The Sweetness of the Seventies-Chapter 1176 - 1145: Missing Home

Old Master Huo understood. As old rivals, who wouldn’t understand the tricks of the trade? He grinned wickedly.

"You’re slyer than I am," laughed Old Master Huo. "But you spoke to my heart, hahaha..."

"You old fox, always full of tricks, putting on a foolishly brave face. You might fool others, but you can’t fool me," Old Master Tang said. Surviving that catastrophe, and even managing to strategize and climb higher wasn’t something a brute who knows only brawling could handle.

Without careful thought, it absolutely couldn’t be done.

"Haha, just luck, pure luck!" Old Master Huo started to smooth things over again, "Come on, such a joyful occasion, let’s have a drink at your place tonight, cheer up!"

"You must come," Old Master Tang said, "I’ve got a few bottles of good liquor. If you come, the old lady will allow me a couple of drinks because of you. If no one comes, she won’t let me drink, and it drives me crazy."

"I’ve always been envious of your good liquor," said Old Master Huo. "Today you finally agreed to bring it out willingly."

The good liquor from Old Master Huo was all gone.

The liquor offered by the children was expensive, but it didn’t taste the same.

The two old men felt cheerful and went home.

Old Master Huo missed Huo Yingjun’s little son and the several children at Huo Yingjie’s home.

As for Huo Ruixiang being grown up and always around, he wasn’t worried about him.

As for Huo Yingjie being busy at the base every day, he was so occupied that he even lacked the time to think of home.

"Worker Huo, why aren’t you eating?" asked Worker Li, who usually worked alongside him, "The food in the cafeteria is pretty good today, tastes nice."

Huo Yingjie shook his head, "I have no appetite!"

No matter how tasty, it still wasn’t as good as the food at home.

Huo Yingjie didn’t look up, but stared at the photo frame in his hands, a family portrait of his home.

His parents were healthy, so he wasn’t worried about them.

He was worried about the three children at home, He Tiantian had to go to training alone, and manage the kids, she must be very tired.

At this time, Huo Yingjie didn’t know Little Rotating Turtle had transformed, and had even turned into a little girl, becoming their daughter.

Seeing Huo Yingjie focusing on the photograph, Worker Li also took out his family portrait from the drawer and said, "Missing home, huh? I am too, this is my wife and daughter."

After speaking, Worker Li handed the photo over for Huo Yingjie to look at.

Huo Yingjie looked at it and nodded, "Your daughter is very cute."

"She is really cute," Worker Li said, "but she’s too young. I married late, had a child at thirty-five. When I left, she was just over a year old, I can’t tell you how hard that was."

"I miss my family too," Huo Yingjie said, his hand affectionately touching the children’s faces in the photo.

Seeing the photo of Huo Yingjie’s family, Worker Li said enviously, "You’re lucky, having three children."

"Hehe, yes, I married early. Got married in ’76. When we had our third child, the One-Child Policy had started. Luckily, we were already pregnant before it was enforced," said Huo Yingjie. "If it had been after, we might not have been able to keep the child. Even if we could, it would have been a lot of trouble."

"Yeah, looks like I can only have one daughter in this lifetime," Worker Li said. "But it doesn’t matter now, I feel blessed to have a wife and daughter. After all, I’m in research, always with various data and lab equipment, not very sociable, so it’s tough finding a partner."

"Contentment breeds happiness." Huo Yingjie said, "I have two boys at home, but my dearest is my daughter, who’s especially well-behaved!"

"Daughters do tend to be more obedient than sons," Worker Li remarked. "Back at my previous job, a colleague had twin boys, and everyone envied him. But once the kids started walking, they’d chase dogs and chickens and be so mischievous, often causing the neighbors to complain. No matter how much you scolded them, they never learned their lesson."

"Heh, boys can be quite mischievous," Huo Yingjie said. "Ah, we’ve already been here for nearly three months, and it’s still unclear when we can complete this and go home early."

Worker Li sighed deeply and said, "Yes, the New Year is almost upon us. My parents passed away early, and so did my wife’s. I’m not home, and it’s only my wife with the kids. Just thinking about it makes me feel terrible. This project is so big, they won’t make an exception for us. We can only work hard and hope to finish as soon as possible."

"I hope so too," Huo Yingjie, who found this colleague and roommate agreeable, felt having someone to talk about home with made it somewhat less likely to feel homesick like before.

The two fell silent. Worker Li pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a drag, sighing away his worries. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

Huo Yingjie hadn’t smoked before, but now he felt the desire to smoke.

"Worker Li, give me a cigarette," Huo Yingjie said, wanting to smoke, but he didn’t have any cigarettes.

Worker Li was startled for a moment, then passed a cigarette to Huo Yingjie and said, "Heh, looks like I’ve gotten you into smoking too."

"Heh, I’m so tired, but I can’t sleep," Huo Yingjie said. "Seeing how relaxed you all look while smoking, I wanted to try it too."

"With cigarettes, smoking one or two doesn’t matter, but don’t get addicted. It will be hard to quit later," Worker Li kindly advised. Everyone knows smoking is harmful to health, but very few manage to quit successfully, so Worker Li didn’t want Huo Yingjie to develop a smoking habit.

Huo Yingjie laughed and said, "No worries, I’ll just smoke this one."

Worker Li handed him the matches and cigarette box.

Huo Yingjie took a cigarette from inside, lit it, and took a puff, "Cough, cough, cough..."

Though he used to smoke in his past life, in this life he had stopped because He Tiantian disliked it, and with many kids at home, he couldn’t expose them to secondhand smoke!

"Not used to it, huh?" Worker Li said. "If you’re not used to it, better not to smoke. It’s not anything good anyway."

Huo Yingjie laughed and said, "No worries, I’ll just smoke this one."

He thought about how much more complicated things were. Damn, this project would take at least two to three years. While he had some good ideas, he couldn’t speak out since he wasn’t in charge of that area.

Those here were the current top talents from the science bureau. Huo Yingjie was well-known in his circle, but solely in materials. In other areas, he wouldn’t be recognized.

Huo Yingjie knew his influence was minimal and didn’t bother to speak up. In the end, discovering something was only a matter of time.

He just couldn’t go home.

Huo Yingjie tried to use a clone to go back, but he discovered that there were cultivators nearby.

Separated from these people, he might not be discovered, but they could likely detect the issue with the clone. To be safe, Huo Yingjie had to stay put here.

Even though it was his field of interest, it felt almost like being in prison.

After smoking, Huo Yingjie went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and then went to bed.

No more thinking, thinking couldn’t take him home.

He just wished his family well!

******

Recommend "Yuan Gua"’s book "The Second Master of the Red Chamber," where Lin Liu becomes the illegitimate younger brother of Lin Ruohai, a man marked for death by Minister Cao and feeling the immense malice of the vast universe.