Tian Qiaozhu led her grandson home, but the little grandson was a bit unhappy, even though his grandmother had said she would take him to buy candied hawthorns before they left.
"Milk?"
"Let's go home first, Grandma will take you shopping next time."
In the past few days, the two daughters-in-law have gradually gotten wind of the situation. The matter with the Bai family has not had much impact on the Lu family, and naturally it has even less impact on the Song family. Moreover, their own husbands have also expressed some dissatisfaction, so they have taken leave to bring the children back as soon as possible.
The elderly couple both have salaries, and they don't usually give their daughters much money to help with household expenses. If they didn't bring their children back to eat more, all that money might have been saved up to subsidize their daughters-in-law.
Nobody wanted to be taken advantage of, so they brought their whole family back to stay for two days with a pound of cheap biscuits they bought at the supply and marketing cooperative.
Tian Qiaozhu wasn't stupid, so of course she could see it, but she didn't want to argue with them. After all, it was all for her grandson.
At this time, neither of his two daughters-in-law were at home; it was just Song Hai and a few children.
Seeing that Tian Qiaozhu was acting strangely, Song Hai took out a handful of coins from his pocket and sent the children out to play.
"What's wrong?"
"Old Chen and the others are back."
The couple had discussed this matter just a few days ago, so this meeting still caught her off guard.
Tian Qiaozhu sighed and sat on the sofa. "Old Chen has aged a lot all of a sudden, and Xiao Qi has changed too. I just haven't seen Xiao Shu and Yue Yu. I wonder when they came back."
"I didn't even recognize him just now. Old Chen has lost a lot of weight. He's more than half a head shorter than Xiao Qi when he stands next to him."
That's not all. In Tian Qiaozhu's memory, Chen Fangyang was a humorous and talkative person who also loved sports. His children also enjoyed interacting with him.
When the incident happened, Tian Qiaozhu couldn't bear to go out and see them. She never imagined that things would change so much six years later.
"They have all suffered."
The couple sat on the sofa for a long time without speaking before Song Hai finally spoke.
“I’ve inquired about it. What happened back then was a mistake. They’ll be back soon, and the house will be back too.”
One wrong sentence corresponds to their six years, but the current ending is already considered good, as many people still haven't heard the truth.
The two families have been friends for almost 20 years. Their children have even dated people who were colleagues, neighbors, and friends. Although they have said more than once that under the circumstances at the time, it is human instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm.
Even if they could do it all over again, they would still do the same thing; they would never let their daughter get into that situation.
But when she saw them again in person, Tian Qiaozhu was immediately overwhelmed with guilt.
"If it weren't for what happened back then, Xiaoqi and..."
"Alright!" Song Hai immediately interrupted her, "It's all in the past, why are you bringing this up again?"
When his daughter first got together with that Chen family boy, Song Hai wasn't happy. It wasn't that he disapproved of him, but he just didn't want his daughter to start dating so soon.
However, since the two had been childhood sweethearts, Tian Qiaozhu was happy to bring them together. The two families knew each other well, and it would be even better if they could become in-laws.
After the Chen family ran into trouble, while his wife was still emotionally distraught, he began looking for other people.
Tian Qiaozhu initially accused him of being cold-hearted, saying that he was so eager to distance himself from the Chen family after their recent troubles. Her daughter was also initially unwilling to do so, and the father and daughter had never had such a strong argument before.
He chose the Lu family because they were the best option at the time.
But deep down, Song Hai disliked the Lu family and always harbored prejudice against them, just as the Lu family also harbored prejudice against him.
The two families had a decent relationship before, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to reach the point of discussing their children becoming in-laws.
Later on, the daughter and granddaughter lived in the assigned dormitory, occasionally returning home. They could count their interactions with the Lu family on one hand throughout the year.
They rarely spend time under the same roof, except for visiting each other briefly during the Lunar New Year as a matter of etiquette.
He was even prepared for his daughter to get divorced, since his daughter had a job, and he and his wife also had jobs, and they were both still young.
From now on, An'an and the others will take care of her. If our daughter wants to get married again, she can; if not, that's another story.
Even so, he had to admit that Lu Yang was alright.
Most importantly, since their last return, he has noticed a difference between him and his daughter. He's lived for almost fifty years; he's not so clueless as to not understand this.
Chen Yuqi is a good young man, but fate is cruel, and the two were not meant to be.
"I was just sighing. What else could I be thinking about at a time like this? I just wonder what will happen to their jobs after this is all over and the house is returned?"
Tian Qiaozhu was somewhat worried. If she could find a job in Xin'an, that would be great. If she couldn't find a job in the city, there would be no job supply. How could she stay?
The two children from the Chen family grew up in front of her, and even though the two families are not the same as before, she still instinctively wants to think about their future.
"I'll go and inquire, but even if jobs are arranged, they'll be for Old Chen and his wife."
Their original jobs had already been taken over, and any subsequent reassignments would only be to positions of similar rank.
Chen Yuqi left after graduating from high school and without a job.
"There are too few job openings now." Song Hai sighed. It was not easy six years ago, and it is even more difficult now.
As soon as a job becomes available, it is immediately snapped up. Some families, where the parents are only in their early forties, still choose to have their children fill in for them so that their children don't have to go to the countryside.
"I'll keep an eye on it."
Tian Qiaozhu knew that jobs were hard to find, so she sighed, got up, and went to the cupboard to rummage through it.
"I don't know where they live now. I'll bring them some food. They just got back, so they probably don't have any tickets. Maybe I should bring them some money and tickets instead."
————
In the cramped room of the guesthouse, the three members of the Chen family sat there, and Lin Yueyu told them everything.
"It's all my fault. The Lin family's bloodline has dragged you down with it."
She felt guilty, because ultimately it was the Lin family's identity that had plunged their family into an abyss.
Chen Fangyang held his wife's hand and shook his head; his wife had already told him.
"It's not your fault."
Lin Yueyu was heartbroken. Many of the accusations against her husband were fabricated based on this, causing him so much suffering.
"Mom, this has nothing to do with you."
The three family members embraced and wept. After a long while, Lin Yueyu wiped away her tears.
"This matter is over now, and we should live our lives well from now on."
She hoped the impact of the Lin family would end there.
"Lin Yingyu's matter is of great importance and cannot be resolved in a short time. We only need to know that she will definitely be severely punished, and we need to look forward to the future."
The house will be returned in a while, so we should hurry up and pack; staying in a guesthouse will cost money.
"I'll go pick up my sister once the house is ready."
When their daughter was mentioned, the Chen couple's eyes filled with heartache.
She was only 10 years old when the accident happened. She was so young, yet she went through so much.
Chen Yuqi originally planned to bring her younger sister back directly, but Chen Yushu happened to be sick at that time.
Furthermore, since the situation was not entirely clear, he didn't want his sister to go along.
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