Chapter 70.2

Back in the City, the three of them looked for a restaurant with good decor to have a meal. They had initially wanted to go to a restaurant they had visited before but found that it had closed down and turned into a shoe store.

They then found another place, ordered several dishes, and found the food to be quite good. The local cuisine was heavier with more oil and spices, which Jiang Rou and Li Xiao were accustomed to, but An An struggled with it and needed to drink water after just a few bites.

After finishing their meal, the family went to the vegetable market. They didn’t want to keep mooching off Wang’s family’s food, so they bought more vegetables to take back and give to Wang’s family.

They bought fish, pork, vegetables, as well as pig intestines and pig tongue. Li Xiao told An An, “When we get back, I’ll make you braised pork intestines.”

An An wrinkled her nose in distaste and said, “Dad, this smells so bad. I don’t want to eat it.”

Li Xiao replied, “No, you will eat it.”

There was so much food that it almost filled the entire tricycle. Because it was so heavy, the tricycle swayed, and couldn’t even handle small inclines. Li Xiao had Jiang Rou and An An get off and push.

An An pushed the tricycle alongside her mother, puffing and complaining, “Why doesn’t Daddy come down and push?”

Li Xiao, sitting in front, replied calmly, “I need to steer.”

“Hmph.”

Once they arrived home and got off the tricycle, An An rubbed her bottom and complained, “I’m never riding this tricycle again. It’s so painful, and my head is spinning.”

Jiang Rou also felt uncomfortable and, seeing Li Xiao relaxing, gave him a little shove in annoyance.

She had noticed that he had secretly stood up during the bumpy parts.

Li Xiao rubbed his nose.

Aunt Wang came out of the house upon hearing the commotion and asked, “Oh, you bought so much stuff?”

Jiang Rou was unloading the vegetables and smiled: “Auntie, you came just in time. We bought these for you.”

“So much? You should take it home and eat it yourselves. There’s plenty at home.”

“There’s more than enough. Please take it back and share it with Uncle.”

Jiang Rou pushed the vegetables into Aunt Wang’s hands.

Aunt Wang smiled awkwardly and said, “You two are just being polite.”

Then she seemed to remember something, “Oh, right, Zhu Qiang came by earlier, he was looking for you. He left when he saw you weren’t here. He wanted to invite you to a meal. I didn’t agree on your behalf since I wasn’t sure if you were free. He might come back later.”

Jiang Rou looked at Li Xiao.

Li Xiao, who had been at the back, heard this and glanced at Aunt Wang, then gave her a nod. “Let’s talk about it when he comes back later.”

“Alright then, you two discuss it later.”

Aunt Wang was right. In the evening, Zhu Qiang came by again and told Li Xiao that he wanted to invite the whole family for a meal the next day. “I heard you were back and came over to check. You took good care of me back in the South and caused you quite a bit of trouble. Since you’re back, I want to invite you to a meal.”

“I got married and had a son last year. I wanted to bring him to show you, just our two families.”

The “others” he referred to were Wang Tao’s family. Since Zhu Qiang returned from the South, he had distanced himself from Wang Tao’s family. Zhu Qiang admitted he had his own reasons for going South—he thought that going alone would cause less trouble for Li Xiao and wouldn’t be driven away. Wang Tao, however, was foolish. Even if he had followed Zhu Qiang to the South, it wouldn’t have made much difference. Li Xiao and Zhou Jian wouldn’t just have kept Wang Tao around.

Zhu Qiang felt that the reason why Wang Tao was left behind was his own fault. He didn’t have the courage to come over—only bad-mouthing from behind.

Moreover, Zhu Qiang thought he had indeed been somewhat unfair to Li Xiao and Zhou Jian, but he hadn’t wronged Wang Tao. Wang Tao and his wife had relied on him when they entered Jiangnan Hotel. Later, when Zhu Qiang’s uncle passed away, Wang Tao and his wife had also distanced themselves from him, which had left him feeling cold.

He had gone South alone because he knew what kind of people Wang Tao and his wife were. Wang Tao’s wife was unreasonable and intolerant. No one could get along with her.

Wang Tao wasn’t very capable, but his wife couldn’t stand seeing anyone do better than them. Zhu Qiang knew that Wang Tao and his wife had mocked him for his failures—which, although true, was hard to accept.

Now, Zhu Qiang had moved on. He had to—he couldn’t compete with Li Xiao and them. Life had been too tough, and he couldn’t keep going. Fortunately, he had returned and opened a small noodle shop in the City, and things were going pretty well.

