Old Mrs. Song opened her dim old eyes wide and looked at Ma Zi's mother for a while, but even her ability to express herself was limited. She clearly had something to say, but she couldn't sort out the order, and could only let them be blocked under her stiff tongue.

Ma Zi's mother explained calmly, "You see, my parents are long gone, my husband is dead, and now I have no son either. I have no relatives. I am in this state myself. I don't have much energy to begin with. If I live, I will be a burden to others. But I always thought that if I don't live, wouldn't all the sufferings that San'er and Qian'er have endured be in vain? So I have never dared to die. Two days ago, my eldest sister-in-law came to visit and told me that the house is worth a lot of money. This reminded me that my life is worth the price of a house. I want to leave the house to those two children."

Old Mrs. Song said with difficulty: "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm not imagining anything. I just want to choose a good place so that no one can find me after I leave." Ma Zi's mother said cheerfully.

It seemed that life had become a painful burden for her, which made her journey to death particularly brisk.

Ma Zi's mother said this, then turned to ask Old Lady Song: "Sister, will you come with me?"

Old Mrs. Song quickly shook her head and said vaguely: "I dare not. In our hometown, if an old man in another family does this, how can others poke the spine of your younger generations!"

She spoke so quickly that Ma Zi's mother had to listen to her several times before she understood. Then she laughed, "You think too much, my dear sister. In this place where we live, who knows who you are? Do you know whether the person living upstairs is a man or a woman, old or young? Who can poke whose spine?"

Old Mrs. Song was unable to refute. Her eloquence had been shattered by a serious illness. Now, even if someone scolded her in person, she couldn't react and her face turned red with anxiety.

Ma Zi's mother laughed and said, "Take your time to talk. There's no rush. We two sisters are both free now."

Although Ma Zi's mother didn't say it directly, if she left like this, wouldn't that mean death?

How can a person seek death? That's so... so shameful!

Old Mrs. Song was desperately thinking about how to stop her, and tried to slow down her violent breathing.

Her short-term memory is terrible now, but things that happened decades ago are like stones under the riverbed, which are revealed as the water gradually dries up.

Old Mrs. Song spoke out word by word with difficulty, trying to make her pronunciation clearer.

"When I was seven or eight years old, the Japanese soldiers were making trouble. They had a base camp in the west of the city, and there were many Japanese women coming in and out. My third uncle's family lived over there. The adults didn't dare to leave, but the children were left alone, so my grandfather asked me to deliver food to them. In fact, I wasn't afraid, because my mother gave birth to five daughters. At that time, they were all called girls. Girls were worthless, and one lived and one died. Except for their own mothers, who cared?" Old Mrs. Song looked at Ma Zi's mother and said earnestly, "I was young at the time, and I didn't know how to be afraid, nor did I know that the Japanese soldiers would kill people. I went back and forth so many times, but I really didn't encounter anything. My grandfather said that I was lucky."

Ma Zi's mother just smiled meaningfully.

Old Lady Song saw that she could not move her, so she had to continue, "There were three years of natural disasters afterwards. We were starving and had nothing to eat. The brigade could distribute some food, but we had elderly parents and children at home, so it was not our turn to eat. In the cold winter, my sister-in-law and I took the last piece of pickled cabbage and mixed it with cold water to eat. I said that we would not starve to death when wild vegetables grew in the spring. My sister-in-law said, 'Hey, you still want to live until spring? I dare not think so much.' What happened? We both lived until spring, and we became two old bastards in our seventies or eighties."

This time, even the smile on Ma Zi's mother's face became indifferent. There seemed to be a layer of film in her turbid eyes, which easily blocked out all the words of Old Lady Song from her ears.

Old Mrs. Song struggled to reach over, grabbed the deformed hand that Ma Zi's mother had left, and shook it vigorously twice: "Live, big sister, it's so difficult, live!"

Ma Zi's mother was silent for a long time, and finally shook her head: "Don't say anything, I have thought about it. Once I decide where to go and figure out how to go, I will find a chance to leave."

