Zhao Qinglan felt that her husband definitely wouldn't be able to go to Shanghai, so when she packed her things, she only packed for herself and her children.
Summer clothes are relatively thin and don't take up much space, and since she didn't plan to bring too much, the family's belongings only amounted to two bags.
As for the children's personal belongings, Zhao Qinglan told them to bring their own schoolbags.
The schoolbags the children are using now are no longer handmade by Zhao Qinglan; she bought them from Shenzhen.
The older and younger boys were content with just one schoolbag and didn't care about other bags or accessories.
In their view, their schoolbags were already among the best in the class.
They weren't wrong; the schoolbags Zhao Qinglan bought for the children were all high-end products from Hong Kong.
As for Xiaoduo, the only girl in the family, in addition to the schoolbag she used for school, Zhao Qinglan also bought her several other bags, each of which was fashionable and beautiful.
Xiaoduo doesn't usually use these bags much when she goes to school, but this time she's going to Haishi, so she immediately found her favorite bag to carry her personal belongings.
Seeing his wife and children happily packing their things, Li Huai held his breath and said nothing.
When it came time to buy the train tickets, Li Huai had his orderly buy them for him, and when he got home, he handed the tickets to his wife.
Seeing her husband's cold expression, Zhao Qinglan wanted to laugh but pretended to be heartbroken. "It's okay, we can go out together again when we have the chance."
"Um."
"Alright, alright, cheer up. When the kids are all grown up, we can go wherever we want."
Zhao Qinglan thought about how she and the children were going to play, leaving her husband alone. In the days before she left, she became very gentle and accommodating towards Li Huai, granting his every request.
On the day of departure, Li Huai went out in the morning and said to his wife, who was still checking their things, "Xiao Xu will take you to the train station later, and I won't be coming back."
Seeing that the children weren't paying attention, Zhao Qinglan went up and took her husband's hand.
"We'll be back in a few days, and I'll bring you a present then."
"Hmm." Li Huai maintained his cold expression and simply nodded slightly.
Knowing that the man might be upset, Zhao Qinglan took the opportunity to sneak a kiss on him.
Only then did Li Huai's lips curve into a smile.
After her husband left, Zhao Qinglan checked her watch and then called to the children.
"Check your things again. If you forget anything when we get to the station, we won't have time to come back and get it."
The children quickly got to work.
Xiao Xu arrived at their gate well in advance. Zhao Qinglan put the bag in the trunk and then got into the car with the children.
She sat in the front passenger seat, while the four children squeezed into the back.
On the way, Zhao Qinglan took the opportunity to ask.
"Xiao Xu, how's your commander doing?"
"Yes." Xiao Xu was sparing with his words.
Zhao Qinglan felt something was off. Xiao Xu used to be a very talkative person, so why was he so quiet today?
However, she didn't ask any more questions, afraid of affecting Xiao Xu's driving.
When the train arrived at the station, Zhao Qinglan didn't need to carry any bags; the eldest and second children each carried one, and even the youngest, the third child, no longer needed Zhao Qinglan to hold him.
The mother and her children entered the waiting room and found a place to sit down.
A short while later, Cheng Tao also entered the waiting room. After searching around, he spotted them and immediately ran over.
It's more convenient to take the train to Haishi from the provincial capital. Even though Secretary Cheng is usually very busy, he still remembered to have his driver bring his son over.
Those who accompanied Cheng Tao only left after seeing Zhao Qinglan.
The children huddled together, chattering away. Erwa and Xiaoduo had already started asking Cheng Tao about some things in Hai City.
Sanwa sat calmly next to Zhao Qinglan, closing his eyes to rest.
Zhao Qinglan was already used to her youngest son's peculiarities.
When the announcement came over the loudspeaker asking passengers on their train to have their tickets checked, Zhao Qinglan quickly told the children to leave.
Although she no longer needs to personally protect the children, she still has to keep a close eye on everyone coming and going at the train station.
Xiao Duo and Sanwa were sandwiched between them, and the group quickly arrived at the ticket gate to have their tickets checked and enter the station.
There's no summer vacation rush to take kids on trips anymore. Going out means spending money, and unless it's for business or visiting relatives, very few people take the train for long journeys.
Unless it's the peak season during Chinese New Year, there aren't that many people at the train station.
The eldest child led the way, with Zhao Qinglan bringing up the rear. After finding their carriage, they all got on.
There were only a few sleeper carriages, and Secretary Cheng was worried about his son, so he specifically asked Zhao Qinglan and bought him a sleeper ticket in the same carriage as her.
After finding their bunks and putting their things away, they could finally sit down and rest.
Zhao Qinglan's family of five had five tickets, and with Cheng Tao added, they were able to book all six berths together, one for the upper, middle, and lower sections.
Actually, Cheng Tao wasn't with Zhao Qinglan and her group, but Cheng Tao had a lower bunk, and Zhao Qinglan and her group only had one upper bunk passenger who hadn't arrived yet. She thought that if they discussed it when the other person arrived, the other person would probably be happy to switch lower bunks with Cheng Tao.
I just don't know at which stop the passenger in the upper berth got on.
The children had already started playing on the two lower bunks, while Zhao Qinglan took out her water cup, intending to get some hot water.
She had just stood up when she was almost bumped into, and someone had to hold her shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," she quickly apologized.
The man chuckled softly.
Just as Zhao Qinglan was about to look up to see who it was, her daughter exclaimed from behind, "Dad!"
Zhao Qinglan took a look and realized, without a doubt, who else could this smiling man be but her own husband?
Wait a minute, Zhao Qinglan looked at the empty upper bunk, then at her husband. Could it be that the upper bunk that hadn't been there all this time was Li Huai?
That's absolutely right. After all, her husband bought all the tickets. If he had kept one, how would she have known?
Thinking about how this man had clearly taken leave and bought tickets, yet remained silent, making her worry that he was in a bad mood, she realized how much she had accommodated him these past few days.
Zhao Qinglan's face immediately darkened. "Li Huai!"
How come she didn't realize this man was such a secretly passionate guy!
While Cheng Tao and Erwa were still in shock, Dawa quickly gave them a meaningful look.
"Hey, aren't you guys in a hurry to go to the bathroom? Come on, let's go together."
"Brother, I don't want to." Before Erwa could finish speaking, his brother covered his mouth.
"Yes, I just needed to use the restroom." Xiao Duo got up and left, with Sanwa following closely behind.
Cheng Tao and Da Wa, who was holding his younger brother, immediately followed.
Their bunk was immediately left with only Zhao Qinglan and Li Huai.
Seeing his wife's unpleasant expression, Li Huai realized that he had gone too far. It was all because his wife had treated him too well these past few days, making him reluctant to tell the truth.
Of course, he would never admit that he was being petty because he was happy to see his wife and children leave him behind.
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