Perhaps this tenth-anniversary trip was too wonderful, for even before the journey ended, Jiang Si and Huo Tingzhou had already made a pact to return for the next decade's celebration.
No, not just the next one, but every tenth anniversary thereafter, they would come as long as circumstances allowed.
Time flew, and another ten years passed.
For their last tenth anniversary, it was mainly their family of four plus Third Granduncle and Uncle Zhong.
For this twentieth-anniversary celebration, thanks to Jiang Si's advance planning and arrangements, the Huo family was practically fully mobilized, with almost everyone who could come attending.
Father Huo and Mother Huo had by then stepped back from the front lines. Having toiled diligently for most of their lives, they had finally shed their heavy burdens and were now enjoying a happy life doting on their grandchildren.
Meanwhile, through his relentless efforts, Huo Tingzhou had successfully risen to become the new head of the military department.
While Huo Tingzhou's career was flourishing, Jiang Si never ceased her own forward march.
After returning to Beijing, Jiang Si completed all her coursework at Tsinghua University in two years.
In the following years, she successively participated in the advancement and research of several classified projects.
By now, she had long become the youngest Deputy Chief Designer in the history of the Seventh Ministry, concurrently serving as the Chief of the Overall Design Office.
Her hand-drawn blueprints were even permanently collected by the National Museum of China.
Thirty of these drawings were classified as "Top-Secret Archives."
As the first female Deputy Chief Engineer in the history of the Seventh Ministry, under Jiang Si's advocacy and suggestion, the ministry established a series of training programs.
In just ten short years, the proportion of female technical core members in the design institute rose from less than 10% to 22%, serving as an excellent role model for the rise of a new generation of female researchers.
They say a tiger father does not beget a dog son. Growing up under the constant influence of their parents, the siblings' path of growth can only be summarized in one sentence.
Starting from kindergarten, they were always the "children from that other family" that people talked about!
After Suisui systematically studied in the University of Science and Technology's Special Class for the Gifted for four years, in '82 he was specially admitted to Tsinghua University.
After graduating with a combined bachelor's and master's degree, he was scheduled to be publicly dispatched to MIT in the U.S. to pursue his doctorate in the latter half of this year.
His younger sister, Zhaozhao, had followed her brother all along, but this time their choices diverged.
She did not choose to study abroad on a public scholarship but opted to continue putting down roots at Tsinghua University to pursue her doctorate.
This year was the most complete family gathering in history.
By the time 1998 arrived, as everyone became busier with work, it was never again possible to gather so many people.
But this year, Jiang Si invested a huge sum to secure a scenic bay on Hainan Island.
She personally designed over a dozen vacation villas with distinct styles.
Also in this same year, Zhaozhao got married.
The groom was none other than Zhuo Qingyun from the Zhuo family.
Just as Jiang Si had predicted during their first birthday "Zhua Zhou" (grab) ceremony all those years ago.
The future son-in-law truly had watched her daughter grow up.
The two had known each other since Zhaozhao was four years old, having unknowingly accompanied each other for over twenty years.
Their daughter had always been strong-willed, intelligent, and independent since childhood.
Both Jiang Si and Huo Tingzhou fully trusted her judgment.
Moreover, Qingyun was practically a child they had watched grow up themselves; his character and abilities were among the best of his peers.
Most importantly, their daughter loved him.
They loved each other.
So, on the day of her daughter's wedding, although Jiang Si felt reluctant to part, her emotions were relatively stable.
It was Huo Tingzhou, usually steady and composed, who stayed up all night the evening before the wedding.
A man who would shed blood but not tears, he ultimately couldn't hold back during the wedding ceremony the next day as he listened to his daughter and son-in-law exchange vows, crying until he was a complete mess.
Such a rare loss of composure from him, this meaningful moment naturally had to be recorded and saved for leisurely appreciation later.
The year after the wedding, Zhaozhao gave birth to a lovely daughter, nicknamed Yueyue.
The following year, China welcomed the new millennium.
Their son, Jingxing, also finally concluded his lengthy overseas studies and chose to return to China to develop his career and serve his homeland.
To everyone's relief, this time he did not return alone.
He brought back his entire research and development team.
A total of over ten doctoral and postdoctoral researchers from renowned universities.
Among them was his long-time girlfriend. By the end of that same year, the two tied the knot, stepping together into a new chapter of their lives.
In the year 2008, for the first time in all their years of marriage, Jiang Si did not go to Hainan Island for their tenth-anniversary celebration.
The reason was simple: the Olympics were being held in Beijing that year.
Such a grand and meaningful event naturally called for staying in Beijing to witness it firsthand.
Well, it was also mainly because everyone was too busy.
Since they couldn't even gather everyone in 2008, Jiang Si didn't even entertain the thought for the 2018 tenth-anniversary celebration.
But what she didn't know was that Huo Tingzhou had already notified relatives and friends one by one a month prior.
Because this year marked the important occasion of his and his wife's fiftieth wedding anniversary—their golden anniversary.
The celebration was scheduled for the exact day they had officially registered their marriage.
On that day, relatives and friends all attended in their finest attire.
The seaside vacation villas couldn't even accommodate everyone.
Fortunately, back in 2008, Jiang Si had seized the tide of the times and invested in building a new five-star resort hotel nearby.
Long ago, Jiang Si had promised Huo Tingzhou that in the year of their golden anniversary, they would have a set of wedding photos taken by the sea.
The wedding dress would be the one she wore that Lunar New Year many years before.
Thanks to years of persistent yoga practice and nourishment from the spiritual spring water, Jiang Si's appearance and physique were exceptionally well-maintained.
The wedding dress needed almost no alterations for her to wear it easily.
Even the makeup artist couldn't help but marvel, truly, time is never the victor over some women.
In the most popular modern phrase: a Ferrari, even when old, is still a Ferrari!
Jiang Si was amused.
Just as the two were chatting, Zhaozhao entered the dressing room with her daughter.
Seeing Yueyue looking quite angry, Jiang Si was puzzled.
For this trip to Hainan Island, Yueyue had brought two good friends along.
They had all been chatting happily during breakfast just earlier.
"What's wrong? You look furious," Jiang Si asked.
Zhaozhao looked exasperated. "Seems they had a little disagreement."
“Grandma, you have no idea how awful they were,” Yueyue said, handing over her certain fruit phone.
What appeared on the screen was a familiar APP.
Tomato Novel
She used to read on this APP often in her youth—Jiang Si meant before transmigrating into the book.
Ever since transmigrating, she had rarely read on it.
Mainly out of fear.
Jiang Si was extremely satisfied and cherished her current life.
Zhaozhao, however, was quite curious and took the phone for a look.
Now she understood why her daughter was so angry.
It was because of this.
She explained succinctly, "Mom, one of her little friends enjoys writing and recently published a novel on this website."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Si instantly felt a sense of foreboding.
