Su Shuochi told the village chief he would return to Shuanghe Village tomorrow, as he still had things to take care of today.

The thing he wanted to do most right now was go back to Qingcheng Mansion and pick up his package. It was a heartfelt gift from his wife.

After Su Shuochi hung up the phone with the village, he saw Han Jinghong waiting for him at the door.

He asked and found out that Han Jingshen had finished his business here and returned to the Imperial City overnight.

"Su, are you heading back to Shuanghe Village now, or are you coming to our place for lunch?"

"I have something important to take care of, so I need to make a trip back to Qing City. Is your car available?"

"It is. Should I drive you there?" Han Jinghong asked quickly. Even if it hadn’t been available, he would have made it available.

"No need to drive me. If you have things to do, go ahead. I’ll drive it over myself and bring it back to you this afternoon."

"All right, then. Su, there are two jugs of tea seed oil in the trunk. They’re for you."

Su Shuochi knew Gu Jiaojiao loved tea seed oil, so he accepted happily. "Please thank your grandfather for me. I’ll visit him another day."

"Su, don’t mention it," Han Jinghong said, too embarrassed to mention that his grandfather had originally planned to give Su fifty jin of tea seed oil.

Another fifty jin were meant for his great-uncle, but his eldest cousin insisted he could carry it and walked off with eighty jin.

That was why they could only give Su two jugs, twenty jin in total. ’Good thing Su doesn’t think it’s too little. He actually looks quite happy about it.’

Su Shuochi arrived home just in time for lunch. Mr. Su was in the living room, playing with his grandson, while Su’s mother was in the kitchen cooking with Erya.

The couple was very health-conscious these days. They would set up their stall at six in the morning but had to be home for lunch by eleven.

"Chi, you’re back? What are you carrying?" Mr. Su asked, seeing his son holding a jug of oil in one hand and cradling a package like a treasure in the other.

"A jug of tea seed oil. I’ll take it to Mom in the kitchen." As Su Shuochi spoke, he gently placed the package on the sofa.

"Okay. And tell your mom to make a couple of extra dishes." Mr. Su was happy to have his son home for a meal.

"Hi, Uncle! What’s this?" Little Stone greeted him politely, then pointed to the package on the sofa and asked.

"Little Stone, you’ve gotten bolder after spending half a month in the city with Grandpa and Grandma. Those are clothes your aunt sent your uncle, so don’t touch, okay?"

Su Shuochi said this in a great mood, then picked up the tea seed oil and strode into the kitchen, not bothering to check if Little Stone understood.

"Mom, you’re cooking. This is tea seed oil from the Han family in Yunhe County. I’m going to take a quick shower, and I’ll be back to help."

"Chi, you’re back!" Su’s mother said cheerfully, taking the tea seed oil from her son. "Oh, you brought tea seed oil? Then I’ll fry up some meatballs for everyone. I don’t need your help in here."

"Hi, Uncle. I’m helping Grandma tend the fire," Erya greeted him sweetly. She knew how to make a good impression.

"Erya, you’re such a good girl. Which is more fun, being at Grandma’s house or at your own house?"

"Grandma’s house is definitely better. We get to eat meat buns every day." Erya grinned, revealing two small dimples. Her complexion had also become much fairer.

Su Shuochi left the kitchen, picked up his package, and went to his room.

Su’s mother started preparing the meatballs. She took fresh lean pork, leafy greens, and dried bamboo shoots, chopped them up, then finely minced and mixed them together.

She minced until you could no longer tell the meat from the vegetables, then placed the mixture in a bowl.

Su’s mother washed the wok, heated it, and poured in the tea seed oil. The oil, pressed from the seeds of wild camellia trees from the mountains, was especially fragrant.

Pressing tea seed oil was a laborious process involving complex pressing and filtering. One hundred jin of tea tree seeds yielded only a little over twenty jin of oil.

Once the oil in the wok was boiling, she used a spoon to scoop a moderately sized meatball and drop it in to fry.

In a moment, steam began to rise from the meatball, and a mouth-watering aroma filled the air.

Erya raised a hand to wipe the drool from the corner of her mouth, trying her best to restrain herself. In all her life, she had never even seen meatballs, let alone eaten them.

Seeing her expression, Su’s mother felt a mix of pity and amusement. "Erya, take this and share it with your little brother. And while you’re at it, ask Grandpa to come in and tend the fire."

"Okay." Erya dusted off her hands, ladled some water to wash them, and then picked up the bowl from the stove and walked out of the kitchen.

Before she even reached the sofa, she shouted, "Little Stone, come and try this! See if it’s good!"

"Erya, did you bring that out especially for Grandpa and your brother?" Mr. Su teased her with a chuckle.

"Well... Grandma said this is for Little Stone and me to eat. She also said for you to go in and tend the fire," Erya relayed her grandmother’s message, looking embarrassed.

"Alright, you two eat up. Be careful, it’s hot." Seeing the siblings practically drooling, Mr. Su stopped teasing them.

"Hurry and eat, Little Stone." Erya picked up her chopsticks, grabbed a meatball, and held it to her brother’s mouth.

"Mmm... so good! Second Sister, you eat too," Little Stone mumbled, his face scrunched up in delight.

Seeing that her brother had taken a bite, Erya picked up another for herself. Savoring the taste, she remarked, "These meatballs are so delicious! Even better than meat buns."

"Second Sister, wouldn’t it be great if we could live at Grandma’s house forever? Then Grandpa and Grandma couldn’t scold us anymore."

"Yeah, and if we lived here, Second Aunt and Third Aunt couldn’t pinch me, and our mom wouldn’t yell at us either."

The two siblings whispered to each other as they ate their meatballs. Ordinarily, Su Shuochi would have overheard them.

But today, he had no time for their secrets. He was in his room, trying on clothes.

He never knew thermal underwear could be so warm; it felt like it warmed him right to his core.

The shirt was so handsome, and the long woolen overcoat fit him perfectly.

The thermal underwear had already been washed. His wife had even thoughtfully included a note in the package.

It explained that the thermals were meant to be worn against the skin, so she had already washed them. The shirt was to be worn over the thermals, so it hadn’t been washed.

And the overcoat didn’t need to be washed first at all; he could just wash it after he wore it and it got dirty.

Su Shuochi was already tall and well-built. With the striped shirt on and the long woolen overcoat over it, he looked even more imposing.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror, the corners of his mouth lifting into a slight, satisfied smile, and then walked out of the room happily.

The moment Su Shuochi came out, he saw Song Zijie and Sheng Shiwu. Before he could even say hello, he saw them staring at him, dumbfounded.

"Su?"

"Whoa, who is this?"

The two exclaimed at the same time, practically dazzled by the sight of him. "Su, that long black woolen coat really shows off your exceptional taste."

"Haha, really? Your sister-in-law bought it and mailed it to me. I just picked it up and wanted to try it on."

"Jiaojiao bought it for you? She has great taste," Sheng Shiwu remarked with envy.

"Think you could ask your wife to buy one for me?" Song Zijie asked with a cheeky grin.

"In your dreams. How did you two know I was back?"

"We didn’t know you were back. We came over to use your phone to call Jiaojiao."

Su Shuochi learned from the two of them that after work, Song Zijie had given Sheng Shiwu a ride back to the mansion.

He had noticed Sheng Shiwu was unhappy in the car, and when they talked, he found out that for the last month, Eldest Brother Gu had refused to give his salary to Sheng Yueyue.

In response, Sheng Yueyue had been going to Eldest Brother Gu’s workplace every day to cause a scene, nearly getting him fired.