Starting a new chapter in life

He Jin'an was completely shocked. She swallowed hard, her voice a little hoarse: "Mom, how did you manage to be so open-minded?"

Jingyan smiled and said, "Our family used to be four generations living together. Did your grandmother live with your great-grandmother for a long time? Did we live with your grandmother for a long time? They say distance makes things better, and that's the point."

Everyone has their own lifestyle habits. Even two people with different backgrounds need time to adjust to each other, let alone five, six, or even more. More people, more problems—hasn't that always been the case?

He Jin'an thought about it carefully and realized that it was true. Back then, her great-grandmother preferred to live in a sanatorium rather than live with her grandmother and the others, but her grandmother was very filial to her great-grandmother.

My mother never lived with my grandmother for long, but she was a very good daughter-in-law to her. Compared to the neighbors who were always arguing and fighting, our family was indeed very peaceful.

Having figured these things out, He Jin'an also admitted that the habits passed down in his family were indeed very good.

He solemnly promised Jingyan, "Mom, don't worry, I won't rush to find a partner, but if I do, it will definitely be someone I like, and I won't settle for someone just because of what others say."

Jingyan was very satisfied with her son's quick thinking.

When Jingyan fell asleep that night, lying flat on her back, He Zhijun habitually placed his hand on her lower abdomen and chuckled softly, "You told An'an all sorts of nice things, like you didn't want any conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, but actually you just didn't want to take care of the child."

An'an and Zhizhi were so easy to take care of before, and they weren't very noisy in the ward. You always found it troublesome, so Grandma and Sister Wang took care of them most of the time.

On the contrary, you were more willing to take care of them when they got older and could run and jump, mainly to play with them. And you showed your affection by feeding them, so the children all liked you, because you gave them the most food and spoiled them the most.

Jing Yan nodded without hesitation and admitted, "Indeed, I don't like very young children. They're too much trouble. Older children who can run and jump and speak clearly are much more fun."

"If it weren't for the fact that sensible children are easier to raise, I wouldn't have agreed to let Xiaoli attend school with us. Back then, Xiaoli was quiet and reserved, the kind of child I liked best."

He Zhijun also admitted: "Yes, the children you like seem to always be the kind of quiet and unassuming personalities. Xiao Li is quiet and shy, Ci En is taciturn, and Rong Qiang is precocious but has a lot of inner turmoil. None of them are cheerful personalities."

Ah, no wonder. I was wondering why you only wanted to keep Ci'en at our house for school, and didn't even mention Cihai, Zhao'an, or Zhaohui. I thought it was because Ci'en was in the crucial final year of junior high and her studies couldn't be neglected.

Now that you think about it, didn't you dislike those three kids because they were lively and noisy?

Jingyan glanced at him lazily: "You're only just realizing this? Grandma noticed a long time ago. You're so slow to react."

He Zhijun muttered, "That's because you behaved too well and were too selfless. I never thought it was because you didn't like lively children."

Jingyan closed her sleepy eyes, her voice a little muffled: "I really don't like children. Back then, Xiaoli had personality problems and was always bullied when he was studying in Yangshi. If we hadn't helped him back then, my older brother and sister-in-law would have had a hard time, and my parents would have had to worry too."

As for Ci'en, besides his good personality, the main reason he was chosen was because his parents weren't around. He was older and sensible, and his parents hadn't paid much attention to him in the past. It would be better to treat him well, and he could also take care of Zhizhi and An'an.

You know how An'an was back then, always asking "why" every day. It really annoyed me, and I almost wanted to spank him a few times. If I hadn't been worried about upsetting his grandma, he would have had a complete childhood long ago.

Just when I was struggling to endure it, Ci'en appeared out of nowhere. As expected, with his arrival, our three kids, who used to always be following him around, stopped bothering me except for asking for food. I finally escaped the daily barrage of questions.

After Jingyan finished speaking, she turned over and faced away from him, saying, "Okay, stop talking. I'm so sleepy, I want to go to sleep."

He Zhijun moved closer to her, put his arm around her waist, and whispered, "Okay, you can sleep now, I won't disturb you."

Jingyan wanted to slap his arm down, but she was too lazy to move, so she just ignored it and went back to sleep.

