Chapter 179: The Three-Person Palace

Just then, in the living room, Su Wanqing heard Wen Ci’s boasting and couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. She sneered, "I wonder if Nurse Wen earns enough to buy a single handbag."

In the 1980s, foreign luxury goods began to enter the market, and extremely expensive handbags became the standard for the wealthy when attending banquets.

"Hm?"

Wen Ci blinked.

’There were already luxury handbags from overseas costing tens of thousands of yuan at this time?’

At this thought, Wen Ci couldn’t help but shake her head slightly. ’I really have to keep working hard to make money. The lives of the truly wealthy are just a glimpse of a world I can only imagine.’

Huo Jingyuan’s eyes flashed with anger, but his expression was aloof as he said, "Whether my wife earns money or not is none of your business."

He didn’t want Su Wanqing’s words to discourage Wen Ci.

He had seen how busy Wen Ci had been these past few days since her return to Beijing, getting up before dawn to go to the warehouse in the suburbs.

"Brother Jingyuan..."

"Don’t call me that. We’re not that close."

The man’s voice was utterly cold. Impatience, even bordering on disgust, was written all over his face, but he held back for the sake of the elders present and didn’t say anything harsher.

A smile spread across Wen Ci’s face as he defended her. ’If we weren’t in the main hall, I’d give him a kiss right now as a reward.’

Su Wanqing bit her lip, a wronged expression written all over her face. As she gazed at Huo Jingyuan’s impossibly handsome face, her look of grievance gradually melted into bashfulness.

She blushed and lowered her head, her voice barely a whisper, "Brother Jingyuan, you’re so mean."

Huo Jingyuan: "..."

Suddenly, Grandma Liu appeared, her face wreathed in a benevolent smile. "Children, it’s time for dinner."

The Huo family had a cook to prepare their meals. Outside, the last rays of the setting sun lingered over the garden, and sunset clouds painted the horizon as the incandescent lights in the main hall were switched on.

Wen Ci looked at the array of dishes on the table. Each one was exquisitely plated, and the soup was a restorative black fish soup, meant for healing the body.

"Ah Yuan, your parents wrote. They said they might get leave this year."

At the dinner table, Grandpa Huo brought up a letter he had received a few days ago. Huo Jingyuan’s parents worked for a classified organization, so if they wanted to contact their family, they could only do so through letters.

Each letter had to go through multiple layers of inspection after being sent out. By the time it reached the family’s hands, at least a month or two would have passed.

Huo Jingyuan’s hand, which was reaching for his chopsticks, paused. His expression remained unchanged. "Oh. We’ll talk about it when they’re actually home."

As a child, he had received letters with similar promises many times, only for his parents to be unable to come back for the New Year because something suddenly came up at their unit.

After so many broken promises, he’d learned not to get his hopes up.

"They’re really coming back this time. They said they want to come back and meet Ah Ci."

"Got it."

After a moment of silence, Su Wanqing suddenly spoke up. "Brother Jingyuan, last night I heard my mom say that Dr. Nade is in London. Do you want to go abroad for treatment?"

Dr. Nade was a world-renowned foreign surgeon.

Su Wanqing’s mother was a doctor overseas.

Huo Jingyuan replied, "There’s no need."

He was now a regiment-level officer. Going abroad required a multi-layered approval process from his superiors, and there was a chance it could affect his future career prospects.

Although domestic hospitals might not be on par with those overseas for the time being, he had already had surgery for his injuries and just needed to wait and recover.

"The standard of medical care abroad is higher."

After a moment of contemplation, Grandma Liu said, "Ah Yuan, why don’t you go and have it checked out? You can treat it as a trip to visit your aunt overseas."

Huo Jingyuan replied resignedly, "Grandma, I’m a regiment-level officer. I can’t just leave the country whenever I want. Besides, our domestic medical standards are already developing to an international level."

Many domestic companies were already planning to develop their own high-tech medical equipment. It probably wouldn’t be long before all the equipment in our hospitals was made in-country.