Hard work after winning the lottery

We have a little over a day before we head to City A.

This extra day serves as a buffer for parting and a tender reminder for memories.

The afternoon sun was just right, casting dappled shadows through the trees onto the cement floor of the main room.

Hua Yun pulled three large suitcases out of the cabinet and began packing.

She opened the wardrobe and looked at the clothes that were packed inside, and for a moment she didn't know where to start.

Among them are maternity clothes she wore when she was pregnant with triplets; they are loose and soft.

There are baby padded jackets from when the children were just born, still faintly smelling of milk.

Each item carries a heavy memory.

The three little ones, Sile, Si'an, and Sitao, seemed to have smelled some fun news and came running in with their short legs.

"Mom, are we moving?"

Si Tao hugged the slightly worn-out little tiger doll and blinked her big eyes as she asked.

Hua Yun squatted down and touched the top of her son's soft hair.

"Yes, we're going to live in Daddy's big house. It has a big garden and lots of new toys."

"Can my little tiger go?" Sitao hugged the doll tighter, a hint of worry in her eyes. "It doesn't have new clothes, won't the new toys laugh at it?"

Children speak without thinking, yet Hua Yun felt a pang of sadness upon hearing it.

Before she could even speak, Zhou Yanjin had already walked over.

He crouched down, his gaze level with his son's, and spoke in an incredibly gentle tone.

No, it won't.

"The little tiger is Tao Tao's best friend, and Dad's big house is also the little tiger's home."

Si Tao's eyes lit up instantly, as if they held stars.

"Really? Daddy is so great!"

He cheered and planted a big kiss on Zhou Yanjin's cheek.

President Zhou's usually stern face was now beaming like a child who had just received candy.

With the children involved, the tidying up became "lively" and slow.

Sile stuffed his favorite oddly shaped stones into his suitcase.

"This is my baby, I want to show it to my new friends!"

Si'an was struggling with his comic books, his brows furrowed, as if he were making a difficult choice.

Hua Yun smiled as she took out the stones, put them in a bag, and taught them how to fold clothes.

"Fold the sleeves in so they don't take up too much space..."

Zhou Yanjin was not idle.

He doesn't have much stuff. As a business person who travels frequently, packing is just muscle memory for him.

Several shirts, two suits, and some necessary documents were quickly and neatly packed into his personal suitcase.

That's a typical minimalist style: cold and efficient.

After finishing his own business, he rolled up his sleeves and walked over to Hua Yun.

Seeing that Hua Yun was holding a slightly yellowed sweater, which the children had worn when they were one year old, she hesitated whether to take it with her.

Take it with you, it's too small for me, it's taking up space.

Let's not take it with us. She knitted it stitch by stitch, and we can't bear to part with it.

Zhou Yanjin noticed her inner conflict.

He reached out and took the small sweater, his fingertips gently stroking the slightly rough stitches.

He could imagine how, on those cold nights when he was absent, Hua Yun was weaving her love for the children stitch by stitch under the lamplight.

It felt like something had stung my heart, causing a dense, throbbing pain.

"Take it with you."

He said softly, folded the sweater, and put it at the bottom of the box.

"But I can't fit into them anymore..." Hua Yun murmured softly.

"Then keep it as a memento."

Zhou Yanjin looked at her with a firm yet gentle gaze, "When the children grow up, take this out and show it to them, and tell them how much their mother loved them."

Hua Yun's eyes welled up slightly, and she nodded.

In the subsequent sorting process, Zhou Yanjin displayed astonishing patience.

He didn't rush him, nor did he look down on the triviality of those old things.

Instead, he spoke up at the opportune moment when Hua Yun was worrying about a pile of clutter.

"This earthenware pot is too heavy and easily broken, so I'll keep it at home for now."

"We brought this picture frame and placed it in our bedroom."

"These books are too heavy. If you like, I can have someone buy a new set and send it to City A, or we can transport them when we drive back next time."

"No rush, Yunyun."

He grasped Hua Yun's slightly flustered hand, the warmth of his palm seeping through her skin.

"We are not fleeing, nor are we saying we will never come back."

"This will always be your home. We'll come back whenever you want."

"If we don't need some things right now, let them stay here and keep our parents and grandparents company."

This sentence was like a reassuring pill.

Hua Yun's sense of panic, as if she were about to "empty everything and sever ties with the past," vanished instantly.

Yes, she's just moving to a different place; she's not abandoning everything here.

She took a deep breath and began to filter more rationally.

The clothes the children wore regularly, the comfort toys they couldn't live without, and those truly irreplaceable keepsakes were carefully packed into boxes.

The others were carefully packed and neatly stacked in the cabinet.

As they were tidying up, Li Guifen walked in.

She was carrying several homemade cloth bags, which were bulging inside.

"Yunyun, take these dried green beans and dried bamboo shoots with you."

As Li Guifen spoke, she stuffed the suitcase into the gaps.

"City A is a big city, but I've heard that the vegetables there don't taste as good as the ones we grow ourselves."

"When you miss home, just stew some and eat it."

Hua Yun watched her mother's rough hands busily working in the exquisite suitcase, and felt a pang of sadness in her heart.

"Mom, that's enough, you brought too much."

"Not much, not much at all, this is just the beginning."

Li Guifen kept repeating herself, her eyes slightly moist.

"The weather there is drier than here, so make sure the children drink plenty of water."

"The temperature difference between day and night is large, so don't wear too little just to look good, especially your knees. They've been chilled before, so be careful to keep them warm."

"Although Yan Jin is rich and treats you well, we women should also be considerate and not act childish..."

These words of advice, like fine stitches, were sewn into Hua Yun's heart.

Grandma Hua also shuffled over, leaning on her cane, holding a jar of dark, salty vegetables in her hands.

"Take this with you. Grandma pickled it two years ago. It's the best dish to eat with rice."

"You loved eating this rice when you were little. If you didn't have a good appetite, you would eat some of this."

Hua Yun could no longer hold back and reached out to hug her grandmother's slightly hunched back.

"grandmother……"

Her voice was trembling with tears.

Zhou Yanjin stood aside, quietly watching the scene without disturbing it.

But in the courtyard, it was a completely different scene.

Under the old locust tree, Hua Mutou and his son Hua Shu sat in silence.

Both men had a cigarette between their fingers, and their facial expressions were obscured by the swirling smoke.

Several cigarette butts had already been thrown on the ground.

Hua Shu was an honest and simple farmer who had spent his whole life farming and raising sheep. He was not good with words and didn't know how to say nice things.

He was happy and proud that his daughter had married into a wealthy family and become a socialite that everyone envied.

But the thought of her daughter taking her grandchildren away tomorrow makes her feel like a piece of her heart has been ripped out, leaving her with a deep, empty pain.