After agreeing to contact each other by phone or letter if anything came up, Zhao Qinglan returned home.
As Grandpa Dou grew older, Zhao Qinglan felt it wasn't right for him to stay alone in the courtyard any longer, so she wanted to persuade him to come home with her and live with them in his old age.
But the old man refused to leave no matter what.
"I've lived here for so many years, I'm used to it. Don't worry about me, I have so many neighbors."
Zhao Qinglan had no choice but to ask her uncle and sister to check on the old man's condition once everything was alright.
She had another meal with her aunt and cousin before taking the train home with her mother and sister.
As for Zhao Qingju, after her postpartum period, she hired a housekeeper to help take care of the household.
Because Madam Sun brought a large quantity of diapers, and said that Zhao Qingju wouldn't have to worry about the baby's diapers anymore, and that there would be less work to do at home by washing cloth diapers.
With an aunt helping to take care of the house, Wei Yaohui could look after the house after get off work, and Zhao Qingju's parents-in-law would come over from time to time, so Sun could leave with peace of mind.
Madam Sun returned to the port city with her son and extended another invitation to Zhao Qinglan and the others.
However, Zhao Qinglan currently has no plans to go to Hong Kong, so she could only politely decline.
She returned home in May, and with her second child's high school entrance exam not far off, she put her work aside a little and became a devoted and caring mother.
With more people in the company, she only needs to be involved and worry about important matters; most of the time, she can be a hands-off manager.
After returning home, she told her husband about visiting her father-in-law, Li Zhenhua, when she went to bed that night.
Li Huai was surprised for a moment, then felt guilty towards her. "Qinglan, it's all my fault, I let you have your way."
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore." She covered her husband's mouth, interrupting him.
The next second she saw her husband kiss her palm. "Thank you, Qinglan."
Zhao Qinglan did not mention Li Zhenhua's words of remorse or apology again.
Telling her wouldn't undo the hurt her husband had suffered, and he probably wouldn't feel good about it anyway, so it's better to keep quiet.
However, she did keep her promise to Li Zhenhua to send him the photos.
Moreover, she sent more than just one or two photos. She reprinted many of the photos she could find of the three brothers from childhood to adulthood, and then sent them all together.
Once Li Zhenhua received the photos of his grandsons, these items became his most treasured possessions, and he would take them out to look at them several times a day.
Sometimes, he would proudly show off to the staff who cared for him or the neighbors living in the retirement home that this was his grandson.
My second child is about to take the high school entrance exam, but I don't know if he's just carefree or what, he's not nervous at all. He's most concerned about eating and drinking.
He used to envy his older siblings' treatment, but now that he's getting to enjoy it himself because of his high school entrance exam, he's absolutely thrilled.
Sometimes he would even order food and tell Zhao Qinglan, his mother, what he wanted to eat. Now, the student taking the exam is the most important person in their family, so Zhao Qinglan would fulfill the second child's requests.
Now Erwa is even more beautiful than before, wishing she could be a test taker every year.
Even the third brother couldn't help but roll his eyes at his older brother. Was he cursing himself to fail the exam every year?
Because of their second child, their family often experiences some hilarious and absurd situations, but these also add a lot of fun to their home.
Before Erwa took the high school entrance exam, something else happened at home.
Li Huai's family can only stay in their house in the residential area a few times a year now.
Although given Li Huai's current rank, no one would dare to make him return the house just because he doesn't stay there often, there are always people who think it's a waste for them not to stay and gossip about it.
Zhao Qinglan is well-liked in the family housing complex, and now there are a lot of military dependents working at her company. This news eventually reached her ears.
Zhao Qinglan wasn't afraid of those gossipy people. After being reminded like this, she just felt that it was indeed a waste of resources for her house to always be empty.
Anyway, their family wasn't short of another house, and since it was a government property and couldn't be bought or sold casually, they decided to discuss it with her husband and have him go to the military region's responsible leader to actually return the house.
As a result, the military region leaders dared not back down, and some people were gossiping about it. Naturally, the leader in charge of this matter knew about it.
They assumed the couple was angry, and the military region wouldn't easily take back the house, fearing that Zhao Qinglan might stop providing extra job opportunities for military dependents in the future because of the house issue, which would be a case of losing more than you gain.
It wasn't until Li Huai repeatedly assured them that the couple hadn't thought much of it and genuinely felt it was a waste to leave the house empty, which was why they wanted to return it.
The military region leaders then nervously took the house back.
After Li Huai returned and told his wife about it, Zhao Qinglan found it hilarious, but after laughing, she also felt a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex feeling of mixed emotions, including regret and reflection).
This is the benefit of self-reliance; because of Lanxin Company, she has become someone that others dare not underestimate.
In mid-June, the supermarket in Beijing officially opened. Knowing that her son would be taking the high school entrance exam in a few days, Zhao Qinglan did not go to Beijing, but sent Zhang Wenjing instead.
Zhang Wenjing is now increasingly valued by her, and can be considered the company's vice president.
Wu Mei is a veteran in the company, but now she is being managed by her daughter-in-law. She doesn't feel uncomfortable at all. On the contrary, she thinks her daughter-in-law is amazing. Anyone who tries to sow discord and can't stand Zhang Wenjing's success is shut down by her.
Zhang Wenjing is more respectful and filial to her mother-in-law because her mother-in-law is reasonable.
After Zhang Wenjing returned and heard that the supermarket in Beijing had opened smoothly, Zhao Qinglan was completely relieved.
When the supermarket opened, her uncle Sun Guangming, her aunt, her sister, Wei Hong, the Zhang family and others sent flower baskets or other gifts to show their support.
With her uncle and the Zhang family's connections in the capital, Zhao Qinglan no longer needed to worry about certain issues.
She wasn't trying to abuse her power for personal gain; she just wanted to deter others from easily bullying or playing tricks on her.
She conducts business honestly and earns money cleanly.
After several months of equipment renovation and technological upgrades, the state-owned food factory invested in by Yaohua also began producing new products.
However, how well it sells in the future remains to be seen.
However, Zhao Qinglan is still quite confident about the factory's future. After all, the new products have a great advantage in terms of both packaging and taste, so all that's needed is for the market to test them.
Amidst the eager anticipation of the whole family, the second child finally took the high school entrance exam.
Erwa refused his parents' offer to take him to the exam venue, wanting to go by bicycle himself. In the end, Zhao Qinglan felt it wouldn't be right not to take Erwa after taking Dawa and Xiaoduo, so she insisted.
There was no other way, so Erwa had to ride in his mother's car to the exam venue.
Although Zhao Qinglan wasn't driving, she was still sitting in the car.
As always, they showed concern and gave instructions. Because the Mercedes was too conspicuous, the mother and son got out of the car when they were still some distance from the exam venue.
As they approached the exam hall entrance, Erwa waved to his mother.
"Mom, go back now, I'll be out as soon as I finish the exam." He smiled brightly.
"Okay." Zhao Qinglan smiled as well.
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