As someone who knew what was to come, Su Xiaotian's congratulations to Chen Zi'an were heartfelt.
However, Chen Zi'an himself did not dare to speak too definitively.
From the news he had received, he should be promoted by one level, but who knew if there would be any changes before the dust settled.
"It's too early to congratulate now, the future is full of uncertainties!"
Chen Zi'an smiled faintly, his words not necessarily full of confidence, but his attitude remained calm.
Halfway through life, Chen Zi'an was no longer the fearless young lad he once was.
If he hadn't been spirited and ambitious in his youth, how could he be now?
However, Chen Zi'an had always been full of hope for life, believing that whatever arrangements the future held, they were the best to anticipate.
It was getting late, and Chen Zi'an and the others were about to leave. Su Xiaotian remembered what Grandma Su had asked her to bring and quickly took out the various sauces Grandma Su had prepared from her cloth bag.
Grandma Su's large cloth bag indeed contained quite a few things, with over ten jars of sauce alone. Su Xiaotian took them out one by one.
"Aunt, Uncle, Grandma asked me to bring these for you. She said you must have been craving them."
Su Manxiu was surprised as Su Xiaotian jingled out the jars.
These jars were not small; each one was at least two catties, so they were quite heavy.
"Why did you bring so much? It's quite heavy. Just bring one or two jars to taste."
Su Manxiu was concerned about Su Xiaotian, as carrying so many things was not easy.
Especially on the plane, where one had to go through check-in procedures, which was even more troublesome.
To bring these things, Xiaotian must have had a very difficult journey.
Su Manxiu had no idea that after Su Xiaotian left Grandma Su's sight, she had decisively put all these things into her system space.
Bringing so many things on the plane would only cause trouble for herself.
Grandma Su didn't know, but Su Xiaotian certainly did.
Every time she went out, Su Xiaotian felt that having a system space was the greatest blessing.
No matter how much she brought, it could all fit. As for the suitcases she carried, they were just for show.
After packing some of them into a cloth bag for Su Manxiu, Su Xiaotian gave the remaining few jars to Chi Yiyuan.
"Brother Yiyuan, these are for you."
Chi Yiyuan hadn't expected to get any.
"Xiaotian, these are for Aunt from Grandma, you can't give them to me!" Chi Yiyuan quickly declined.
Su Xiaotian unceremoniously stuffed the jars into Chi Yiyuan's arms.
"Grandma said that since you're living alone, you probably don't eat well. These sauces are very appetizing. Eat them with rice or noodles when you don't want to cook." Su Dan Novel Network
Grandma Su made many types of sauces, including meat sauce, chili sauce, tomato sauce, and mushroom sauce.
No matter which sauce it was, it was delicious with rice.
Hearing that Grandma Su had intended them for him, Chi Yiyuan finally accepted them.
However, thinking that Su Xiaotian had carried such heavy things all the way, Chi Yiyuan couldn't help but feel concerned.
"Xiaotian, next time don't go through so much trouble. Just mail them."
He wondered how much difficulty the young girl had encountered on her journey to bring these things to Licheng smoothly.
"It's okay, other colleagues helped me carry my suitcases along the way."
Her suitcases didn't actually contain much, just basic toiletries and two changes of clothes, so they weren't heavy.
Therefore, she had carried them herself all the way.
Chi Yiyuan felt a little more at ease hearing that someone had helped.
"That's good, remember to thank them," Su Manxiu instructed.
Su Xiaotian felt that her aunt still treated her like a child.
"Aunt, I'm already grown up and working. Of course, I know how to express gratitude!"
Hearing Su Xiaotian say this, Su Manxiu realized that she was indeed overthinking.
Xiaotian was already working and naturally understood these matters of social etiquette, so she didn't say more.
"Xiaotian, we're leaving now. Get some good rest, and you can talk more with your aunt when you come to our house tomorrow."
Chen Zi'an saw that the time was almost up and, fearing he would delay Su Xiaotian's rest, urged her.
This trip was actually quite tight, and Chen Zi'an knew how much pressure Su Xiaotian was under.
Su Manxiu reluctantly left the hotel.
As the couple left, they took Chi Yiyuan with them.
When they were young, there wasn't much of a relationship, but now that both children had grown up, it was indeed not appropriate for them to stay in the same room late at night.
Chi Yiyuan had finally seen the person he cared about and wished he could talk to her more. However, Chen Zi'an's words made sense; Xiaotian was tired and needed to rest early.
