Annie heard her father and grandfather talking and hurriedly ran outside.
"Grandpa, Dad, can we have a picnic by the waterfall tomorrow?"
"Does our Annie want to go on a picnic?" Beth crouched down, smiling as she looked at her granddaughter's excited and eager expression.
"Yes, I really want to go. Mom said it's just the family, and we'll cook for ourselves. Can Grandpa come too?"
"Of course, no problem. We'll definitely go tomorrow. Grandpa still has time to go hiking with Annie, and we can also go hunting."
"Great, Dad, do you agree?"
"Dad also agrees that this is a great idea."
Annie led the two into the living room. "Grandma, Mom, Grandpa, and Dad all agreed."
Zhang Hongmei stood up with a smile, "Okay, then you can come with Mom to the kitchen to prepare."
The two spent the entire afternoon preparing in the kitchen.
Zhang Hongmei cooked dinner, which was praised by all four of them.
After dinner, the family of five took a walk near their house. They didn't go too far, as they were in the wild and worried that some animals might suddenly appear.
Beth and Huang Meihua walked behind, looking at the three people in front of them. Huang Meihua sighed, "Look how happy they are. I wish they were really a family."
"Don't you have an old saying, 'Don't force things'? Actually, it's fine this way."
"Yes, but we still need a child. Although I like Anne, I'm not willing to let her inherit the McCann family business."
There's no hope for Hongmei. Find an opportunity to talk to Carlos; the McKen family needs an heir.
"It's still early, no need to rush. Carlos is only thirty-one years old, don't pressure him now."
"Ugh! I wish Annie were a boy, then I would never interfere in Carlos's private life."
"Meihua, you're overthinking it. Just let things take their course."
“Beth, how could I not think about it? I’m afraid Carlos will get more and more involved, and if Hongmei leaves, it will be a blow to him.”
"Hehe, don't worry about things that haven't happened yet. Carlos is an adult, he knows what he's doing."
Huang Meihua sighed again, but didn't continue. Only she knew the hardships of not having a son in such a large family.
I was really depressed at that time, and I was only able to relax after Carlos was born.
If her son doesn't understand her, how can Beth not understand him either?
“Meihua, don’t overthink it. I really think time allows. Think about it, in aristocratic families, only by abdicating can the next head of the family take over. Although Carlos is young among his peers, other families are greedy for power and reluctant to hand it over to the next generation.”
"If Carlos has another son in a few years, and the next head of the family is appointed, this problem won't arise. By then, Carlos will be older, and the handover between father and son will be smoother."
"Yes, I understand." Although she understood, she still couldn't get over this hurdle in her heart.
It was completely dark when the family finally went home.
They went to wash up and then rested.
Zhang Hongmei read Zhang Shouyi's letter and found it quite amusing. However, she didn't continue with his topic. Instead, she wrote down what had happened that day for him. She also told Zhang Shouyi about her plans to go to Country Y and her plans to cooperate with the McKinsey family to produce corn combine harvesters.
Because I slept for a long time this afternoon, I plan to talk to Zhang Shouyi more today. I don't mind not interfering with his work.
This guy is a workaholic; chatting with him is a chance for him to relax.
After reading his wife's letter, Zhang Shouyi suddenly felt a pang of sadness. He hadn't even had time to take her out for fun.
My wife must be very lonely. She's started to feel dissatisfied with her job again.
The two chatted for a while longer before Zhang Hongmei went to bed.
The next morning, after breakfast, the five of them set off, carrying bags prepared by the servants. Beth and Carlos both carried hunting rifles, just in case. This was Zhang Hongmei's first time standing directly in front of a waterfall; it was breathtaking, a masterpiece of nature.
"Mom, this is so beautiful."
"Yes, it's so beautiful. Come on, let's take a picture."
Huang Meihua remembered the camera just before leaving.
"Meihua, you two take your time making arrangements here. My son and I will go check if there are any rabbits or anything like that."
"You'd better be careful, we don't know if there are any large animals here."
Don't worry.
The two men set off with their guns on their backs, while the three women began preparations. "Godmother, we need to build a stove. We can boil water to drink later."
The three of them busied themselves, getting everything ready, and even boiling water.
Carlos returned carrying a wild rabbit. Beth beamed, "Meihua, look! I really caught a rabbit. I'll go prepare it now and give it to Hongmei in a bit."
The three of them took out all the prepared meat skewers, picked out some charcoal from the fire, and placed it on the stove they had just built with stones, and slowly grilled it.
The father and son cut the skinned rabbit into small pieces and put them into the pot.
Zhang Hongmei poured in some red wine, added a piece of apple, and some salt. She then let it simmer slowly, leaving Carlos to watch the fire.
The meat skewers cooked quite quickly. The five of them grilled and ate together. It wasn't until 1 p.m. that they finally got to eat rabbit meat.
"Hongmei, this cooking method is really good; there's no gamey smell from the rabbit at all. It's very delicious."
Beth nodded in agreement, as did Anne and her father.
It wasn't until 3 p.m. that they packed up and headed back. The cleanup work alone took almost an hour.
They are all civilized people, so of course they will clean up the mess they made.
Leftover bones and other food items were buried in the ground, which made the place look much neater.
Annie was very excited. During the meal, she was responsible for feeding the family members fruit and even helped with cleaning afterwards.
“Godmother, I don’t think Annie will be able to eat dinner tonight. She’ll have to go to sleep as soon as she gets home. She’s just forcing herself to stay awake.”
"Hehe, yes, this child's life is very regular. He can't skip a midday rest."
Carlos leaned closer. "Mom, Hongmei, I'm leaving in a little while. Please wait for me to come and get you."
"No need for you, just have the housekeeper come. Hongmei, how long do you plan to stay?"
"We'll go back on Wednesday, rest on Thursday, and then I'll go pick up the notification on Friday."
"Sure, as long as you have time."
"Hehe, it's rare to get out and have fun, so we should definitely stay for a couple more days."
Back home, after helping Annie wash up, the girl was listless. But she still saw Carlos off before going to bed.
"Godmother, it's impossible not to love a child like Annie. She's so sensible and thoughtful."
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