Old Mrs. Song sighed and wiped her eyes, but her eyes were too dry and it was not easy for her to cry.

Ma Zi's mother asked her: "Will you tell others about this?"

Before Old Lady Song had time to investigate further, she shook her head instinctively.

Ma Zi's mother showed an expression that seemed to be relieved and as if she understood something. She made a statement and said, "I knew it... I knew it, one day, you will be like me."

Later, Old Mrs. Song left Ma Zi's mother's place, leaning on a cane and dragging her heavy feet. Neither of them could convince the other.

The pockmarked mother made her feel very uncomfortable. Old Mrs. Song felt her face burning and a little angry. She felt that the pockmarked mother was a good-for-nothing and had let down Sanpang and Wei Qian and their hard work in their early years.

Is it true that the affection that shows up despite all the hardships is only worth a few shabby houses?

However, in the final analysis, Old Lady Song also admitted that Ma Zi's mother was right in a way - she would either let Wei Qian and the others down for their previous hard work, or continue to drag them down.

Either fulfill the children's conscience or fulfill your own conscience.

Old Mrs. Song is afraid of death. The closer she gets to the end of her life, the more she fears death.

She was finally rescued and recovered to her current state with great difficulty... But when she trembled for a long time and finally opened the door, her heart was still filled with such difficulty, and she sighed to herself again: "You are useless, life is so boring."

But her emotion did not last long, because that night, Song Xiaobao's training camp ended and he went home.

Song Xiaobao is not responsible for supporting the family or arranging all matters at home. She is only responsible for making everyone happy all day long. She doesn't have much responsibility and does a good job - she is indeed very happy every day.

Xiaobao doesn't dislike his grandmother, and it doesn't matter if she speaks slowly - anyway, as long as she is there, the whole family has almost no room for others to perform, and she can talk all the time by herself.

Wei Qian pushed the door open and came in, just in time to hear her bragging while dancing with joy: "Grandma, let me tell you, when I become successful in the future, I might even go on to act in a movie! You haven't seen a movie, have you? No, it's different from a TV. The screen is much bigger than a TV, as big as a wall!"

Wei Qian was standing at the door and couldn't help laughing.

He recalled that when he was young, he always complained that this little girl was too noisy. It was not until now that he realized that it was a blessing to have a noisy person in the family.

"Brother!" Song Xiaobao rushed towards him like a tsunami, chirping, "Have I lost weight? Have I become prettier? Am I like a flower?"

Wei Qian's expression was gentle, but his words were still venomous. He said coldly, "Like, what a beautiful dogtail flower."

The little monkey acted like a spoiled brat on him, and Wei Qian finally managed to pull her off: "Your second brother won't be back until the weekend, and I'll be on a business trip in two days. You'll be home alone, can you take care of grandma?"

Song Xiaobao quickly stood at attention: "Don't worry, the people are your biggest support!"

Wei Qian slapped the back of the "people"'s head and said, "Go and see if there is enough change at home."

Song Xiaobao ran to the cabinet where he usually kept the cash, took a look, and came back to report, "Enough... Hey, wait a minute."

After she finished speaking, she went to Old Lady Song's room and took out the medicine she usually took, checked it, counted on her fingers, turned back and shouted to Wei Qian: "Brother, grandma's medicine is almost gone, it's time to buy some, leave me some more money."

Seeing Song Xiaobao running out, Old Mrs. Song couldn't help but slowly move her steps and stick her head out.

She saw Wei Qian take out his wallet and count out a dozen dazzling red bills for Xiaobao.

The smile on Old Lady Song's face, which had never faded since Xiaobao came back, slowly disappeared.

She thought: "Oh, why does it cost so much to buy medicine once? Is everything I eat made of gold?"

As expected, Wei Qian was leaving the next day. Before leaving, he left his home and headquarters to Sanpang to take care of.

I don’t know what was wrong with Sanpang, he brought up the story again and wanted to be a matchmaker for Wei Qian again.

