Han Ye and Zhou Dingwen had never gotten along; you could say they had been at odds since childhood.
But in reality, there weren’t many real conflicts between them—strictly speaking, no major grudges either.
They just couldn’t stand each other.
Han Ye threw the two bottles of soda back, but Zhou Dingwen was quick-eyed and caught them, his expression dark. “Han Ye, what are you doing? I was just offering Xiaxia some soda, not for you. Why are you acting so hostile?”
Han Ye sneered, “Thanks, but my family’s rich—we don’t need your soda.”
With that, he grabbed Qin Qiao’an and Qin Qiaoxia each by the arm and pulled them away. “Come on, Big Brother will buy you some.”
Zhou Dingwen watched Han Ye’s retreating back with a sullen face, feeling frustrated.
But there was nothing he could do—after all, he couldn’t beat Han Ye, and Han Ye was indeed closer to the siblings Qin Qiao’an and Qin Qiaoxia.
Zhou Dingwen stuffed the sodas into his backpack and turned to leave.
Han Ye bought sodas for his younger brother and sister, then earnestly lectured Xiaxia: “That Zhou Dingwen isn’t a good person. He’s just a middle schooler, hanging around the elementary school gate for no good reason—he must have some ulterior motive! So, no free handouts from him, understand? Don’t take anything from him ever again.”
Qin Qiao’an immediately nodded, “Don’t worry, Big Brother, I didn’t take anything from him!”
Han Ye looked seriously at Xiaxia and said, “Xia’er, did you hear me?”
Xiaxia, holding the soda Han Ye had bought, nodded, “Got it.”
Although deep down, she thought Zhou Dingwen was actually a pretty decent guy.
But since both older brothers disliked each other, she decided it was best to keep her distance from him.
After this incident, Han Ye started staying over at Qiao Lanshu’s house from time to time, diligently picking up and dropping off his younger siblings every day, guarding Qin Qiao’an and Qin Qiaoxia like a hawk against Zhou Dingwen and his brother.
……
During this time, Qiao Lanshu’s application for an outstanding teacher award was approved, and she earned the opportunity to study in the capital.
This kind of chance was extremely rare. Nationwide, fewer than a hundred teachers were selected for this program—each province choosing their best young educators who had worked for over three years and held university degrees.
Clearly, this was because after the reform and opening-up, the country was eager to develop all industries, and education was no exception.
These young teachers selected for centralized training were key talents the state intended to cultivate, destined for future promotion and important roles.
Although she had to be away from home for nearly half a year, Qiao Lanshu didn’t want to miss this golden opportunity.
Qin Yuanzheng fully supported Qiao Lanshu, but since he couldn’t accompany her, his heart was heavy with worry.
He lost his appetite and had trouble sleeping.
One evening, while the whole family was eating, Qiao Lanshu teased him, “It’s still two months away. Why are you already sighing like this?”
In front of the children, Qin Yuanzheng couldn’t bring himself to say any sweet nothings. After a pause, he said, “I’ll go with you when the time comes.”
Qiao Lanshu frowned, “No need. If you go, what about the kids? Are you planning to take them with us?”
When she was about to start her studies, the school was just about to break for the holidays. Taking the children along wasn’t a bad idea, but Qiao Lanshu felt the two kids were still too young, and she worried they might get lost.
After all, they had never traveled far before, and with the current state of society being quite chaotic, cases of women and children being abducted were unfortunately common.
Qiao Lanshu said to him, “You stay home and watch the children. We’re going as a group, with a teacher leading us. Nothing will happen.”
Qin Yuanzheng remained uneasy. Looking at the three children, he said to Han Ye, “Han Ye, when the time comes, take An’an and Xiaxia to your place and take good care of them.”
Han Ye nodded immediately. “Don’t worry, Uncle Qin. I promise I’ll look after them well.”
Qin Qiao’an often stayed at Han Ye’s house, though Xiaxia rarely went over.
Although Han Wenlin was busy with work, Han Ye was fairly reliable.
But in the end, Han Ye was still just a kid who had just started middle school—not an adult—so leaving two children in his care was still worrisome.
Qin Yuanzheng thought for a moment and added, “No, it’s better to send the two of them to our cousin in Longcheng’s house to stay for a few days. After I drop you off, I’ll come back quickly. It won’t take long.”
After the reform and opening up, Yang Wenyan had refused a transfer order and stayed at the food factory, personally investing to take over its operations.
Now, he was both the factory director and the owner.
His cousin’s wife, Deng Xiaozhen, had given birth to a son a few years ago but hadn’t conceived again since. She doted on their only child.
Qiao Lanshu considered this and said, “Actually, sending them to Zhong Mei’s place would work too. Didn’t they move recently? Their house is pretty big.”
