The news replay was scheduled for nine in the morning, but shortly after eight, the children from the kindergarten began arriving one after another.
It was unclear if they had planned it in advance, but each child came carrying some snacks.
In no time, the coffee table was laden with all sorts of food and drinks, almost resembling a small tea party.
Worried the children might feel restrained, Jiang Si and Huo Tingzhou distributed some snacks and drinks to them.
After reminding Suisui and Zhaozhao to be good hosts to their little friends, the two adults found an excuse to slip away to the study on the second floor.
Even through the thick study door, they could hear the children's excited exclamations and gasps.
When the TV news broadcast officially began, the two little ones even acted as temporary commentators.
"Look, this is the blueprint my mom drew!"
"Look, look! This is the elevator! My sister and I have ridden it! Whoosh, it goes right up to the higher floors!"
"Isn't my mom amazing!"
Clearly, all the little listeners present absorbed every word, and later relayed everything faithfully to their families back home.
Thus, for a long time afterwards, discussions about Jiang Si became a constant topic within the residential compound.
However, more conversation was focused on the two children.
Because, the very day after the tea party, Suisui and Zhaozhao started carrying their own small backpacks and walking to kindergarten by themselves.
At first, people in the compound thought Jiang Si and her husband were too busy to take the children.
Later, they realized that wasn't the case.
For the first couple of days, Jiang Si would follow behind them, not too close, not too far.
Later, a familiar sister-in-law couldn't help but ask, and only then did everyone learn that the children themselves insisted their parents not escort them.
Jiang Si couldn't win the argument with them, but still worried, so she had no choice but to follow from a distance to check on them each day.
After following for several consecutive days and seeing the children adjusted perfectly well, Jiang Si gradually let go.
Once this news spread, everyone was incredibly envious.
All the children were around the same age, so how could the gap between them be so vast?
Their own children needed constant urging just to get out of bed in the morning.
For going to and from school, they practically wished to be carried.
Then look at Chief of Staff Huo's two children! Good-looking! Excellent students! Well-behaved, considerate, and sensible! And they even know how to care for their mother!
They'd be willing to have children like that—not just two, but eight or ten!
Speaking of the topic of having children, some overly enthusiastic sister-in-laws began shifting their attention to Jiang Si's abdomen.
Logically speaking, Chief of Staff Huo's two children were already over five years old by traditional count.
The couple had a good relationship and good living conditions; it was about time they considered having another one.
As a result, whenever Jiang Si stepped out now and encountered the sister-in-laws and aunties in the compound,
she was either enthusiastically urged to have more children, or pulled aside to share parenting tips.
Jiang Si handled it with a smile a few times, but after numerous encounters, she was truly starting to feel overwhelmed.
Fortunately, the residential compound was never short of fresh topics and gossip.
Not long after, the prevailing topic in the compound began to change again.
When Jiang Si heard the news that the person from the Ling family had gotten divorced yet again, she was utterly stunned!
At this rate, it probably wouldn't be long before that person could proudly bring home the title "Eighth-Time Divorcee Dynasty."
However, this news was a timely rain for Jiang Si.
At least now when she went out, people's attention was no longer solely focused on her.
Jiang Si felt a wave of relief.
...
Days passed one after another. At the end of April, Sister-in-law Xu and her family arrived in the capital.
Just like when Jiang Si's family had moved, their large furniture and luggage had been packed and shipped to the capital in advance.
Colonel Lei's transfer this time was a lateral move at the same rank. At his current level, he wasn't eligible for a standalone villa.
But the housing wasn't bad either; it was also a two-story building.
It just had a special layout: the staircase leading to the second floor was located outdoors.
One household lived upstairs, another downstairs, each with their own front and back yard, not interfering with each other.
Because they had children and were worried the kids running around at night might disturb the downstairs neighbors, Colonel Lei specifically chose a first-floor unit when selecting the house.
On the day the furniture and luggage arrived, Huo Tingzhou and a few close comrades like Old Xiao took half a day off to help.
Jiang Si went to see it too. The house had a standard two-bedroom, one-living-room layout, covering over eighty square meters.
There was no concept of shared/common area back then, so this size was perfectly sufficient for their family of four.
After all, the children were still young. By the time they needed separate rooms, Colonel Lei—or rather, Section Chief Lei now—might have been promoted further in rank.
After looking around, Jiang Si took the children outside.
While the men were busy moving furniture and assembling beds and cabinets, Jiang Si, Teacher Hu, and the Weidong and Weimin brothers worked together to turn over and prepare the vegetable patch in the yard.
The two little ones weren't idle either, bustling about like little bees with their watering cans.
Working against time, they managed to get the house mostly ready and the vegetable seeds sown just as Sister-in-law Xu's family arrived in the capital.
Saying it was "move-in ready" might be an exaggeration, but it definitely saved the family a lot of effort.
Perhaps because she was pregnant, Sister-in-law Xu had become particularly emotional.
That day, she alternated between tears and laughter, causing Jiang Si's eyes to well up several times too.
In the evening, the several families had a housewarming meal together at the Lei's home. Teacher Hu even specially made agar jelly.
That delicacy was delicious, but terribly troublesome to prepare, requiring repeated washing and rinsing.
Coconuts weren't available in the capital, and brown sugar promoted blood circulation. Since Sister-in-law Xu was pregnant, she didn't dare add it.
"I mixed in some milk made from milk powder," Teacher Hu said, serving each of them a bowl. "Try it quickly, see if it tastes the same as before?"
Hearing this, Jiang Si scooped a piece with her spoon and put it in her mouth.
The familiar sensation—cool, crisp, smooth, with a faint milky fragrance—instantly pulled her thoughts back several years.
Back then, she had just arrived on Hainan Island, unfamiliar with both the place and the people.
Just like today, the men were busy moving things and settling into the new home, while Teacher Hu took her and Sister-in-law Xu to her own house.
That was also her first time tasting agar jelly.
Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, four years had passed.
Now, each of their three families had undergone significant changes.
Promotions here, new additions there.
Fortunately, fate seemed to have drawn a circle, bringing their families together once again in the same residential compound.
Eating the agar jelly and chatting about the past and present, Jiang Si couldn't help but feel deeply moved.
The other two sister-in-laws felt the same.
Finally, when Jiang Si mentioned that in 1978, their family of four planned to return to Hainan Island to revisit old haunts,
Teacher Hu and Sister-in-law Xu exchanged a smile, their eyes revealing the same yearning.
"That would be wonderful!" Sister-in-law Xu said, smiling as she rested a hand on her slightly rounded belly. "Let's all go together then."
"Yes, let's take the children, see the places we used to live, and go beachcombing together one more time."
"Alright, it's a deal!" Jiang Si replied with a nod and a smile.
And so, a ten-year pact was thus forged!
