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

Meanwhile, in Han City, dozens of kilometers away.

The streetlights at the entrance of Pinganli Community were dim.

A black Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan slowly pulled up to the side of the road.

The car door opened, and a young girl wearing a beige coat and a plaid scarf stepped out.

She is very pretty, the kind of girl next door.

This is Li Menghan's girlfriend, Dai Yuqian.

After getting out of the car, Dai Yuqian did not leave immediately, but bent down.

He waved to the young man in the driver's seat, who was wearing a baseball cap and had dyed blond hair, making a cute "bye-bye" gesture.

The man in the car smiled, stepped on the gas, and the Mercedes spewed out a puff of exhaust fumes and disappeared into the night.

Watching the car drive away, Dai Yuqian looked around nervously, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that there were no acquaintances around.

She took her phone out of her bag, and the screen showed several unread WeChat messages.

They were all sent by Li Menghan.

5 AM: [Honey, are you up yet? Remember to eat breakfast.]

6:00 AM: [I'm on my way to visit the graves. It's so cold today, you should wear more clothes.]

Noon: [I've eaten, have you?]

Just now, two more messages were sent:

What did you go to do?

Why haven't you replied to my messages all day? I'm so worried about you.

Looking at these messages, Dai Yuqian felt a surge of guilt.

She bit her lip and typed a reply quickly on the screen:

[Sorry Menghan, we had a big pre-New Year's cleaning today, and lots of relatives came to visit. I was busy serving tea and water and helping my mom tidy up the house. My phone was charging in my room, so I only just saw this.]

The message was sent and received a reply within two seconds.

Li Menghan: [You scared me to death! I thought something had happened to you! It's good that you're okay. It's the New Year, so it's normal to be busy at home. Honey, have you eaten? Don't go hungry.]

Seeing Li Menghan's concerned tone and completely trusting attitude, Dai Yuqian felt even more guilty.

She replied: 【I'm about to go eat now, I'm so tired too. I'll message you after I finish eating.】

Li Menghan: [Okay! Then eat more and get some rest. Love you!]

Dai Yuqian put away her phone, looked in the direction the Mercedes had disappeared, and pursed her lips.

Actually, she wasn't busy with anything at home today.

She went out early in the morning and spent the whole day with Song Hao, the boy who drove the Mercedes.

Song Hao is the student council president at their school. His family is quite wealthy, and he's also quite handsome, making him very popular at school.

Dai Yuqian is a member of the Student Union's Arts and Culture Department, and Song Hao has always taken good care of her.

During this holiday, Song Hao asked her out several times, saying they should go shopping and see a movie together.

Dai Yuqian initially refused, after all, she had a boyfriend.

However, Song Hao said that everyone was a colleague from the student union, and they were just ordinary friends getting together to catch up and exchange feelings, and there was no other meaning behind it.

In addition, given Song Hao's status as chairman, Dai Yuqian felt embarrassed to keep refusing him, fearing it would make things difficult for her in the student council in the future.

So she went today.

The two went to eat upscale Japanese food and then played a murder mystery game. Just now, Song Hao even drove her home.

"It was just a meal with ordinary friends, I didn't do anything out of line."

Dai Yuqian comforted herself in her heart:

"Meng Han's personality is too rigid. If we tell him, he'll definitely get jealous and throw a tantrum. It's better to avoid trouble."

"I just won't go out with my senior next time."

Just as she was about to turn around and enter the residential area, her phone vibrated again.

It was a WeChat message from Song Hao:

【Sissi, I had so much fun with you today. I knew we'd get along. I'm already looking forward to seeing you again.】

"By the way, I have a trial pass for a golf course in a couple of days. How about I take you to play golf? That aristocratic sport is perfect for a girl with your kind of temperament."

Upon seeing this message, Dai Yuqian's heart skipped a beat.

Playing golf?

That's a very prestigious sport; she'd only ever seen it on TV.

She should have refused, after all, she had already lied to Li Menghan once today.

However, seeing phrases like "aristocratic sport" and "suitable for your temperament," Dai Yuqian's vanity was gently tickled.

In addition, there was Song Hao's enthusiastic yet somewhat forceful invitation.

She hesitated.

"Anyway... there's nothing between us, we're just going to broaden our horizons."

"As long as I keep my bottom line, it should be fine if we just go out with ordinary friends, right?"

Thinking of this, Dai Yuqian took a deep breath and replied with a line of text:

"I'm so excited, senior! Golf? I don't know how, but it sounds interesting. You'll have to teach me!"

