Middle-aged tycoon: Twins come knocking on his door when he goes home for Chinese New Year

The old man who walked over was Li Guoqing, Li Ze's cousin and Li Mengli's uncle.

Li Guoqing is almost sixty years old this year. He is a little hunched over, wearing a faded gray cotton-padded jacket, and holding an old-fashioned tobacco pouch in his hand.

He slowly squeezed through the crowd, his eyes sweeping over the gleaming luxury cars.

Li Guoqing had absolutely no concept of these top-tier luxury cars that cost millions or even tens of millions of yuan.

In his mind, this was a four-wheeled car.

It looked big and dark, and parked so neatly, plus there were several bodyguards standing next to it dressed in black suits and sunglasses, looking like gangsters.

Li Guoqing had only one thought in his mind:

This must be a high-ranking leader from above, or the owner of an engineering team that's doing development work, coming down to inspect the work.

After all, with the construction of new rural areas in recent years, there have been frequent convoys like these coming and going.

Without giving it much thought, his gaze quickly fell on Li Mengli, who was standing by the roadside.

Upon seeing that it was his own niece, Li Guoqing's wrinkled face immediately broke into a smile, and he quickened his pace to walk over.

"Oh dear, Mengli!"

Li Guoqing shouted in a loud voice:

"It really is you! I was just passing by and it looked just like you from a distance."

"Why are you back so early this year? It's only the 28th of the twelfth lunar month."

When Li Mengli saw that it was her uncle, she smiled sweetly:

"Hello, Uncle!"

"Yes, we came back early to take a look around and tidy up the old house."

Li Guoqing walked up to her, smiled, and looked Li Mengli up and down, nodding repeatedly:

"Okay, okay."

"In the past year, our Mengli has become even more beautiful. She looks exactly like your mother when she was young."

As he spoke, Li Guoqing seemed to recall something happy.

He slung his pipe over his shoulder and said with a satisfied look:

"By the way, I overheard your mom on the phone the other day saying that you and Menghan both got into Han City University?"

"It seems to be a single volume?"

"This is truly an incredible stroke of luck for the Li family! Two of our ancestors have gone to university. They're so promising, so incredibly promising!"

Li Mengli maintained her standard obedient smile and nodded:

"Thank you for the compliment, Uncle. I was just lucky to pass the exam."

Upon hearing this, Li Guoqing's expression immediately turned serious, and his lecturing, elder-like manner instantly came through.

He held up one finger, pointed it in the air, and said earnestly:

"Hey, this isn't luck, it's because you guys did a great job."

"Mengli, your uncle has to say a few words from the bottom of his heart to you."

"Your mother has really had a tough time these past few years."

"As a woman, I've seen all the hardships and suffering you two siblings endured raising you."

"Now that you've been admitted to university, that means you've seen hope. Your mother's suffering has finally come to an end."

Li Mengli's smile froze slightly, but she still nodded:

"Yes, I know my uncle."

But once Li Guoqing started talking, it was like a dam bursting; he couldn't stop.

He sighed, his brow furrowed, and then said:

"But you mustn't be arrogant. You'll have to work even harder in college."

"You must always remember that you are children without umbrellas, and you must run as fast as you can."

"When you make money in the future, you must take good care of your mother and never be like you people..."

At this point, Li Guoqing's tone became gritted with anger, his face filled with resentment:

"Don't be like your scoundrel father!"

"That heartless bastard abandoned you and your children back then so he could have fun outside."

"He's been gone for eighteen years without uttering a single word; he's a complete beast!"

"Ugh, it makes me so angry just thinking about it. How could such a scoundrel come from our Li family..."

Li Mengli stood there, her hands folded in front of her.

On the surface, she still maintains that obedient demeanor of "You're right, I'll listen to you."

But in reality, she had already rolled her eyes countless times in her mind.

It's the same old routine again.

That's really enough.

Why do all these elders of the Li family sound like broken record machines?

