When I went home for Chinese New Year, I spent a million times more money on my foreign wife.

As the SUV rounded the last bend, the distant crystal dome glowed with a warm yellow light in the night.

Chen Yang glanced out the car window.

The villages on both sides of the road are no longer what he remembers.

The dilapidated mud-brick houses were all demolished and replaced with uniformly planned two-story buildings. The asphalt roads are clean and tidy, and the streetlights shine from the village entrance all the way to the foot of the mountain behind.

But the convoy did not enter the village.

Lei Zi turned the car onto the dedicated lane on the back mountain and drove up the winding mountain road.

There are three security checkpoints, each with a dedicated security guard who scans license plates and allows vehicles to pass only after the process is completed.

After passing the third gate, the main buildings of the Snow Palace came into view.

A constant-temperature crystal dome covers the entire area, and the temperature inside the dome remains at 22 degrees Celsius year-round.

In August, a cool breeze was already blowing outside Kaoshantun, but inside the dome, it was still springtime.

The car was parked in a very private area behind the main Snow Palace.

There is a villa here specifically for the Chen family to live in.

Chen Yang got out of the car, and Katyusha followed behind, still carrying the box containing the amber bracelet.

"Brother! Sister-in-law!"

Chen Yue ran out of the hall, a pen between her fingers, her hair casually tied in a ponytail.

"Are you home so early today?" Chen Yang asked.

"I've been monitoring the data at the Snow Palace these past two days, it's exhausted, so I came home early." Chen Yue took the shopping bag from Katyusha's hand. "Sister-in-law, you've worked hard. Mom and Dad are waiting inside, they've already made dumplings."

"Did your mom make this?" Katyusha asked.

"Yes, it's sauerkraut filling, and it's been wrapped in three layers of bamboo trays."

Katyusha quickened her pace.

The three people walked through the central corridor of the main building and turned into the family living area on the west side.

This area was specially designated by Chen Yang and is not open to any outsiders. Its decoration style is also different from other parts of the Snow Palace—there are no cold marbles and metal lines, only solid wood floors and warm lighting.

The kitchen door was open, and the sound of chopping filling could be heard coming from inside.

Wearing an apron, Aunt Chen was sprinkling flour onto the work surface. Two pots sat on the stove, one boiling water, the other simmering bone broth. On the adjacent countertop were three bamboo steamers, neatly stacked with ingot-shaped dumplings.

"mom."

Chen Ma looked up, her hands covered in flour, and wiped them on her apron.

"You're back? Did you eat on the way?"

"I didn't eat."

"I knew it." Chen Ma turned around and took out a small dish of side dishes from the steamer. "Have something to eat first, the dumplings will take another ten minutes."

Katyusha walked over and placed the box containing the amber bracelet next to Chen Ma.

"Mom, Mo Cheng brought this back, please try it."

Chen's mother opened the box, glanced at it, and then took it out to compare it to her wrist.

"How much?"

"It's not expensive," Katyusha said.

Chen Yue muttered quietly from behind, "That string of them is enough to buy a house."

Chen's mother didn't hear her. She put on the bracelet, held it up to the light, and examined it.

"It looks pretty. Okay, stop standing there and go call your dad; he's gone into the greenhouse again."

Chen Yang walked through the corridor and pushed open the glass door of the constant temperature greenhouse.

A wave of humid air, reaching temperatures in the mid-twenties, hits you.

The greenhouse was filled with all sorts of plants whose names I didn't know, and some of them had flowers the size of a palm, their colors so vibrant they didn't seem real.

Mr. Chen squatted in the corner, holding a small pair of scissors, pruning a plant that was about half his height.

"Dad, dinner's ready."

"Wait a minute, if you don't cut this branch off, it'll grow crooked tomorrow." Without looking up, Mr. Chen said, "Look at this one, it's from South America. People say there are only a few hundred left in the whole world. Let me tell you, it's much harder to take care of than the scallions we used to grow."

"The dumplings are ready to be cooked."