The moment the message was sent, Dai Yuqian regretted it.

How could I do this?

She clearly has a boyfriend.

"Oh well, let's talk about it later."

Dai Yuqian shook her head, putting these worries behind her, and quickly walked into the residential area.

……

The scene shifts back to Lijia Village.

Li Guoqing's home.

This is a small, one-story house with no tiles on the exterior walls, just a layer of whitewash.

Although the house is not big or grand, it is kept very clean.

The house was warm and cozy, with a stove burning inside.

The wooden round table, its paint chipped, was piled high with food.

A large plate of thinly sliced ​​cured pork, glistening and translucent, glistening with oil.

A stewed old duck soup, cooked until very tender, was still steaming.

There was also a large plate of braised pig's head meat, mixed with chili oil and cilantro, which looked so delicious it made your mouth water.

"Come on, Zezi, Mengli, start eating!"

Li Guoqing greeted them warmly, poured himself a glass of loose liquor, and filled another glass for Li Ze.

Li Mengli picked up a piece of cured meat, put it in her mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and her eyes immediately lit up:

"Wow! Uncle, this cured meat is so delicious!"

"It's so much more delicious than what I get at restaurants in the city! And not greasy at all!"

Upon hearing this, Li Guoqing's face broke into a wide grin.

"That's right! These are the local pigs that my uncle raises himself. They grow up eating sweet potatoes and pig feed, unlike those pigs that eat commercial feed."

"If you like it, your uncle will cut you a big piece to take home when you leave!"

Li Ze picked up his wine glass, clinked it with his cousin's, took a sip of wine, and felt warm all over.

"Brother, your skills haven't declined; it tastes just like it did back then."

The two chatted as they drank.

As they chatted, Li Ze casually asked:

"By the way, brother, where's sister-in-law? And auntie? I haven't seen them at all."

Li Guoqing paused for a moment, his hand holding the wine glass, and his eyes dimmed slightly.

He gave a wry smile and said:

"Your sister-in-law... passed away from illness the year before last."

"My mother also didn't make it through last winter and passed away."

"Now, this family is just a bunch of old men like me left."

Li Ze stopped using his chopsticks.

He looked at his cousin, who was smiling but whose eyes revealed loneliness.

In my memory, my sister-in-law was a particularly feisty but also very warm-hearted woman.

The old lady watched him grow up and often fed him steamed buns when he was little.

I never imagined that after eighteen years apart, everything would have changed so much, and we would be separated by death.

A deep sense of powerlessness and sorrow welled up in my heart.

Li Ze put down his chopsticks and said softly:

"Brother...I'm sorry, I didn't know."

My condolences.

Li Guoqing waved his hand, downed the wine in his glass in one gulp, and exhaled a breath reeking of alcohol.

"Ugh, why bring this up?"

"Birth, aging, sickness, and death are all fate. For people like us who toil in the fields, it's just like that."

"It's normal for people to pass away; those who are alive still have to live their lives well, right?"

Not wanting the atmosphere to become too heavy, he quickly changed the subject:

"Let's not talk about these discouraging things."

"Tell me about yourself, Zezi."

"You said you were doing business outside, what's the current situation?"

"Judging from your car and the way you carry yourself, your company must be quite large, right?"

After thinking about it, Li Ze decided to keep a low profile and not scare his honest cousin.

As he poured wine for Li Guoqing, he casually remarked:

"It's just so-so."

"Back then, I went to America with a friend. We were lucky and caught a few big opportunities, so we made a fortune."

"I now run an investment company and have some businesses under my control."

"As for the scale... it's probably several hundred million in assets."

"Bang!"

Li Guoqing dropped his chopsticks on the table.

His eyes widened, and his mouth gaped open, unable to close for a long time:

"How much...how much?!"

"Several hundred million?!"

Just now outside, although Li Mengli had said she wanted to buy the village, Li Guoqing just thought it was childish talk.

Hearing Li Ze say it himself now is incredibly shocking, like a nuclear bomb.

For a farmer like him who only earns tens of thousands of yuan a year by farming and working odd jobs, hundreds of millions of yuan is money that only gods can have!

"Good heavens!"

Li Guoqing swallowed hard, his eyes filled with awe and pride as he looked at Li Ze.

"Zezi, you...you've really made something of yourself!"

"Our Li family has never produced such a prominent figure in all our generations!"

"Great! That's wonderful!"

Li Ze smiled but didn't explain further.