He left the hotel looking back repeatedly, and Chen Zi'an couldn't bear to watch.
"Look at your pathetic state!" Chen Zi'an said, exasperated.
But Chi Yiyuan didn't care what Chen Zi'an said; he was still thinking about whether he could spend more time with Su Xiaotian tomorrow.
"Xiaoyuan, regarding your matter with Xiaotian, I'll talk to the family later and get it settled soon!"
Chen Zi'an objected, "No, Xiaotian is still too young!"
"It's just that many people are keeping an eye on this child, Yiyuan."
She was worried that such a good young man would be snatched away by other girls.
Chen Zi'an snorted and said, "If he can be snatched away, it proves he's not a good match!"
Chi Yiyuan: "..."
He was speechless at this statement.
However, he strongly agreed with Chen Zi'an's point; someone who could be snatched away was indeed not a good match.
He was a good match and absolutely could not be snatched away.
"Yiyuan, do you want to come home with us?" Su Manxiu asked.
Chi Yiyuan shook his head and said, "Aunt, I won't go. I'll go with Xiaotian tomorrow."
With Xiaotian not here, why would he go and endure Chen Zi'an's glare?
He wouldn't go!
Watching Chi Yiyuan's retreating back, Su Manxiu glared at Chen Zi'an, chiding, "Why are you so hostile towards Yiyuan? You're relatives!"
Chen Zi'an snorted, "What does it matter if we're relatives? Who told him to have his eyes on Xiaotian? Xiaotian is so young, and he's already thinking about her!"
Su Manxiu really didn't know what to say.
Where did this come from?
The two children clearly liked each other, but why did it sound like Yiyuan was a scoundrel coming from Chen Zi'an?
"Don't waste time, let's hurry back. We still need to pick up Xiuyuan from Aunt Zhao's house," Chen Zi'an said, not wanting to talk about Chi Yiyuan anymore, and quickly urged his wife to go home.
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Su Xiaotian, after seeing Chen Zi'an and the others off, quickly washed up and went to bed.
She was quite tired after the whole day, feeling completely drained, and didn't even have the energy to read.
Moreover, she had to start working early the next morning and couldn't afford to waste rest time.
Lying in bed, Su Xiaotian reviewed her itinerary, checking how much free time she had.
Besides visiting her cousin at her aunt's house, since she was finally in Licheng, Su Xiaotian also wanted to visit the factory.
She was an unqualified boss.
She might not even think about the factory's affairs for half a year or a year.
Fortunately, the people she employed were all good. If any of them had ulterior motives, the factory would likely be emptied.
It was fine when she wasn't here, but now that she was in Licheng, it was inexcusable not to visit the factory.
Thinking about these things, Su Xiaotian soon fell asleep.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, Su Xiaotian was fully recharged.
The busy day began with a business breakfast. As a translator, Su Xiaotian was eating, but she also needed to concentrate on her translation work, so she didn't eat well.
Working continuously, Su Xiaotian's work only came to a pause after dinner.
The time after dinner was free for her to use. Su Xiaotian quickly tidied herself up and headed straight to Chen Zi'an's house.
She and Chi Yiyuan had arranged to go to Chen Zi'an's house after dinner.
When Su Xiaotian arrived, Chi Yiyuan had not yet arrived.
Su Xiaotian didn't mind.
"Aunt, where's Uncle? Why isn't he home?"
"Your Uncle has other arrangements tonight and said he'll be back later. Xiaotian, have you eaten? Shall Aunt make you some seafood?"
Su Manxiu and her son Chen Xiuyuan had already eaten. Upon seeing Su Xiaotian, Su Manxiu was worried that Su Xiaotian hadn't eaten well.
"Aunt, it's okay, I've eaten. I bought some fruit on the way, how about we have some fruit?"
Su Manxiu agreed, "You child, coming to Aunt's house and still bringing things."
"I just happened to see them on the way and thought the fruit looked fresh, so I bought them. They weren't specifically for you. However, the gift for Xiuyuan is something I specifically brought from Beijing."
After handing the bag of fruit to Su Manxiu, Su Xiaotian handed a square box to Chen Xiuyuan.
Young Master Chen Xiuyuan had grown up and was now a proud primary school student.
He had grown a lot since he was little, but he was still very cute, and Su Xiaotian adored him when she saw him.