Mr. Chen put down the scissors, stood up, and patted the dirt off his knees.

"Did your mom make this?"

"Um."

"Let's go, let's go."

When the father and son returned to the restaurant, Katyusha was helping Chen Yue set the table.

Chen Yang glanced at the dining table and paused for a moment.

Chen Yue laid out the set of silver tableware he had bought from the auction in Mo City—handcrafted silver plates, bowls, and spoons, each engraved with the double-headed eagle emblem of the Romanov dynasty.

The silver plate held sauerkraut dumplings made by Chen Ma.

"Who put this up?"

"Me," Chen Yue pushed up her glasses, "My sister-in-law said this set of silverware was brought back to be used, not just displayed. It's perfect for our first meal today, so we're taking it out to use it."

Chen Ma carried out the last plate of dumplings and glanced at the silver plate on the table.

"This plate is quite heavy, is it silver?"

"Um."

"How much?"

"Mom, let's eat." Chen Yang changed the subject.

Chen's mother didn't ask any further questions, but pushed the dumplings towards Chen Yang.

"Eat more, you've lost weight."

Chen Yang picked up a dumpling, dipped it in vinegar, and took a bite. It had sauerkraut filling, and the taste was exactly the same as when he was a child.

Katyusha also picked one up, poured some vinegar on it with a silver spoon, and ate it very seriously.

Mr. Chen had already started pouring wine, filling his own glass and then pouring one for Chen Yang.

"It's good to be back, it's good to be back. You must be exhausted after all that traveling around outside."

"good."

"Drink less." Chen's mother glared at Chen's father, then put two more dumplings in Katyusha's bowl. "You eat more too, don't be shy."

Chen Yue sat to the side, holding a dumpling with her chopsticks but not putting it in her mouth, her eyes fixed on the Fabergé eggs on the table.

Chen Yang had bought that enamel egg for fifty million US dollars at an auction in Mo City. Its enamel surface was inlaid with small diamonds, and it shimmered with a faint blue light under the lamp. Chen Yang casually took it out of the box and placed it in the middle of the dining table as an ornament.

Chen Ma glanced at it.

"This egg is quite pretty, who bought it?"

"I bought it," Katyusha said.

"It looks nice to display, so let's just leave it here," Chen Ma said, continuing to put dumplings into everyone's bowls.

Chen Yue couldn't hold back any longer and leaned close to Chen Yang's ear.

"Brother, that Easter egg is worth fifty million US dollars. Mom uses it as a decoration on the table."

"It's fine; it was meant to be displayed anyway."

"That set of silver cutlery cost $1.2 million. Mom used it to serve dumplings."

"Dumplings aren't good enough?"

Chen Yue opened her mouth and stuffed the dumpling inside.

The family sat around the table eating. No one talked about business, no one mentioned contracts, and no one spoke of those hundreds of billions of dollars. Mr. Chen talked about his flowers, Mrs. Chen urged everyone to eat more, and Katyusha sat quietly next to Chen Yang, occasionally adding a dumpling to his bowl.

When Chen Yang was eating his second plate, his phone rang.

Lei's number.

Chen Yang glanced at it, turned it off, and flipped the phone face down on the table.

Katyusha glanced at him, said nothing, and picked up another dumpling for him.

Chen's mother stood up to get some bone broth. As she passed behind Chen Yang, she reached out and gently patted the back of his head.

"Eat your food, don't look at your phone."

"Okay, Mom."

Outside the window, the lights from the dome illuminated the entire Snow Palace.

On the table, priceless silverware held the most ordinary dumplings, and a $50 million Easter egg stood quietly among the bowls and plates; no one cared how much it was worth.

Chen Yang finished the last dumpling and put down his chopsticks.

When Chen Yue was clearing away the dishes, she casually pushed the colored egg towards the center of the table to prevent it from falling over.

Chen Ma poked her head out from the kitchen.

"There's still half a lid left on the stove, shall we cook another pot?"

"Next," Chen Yang said.