Chapter 348 - 345: Snowball Fight

Chapter 348: Chapter 345: Snowball Fight

The two of them quickly washed up, put on their coats, and went out into the yard. They saw that the snow that had accumulated overnight on the small path in the middle of the yard had already been cleared. Li Xianglin and Li Xiangrui were happily running around, having a snowball fight, with four bodyguards standing watch nearby. Zhou Lian and Li Xiu looked at each other and smiled. ’This is wonderful. This life is truly wonderful!’

Sister Fang stepped out of the kitchen and saw the scene. She smiled knowingly and said gently, "You two are up. Time to call the children in for breakfast!"

Hearing Sister Fang, Li Xiu nodded and walked with Zhou Lian toward their happy son and daughter. He didn’t notice the irrepressible smiles on the faces of the nearby bodyguards until two snowballs came flying in their direction. Li Xiu hurriedly shielded Zhou Lian, and when he looked up, he saw the triumphant grins on his children’s faces.

"You little brat! Just you wait!" Li Xiu let go of Zhou Lian, bent down, packed a snowball, and threw it at Li Xiangrui.

Li Xiangrui, who took a direct hit, started wailing and shouted indignantly at his father, "Dad, am I even your real son? Sister threw one too, so why are you only picking on me?!"

"Of course you’re my real son! You little rascal, you don’t even know to protect your sister, and now you’re getting jealous of her? Take another one!" Watching his son squeal, Li Xiu was thoroughly amused and casually packed another snowball to throw.

On the other side, Zhou Lian saw her daughter watching her father and brother, so she secretly packed a snowball and threw it at her. But her aim was off. The snowball went wide and hit her son, who was standing right next to her daughter, square in the face. Seeing the utterly dumbfounded look on her son’s face, Zhou Lian bent over laughing.

"Sis, Sis, help me!" Seeing his pair of shameless parents laughing uncontrollably, Li Xiangrui pouted and yelled to his sister. ’Dad always protects Mom, and now Mom is joining in too!’

Seeing her little brother’s dazed expression after being hit, Li Xianglin laughed too. She glanced at her parents, who were doubled over with laughter, and pouted helplessly. She gave her silly little brother a look, and in an instant, the great snowball war began!

Sister Fang watched the family of four playing wildly, a smile on her face. She looked up at the sky, where small snowflakes were still drifting down, then back at the joyous smiles on their faces in the yard. ’This is what Li Xiu has always hoped for and worked so hard to give Zhou Lian—a peaceful and stable life, with quiet, beautiful years.’

Drawn out by the noisy laughter from the yard, Grandma Li followed Sister Fang’s gaze to the group having a snowball fight. Her brows furrowed slightly, and just as she was about to say something, Sister Fang stopped her, gently helping her to stand by the doorway.

Watching the happy family of four, she said, "Grandma, let them play for a while. It’s rare for them to be this happy!"

"Fang, what do you mean by that?" Hearing Sister Fang’s words, Grandma Li’s heart trembled slightly. She looked at Sister Fang in disbelief. ’Could it be that they aren’t happy in the Capital City?’

Gently patting Grandma Li’s hand, Sister Fang said slowly, "Grandma, I came to help the family in their second year in the Capital City. I’ve watched them every step of the way. Grandma, life wasn’t as simple as you might imagine. Think about it. When the young couple first went to the Capital City, they didn’t have much money. Nuonuo was still little, Yanyan was only a few months old, and Xiao Lian was still in school. Everything, both inside and outside the home, fell on Li Xiu’s shoulders!"

"He’s only human; he gets tired too. He just never says a word about being tired or in pain, that’s all! Xiao Lian is so smart and perceptive, do you think she didn’t know he was exhausted? But she understood what Li Xiu was striving for even better. Once, I asked her, since Li Xiu was so tired, why didn’t she persuade him to slow down? After all, everyone knows he dotes on her more than anyone. Grandma, do you know what Xiao Lian said?"

