His cousin was probably out working and hadn't returned yet. The man was a bricklayer who spent most of the year building houses for others.

His eldest daughter lived in Jian'an City, but she often returned to her parents' house to eat and stay. When she left, she would take a considerable amount of vegetables and other things back with her. Her husband was a long-haul truck driver who had bought himself an extended-cab truck for about 200,000 yuan.

After graduating from a teachers' college, his son was assigned to teach at the town's middle school. He married a local woman, and they had a daughter.

After his younger daughter finished high school, she went to work at an electronics factory in the Guanlan area of Shenzhen. Later, she began dating a man from Hunan province. The two of them opened a Hunanese restaurant in Pinghu. The business was doing quite well; they made some money and had a son.

Unexpectedly, she was also at home.

Eating at Sister Hongmei's home required no formality. She didn't treat you like a guest, just someone joining in for a simple family meal. However, the "simple meal" at Sister Hongmei's was quite decent. After all, with so many people to feed, how could they get by without a good spread of dishes?

"Huijun, aren't you running a restaurant in Shenzhen? I thought you said business was busy. How do you have time to come back?" Yi Anguo asked Yi Huijun with a smile.

"Our restaurant is scheduled for demolition. We're planning to come back, buy a house in Jian'an, and open a supermarket," Yi Huijun said helplessly.

"That's not so bad. You could just find another spot and keep the restaurant going. You've been in the business for years and have the experience," Yi Anguo continued.

"I don't want to run a restaurant anymore. It's exhausting and doesn't make that much money. Coming back to open a supermarket should be better. At least it won't be so tiring," Yi Huijun replied with a smile.

"What are you doing over in Shenzhen? Which part? Judging by your appearance, you seem to have struck it rich."

"I'm in the Lanshan District in the Guannei area of Shenzhen, mainly doing real estate brokerage. It's going okay. I've made a little money," Yi Anguo said after a moment's thought.

I did open a real estate brokerage company, and that's the business I'm in, so I guess it's not really lying.

"Real estate! That's big business. You must have made a lot of money. No wonder you drove such a nice car back," Yi Huijun said with envy.

"It's all the same. You've made a good bit yourselves, haven't you? Enough to come back, buy a house, and open a supermarket."

After the meal, Yi Anguo mentioned his idea of building a house in the village to Sister Hongmei.

Sister Hongmei smiled and said, "Your timing is perfect. The village is currently undergoing new rural development. Just give me a deposit of 4,000 yuan, and you can get a house built without having to run around doing any of the paperwork yourself!"

"You really should build a new house here. Right now, when you come back, you don't even have a proper place to stay. Once the new house is built, you'll at least have a foothold when you return.

"No matter how capable you are or how much money you make out there, you need to have roots! If you build a house in the village, then your roots are still here.

"If you don't build a house, your roots will be gone once these old houses collapse.

"It's still fine while our generation is around. But once we're gone, it'll be hard for you to come back and find your roots even if you wanted to."

Yi Anguo nodded. "The thing is, I don't have much time to be here. I was thinking of asking Brother Berlin and my eldest brother-in-law to help supervise the construction. What do you think?"

Sister Hongmei replied, "That should be fine. It makes no difference to Brother Berlin who he builds a house for. You can talk to him directly when he gets back. Besides, I don't know anything about construction."

"I don't know much about it myself. I just want it done well. Money isn't an issue," Yi Anguo said cheerfully.

"It looks like you've made quite a bit of money these past two years. You carry yourself with confidence now, like a rich man!" Sister Hongmei said with a laugh.

"Not really. But a house back home has to be built well. Besides, compared to Shenzhen, where an apartment over 100 square meters costs more than a million yuan, even the best house built here won't cost nearly that much," Yi Anguo explained.

Sister Hongmei nodded. "Of course, if you have the means, you should build it well. Seeing you drive such a nice car, you're clearly not short on cash."

"The exteriors of the houses have a unified design, but for the interior decoration, the rich have their lavish ways, and those without money have simpler options, right?"

"If money's no object, then decorate it like one of those high-end apartments in the big cities."

Having reached an agreement, Yi Anguo paid the 4,000 yuan registration fee, which also served as a security deposit.

Afterward, he took Li Shanshan and Yi Xinyi back to their hotel in Jian'an City.

Yi Xinyi had already fallen asleep in the car. Li Shanshan carried her out, but Yi Anguo, seeing his daughter asleep, took her from Li Shanshan's arms. After all, Yi Xinyi was already six years old and a bit heavy to carry. It would be tiring for Li Shanshan. As a man, Yi Anguo had more strength and didn't find it too exhausting.

It was more convenient for his daughter to sleep with Li Shanshan. Yi Anguo carried her into Li Shanshan's room and laid her on the bed. Li Shanshan quickly turned on the air conditioner. They had been out all day, and neither his elder sister's house nor his cousins' homes had air conditioning, just ceiling fans in the main hall. In the sweltering heat, they had all perspired heavily. His daughter was also sweaty, but since she was fast asleep, they decided to let her be.

