Li Weihan immediately picked up a piece of meat and then gave Guiying a piece of mackerel.

He Shen took a cigarette out of his pocket and handed it to Li Sanjiang.

"Hey, Huazi."

Li Sanjiang took the cigarette and clipped it behind his ear.

He Shen: "It’s funny, I always thought I had some skills and could make money, but my father has never really enjoyed any good fortune in his life."

Li Sanjiang: "There’s plenty of that. If you say the old days were tough, then it’s understandable to save now. Everyone can say such grand principles.

But some people don’t save; they just ruin themselves. Ruining themselves is not enough; they have to drag the younger generation down with them.

If they could just stay in their little corner and perish on their own, that would be fine. But they have to come up with some gimmicks, making the more filial the younger generation is, the more painful it gets for them."

He Shen sighed, "When I first sat there, I thought how great it would be if my father could be like you, uncle."

Li Sanjiang blushed and said, "I’m just a silly guy who eats as much as I have, can’t be like me."

He Shen laughed, "With a senior like you at home, life must be very comfortable."

Li Zhiyuan: "Hmm."

He Shen handed over a business card, which had a transport company written on it. It should be a decent size, primarily running long-distance routes.

Li Sanjiang put the business card away awkwardly, saying, "I won’t give you my card; you probably won’t be back much anyway, haha."

In this line of business dealing with funerals, it’s not customary to give a business card and say "Reach out if you need anything in the future."

He Shen’s wife got up and came over, and He Shen introduced himself to his wife as well.

In his youth, he was an apprentice for a truck driver, running long routes, and met his wife in the Western Regions. He proudly said that back then, he had little money as an apprentice, just a poor kid, but his wife was beautiful like a fairy from a mural, yet she chose him and eloped with him.

Later, he got his own car, life improved gradually, misunderstandings and conflicts with his wife’s family were long resolved, and several brothers-in-law were supported by him to either drive trucks or open restaurants.

After chatting for a while and checking the time, He Shen, along with his wife, said goodbye and left the restaurant first.

There were indeed a bit too many dishes ordered, but they all got through it, even the remaining broth bowls were assigned by Li Sanjiang to mix with rice to finish.

After the meal, Li Sanjiang was picking his teeth while taking money out of his pocket, secretly handing it to Li Zhiyuan under the table.

Li Zhiyuan pushed it away.

Li Sanjiang didn’t insist, he was just worried that Little Yuanhou might not have enough money.

"I’ll go settle the bill." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Li Zhiyuan stood up to perform the payment.

He had good hearing and had caught when He Shen left, hearing the other party had settled their table’s bill.

Returning, Li Zhiyuan said, "Grandmaster, that boss just paid for us."

Li Sanjiang was momentarily stunned and said, "Really a generous guy, but it’s a pity that his father didn’t have the fortune to enjoy."

Cui Guiying was a bit puzzled, "Someone we don’t know just drank a cup of wine and then treated us to a meal?"

Li Sanjiang: "People have money, people are happy."

Maybe He Shen had pent-up frustration from his father and harvested great emotional value from visiting his grandmaster today.

However, Li Zhiyuan felt perhaps it was Grandmaster’s rant about Grandpa and Grandma that satisfied He Shen.

After the mealtime, with no new customers, the four stayed at the restaurant a while longer to both digest and sober up.

These days, cars hardly check for drink-driving, let alone riding a tricycle. But life is ultimately one’s own, so better wait until the mind clears a bit before leaving.

Feeling almost ready, Li Sanjiang rode the tricycle carrying Li Zhiyuan, Li Weihan rode the big bike carrying Guiying, both vehicles headed towards Shinan Town.

When they reached Si Yuan Village, it was close to dusk. They parted ways on the village road, with Li Zhiyuan naturally following Li Sanjiang home.

From afar, Li Sanjiang spotted the figures of Run Sheng, Lin Shuyou, and Yin Meng on the open ground, instantly breaking into a smile: Heh, all the mules are home!

But on getting to the ground and counting more carefully, Li Sanjiang questioned:

"What’s up, isn’t Zhuangzhuang back yet?"

Li Zhiyuan: "Zhuangzhuang will be back tomorrow."

Li Sanjiang: "Oh, that’s fine. By the way, Little Yuanhou, go check on the East Room, that old lady seems to be feeling unwell."

Earlier, during the meal and on the way home, Li Sanjiang deliberately didn’t mention this to avoid worrying the child.

"Alright, Grandmaster."

Actually, Li Zhiyuan could tell there’s trouble at home from the expressions on Lin Shuyou and Yin Meng’s faces.

Moreover, Alii was nowhere to be seen on the second-floor terrace, usually when he’s not home, Alii would either be in his room drawing or doing crafts, or sitting on the terrace sun chair enjoying the sun and scenery.

Li Sanjiang called out to Aunt Liu: "Ting Hou, I’m tired, going to rest, no need to make dinner for me."

Standing at the kitchen door, Aunt Liu replied, "They’ve returned, no worries about leftover food made for you."

"Haha!" Li Sanjiang waved his hand and went upstairs into his room to rest.

Aunt Liu’s facial expression slightly changed, she turned sideways, clearing the entrance to the kitchen.

Without words, Li Zhiyuan understood her meaning and walked into the kitchen.

The Kitchen God portrait had been relocated, a small altar was set below, with four candles lit.

Three of the candles were for decoration, meant to mask one of them.

Li Zhiyuan approached that candle, lightly fanning it with his hand, its flame turned milky white.

Aunt Liu hesitated, but decided to speak up: "Little Yuan..."