Ning Shu heard Er Bao’s loud voice and got out of the car. “Hello, comrade, we met last year, do you remember? Every time our eldest and third child visit the Erbao, thank you for making it easier for them.”

“I remember, I remember,” the gatekeeper didn’t remember exactly what Ning Shu looked like, but he recalled this event. “Your child is really amazing, they became a world champion.”

The entire sports school knew about Er Bao becoming a world champion.

It was not only the nation’s glory but also Er Bao’s and the school’s pride.

Ning Shu smiled and said, “It’s the school and the country that did a great job in nurturing them.”

By this time, Er Bao had already taken down all their belongings. “Mom, let me take these to the dorm first. Then, can I invite the class monitor and the others over to the car to enjoy the air conditioning? They’ve never tried it before.”

Ning Shu replied, “…It’s class time right now, so they must be in class. How would you find them? How about this: next time when you have a break, I’ll drive to pick you up. By then, the class monitor will also have time off. You can invite him into the car, and I can give him a ride home.”

The class monitor was also from the capital, so it was convenient for Ning Shu to drive him there.

Besides, the class monitor had been very considerate toward Er Bao, and she appreciated that.

Every time Yi Bao and San Bao brought things for Er Bao, she would prepare extra food for the class monitor.

In any case, Ning Shu was happy to use food to improve the relationship between Er Bao and their classmates, and she was willing to trade food for the classmates’ care of Er Bao.

Er Bao thought about it for a moment and felt that what his mother said made sense, so he didn’t insist. “Okay, next time you come pick me up then.”

“Of course.” Now that they had a car, it was only right to pick up the children.

Er Bao didn’t have much luggage.

He carried his backpack, wheeled suitcase, and a basket of food, walking into the school on his own.

After a few steps, he turned around and looked toward the gate.

Seeing his mom, older brother, and younger brother all watching him, Er Bao smiled at them.

Ning Shu kept watching him, watching his figure gradually getting farther away.

Thinking about the future, when the children would eventually grow more distant, she felt a little bittersweet inside.

When children are young, parents hope for their health and safety as they grow.

But when they grow up, parents wish they could return to their childhood, so that the days spent together would last a little longer.

This is something that every mother probably thinks about.

Once you become a mother, you start overthinking.

Er Bao started school, and soon after, Yi Bao and San Bao began theirs as well.

Ning Shu was fair to all of them.

Having sent Er Bao to school, she naturally had to send Yi Bao and San Bao too.

At Yi Bao and San Bao’s school, there were many children from prominent families—whether from the new or old estates—so it wasn’t uncommon to see cars at the school gate.

After all, the children from these estates were used to seeing cars.

However, when Yi Bao and San Bao got out of the car and walked into school, they were surrounded by many students, and there were even whispers.

“Look at him, the one on the left—doesn’t he look like that world champion in the newspaper?”

“He does look like him! I’ve seen that newspaper too.”

“I’ve seen him on TV! It was during the World Middle School Sports Games. My dad was watching, and I watched with him—it’s him!”

“Oh my gosh, how amazing is he? He goes to school and at the same time competes in international middle school games? Is that even possible?”

“Maybe he just looks like him. I don’t think it’s really him. Who could possibly go to school and compete at the same time?”

“I think so too, it probably isn’t him.”

At that moment, someone shouted loudly, “Lin Haizhi, you’re here! I saw you in the newspaper as the world champion, but it said Lin Hairui—did they get your name wrong?”

The person asking was Yi Bao’s classmate.

He was so excited when he saw the newspaper that he immediately talked about it with the people around him, saying that the person in the newspaper looked just like his classmate.

If he didn’t know where Yi Bao’s family lived, he probably would have gone to ask them in the next few days.

When the students who had been whispering heard this, they quickly quieted down, eager to find out if this classmate was indeed the world champion.

Yi Bao said, “No, the world champion in the newspaper is my twin brother.”

Everyone finally understood.

No wonder they looked so alike—they were twins!

Yi Bao never expected that he would become famous at school because of Er Bao.

Everywhere he went, he was called the “world champion’s twin brother.”

However, Yi Bao didn’t mind.

Some people might have felt overshadowed by their sibling’s achievements, but Yi Bao and Er Bao had always been close.

Being called the “world champion’s twin brother” made Yi Bao proud.

Just like how Er Bao was proud of his older brother’s accomplishments.

At first, everyone got to know Yibao because of Erbao’s fame.

But soon, everyone learned something else: the twin brother of the world champion was actually a gifted student who had skipped grades—from fourth grade to first year in junior high, then from the first year to the third year.

Even though everyone still called him “the world champion’s brother,” they no longer saw him as just that.

By comparison, although Sanbao was also the world champion’s brother and had also skipped grades, he didn’t stand out as much as Yibao, because he didn’t look like the world champion.

Time passed peacefully.

