Old Mrs. Song is reborn; get out of here, you scumbag husband and illegitimate child!

"Brother Lei, you're here so early?" Song Tingting asked him.

"The road is slippery, it might be difficult to drive." Lei Li opened the trunk. "Get in first. It's cold outside."

Chang Ping and Mao Qiaozhen stuffed their luggage into the trunk.

Song Tingting opened the passenger door.

As soon as I peeked in, I saw an orange gift box and two beautifully packaged supplements on the seat.

Song Tingting stopped moving and turned to look at Lei Li.

"What is this?" Song Tingting asked.

Lei Li remained completely calm and composed.

"My mom put these things there." Lei Li completely absolved himself of responsibility. "She heard you were going home for the New Year and insisted on giving them to me, saying they were nutritional supplements for Aunt Song and a scarf for you. She said the scarf my aunt bought wasn't suitable for her age, but it would be perfect for you."

Song Tingting carefully examined the scarf's packaging.

Goodness, this price isn't cheap.

"This won't do," Song Tingting refused directly. "This gift is too much. Brother Lei, please take it back to your aunt. Please thank her for me. I appreciate your kindness, and I'll visit you again after the Spring Festival. No need for a gift."

"I don't dare take it back; my mom could kick me out with a broom."

Lei Li interrupted her, "My mom said it's only right that she and Aunt Song, who have been friends for many years, share supplements. The scarf is a small token of appreciation from an elder to a younger person. Please accept it as a favor. Otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to get into my house today."

"My status at home is lower than that of the German Shepherd my grandfather raised."

Song Tingting listened to the phrase "friends of many years".

His lips twitched slightly.

But now that things have come to this point, it wouldn't look good to keep pushing and shoving at the entrance of this alley.

"Please thank Aunt Lei properly for me. I'll visit her again after the Spring Festival." Song Tingting finally picked up the things, put them on her lap, and sat in the passenger seat.

Chang Ping and Mao Qiaozhen waved goodbye. "Brother Lei, thank you for taking Sister Tingting to the station. She has a lot of luggage, remember to see her off on the train."

The two little girls kept giving instructions.

"There are many pickpockets at the station, so I'm sorry to trouble you, Brother Lei."

"You can go back now. I'll take her to the station."

Lei Li went back to the driver's seat and got into the car.

Lei Li started the car and drove onto the main road.

Chang Ping and Mao Qiaozhen went back after they realized the car was gone.

"Oh dear, let's go back and make breakfast before opening the shop," Mao Qiaozhen said with a smile. "There will be a lot of customers at the end of the year. We need to get to the shop early."

Chang Ping smiled and said, "My grandma made breakfast. She was worried that if we made breakfast ourselves, it would delay the opening of the shop."

The two girls linked arms and walked back into the alley together.

Lei Li looked straight ahead. "Scalped tickets are prone to problems. Tingting, let me see your ticket."

Song Tingting didn't think much of it.

He took the scalped ticket out of his pocket and handed it over.

Lei Li took it, glanced at it, and casually tossed it into the car door storage compartment.

"Hey!" Song Tingting exclaimed anxiously, "What are you doing?"

"This ticket is fake." Lei Li lied without batting an eye.

"Impossible." Song Tingting stared at him. "I paid double the price for it."

Lei Li gripped the steering wheel, his expression calm.

"You've never seen such forgery techniques. The color is wrong; it's an old ticket that's been altered." Lei Li's lie flowed perfectly. "If you take this ticket to the ticket gate, the railway police will confiscate it immediately."

Song Tingting frowned deeply.

"What should we do then?" Song Tingting asked, somewhat annoyed.

"Actually... I happen to have a ticket to the new city." Lei Li's throat tightened, and his voice sounded somewhat unnatural.

Upon hearing this, Song Tingting's mind raced for a moment, and she immediately sensed that something was amiss.

She turned her head and looked directly at the man in the driver's seat.

Lei Li usually leads troops in the army, and when he puts on a stern face and stares at people, he can scare them to death.

But at this moment, he gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, not daring to even glance in this direction.

With his stammering, guilty look, Song Tingting understood everything.

"Brother Lei."

Song Tingting composed herself, her tone turning serious. "Tell me the truth. Is there something wrong with my scalped tickets, or is there something wrong with you?"

Lei Li's lips moved, but he didn't make a sound.

"Haven't figured out how to write it yet?" Song Tingting leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, and continued to ask.

Lei Li deflated like a punctured balloon, his shoulders slumping.