From childhood to adulthood, whenever we meet, it's always during the New Year or other holidays.

These relatives always use the same three-pronged opening line:

First, your mother has suffered so much, and she is truly great.

Second, your dad is really bad, a real bastard.

Third, you are all so pitiful. You must strive to be better in the future.

Hearing this once or twice is fine, but after hearing it for over a decade, Li Mengli's ears are practically calloused.

She didn't disagree with what those words said; her mother had indeed suffered, and her father had indeed been wrong in the past.

However, this way of speaking is really uncomfortable.

Every time Li Mengli heard these words, she felt like she and her brother were two pitiful creatures that no one wanted.

They were being scrutinized by these relatives with a condescending, pitying gaze.

That feeling was like a constant reminder to them:

You are children from single-parent families, you are inferior to others, and your whole family is miserable.

Therefore, Li Mengli and her younger brother Li Menghan actually didn't want to associate with these relatives of the Li family from the bottom of their hearts.

It wasn't because these relatives treated them badly.

On the contrary, they sometimes provided considerable help.

But it is precisely this kind of preaching, which carries a sense of "charity," that makes people feel uneasy.

It's hard to see them as the kind of elders you can be close to and act spoiled with.

The uncle in front of me, Li Guoqing, is actually a decent one.

Because my uncle's family wasn't well-off, and he wasn't pretentious at all; at most, he was a bit of a chatterbox and liked to nag.

If it were one of those aunts or uncles who had made a small fortune through their family businesses...

The tone of his voice was even more incredible.

Every time he saw Mengli and her brother, his chin practically floated to the sky.

While cracking sunflower seeds, he said in that "tsk tsk tsk" tone:

"Oh dear, these two poor children, what will become of them?"

That kind of insincere sympathy is more unbearable than direct insults.

Li Mengli took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her impatience.

She knew her uncle meant well and that she shouldn't talk back to her elders.

So she continued smiling and echoed her uncle's words:

"I understand, Uncle. Don't worry."

"My brother and I will definitely study hard, find good jobs in the future, give our mother the best life, and never let her suffer again."

Seeing that his niece was so sensible and listened to his advice, Li Guoqing nodded in satisfaction.

"That's more like it!"

"We, the Li family, are poor but have pride."

"As long as you are successful, you will be respected when you go out into the world."

After finishing his lecture, Li Guoqing finally remembered the important matter at hand.

He glanced behind Li Mengli, then at the half-open door, and asked:

"By the way, since you're back so early, where's your mom?"

"What if he didn't come back with you?"

"I also want to ask her whether we're spending the Spring Festival in the village this year, or whether she's taking you to the city to celebrate."

Li Mengli blinked her big eyes and took a small step to the side.

Pointing to the old house behind him, he said in a relaxed tone:

"Oh, I forgot to tell you."

"My mom didn't come; she's still at Zhangjiazhai with my grandma and the others."

"Today, I came back with my dad."

These words were like a thunderclap, exploding out of nowhere.

Li Guoqing's hand, which was about to pick up the tobacco pipe to put the tobacco in, suddenly trembled, and all the tobacco spilled onto the ground.

He froze, his eyes wide open, as if he had heard something unbelievable.

"What?!"

Li Guoqing picked at his ear, thinking he must be getting senile and had misheard:

"Mengli, what...what did you just say?"

"Who did you come back with?"

Li Mengli, still smiling, repeated herself clearly and deliberately:

"I said, I came back with my dad, the bastard you just cursed, Li Ze."

"He's inside right now."

"What?!"

Li Guoqing's voice cracked from shouting.

His mouth dropped open, his jaw almost fell to the ground, and the expression on his face was priceless.

Shock, disbelief, and disbelief all coalesced into an expression as if they had seen a ghost.

"You mean... Li Ze? The Li Ze who disappeared eighteen years ago?!"

"He...he's back?!"

"He's still alive?!"

"Where is he?!"

"Where is that bastard?!"