After giving instructions to his younger siblings, Lian En held his parents’ hands and chatted with them for a long while.
Things like taking care of their health, not to skip meals due to busyness.
They must eat three meals on time. If their stomachs aren’t well, they should avoid spicy and cold food. If they catch a cold or fever, they should take medicine in time and not tough it out and worry mom and his brothers...
He said a lot of things, which warmed Lianshan’s heart.
His eyes turned red and tears fell as he said, "Son, dad... Dad can’t bear to let you go. How about you stay a few more years before going with your master to... what was it? Field study?"
Seeing the little apprentice with red-rimmed eyes, tilting his head in serious thought, scared Feng Ju quite a bit.
He didn’t even have time to say goodbye to Liu Shouren and Liu Shouyi, hurriedly grabbing his suitcase with one hand and pulling his little apprentice with the other: "After sending someone a thousand miles, we still must part. It’s a hot day, everyone should hurry back! Otherwise, if anyone suffers heatstroke, it would be the fault of us master and disciple. The train is arriving, we must get on. No more small talk, just one thing: Lian En is my direct disciple. He can inherit my craft and estate, and be the one to take care of me in old age. Even if I put myself on the line, I won’t let him have any mishap.
Lianshan, Shuzhen, rest assured, in two years, you’ll definitely see a different Lian En!"
"Hey..." Lianshan, who hasn’t been separated from Lian En since he was born, suddenly felt regret as the moment of departure approached and wanted to say more.
Just as Shuzhen quickly pulled him, the eldest son was taken away by his long-planned master towards the slowly entering train.
As soon as the train stopped, Feng Ju hurriedly dragged Lian En onto the sleeper carriage at the back.
"Honey, the kids are like eaglets, when they grow up, they must learn to leave the nest and fly. If you keep them all under your wing and can’t bear to let any go, do you want to keep all our eagles and raise them into chicks?" Shuzhen teased with a smile, seeing Lianshan with red eyes, crying even more than her, the mother.
"Spoiling a child is like harming a child. Excessive pampering is harm, not love. How could I make such a foolish mistake?" Lianshan laughed awkwardly, scratching his head: "I, I just, when the kid suddenly leaves from under my eyes, I can’t bear it!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can’t bear it either!" Chenchen vigorously nodded in agreement with his father, although he always dreamt of wielding top-dog power. But if the leader really left for two years...
The train hasn’t even started yet, he already began to miss him, what should he do?
"Dad, before the train starts, let’s bring big brother back!" Lian Xi suggested, also reluctant to let him go. Big brother is patient and doesn’t indulge like second brother. Having him around is much better than following second brother as his little helper.
"Chase, bring him back!" Xinqing, closest to big brother and practically raised in Lian En’s arms, echoed tearfully with chubby little fingers pointing straight at the train about to depart.
"Xinqing dear, big brother is going to learn skills with Mr. Feng. When he succeeds, he’ll become a great artist, have exhibitions, and his works will go to auctions where people will scramble to bid and whoever bids the highest wins! When big brother earns money, you’ll have all the candy you want, right?" Although feeling bad, Xinzhi, who agreed with mom that eaglets must fly high to gain skills, patiently and gently coaxed Xinqing.
After all the bribery from Mr. Feng, there must be some real results to make it worthwhile, right?
Originally, it was her responsibility as the eldest sister to coax her younger siblings, not letting them cry.
The little ones never got enough of candy, and parents worried about tooth decay monitored them closely.
Indulging in candy, eating as much as she wants, was the most tempting proposition for her, without any other rival.
Sure enough, hearing that, the little girl immediately stopped crying, waved to big brother with a smile, looking cute and endearing as she encouraged him to learn skills and bring back lots of candy.
The elders all praised her for being good at coaxing children, and Xinzhi felt very proud herself.
But before the train started moving, the whistle blared. As the train slowly departed, taking away their beloved big brother, little Xinqing’s expression changed instantly. Her heart-wrenching cries brought tears to Xinzhi and Xinyue’s eyes, despite their self-proclaimed strength.
Chenchen and Lian Xi cried while chasing after the departing train, yelling for Lian En not to forget them, to call often, and to come home immediately after two years.
Lian En aboard the train was also full of tears and snot, wishing he could ask Feng Ju to stop the train and let him get off first.
Finally coaxing him onto the train, not to mention that stopping wasn’t possible, even if it were, Feng Ju would refuse!
With a heart full of sympathy and helplessness, he smiled, as both Feng Ju on the train and Lianshan and Shuzhen, Liu Shouren, Liu Shouyi on the platform simultaneously coaxed the children, expending great effort to calm the emotionally distressed little ones.
Here, because of Lian En’s departure, the Lian family’s little ones fell into a prolonged low mood. Lianshan and Shuzhen also seemed to lack some zest, constantly feeling unmotivated.
Meanwhile, Bai Jing, who had arrived in Beijing ahead of time, was fuming with anger, wishing she could strangle Huang Wei!
Always plotting against others, she never expected to be schemed against so disastrously herself.
Had she not accidentally discovered Liu Hong pestering Huang Wei for some kind of residual payment, Bai Jing might have died never knowing: she, her sister-in-law Huang Wei, had long been aware of Lian En’s existence, patiently waiting for the Bai family to decline, so she could deliver such a heavy blow when Bai Jing’s glory was gone.
Encountering Liu Hong who spoke of the current situation in Liu Family Village and mentioned Lian En’s existence. Even the deceased elder woman repeatedly faking illness and refusing food, leaving what was supposedly a deathbed message, all had Huang Wei’s fingerprints.
If not, Lianshan and Liu Shuzhen wouldn’t even consider letting Lian En have any connection with the Dai family initiated.
If they didn’t go to Liu Family Village, didn’t cause a scene at the Lian family, it wouldn’t have provoked that troubling Wu Yinghong...
The subsequent series of developments were largely thanks to Huang Wei as the catalyst.
Otherwise, even if the Bai family’s mansion fell, she could still be a celebrated official’s wife with the help of Dai Weiguo.
The more she thought, the angrier Bai Jing became, her rage practically becoming tangible. It scared Liu Hong into trembling: "Well, big sister-in-law, don’t be angry. I, I, I was tricked by Huang Wei too! She said you were fierce, unable to have children yourself and holding back your sister-in-law from having kids. That you feared that if she had a son, he’d surpass you and become the old lady’s favorite daughter-in-law, and you feared brother Weiguo nurturing a nephew to take over your family business.
That’s why she cruelly got rid of her child, even making her unable to have children anymore.
She harbored resentment and wanted to take revenge on you.
I, I was just feeling sorry for her, and she gave me money...
Boo-hoo, how was I supposed to know she could deceive even neighboring villagers?"