Starting a new chapter in life

I actually don't like Cheng Heng very much. He's too calculating and still manages to save face. As a CEO of a group, he can pretend to be weak and manipulative to stay by Zhizhi's side and seize the opportunity to enter her life. With that kind of intelligence and scheming, even ten Zhizhis couldn't beat him.

Hmm... I can't beat them either.

But I know one thing: as long as you have money, nothing in the world is a big deal. Zhizhi can earn money on her own, and she has shares in my company. With me around, she won't go hungry. So when she agreed to marry Cheng Heng, I didn't stop her.

The girl is getting older, and it's not easy for some fox to lure her back to its den. I'll just pretend I don't know anything. Seeing that the two families have arranged the marriage, I privately asked my parents if they weren't worried that Zhizhi had chosen the wrong person?

Mom was optimistic: "Besides Zhizhi, what else in our family could anyone possibly want? Money? They don't lack that. Power? We don't have that either. Influence? What's that? I've lived most of my life and never seen it."

So, whatever you want to achieve, as long as Zhizhi is happy. If one day Zhizhi doesn't want to be with him anymore, she can just go home anytime.

When I thought about it, it seemed to make sense. After the wedding, Zhizhi was no different from before the marriage, except that she had a son, who was still left to be raised by Cheng Heng's scumbag father and stepmother. It didn't cause any obstacles for Zhizhi at all. Hmm, that's good.

Seeing Zhizhi's career going smoothly, I, as her older brother, feel very proud.

As the company prospered, so did the temptations outside. Once, when I went back to visit my parents, my mother casually mentioned cases of divorces due to infidelity, saying those women were all too kind.

Whether it's a fight or a divorce, in the end, you're the one who suffers. If it were her, one snip with the scissors would solve everything once and for all.

After hearing that, I felt a chill down below. I don't know if it's just my imagination, but whenever I feel like swaying, what comes to mind isn't my wife and kids' faces, but my mother's nonchalant peace sign.

My momentary confusion quickly cleared up. I believe that if I were caught cheating, my mother might actually do it. After all, I already have a child, and for her, the function is irrelevant.

No one knew that Mr. He's insistence on maintaining his integrity in the glamorous world did not stem from love for his family, but from fear of his own mother.

My mother's passing was so sudden that in the years that followed, I often wondered if she would have left us so soon had she hadn't injured her lumbar spine and been hospitalized.

In the past, whenever I went home, I would always buy a bunch of things, useful or useless, just to express my love for my parents. I couldn't not buy them, so my mom would give me a list in advance, as she was too lazy to go out and buy them herself.

With my mother gone, I brought far fewer things when I went back. Apart from basic fruits and vegetables, I couldn't think of anything else I needed to buy. My father and Uncle Shen's lives had also become much more difficult.

In the past, a meal would always include at least one meat dish and two vegetable dishes, or even more. But several times when I suddenly went back, the two old men could manage with just one dish. If they were eating noodles, they would skip that dish altogether. It's not that they don't know how to cook; they just don't want to bother.

Without my mother, the house feels less and less warm and welcoming.

Even so, I still hoped that my father could spend more time with us. Whenever Zhizhi and I had time, we would go back to visit him. But our hopes could not bring back the spirit and energy that my father had lost. In just six years, he also passed away.

Zhizhi and I went back to Yangzhou to hold a joint funeral for our parents. Ci'en and Xiaoli also came. Looking at my mother's bright smile on the tombstone, I seemed to feel my mother's big hand stroking my head again, whispering, "Eat well, our family doesn't need your little bit of living expenses."

Even though my parents have passed away, we still have to live our lives well. I am no longer a child, and I will no longer have a safe harbor to lean on when I encounter storms, because I have become the support of my wife and children.

Life seems unchanged, but in fact, so much has changed. In previous years, we would rush home for holidays, but since then, Zhizhi and I have never spent the New Year together. We either spend the New Year at my in-laws' house or at our own home. It's lively, but there's always a sense of emptiness in my heart.

Later, my parents-in-law also passed away one after another, and then it really was just the three of us. Even the New Year's Eve dinner couldn't feel as warm and cozy.