If I told my cousin I had trillions, or even hundreds of trillions, he'd probably faint on the spot.

"By the way, bro."

Li Ze then asked:

"Where's your Qiangzi? I remember he's a few years younger than me, right? What's he doing now?"

Li Guoqing sighed when his son was mentioned:

"Qiangzi, you're thirty-five this year."

"He didn't amount to much; he just worked as a safety officer on a construction site in another city."

"Working under the sun and wind all day long, you can't save much money at the end of the year."

"So this year, they said the construction site needed to meet the deadline and offered triple pay, so he didn't come back for the New Year."

In Li Ze's mind, an image of a chubby, adorable tagalong appeared.

Back then, that kid Qiangzi would follow him around calling him "Uncle" every day.

Li Ze thought for a moment and said directly:

"Brother, don't let Qiangzi suffer outside."

"Give him a call later and tell him not to go to work on the construction site after the New Year."

"Have him come directly to Han City to find me."

"My company happens to be short of a security supervisor, so I'll have him come over and help me manage the staff."

"As for salary... I won't treat my nephew badly. Let's start with an annual salary of 500,000, and raise it later if he does well."

"puff--"

Li Mengli, who was drinking soup, almost spat it out.

An annual salary of 500,000? And that's just the beginning?

This is like a windfall!

Li Guoqing was so frightened that he waved his hands repeatedly:

"No, no! That won't do!"

"That kid isn't very educated; all he does is yell a few times on the construction site. How could he be a supervisor?"

"Besides, 500,000 is too much. Wouldn't that be taking advantage of you?"

Li Ze's face hardened, and he deliberately pretended to be unhappy:

"Brother, you're being too polite."

"Qiangzi is my nephew, he's family."

"If I don't help my own people, am I supposed to help outsiders?"

"It's settled then! If you refuse, you're disrespecting your brother!"

Li Ze's tone was firm and left no room for argument.

Li Guoqing's eyes welled up with tears when he saw Li Ze's determined gaze.

His hand trembled as he picked up the glass, his voice choked with emotion:

"Zezi... Brother... Brother thanks you on Qiangzi's behalf!"

"I misunderstood you before, so please don't take the things I said to you today to heart."

"You're a fine member of the Li family!"

Li Ze also raised his glass and clinked it with his:

"Brother, don't say that. You were right to scold me today."

"I have indeed been a scoundrel for the past eighteen years. From now on, let's just be a good family."

……

The meal lasted until after 10 p.m.

Li Mengli was so sleepy that she kept yawning, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Li Ze checked the time, stood up, and said:

"Brother, it's getting late, Mengli is tired too."

"I'll take her back to Zhangjiazhai first, and then come over tomorrow."

Li Guoqing originally wanted to stay overnight, but considering that his own home was not as comfortable as other people's, he didn't insist.

"Okay, then drive carefully!"

Li Ze drove Li Mengli back to Zhangjiazhai.

Upon reaching the door, Li Ze didn't go in, but instead gave his daughter a few instructions:

"Go back and get some sleep. Say hello to your mom and brother."

"Tomorrow is Lunar New Year's Eve. Dad went to town early this morning to buy groceries, and tonight our family will have a nice reunion dinner."

Li Mengli nodded:

"Okay, Dad. You should get some rest too."

"My uncle was actually quite happy today, and I felt quite happy too."

"Okay, go ahead."

After watching his daughter go inside, Li Ze turned the car around and drove back towards Lijia Village.

Back to the old house.

Although it looked dilapidated on the outside, the inside had been cleaned up by Lao Yi and his men.

The bed was replaced with a new Simmons mattress, the comforter was a brand new down comforter, and two heaters were placed inside, making the room warm and cozy.

Li Ze lay in bed, listening to the occasional barking of dogs outside the window, and felt a long-lost sense of peace.

Tomorrow is Lunar New Year's Eve.

As is customary, relatives from both the Zhang and Li families will return tomorrow to pay respects to their ancestors and celebrate the Lunar New Year.

At that time, all the aunts and uncles will gather together.

He knew that he, the "heartless man" who had disappeared for eighteen years and suddenly returned, would definitely become the focus of everyone's attention.

Inevitably, it will be another denunciation meeting, or various comparisons and inquiries.

"When soldiers come, we'll block them; when water comes, we'll dam it."

Li Ze rolled over.

Regardless of what others say.

This was the first time in eighteen years that he had truly spent the Lunar New Year with his wife and children.

When a family is together, reunion is a blessing.