Chapter 734: The Send-off

The Qin family arrived early to see them off.

Mr. and Mrs. Qin even took a separate car and saw them all the way to the train station.

"My dear in-law, you’ll have your hands full from now on! If you need anything, just call home." Mrs. Qin and Mrs. Fu got along very well.

So, she was genuinely sad to see Mrs. Fu leave with the children.

Mrs. Fu also felt a pang of sadness at their parting.

"Not at all. The children are older now and easy to manage. Besides, they’ll be starting kindergarten in the fall! I’ll have even more time on my hands."

’If the two children are in school, what else will I have to do all day?’

’Just making them breakfast and dinner, and doing some laundry.’

’Isn’t that so much more relaxing than my old life of going to work every day?’

The two mothers bid each other a reluctant farewell.

This completely threw Qin Wenshu for a loop.

He whispered to Qin Wenhao, "I’ve never seen in-laws who get along this well."

Forget everyone else. Just look at our older cousin, Qin Wenze—he’s been married twice, after all.

Our aunt never got along with either of her in-laws.

Qin Wenhao shot him a look. "That’s because *my* mother-in-law is wonderful. You don’t have one, so you wouldn’t get it."

Qin Wenshu: ...?

’He’s got a point.’

’So why did it sound so smug and infuriating?’

Just then, Qin Wenhao saw the train pulling into the station.

He immediately called out to his mother-in-law, who was deep in conversation:

"Mom, the train’s here! We need to get on."

Mrs. Fu grew anxious when she heard it was time to board.

"My dear, we have to go now."

Qin Wenhao and Qin Wenze each held a child, while Mr. Qin and Qin Wenshu carried the bags.

Once the train stopped, they all pitched in to get the luggage aboard.

Qin Wenhao had bought four sleeper berths.

This meant the four-person compartment was perfect for their family.

Mrs. Qin was very pleased by this.

"This is wonderful. You have the whole compartment to yourselves."

’Looks like my youngest son is reliable after all.’

’After all, train tickets were so hard to come by, yet he’d managed to snag four sleeper berths.’

Mrs. Fu, however, felt a pang of regret about the cost.

’They could have just bought two adult sleeper tickets, but now they’d bought four. That was two extra tickets’ worth of money spent.’

’But then she considered that it was safer and better for the children this way, and she no longer minded the expense.’

The train didn’t stop for long. After helping them get the children and their belongings on board, the Qin family hurried off the train.

Only after the train pulled away did the Qin family drive home.

Mrs. Qin wasn’t in the best of spirits on the drive home.

"Sigh... If only they all lived in Beijing!"

"That’s not possible," Mr. Qin said at once. "For starters, your son has to serve a few more years in the army over there, and Mingxue has to work there for the next few years, too. Even though Mingxue will return to Beijing several times a year, she’ll still be spending the majority of her time there. It just makes more sense for them to live there as a family."

Mrs. Qin thought about it and realized he was right.

The three-day train journey was a novel experience for the two children.

They were at an age where they forgot things quickly, so being on the train like this was a source of great excitement.

By evening, they were fast asleep.

Mrs. Fu said to Qin Wenhao, "It’s a good thing you’re here. Otherwise, Mingxue and I would never be able to handle them."

"Even though the children are well-behaved, they’re still little and incredibly curious. They’re always wanting to get out and explore."

"And perhaps because they eat and drink so much, there are also lots of... potty breaks. One after another."

"I can’t even count how many trips we’ve made to the restroom in a single day."