After my child turned 18, I let him, who had studied business administration, take over Ping An Media Company. Zhizhi's son is a staunch advocate of not getting married, while my rascal is a womanizer.

He even boasted about his womanizing ways. Seeing his gossip constantly making headlines, I really wanted to break his third leg so he could stop showing off.

He didn't think he was wrong, and even argued that he was so charming that he angered even a gentle person like Zixu. "Do you think you don't have the company your father runs, do you think you don't have money, where would you get so many suitors?"

They just think you're naive and rich, easy to fool. A few flattering words and you've already forgotten your place? Putting everything else aside, give the company back to your dad, and cancel your credit card.

"You go out and find a job. As long as you can survive on your own for five years, we won't interfere with whatever you want to do after that, okay?" Zixu made a bet with her child.

It has to be said that a life grown up in favorable circumstances without parental encouragement is truly incomplete. This child actually made a bet with Zixu, taking five thousand yuan with him to go out and find a job.

It was really tough at first. Two years after graduation, he couldn't mention his work experience at Ping An Media when he was out in the workforce. He wasn't very competitive when he first entered the job market. After hitting a few walls, his arrogance of thinking he was the best in the world was worn down quite a bit.

After six months of working independently, he finally found a stable job thanks to his high level of education. He joined the management department of a not-so-large company as a salesperson. Is sales difficult? Anyone who has been through it knows that you can't survive without a thick skin.

Fortunately, his fundamentals weren't completely crooked, and he managed to establish himself in the company, albeit with some stumbles. In his third year, he got a girlfriend. The girl came from a well-off family, but she wasn't very discerning when she fell for him.

My son called to mention this and suggested we meet at a restaurant. Zixu really liked the girl's cheerful and sunny personality, and I also thought the girl was nice, and that my spendthrift son wasn't good enough for her.

The girl was also straightforward: "Uncle and Aunt, I like him. Although he is not very successful at work right now, as long as he works hard, we will not let him worry about money after we get married."

I asked out of curiosity, "What do you do? Is your family very wealthy?"

The girl said somewhat shyly, "I'm an asset appraiser and I own a small company. My family is well-off; my dad is a boss, to a large extent. I only have one younger brother, so I don't have to shoulder too much responsibility. Our lives are secure."

Looking at my son, who seemed a bit silly, I asked him with a hint of helplessness, "What exactly do you see in him?"

"I have a great face and a great figure," the young girl said frankly.

I……

“Well, I have to make this clear to you. This kid is pretty unreliable by nature. He was a spendthrift a few years ago. I had to cut off his financial support before he was willing to find a stable job. Actually, I'm quite worried that he might cheat on you in the future…” I think it’s better to be honest. My own son is really a bit of a troublemaker.

The little girl opened her big eyes and said calmly, "It's okay, as long as he stays good-looking, it's fine. If he cheats on me in the future, at most we'll just cut off the source of the trouble." As she spoke, she raised her right hand, extended two fingers, and made a scissor gesture.

The familiar gesture startled me for a moment. After I came to my senses, I looked at my son, who seemed to have no idea what was going on, and nodded in agreement: "Okay, as long as you have no problem, we have no objections. When can we arrange to meet with your parents so that both families can sit down together and discuss your marriage?"

The wedding arrangements between the two families went smoothly. The bride's family initially thought we were just working-class people and had already planned to support us financially. However, when we met again, I frankly stated that I had kicked my son out of the house to "train" him and prevent him from developing a distorted self-image.

Our in-laws were speechless at our actions, but it's a good thing we don't have to worry about their financial assistance. Of course, the fact that we weren't as easy to manage as they had imagined also disappointed them a little.

However, none of these were major problems. After the wedding date and ceremony were set, the son quit his job. After the wedding and honeymoon, he went straight back to take over the company. Anyway, it wasn't like he hadn't managed it before. He got used to it quickly after a few days.

Zhizhi has already gone traveling all over the country with Xiaoxiao and is living a comfortable life. I've been busy for most of my life and I'm thinking of taking a break.

With Zixu by our side, the elderly couple didn't have much to do, so they would go out for walks every day. They would also stroll in the nearby park. One time, they saw a young couple walking hand-in-hand behind them.