Wei Qian was immediately overwhelmed: "Third brother, please be kind, I can hardly find my way home, and you're still thinking of introducing a girl to me?"

Sanpang diagnosed seriously: "You are lost, right? Feeling particularly confused, right? Feeling that life is full of pressure and has no fun at all, right? You are lacking love."

Wei Qian said expressionlessly: "I don't think I'm lacking love. My problem may be caused by lack of money. If you can give me a few hundred million in real money right now, I will pledge myself to you on the spot."

"Get lost," the fat man was furious. "Our goddess is famous for all eternity, but... you are just a piece of stinky stone in the toilet, no one wants you even if you pay me."

Wei Qian shrugged: "Okay, if no one wants it, then no one wants it. I'm leaving then."

"Come back." Sanpang said, and took out the photo of the girl he showed Wei Qian last time, and stuffed it into his hand. "I told you last time that this girl is Feng Ning, from the same class as Lin Qing. She stayed in school after graduating from graduate school. Now she is doing administrative work while continuing to study. Once she gets her doctorate, she will be able to become a formal lecturer..."

Wei Qian was about to wail: "Please spare me, I really..."

Sanpang interrupted him, "She's well-educated, talented, and good-looking. I'm giving her a break by introducing her to you, okay? I know you can't take care of her now, but when you've settled the project, come back and meet her, do you hear me? There are so many people chasing after her, and if you're late, someone else will get there first."

Wei Qian replied perfunctorily: “Let’s talk about it after we sort it out.”

Sanpang's face, which had always been sunny and cheerful, suddenly changed. His expression darkened and he asked coldly, "What's the matter? Such a good girl is not worthy of you? You keep talking about your Xiaoyuan in public, but what about you?"

Wei Qian paused.

"Third Brother won't hurt you. I know you don't like this type, but life requires not only a throbbing heart, but also a good match to last. You may like each other at first sight, but when you go home, you fight and play every day. Is that okay?" Sanpang sighed, slowed down his tone, and said earnestly, "With your bad temper, how many young girls can tolerate it? You have to find someone with a calm personality and willing to tolerate others. What will happen if you meet once? If it doesn't work, will you lose a piece of meat if you find someone else? You dare to handle such a big mess, but you don't dare to meet a woman?"

Just this once, Wei Qian finally gave in.

In fact, deep down, he knew that he was not interested in Feng Ning, but was simply provoked by Sanpang's words.

He seemed to be simply eager to prove that he could be a positive role model for Wei Zhiyuan, and that he could make adult, rational choices instead of succumbing to his inner willfulness.

As for the vague awkwardness in his heart, Wei Qian ignored it without any suspense. He was already accustomed to enduring all kinds of pressure and unhappiness, and did not have much expectation or yearning for married life.

It's just how people should be.

Then Wei Qian took Dr. Ma and flew to the distant City C.

In the first few days after he left, Wei Zhiyuan sent him text messages every morning and evening as if he was checking on him regularly. He wanted to know about everything, including eating, drinking, defecating and urinating. He even sent him a reminder about the weather forecast from Wei Qian's side every day, which was very annoying.

After a while, whenever Wei Qian heard his cell phone ring, he knew it was most likely his unlucky brother again, without even looking at it.

Then one day, for some reason, Wei Zhiyuan suddenly sent a text message asking, "Is she okay?"

Wei Qian didn't understand and thought that Wei Zhiyuan had sent the message to the wrong person. He had planned to ask about it later, but he happened to have something else on hand and forgot about it after a while.

After that, there was no news from Wei Zhiyuan suddenly.

Wei Qian was a little uncomfortable at first, and felt unhappy about being ignored. But when he called home to report that he was safe, he didn't hear anything unusual about Xiaobao. Everything was fine at home. Wei Qian judged others by himself, and guessed that Wei Zhiyuan was too busy with something and couldn't take care of him. The awkward feeling in his heart lasted for a few days, but he didn't take it to heart anymore.