Many years had passed, and Qiao Lanshu hadn’t been to Longcheng for a long time, nor had she seen Zhong Mei in quite a while.
She added, “Our cousin runs his factory and must be very busy. They don’t have a nanny, so his wife has to juggle taking care of the kids and helping out at the factory. She must be overwhelmed. It might be better to send the kids to Zhong Mei’s place. The four children are close in age, and Zhong Mei just quit her job recently and has some free time.”
Zhong Mei had previously worked as a meter reader—a formal position arranged by Guan Wenjun.
She only worked for a couple of years before giving birth to two sons in quick succession. Since neither of them had parental support, they had to hire a nanny. Zhong Mei balanced working and caring for the children alongside the nanny.
Later, with the reform and opening up, Zhong Mei saw a business opportunity. Once the kids were a bit older, she quit her job.
She planned to open a general store to sell goods and make money. She felt that just earning a fixed salary wasn’t enough; she wanted to do business and make big money.
However, she had been unemployed for several months and hadn’t figured out how to start the business yet. The beginning was always the hardest, and she was still thinking it over.
Qin Yuanzheng agreed, “Sending them to Zhong Mei’s place works too. The four kids are about the same age and can play together.”
Han Ye listened to their discussion and couldn’t help but chime in, “Mom Qiao, if you leave the kids with me, it’ll be totally fine. No need to go through the hassle of sending them all the way to Longcheng. Really, you don’t have to worry about how I handle things.”
Qiao Lanshu shot him a sharp look and said, “It’s precisely because it’s you handling things that I don’t feel at ease.”
Han Ye: “……”
Muttering under his breath, Han Ye said, “What’s there to worry about? I’m pretty reliable when it comes to getting things done.”
Xiaxia interrupted, “You’re always getting into fights. That’s not reliable at all.”
Han Ye quickly defended himself, “Those were all started by others. I never pick fights first.”
Qin Qiao’an hurriedly said, “Dad, Mom, why don’t you just take us along? I’ve never been to the capital before, and I want to see it!”
Xiaxia, on the other hand, looked calm. She was more of a homebody and didn’t like going out much.
But Han Ye’s eyes lit up. “Take me too! I’ve never been to the capital either! I want to go!”
Qiao Lanshu: “……”
Qin Yuanzheng rubbed his chin and hesitated, “Actually, we could bring them along, right? The three kids are pretty sensible. They won’t run off. It’s just an overnight train ride, no transfers needed.”
……
……
In the days leading up to Qiao Lanshu’s trip to the capital for her studies, Qin Yuanzheng had been making all the arrangements.
Their final decision was to take the kids with them.
First, the children had never been outside the hospital before, so it would be a good chance to broaden their horizons.
Second, Qin Yuanzheng and the kids had never been apart from Qiao Lanshu for this long before.
After all, they would be separated for half a year. Not only did Qin Yuanzheng want to send her off, but the kids also wanted to see her off.
Since they were going out of the province, it was quite a long trip.
Having decided to travel as a family, Qiao Lanshu began preparing about five or six days in advance.
They packed food and water for the five of them, along with clothes and daily necessities.
Since she would be away for six months of training and study, there was a lot to prepare.
Qin Yuanzheng and the kids would also be away from home for a few days, so the chickens they raised and the vegetable garden needed someone to take care of them.
Qin Yuanzheng arranged for a security guard to come by daily to feed the chickens and water the garden. Since he wasn’t bringing a guard with him this time, and the others had no other duties besides training, this was the best solution.
Once everything was arranged, the whole family set off.
Han Ye went with them too. Tall and strong, he carried two bags and kept an eye on his younger brother and sister—very capable.
Qin Yuanzheng also carried two bags as they arrived at the train station.
They had bought sleeper tickets again. Qin Yuanzheng purchased five tickets, with one in the adjacent carriage. After settling his wife and children in one carriage, he went to check on the nearby carriage.
Qiao Lanshu and Xiaxia were assigned to the upper berths, as Han Ye had suggested. He said, “Mom, the train can be a bit chaotic. It’s safer for you ladies to sleep up top.”
Han Ye wasn’t new to long trips either. In fact, he had been rescued on a train by Qin Yuanzheng and Qiao Lanshu when he was a child.
He still remembered all these things vividly, so every time he took the train or went on a trip, he remained extremely cautious, always feeling like everyone around him was out to get him.
Qiao Lanshu and Xiaxia naturally had no objections. Xiaxia grabbed two books and immediately climbed up to the upper bunk to lie down, resting against the pillow as she began reading.