He nodded. "The scalped tickets are fine. It was my fault. I... wanted you to take a soft sleeper."

He paused for a moment, then swallowed the rest of his sentence.

He wanted to say that it was his grandfather who insisted on making this happen, but he felt it was inappropriate to say it.

This man is almost thirty years old, and he keeps talking about his parents. If Tingting hears him like that, she'll definitely think of him as a mama's boy.

"Then don't mess with that ticket. I bought it for double the price. I can resell it. There are definitely people waiting for tickets to go home at the train station during the Lunar New Year."

Lei Li secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as you're not angry.

"I didn't tear it," Lei Li quickly replied. "I tore a little hole in the storage compartment just now. When we get to the station, I'll glue it back together exactly as it was, and you won't be able to tell."

"No need for glue." Song Tingting closed her eyes.

The jeep came to a stop in the square outside the train station.

Before the Lunar New Year, the train station was filled with people carrying large and small bags, hurrying to their destinations.

The scalped ticket was also sold at the original price to a passenger who managed to snag a bargain.

Lei Li told Song Tingting to wait for him in the station square, and then strode off to the stationmaster's office.

Not long after, he returned with a sleeper ticket.

He carried luggage in both hands and led Song Tingting towards the platform.

It was so crowded that it was difficult to move an inch.

Lei Li was tall with broad shoulders, and he exuded an invisible sense of oppression.

He led the way, using his back to block the various burlap sacks crowding towards them, managing to carve a path through the crowd and protect Song Tingting.

"I'll pick you up at the station when you get back from Qingyang," Lei Li said, turning back as he walked. "There are a lot of pickpockets at the train station, so don't be alone."

Song Tingting followed behind him, looking at his tall figure in front of her, and chuckled.

"If a thief sees you like this, he'll run away as fast as he can; he definitely won't dare come any closer."

"That's why I came to pick you up. You're more likely to run into pickpockets if you're alone," Lei Li said, worried.

Song Tingting pointed to the green train ahead, "From Beijing to Xincheng, Beijing is the starting station anyway. You can see me onto the train, and once we get to Xincheng, I'll transfer to another train to go home. It's less likely I'll run into pickpockets there."

The two were talking.

I walked to the door of the sleeper carriage.

The soft sleeper carriage is completely different from the hard seat and hard sleeper carriages. It is an independent, enclosed carriage with only four seats: upper and lower berths.

The environment was quiet, and there was no musty smell from outside.

Song Tingting found her berth.

lower berth.

When the two entered, there was already a man and a woman in the carriage.

Lei Li stuffed Song Tingting's canvas bag and suitcase, along with the two large gift boxes that Lei's mother insisted on putting in, into the space under the bed.

He straightened up, took a newly bought thermos from his coat pocket, and placed it on the small table by the window.

Then, he took out bread, fruit, and several packets of pastries from another bag and placed them on the small table.

"Eat if you get hungry on the way," Lei Li instructed in a low voice. "Fill the water bottle with hot water."

Song Tingting looked at the table full of food and hummed in agreement.

"Thank you, Brother Lei. Please thank Grandpa Lei, Grandma Lei, Uncle Lei, and Aunt Lei for me." She looked up. "I'll visit them in the compound after the Spring Festival. I'll bring them some local specialties from Qingyang."

The loudspeaker began playing a loop of announcements urging those dropping off passengers to get off the bus.

There were two strangers staring at him from inside the room, and Lei Li felt extremely uncomfortable.

Song Tingting followed him out of the berth.

We arrived at the narrow passageway.

"The car is about to leave," Song Tingting urged. "You should get off now."

Lei Li stood rooted to the spot, motionless in the passageway.

The words he had mentally rehearsed a hundred and eighty times, "I want to be your girlfriend," were stuck in his throat, and he couldn't squeeze them out no matter what he did.

His face flushed red as he choked on his words, annoyed by his own loose tongue.

They're great at training new recruits, but they always mess things up when it matters.

His hesitant manner piqued Song Tingting's curiosity.

"Is there anything else you want to say?" Song Tingting looked up and asked him.

Lei Li broke out in a cold sweat.

He glanced at Song Tingting, then at the train attendants walking back and forth at both ends of the carriage.

"I'll tell you when you get back from Qingyang," Lei Li blurted out.

Song Tingting didn't take it seriously and smiled with her eyes crinkling.

Today she was wearing a beige beret and a beige wool coat. She exuded a youthful and vibrant fashion sense, looking quite striking.

"Brother Lei, I wish you a happy Chinese New Year in advance." Song Tingting smiled.