Chapter 1528: Departure

The atmosphere was lively, full of congratulations and blessings, making the smile on Li Yungui’s face never fade.

He drank quite a bit today, and by the evening, he still hadn’t sobered up.

In the days that followed, the four brothers settled down. Cheng Lin and Hong Ling were only calm after being reprimanded by the Red Army.

The school starts on the twentieth of the first month; Li Yungui wanted the four children to leave now. Qu Xiaoli was reluctant but didn’t want to delay their school start either.

Li Yunqiao thought they should go to the Capital before the New Year, feeling sorry they might end up spending the New Year on the train. After discussing it, the four brothers decided to leave now; otherwise, they would have to leave on the second day of the New Year and might still not reach the Capital by the twentieth.

Their luggage and clothes, along with daily necessities, had already been sent away with the truck. Each of them carried two bags filled with food. Qu Xiaoli and Wang Menglin worked for two days straight, preparing fifty large pancakes alone. She felt sorry for the children spending New Year on the train, so she braised two sets of pig offal and packed over ten pounds of sausage. Wang Menglin packed all the braised meat, already sliced and mixed, wrapped in plastic film.

On the evening of the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Li Yungui gave each of the four brothers two hundred yuan in front of Wang Menglin, and also two hundred yuan to the four in the Capital.

"Dad, we have money, I have over a thousand." Changhe didn’t want to take the money, knowing it was saved up little by little by his parents. How could they take more when they couldn’t be by their parents’ side and fulfill their filial duties?

"Your money is your own. This is from your mom and me; though there’s no tuition, it’s handy to have some money on hand if you want to buy something."

Qu Xiaoli handed each brother some money. "This isn’t much, but it’s a piece of your father’s and my heart."

In the end, they accepted it, though their hearts were heavy.

Li Yungui noticed this too. "Don’t worry, your mom and I are in good health, we’ll work for many more years. You just focus on your studies out there and don’t worry about us."

Xiao Chen and Xiao Ning knew their uncles were leaving and felt sad; soon their mom would leave too.

Their second uncle had once asked them to go to the Capital, but they didn’t want to; they wanted to stay home with their grandparents.

Qu Xiaoli understood this and felt deeply moved. But the kids were only in third grade now. Once they reach junior high, she would definitely let them go to Chaoyang; no matter what, home couldn’t compare to the Capital. For selfish reasons, she wanted to keep her grandchildren with them for a few more years.

Early the next morning, Jiushang drove the tractor to take them, mainly because it was snowing heavily and Yang Xiuqin didn’t dare drive.

Zhao Xiaoli sent off her sons and went back inside, lying on the heated bed and crying.

"Alright, it’s not like they’re not coming back," Li Yungui, too, found it hard to let go. But the children were pursuing their futures; as parents, unable to help, they must at least not hold them back.

They reached the city, went straight to the train station, and bought tickets for the two o’clock train.

Jiushang took them to Li Yunqiao’s house. Li Yunqiao hadn’t gone to work today and was waiting at home for them.

He gave some instructions, knowing Wei Kaiyun and Xiao Jiang’s family were there, so he felt assured.

At noon, Hong Lin and his wife also came back. Zheng Lihong gave them each fifty yuan. "I don’t know what else to prepare for you, just keep this and buy what you need, and also take this for Chaoyang and Xue’er, the four of them."

Changhe wanted to refuse, but Red Army stopped him. They all thanked their brother and sister-in-law with smiles.

Li Yunqiao also gave each of them two hundred yuan. They believed that having money in their pockets would give them confidence.

It wasn’t until three o’clock that the four of them boarded the train. They were all in the same carriage, which made things much easier. Li Yunqiao also brought a lock for them, just in case. Even though they didn’t have anything particularly valuable, it was better than feeling uneasy.

The next day, Li Yunqiao called Wei Kaiyun to tell about the train they were on.

Actually, the four of them knew Wei Kaiyun’s home address. But even so, as parents, they couldn’t help worrying.

That evening, the family knew the Red Army and the others were arriving.

"Are they going to spend New Year’s on the train?" Feifei sighed, it really wasn’t easy.

"Exactly, Shi Jing, you’re in charge of picking them up," Wei Kaiyun instructed his eldest son.

"Got it, I’ll go to the train station tomorrow and ask about the estimated arrival time."

The next day, Jiang Feifei trudged through the heavy snow to her piano lessons. She was starting to feel that initial passion for learning piano again.

Teacher Zheng was very strict with her, rare for such a talented and diligent student, the teacher was fully invested in teaching.

Shi Jing wasn’t bad either; the siblings braved the wind and snow without fail.

The whole morning consisted of two hours of lessons. As they were close to finishing, they heard knocks on the door; the three paid no mind. Jiang Feifei was playing, Teacher Zheng was pointing out Feifei’s deficiencies to Shi Jing. Suddenly, they felt cold wind blowing in, and Shi Jing turned to look.

Yang Run Tai nodded at Shi Jing, and also at Teacher Zheng, then sat by the side listening to Feifei play.

Shi Jing frowned; what was this guy doing here?

When Feifei stopped, they heard the sound of clapping.

Feifei was puzzled for a moment; it was only the three of them in the music room, who would be clapping? So she turned to see Yang Run Tai walking up, surprised.

Then she smiled and stood up, "Brother Yang, you’re back?"

"Yes, I just got back today. Interested in doing a duet? That piece you just played."

"A duet? I haven’t tried that before." Surely, she should be able to. However, Teacher Zheng hadn’t taught them yet, so that’s why she said so.

"It’s simple." Yang Run Tai briefly explained, "Feifei, shall we try it?"

"Alright, though I might make mistakes since it’s my first time playing."

Yang Run Tai just smiled, without saying anything more, they sat together, with Yang Run Tai starting off.

Teacher Zheng and Shi Jing watched from behind; Shi Jing felt a bit bittersweet; the duet was exceptionally harmonious, showing an evident rapport.

Teacher Zheng nodded approvingly from the side; Feifei was truly talented—the coordination achieved with just a few simple directions from Run was impressive.

After the piece ended, Yang Run Tai smiled, "Really great, truly."

Jiang Feifei smiled as she stood up, "Brother Yang is amazing too." She knew he had been working away; without access to a piano and still able to play so fluidly meant his skills were top-tier.

Shi Jing moved closer, "Brother Yang, why did you come back so late?"

"I took an exam over there and was waiting for the admission notice."

"Brother Yang, where did you apply?"