Chapter 45: Record of Moving to the City in the 90s 45

So the two elders planned to move to Beijing?

Taking advantage of Su Huandan’s absence while she was back in Beijing, Su Dakui and Jiang Chunhua gathered their children, sons-in-law, and grandchildren to discuss this idea.

“What is the third sister trying to do? Is this any way to toss elderly parents around? What’s the matter? Is it because our little brother is too young to be useful, or have Big Sister and I mistreated our parents? Why else would the third sister want you to move to Beijing?” Su Huanxia’s fiery temper flared up instantly.

The eldest sister, Su Huanzhu, frowned immediately. When would this sister ever learn to control that temper?

She couldn’t let the second sister start a shouting match like this.

“You haven’t even figured out what’s going on before losing your temper. The third sister isn’t even here today, which shows this wasn’t even her idea,” Su Huanzhu said, truly believing it.

If Su Huandan had any intention of taking their parents away, she wouldn’t have been coming back to her maternal home so often lately, neglecting her own small household.

As the eldest sister, she understood her younger sister’s temperament very well.

“Mom, Dad, you’re worried that because she’s always coming back, it might cause trouble in her marriage, right? If that’s the consideration, then I won’t stop you. Over the last few years, Jianbin and I have built up our lunchbox supply chain. At the Film and Television City, Jianbin and I can just drop by occasionally to check on the restaurants and businesses. We were actually planning to move to Beijing soon ourselves. The quality of education there is better, and the children are at the age where they need to attend high school and university. We definitely need to go there to support them in their studies.” After Su Huanzhu finished speaking, Su Huanxia was stunned.

“Big Sister, you and Eldest Brother-in-law are planning to move to Beijing too?” This was the first Su Huanxia had heard of her sister’s plan.

The eldest sister nodded with a smile. “Before Old Grandma passed away five years ago, she was worrying about this. She said Beijing is the capital and the quality of education must be better than here, telling us to think more about the children. But back then, the family business was still growing and hadn’t stabilized. Now, the business has reached its peak scale. We’ve made plenty of money, and we bought villas and apartments in Beijing a few years ago. Whether it’s for the kids or for our own enjoyment, we plan to live in Beijing now. We’ll hire people to manage things here, and it’ll be enough for us as a couple to come back and check in occasionally.”

They had worked hard for over a decade and made a lot of money, but they hadn’t been able to focus as closely on the children’s studies.

Life wasn’t just about making money.

The children were important too.

Even if it was late to turn back and focus on the kids now, the family had a solid foundation. As long as the children didn’t go astray, whatever they wanted to do in the future, their starting point would be much higher than that of children from ordinary families.

The eldest sister and her husband thought this way; they didn’t aim to become industry leaders or anything like that. They didn’t have such grand ambitions.

Only then did Su Huanxia fall silent.

If her parents left and the eldest sister’s family left, would she be the only one left in Yuanyi Village?

At the thought of this situation, Su Huanxia felt a lump in her throat. In all her years, she had never truly been apart from her parents and her eldest sister.

Xiao Jianguo gave his wife’s hand a reassuring pat.

“Don’t worry. I’ve reached the age for early retirement. If I retire now, I’ll just get a slightly smaller pension, but our family isn’t exactly hurting for my salary, right? So, let Mom, Dad, Big Sister, and Eldest Brother-in-law move first, and we’ll follow right after.” Xiao Jianguo knew what his wife was thinking.

One issue was his job.

The other was his grandfather. Old Master Xiao was ninety years old now and still quite robust. He could eat half a catty of braised beef and a two-catty fish every day.

Many people envied his physical condition.

The old man had lived near Yuanyi Village his whole life. Now that he was old, he probably wouldn’t be willing to move.

That was what his wife thought, but Xiao Jianguo knew that his grandfather had actually wanted to go to the capital for a long time.

The old man didn’t mention it because he was being considerate of his grandson.

He was now the director of the police station and he enjoyed his work. He liked being a minor official, so what could be done?

Therefore, the grandfather wouldn’t speak up about wanting to return to the capital, just letting the days drift by.

But his grandfather was originally from the capital. He had come here years ago for a job recruitment.

Back in Beijing, his grandfather used to live in a Siheyuan that was a crowded communal courtyard. That house was still there.

Over the years, as people in the communal courtyard wanted to move out, the grandfather and grandson had gradually bought up those rooms. Now the entire courtyard belonged to their family. It was huge, and they had rebuilt it into a three-story villa in the Siheyuan style.

If they moved back there, his grandfather would absolutely be happy.

Upon hearing this, Su Huanxia let out an “oh” and stopped speaking.

Anyway, sooner or later, the whole family was moving.

Then there was no problem.

Over the last ten-plus years, Su Huanxia had been running a chain of cake shops and had plenty of money.

Moreover, she had long since stopped doing the heavy labor herself. Since her son started middle school, she had been focusing on taking care of him. Once Xiao Jianguo took his early retirement, her family’s move would be even faster.

By the time Su Huandan found out that her parents and both sisters were moving to Beijing, her second sister had already efficiently moved to the capital with Old Master Xiao and her son.

The Xiao family’s newly renovated Siheyuan villa was also in the Houhai area. What a coincidence, right?

It was only two alleys away, a twenty-minute walk at most.

Yu Zexiu also spoke with his parents, and the whole family moved back to their Siheyuan in Houhai.

Their family lived with his parents, and they gave the courtyard across the way to his father-in-law’s family. The eldest sister’s family lived with the father-in-law as well, rather than going to the villa she had bought, which was quite far from Houhai. If they lived there, all their time would be spent commuting back and forth.

In less than a month, the Su family’s move was settled.

Su Huandan felt that the household had become exceptionally lively.

The school was nearby as well. Except for Su Huandan’s youngest daughter who still needed someone to drop her off and pick her up, the rest of the children attended the same school. They went together in a group, so there was no need to worry.

In the mornings, Eldest Brother-in-law would have breakfast ready. Everyone would go over to the Su parents’ place to eat. Even Su Huandan’s parents-in-law liked to join in the fun when they weren’t out of town.

With many children and many people, mealtime was a boisterous affair.

At the dining table, you could see several young boys with huge appetites eating with such gusto that even those who usually had poor appetites were swept up in the mood and began to eat heartily.

Lunch was every man for himself. The children ate at the school cafeteria, and as long as Su Huandan was home, she would head over to her parents’ house to scrounge a meal.

The evenings were truly lively.

Eldest Brother-in-law had a passion for braised meat. There was a stove in the courtyard, and whenever he was free at home, he would braise a fresh batch every day, sending a fragrance drifting for miles.

Zhou Jing, Su Dakui, and Old Master Xiao would huddle together. With a freshly cooked platter of sliced braised meat before them, the three men would drink wine, eat meat, and chat about everything under the sun.

Before half a month had passed, elderly men from all over the alley began showing up uninvited, bringing along good wine and ingredients.

The ingredients they brought were all suitable for braising, as no one had the nerve to just eat for free.

Regardless of their backgrounds or whether their families were wealthy or poor, they were all men of a certain age whose only hobby was a small drink before bed. Those in good health would have a few bites of meat, while for those with poorer health, Eldest Brother-in-law would braise vegetarian options like lotus root, mushrooms, kelp, and tofu.

On quiet days, seven or eight people would gather, but when it was busy, as many as twenty or thirty old men would congregate together.