Qin Qiao'an was quite curious—after all, it was his first time on a train. Sitting on the lower bunk, swinging his legs, he asked Qiao Lanshu, “Mom, can I go out and have a look? I want to see what the other carriages are like.”
Han Ye was tidying up their things as he replied, “This is the soft sleeper carriage. There’s also the hard sleeper carriage and the seat carriage. Come on, I’ll show you around.”
Qiao Lanshu climbed down from the upper bunk and took out some boiled eggs, apples, and pancakes from her bag. “Don’t wander too far. Come back soon to eat.”
Han Ye and Qin Qiao'an nodded in agreement and were about to head out.
Han Ye hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Xia’er, do you want to come with us?”
Xiaxia flipped a page without lifting her head. “No thanks. It’s just train carriages. What’s so interesting about that?”
When they first boarded, she had already seen the hard sleeper and seat carriages—they were crowded and chaotic, noisy and cramped. Many people couldn’t even get inside and were climbing through the windows. It was honestly quite scary.
Right now, Xiaxia was incredibly grateful that her father was an officer and Han Wenlin was the provincial bureau chief, so they could buy tickets for the soft sleeper carriage.
Otherwise, if she had to go out there and squeeze among all those people, she would have chosen to stay put.
Qiao Lanshu reminded Han Ye, “You two just take a quick look around and come back soon.”
Han Ye and Qin Qiao'an both nodded and went out together.
After the two brothers left, Qin Yuanzheng returned as well. His seat was in the adjacent carriage, but except for when he was resting at night, he still made sure to come back to see his wife and kids.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t feel at ease.
Qiao Lanshu had already taken out the food and handed Qin Yuanzheng a cucumber. “Sit down and have something to eat.”
Qin Yuanzheng took a bite of the cucumber and then sat down beside Qiao Lanshu.
The couple chatted casually for a while.
This trip to the capital was planned so that before Qiao Lanshu started her studies, they could take the children around to see the city—places like Tiananmen Square.
It wasn’t easy to come here, so they wanted the kids to broaden their horizons.
Qiao Lanshu said to Qin Yuanzheng, “Let’s save up over the next few years and buy a house back in Yangcheng. Then when I go back to visit my family, we’ll have a place to stay.”
In recent years, she had returned to Yangcheng twice to see her family, but both times Qin Yuanzheng had accompanied her. The kids were still young, so she hadn’t brought them along.
She had been married far from home for many years. Her younger brother had grown up and was now in high school.
At home, there was a stepmother, not her biological mother. Whenever she brought her family back, she wanted to stay longer, but it never felt quite right.
Besides, her family’s house was small and crowded.
But at that time, property couldn’t be freely bought or sold. Although she wanted to buy a house, it wasn’t possible yet.
She counted on her fingers—only about five more years until the 1990s, when buying and selling property would become unrestricted.
Over the past five years, she planned to save up as much money as possible, so that by then they could return to Yangcheng and buy a small house.
When Qin Yuanzheng heard her say this, he nodded in agreement without objection. He said, “Buying a house sounds like a good idea. In the future, we could even spend winters in Yangcheng.”
Qiao Lanshu smiled at this and replied, “Maybe someday, the transportation will improve, so it won’t take so long to get back. Besides, houses will only become more valuable over time. Buying a house is a way to save money.”
Qin Yuanzheng thought about it for a moment. He realized that since the reform and opening-up, the country’s economy was indeed picking up. Salaries were steadily rising year by year, and goods were becoming more abundant.
Perhaps his wife was right — houses would only get more expensive, so if they wanted to buy one, they had to act sooner rather than later.
He said, “By that logic, houses in the capital must be even more valuable. Do you want to buy one there? Maybe the kids will develop their careers in the capital someday, and having a place to settle down would be good.”
Qiao Lanshu gave Qin Yuanzheng a playful glare and said, “Where would we get that kind of money? Our family is dirt poor.”
Though Qin Yuanzheng was an officer, his salary was truly modest. For many years, it had been just a hundred yuan.
It wasn’t until 1985, when military ranks were reassessed and income standards clarified, that his salary was adjusted to around three hundred yuan. Fortunately, besides the salary, officers enjoyed other benefits.
For example, the government provided housing and cars, as well as education and healthcare for their children — all allocated by the state, so they didn’t have to spend extra money.
Because of this, every month when Qiao Lanshu received Qin Yuanzheng’s salary, she saved it all.
Her own salary was only about seventy yuan, which she used entirely for daily expenses. After all, raising children was quite costly.
Qiao Lanshu told Qin Yuanzheng, “We simply couldn’t save money before. Your salary was low, and it was only since last July that it increased a bit. We’ve been married for nearly ten years, and I’ve managed to save about fifteen thousand yuan. That amount isn’t nearly enough to buy a house.”
