Chapter 1: No More Rat Race in This Life

March 12, 2011, Saturday.

Room 703, Unit 3, Building 16, Xinghe Yuan Community, Chaoyang District, Beijing. This was a two-bedroom, one-living room apartment, less than 90 square meters.

It was already past two in the morning, but the light in the second bedroom was still on.

Cao Shujie had overworked again and fallen asleep at his desk.

His forehead had been pressed against the computer keyboard for a long time, leaving several square red marks.

The desktop computer screen was still flickering with light, and the open Word document was filled with the letter N.

This state of staying up until the middle of the night had been going on for a long time. He only slept four or five hours a day. He was too tired, and his snores were like thunder.

Cheng Xiaolin got up in the middle of the night to change her daughter Mengmeng’s diaper and heard snores coming from next door. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache.

Getting out of bed, she quietly opened the door and then closed the master bedroom door.

Entering the second bedroom, Cheng Xiaolin didn’t dare to take big steps. She walked over to her husband, reached out and gently pushed him, calling out, “Husband, husband…”

“Huh?” Cao Shujie, in his sleep, grunted twice. He had been sleeping with his arm pressed for too long, causing some blood circulation issues, and a needle-like tingling pain in his arm woke him up.

He lifted his head, rubbing his reddened hands together. His gaze fell on the bottom right corner of the computer screen, showing 2011. He was a bit disoriented at first, but soon became fully awake.

Cheng Xiaolin was nagging him: “Husband, I’ve told you several times not to work so late, get more sleep. Haven’t you seen the news about so many people dying suddenly from staying up late? If you end up like that, what will our daughter and I do?”

Cao Shujie really wanted to tell his wife that he would die suddenly from staying up late 12 years later, before he even turned 40.

But reason told him to keep this secret to himself.

“Husband, why don’t we go back to our hometown? Let’s not stay in Beijing anymore. You’re staying up like this every day, I’m really afraid you won’t be able to bear it one day.” Cheng Xiaolin said again. She had brought up this issue more than once.

In the past, Cao Shujie would have definitely joked around and brushed it off.

But not this time. Cao Shujie nodded and smiled at his wife, “Okay!”

That ‘okay’ landed in Cheng Xiaolin’s ears. She was stunned for a long time before she finally put her arms around Cao Shujie’s shoulders and asked him, “Husband, did you really agree?”

“You’re right. If I keep pushing myself like this, it’ll be a dead end. Let’s go home. I want to spend more time with you two.” Cao Shujie was very straightforward this time.

“Mhm, mhm. Then you go resign at dawn. I’ll also go to the kindergarten and quit my job. The apartment…” Cheng Xiaolin looked at the apartment they had only lived in for two years and said through gritted teeth, “Let’s sell it too. We’ll need the money when we go home.”

“Alright!” Cao Shujie smiled. “I’ll listen to you.”

…

A week later, Cao Shujie drove a 2010 Elegant Edition 2.4L Buick LaCrosse out of Beijing and headed towards the highway.

He had resigned from his job. The 86.9 square meter apartment was sold for 2.6156 million yuan at a price of 30,100 yuan per square meter. The furniture and appliances were also given to the new owner.

After selling the apartment and paying off the loan, they had 1.6672 million yuan left. Even if there was no income in the short term, it would ensure their lives wouldn’t be affected.

“Daddy, where’s the puppy?” As soon as the car got on the highway, Mengmeng, sitting in her car seat, couldn’t sit still at all.

She twisted her cute little round face, looking for a puppy everywhere.

Cheng Xiaolin coaxed her: “Mengmeng, when we get to Grandma’s house this afternoon, you’ll see puppies. They’re so cute.”

“Really?” Mengmeng instinctively widened her eyes.

She especially loved puppies and kittens. Especially when she was crying and throwing a tantrum, no amount of coaxing worked. But as soon as you said you’d take her to see puppies or kittens, she would definitely stop crying.

“Mengmeng, how about Daddy and Mommy take you back to Grandma’s house?” Cao Shujie added: “When we go back, we’ll build a beautiful house ourselves, and then Daddy will take you to play in the mountains every day.”

“Play?” Mengmeng quickly twisted her body to look out the car window, but she was restrained by the car seat and couldn’t twist much: “Mommy, little park play.”

She meant “small park,” but she couldn’t articulate it clearly when she was anxious.

Cheng Xiaolin quickly coaxed her: “Mengmeng, we’re in the car right now. Later, when we get back to Grandma’s house, there will be a big orchard. It’s blooming right now, and it’s so beautiful.”

“Really?” Mengmeng blinked her eyes, looking at her mother with some anticipation.

Cheng Xiaolin quickly nodded: “Really, Mommy promises.”

Cao Shujie drove all the way, listening to the mother and daughter chatting idly in the back seat. He wasn’t tired at all.

They stopped at a highway service area for a meal, and after resting for an hour, continued their journey.

It wasn’t until past 4 PM that they exited the highway.

Mengmeng, who had taken a nap, became active again. She absolutely refused to sit in her car seat, insisting that her mother hold her.

But soon she felt uncomfortable in her mother’s arms too, and wanted to sit next to her mother on the seat.

If Cheng Xiaolin hadn’t stopped her, she would have even tried to stand on the seat. At this point, Cheng Xiaolin felt mentally exhausted.

“Daddy, where’s Grandma?” Mengmeng couldn’t sit still again. She wanted to get out of the car, and despite the car still moving, she reached out to pull the door handle.

This scared Cheng Xiaolin quite a bit. She quickly hugged her and raised her hand to give her bottom two hard twists. But Mengmeng didn’t feel any pain at all and even started to laugh triumphantly.

“Mengmeng, if you’re naughty again, I’ll spank you.” Cheng Xiaolin was quite angry.

Mengmeng was good in every way, except for being disobedient.

After being scolded by her mother, Mengmeng started to throw a tantrum and roll around. She threw herself onto her mother’s lap, not caring that they were still in the car. She vigorously hugged her mother’s arm and swung back and forth.

Soon after, she flipped over and lay on her mother’s lap, her little head lifted upwards, and raised her little arms to hit her mother.

While hitting, she also cried out, “Mommy, Mommy…”

As if she was the one being greatly wronged.

Cheng Xiaolin’s stomach hurt from anger. She said to Cao Shujie, who was driving in front: “Husband, look at your daughter, she’s driving me crazy.”

“We really shouldn’t have had her in the first place. She’s just here to annoy people.” Cheng Xiaolin said this.

Cao Shujie glanced in the rearview mirror and couldn’t help but want to laugh.

Fortunately, his car had a length of 5 meters and a wheelbase of 2870 mm. The back seat space was large enough and enough for the mother and daughter to mess around. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough space for his daughter to roll around.

Another half an hour passed, and the car drove into a village located at the foot of a mountain.

This was Cao Shujie’s hometown, Cao Family Village, a village famous for growing kiwis and apples in the surrounding area.

Before the car had even stopped, Mengmeng knelt on her mother’s lap, peering out the car window. Suddenly, she saw a white puppy run past, and she started to shout excitedly: “Mommy, look, a puppy!”

“Oh, Mengmeng, aren’t you annoying?” Cheng Xiaolin was about to lose it.

Cao Shujie, who was driving, burst out laughing.

When he saw his mother Wang Yuelan, an aged face immediately surfaced in Cao Shujie’s mind.

Every time he returned for the holidays and was about to depart, he could see his mother standing at the main entrance, watching from afar, without moving an inch…

This time he was back again, and he wouldn’t leave anymore!

(End of this chapter)