Especially after the children started school, Ning Shu felt lonely at home by herself.

Amidst this solitude, the year 1979 finally arrived, and with it, the New Year holiday.

Lin Guodong was granted family leave, and Erbao had a two-week break.

The family eagerly awaited the time to return to their hometown.

They set off in a car, with Lin Guodong driving, Ning Shu in the passenger seat, and the three kids plus their dogs, Damao and Tiedan, in the back.

Even though the kids had grown taller, they hadn’t grown much wider, so they fit comfortably in the backseat.

With Da Mao and Tie Dan joining them, Tie Dan sat on Erbao’s lap while Damao curled up with Sanbao—or rather, Damao lay across the seat with Sanbao leaning against him.

The trunk was packed full of luggage, and the family was on their way.

If Erbao weren’t in a sports school and had a month-long winter break like Yibao and Sanbao, they could have taken their time and traveled leisurely.

But with Erbao’s limited vacation, they couldn’t afford to linger.

It took them three full days to drive from the capital to their hometown.

During most of the drive, Lin Guodong handled the wheel.

When he was tired, he would take a nap during the day, allowing Ning Shu to drive for an hour before letting Yibao take over.

Although Yibao hadn’t gotten his license yet, he’d learned how to drive.

In fact, with his strength, he drove even more smoothly than Ning Shu.

Sanbao, on the other hand, was limited by his height.

Although he also knew how to drive, he wasn’t quite ready for it.

As for Erbao, he was the only one in the family who didn’t know how to drive, and he kept insisting that he wanted to learn.

And so, the family took turns driving, and after three days and two nights, they finally arrived back in their hometown by noon.

In the countryside, there wasn’t much going on.

Besides visiting neighbors, people gathered to chat together.

It was winter and almost the New Year, so there was no need to work in the fields.

People liked to sit in the sun and chat, either at the village entrance or the village committee courtyard.

As a car approached from afar, the villagers who were chatting stopped and looked up.

“There’s a car coming.”

“Is some official visiting us?”

“I don’t know.”

Some of the villagers murmured among themselves, and a few sharp-eyed ones even ran off, likely to inform the village chief.

Meanwhile, the Lin family in the car was also surprised.

“Our village road is so wide now; I thought we’d have to park outside and walk in,” Ning Shu said in surprise.

“This road wasn’t this wide before,” Erbao said, sticking his head out the window to curiously observe the surroundings.

Yibao also looked around expectantly.

Sanbao, however, was the calmest.

Having left when he was too young to remember, he felt no attachment to his hometown.

Even though his brothers often talked about their grandparents’ kindness, without any memories of his own, Sanbao’s feelings weren’t as deep.

As Ning Shu marveled at the road, the car reached the village entrance and pulled to the side, where they parked, as the road ahead was too narrow for them to continue.

Before the car had even stopped, everyone had already seen the people inside through the window, though they couldn’t make out the details.

Now that the car had stopped and the people inside had gotten out, everyone watched curiously, and someone even shouted, “Is that Guodong and Ning Zhiqing(Ning Shu)?”

The three brothers had grown up, and people might not recognize them, but Lin Guodong and Ning Shu’s appearances were set, so people could still recognize them.

Ning Shu smiled and nodded. “Yes, it’s us. Uncle, are you basking in the sun?”

Lin Guodong also nodded.

“There’s no work in the fields, and things at home have calmed down, so we’re just sitting here, enjoying the sun,” the old man said. “Are you back for the New Year?”

Their families had a good relationship, so he made small talk.

The others, seeing Ning Shu’s family driving up, suddenly didn’t dare to speak, as things had changed over the years.

Although they all came from this place, they were no longer the same.

“Yes, we’re back for the New Year. It’s been several years since we’ve been back, so we wanted to visit our parents. By the way, Uncle, I noticed the road leading out of here has been improved. When was this done?” Ning Shu asked, voicing the question that had been on her mind.

“I remember a few years ago, when our Xiao Jing got married, the road was still in its old state.”

The old man replied, “Oh, that road? It was built when the electricity came through. The village needed power, and the construction vehicles couldn’t get in. So, to bring in the electricity, we had to build the road first. And this roadwork was done based on labor points, so every family had to contribute. If they didn’t contribute, they had to pay money. Didn’t you know about this?”

Ning Shu said, “I didn’t know about that.”

There was no real reason for Lin’s parents to contact the military, but they had written a few letters over the years, the last one being after Lin Xiaojing had given birth.

So, the power must have been brought in after that.

Just then, an excited voice rang out, “Third son, third daughter-in-law, you’re back?”

Lin’s father quickly stepped forward, and right behind him were the team leader and other members of the Lin family.

It turned out someone had gone to tell the team leader that a car had arrived at the village entrance, and everyone was curious.

Many people had followed along to see what was happening.

But no one in the Lin family had expected it to be Lin Guodong’s family returning.