The wind and snow were blowing wildly, and when the vehicle entered an old villa area in Qingzhou, the villa area was already brightly lit.
He Yishui put on his coat again, pulled Li Mutong and ran into a villa. As soon as he entered the door, he smiled tremblingly: "I'm freezing to death."
The heating in the villa was fully turned on, and it was as warm as spring. An elderly couple who looked about sixty years old were sitting on the sofa watching TV. They saw their daughter and Li Mutong come in, a graceful and kind old woman. He stood up with a smile, but his first words were not to greet his daughter.
"Tongtong is here. Sit down and warm yourself up for a while. Dinner will be served soon."
Li Mutong smiled and called her aunt, looked at the old man next to the old woman, and called her uncle again.
The old man's hair is already graying, and his appearance is a little vicissitudes of life. Although the He family is not big, the old man who founded the plain water trade when he was young is also quite a legendary figure in Qingzhou. When he reaches old age, his face also bears the traces of a lifetime of hard work. The old man didn't seem to care much about Li Mutong, and just nodded to her casually.
All his thoughts were on the little baby sitting in his arms.
The little baby who just celebrated her first birthday is a girl, with small hands and feet, wearing beautiful little clothes. She keeps stretching her little hands in the old man’s arms, as if she wants to grab the old man’s beard, but the old man dodges with a smile and pinches her carefully from time to time. The little girl seemed a little angry when she pinched her little face. When her mouth grew bigger, she wanted to bite the old man's finger.
The old man burst out laughing, even squinting his eyes.
Li Mutong looked at this scene with a smile, stretched out his hands, and said softly: "Tide Tide, come here, mother hugs you."
The girl turned her head in the old man's arms and saw her mother. She struggled to get out of the old man's arms. The old man laughed and scolded: "You are so heartless, you only know how to find your mother. Did you forget that grandpa just fed you delicious food?" "
The girl ignored him, opened her little hands, and called her mother softly in a childish and lovely voice.
Li Mutong's whole body seemed to melt into this childish voice. She squatted down and opened her hands slightly.
The girl climbed down from the old man's knees, staggered to Li Mutong, and fell into her arms.
"Uncle and aunt, I'm causing trouble for you."
Li Mutong picked up his daughter and looked a little apologetic.
"What words?"
The old man smiled and waved his hand: "Tongtong, you still don't regard your uncle and aunt as your own family. You haven't come here much during this period. Your aunt talks about Xiao Tide all the time. She can't help but want it several times. Go take a look, I was afraid that you would be annoyed, so I kept stopping you."
The old man's name matches the city of Qingzhou very well. His name is He Qingzhou. His life of more than sixty years has been full of ups and downs, and he finally achieved relatively good results. Regarding his current life, the old couple are very happy. Extremely satisfied, but what makes He Qingzhou regret the most is the issue of the family's heirs.
Two sons and one daughter.
The eldest son has a happy family, but he is abroad all year round and He Qingzhou is not seen often.
The second oldest child in the family originally had a good family, but the daughter-in-law passed away early and left no children.
As for his daughter, he was not very optimistic about his son-in-law when they got married. As expected, they divorced after a few years of marriage and also had no children.
This huge villa is better at night, but during the day when the children go to work, only the old couple and the servants are left in the house, which is cold and indescribably boring.
The old couple like Li Mutong very much. This child is calm and elegant, with a sense of peace and tranquility that is independent of the world. She is also very capable at work. Although her current position is only the administrative manager of Sushui Trading, But the secret salary is already comparable to that of the company's vice president. If she hadn't been very resistant to promotion, He Yishui would have even wanted to promote her to vice president. At worst, an assistant to the president and director of a certain department would not be able to escape. .
The old couple in He Qingzhou loved Li Mutong almost as their own daughter, even if they knew that she would never
Even though she was pregnant before marriage, I didn’t look at her with colored glasses. Instead, I felt a lot of regret in private. Except for the eldest son, all her children’s marriages were not smooth. Now that she has a daughter like Li Mutong, who is not her biological daughter, her love life is equally bumpy. The two of them didn't know how they were feeling. Mrs. He was gnashing her teeth in hatred for Chao Tide's bastard father, and she got angry when she mentioned it. But when facing Li Mutong, she felt even more pity. Li Mutong had been pregnant for nearly a year before and after giving birth. During that time, although she hired a nanny, the old lady would run to Li Mu Tong whenever she had anything to do, taking care of her in every possible way. During this process, Li Mu Tong seemed to have slowly integrated into the He family.
Li Mutong looked at the smiling old lady beside him and chuckled: "Auntie, happy birthday. I have prepared a gift for you and will give it to you during dinner."
"Child, why are you so polite? Your arrival is the best gift."
The old lady pulled Li Mutong to her side with a smile. She seemed to have remembered something and lowered her voice and whispered: "Silly girl, if you are wronged in the future, just tell me, you know? Your second brother, I will be cruel to you." I scolded him severely. If he wants to talk about something, tell me and I will whip him for you. Xiao Chao is now your uncle and I’s treasure, and your uncle and I are deeply worried if we can’t see her for such a long time. It’s all empty. You, you can’t be too exposed.”
"That's it."
He Qingzhou nodded and laughed: "Yi Hongmao is impetuous and has no sense of propriety. Tongtong, uncle and aunt are making decisions for you. If we don't like it, we just don't like it. It doesn't matter if we can't be our daughter-in-law. We are all one family. From now on, we will be angry if you visit us without Xiao Chao. You hate Yihong, so you can’t hate us too, right?”
