Chapter 224: 90: A Family by the Spring Chapter 224: Four Years Later, I Can't Wait to See You

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

January 2004.

Guben's career was successful; the Star River Liar Hunter series 6 was successfully released, the company went public, and his net worth exceeded one hundred million.

Xiao Ruirui was eight years old, had entered elementary school, and had grown into a clever and lively young boy.

Chen Xiaoyi, after repeating his first year of high school, entered his senior year and was about to face a major life choice.

He had never forgotten his dream of game development; for three years of high school, he secretly practiced drawing behind his family's back, hoping to get into an art school to study game production.

Chen Xiulan, who wanted her son to become a dragon, how could she agree to him attending an art school?

In her heart, students who went to art school were not good students; they were just those with poor grades who couldn't get into a proper university, so they took a shortcut, hoping to obtain a degree through art exams.

The mother and son disagreed, triggering another fierce argument.

Chen Xiaoyi once again left home in a huff, taking a train alone to Shanghai, appearing before Guben and his wife on a bitterly cold morning.

——

It happened to be winter break, and Lin Xiyu woke up a little later; hearing the sharp doorbell, she grumbled in dissatisfaction twice, turned over, and wanted to keep sleeping.

"You sleep a bit more; I'll go open the door."

Guben smiled indulgently, got up himself, and went downstairs to open the door.

Not long after, Lin Xiyu's phone rang again; it was Guben calling, urging her to hurry downstairs.

"Aiyo, you child, why didn't you say a word and just ran over here yourself."

Lin Xiyu heard it was her younger brother coming and was quite startled; she rushed downstairs in a flurry, seeing Chen Xiaoyi with a dejected face, looking extremely wronged, and couldn't help but feel both annoyed and amused.

"Mom won't let me attend art school."

Chen Xiaoyi puffed his cheeks and complained: "She's too domineering, not willing to listen to my explanation at all. I said I want to learn game production, and she said I'm not engaged in a proper profession, said I was led astray by you, that I talk back to her, stab her in the heart, make her unable to hold her head up in front of outsiders, and make her lose face."

"Our mom's prejudice against the game industry is too deep."

Lin Xiyu helplessly rubbed her forehead: "Guben is already worth over a hundred million, but in her eyes, he's still not engaged in a proper profession."

"Our mom is just too high-and-mighty herself..."

Xu Yi knows his own mother inside out: "She just feels being a teacher is good; as long as it's not a tenured position, the job isn't stable, and no matter how much money you make, it's all for nothing."

"I'm a teacher myself, have been for four years, and still only make three or four thousand a month. It's indeed stable, but stably poor."

Lin Xiyu joked self-deprecatingly: "What can this bit of money do in Shanghai? It's not even enough to support myself. If it weren't for wanting the winter and summer breaks to have more free time to accompany family, I would have jumped ship like Wu Meng long ago."

"Sister Meng is doing quite well now..."

Chen Xiaoyi looked envious: "She's the Finance Director at her brother-in-law's company; she must be making a lot of money."

"Mengmeng chose the right path."

Lin Xiyu agreed, and meanwhile praised her own husband: "Following your brother-in-law, such a promising boss, how could there not be good days? In her own words, counting money until her hands go soft is also a kind of trouble..."

"Sister Meng is really funny."

Chen Xiaoyi laughed and joked: "I'd like to have that kind of trouble too; I can work without pay, just help her count money every day."

"You should get into university first before talking..."

Lin Xiyu changed the subject, then smiled and scolded: "Even if our mom is wrong, you can't just run to Shanghai without a word? Don't you think about how worried Grandma would be if you ran away from home?"

"I don't care."

Chen Xiaoyi stopped laughing and said in a huff: "If she doesn't agree to let me attend art school, I won't go back. I'm already seventeen years old; I'm no longer a little child to be pushed around by others."

"Sigh."

Lin Xiyu thought of her mother's domineering nature and sighed helplessly.

"Since you're here, let Xiaoyi stay at home first."

Guben, truly a perfect husband, was also exceptionally tolerant toward his younger brother-in-law.

"Brother-in-law..."

Chen Xiaoyi's eyes lit up: "I want to go to the game company with you."

"Alright."

Guben readily agreed: "Interning at the game company for a while is also good; it can give you an accurate positioning for your future employment planning."

"Thank you, Brother-in-law."

Chen Xiaoyi happily jumped up: "I knew Brother-in-law was the best; you'll definitely support me."

"Alright, it's early in the morning, stop shouting."

Lin Xiyu smiled and scolded: "Ruirui and his Great-Grandmother haven't woken up yet; with your shout, you've woken them all up."

"Hehe."