Li Xiao knew that Zhu Qiang had remarried. His new wife worked in a school cafeteria across from his noodle shop. She had been married before; her previous husband became successful and left her for another woman. Zhu Qiang married her with his daughter.

Jiang Rou had heard about this from Aunt Wang and then told Li Xiao.

Li Xiao looked at him and, after some thought, said, “Alright.”

Seeing that Li Xiao agreed, Zhu Qiang smiled. “Great. We’ll meet at Hongye Restaurant tomorrow at noon, right across from the cinema. You’ll find it easily.”

After sending Zhu Qiang off, Li Xiao saw Jiang Rou busy in the yard and asked, “Are you going tomorrow?”

He felt it was his responsibility and thought that if Jiang Rou didn’t want to go, he could go alone.

Jiang Rou looked up at him with a calm expression. “Of course, I’ll go. Why wouldn’t I? We treated him to several meals back in the South. We should at least return the favor once.”

She mainly thought that since everyone was an adult, there was nothing that couldn’t be overcome. If they were too particular, no one would be happy.

Li Xiao smiled, knowing that Jiang Rou was more open-minded than he was.

—o—o—o—

The next day, the family of three went out. Li Xin did not go; she had been busy these days, with classmates calling her every day to go out and play.

She had previously attended No. 4 High School, where the students were not strictly managed and tended to be more playful, so she and her classmates had a particularly good relationship. Although Li Xin had only studied there for a year, after she returned, her classmates all came to find her to go out and play.

Before heading out in the morning, Jiang Rou went next door to tell Aunt Wang that they wouldn’t be coming back for lunch and that she didn’t need to prepare their share.

Aunt Wang knew that they were going out to eat with Zhu Qiang and remarked, “It’s good to have a meal together. After all, you’ve grown up together. The most important thing is that you don’t come back often now. The chances of seeing each other in the future will be fewer and fewer.”

“Yes, that’s what we think too.”

When Jiang Rou and Li Xiao arrived at the Hongye Restaurant, Zhu Qiang was already waiting there. Zhu Qiang had gained quite a bit of weight over the past few years.

When Jiang Rou saw him yesterday, she barely recognized him. The Zhu Qiang she remembered was still very thin, but now he had puffed up like dough that had risen. It was unclear if it was due to eating fried noodles every day, but his face was also oily.

Standing next to him, Li Xiao seemed like a person from another era.

Seeing them coming, Zhu Qiang quickly jogged over to greet them. “You’re here? Come in quickly; it’s freezing outside.”

As he spoke, he rubbed his hands—he looked like he had been waiting there for a long time.

Li Xiao set down An An, who was in his arms and followed Zhu Qiang inside.

The four of them went to a private room on the second floor. There were already people in the room. When they opened the door, a woman who was sitting in a chair stood up holding a child, forcing a smile, and looked quite uncomfortable.

Zhu Qiang, now much bolder, introduced them. “Let me introduce you. This is my wife, Chen Ling. These are my two daughters, Xiang Xiang, and Hui Hui, and this is my youngest son, Hao Hao.”

Then he had Chen Ling call out, “This is my brother Li Xiao, my sister-in-law Jiang Rou, and their child An An.”

“Hello, Brother. Hello, Sister-in-law.”

The woman obediently greeted them. Since Zhu Qiang and the others had not sat down yet, she did not sit down either.

She appeared very obedient.

Jiang Rou, fearing that the woman might feel awkward, stepped forward with a smile and said, “This child looks like Zhu Qiang. Please sit down; it must be tiring holding the baby, right?”

“No, no, it’s not tiring at all.”

Jiang Rou then glanced at the two girls beside her. The older one looked more like Zhu Qiang’s wife, Chen Ling. She had darker skin but well-defined features—not unattractive at all. She was likely Chen Ling’s child from a previous marriage. The younger one didn’t resemble Zhu Qiang but took after Zhu Qiang’s ex-wife, Mei Zi. She was a very pretty little girl, and Jiang Rou immediately remembered her.

The younger one had a bit more courage. When she saw people arriving, she tilted her head curiously and sat closer to Chen Ling, it appeared like she was quite affectionate towards her stepmother.

Both girls were neatly dressed. Though their clothes weren’t from any high-end brands, they were comfortable cotton fabrics, showing that Zhu Qiang’s wife cared a lot about the children.

