Upon hearing this, Lu Zhankai was stunned for a moment. Before setting off, he knew that someone would come to pick them up today, but he didn't expect the whole family to be here.
Before he could react, Second Brother Huo led a few guys forward and reached out to hug him.
It had been more than thirty years since they last saw each other, so there was bound to be some awkwardness between them.
But with this hug, the heart of the man who had been away from home for many years finally settled down at this moment.
On this side, Jiang Si also stepped forward with a smile, along with the second sister - in - law and the fourth sister - in - law.
"Sister - in - law, you've had a long and tiring journey."
Meng Yuan quickly replied, "Second sister - in - law, third sister - in - law, fourth sister - in - law, I'm sorry to trouble you all this time when we come back."
"Sister - in - law, we're family. Don't mention it."
Seeing this scene, Mother Huo, who had just managed to stop her tears, shed them again.
Finally, Father Huo reminded them, "Let's go. Let's go back first. The old master and the fourth brother's family are waiting for us at the restaurant."
"Let's talk about things when we get back. Don't let the kids freeze."
Originally, the old master and his wife also wanted to come along, but it was freezing outside, and Father and Mother Huo were worried about them.
So, after much persuasion and by assigning them the task of taking care of the great - grandchildren, they finally managed to persuade the old couple to stay.
"Yes, yes, get in the car first!" Realizing this, Mother Huo quickly greeted everyone to get in the car.
The Beijing Grand Hotel was nearby, and it only took less than ten minutes to drive there.
Due to the large number of people, the Huo family had specially booked a large private room in advance.
As soon as they entered the private room, at the first sight of her eldest grandson, Grandma Huo's tears welled up.
She held Lu Zhankai's hand and looked him up and down.
Lu Zhankai choked with emotion, "Grandpa, Grandma, we're back."
"Good to be back, good to be back."
Grandma Huo wiped away her tears and then turned to the old master and said, "Look how much the eldest grandson looks like Zhendong when he was young."
"Yes, he does!"
While replying, the old master also stroked the faces of the two great - grandchildren and asked, "These are Ruirui and Yaoyao, right?"
Meng Yuan nodded and called out to Grandpa and Grandma.
The two children also followed suit and called out crisply, "Hello, Great - Grandpa. Hello, Great - Grandma."
"Good, good, good."
As he finished speaking, the old master stuffed the red envelopes he had prepared in advance into the hands of the two children.
Before leaving home, Father and Mother Lu had specifically told the two children a lot of things.
So when they saw Great - Grandpa stuffing the red envelopes into their hands, the two children didn't take them immediately but looked at their parents.
"Grandpa - "
As soon as Lu Zhankai opened his mouth, he was interrupted by the old master, "This is a greeting gift for the two children. Don't decline it."
Seeing that his son still wanted to say something, Mother Huo directly took the two red envelopes on their behalf and stuffed them, along with her own, into the hands of her eldest daughter - in - law.
"This is your grandpa and grandma's wish. If you don't accept it, they'll be sad."
Since the matter had come to this, Meng Yuan had no choice but to accept them on behalf of the two children.
"Thank you, Dad, Mom. Thank you, Grandpa, Grandma."
Father Huo smiled all over his face and said, "The dishes are all served. Take your seats, everyone."
After everyone was seated, Mother Huo took a deep breath and began to introduce every relative present to the four - member family of the eldest son seriously and solemnly.
"This is your fourth uncle and fourth aunt."
"Fourth Uncle, Fourth Aunt."
As Fourth Uncle Huo and Fourth Aunt Huo responded, they also stuffed red envelopes into the hands of the two children.
Next came the children of Fourth Uncle Huo.
Every time a family was introduced, the cousins and cousin - sisters of that family would stand up with a smile to respond.
And they took out the gifts they had prepared.
The gifts, including food, drinks, and daily - use items, obviously showed that they had put a lot of thought into them.
Similarly, Jiang Si and the other two sisters - in - law also prepared their own gifts for the elder brother and sister - in - law.