The south is not like the north where projects are affected by seasons. After Wei Qian arrived, he invited a group of designers the next day. They spent two weeks coming up with a renovation plan.

It turns out that the villa area has two supporting facilities, one is the hospital located at the northernmost end, and the other is the clubhouse at the southernmost end.

With the help of the mountain hot springs in the north, they transformed it into a sanatorium and wellness center that integrates women's beauty services, and the club in the south was transformed into a private school.

For this school, Lao Xiong was sent back again. He flew around the country and mobilized almost all his connections. Finally, he poached a famous study abroad training institution. They invited people here, exempted rent and provided teachers with food, accommodation and regular recuperation as conditions. With the help of the brand of that study abroad training institution, they packaged it into a "private international school."

We provide one-stop service from foreign language training to study abroad agency, and sign a guaranteed contract with the students to ensure that they can apply for a study abroad destination that is above the level of the guaranteed school.

Household owners in the villa area are exempt from tuition and service fees.

This time, the advertisement was put out by a study abroad training institution in the name of "Private International School". It quickly covered the target customer group and turned a holiday villa into a "school district house". The cost was almost recovered within two months.

More than half a year later, the entire project was liquidated, even far exceeding the 200% return on investment that Mr. Zhang had initially expected.

Of course, these follow-up tasks are the responsibility of the project company's marketing team. When the sales office welcomed the first wave of guests from other places who came to see the house, Wei Qian knew that they had passed the most difficult hurdle.

On the way back, Ma Chunming asked him excitedly, "So, was my consulting service successful this time? Have I gotten started? Director Wei, are you serious about letting me work here? Can I..."

He turned his head to look at Wei Qian and suddenly shut up.

The plane had not yet left the runway, but Wei Qian was leaning back in his chair and had actually fallen asleep.

It’s not easy to be a boss, Ma Chunming thought.

After the bumpy ride, Dr. Ma put down the small table, took out his pen and notebook, and carefully wrote down all his work experience. Then, he turned to the last page and carefully drew a little turtle climbing up the mountain on the blank page.

When Wei Qian was awakened by the flight attendant delivering meals, Dr. Ma already had a reinforced company of little turtles on his laptop.

The familiar painting style and vivid movements made Wei Qian recognize it at a glance after many years. Suddenly, the three words "Ma Chunming" became familiar to him and overlapped with the name on the title page of the old textbook he used.

Wei Qian couldn't help but ask, "Did you also graduate from the No. 3 City High School?"

Dr. Ma hurriedly closed the notebook, regretting that he had gotten carried away and showed his most unreliable side to his future boss.

Wei Qian couldn't help laughing: "It's okay, just draw, you draw very well."

He didn't expect that he would meet the "God of Turtle" by chance. It's true that people meet everywhere in life. He recalled the time when he fought in Guangdong and Guangxi with a second-hand textbook. He opened the sunshade a little in the rumble of the plane engine. There were large clouds under the fuselage, and the strong ultraviolet rays hurt his eyes.

Wei Qian suddenly felt as if the ocean and sky were vast and open.

...Of course, if he knew what Kim Jong Un had done behind his back during the time he was away, and what he would face when he returned, he might not have been so happy so early.

On the first day Wei Qian left, Sanpang sneaked into his house and told Xiaobao that he had some company information to get from Wei Qian's house.

Of course Xiaobao didn't doubt it at all. He walked past with the apple in his mouth without even looking at it.

Sanpang's acquaintance made the crime more efficient. After entering Wei Qian's room, he quickly moved the old graduation photo on his desk and replaced it with Feng Ning's photo. He also suggestively placed a small gift box next to it - the obviously girly box contained an exquisite lighter.

Wei Zhiyuan had not expected that Wei Qian would suddenly decide to go to the south, otherwise he would not have left. A week later, he returned home on time. Although he did not achieve the observation results and felt a little regretful, he still insisted on harassing Wei Qian once a day and enjoyed it very much.

