The sky collapsed, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself transported to Nanluoguxiang.

The next morning, as soon as Li Kaixin entered the main room, he saw his parents sitting at the table with dark circles under their eyes.

"Father, Mother, what's wrong? You look so pale?" Li Kaixin smiled, pulled up a chair, and sat down on the other side of the table.

Father Li Mingde glared at his son, annoyed. "You brat, aren't you just asking the obvious?! Do you want your mother and I to give you a loving lesson?"

This time, Qin Xiuli, the mother, didn't side with her son either, but nodded in agreement.

Last night, after having dinner with her husband, she kept thinking about the newspaper interview and barely slept a wink.

"No, no, no, I was wrong." Seeing that her parents were surprisingly in agreement, Li Kaixin quickly waved her hands and begged for forgiveness.

Then she shifted her gaze to the new clothes the two were wearing and changed the subject: "Dad, Mom, you look really smart today."

"That's right! If we weren't going to be interviewed today, we wouldn't dare to wear them."

As her mother, Qin Xiuli, spoke, her gaze fell on Li Kaixin, noticing that he was still dressed the same as yesterday: "Kaixin, you should go change into something new later."

"Mom, you prepared one for me too?" Li Kaixin was a little surprised.

"We have them all!"

Mother Qin Xiuli smiled and said, "These are made from the fabric you brought back last time. I cut one for everyone. When Xiaokai and Xiaoxiao wake up, I'll have them put them on too."

Just then, Li Kai, the younger brother, and Li Xiaoxiao, the younger sister, came over from the side room.

"Mom, what were you and my brother talking about?" Li Kai, the younger brother, ran to his mother's side.

He had just come from the next room and heard his mother and older brother talking, but he didn't hear the whole thing.

"New clothes!" Mother Qin Xiuli smiled and patted her second son's head. "Today, you and Xiaoxiao will both wear new clothes to school."

"Mom, really?" Upon hearing this, younger brother Li Kai immediately became excited, circling around his mother. "Where is it? Where are the new clothes?"

Li Xiaoxiao, the younger sister, also looked at her mother with bright, sparkling eyes, her face full of joy.

At this moment, the father, Li Mingde, spoke up: "Alright, alright, sit down and eat your breakfast first. Your mother will give it to you after you finish eating."

When their father spoke, the younger brother and sister obediently sat down at the table.

During the meal, they couldn't hide the smiles on their faces.

The family got dressed and went out, just as Aunt Liu from across the street came out to get water. She saw them dressed like this and immediately looked surprised.

"Xiuli, what's the occasion at your house today? Everyone's wearing new clothes!"

"It's nothing serious, Sister Liu. It's just that my son Kaixin is going to be interviewed by the newspaper today."

The mother, Qin Xiuli, smiled, her voice brimming with undisguised joy.

"Huh? What are you interviewing about?" Aunt Liu was stunned and hadn't fully reacted yet.

The mother, Qin Xiuli, wanted to elaborate, but was interrupted by the father, Li Mingde, who was standing in front of her: "Sister Liu, we have to rush to work, so let's stop here for now."

As he spoke, he pushed his bicycle with one hand, gently tugged at his wife's sleeve with the other, and quickly walked out of the yard.

Li Kaixin and her younger siblings smiled politely at Aunt Liu and followed their parents.

After Li Kaixin and his family walked away, the other three women in the courtyard gathered around Aunt Liu.

They had just noticed Qin Xiuli's family's attire and were very curious, but seeing that they were in a hurry to leave, they didn't go up to ask.

Aunt Zhao spoke first: "Sister Liu, do you know why Xiuli and her family are dressed so smartly today?"

The other three women didn't say anything, but their eyes all fell on Aunt Liu's face.

Aunt Liu herself was still a little confused, but seeing that everyone was waiting for her to speak, she told them what she had just heard: "Xiuli said that it seems like Kaixin is going to do some kind of interview."

"Anything else?" Aunt Zhao pressed.

"That's all, that's all Xiuli said." Aunt Liu spread her hands, pushed past the three other women, and turned to go into her own house.

The three elderly women left in the courtyard looked at each other in bewilderment.

The transport station looks completely different today.

A bright red banner, meant to inspire the workers, was hung under the eaves of the main gate.

Li Kaixin had just ridden his bicycle into the station when he was stunned by the scene before him.

Not only was the ground swept clean, but even the railings of the carport were polished until they shone. Compared to yesterday, it was like a completely different place.

Under the shed, the experienced workers who arrived early had changed into the autumn work clothes issued by the transportation station, and the apprentices had also put on new clothes. They were all in high spirits and had smiles on their faces.

Li Kaixin also wanted to wear a work uniform, but when he joined the company, the autumn uniforms had already been distributed, and he only received a cotton-padded coat for winter.

I parked my car in the bicycle shed and walked back to my car.

Unusually, Zhou Zhiming hasn't arrived yet today.

Li Kaixin didn't think much of it. He took the toolbox from the car and carefully checked the car's condition.

Just as he finished tidying up his tools, Zhou Zhiming arrived late.

When Li Kaixin turned her head and saw the dark circles under his eyes, she understood seven or eight parts of the situation.

"Zhiming, did you not sleep all night? Look at your dark circles."

"Master, I...I had a racing heart last night and couldn't sleep." Zhou Zhiming said, his head drooping, looking listless.

Seeing his apprentice's reaction, Li Kaixin couldn't help but smile: "The main interview is with me, and I'm not nervous at all, so why are you nervous?"

Hearing his master say this, Zhou Zhiming raised his eyes and saw that Li Kaixin was indeed refreshed and had no signs of fatigue on his face. He was shocked.

Just then, Director Xie waved to Li Kaixin from a distance: "Kaixin, come here for a moment."

Seeing this, Li Kaixin patted Zhou Zhiming on the shoulder: "Zhiming, hurry up and take a break. Don't wait until the newspaper staff come and you're still like this."

As he spoke, he walked quickly toward Director Xie.

As Zhou Zhiming watched his master's retreating figure, a deep sense of admiration welled up in his heart.

"Director, you wanted to see me?" Li Kaixin came up to him.

Because they were in an open-air setting, he didn't call out to Uncle Xie.

Director Xie didn't seem to care about how Li Kaixin was addressed in public, and pointed to his clothes: "I called you over to ask why you're dressed like this today?"

"Director, as you know, I didn't receive the autumn clothes that the station issued."

"I know you didn't get your autumn clothes. What I mean is, would you like to change into a Zhongshan suit? I can lend you one."

"No, no, Director, I'm fine in this!" Li Kaixin quickly declined.

Director Xie was taken aback by what he said.

Li Kaixin then explained, "Director, I'm just an ordinary worker. Wearing a Zhongshan suit... isn't that a bit inappropriate for my status?"

"I'm sorry, Kaixin, I almost meant well but ended up making things worse." Director Xie immediately realized his mistake, patted his head, and spoke with approval in his tone:

"I didn't expect you to have such a high level of political awareness."

"I'm all set here, you can go and get ready."

Li Kaixin leaned closer and lowered his voice, "Thank you, Uncle Xie."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards his car.

Director Xie didn't leave immediately. Watching Li Kaixin's retreating figure, a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.