Rebirth: General, Don't Mess Around!

Madam Li did not act impulsively and even advised her daughter to calm down before saying to Old Master Li, ”Tianhao, when I entered this family, I never thought about leaving.”

”You don’t have the capability to drive me away either. I’ve managed everything in this household for a lifetime, taking care of everything inside and out. Even though you have become successful now and are turning around to drive me away, if you really do this, I won’t let you off easily.”

Old Master Li smiled lightly, gesturing for his wife to pour him a glass of water, indicating he needed to have a good talk with his stepmother.

Meanwhile, Ye Jian received a message from Li Jinnian, confirming that her never-before-seen father-in-law would not be coming to Dan Gui Garden for the Spring Festival.

When Old Man Xia found out, he wasn’t disappointed; he had always known that his son-in-law was cold-hearted. He had disagreed with his daughter marrying him from the start, seeing through that his son-in-law was not a good man.

Such a cold man, yet his daughter had insisted on marrying him back then, only to end up covered in wounds before she slowly realized she had entrusted her life to the wrong person.

What she thought was love was merely her own wishful thinking.

Well, if he doesn’t come, then let it be.

”He won’t come, then he won’t. We’ll just wait for your brother to come home, and then the family will be all together,” said Old Man Xia, not letting this affect his mood. His son-in-law was no longer considered part of the family, only there for the sake of his grandson Jinnian.

He remembered the times when Old Master Li was still around; the son-in-law naturally had to return to the Li family’s old residence for the Spring Festival. With the pillar of the family, Old Master Li, gone, only Madam Li was left. She had never gotten along with her stepchildren, and now with the old master gone, the lack of a balancing force meant that some disturbances at the dinner table on New Year’s Eve wouldn’t be surprising.

Having his son-in-law over for the New Year’s dinner was something Old Man Xia considered carefully, not wanting Li Jinnian to worry over any fuss caused by the Li family.

Since the son-in-law was unappreciative, he let it be.

After freshening up, Chief Engineer Fu came down, and Ye Jian chirped around him like a songbird, chattering non-stop. Chief Engineer Fu, extremely patient, always responded with a smile to whatever Ye Jian asked.

”There are only those few days of the New Year, traffic jams from the base to the airport, and jams from the airport in the capital city back home, all rushing home for the New Year.”

Old Man Xia smiled, ”The Spring Festival, our country’s biggest holiday, those who work away from home all rush back and naturally the roads are congested.”

”Nowadays, our country’s transportation has developed; highways, railways, airplanes—we have it all, far stronger than our time. I remember one year rushing back to the capital city for the New Year, starting with a bike ride to a village and staying overnight at a villager’s home, then early next morning taking the villager’s donkey cart to the town, from there a tractor ride to the city, and then a car to the provincial capital city’s train station—and only then finally catching the train home.”

”Just traveling took a whole week. Later, your grandma and I never went back to the capital city for the New Year again. Your dad and your aunt stayed at a villager’s home till they were ten before grandpa sent them back to the city to live in a boarding school.”

Those times were tough but had a sense of hope; no matter how hard or unbearable it was, we clenched our teeth and survived.

In his childhood, Chief Engineer Fu recalled, ”During New Year’s when other children were looking forward to it, your aunt and I weren’t at all. Other families had festive and joyful New Years, our house was so cold that ice formed on the walls.”

Remembering hardships only made the sweetness clearer; Chief Engineer Fu did not hide the hard times of the past, just wanted Ye Jian to understand that, compared to then, every day now was a good day.