Chen Xiaoyi rubbed his nose embarrassedly and stopped making a sound.

——

Over four years, Xingyao Free Roam has expanded from the initial eight people to hundreds, possessing multiple leading and series products, as well as a large R&D project with a research and development team of nearly a hundred people.

Li Hao, Zhang Shan, and other company veterans were all promoted to department executives with annual salaries of several hundred thousand; Wu Meng also rose from a jack-of-all-trades errand girl to Vice President of the company, concurrently serving as Finance Director.

Vice President Wu now cuts a fine figure, wearing sunglasses, driving a BMW, living in a 170-square-meter large duplex; with a car and a house, she has leaped into the ranks of Shanghai's high-income group.

——

"Good morning, Sister Meng."

"Good morning, Vice President."

Early in the morning, Wu Meng came to the company, and the young new employees all greeted her warmly upon seeing her.

"Morning."

Wu Meng took off her sunglasses and gave everyone a gentle smile.

"Sister Meng..."

Li Hao walked toward her and asked with a hint of resentment, "When will our new office building be finished? The current space is too small; the lounge is occupied, and I don't even have a temporary place to sleep."

"Soon."

Wu Meng casually brushed him off with a sentence, giving him no accurate reply.

"Every time I ask you, you say soon."

Li Hao was dissatisfied with this answer and followed her into the office.

"If you want to know the specific progress, ask Wang Fan."

Wu Meng took off her coat and gave him a helpless look: "Urging me is useless; I'm not the one in charge of building the building."

"If I could see him, I'd be asking you instead?"

Li Hao smiled wryly in resignation: "That guy flies all over Nanhai and Forest; if it weren't for him frequently appearing in newspapers and entertainment news, I wouldn't know his situation at all."

"He's spread his business too wide."

Wu Meng understood: "If he keeps expanding like this, once the capital chain breaks, he'll be in big trouble..."

Li Hao looked worried: "If something happens to him, will it implicate us?"

"It won't..."

Wu Meng said firmly: "Guben told me long ago that we cannot use our company's assets as a guarantee for him; there is no financial entanglement. Even though he is a shareholder of the company, if something happens to him, it won't affect us."

"That's good..."

Li Hao felt relieved, pulled out a chair himself, and sat down opposite her desk.

"Anything else?"

Seeing him lingering and unwilling to leave, Wu Meng was a little puzzled.

"Are you free tomorrow?"

Li Hao rubbed his nose a few times, his expression slightly unnatural: "I have a business social event, attending a wine party, and need a female companion. Could you..."

"I'm not free."

Wu Meng vetoed it outright: "Find someone else; the Customer Service Department has plenty of pretty girls, take your pick."

"They're too immature."

Li Hao was unwilling to give up and continued to persuade: "I don't understand much of the business; as soon as I open my mouth, people will laugh at me."

"No need to say more."

Wu Meng's attitude was very firm: "I don't understand games either; I'm only interested in financial statements. That kind of wine party isn't suitable for me."

"Fine, if you don't want to go, forget it."

"When you go out, please close the door."

"The two of you have been living apart in two places for so many years."

Li Hao felt very bitter inside, and before leaving, he asked unwillingly again: "Have you never felt lonely?"

"No."

Wu Meng's refusal was obvious; she pretended to look at reports and did not raise her head to look at him again.

A flicker of disappointment crossed Li Hao's eyes, and he opened the door and went out himself.

"Liangzi..."

In the instant the door closed, Wu Meng spun her chair halfway around, looking out the window through the glass with hopeful eyes: "When will you come to Shanghai? I can't wait any longer; I want to see you."

"Buzz buzz."

The mobile phone trembled slightly, pulling her thoughts back.

"Liangzi!"

Seeing the caller ID was Li Hao's number, she was overjoyed and hurriedly answered.

However, Li Hao's next words made her mood plummet to the bottom of the valley in an instant.

—

Chen Xiaoyi had just arrived and was unfamiliar with this prosperous metropolis of Shanghai.

Guben had to go out in the morning to negotiate an important business matter. Lin Xiyu was worried about him going out alone, so she specially brought Xiao Ruirui to accompany him to the company.

Xiao Ruirui had come many times before; all the employees of Xingyao Game Company knew him.

Everyone knew that although he was not the son of the president couple, he was closer than a biological child.

"Wow, the little handsome guy is here again?!"

"Let Auntie hold you, give a kiss."

"Ruirui is so cute; I wish I could have a son as cute as him."

"My daughter is five years old, about the same age as Ruirui; let's just make a childhood engagement and snatch the son-in-law home first."

"What beautiful dream are you dreaming? Didn't you hear what Sister Meng said? Someone has already reserved him, wanting their daughter to marry Ruirui."