"I did not mean that."
Li Mutong shook his head and chuckled: "I... I don't hate my second brother, but I always regard him as my elder brother. Well... I have nothing else to think about, and I don't want to think about it. , the only thing I want to think about now is to successfully bring the tide up."
"Okay, okay."
He Qingzhou smiled and nodded. They really had nothing else on their minds. They were completely satisfied with Li Mutong, and they loved Li Chaoxi from the bottom of their hearts. If Li Chaoxi could become their daughter-in-law, they would I agree with both hands and feet, but I don’t have the fate, and there’s no need to force it.
The He family in Qingzhou is not a wealthy family, but not all wealthy families can achieve this magnanimity.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. It's your aunt's birthday today. I cooked a lot of food. I'll eat more later. I won't drink wine during the family dinner."
He Qingzhou smiled and glanced at his daughter: "Call your second brother and ask him why he hasn't come back yet."
"I just think of me now. I thought you had forgotten my daughter."
He Yishui, who had been teasing Li Chaoxi, said dissatisfiedly, took out his mobile phone and dialed He Yihong's number.
The call was quickly connected, but the person on the other end only said a few words and then the call was hung up.
He Yishui frowned slightly and was silent for a while.
"how?"
He Qingzhou asked casually.
"Second brother said there is an urgent council meeting in the city. I'm afraid I won't be back until very late today."
He Yishui said slowly.
He Qingzhou's expression changed and he frowned slightly, but did not speak.
The atmosphere in the villa suddenly became depressing.
Li Mutong held her daughter in her arms and patted her back gently. The child lay on her shoulders and seemed to be showing signs of falling asleep because she had so much fun in the afternoon.
"Is it because of me? Second brother..."
Li Mutong felt something was wrong in the atmosphere and said with a smile.
She thought of He Yihong's driver in the Sushui Trading Parking Lot. It all seemed a coincidence.
"Ignore him, we'll eat it ourselves."
The old lady snorted, smiled and touched Li Mutong's head.
"That's not what happened."
He Qingzhou shook his head solemnly and sighed.
seem
Afraid that Li Mutong would misunderstand something, he smiled again, looked at her and said, "Tongtong, don't think too much, it's really not the case. We are all a family. Let me make it clear. From this year to next year, Not only Qingzhou, but the entire Dongshan, the situation is very complicated."
He raised a finger and pointed upward: "The fight up there is fierce."
"I know, I have to prepare to take over."
He Yishui answered.
He Qingzhou smiled and shook his head. At their level, it was impossible to get access to some real news from the upper levels. He Yihong, the deputy speaker of Qingzhou, couldn't, He Qingzhou couldn't, and He Yishui couldn't.
But taking over...
He Qingzhou shook his head subconsciously. He did not clearly see the situation at the top, but he also knew that it was probably not the case. Although he was not sure that Li Huacheng would be re-elected, he could at least see that there did not seem to be any powerful figures on the board. It's most likely that it's already December. At that very special meeting some time ago, no powerful figure was co-opted as deputy minister of the military. What this portends seems to be very clear.
"Succession seems unlikely."
He Qingzhou shook his head: "But you have seen today's news, the death of the Prime Minister..."
As he spoke, he shook his head and did not finish his sentence, seeming to be secretive about the issue.
He Yishui was startled, and his eyes widened in astonishment: "Dad, aren't you? Are you saying..."
"I did not say anything."
He Qingzhou glared at her.
He Yishui was silent for a while and then said softly: "The Prime Minister died of cerebral hemorrhage. It was announced in the afternoon. There is nothing strange about it."
He Qingzhou couldn't help but laugh: "If this could help you see something fishy, would you still be here?"
He Yishui frowned and said softly: "Dad, are you saying that there are other reasons for the Prime Minister's death? Then the second brother..."
He Yihong is very close to the governor of Dongshan, which is why he has been promoted in the past two years. The current governor of Dongshan once served as a director and deputy governor of the Southwest Province. Earlier, he could be said to be Chen Fangqing's old subordinates.
If the Prime Minister died...
He Yishui took a deep breath and shook his head subconsciously: "How is this possible? Who has such courage? I don't believe it."
"What's the point of whether we believe it or not? Let's see how the facts develop. There have been frequent personnel changes in Central Continent in the past two years. We can't see through the mystery, but I think the suppression in the Southeast and Central Plains is severe, and Now, does Tiannan know?"
He Yishui nodded subconsciously: "I heard that Xuanyuan City is quite beautiful, but I have never been there."
Li Mutong's body trembled slightly, and he subconsciously hugged his daughter tightly without speaking.
"Tiannan, Xuanyuan City..."
He Qingzhou smiled self-deprecatingly: "It is said that the young big shot in Tiannan is going to show his strength before the election. The relationship between him and the Prime Minister seems to have always been not good. What happened this time... who It's accurate... When that person moves, it will have an impact on all aspects. Qingzhou looks very big, but in other people's eyes, let alone Qingzhou, the entire Dongshan might be taken directly by him. This is a turning point. Your second brother is having a hard time now."
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Wang Yuetong's eyes were a little dazed.
After more than two years, in this small town where it was impossible to get too much news from the upper class, she heard news about him again.
He is her only man.
He is Xiaotide's biological father.
She stood stiffly in the warm spring hall, dazed, as if she had lost her soul for a moment.
... ...
(I have other things to do in the past two days, so I don’t have much time to type. Originally, the three chapters yesterday, today, and tomorrow should be one big chapter with more than 10,000 words... I have no choice but to write them separately)