A Couple's Rebirth to 1977 Before Marriage

Chapter 195: Chapter 192: 5 Years Later

In 1986, in the Capital of China, a scream rang out early in the morning from a three-courtyard residence not far from the Imperial Palace. As Li Xiu, Zhou Lian, and Sister Fang looked on with wide smiles, a blushing Li Xianglin said sheepishly, "I didn’t mean to! Before I even opened my eyes, I felt that all my bedding was soaked. Then I opened them and saw a little naked kid sprawled across my face."

Suppressing a laugh, Li Xiu picked up the little naked boy—five-year-old Yanyan—and said gently to Zhou Lian, "Bao’er, you help our daughter get cleaned up. I’ll take Yanyan and head out for a bit."

Amused by her daughter’s look of utter despair, Zhou Lian said softly, "Nuonuo, you’d better get up. We still have to go to your grandmaster’s house later!"

Seven-year-old Li Xianglin climbed out of bed. Looking at her urine-soaked pajamas, she said with disgust, "Mama, I need to take a shower and wash my hair."

Watching her, Sister Fang said sympathetically, "Alright, have your mama help you wash up. Aunt Fang will get the room cleaned for you!"

"Thank you, Aunt Fang!" After politely thanking Sister Fang, Li Xianglin hurried to the bathroom with Zhou Lian to get washed up.

"Why did you pee on your sister’s bed?" Li Xiu gently asked Yanyan, who was now bathed and dressed. ’My son isn’t the mischievous type. There must be a reason he wet his sister’s bed, right?’

Dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, Yanyan said sheepishly, "Daddy, I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t fall back asleep, so I went to find my sister. But she was already sleeping, so I thought I’d just lie down next to her and wait for her to wake up so we could play. It was too hot, so I took my clothes off. Who knew I’d fall asleep lying there... It was so hot, I drank too much water, and I was sleeping too soundly. I really didn’t mean to pee on my sister’s bed."

Li Xiu nodded with satisfaction as he listened to his five-year-old son’s clear explanation. He was pleased with the boy’s honesty and intelligence. Seeing his wife and daughter emerge from the room, Li Xiu said to his son, "Okay, Daddy knows you didn’t mean to, but you still scared your sister. What are you going to do about it?"

Yanyan quickly replied, "Daddy, if I tell my sister I’m sorry, then she won’t be scared anymore, right?"

As they watched their son apologize to their daughter, who then took his hand and led him toward the dining room, Li Xiu and Zhou Lian exchanged a smile. Their children were both so well-behaved and sensible; as parents, they were naturally filled with gratification.

"Bao’er, are you still going to your professor’s place today?" Li Xiu asked softly, holding Zhou Lian’s hand as they strolled along. At thirty, Li Xiu’s appearance hadn’t changed a bit; he still looked to be in his early twenties. Only the passion in his eyes when he looked at Zhou Lian was more intense than ever.

Pausing in her stride, Zhou Lian looked at Li Xiu tenderly and said, "I’m not going today. After we eat, we can just have Sister Fang take Nuonuo and Yanyan to the professor’s house."

"Really?" Li Xiu asked, his voice full of excited surprise. You couldn’t blame him. With Professor Xiao’s help, Zhou Lian had spent the last five years completing a combined bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral program, and had just graduated from Beijing University this year. One could only imagine how hard she had worked. But whenever she buried herself in her studies, the time they could spend together was drastically reduced. He had thought things would be fine once she graduated, but it had been over a month, and Zhou Lian was still running over to Professor Xiao’s house every day. Li Xiu didn’t have the heart to say anything, so now that he heard she wasn’t going, he was absolutely overjoyed.

"Yes. Jin Chen... these past few years, have you felt neglected?" Zhou Lian asked softly. She had poured nearly all her energy into her studies, paying little attention even to her children, let alone Li Xiu.