One day, he seemed to have finally annoyed Wei Qian. Wei Qian called back and briefly asked about the situation at home. Then he began to scold Wei Zhiyuan: "Are you done yet? Telecom has just opened a service in your village. You know how to use your mobile phone, right? My communication bill this month is higher than that stupid relationship consultant over there!"

The last few words sounded very pleasant to Wei Zhiyuan, and he was so happy to be scolded. However, before the bud had fully opened, Wei Zhiyuan was stunned by another piece of news - Sanpang knocked on the door and brought in a few boxes of beautifully packaged snacks. As soon as he entered the door, he handed them to Xiaobao and said, "Your brother won't be coming back, so you two are lucky. Eat them."

Xiao Bao shamelessly picked at the packaging boxes and said politely without any sincerity: "Hey, Third Brother, you are here, why are you still taking... Can you take a few more boxes next time?"

"You're so greedy." Sanpang replied with a smile, but he glanced at Wei Zhiyuan intentionally or unintentionally, and said in an ambiguous tone, "Don't be so self-indulgent. This is not bought for you. I bought it specially for your brother."

Xiao Bao had to maintain his figure, so he didn't dare to eat too much. He only carefully broke off half a piece to satisfy his craving: "Who is it? Who bought this for my brother?"

Sanpang smiled mysteriously at Wei Zhiyuan who was standing behind her: "Your future sister-in-law."

He saw with satisfaction that Wei Zhiyuan's expression suddenly changed.

Xiao Bao was stunned for a moment, and frowned a little uncomfortably at first, but she accepted it quickly and was relieved soon. She chased after San Pang and asked, "When did it happen? Why didn't my brother tell me? What does she do? Does she have a good temper? What's she like?"

Sanpang laughed: "Your third brother introduced it, how could it be wrong? Go to your brother's room and take a look, there must be photos."

Xiaobao went there immediately. She quickly found Feng Ning's photo and the gift box on Wei Qian's desk. She was so surprised as if she had discovered a new continent that she even tried to pull Wei Zhiyuan to see them together.

"Xiaobao," Wei Zhiyuan suddenly said, "Grandma seems to be calling you."

"Oh," Song Xiaobao didn't doubt it, stuffed the remaining snack into his mouth, turned around and ran away with his cheeks puffed up, "Here I come!"

Sanpang stared at Wei Zhiyuan's gloomy face. He had never seen Wei Zhiyuan like this before. That kind of undisguised coldness made Sanpang think of the perverted murderer who took revenge on society. Just the look in his eyes was chilling.

Is Wei Qian blind? He can't even see this - Sanpang sighed in his heart, and had a premonition that Wei Zhiyuan was going to tear his face with him in person, and the hidden words were going to be revealed.

Sanpang pretended to have realized something and looked at Wei Zhiyuan's expression and said jokingly, "What's the matter? Are you unhappy?"

Wei Zhiyuan didn't say anything at first.

"Alas, Third Brother knows, it's just like the feeling of having a biological father find a stepmother. Only Xiaobao can be so heartless." Sanpang patted Wei Zhiyuan's stiff shoulder in an understanding manner and said pretentiously, "But think about it, your brother is your brother after all. Even parents can't be with their children for a lifetime, let alone brothers. One day, you will all start your own families. This is the law of nature."

After Sanpang finished speaking, he looked up to observe Wei Zhiyuan's expression, but he could not find any clues in the young man's eyes, which were just gloomy and dark. He finally couldn't help but blurt out: "Your brother has had a hard life. You...you...ah, don't worry him too much."

Wei Zhiyuan lowered his voice and said without moving his lips: "Third brother, do you know?"

Sanpang didn't know how to answer. Facing the extremely pale face of the child he had watched grow up, he was speechless for a moment.

The corners of Wei Zhiyuan's mouth moved, and he seemed to sneer very quickly, and then he turned and walked away without saying a word. His last look made Sanpang feel a little nervous, and he couldn't help but think: Could this kid be so excited that he would do something?