Hearing her long, deep breaths, He Zhijun smiled and said in a low voice, "No matter what your original intention was in accepting the child, you worked hard for the family and helped take care of several children. My brother and I will remember this kindness and will treat you well for the rest of our lives."

Since the elderly couple moved into An'an's apartment, they have been receiving a variety of boxed meals every day at noon. He Zhijun delivers them to them on time, and no matter how busy He Jin'an is, she will finish her work before that time and wait in her office to receive the care from her elderly mother.

Many colleagues are envious, and some with families even want to bring their own lunches, since buying food from the cafeteria every day isn't expensive, and the company provides a meal allowance.

However, if the meal allowance is deposited into your meal card and you don't use it, you can withdraw the balance at the end of each year, which adds up to a considerable amount of income over the course of a year.

Although Assistant Liu has no family, his colleagues still come to him when they need something. They say that other people don't have the same resources as the boss, who delivers hot meals to them. Many people bring their own food, but it's always leftovers. It's not realistic for them to bring their own food if they don't have a place to get hot meals.

Assistant Liu relayed this issue to He Jin'an. The canteen here is shared by the entire office building, which houses many companies, and the canteen doesn't need their employees.

So He Jin'an asked his assistant Liu to get a sum of money approved by the finance department to set up six microwave ovens and two refrigerators in an empty office near the restroom. This way, colleagues would have a place to put their meals or fruits, and it would be convenient to heat them up if needed.

That said, bosses who listen to their employees' needs are naturally more popular with them. They can save most of the meal allowance and even have extra meals on their own, which is a great benefit in any company.

When He Jin'an got home, he told Jingyan about it as a joke. He Zhijun was a little worried about the money spent on the appliances, and Jingyan patted him on the shoulder.

“Our son is generous in his actions, which pleases his subordinates. They are more diligent in their work, and our son can earn more money. You should understand this principle better than I do.”

He Zhijun understood, but in the past, he used public funds to do this kind of thing to win people over, without having to pay out of his own pocket. But now, his own son was paying for it. He didn't say that An'an did anything wrong, he just felt sorry for the money and got beaten up. It was really a loss.

Watching the two interact, He Jin'an felt envious again. He couldn't tell anyone, but he could bother his sister. So, Zhizhi, who was tired and sleepy after a long day, was woken up by a phone call from her brother.

He went on and on, grumbling about how he envied his parents' good relationship and how they stayed together until old age… In the end, he lamented that he couldn't meet a girl he liked and wondered when he could find her a sister-in-law so he wouldn't end up having to go on blind dates…

Finally, having finished her duties as the trash can, He Jin'an was able to release her emotions. She happily hung up the phone, washed up, and fell asleep. Meanwhile, Zhizhi, whose sleep had been interrupted, suffered from insomnia until midnight. Anyone who has experienced insomnia understands the feeling of being so tired that you can't fall back asleep after being woken up from a deep sleep.

This resulted in Director He Anzhi having such a sour face during the second day of filming that it could scare a child to tears. People who didn't know the inside story were wondering what went wrong.

After all, Director He Anzhi is known for being one of the most emotionally stable directors in the industry. Everyone did their best to do their job, and surprisingly, the day's progress was quite good. They managed to shoot what would normally take a day and a half, which was a pleasant surprise.

Today, having learned from her experience of being woken up in the middle of the night, Zhizhi turned off her phone before going to sleep. An'an, having enjoyed having someone to confide in yesterday, happily bothered her younger sister again after washing up, only to find that the phone was switched off.

He didn't think his sister was disliking him; he just assumed his phone was dead and he'd forgotten to charge it. He went to sleep without giving it a second thought. It wasn't until a week later, when he couldn't get through to her after 10 PM, that he realized his sister was disliking him.

He wanted to confront his sister, but she wasn't around, and he had nowhere to vent his grievances. He just couldn't stop thinking about finding a wife.

No matter what, Zhizhi still felt sorry for her brother. During breaks from filming, she also looked through her phone contacts, thinking about whether there were any nice single women she knew who she could introduce to her brother. If there was one who could be her sister-in-law, that would be great, since the people she interacted with were all very outstanding.

