The next day, Da Bao got up early and forced his younger brother and sister, who were still snuggled in bed, to get up, saying the family would go out for morning tea.
The family hadn’t indulged in such leisure for a long ti, so Da Bao even called the mansion to ask the driver to bring Mr. Ji to the Lakefront Restaurant.
Mr. Ji was almost eighty, in good spirits, but ever since he fell down the stairs a decade ago, his leg had never fully recovered. Now he still walked with a limp, and whenever the weather changed suddenly or it rained, the old fracture brought him excruciating pain. While others were sympathetic, he often said it was what he deserved.
His wife was released from prison a year ago; at the ti, Ji Rui and Le Tong paid little attention. Later, the immigration office inford Ji Rui that his stepmother went to Y Country, presumably to reunite with her two sons who had recently been released from prison as well.
Mr. Ji never ntioned this, and over the years, he hadn’t left the country, probably because he had given up hope on those two sons.
No one told Da Bao about Old Madam Ji’s wrongdoings, nor did he ask, but presumably he was well aware.
Nonetheless, Da Bao treated Mr. Ji exceptionally well. After all, during his infancy when neither his parents were present, Mr. Ji took ticulous care of him. You could say that, if not for Mr. Ji’s determination back then, Da Bao might not even exist, nor would Ji Rui and Le Tong’s complicated emotional journey have unfolded.
The family of five entered the reserved private room where Mr. Ji was already inside enjoying his tea.
Once the three children entered, they surrounded Mr. Ji calling "Grandpa, Grandpa," delighting him to his core.
"Mommy, can we celebrate New Year at the mansion this year?"
Da Bao suddenly brought this up, surprising the three adults present. Since Little Treasure was born, he and Nuonuo were very timid babies and cried endlessly during several overnight stays at the mansion. Since then, the family hardly stayed overnight there.
Le Tong quickly caught on and nodded with a smile, "Sure, the flowers at the mansion should be blooming beautifully, and there should be more of a festive atmosphere."
Mr. Ji wanted to decline, but as his son Ji Rui had already instructed the housekeeper, "Uncle Li, rember to have soone cut a few buds of peach blossoms from the peach blossom forest when you go back. We’ll buy the other items later."
"Daddy, can we also bring Big Gray and Big Black back?" Little Treasure was focused on his dogs.
Ji Rui nodded, "Yes, bring them all back."
Seeing the children had already arranged everything themselves, Mr. Ji said no more. During the al, with Little Treasure and Nuonuo around, the atmosphere was lively; the morning tea lasted for over two hours. After settling the bill, Mr. Ji was first driven ho by the chauffeur while Ji Rui and his family headed straight to the supermarket.
After purchasing New Year supplies, the driver first sent them to the mansion. Ji Rui and Le Tong returned ho with the children to tidy up, gave Aunt Guan a day off ahead of schedule, and the family of five returned to the mansion with their cats and dogs.
The three brothers took on the task of decorating the mansion. What adults saw as tedious work, the children viewed as playful fun.
The Ji Family mansion hadn’t been this lively in a long ti. Mr. Ji watched Da Bao climb the ladder, signaling Little Treasure and Nuonuo to pass the glued-up red couplets to him, then turned to ask Mr. Ji, "Grandpa, do these look aligned?"
Mr. Ji offered so advice, and soon, the doors on both sides were adorned with brand new red couplets.
After the couplets were done, the children began hanging lanterns. Mr. Ji remained seated on a nearby recliner, watching them, as a warm mist filled his eyes.
Housekeeper Li, standing by to serve him, heard him sigh deeply, hurried over to tenderly knead his feet.
"Master, are you uncomfortable?"
Mr. Ji shook his head, sighed with considerable emotion, "No, I just never thought I’d be able to enjoy such blessings."
"Master, all of that is behind us now. Look at how grown Little Mister and Little Miss are..."
"Hmm..."
Mr. Ji silently watched the children for a while before turning to Housekeeper Li, "Did you take care of the last matter?"
"Master... should you ntion this to the eldest young master?"
"Enough, Nuonuo is a child of the Ji Family, who doesn’t know that?"
Mr. Ji’s tone suddenly turned very stern, silencing Housekeeper Li imdiately.
The children finally hung the lanterns, a long row of glowing red lanterns lined the corridor, adding happiness to the old mansion.
The Ji Family spent seven to eight days in the mansion. On the eighth day, the whole family, along with Mr. Ji, went to Beijing to pay respects to Old Master Yang. They stayed at the Yang Family for a few days, and upon returning to R City, it was already Lantern Festival.
Ji Rui and Le Tong took their longest continuous vacation in years, and on the day of the Lantern Festival, they didn’t accompany the children but returned to work at the Ji Family company.
Nuonuo and Little Treasure attended the temple fair with Da Bao, the two kids enjoyed a lot of tasty food and bought many fun and novel things, only returning ho at dusk.
After dinner, Da Bao took out several peace charms, handing them to Ji Rui, Le Tong, Nuonuo, and Little Treasure respectively.
Le Tong took the peace charm with a puzzled expression, "Da Bao, when did you get these charms?"
Actually, Le Tong wanted to ask, "Son, when did you beco so superstitious?"
"I got them at the temple fair today. They say carrying them keeps you safe, so I got several."
Da Bao helped Nuonuo and Little Treasure put their peace charms into their usual little backpacks, storing his own with his ID and other important docunts.
Le Tong and Ji Rui exchanged a glance, both feeling their eldest son had been acting a bit strange lately, but couldn’t quite pinpoint why.
After the Lantern Festival, Little Treasure and Nuonuo officially returned to school, and Da Bao resud his busy routine of juggling between the company and school.
About a week later, Da Bao, who had never stayed at school before, requested to temporarily live at school for a while.
"Is it because the graduation thesis isn’t finished? Or due to other reasons?" Le Tong didn’t seem intent on stopping him, but a son who had never lived away from ho suddenly asking to stay at school was naturally curious.
"It’s the research project with my professor that’s run into challenges. I need to spend a lot of ti working closely with them to resolve these issues. Plus, I have to juggle the company’s affairs too, so I decided to stay at school for a while to get it done quickly."
Da Bao’s explanation was logical; as parents, there was no reason to interfere. Even though Nuonuo and Little Treasure weren’t happy, they didn’t dare to protest.
Soon, Da Bao moved into the university dormitory with his luggage.
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