Li Shanshan had been sharing a two-bedroom business suite with Fu Huanhuan.

"You go take a shower first. I'll stay with Xinyi for a bit, then I'll go back to my room to shower," Yi Anguo told Li Shanshan.

"Okay," Li Shanshan agreed and went to take her shower.

The air conditioner had just been switched on, so the room was still stuffy. Seeing his daughter sleeping soundly, Yi Anguo left, closing the door behind him, and went to his own room to shower.

After his shower, he felt much more comfortable and cool. He had set the air conditioning to its lowest temperature beforehand, so when he stepped out, it was actually a bit chilly. He changed into a fresh, disposable hotel pajama set and watched TV for a while.

His thoughts drifted to Li Shanshan. This is the first time she's been alone with my daughter. I wonder if she can take good care of her. Besides, her intention in coming home with me is obvious. I should probably give her an answer. I can't keep feigning ignorance forever. And since I agreed to bring her home, it means I was already prepared to accept her. Tonight seems like a good opportunity.

With this thought, Yi Anguo got out of bed and went to Li Shanshan's room.

Li Shanshan had also showered and changed into her pajamas. When she saw Yi Anguo enter, she blushed, a thought crossing her mind.

"I came to check on Xinyi. She hasn't woken up, has she?" Yi Anguo asked, his gaze falling on the freshly showered Li Shanshan.

"No, she's sleeping soundly. She shouldn't wake up anytime soon," Li Shanshan replied.

"Good," Yi Anguo nodded.

An awkward silence fell over the room as neither knew what to say next.

"Shanshan," Yi Anguo finally broke the silence, looking directly at her.

"Brother-in-law," Li Shanshan replied, bravely meeting his gaze.

Silence descended again, though their eyes remained locked.

Finally, Li Shanshan couldn't bear it any longer. She stepped forward and threw herself into Yi Anguo's arms, hugging him tightly as she looked up at his face.

"Brother-in-law!"

Yi Anguo was no longer silent. He wrapped his arms around Li Shanshan, lowered his head, and they began to kiss passionately.

"Shanshan, if you regret this, it's not too late," Yi Anguo said, looking at the emotionally stirred Li Shanshan in his arms, giving her one last chance. "Being with me, you're destined to have no official status and no wedding. In the eyes of outsiders, your sister is my woman. You will only ever be her younger sister."

"Brother-in-law, I'm willing!" Li Shanshan said firmly. "As long as I can be with you, I'll do anything. I don't need any official status. As long as I can be with you, I will never regret it."

This is my only chance, something I've longed for. How could I possibly regret it?

Yi Anguo hesitated no longer. He swept Li Shanshan into his arms and carried her to the bed in the other bedroom.

「In the following days.」

Yi Anguo visited his fourth sister's home and then went to see his second sister.

From a young age, Yi Anguo had never gotten along with his fourth sister. They were always arguing and couldn't stand each other. He was never very good at farm work, like pulling up or transplanting rice seedlings and harvesting the crops. It wasn't that he couldn't do it; he just couldn't keep up the pace, which earned him his fourth sister's constant scorn.

His fourth sister, who had only finished elementary school, had always worked on the farm and was an expert at it. When it came to transplanting seedlings or harvesting rice, she easily outperformed him. It wasn't even close. To put it plainly, by the time Yi Anguo finished one row, she would have already completed more than two, sometimes even three. He simply wasn't cut out for farming, the type who seemed incapable of ever learning.

In truth, it wasn't entirely his fault. As a child, with four older sisters to do the farm work, he was never required to exert much effort. As he grew older, he not only had four sisters but also four brothers-in-law. During planting and harvesting seasons, their collective speed was astonishing.

Yi Anguo also disliked his fourth sister. She was only four years older but was always trying to control him, pulling rank as the elder sister to order him around. This fostered a rebellious attitude in him toward her.

After leaving school, Yi Anguo began earning money working at a forestry station and a local ceramics factory. Although he gave most of his earnings to his parents, he still had some pocket money, certainly more than his fourth sister had. She was responsible for doing the family's laundry every day, and Yi Anguo would often forget to empty his pockets before changing. Consequently, his pocket money would end up in his sister's hands.

But she would adamantly deny taking it. For instance, if Yi Anguo forgot to take out the meal and food coupons from his factory job along with his cash, his sister would return the coupons, which were useless to her. As for the cash, that was another story. She would deny taking it to her dying day, insisting that the pockets only contained coupons and that she never saw any money.

As for whether her brother believed her, that wasn't her problem. She believed she hadn't taken his money, and that was all that mattered.

What could Yi Anguo do? Complaining to their mother only resulted in a breezy dismissal.

"Whose fault is it that you're so forgetful? You always forget to empty your pockets when you change. Who can you blame but yourself? Just try to remember next time."

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