At that time, Shen Huaichu was still a young man who had just come of age, with far less control over his emotions than he has now.
His cold face bore barely suppressed anger and sorrow.
"Aunt, this plan is just a rough draft, one that's impossible for me to achieve with my current abilities. So I've prepared myself for the next ten, twenty, even thirty years. I will definitely take back what belonged to my parents!"
Shen Tu felt deeply saddened - for her deceased elder brother and sister-in-law, for her greedy and selfish second brother and his wife, and for Shen Huaichu.
"What about your own life?"
Shen Huaichu's expression held a hint of bitterness, "Aunt, what life do I have left?"
Now that the dust had settled, Shen Tu also hoped that Shen Huaichu could go out and see the world.
"Yes, we also ran into Shen Xi and her friend."
Gu Lin handed his coat to the maid and collapsed onto the sofa.
"Shen Xi?"
Shen Tu couldn't immediately recall who Shen Xi was, so Gu Lin mentioned the name of Shen Xi's father.
"Oh! That little girl with the round face!" Shen Tu remembered that she and her mother had attended a banquet hosted by the Gu Family.
"Shen Xi's friend?" Shen Tu was pondering Gu Lin's choice of words.
Gu Lin, resting on the sofa, furrowed his brow for a moment, but fortunately, Shen Tu didn't ask any further questions.
......
In the evening, Jing Zeyou was arranging work with Assistant Chen on the balcony. A new round of filming was about to begin, and he wouldn't be able to be at the company for some time, so some work needed to be arranged in advance.
Jing Yi and Jing Zejun were video chatting with Jing Beicheng and his wife, while Jing Zeqian sat beside them. He found this video call behavior too mushy, so he didn't join in.
"Auntie, is Tianqiu Mountain fun?" Jing Yi looked at Lin Ruiqing on the screen with an expectant face.
After the couple had reached their destination, they had reported their safe arrival. The family hadn't expected their first stop to be mountain climbing.
"It's fun, a bit tiring, but quite interesting," Lin Ruiqing said.
Jing Zejun leaned against Jing Yi, smiling at Lin Ruiqing in the video, with Jing Beicheng showing only half his face in the background.
"How about you? Have you been doing well lately?"
"Pretty good. We're starting the second round of filming in a couple of days. Otherwise, we might have run into you."
"That is a bit of a shame." After all, they were planning to fly to another country the day after tomorrow.
"How carefree!" Jing Yi's eyes were full of envy. Jing Zeqian glanced at her, not quite understanding where her envy came from, given that she was also going on a trip in a few days.
As they chatted, Lin Ruiqing thought of the scene from the last filming where Jing Yi was cooking.
"Yi Yi, don't cook when you're out traveling. Your brothers can eat anything."
Lin Ruiqing truly felt sorry for Jing Yi cooking for those few days last time. Someone who loved to sleep in so much had to get up early to make breakfast.
She never thought that girls must cook, and besides, they had a cook at home, so why couldn't they use her? Moreover, they had brought two older brothers along, so why did the youngest in the family have to take care of them?
Jing Yi smiled at Lin Ruiqing, "Don't worry, Auntie! Next week we'll be on a road trip, so I won't need to cook!"
"That's good. You and Junjun just enjoy yourselves and don't worry about these trivial matters. You hear that, Xiao Qian?" Lin Ruiqing suddenly called out to Jing Zeqian, and Jing Zejun turned the camera towards him.
Jing Zeqian replied resignedly, "I heard." If he couldn't hear something said that loudly, he'd truly be deaf.
"Auntie, when are you planning to come back?" Jing Yi leaned against Jing Zejun, her voice soft.
It wasn't just Jing Yi; even Jing Zejun was missing Lin Ruiqing and the others.
Jing Zeqian glanced at the two of them, "Are you two still not weaned?" Jing Yi glared at him.
"You menthol! You're just jealous!"
Lin Ruiqing looked at the two girls in the camera, her expression loving and gentle, "We'll be back at the end of the month, and we'll rest for a few days after we return."
Indeed, daughters are more considerate. Of the two sons, one was a 'workaholic', and the other seemed like he was there to collect a debt.
Jing Yi burst out laughing.
This meant they would come back to regroup for a few days and then continue traveling, right? Who would have thought that once Lin Ruiqing and Jing Beicheng went out, they couldn't stop?
After chatting with Lin Ruiqing for a while, Jing Yi and the others ended the video call.
Hearing Lin Ruiqing talk about the fun of traveling, Jing Yi was reminded of their upcoming road trip in a few days.
Her expression showed some excitement, "Junjun, if we're going on a road trip, where do you want to go?" She sat cross-legged on the sofa, discussing potential destinations with Jing Zejun.
Jing Zejun was also getting interested, influenced by Jing Yi's enthusiasm, "How about the seaside? There's a famous bioluminescent ocean in the city next to North river. They say the seawater glows at night!"
"How magical is that?"
"Sounds great! Let's set that as our first destination, and then we can plan a route based on all the places we want to visit!"
Jing Zeqian silently listened to the two making plans, but eventually couldn't resist dampening their enthusiasm.
"The so-called bioluminescence is produced by a type of single-cell dinoflagellate. In the ocean, when the concentration of dinoflagellates is high enough, it can create the 'bioluminescent ocean' phenomenon. The reason they glow is that these algae cells contain luciferin and luciferase, which react and release blue light when disturbed externally. And it's not necessarily a good phenomenon."
"What are you doing?!" Jing Yi stared at him with her round eyes.
Jing Zeqian replied curiously, "Providing you with some basic biochemistry knowledge." He then added, "Also, I must remind you that our filming time is only one week. Considering travel time and sightseeing time, it's impossible to plan for so many destinations."
Although Jing Zeqian had dampened their spirits twice, Jing Yi had to admit he was right. Her expression showed some disappointment.
Jing Zeqian looked uncomfortable. He didn't like seeing Jing Yi so listless, lacking her usual vitality.
"Why the long face? If you want to go, we can always go together after the filming is over."
"Easy for you to say. After it's over, everyone will be busy with their own things again. When will we have another chance to travel together?"
Meanwhile, Jing Zeyou had finished dealing with company matters.
"For camping, let's go to Xiyuan. It's quite close to North river, and I happen to have a house in the mountains there. This way, we can fulfill three of your plans in one go."
Jing Zeyou sat down next to the group and methodically explained the plan.
Although it couldn't satisfy all of their planned itinerary, his proposal was already the best option.
Jing Yi looked at Jing Zeyou with admiration.
"That sounds great! Big brother, you're amazing!"
"As expected of a CEO, how impressive!"
Jing Zeqian glanced at Jing Yi. She was being such a bootlicker!
