qian Xiao looked at it and realized, oh dear, her father really didn't recognize him. She had thought that her father had been so eager to help because he knew Grandpa Zhou's family before.
Qian Xiao quickly introduced them: "Sun Kaicheng, this is my father, you can call him Uncle Qian. Dad, this is Grandpa Zhou's grandson, Sun Kaicheng. He's from Long City, went to the same school as me, and is one year ahead of me."
“He wanted to visit Grandpa Zhou and the others during this holiday, so he came back with me. Now that school is about to start, I was thinking that the two of us should go back together so we could keep each other company on the way. I was just thinking of coming to see you and Mom, so he came along too.”
"Then we can go back to school together."
Is that so? Then he was relieved. That makes sense; the other person is just a little kid, but he's too good-looking, and he doesn't look like a good match for his daughter.
Qian Jiefang immediately relaxed his expression: "Okay, okay, it's good to have company. Dad drove here, let's go to the car first and talk."
"Why did you bring so much stuff again? You could have just sent it back to school. It's so tiring to carry it all over here."
Qian Jiefang took half of the bag from his daughter's hand, so he couldn't carry the one in Sun Kaicheng's hand. Without thinking much, Sun Kaicheng picked up all the bags.
Wow, this kid is strong just like my daughter. Is being strong really that common now?
"Hehe, these things are for you guys. I don't have much to bring. See? These three bags are full of food. You've finished the food from last time, haven't you?"
"Why did you bring so much food again? Do you have enough food at home? Don't worry about your grandma, we're doing fine here, she won't go hungry."
Qian Jiefang was touched, but also somewhat ashamed. He was already too old to take care of his family, and he was causing his parents worry.
"We don't lack food at home." Although the food wasn't from our family, we really didn't lack food for the time being.
"That's good." Qian Jiefang knew that his family had a lot of grain stored up, otherwise he would never have accepted the grain with a clear conscience.
The father and son chatted casually along the way, trying to learn about each other's lives from their conversations. Sun Kaicheng remained unusually quiet the whole way, feeling that Uncle Qian's gaze towards him when they first got off the bus was a bit strange. He figured it was better to keep a low profile.
Qian Xiao only saw her mother once a year, and she missed her terribly. It's unexpected that she's become even more homesick at this age.
"Mom." As soon as the car came to a stop, Qian Xiao jumped out and hugged his mother.
"Hey, let's go inside and talk. My daughter looks taller and a little chubby, but she looks good like this."
"Big sister, big sister!" San Dan and Si Dan were extremely anxious. Had their big sister seen them?
Qian Xiao smacked one of his younger brothers on the head: "What are you doing out here? It's cold outside. Come on, let's go inside." The two boys hadn't even put on their hats before catching a cold.
Sun Kaicheng... Comrade Erdan, have you forgotten something?
As if hearing what Sun Kaicheng was thinking, Qian Xiao paused in her steps before entering the house, quickly turned around and saw Sun Kaicheng helping her father move things: "Hey, how about I do it? You go inside and warm up a bit?"
"No need, you go in first, I'll help Uncle Qian move his things before I go in."
Li Guizhi then noticed that there was another person present. She quickly pulled her daughter aside and asked, "Who is this?" Surely her daughter wouldn't have a son-in-law found for her at such a young age?
Qian Xiao pulled her mother into the house: "This is the grandson of the family my dad helped find a house in the village. His family is from Longshi. He was my classmate and is a year ahead of me. We came back to the village together during the holiday, thinking we could go back to school together."
"His family is very nice. They took good care of me when I was at school and often brought me delicious food."
"Oh, I see. Then we must treat them well." So he's not the son-in-law our daughter brought home. That's good, that's good.
My daughter is still young, so we can't think about these things now. We'll talk about it after she turns eighteen.
"No need for that. We'll just do what we need to do. If you're too polite, he won't feel comfortable." She came to bring warmth to her parents, not to cause them any trouble.
"Alright then." That's what I said, but I couldn't be too casual, after all, they were guests.
Qian Xiao also introduced her two younger brothers to Sun Kaicheng. Her two younger brothers had grown quite a bit in the six months since she last saw them. The ten-year-old boys were probably eating well and were about the same height as Qian Xiao. They also looked quite sturdy, clearly not hungry.
"Big sister, big sister, can you tell us what Long City is like? Isn't that great?"
Qian Xiao never hesitated to answer her younger brothers' questions, carefully describing the capital city: "You should all study hard, so that you can all go out and see the world like your eldest sister."
"Big sister, we will try our best." They wanted to go out and see the world, and they were determined to give it a shot.
Qian Jiefang immediately contradicted his son, saying, "Those two? Forget it. Your two younger brothers are quite accomplished. They got full marks in both subjects combined. If they're like that, they'll have a hard time getting into junior high."
Sometimes he wondered if he and his wife had given all their brains to their daughter, and that their brains had been cut in half when it came to their two sons.
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