But after looking around, his older brother wasn't good enough for any of the outstanding and single men. There was nothing he could do; his brother had started late. Others were either born into wealth and inherited their families, or their families had mines where money could buy them a path to success. People from ordinary families like his couldn't compare.

The rest of the women his brother could be with were either too old or already married; in short, they were all unsuitable.

Zhizhi sighed helplessly. She could only leave it to fate. The most important thing right now was to finish filming the last stop as soon as possible and head back. Her parents had gone to Beijing, and only her brother was there now. Their attention was all on her brother, so she had to hurry back to win his favor.

Although Zhizhi was the youngest child in the family, she was also the most hardworking. This was because she excelled in all the physical training and various martial arts exercises she received as a child.

When she was working as an assistant and learning for Director Liu on the set, she would discuss some of the action sequences with the martial arts instructor. There were a few high-difficulty aerial flips that couldn't be done with wires because the actors couldn't jump high enough, so she acted as a stunt double to complete them.

This is one of the reasons why everyone in the crew likes her so much. She's talented, willing to learn, hardworking, and also knows how to get along with people. What great qualities! If she were the director, she would like a subordinate like that too.

Having followed Zhizhi's team for over two years, I recently noticed that Director He has changed his ways. He used to always worry that rushing the schedule would exhaust people, and he always asked everyone to balance work and rest.

But recently, things have changed. He doesn't stop working until it's completely dark. When the light is bad, he shoots the indoor cultural heritage parts, and when the light is good, he quickly shoots the landscape, trying not to waste a single second.

With that kind of impulsiveness, anyone who didn't know better would think there was a fire at home and she needed to rush back. Everyone knows Director He is young and doesn't have a boyfriend; logically, she shouldn't need to be in such a hurry.

In the end, everyone agreed that the company might be out of money and they couldn't let the kids continue to have fun outside. So they needed to finish filming as soon as possible and return home to save some money. As a result, the highly cooperative team boarded the train home a month early.

He Jin'an was very happy when he received the news that Zhizhi was coming back. After all, he hadn't seen his sister much in the past two years. Now that the documentary was finished, his sister could come back and rest, and then they could start casting and filming the palace intrigue drama.

The elderly couple were also very excited to learn that Zhizhi was on her way home. After confirming the exact date of her arrival, they began preparing a big meal, which happened to fall on Mother's Day.

Jingyan didn't care much about these kinds of holidays. After all, people of her generation didn't really understand the concept of anniversaries, let alone such minor holidays.

However, she was pleasantly surprised when her two children wished her a happy Mother's Day as soon as they entered the house after she had spent most of the day preparing a table full of home-cooked meals.

Zhizhi gave her a bouquet of flowers, including roses, carnations, and two lilies. Jingyan happily accepted the flowers, gently pinched the petals, and smiled.

"These flowers are so beautiful, especially the red roses. The petals are fluffy and thick, they feel so nice to the touch, and they're the prettiest ones."

He Jinan...

He Anzhi...

The two children laughed for a while before Zhizhi explained, "Mom, this isn't a rose, it's a rose. Hmm, but they do look quite similar, huh?"

Jingyan made a blunder, but she didn't think it was a big deal. She had already made a mistake, and besides, all roses look like this. Anyway, she didn't embarrass herself in public, so it didn't matter. She was mentally strong.

An'an prepared a platinum diamond ring as a gift for Jingyan. This was the first time Jingyan had worn platinum jewelry, and it was also her first diamond ring.

Jingyan happily let her son put the ring on her finger. Although her hands were a bit rough and her fingers were quite thick, the ring wasn't too picky about who wore it. The diamond sparkled brightly under the light, and it looked really beautiful. Jingyan liked it.

Jing Yanle's eyes were narrowed to slits. He Zhijun, who had nothing, stood beside her, craning his neck to look at the two children. The two children were completely unaware of their father's resentful gaze, only focused on looking at their mother.

He Zhijun could no longer contain himself: "Where's my gift?"

Two children...

An'an coughed lightly: "Um, Dad, today is Mother's Day, so we only prepared a gift for Mom. We'll definitely give you your gift on Father's Day."

He Zhijun's eyes widened: "There's a Father's Day? Which day?"

Zhizhi raised her hand, looking like she was about to answer: "I know, August 8th is Father's Day."