"Sister Meng doesn't have children yet, and Ruirui is already eight years old. It's too late to give birth now, and the age gap is too big."

"What's wrong with eight years old? It's better for boys to be older—steady, reliable, and ambitious. My husband is eight years older than me, and our relationship is especially good. He lets me have my way in everything and never loses his temper. He's much better than those young men in their early twenties."

"You're the exception. Besides, no one knows where Sister Meng's daughter is. The couple has been living apart in two places for years. If they keep delaying, she'll soon be thirty, past the best childbearing age, and will end up like President Gu's wife—unable to have children even if she wants to."

"You can't say such things carelessly!"

"Who says his wife can't get pregnant? She just wants to enjoy their world as a couple and doesn't want children so early."

"You're kidding; only you would believe that."

"I've also heard that General Manager Gu often accompanies his wife to see doctors, apparently because she can't get pregnant."

"Shh, don't say another word, someone's coming."

—

The Customer Service Department had many women, and where there are many women, there are many disputes and much idle gossip.

Lin Xiyu passed through the doorway of the Customer Service Department, pretending not to hear, and took her younger brother straight to the R&D Department, handing him over to the current supervisor Zhang Shan.

Zhang Shan was flattered and kept promising that he would personally teach Xiaoyi and treat him like his own disciple.

Little Ruirui was also very interested in games, so the uncle and nephew stayed in the R&D Department, while Lin Xiyu returned alone to Finance Director Wu Meng's office.

—

"Xiyu, you're here."

Seeing her, Wu Meng had a woebegone face and seemed to be in low spirits.

"What's wrong, this is......"

Lin Xiyu was a bit puzzled: "So unhappy early in the morning, who upset you?"

"Who else could it be....."

Wu Meng was terribly depressed: "Apart from Li Liang, that man who doesn't keep his word, no one could make me this angry."

"What's wrong with Li Liang?"

Lin Xiyu carefully closed the door, not wanting outsiders to hear: "How did he offend you again? Weren't you two fine the other day, talking on the phone for an hour or two at a time, chatting so happily?"

"He's not coming to Shanghai."

Wu Meng complained in displeasure: "I waited for him so many years, and finally waited for him to graduate, but he says he wants to stay in Jinan."

"What's going on?"

Lin Xiyu looked surprised: "Didn't you two agree on everything? Why did he suddenly change his mind?"

"He says his mother has retired, and his father has also left the military for civilian work; the family has finally reunited after all this time and doesn't want to be separated again."

Wu Meng said with a woebegone face: "He wants me to quit my job and return to Jinan too, and he also said his grandparents are getting old and hope to hold a great-grandson soon, not wanting us to delay any longer."

"What do you think?"

Lin Xiyu pulled over a chair and sat beside her, trying to soothe her emotions.

"I feel my mind is in a mess......"

Wu Meng irritably ruffled her hair: "You know, I earn twenty thousand a month now; even if I find a job smoothly after returning to Jinan, I'd make at most two or three thousand a month. With such a big gap, how can I repay the loan? Just this apartment in Shanghai requires five thousand a month in payments; counting on Liangzi's salary simply won't work......"

"Why not discuss it with him again?"

Lin Xiyu tried to persuade her: "Li Liang isn't an unreasonable person; he should be able to understand you."

"He might understand, but his parents might not."

Wu Meng was very conflicted: "I'm just afraid his family will be dissatisfied with me, interfere from within, and drive a wedge between our feelings."

"Would they?"

Lin Xiyu continued to persuade her: "Doesn't his grandmother like you very much?"

"His grandmother does like me, that's true."

Wu Meng knew the situation well: "That's because she thinks I'm a virtuous, family-oriented good daughter-in-law; if I refuse to return to Jinan and don't give them a child, she wouldn't think that way anymore."

"Not having children isn't your fault."

Lin Xiyu strongly supported her friend: "It's you who has been waiting for Li Liang all these years, waiting so long; your efforts are seen by them all, and they should be grateful to you."

"Grateful for what?"

Wu Meng smiled helplessly: "In their eyes, this is all to be expected, after all, I was the one who actively kissed Li Liang at the beginning; even if I wait a long time, I must endure it......"

"Mengmeng, you need to think this through......"

Lin Xiyu analyzed it from her friend's perspective: "Whether you return to Jinan or not, you must be wholeheartedly willing; you can't hold any resentment, otherwise you'll plant a seed of hidden trouble in your heart, and who knows, one day when life isn't going smoothly, it might erupt and affect your feelings for each other."

"Mm."

Wu Meng's expression changed slightly, and she took her words to heart.