Xia Liang drove her car and slowly brought it to a stop outside the Beijing Railway Station. Two adorable children sat beside her, quietly waiting for the important guests arriving—her parents-in-law. Her father-in-law's transfer order had been issued, and he would arrive at the station this morning. Xia Liang had specially brought the children to greet him, hoping to see her family as soon as possible.
As Gu Weiguo and Han Yulan stepped out of the station, they immediately spotted their daughter-in-law, Xia Liang, waiting outside with their two granddaughters. Han Yulan eagerly handed her luggage to her husband, then opened her arms to greet her granddaughters: "My darlings, Grandma's here!" Gu Yunxi and Gu Yuanzhi's faces lit up with joy, and they ran towards their grandmother like two happy little birds.
The family returned home happily. Xia Liang quickly instructed Liu Ma to bring out the food she had prepared. Considering the recent hot weather and the exhaustion from the journey, she thought that eating something cool would be more comfortable, so she prepared cold noodles today. In addition, Wu Ma also came along, but because of motion sickness, she hardly spoke the whole way.
After dinner, the elderly couple sat on the sofa to rest. Gu Yuanzhi sat close to her grandmother and hugged her arm, saying, "Grandma, are you both going to stay at home and not go back to your hometown?" Han Yulan looked at her little granddaughter with affection: "Yes, Grandpa and Grandma are going back to work in Beijing, so we can take you to and from school from now on. Aren't you happy, sweetie?" The little girl nodded vigorously: "Happy, very happy."
Just as her mother-in-law, Han Yulan, had predicted, Xia Liang barely needed to worry about the two children. Her in-laws would drop them off at school on their way to work each day, and with Wu Ma as their capable assistant, Liu Ma quickly fattened up little Gu Yuanzhi to a plump and healthy appearance within two months.
The sun shone brightly that day, and a gentle breeze blew. Xia Liang was busy working when her phone suddenly rang. She picked it up and saw it was Gu Yanxiao calling. After answering, Gu Yanxiao asked gently, "Honey, have you been busy lately?" Xia Liang stopped what she was doing, thought about her recent schedule, and then replied, "It's alright, not too busy. What's up? Is there something you need?"
Gu Yanxiao chuckled, a hint of anticipation in his voice: "Look, we haven't visited relatives yet this year. See if you could find some time to bring the kids over!" Xia Liang felt a little embarrassed. Realizing she hadn't visited this year, she readily agreed: "Sure, I'll bring the kids over after their exams."
Time flies, and before they knew it, the two children had finished their final exams. The weather had turned quite cold, and the wind was chilling. Xia Liang had already handed over the factory affairs to Ji Xiao and her brother Xia Rong, and then began packing her luggage. She carefully prepared various daily necessities and snacks that the children liked, and didn't forget to bring some local specialties for Gu Yanxiao.
With everything prepared, Xia Liang, along with her two adorable daughters, Chen Yanling, and Duan Wenchun, embarked on their journey. They set off in high spirits, leaving Tian Longhui and Zhou Xiong at home to help collect the day's earnings. After all, there were many things to do at the factory, and Xia Liang and the others simply didn't have the extra energy to attend to the shop's business.
Although the distance from Beijing to Heilongjiang Province isn't too far, it still takes more than ten hours by train to reach the destination. As the train slowly pulled into the station, Lin Xia glanced through the window and immediately spotted Gu Yanxiao waiting on the platform. At that moment, Gu Yanxiao had clearly noticed them as well, striding towards the train.
The two children also spotted their father. Having not seen him for so long, they naturally missed him terribly and excitedly called out, "Daddy, Daddy..." Hearing these clear calls, Gu Yanxiao's face lit up with joy, and he quickly hurried over. He first stretched out his arms, picking up one child in each arm, then gently bouncing them, and said with a smile, "Erbao seems to have gained weight!" The little one nodded proudly, saying in a childish voice, "Grandma Liu and Grandma Wu's cooking is especially delicious; I eat two big bowls every meal!" As he spoke, he even held up two chubby little fingers to show them.
Looking at his adorable second child, Gu Yanxiao couldn't help but kiss her forehead. He then turned his gaze to his eldest daughter and asked gently, "Dabao, you've grown quite a bit taller this year, haven't you?" Gu Yunxi raised her chin and replied proudly, "Yes, I'm the tallest girl in my class! I'm already 1.6 meters tall!"
After settling Chen Yanling and Duan Wenchun in, the family walked happily toward Gu Yanxiao's parked car. He had specially borrowed a car today to pick up his wife and children. Upon arriving at the family compound, Gu Yanxiao carried the luggage into the room. This apartment was about the same size as the one Xia Liang used to live in in the provincial capital, both being two bedrooms, a living room, and equipped with a kitchen and bathroom.
However, they didn't plan to cook themselves, but instead chose to go directly to the cafeteria for food. At that moment, they saw his wife and daughter had already finished showering and were comfortably lying in bed telling stories. Although Gu Yanxiao really wanted to join them, he was worried they would go hungry, so he picked up his lunchbox and prepared to go to the cafeteria for food.
Just as he stepped out of his house, the door across the hall suddenly opened. Seeing Gu Yanxiao, the person smiled and asked, "Commander Gu, I heard your wife is here. Why didn't I see her come out?" Gu Yanxiao politely smiled and replied, "Sister-in-law Wang, I'm so sorry. My wife has been traveling a long way and just arrived. She's resting inside!" It turned out that the person who spoke was the wife of the commander of another regiment, named Wang Cuijuan.
When Wang Cuijuan saw that Gu Yanxiao was still holding a lunchbox, she exclaimed, "Oh my! What's going on? You, a grown man, actually have to get the food yourself! She's just relaxing comfortably inside." A look of disdain appeared on her face, as if she was full of dissatisfaction and contempt for Xia Liang. Whether she looked down on Xia Liang for not being virtuous enough, or resented Gu Yanxiao for not being able to control his own wife and having to get her meals, remained unknown.
Gu Yanxiao didn't want to pay attention to Wang Cuijuan's sarcastic remarks, but he absolutely couldn't tolerate others slandering his wife like that. So, he couldn't help but defend himself, saying, "Don't say that! She just sat on a train for over ten hours, she's exhausted. What's wrong with me getting her some food? Besides, I only get to go home a few days a year. She's always taking care of the children so diligently. I'm just helping her out, is that wrong?" After saying this, Gu Yanxiao ignored Wang Cuijuan and turned to leave, leaving her standing there alone, her expression very complicated. Perhaps she hadn't expected Gu Yanxiao to defend his wife so fiercely…
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