I turned around and looked at them, a little puzzled. The little girl smiled shyly and said, "Grandpa, I just saw that you and Grandma have a very good relationship. You're together until old age, holding hands and strolling in the sunset. It's so heartwarming. I wanted to share in your good fortune."

I looked at Zixu, and the two of us exchanged a glance and couldn't help but smile. We also sincerely wished the young girl well, as it's always good to have hope for the future.

My daughter-in-law got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. She spent her postpartum period at a postpartum care center. After returning home, we hired a professional postpartum nanny to help take care of the baby. Now we have a granddaughter too!

The in-laws came to visit the children, implying they wanted to take care of their granddaughter, saying the elderly couple was too bored at home and the house was too quiet...

I realized that Zixu wasn't that attached to her granddaughter, so after discussing it with her, we sent the baby and the nanny over together. This gave us some peace and quiet, and our in-laws were very satisfied. It was a win-win situation.

Without the burden of children, our retirement life is very comfortable. We often go to the senior activity center. The little bit of knowledge we learned as children, which we didn't use much when we were young, is now proving useful in our old age.

I joined the Go club at the activity center and quickly became familiar with everyone, becoming a key member. With my skills, I'm considered quite good here. If Uncle Shen were still here, I could definitely crush them.

I can play the guqin, and occasionally when there are performances, I can go up and play a piece. Whenever this happens, Zixu will sit quietly in the audience and watch me perform with a smile. Every time I look at her, I can feel the meaning of a peaceful and serene life.

Zhizhi found out later and started dragging Xiaoxiao to hang out with us all the time. The reason why a woman is called beautiful is that even though time leaves its mark, she still retains her charm. Time cannot defeat a beautiful woman.

We've been siblings since we were little, and I never thought we'd still be hanging out together like this in our old age. It's a testament to our sibling bond. If she didn't always try to outdo me and steal my thunder, it would be even more perfect.

As we get older, our bodies are no longer as strong. The elderly couple lived alone, but the young couple were worried about us and insisted that we move in with them. However, the young people's lifestyles and habits were too different from ours, and we couldn't stand it after living there for less than a month.

We're early risers, we go to bed early and wake up early, we can't stay up late even if we wanted to, but they can stay up incredibly late, like they're training eagles. It's normal for them to go to bed at two or three in the morning, and they even order takeout in the middle of the night.

We're light sleepers; the doorbell ringing is enough to wake us up, no matter how good the soundproofing. To maintain my composure and polite demeanor, my spouse and I insisted on moving.

The children were indeed worried about us, and we ourselves value our lives, so after discussing it, we decided to move into a high-end private nursing home. It has excellent facilities, all suites.

In addition to basic facilities, the facility also has a professional medical team stationed there. It is said that their medical capabilities are no less than those of a hospital. This is the place that the young couple chose after making many inquiries and comparisons.

We're much happier living here than at home. The elderly people here all have their own stories to tell, and we chat with each other about the past, which helps us pass the time.

If you want a lively atmosphere in the evening, you can dance or practice Tai Chi in the courtyard or activity room. If you want peace and quiet, you can watch TV in your room. Outside the window is a lush little garden with a beautiful view. The only downside is that there are quite a few mosquitoes, but mosquito coils can solve most of the problem.

In the year I turned eighty-five, my mental state was not very good. I often held Zixu's hand and talked about the old days.

It seems that older people always like to reminisce about the past, talking about how I felt when I first met her, how excited I was to marry her, and how my mother used to casually make a peace sign.

Zixu listened quietly, occasionally laughing, but more often than not, her eyes held a deep sadness.

My son and daughter-in-law often come to visit me, and my granddaughter, who is already working, also often comes to visit us during her holidays. She will say to me, "Grandpa, wait a little longer, you haven't seen me with a boyfriend yet."

I laughed and stroked her hair. "Sweetie, what era are we living in? Getting married and having children isn't fashionable anymore. These days, it's all about personal value."

You graduated from a prestigious university, and you already have a good job, so you have enough value. Marriage and having children are not necessities of life. You can get married if you need to, or stay single if you don't. Grandpa just hopes you live a happy life..."

As I was talking, I felt so tired and sleepy, and slowly drifted off to sleep. But the last sound I heard was crying. "Don't cry, I'm just sleeping for a little while..."