The restaurant owner glanced at Li Zhiyuan. He didn’t know how such a young child could make money, but he still cooperated and complimented:

"Very good, the child has filial piety, you elders can enjoy happiness."

Li Sanjiang: "Exactly!"

Back at the dining table, Li Weihan and Cui Guiying were still somewhat reserved.

Cui Guiying wanted to murmur something more, but looking at Li Sanjiang sitting across from her, she finally held her tongue.

Li Weihan touched his pocket. The smoke pack he took out this morning still had a few left, but they were all smoked on the road and while climbing Wolf Mountain. Originally, there were some whole cigarettes left in the home cabinet, but recently they were taken to Aunt Zhang’s small shop to be sold for money.

Li Sanjiang took out a cigarette, pulled one out, and tossed it to Li Weihan. Before Li Weihan could light it for him, he pulled out a match and lit it himself.

A table nearby seated a middle-aged couple, dressed in fine clothes, with a briefcase on the chair beside the man and a large cell phone sitting on the table.

The woman was very beautiful, visibly distinct from the locals in appearance, likely from the Western Regions.

At this moment, the man turned his body and waved to Li Sanjiang, calling out:

"Old man, shall we have a drink?"

Li Sanjiang turned to look at him and smiled, "Sure!"

Li Zhiyuan reached out to open the bottle of white wine, but the man poured two glasses of wine at his own table, walked over, and handed one to Li Sanjiang.

"Come on, old man, I’ll finish mine first!"

"Finish it!"

The two clinked glasses, the man tilted his head back and drank it all, then sighed as his eyes turned red.

Li Zhiyuan took a look at the man’s face; with a full forehead and square, rounded features, it was an excellent face. People with such faces, as long as they don’t go astray, are likely to achieve something in any field.

"Old man, not afraid you’ll laugh, but hearing you order made me think of my father."

Earlier, when He Shen sat there eating with his wife, Li Zhiyuan would ask about a dish, and Li Sanjiang would loudly voice his approval, focusing on the fact that whatever the child ordered, he would happily eat, without any reluctance.

Listening to this, He Shen became emotional, somewhat surprised and very envious.

How much he wished his own father could be like Li Sanjiang, but unfortunately, his father was the opposite extreme.

Li Sanjiang: "Your father isn’t as old as I am, is he?"

He Shen nodded: "You look older, but your health is really good."

Li Sanjiang: "Ha, I’m eating, sleeping, and strolling around every day without any worries; isn’t that just taking care of oneself?"

He Shen: "That’s great, come on, old man, let’s have another one."

"Drink mine, drink mine." Li Sanjiang stopped He Shen from returning to his table for the wine, and picked up the white wine he had ordered, filling both their glasses to the brim.

In the second glass of wine, the man didn’t down it but just took a small sip, while Li Sanjiang gestured the same.

"By the accent, you’re from Hai’an?"

"Yes, but I usually do some small business in Shanghai. This time I just came back to hold a memorial for my father and took the opportunity to visit Wolf Mountain for incense burning."

"Ah, how did he pass away?"

"He went to check a fish pond, slipped, and fell in, and was gone."

"Oh," Li Sanjiang responded, and then added, "Sigh."

When He Shen spoke of this, there was not much regret in his tone, but rather more of a sense of relief and liberation.

"I brought my father to Shanghai to live with us, but he couldn’t get used to it and insisted on going back home, so we sent him back.

The year before, he went to work in a kiln and injured his waist, bedridden for several months. We went back to see him, arranged for a neighbor to take care of him, and paid them for it.

But after we left, he secretly took back the caregiver’s fee from the neighbor, then stayed alone in bed, in such filth, it was unbearable to see.

If a childhood friend from the village hadn’t called me, I wouldn’t have known; I could only abandon my business and return with my wife to care for him.

After taking care of him, he still refused to go to Shanghai, or the city’s nursing home, so we had to let him stay at home. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Originally, the land at home was rented out for others to farm, but he was eager to earn some wages and went to farm for others, fainting in the field, scaring the family who hired him half to death.

We went back again, took him to the hospital for examination, and the doctor blamed us for neglecting the elderly, saying he was seriously malnourished.

In reality, we never stopped providing supplements at home, and every month I gave him ample money, but he just wouldn’t spend it. Supplements that I brought in, he would sell for half the price as soon as I left.

We had no choice but to watch him eat every day, like coaxing a child. If there was a little more meat in the meal, he would act as if his house had collapsed, recounting his past hardships, scolding us for not knowing how to live, saying we would be punished by heaven.

When we were home, we managed to keep up appearances, but once we left, he would immediately go out to find work, fall ill again, causing us to return and forth repeatedly.

Finally, while watching a fish pond, he exhausted himself to death."

Li Sanjiang raised his glass, sighing: "You are filial."

He Shen shook his head: "I don’t count much. Knowing he was truly gone gave me such relief."

Li Sanjiang: "You’ve done enough. Some people are naturally stubborn, can’t see the changes in the world, nor listen to others, and have their own set of beliefs, thinking they’re always right."

As he said this, Li Sanjiang deliberately glanced at Li Weihan.

Li Weihan lowered his head, picked up his chopsticks, and took a piece of leek into his mouth.

Li Sanjiang: "Eat meat, who are you trying to impress by eating grass!"