Chapter 259: Chapter 256: Ling Family

Wang Liansheng hurriedly left home and headed straight to Huicheng Agricultural School, where he had an appointment with the school’s principal, Bai Nanqi.

Bai Nanqi graduated from the country’s top university and was once the youngest and most promising associate professor at that university before coming to Huicheng due to historical reasons.

Wang Liansheng wanted to invite several experts in marine cultivation and resource utilization to conduct on-site inspections and come up with a professional development and utilization plan. This was the best he could do.

He wished to protect the resources from being destroyed, hoping that in decades or centuries, future generations would still have a prosperous and vibrant homeland. Even though, for now, all he was doing was protecting a piece of muddy land.

At noon, Wang Liansheng informed Ling Chengyan about the job change, but Ling Chengyan didn’t take it to heart.

Despite having been there for a few years, she didn’t understand much about the administrative affairs or the specifics of duties and authority scopes, not to mention that Wang Liansheng’s situation was something new, if not the first nationwide, it was certainly unprecedented in Huicheng.

Soon, she noticed the difference—Wang Liansheng was much busier than before; that evening, he couldn’t leave work on time to go home, and naturally, he couldn’t accompany her and the children back to her family home.

Ling Chengyan took the children to the Ling Family small courtyard for a meal, giving the specialties she brought back from Yu Province to her elder sister-in-law: “Medicinal herbs are the specialties there, with included dietary therapy recipes, please make them for Dad to eat.”

Of course, the things Ling Chengyan brought back included more than just medicinal herbs, there were some specialties and pastries too, which her two sisters-in-law happily accepted while chatting warmly with her for a while.

Her second brother, Ling Er, would voluntarily help the veterans with cleaning work every day, such as organizing car tarps and washing the cars. He came home later than his sister, and upon entering home, he saw the two women chatting with his sister, so he frowned and said, “Yan’er has been out for many days, let her go in and see Dad first.”

The eldest sister-in-law immediately released Ling Chengyan’s hand awkwardly, and the second sister-in-law also lifted the things Ling Chengyan had brought and said to Ling Er, “These are from your sister, let’s take them inside so Dad can have a look and be pleased.”

Ling Er’s face didn’t look great as he glanced at the two women and said to his sister, “With this trip… No need to buy these things for home anymore, Dad’s health has improved quite a lot. There are still supplements you bought earlier, enough for Dad to use. Having too many of these isn’t good for the summer.”

Ling Chengyan smiled, followed her second brother to the main house, and upon leaving the two sisters-in-law, she laughingly whispered, “You both should work hard to earn money and buy a refrigerator, then these things won’t spoil.”

Ling Er clenched his fist, nodded, and said, “Of course, our elder brother and I must earn money.”

He intended to say that the money for their father’s hospitalization, which his sister had fronted, he and his elder brother discussed and decided that she wouldn’t need to cover this, but he swallowed the words.

Such matters are better left to the elder brother to address.

Little Xing and Shi Tou had already run inside, so when the Ling siblings entered, they saw Little Xing sitting on a small stool and Shi Tou climbing onto their grandfather’s recliner, each holding a peach, eating while telling their grandfather about fun school stories.

Ling Chengyan went over to wipe Peach juice off Shi Tou’s mouth, cautioning him not to lean on Grandpa, as Grandpa hadn’t fully recovered from his surgery yet.

Little Xing had already finished eating her peach, went to wash her hands, and returned to lead her peach-eating brother to wash his hands too, then went out to play with their elder brothers, sisters, and cousins.

Ling Father looked at his daughter, slightly frowned, and said, “Was this trip very tiring? You’ve lost quite a bit of weight.”

Ling Chengyan raised her hand to touch her face, smiled, and said, “I went to the mountains, exerted myself, but I’ll recover after a few days back home. I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Ling Father knew not to pry too much about military matters and changed topic.

“I asked your elder brother to go back and look; the old house is still there but has become rather neglected. When your brothers have some free time, they should go back and tidy it up…” Ling Father said.

Ling Chengyan didn’t say anything to prevent it and only smiled and said, “That old house won’t run away, you needn’t hurry. Wait till the brothers settle down and find time, it won’t be late to tidy up then. By that time, your health will be sturdier, and you can go back there too and give some advice.”

This was something Ling Father liked to hear; he nodded with a smile and changed the subject to talk about the local customs of Yu Province.

Ling Chengyan then realized that Ling Father had traveled North and South years ago, walking across nearly the entire Jiangnan and even North of the grasslands.

She felt relieved: it’s precisely because Ling Father had seen and experienced a lot that he managed to move their family to Jiang Province safely through these years.

After chatting for a while, the elder sister-in-law came in to announce that dinner was ready.

Ling Father also rose and went to the dining hall with everyone for the meal.

No outsiders, everyone sat together, young and old, around a large table.

Looking at the hardwood round dining table, Ling Chengyan smiled and said, “This table is nice.”

Ling Er smiled with a bit of pride, “I happened upon it, bought it for fifty yuan, not bad, right? It came with four chairs.”

Ling Father sighed and said, “Originally there were ten chairs, but it got ruined, leaving only four that are quite spoiled.”

Ling Chengyan then noticed that while the tabletop appeared new and refinished, the chairs weren’t matching ones, presumably because the four chairs had been damaged and were unsuitable to use.

Talking about this, Ling Chengyan signaled to Ling Er, and he nodded understandingly. Neither said anything, but they already understood each other’s intentions.

After dinner, the kids had homework to do. Ling Chengyan didn’t linger long; after chatting for a short while, she said goodbye, with Ling Er carrying little Shi Tou to see her off home.

After leaving the Ling Family gate, Ling Er said, “I’ve taken note, but it’s unfortunate our place isn’t very prosperous. There were never affluent households, and after the destruction, few remnants are left.”

However, in the provincial city, while Father was hospitalized there, he sometimes walked through the alleys and spotted many old objects.

He smiled, saying, “When talking about discerning antiques, we must mention Dad.”

Speaking of Father’s skills, he subconsciously used the familiar title.

Ling Chengyan slightly raised an eyebrow, recalling the gold bars Ling Father had given her, feeling at ease. Through nearly ten thousand miles of family relocation, he managed to secure and preserve his entire family, along with quite a bit of family wealth. Undoubtedly, the Ling Family wasn’t quite ordinary back then, so Ling Father having a unique vision and insight makes sense.

The siblings chatted intermittently, and Ling Er accompanied his sister to the gates of the compound, watched them go in, and then turned back.

Just returned from a mission, Ling Chengyan faced many accumulated tasks needing attention, as well as upcoming training plans… Moreover, inevitably, the arrangement of Third Platoon Leader’s position due to Yang Hua being injured and disabled.

No matter if Yang Hua could remain in the military or not, he certainly couldn’t continue serving in the Special Training Unit.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep