"Uncle, can't I just speak softly?" Su Xiao Si indeed lowered his voice.
"Yes, you can. Speak up! What do you need me for?" Chen Zi An said with a smile, "Don't even think about asking me to sign papers for you to make money. I don't do that kind of thing!"
Although he wanted to help the children, Chen Zi An had no intention of doing anything illegal or against the rules.
Su Xiao Si quickly rubbed his head and said, "No, I don't have that big of an appetite. I just wanted to ask you if business is really good in Licheng and Rongcheng these days?"
"It's easy for those who know how to do business, and for those who don't, they lose even their meager savings. It's not unheard of," Chen Zi An replied.
Doing business wasn't something everyone could do smoothly and make money.
"It's normal to have both losses and gains," Su Xiao Si nodded in agreement. "Uncle, you're going back to Licheng after the New Year, right?"
Chen Zi An nodded.
"When you go, can you take me to see the South? I've never been to the South in my life!" Su Xiao Si's smile was incredibly bright.
Chen Zi An wondered if his face would cramp from smiling like that.
He reached out and wiped the smile from Su Xiao Si's face.
"You're smiling so ugly!"
Su Xiao Si's face immediately fell.
"Uncle, I just want to see."
"The South isn't that great. Go back to the capital and study obediently!"
"Uncle, didn't our ancestors say that reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles? It's always beneficial for us to walk around and see things," Su Xiao Si said, licking his lips.
In the future, if he wanted to do business, being thick-skinned was a must!
It didn't matter if his uncle disagreed; he just had to try his best to make him agree!
"You need to think carefully. It's not easy to make a trip. You have to return to the capital before school starts. With only a few days, what can you accomplish?"
If the Su family children didn't have the idea of doing business, Chen Zi An wouldn't have encouraged them.
But since the children had such ideas, Chen Zi An could only support them.
"I'll think about it carefully these two days. There are still a few days left to think," Su Xiao Si said quickly upon hearing Chen Zi An soften.
"Don't bother your uncle. After the New Year, go back to the capital obediently!"
Grandma Su overheard and, fearing her son-in-law would be displeased, immediately reprimanded her grandson.
"Mom, it's alright. They have aspirations! Xiao Yuan, you're growing up, you should learn from your brothers!"
Unexpectedly, Chen Xiu Yuan said glibly, "Learn from sister!"
Everyone burst into laughter!
Especially Grandma Su, who laughed heartily.
"My dear grandson, learn from your sister, but don't learn from these mischievous monkeys like your brothers!"
For the remaining few days, there wasn't much else to do. Grandma Su took the family to make some local delicacies.
One reason was for Su Man Xiu and her husband to take some back with them, and the other was to prepare some for the Dong Yuan Zhong, Chi Ge, and other families.
The days passed in busy activity.
Chen Zi An and Su Man Xiu's couple were taking the train on the seventh day, and Grandma Su and the others also decided to set off on the seventh day.
On the afternoon of the sixth day, the family was going to the county town.
Li Zhu Zi and his wife, upon hearing the news, brought a lot of local specialties for Grandma Su and the others.
Grandma Su refused to accept them, but Li Zhu Zi insisted, repeatedly saying that his current good life was all thanks to the Su family.
Su Chang Jiu had Li Zhu Zi drive the brigade's tractor to take the Su family to the county town.
This time, Grandma Su had learned from experience. Besides dressing everyone warmly, she also brought a few extra quilts to cover everyone, which could block some of the wind.
Even so, by the time they reached the county town, they were numb with cold.
The firewood and other necessities in the house were convenient. Everyone worked together to start the fire, heat the kang, and boil hot water for everyone to drink, and they gradually warmed up.
Grandma Su smiled, "Going back and forth, spending so many days, it's all been a hardship."
Grandpa Su agreed, thinking that for the New Year, they wanted to come back. Now they were suffering, and they would regret it. But by this time next year, they would still be thinking of coming home for the New Year.
That's just how people are!
Su Lao Da and Su Lao Er, the two brothers left at home, looked at the empty house and suddenly felt sad.
How wonderful it would be if everyone were together and lively!
And Su Wu Rang, in the blink of an eye, his brothers and sisters were all gone, and he was the only one left. How could he not feel abandoned?
"Xiao Wu, it's okay. We're still here. You just stay home," Wang Xiang Hua said, comforting Su Wu Rang, sensing his loneliness.
Su Wu Rang smiled, "I'm fine. Uncle told me some moves these past few days, and I need to ponder them carefully. Little Sweet also asked me to study diligently."
He didn't understand why Little Sweet wanted them all to study diligently before, but after going to university, he finally understood.
He thought his grades were very good, but in university, he realized he didn't know much.
Although many people couldn't compare to him in academics, they had much more knowledge in military matters.
He needed to make up for this knowledge bit by bit in the future.
He wanted to be an excellent soldier and not fall behind!
Since he had chosen a path different from his brothers, it was destined that this journey would be lonelier and more solitary than others!
In the county town, although it was still a large family, a few people were missing, and they felt a bit unaccustomed.
Especially Liang Xiu and Grandma Su. They hadn't had a good reunion with the family, and now they were parting again?
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law both slept poorly that night.
When they boarded the train the next day, they still had dark circles under their eyes.
Although they arrived at the train station together, they weren't departing together.
Shen Zi Zhen, Su Tao Hua, Liang Xiu, Grandma Su, and Grandpa Su were taking the younger Su children back to the capital.
They had a train at past ten in the morning, and Chen Zi An's family of three, along with the older children and Su Lao San, saw them off at the train.
After their train left, they had to wait another forty minutes for the train to the South.
Su Xiao Tian, who was supposed to return to the capital, did not go back but went to the South.
She wanted to see what the southern cities were like at the beginning of the reform and opening up.
She had no other thoughts, just curiosity.
The Su family's doting on Su Xiao Tian was truly without limits.
When Su Xiao Tian wanted to go to the South, Su Lao San volunteered to accompany his daughter.
As the group boarded the train, they were all very excited. They had never been to the South before, and they were very surprised when they felt the increasing warmth.
It was still winter, so why was it getting hotter and hotter?
Had they walked from winter to summer?
By the time they couldn't wear their cotton-padded clothes anymore, the train was almost at the station.
And at this point, it had been three days and two nights since they boarded the train.