Xue Xingjun smacked his forehead. "Ah, I forgot about that." Then he looked at Xue Xingzhou with pleading eyes. "Brother, please explain to Sister-in-law for me. I was just messing around, tell her not to make things difficult."

Xue Xingzhou pointed at him. "You have so much energy. Just get to sleep. Don’t be so loud, Tun Tun is already sleeping."

Xue Xingjun whispered, "Got it. You should go back to sleep too, Brother."

Xue Xingzhou left, closing the door behind him.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yunlei rushed back to his room and quickly shut the door. Leaning his back against it, he began to gasp for breath.

"Hiss..."

He rubbed his lower back. ’It seems to hurt even more than it did this afternoon.’

A moment later, he slowly lay back down on the bed. Staring at the ceiling, he recalled the words his mother had said to him before he left.

"Yun Lei, when you get to your aunt’s place, don’t be shy. Even if your aunt gets mad, she won’t actually kick you out. People like them care about keeping up appearances. Just live in their house and take your time finding a job. If you really can’t find one, just stay there and freeload. I refuse to believe they’ll be able to stand that. You need to be a little smarter, learn to read the room. It would be best if you can get them to like you, especially her father-in-law. He’s a government official. If he’s willing to help, you won’t have to worry about finding a good job."

Zhang Yunlei hadn’t seen his aunt’s father-in-law once since he’d arrived. Besides, he was a little scared of Xue Xingzhou. ’He’s a police officer; it’s as if he can see right through me with a single glance.’

’Tonight, I had just wanted to get on friendly terms with Xue Xingjun, but I didn’t expect him to be no easy mark. I even ended up startling my aunt’s husband.’ 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Zhang Yunlei fell into deep thought. ’What should I do next?’

When Xue Xingzhou went back to the room, Zhang Qian was still sitting up in bed. "What were they arguing about?"

"It was nothing," Xue Xingzhou said as he got undressed. "Zhang Yunlei went to talk to Xingjun and gave him a fright."

Zhang Qian snorted. "He’s so calculating. He was just asking me about Xingjun’s job today, and by tonight he’s already seeking him out for a chat. It’s no secret, so I told him Xingjun works at his brother-in-law’s supermarket. I can tell he’s already getting ideas."

Xue Xingzhou got into bed, glanced at their son who was already fast asleep on the inside, and asked softly, "He wants to work at the supermarket too?"

Zhang Qian lay down. "I think so."

Xue Xingzhou said, "If he wants to work at the supermarket, is he thinking of being a salesclerk, or something else?"

Xue Xingzhou had hit on the key point. The supermarket had many salesclerks, and jobs like moving goods, stocking shelves, and doing inspections were things anyone could do. The fear, however, was that he didn’t want to be a simple salesclerk, but something else. After all, Xingjun worked directly under He Lang, and everyone in the supermarket knew he was the boss’s assistant. No one dared to look down on him.

Zhang Qian looked at Xue Xingzhou. "That’s not possible, is it? It’s not like our family owns the supermarket."

Xue Xingzhou smiled slightly. "Once his back is better, you can try to find out what he wants. If he just wants to be a salesclerk, it’s not impossible to get him a spot. But anything else is out of the question. As you said, it’s not like our family owns the supermarket."

Zhang Qian nodded. "We’ll see."

In truth, Zhang Qian was very against him going to He Lang’s supermarket. She was afraid he might have some bad habits, which would ultimately make her lose face.

One day, a week later, a postman arrived in Yangjia Gou.

"Hello, Comrade. Excuse me, can you tell me where Xue Changlin’s home is?"

Someone helped give him directions. "It’s at the very end. Just go straight, and right before you exit the village, you’ll see a house. That’s it."

"Alright, thank you."

After the postman left, the villagers started gossiping.

"Who would be sending their family a letter? And look, the postman had a huge package on his bicycle rack."

The brigade leader’s wife, Zhang Cuihua, happened to be there and chimed in, "It has to be Yue’er or Xingzhou. Who else could it be? They’re in Beijing City, after all."

"That must be it. But after the way Liu Hongxing treated them, I’m surprised they’re still sending things home."

Zhang Cuihua said, "The siblings are both good kids. Liu Hongxing might be their stepmother, but Xue Changlin is their real father."

"That’s true."

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the village, Liu Hongxing took the letter and package from the postman, still a bit stunned.

Xue Changlin came out. "Who’s the letter from? Is it from Yue’er?"

Liu Hongxing finally snapped back to reality. Hearing his words, she shot Xue Changlin a glare.

"Why is everything always about Yue’er? This is from my son."

Xue Changlin stared in surprise at the letter and package in her hands. "Xingjun sent this back."

Liu Hongxing shot him a smug look, then carried the things back into the house.

Xue Changlin followed her inside and saw Liu Hongxing starting to open the package.

"Why don’t you see what the boy wrote in the letter first?"

Liu Hongxing glanced at Xue Changlin and handed him the letter. "You read it. You’re the better reader."

Xue Changlin took it and opened it.

When Xue Changlin finished reading the letter, he broke into a smile.

Liu Hongxing moved closer to him. "What did Xingjun say in the letter? Is he doing well in Beijing City?"

Xue Changlin pointed at the letter. "Look, your son says he’s become his brother-in-law’s little helper. He even helped close a deal a few days ago, so his brother-in-law raised his allowance. He bought all this for us with that allowance."

Liu Hongxing smiled. "Really? My son is really making something of himself." As she said this, her eyes reddened. Meeting Xue Changlin’s gaze, she forced a smile.

"I’m just so happy. It really was for the best that our son left home. If he were still in the village, he’d be toiling in the fields right now."

Liu Hongxing opened the package. Inside, besides food, there were clothes he had bought for the two of them.

Liu Hongxing’s gift was a long, green dress. She held it up against her body and asked Xue Changlin, "Is it pretty?"

Xue Changlin glanced at her. "It’s very pretty. That color really suits you."

Liu Hongxing was delighted to hear that. She held the dress tightly, feeling its fabric.

"I’ve never had a dress this nice before. I wonder if it was expensive. That boy... he’s too careless with his money," she said, smiling.

Xue Changlin watched her with a complicated expression. Liu Hongxing hadn’t bought any new clothes for herself in many years. He, on the other hand, had plenty of new clothes, but they had all been bought for him by Yue’er.

Besides the clothes, the rest were all snacks and food items.

Liu Hongxing stared at the large pile of gifts on the kang bed, slowly sat down, and was lost in thought for a moment.

Xue Changlin knew her well.

"Missing Xingjun?"

Liu Hongxing nodded. "He didn’t come back for the New Year. I don’t even know if he’s gained or lost weight, or if he’s grown any taller."

"If you miss him, you should give him a call. Xingjun wrote down a phone number in the letter."

A telephone had been installed at the brigade office in Yangjia Gou a few years prior.

Liu Hongxing’s eyes lit up, but then she hesitated. "I heard making phone calls is really expensive. They charge by the minute."

Xue Changlin said, "Just this once. It’s alright to splurge a little. We can afford it."