The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 939: Chapter 917: Being a Top Student in the 1980s 45

Xiangling gave birth to four kids, and her health is quite good. The four children are also healthy, and Zhang Heping is filled with energy.

After taking a vacation, Zhang Heping went to the workplace with candies and seeds.

When he arrived, Zhang Heping distributed candies in the office: ”Come, everyone gets a share, everyone gets a share. I’ve become a grandfather. My daughter has given me four grandchildren at once, oh, I’m so happy.”

The colleagues in the office were so envious they wished they could bite Zhang Heping. This guy can’t live a day without showing off.

At the Hou Family, Secretary An and Sister Xu were with Xiangling and the four children, watching the babies lying side by side on the small bed, never getting enough of the sight.

Sister Xu was also delighted: ”Our daughter is blessed, you see. She gave birth to four babies in one go, both sons and daughters.”

Indeed.

Secretary An was also overjoyed, holding one child after another, never having enough cuddles.

She didn’t raise her daughter since childhood, and now it seems she wants to pour all this guilt into taking care of these children, almost wishing to give her whole heart.

Xiangling had a smooth delivery this time, thanks to Xiao Yuan taking good care of her during her pregnancy. The children developed well, all four of them looked quite lovely, clean and fair, with jet-black hair and big, bright eyes that opened in just a few days, appearing lovely indeed.

Hou Jun truly adored them, and the first thing he did after returning home each day was to see Xiangling and then take care of the children.

He fed them, cleaned them, washed their diapers—all personally and without a hint of annoyance.

Anning and Xiao Yuan went to Hou Family daily while Xiangling was in confinement.

They went over after school, and many of the tasty treats Hou Jun bought for Xiangling ended up in the stomachs of those two. Many of the supplements meant for confinement were also devoured by them.

Any meat stews or soups made at home were mostly reserved for them besides Xiangling.

Xiangling still had to breastfeed and look after the kids, and she didn’t gain weight during the confinement, but Anning and Xiao Yuan gained quite a bit.

As the confinement ended, Secretary An looked at the two chubby kids and couldn’t help laughing: ”Who is actually on confinement here? Anyone who didn’t know would think it was you two. Look how chubby and fair you are.”

Anning pinched the soft flesh on her belly: ”Mom, I’m going to start running tomorrow, I need to lose weight.”

Sister Xu quickly said: ”What fat, you are not fat, not at all. I think Ningning looks just fine like this. She used to be too skinny, like a gust of wind could blow her away. Now she looks great, fair and clean, and her face has some flesh.”

She also said to Xiao Yuan: ”You are not fat either, don’t think about losing weight, you’re just right.”

Xiao Yuan laughed and agreed.

For him and Anning, gaining or losing weight wasn’t a big deal. If they wanted to lose weight, it was quite easy.

The time passed swiftly; in a blink, winter turned to spring, and another two years had gone by.

Zhang Heping retired during these two years.

He and Secretary An now, aside from taking care of Anning, also helped Xiangling with the kids.

The four children in Xiangling’s family were truly mischievous. With four adults taking care of them, they were exhausted every day, but it’s only been two years of hard work. Now the kids are running all over the place, their little mouths chattering away with everything they can say, each one growing strong and sturdy, looking delightful. When they open their mouths to call grandpa, grandma, uncle, and auntie, it’s so sweet it’s deadly.

Anning would often visit to play with the four kids, frequently entertaining them, and they all liked Anning.

In these two years, Hou Jun expanded the tailoring shop into a clothing factory, hired people, bought machines, and made clothes. He also studied fashion design, drawing and cutting patterns himself, and the clothes he made were quite popular. The factory’s clothes are now sold beyond the province, and the brand gained some recognition.

Meanwhile, Xiao Family’s food factory also expanded.

Xiao Baohu and Wang Gui Fen resigned to join the factory work.

Xiao Jian Country initially planned to join the military, but with all the family’s affairs, he gave up the idea and focused solely on the factory work.

He had a flexible mind, more adept than the adults in the family at adapting, and more knowledgeable. Besides making cakes and candy, Xiao Jian Country started making vacuum-packed marinated food, later specifically collaborated with Xiao Yuan for advice, and then made machines for spicy strips.

Don’t underestimate these spicy strips; people of all ages enjoy them. They’re cheap, the profit margin is small, but due to high volume, the factory makes a decent amount of money.

Moreover, spicy strips keep well, making them easier than baking cakes or other foods.

Now, Xiao Family’s spicy strips are sold far and wide, even in the Capital.

Apart from these, in the past two years, Xiao Yuan published several books, earning substantial manuscript fees.

He bought a house in the Provincial City, as well as property in the Capital.

Anning didn’t focus on making money anymore.

She now enjoys life, truly living carefree days of youth.

Besides, in the Capital, He Erniu and Anning’s correspondence grew increasingly frequent. Over the past two years, He Erniu continuously studied not only high school knowledge but also several foreign languages. Apart from working as a nanny, she started taking translation gigs, earning quite a bit.

She saved all this money, planning to use it for university education.

This year, both He Erniu and Xiao Yuan were set to take the college entrance exams, and Anning was preparing to enter sophomore year. In another two years, she would also take the exams, prompting Secretary An and Xiangling to lament how kids grow up fast, soon to venture afar.

Anning mentioned to Secretary An whether she should apply to a provincial university for college, staying in the Provincial City for studies. It resulted in a scolding from Secretary An.

Regardless of the provincial city’s universities, Anning’s academic performance allowed her to join the best universities in the Capital. Secretary An wouldn’t want to hold back Anning’s future because of her.

Time flew quickly, and soon it was exam season.

Anning wrote to He Erniu, encouraging her to perform well in the exams.

In the past two years, He Erniu attended school exams regularly; her grades were stable, consistently among the top few in the class. If all went well, she’d likely get into Jing University.

Despite writing, Erniu was too busy preparing to reply to Anning, but Anning didn’t mind.

When Xiao Yuan took his college entrance exams, Xiao Heizi and Sister Xu came to the Provincial City to accompany him.

After two days of exams, Xiao Yuan completely relaxed.

He didn’t return to Y County, instead waiting for Anning to finish her finals so they could go back together.

Anning had already arranged this in advance with Zhang Heping and Secretary An.

They also wanted to visit Y County, planning to go together.

After the finals, it was summer vacation, and the family packed their things and rode back to Y County with Xiao Yuan.

Upon arrival, the Xiao Family had already prepared the house.

Now, even Y County has commercial housing, and with the food business earning a lot over the past two years, Xiao Heizi bought several apartments in the county—for Xiao Yuan, Xiao Baohu, the three grandchildren, and even reserved one for Xiangling.

When Zhang Heping and the others visited, they stayed in Xiangling’s apartment.

During procurement, Xiao Heizi chose houses close to each other. Xiangling’s apartment is opposite to Xiao Heizi’s, making visits very convenient.

Before Anning and the others returned, Sister Xu had already cleaned and organized the apartment fully, preparing daily essentials thoroughly.

Anning and the others moved in directly upon arrival.

On the first night in the apartment, Xiao Heizi came over suggesting they have dinner together.

Now, the county has several large restaurants, and Xiao Heizi thought cooking at home was too troublesome, so they opted for dining out.

Thus, the two families, over ten people in total, went to the restaurant.