Zhu Qiang invited Li Xiao to sit down. “Come, come, sit here, Brother.”

He glanced at the table and said, “Why haven’t the dishes come yet? I’ll go check.”

An An found the table too high and climbed onto her father’s lap. Midway through climbing, Li Xiao reached out and settled her comfortably on his lap. She was very unreserved and pointed to a dish on the table: “Daddy, I want to eat candy.”

Li Xiao took her hand and moved it away: “Wait until we’ve had our meal; you can eat it after.”

An An then looked at the large bottle of cola on the table and said, “Daddy, I want to drink cola.”

This time, Li Xiao didn’t refuse. He opened the cola and prepared to pour half a glass for her. Jiang Rou, who was chatting with Chen Ling, saw this and quickly stopped him. She took the teapot and poured hot tea over the utensils before handing the cup to him. She then asked the two little girls, “Do you want something to drink?”

The older girl, feeling a bit shy, quickly waved her hand. “No, no, I’m fine.”

The younger one didn’t speak but looked longingly at An An on Li Xiao’s lap.

Jiang Rou warmed the cups in front of them, then had Li Xiao pour half a glass of cola into each. She handed them to the two children and said: “Don’t drink too much; it’s cold and not good for your stomach.”

The older girl took her cup and licked her lips but didn’t drink immediately. The younger girl’s eyes brightened as she eagerly took a sip, then leaned towards her sister and whispered, “Sister, it’s good.”

The older sister looked at Jiang Rou and the others to ensure they weren’t watching, then took a sip from her cup.

Zhu Qiang came back in, followed by two waiters carrying dishes. After entering, he said to Li Xiao, “The rest of the dishes are still being prepared. There are too many people coming back for the New Year. Please wait a bit longer.”

Li Xiao told him to sit down and eat.

Zhu Qiang then sat next to Li Xiao, filled his wine glass, and asked Jiang Rou if she wanted any.

Jiang Rou quickly declined, letting them enjoy their drinks.

When Zhu Qiang raised his glass to toast with Li Xiao, Li Xiao only took a small sip and then picked up some meat for An An, who was in his arms.

The little girl sitting next to Chen Ling suddenly pointed at the meat and asked Zhu Qiang to serve her some. “Daddy, I want to eat that.”

Zhu Qiang glanced at her and dismissed it, saying, “Let your mom serve you.”

The little girl puffed out her cheeks, visibly upset.

The older girl next to her picked up a piece of meat and put it into her bowl. “Here, eat this.”

Chen Ling, hearing this, was about to use her chopsticks but noticed her eldest daughter had already served the meat, so she withdrew her chopsticks and served a piece of potato instead. “This is good too.”

The little girl glanced at the little sister who was sitting on her father’s lap and enjoying her meal, she then lowered her head to eat in silence.

Although she was young, she seemed to understand something.

The meal was relatively lively. Before leaving, Li Xiao patted Zhu Qiang on the shoulder and wished him prosperous business in the future.

Zhu Qiang’s eyes turned red immediately. “Brother, I’m sorry for the past. I’m the kind of person who’s short-sighted, always thinking that I’m the smartest, but actually, I’m the biggest fool. If I were smart, I wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

Since returning from the South, he had come to terms with the fact that he would never reach Li Xiao’s level. There was no point in being envious; he should just be himself.

That’s why he chose Chen Ling as his wife. They were well-matched, neither was picky about the other. His mother initially disagreed, wanting him to find someone better and can outshine Mei Zi. However, he didn’t listen, he didn’t want to marry someone younger and more beautiful whom he had to keep appeased. He didn’t want to live that kind of life anymore.

He wasn’t like Li Xiao, who had a woman by his side even when he had nothing. Jiang Rou was beautiful and intelligent, and truly loved Li Xiao; such fortune was rare and something he couldn’t envy.

Li Xiao was deeply moved by this and looked at him, then at the distant street, and finally nodded, saying, “It’s all in the past.”

After saying this, he felt a sense of relief.

The words were not only for Zhu Qiang but also for himself.

Indeed, it was all in the past.

At that moment, with the words spoken, he decided to forget all past grievances.

Zhu Qiang looked up at him, touched. “Brother.”

Li Xiao patted his shoulder again. “We’re leaving.”

He then wrapped his arm around Jiang Rou’s waist and led her and An An.

Zhu Qiang watched their departing figures, both crying and smiling.