"Wash your hands, it's time to eat. Would you like Great-Aunt to hold you, darling?" The woman walked over to Zhengzheng.
"Great-Aunt."
"Yes, dear."
The woman was delighted.
Her own grandson rarely came back after starting school. She had always loved children, but her daughter-in-law also wanted to look after him. Fortunately, tomorrow was a holiday, so her son and grandson would both be coming home.
"When you got married, I couldn't travel to Rong City because of my leg problems. I didn't get to see you wed. Why don't you stay in South City for a while this time?"
Sun Lufei's face seemed to bear the marks of a lifetime, with wrinkles giving him a weathered appearance.
"Uncle, at my mother's funeral, you and my father...?" Xu Xiuhe brought up events from over a decade ago, causing Sun Lufei to fall into deep thought.
"Ah, I thought you were too young to remember, but I didn't expect you to ask about it. When Wenting married Xu Guimin, my parents - your grandparents - didn't approve. What parents want their daughter to marry far away? Your grandmother was worried Wenting wouldn't have a good life there, so she sent a lot of dowry, hoping it would give your mother some status in the Xu family. Later, when your mother contacted us, she only shared good news, never the bad. She basically never brought you back to visit. Then, the next news I received was that your mother was gravely ill."
"I wanted to bring you to South City, but your father refused. He had promised to take good care of your mother. Your grandparents felt guilty until their dying day, regretting their anger towards your mother, knowing she had suffered so much. They... they didn't look kindly upon you."
"Are you saying my mother insisted on marrying Xu Guimin?" Xu Xiuhe asked.
"Yes. Before your mother passed, she left me some assets to manage for her, to be given to you when you came of age."
Xu Xiuhe fell silent for a moment.
"How is Xu Guimin doing?" Sun Lufei inquired.
"I don't know. I haven't been back since I was 18," Xu Xiuhe replied.
"What? Did your stepmother mistreat you?"
Xu Xiuhe didn't respond.
Did Yang Cui mistreat him? Yes and no.
Not long after his mother's death, his father had married Yang Cui, bringing along a son three or four years younger than him. It was clear that Xu Guimin had been unfaithful for a long time.
He was old enough to understand everything then. He often caused trouble for Yang Cui, so Xu Guimin frequently scolded him, saying he was inconsiderate and didn't respect his elders.
Yang Cui was his elder, and he was supposed to treat her with respect.
To hell with respect, he thought. He was rebellious then and often got beaten. Aunt Song protected and cared for him. When he was in ninth grade, Yang Cui complained that he didn't respect her. Aunt Song said something in his defense, and Yang Cui tattled to Xu Guimin, claiming Aunt Song had talked back to her.
At first, Xu Guimin didn't fire Aunt Song, but after Yang Cui's constant nagging, Aunt Song was eventually dismissed.
Xu Xiuhe had cried when Aunt Song left.
"It's all in the past now," Xu Xiuhe said.
"Why didn't you come to me? If I had known you were living like this all these years, I would have gone and beaten that scoundrel," Sun Lufei said.
Sun Lufei knew about Xu Guimin's remarriage but hadn't thought much of it at first. After all, it wasn't unusual for a widower in his thirties to remarry.
Now, hearing that his nephew had run away at 18, he couldn't help but suspect there was more to the story.
"That man was having an affair, wasn't he?"
Xu Xiuhe's silence confirmed it.
"I'm sorry. I've failed you as an uncle. I should have paid more attention to you all these years," Sun Lufei said, filled with regret. He blamed himself for being too busy with work to look after his nephew. Now it felt too late.
"It's in the past," Xu Xiuhe said.
He didn't feel that Sun Lufei had failed him at all. This was his own business, and no matter how much Sun Lufei might have intervened, it couldn't change the fact that Xu Guimin had betrayed his mother.
"So now, does Xu Guimin have any children other than you?" Sun Lufei asked.
He only knew that his nephew was capable, having started his own business and gradually built Heyuan Group into a well-known enterprise. He didn't know much about the Xu family's affairs.
"There's one. Xu Zhengyang, three years younger than me. He works at Xu Group."
Hearing this, Sun Lufei understood everything. He had never approved of that man. Outsiders said Sun Wenting had married well, that it was a powerful alliance between her family and the Xu family of Rong City.
Only their family didn't see it that way. How was it powerful? The Xu family wasn't any better than theirs.
"When I see Xu Guimin, I'm going to break that man's legs. Not only did he fail to take care of Wenting, but he even dared to have an affair while married to her."
"Oh, stop it. You talk about breaking someone's legs when you should worry about fixing your own first," his wife interjected from the side.
Sun Lufei shook his head and glanced at his wife. Why did she always have to bring up his sore spots?
"How did you get here? By plane?" Sun Lufei asked.
Rong City was in the east, slightly towards the center, while South City was, as its name suggested, in the south.
The two cities were quite far apart. By plane, it would take less than two hours; by high-speed rail, over three hours; and by car, nearly 12 hours.
That's why Sun Lufei asked this question.
"No, we're not busy lately, and Zhengzheng is over two years old now. We decided to take him on a trip. We came in an RV."
"That must have taken a long time, then?"
"It wasn't too bad. We didn't drive non-stop."
"Since you're out traveling, why not stay in South City for a while? There's plenty to see and do here," Xu Xiuhe's aunt suggested.
Shen Yin glanced at Xu Xiuhe.
"Uncle, Aunt, we'll stay until after the Mid-Autumn Festival, then we're planning to spend a few days in Yun City," Xu Xiuhe said.
"That's good. Yun City is beautiful, with great scenery and fresh air. It's perfect for a short stay," Sun Lufei agreed.
"That may be true, but you need to be careful. It's near the border, so the security might not be as good as here."
"We will."
After dinner, Sun Lufei had the housekeeper prepare a bedroom for the family of three.
Zhengzheng was still a bit resistant to water, but thankfully, the room was well-lit. Xu Xiuhe joined them in the bedroom, and together with Shen Yin, they managed to bathe Zhengzheng without him crying.
In a hotel in Tibetan City, Shu Yi was drinking the local specialty liquor while Chang Zhiyuan emerged from the bedroom.
The man wore a white bathrobe, his black hair still dripping with water. As he came out, he seemed to radiate heat from his body.
"I'm done. You can go wash now. I used the towel, what will you do?" Chang Zhiyuan asked.
Only now did he realize that there was only one dry towel in the bathroom. This room was originally meant for a single person, so the conditions here were certainly not as good as the hotels in Rong City.
However, it was evident that this hotel was considered quite good in Tibetan City. Well, of course – Shu Yi was something of a wealthy woman herself, and she had a reputation to maintain. How could she possibly settle for staying in hotels with poor conditions?