Chen Xiuyuan also liked his sister Su Xiaotian very much.
He was an only child and, due to his father's status, he didn't really have playmates.
Most of the time, he played alone at home.
Seeing Su Xiaotian, he was extremely excited, almost jumping for joy.
Especially when he heard that Su Xiaotian had brought him a gift, he became even more thrilled.
"Thank you, Sister! I knew Sister was the best to me!" Young Master Chen Xiuyuan's mouth was truly endearing, and with just one sentence, Su Xiaotian felt like ruffling the little guy.
However, thinking that Chen Xiuyuan was a little boy, Su Xiaotian gave up on this unrealistic idea.
"Xiuyuan, see if you like it? Sister specifically picked it out for you, brought from Beijing. They say it's imported from abroad."
Su Xiaotian handed the toy she had brought with her to Chen Xiuyuan. This was an electric toy car that was very popular with children in the future.
When Young Master Chen Xiuyuan opened the package and saw the little car, he fell deeply in love with it almost instantly.
"Sister, this is so beautiful! I've never seen anything like it in Licheng!"
Elementary school student Chen Xiuyuan was a boy, and like all boys, he had a natural fascination with cars and cannons.
Seeing such a small car now, how could he not be excited?
He couldn't wait to take it to the yard and show everyone his new toy.
Su Manxiu's eyes couldn't help but twitch. Did this child, Xiaotian, fill a whole big box with things for their family?
"Sister, how does this work?"
After looking for a while, Chen Xiuyuan still couldn't figure out how to play with the toy, so he had to ask.
"Come, Sister will teach you how to play with the little car."
Such little cars were very common decades later, and even the workmanship was crude.
But for people of this era, such toys were rare and precious treasures.
As Chen Xiuyuan learned how to play with the little car with Su Xiaotian, he kept muttering that Licheng didn't have such good things.
When Su Xiaotian heard Chen Xiuyuan say this, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
This toy was naturally not really brought from Beijing.
Instead, she had exchanged it from the mall with points.
However, Chen Xiuyuan was just saying it.
Seeing the two children playing together, Su Manxiu smiled.
Just then, Chi Yiyuan arrived.
Upon entering, Chi Yiyuan saw Su Xiaotian, who was playing with the child without any pretense.
He actually felt that without such a Su Xiaotian, she was the real Su Xiaotian, somewhat different from the Su Xiaotian who was translating for foreign friends.
"Xiaoyuan, come and sit down quickly. I've brewed some herbal tea, have a cup first."
Chi Yiyuan wasn't very fond of herbal tea, but since it was personally brewed by Su Manxiu, he didn't refuse.
After taking a sip of the herbal tea, Chi Yiyuan suddenly felt that Su Xiaotian and Chen Xiuyuan were playing very happily, and he wanted to join them.
Su Manxiu smiled as she looked at Chi Yiyuan, who was still childlike.
Su Manxiu was knitting a sweater while watching the children play, feeling that the years were peaceful.
But somehow, someone had to disturb this peace and harmony.
The children had been playing for less than two minutes when there was a knock on the door.
Su Manxiu looked at the door, unable to think of who would come to their house at this hour.
She walked over and opened the door, only to find that it was Minister Tang's wife.
Minister Tang's family had a twenty-year-old daughter who reportedly also liked Chi Yiyuan.
Su Manxiu instantly realized that this person had probably come to her house following Chi Yiyuan.
"Sister-in-law, why do you have time to visit today?" Su Manxiu put down her knitting and said to Mrs. Tang.
Mrs. Tang's gaze intentionally or unintentionally glanced at Chi Yiyuan.
After dinner, she was taking a walk in the yard and saw Chi Yiyuan coming over.
She watched Chi Yiyuan walk directly to Chen Zi'an's house and felt a little suspicious.
But for her daughter's happiness, she followed.
From Mrs. Tang's expression, Su Manxiu understood everything.
But since the other party didn't say anything, she couldn't be too eager to speak.
"Who are these two..." Mrs. Tang asked as if feigning ignorance.
She knew Chi Yiyuan, but she had never seen the young girl who was playing so boisterously with him.
But she wasn't stupid and naturally understood that anyone who could play so familiarly in Chen Zi'an's house must be a close relative of Chen Zi'an.
"This is my niece, Su Xiaotian, who is here with the visiting delegation!" Su Manxiu introduced with a smile.