1970s: My childhood sweetheart ran away, and I turned around and married the wildest chief.

At this moment, the eldest son, Lu Anbang, said excitedly, "You don't understand, do you? Dad raises us not to make money, but to ensure our social status, understand? Look at how our family can live in the best military compound in Beijing now, in such a big house, all thanks to Dad's job. Many people in our compound look down on those families who only do business, calling them self-employed."

Seeing that the children were discussing it, Qiao Wanqing stopped caring and kicked them all out, telling them to go to their own rooms to discuss it.

"Mom is tired and needs to rest. If you're not tired, go play by yourselves. But you're not familiar with our hometown, so don't wander off or trust strangers easily. Either stay upstairs and play by yourselves, or if you go downstairs, don't trust anyone except Grandpa and Grandma, your second uncle and aunt. Never leave this house, never be alone, and never go to deserted places. Be especially careful of your eldest uncle, the one who caused trouble downstairs just now, his wife, and his child. Don't trust any of them, understand?"

The children nodded quickly, "We understand!"

Children raised in large compounds are trained to be vigilant from a young age. So, no matter how naughty they are, they dare not ignore what their parents emphasize. If they didn't take it to heart before, they would have been severely beaten by their parents.

After seeing the child off, Qiao Wanqing locked the door, took off her coat, and found that the house was not cold because of the underfloor heating. The house was specially designed to have underfloor heating and hot water supply, but it was not as convenient as the water heaters of later generations.

She took a shower and changed her clothes. When she came out and was drying her hair, someone knocked on the door.

"Honey, why is the door locked? Are you inside?" It was Lu Mingzhou's voice.

Qiao Wanqing was taken aback, not expecting him to come over, and went to open the door.

"You're back so quickly?"

Lu Mingzhou came in, closed the door, took the towel from her hand and dried her hair, smiling as he said, "We've been talking for so long, it's time to go. I've been on the road for so long, I need to rest too, okay? But don't expect to be idle these next few days. There's a family gathering at noon tomorrow, and all the relatives will probably be coming. After that, each family will take turns hosting, and it'll probably be booked until after the New Year."

"Now that the factories are closed for the holidays, no one is going to visit anyone's home. Everyone is just eating and drinking at home. There will probably be a lot of dinner parties coming up."

Qiao Wanqing opened her eyes wide. "I don't need to go, right? I heard that women aren't allowed to sit at the table in the countryside, is that right?"

She was actually somewhat looking forward to it; she was really getting more and more like a novice as she got older.

commit a sin!

Lu Mingzhou immediately laughed, "You don't need to. Our whole family will be attending the dinner tomorrow. As for the relatives' dinners, Dad and I will go. When we host a dinner here, we rarely invite women. It's usually the men in the family who go."

"Going there will only mean listening to those men bragging, exchanging pleasantries, or trying to build connections. What's the point of going there? Just stay home these days, take the kids around, eat and drink, and enjoy the New Year. We'll go back after the holiday."

Qiao Wanqing was relieved. Lu Mingzhou was really good in this respect. He never forced her to integrate into the Lu family. After being married to him for so many years, it was basically just the two of them and their child living their lives. They had very little contact with her husband's family. During the years when Lu's parents lived in the capital, although the house in the compound was very big, Lu Mingzhou never said that he had to bring them over to take care of them. Instead, he let them live outside and look after the properties for her.

People like Lu Mingzhou, who don't require their wives to have much contact with their families, are extremely rare.

Seeing his wife looking at him with such admiration and adoration, Lu Mingzhou couldn't help but smile, raising an eyebrow as he asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Qiao Wanqing reached out and hugged his neck, tilting her head back with sparkling eyes as she praised, "I just think, how can you be so smart! Not only are you outstanding in your career, but you're also very good at handling family relationships. You're clear-headed, rational, and good at organizing people. No matter what their status is, you can manage them all well. You're simply born to be a leader!"

Lu Mingzhou's lips curled into a wide grin from his wife's praise, his smile impossible to suppress. "Really? You really think that way about me? How so?"

Seeing his smug look, Qiao Wanqing was naturally happy to oblige him, so she continued to praise him: "I won't talk about your career, most things in your army are kept secret, so I don't know anything about them. But judging from the speed of your promotion, I know just how capable you are."

"I'll say what I feel most deeply is that you are really good at handling family relationships and managing people. You are very good at balancing things. Many successful men like you like to show off their filial piety by bringing their parents over for their wives to serve, or even bringing relatives from their hometowns over for their wives to serve. Many people from their hometowns don't really have much experience. If you, as someone with authority, indulge them, they will naturally become arrogant. Once they become arrogant, they won't treat your wife like a human being and will be bossy. These are all very common phenomena."

"In the end, the couple quarrels, the whole family has conflicts, and it's all in chaos. There are quite a few families like that in our compound. Aren't those men doing very well at work? But when it comes to handling family relationships, they are far less capable than you."

"And you! You dote on your wife, love your children, and people from your hometown care about you and want to promote you, but you will never indulge them. A few years ago, during the crackdown, some families in our compound had relatives from their hometowns who relied on their connections to cause trouble and eventually got into trouble. They came to the compound for help, and then what? The matter got out of hand, and they couldn't cover it up anymore. In the end, some were executed, some went to jail, and you were busy running around trying to fix things, but in the end, you were the one who got blamed. In the end, nobody got away with it."

"But you're different. The Lu family has so many members, and they haven't had a single problem all these years. You've managed them very well. We set up a factory in our hometown, so they could earn money right at their doorstep. Their families' conditions have all improved. Although the wages are high, it hasn't drained our wealth. On the contrary, the factory is still profitable, and they're still making money for us. You could say it benefits everyone; it's a win-win situation. You're a truly capable leader, taking care of everything and balancing relationships with all parties. No wonder your boss likes you and promoted you. You're really amazing!"

Lu Mingzhou felt weak all over; sweet words really do sound good! Although he knew his wife was just trying to coax him, and that he wasn't the one who started the factory—it was clearly her idea—at this moment, his heart was bubbling with sweetness!