Looking curiously at Sister Fang, her face filled with heartache for Li Xiu, Grandma Li asked, puzzled, "What did my granddaughter-in-law say?"

"She said that the one thing Jin Chen wanted most in this life was to work hard and give her a peaceful and stable life, with quiet, beautiful years. Grandma, I didn’t quite understand what she meant back then. But as we lived together, I watched Li Xiu work hard to take care of everything at home and outside, while Xiao Lian studied hard to finish her coursework. It was a ten-year program, but she somehow managed to finish it two or three years early. At first, I didn’t realize how difficult that was. Later, Teacher Xiao—that’s Xiao Lian’s professor—said that in all her years of teaching, Xiao Lian was the first student to ever graduate early!"

"When Xiao Lian graduated early, Li Xiu got completely drunk at home. He was so happy, saying things like how amazing his wife was. That’s when I finally understood the two of them. Grandma, they’ve had it very hard all these years. It’s not that they weren’t happy, but it was rare for them to have this kind of leisure time to play with their children. Things are better now. After so many years of hard work, Li Xiu has established a firm foothold in the Capital City, and so has Xiao Lian. Even though Li Xiu has always spoiled her, she also worked hard to become the person he most hoped she would be!"

Watching Sister Fang speak while looking fondly at the playful family of four, Grandma Li understood her meaning. All this time, she had thought her eldest grandson was smart, steady, and doted on his wife to no end. But in truth, she had only occasionally wondered if their life in the Capital City was difficult. The young couple always reported the good news but never the bad, so she had assumed everything was smooth sailing for them. She had forgotten how they managed to succeed in the Capital City, a place where they had no one to rely on.

"Fang, were they..."

Seeing Grandma Li at a loss for words, Sister Fang smiled and said, "Grandma, they are both doing very well. It was hard, and it was tiring, but they had each other and their two children. Once they got through it, everything was fine. Grandma, they’re doing great now. For the past ten years or so, the two of them just gritted their teeth and persevered. Everything is good now!"

Sister Fang was doing this on purpose. Last night, when she heard that Grandma Li was going to the Capital City, she decided she needed to indirectly let her understand the situation. Li Xiu and Zhou Lian were the type of people who acted but rarely spoke of their struggles. She worried that when Grandma Li arrived in the Capital City and saw everything the couple had achieved through their hard work, she might get other ideas. After all, Li Xiu was only one of her grandsons, and Grandma Li had other children and grandchildren. As the saying goes, people worry not about scarcity, but about inequality.

Besides, Li Bao’s family had been single-handedly propped up by Li Xiu, not to mention the several other relatives now attending university in the Capital City. Sister Fang had seen most clearly the sacrifices Li Xiu and Zhou Lian had made. It wasn’t to deny that these relatives were of good character now, but the human heart is unpredictable. Who knows what the future holds? Over the years, Sister Fang had come to understand that in the Li family, after Li Xiu, Grandma Li held the most sway. She had to make Grandma Li understand the hardships Li Xiu and Zhou Lian had endured all these years.

She couldn’t let the Li family members think that everything Li Xiu did was to be taken for granted. Nor could she let Grandma Li, once she was in the Capital City, develop a negative opinion of Zhou Lian. After all, it was plain for all to see how much Li Xiu doted on Zhou Lian. The Zhou family members would be gratified to see it, since Zhou Lian was their own flesh and blood. But the Li family members, especially Grandma Li, wouldn’t necessarily feel the same way. To her, after all, Li Xiu was her biological grandson.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t appropriate for Sister Fang to meddle, given her position. But over the years, she had long since become a part of this family. Who in the Capital City didn’t know that Sister Fang, the Li family’s housekeeper, had the authority to run half the household? Li Xiu and Zhou Lian treated her like their own older sister, so Sister Fang would do everything in her power to protect her "little brother and sister." No one could hurt them—not even their own relatives from either side of the family.