Gently pulling her into his embrace, Li Xiu kissed the top of her head. "Why would I feel neglected, Bao’er?" he said, his voice overflowing with tenderness. "I’m so proud of you. You’ve been working so hard all these years. My heart ached for you, but I never tried to stop you. I knew how much you loved it. But... can you slow down a little now?"

Wrapping her arms around Li Xiu’s lean waist, Zhou Lian nuzzled against his chest and said, "Mhm. My professor says I’ll be staying on to work at the university. He knows what I want and has already put in a good word for me. It won’t be too busy. I’ll start directly as a lecturer, so I won’t have fixed office hours. I’ll only need to go to campus when I have a class. That way, I’ll have plenty of time to spend with you and the children."

"Just spend it with me. The kids are very busy; they don’t have time for you!" Li Xiu said roguishly. ’My daughter and son are going to be very, very busy. It’s best if my wife just stays with me.’

"And you’re not busy?" Zhou Lian asked, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. ’After all these years, he’s still the same.’

"I’m not busy at all. Li Bao’s got the department stores, Liu Qiang has the construction company, Wei Guo is handling the maternity and children’s division, and Wang Dongfang has the electronics company. I’m completely free now, so Bao’er, you should spend all your time with me!" Li Xiu said softly. And he really wasn’t busy. Even though the Linrui Group was now one of the top conglomerates in China, Li Xiu was adept at delegating to capable people. He didn’t hoard power and was fundamentally hands-off, which left him with plenty of leisure time.

"Oh? I heard Li Bao has been so busy he hasn’t returned to his hometown in four years, and that Wang Dongfang and the others are too busy to even think about getting married. They’re all complaining that you’re so idle you’re about to grow mold," Zhou Lian said, giving Li Xiu a teasing smile. She’d only learned this after overhearing a chat between Sister Fang and Li Bao’s wife, Wang Xiaojuan. In the past few years, Li Xiu’s career had been skyrocketing, but he had invariably saved all his time for her and the children.

Li Xiu said nonchalantly, "They were the ones who said they enjoy a bustling life. So isn’t this great? Being busy every single day is wonderful!"

Zhou Lian had long since given up on trying to "cure" Li Xiu of his wicked personality. He was ruthless when it came to working people to the bone, yet every person he exploited, even when exhausted to the point of tears, would still rush to thank him. Forgetting Li Bao and the others for a moment, just thinking of Ping’an made Zhou Lian smile. "Is Ping’an getting transferred back to the Capital City this year?"

"He won’t be transferred back to the Capital City. He’s going directly to the Southwest. I’ve discussed it with Elder Ping; Ping’an won’t be returning to the Capital City before he’s forty," Li Xiu said softly.

’This must be for political reasons,’ Zhou Lian thought, so she didn’t press for details. Instead, she changed the subject. "Let me go. The children are waiting for breakfast!"

Li Xiu reluctantly released Zhou Lian. "Let’s have Sister Fang stay at Professor Xiao’s place and cook for the kids today. They can all come home together tonight. For lunch, I’ll make something delicious for my Bao’er."

"Daddy, you and Mom must have found me and my brother in a garbage can, right?" Li Xianglin, who had come to call her dawdling parents for breakfast, said with a sigh of resignation. ’Whose father doesn’t treat his children like treasures? Only hers. When weighed against their mother, she and her brother combined weren’t even half as important.’

Li Xiu sighed and put a hand to his forehead. ’This daughter of mine,’ he thought, ’with her ridiculously high EQ and IQ, has been sassing everyone and everything—especially me—since she was five. Has she forgotten who she’s talking to?’ Looking gently at his daughter, Li Xiu said, "Little Nono, I seem to recall someone has been coveting a certain ancient zither. I heard some news about it just the other day."

"Ah! Daddy, Daddy, you really are my biological father after all!" Li Xianglin shouted, excitedly grabbing one of Li Xiu’s arms. ’It was made by the same craftsman as the Da Sheng Yi Yin! She’d read about it in an ancient book!’

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