No wonder those who are sincere deserve to be treated sincerely.
While everyone was presenting their gifts, Lu Zhankai also took out the gifts he had prepared for everyone.
In addition to being a paradise for fruits, Xinjiang Province is also quite famous for its fabrics and dairy products.
Most importantly, you don't need tickets to buy these things there.
As a man, Lu Zhankai wasn't very good at choosing gifts.
So he only took care of paying the bill, and Meng Yuan was in charge of choosing the things.
The gifts for the male comrades were all fur hats, locally called 'Tumak'.
Most of the linings were made of fox fur or black goatskin, which had excellent cold - proof effects.
For the female comrades, she prepared a popular fabric in Xinjiang - the Aidelais silk.
It had bright colors and was most suitable for making dresses.
She didn't forget the children either.
Each child got a pack of special cheese candies from Xinjiang, which tasted sweet and sour and had a strong milk flavor.
Not only the children, but even the adults couldn't stop eating them.
The so - called adults here refer to no one else but Jiang Si.
Since Suisui and Zhaozhao were still young, she had to reluctantly take over their shares!
Seeing that his wife had eaten three or four pieces of cheese candy in a short time, Huo Tingzhou helplessly served her a bowl of hot soup and put it in front of her.
Then he rolled a few Peking duck wraps for her.
If this happened outside, people might make some jokes about it.
But in the Huo family, it was just an ordinary thing.
Even Lu Zhankai, who hadn't grown up in the Huo family since childhood, had perfectly inherited this fine tradition of the Huo family.
In the words of those old masters in the compound, the men in the Huo family.
On the battlefield, they were like fierce tigers!
At home, they were a model group!
How virtuous they were!
Looking at the harmonious scene of every family, Mother Huo felt both sad and gratified.
She felt sad because she had missed the growth of her eldest son for more than thirty years and had never fulfilled her responsibility as a mother for a single day.
She was gratified because the children were all doing well now.
The brothers were in harmony, and the sisters - in - law got along well.
In the middle of her thoughts, Lu Zhankai rolled a Peking duck wrap and put it in Mother Huo's hand.
"Mom, don't just take care of Yaoyao. She's already two years old and can eat by herself. You eat quickly."
Mother Huo nodded repeatedly and said, "You all eat too."
Then she looked at the well - behaved great - grandson sitting beside her.
"Ruirui, Yaoyao, pick whatever you like to eat. If you can't reach, Grandma will help you."
"Grandma, Yaoyao can't eat anymore."
Yaoyao patted her little belly and said, "My belly is already round and full."
Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.
Just like this, everyone ate the meals and chatted about their respective situations at the same time.
When the atmosphere was at its most harmonious, the old master raised his wine glass.
"Today is the first real family reunion of our Huo family. Come, let's raise our glasses and welcome Zhankai and his family home!"
As his voice fell, everyone stood up.
Everyone raised their glasses together.
"Welcome Big Brother and Sister - in - law home!"
"Come, cheers!"
The lively reunion dinner didn't end until around ten o'clock at night.
After the meal, everyone went back to their own homes.
The children had been on the train for several days and nights and had also had a busy evening. By this time, they were so sleepy that they could hardly stand up straight.
Mother Huo directly took the eldest son and his wife upstairs.
The room was the one that Yang Tingtao used to live in before, but Mother Huo thought it was off - putting, so she had replaced all the furniture in the room.
Since there were a few more children in the family this year, the heating was turned up higher than usual. You could even walk barefoot on the floor without feeling cold.
However, it was still a bit cold in the morning and evening.
Mother Huo said, "The quilts and mattresses are all in the big wardrobe. If you feel cold, just add another quilt by yourselves."
"Here are the towels and slippers. Oh, by the way, your grandparents bought several cotton-padded jackets for the two kids. I've put them in this cabinet."
"See if there's anything else you need. I'll take you out to buy it tomorrow."
The previous performance work had ended, and the troupe had given them a few days off.
Taking advantage of this free time, Mother Huo planned to accompany them well.
