Da Bao and Xiao Bao suddenly heard familiar voices calling them.

They immediately turned their little heads, looking for the people they missed.

“Mom!”

“Mom, Dad!”

“Da Bao, Xiao Bao!”

“Grandma!”

“Da Bao, Xiao Bao!”

“Grandpa!”

Zhou Wanwan and Su Ze were overwhelmed with emotion when they spotted their two sons not far away. They hadn’t seen the children for several days and had missed and worried about them terribly.

Now that they saw their boys safe and sound — not only unharmed but just as adorable as ever, with rosy little cheeks — they could tell the boys hadn’t been eating or sleeping well these past days.

When Da Bao and Xiao Bao saw their long-lost grandparents and parents, their little lips trembled and their eyes reddened.

They looked at them with aggrieved expressions.

Zhou Wanwan tossed her luggage into her husband’s arms and rushed excitedly toward the children.

Fang Xinyu, despite the pain in her heart, handed Xiao Bao over to Zhou Wanwan.

Watching mother and child hugging tightly brought tears to her eyes.

Qiao Jiuru quickly walked over to Zhang Hong and took the still-pouting Da Bao from his arms, holding the child’s little face gently against her own, full of concern.

Su Ze hurriedly followed with all the luggage, eyes fixed longingly on his two sons.

“These are my grandsons, Su Xingchen and Su Xinghai. Now, our family is all here,” said Su Huaiyuan, holding back his urge to smother the boys with kisses, and turned to explain to the neighborhood committee workers who were escorting them.

The workers from the street office sneered a bit — the scene they’d expected hadn’t happened, which disappointed them.

“Alright, time’s up. Get on the train,” they said impatiently, not wanting to give the Su family or Zhang Hong’s couple any time to catch up.

The family knew this wasn’t the right place to talk much anyway, and everything that needed saying had been said.

“Da Bao, Xiao Bao, quickly thank Grandpa and Grandma Zhang for taking care of you these past days. Say goodbye.”

Qiao Jiuru, holding Da Bao, encouraged him and Xiao Bao to thank and bid farewell to Zhang Hong and Fang Xinyu. She also looked at the couple with heartfelt gratitude.

“Grandpa, Grandma, thank you, goodbye,” the boys said, their voices soft and childish.

“Thank…you…bye…bye…” Their speech was a bit clumsy but sincere.

The two little ones didn’t yet understand that they were about to part with these grandparents.

They obediently waved their small hands, their baby voices sweet and endearing.

“Now give Grandpa and Grandma Zhang a kiss,” said Qiao Jiuru.

She wanted the boys to kiss them goodbye, knowing it might be years before they’d see them again.

With cheerful smiles, Da Bao and Xiao Bao turned their little bodies and hugged Zhang Hong and Fang Xinyu’s faces with their tiny hands, each giving a big kiss.

“Brother Zhang, Sister-in-law, until we meet again,” Qiao Jiuru said.

“Xiao Ru…”

“Please take good care of Da Bao and Xiao Bao. Don’t let them suffer.”

“Grandma will miss you, Da Bao and Xiao Bao.”

“Huaiyuan, Xiao Ru, Xiao Ze, Wanwan, take care of yourselves.”

“…Safe travels.”

There were less than twenty minutes left before the train departed.

The Su family quickly said their farewells, then took the items Zhang Hong and Fang Xinyu had prepared for the boys and entered the station.

Zhang Hong and Fang Xinyu stood there with reddened eyes, watching the Su family walk away, feeling heavy-hearted.

No one knew when they’d meet again.

Qiao Jiuru had Su Ze hold Da Bao tightly, while she and Su Huaiyuan carried most of the luggage.

The train was full of all kinds of people, so they had to keep a close eye on the children.

Tan Shuwei had bought them hard seat tickets, exactly enough for the whole family.

Whether it was intentional or not, it worked out well.

After escorting them onto the train, the neighborhood committee workers got off and stood outside, watching them until the train departed from Beijing.

As the train slowly pulled out of the station and left the city, the family finally let out a quiet sigh of relief. Perhaps due to their status, no one thought they’d try to escape, or maybe it was because without documents they couldn’t go anywhere anyway — no one was sent to escort them to their assigned relocation site.

About half an hour later, Qiao Jiuru pulled out more than a dozen sweet potatoes from a worn cloth bag made from old clothes.

“Have Dabao and Xiaobao eaten yet?!”

Ever since the boys reunited with their parents, they had clung tightly to Zhou Wanwan and Su Ze, now cuddling quietly in their arms.

“We ate… buns… eggs…” they answered softly.

“Wontons, eggs, meat…”

Early that morning, before 7 a.m., Zhang Hong had bought meat buns and wontons, and Fang Xinyu had boiled over ten eggs.

The little brothers had eaten well.

Qiao Jiuru wasn’t surprised — she knew how much Zhang Hong and his wife adored the boys, so it made sense they were fed so well.

Hearing their sons’ babyish answers, Zhou Wanwan and Su Ze felt relieved and deeply grateful to Uncle Zhang and Aunt Fang.

Since they hadn’t had time to eat breakfast themselves, the sweet potatoes served as the whole family’s first meal of the day.

Seeing that the Su family was only eating sweet potatoes, the people around them paid them no further attention.

At noon, besides more sweet potatoes, Qiao Jiuru brought out two cornmeal buns — those were for Da Bao and Xiao Bao.

“The buns are cold, I’ll go get hot water to soak them before giving them to the boys,” said Qiao Jiuru.

She pulled out two aluminum lunch boxes, placed one bun in each, told the others to keep an eye on the kids, and went to another car to fetch hot water.

Seeing that the family was still eating sweet potatoes and just two humble buns, the other passengers quickly lost interest.

After all, they’d heard this family was being sent to the countryside.

It wasn’t surprising they had little to eat.

Indeed, for dinner, the Su family had almost the same food as they did at lunch.

Around midnight, when most passengers were already asleep, Qiao Jiuru, who had dozed off shortly after dinner, slowly opened her eyes.