Chapter 279: Chapter 277: Three Generations Together

Hai City, once a place of glitz and glamour and a land of foreign allure, is still the largest city in the country today.

Moreover, in the hearts of the people, it remains synonymous with ’sophistication’.

Wang Liansheng initially wanted to bring Xiaoyu, Xiaoxing, and Shi Tou together. After Ling Chengyan left home and temporarily handed over financial authority to him, he understood the family’s savings situation and had a sense of what was affordable. Taking the three children on a trip to Hai City was within reach.

However, Xiaoyu declined. She was about to enter ninth grade next year, preparing for high school entrance exams, and wanted to stay home to study. She also mentioned she had taken on a school task and would be visiting the nursing home in a couple of days to participate in an event.

Her reasons were justified and sufficient, so Wang Liansheng had to agree. He gave her twenty yuan for living expenses and set off with only Xiaoxing and Shi Tou.

The car was quite comfortable. It was the first time the two children had sat in such a high-end car. They were quite excited when they first set out, but after about an hour on the road, the early-rising children couldn’t resist the pull of sleep and dozed off.

Mr. Lian volunteered to sit in the backseat, saying that he liked kids and wanted to chat with them.

When the children fell asleep, Wang Liansheng felt bad about making the old gentleman watch the kids and offered to swap seats, but Mr. Lian declined.

He sat in the middle, with a kid asleep on each side. He let the two children rest their heads on his lap, and worried that the car’s air conditioning might be too cold, he took out a small blanket to cover them… he was so considerate and thorough, just like a kind elder at home.

In this manner, they traveled for more than three hours, exiting Eastern Province and entering Su Province, finding a small county town to park and have lunch.

Wang Liansheng quickly got out of the car, carried the two children out, and reached out to assist Mr. Lian.

Having the two children rest on him, Mr. Lian’s legs had gone numb, and Wang Liansheng felt very apologetic, so he bent down to gently massage them.

Mr. Lian raised an eyebrow, “This technique… did you learn this somewhere?”

Wang Liansheng shook his head with a smile, “Their mother exercises with the kids every day, and when they get tired, she massages them at home. I picked up a little from her.”

Mr. Lian nodded with a smile, but he thought: I’ve only heard of the military training simple battlefield first aids, but massage techniques like this? They wouldn’t teach that, would they?

The children were in a deep sleep, and even when awakened, they had no energy and barely ate anything.

Without waiting for Wang Liansheng to speak, Mr. Lian specifically bought some local snacks to give to the children.

Back on the road, Wang Liansheng insisted on sitting with the children in the back.

The children revived and felt hungry. Mr. Lian reached out from the front seat to pass snacks to the children.

The snacks were crumbly and inevitably made a mess, so Wang Liansheng reminded them, “Use a handkerchief to hold them, so you don’t make crumbs in the car.”

Mr. Lian turned back and waved it off, “It’s alright, it’s alright, we can just clean it up.”

The car was comfortable, but the road conditions were not; after a bumpy ride, they arrived in Hai City by ten at night, with the children sound asleep in the car once again.

The next day, Mr. Lian looked at the two children, smiling and saying, “Look at them; it’s truly wonderful; after a night’s sleep, they’re lively once more.”

Noticing the lingering tiredness on the old gentleman’s face, Wang Liansheng expressed his concern, “Mr. Chen and I can handle the port; you should rest at the hotel.”

Mr. Lian, though seemingly reluctant to take his eyes off the children, agreed, “Alright, let the children rest at the hotel; you all go handle your business first.”

Wang Liansheng instructed Xiaoxing to look after her brother, promising to take them out to play once his work was done.

Carrying out equipment inspections and other procedures at the port turned out to be quite tedious, and it wasn’t until nightfall that Wang Liansheng returned to the hotel.

As soon as the two children saw him return, they ran up to greet him, and Wang Liansheng bent down to pat them. Shi Tou chirped, “Grandpa took us on a big boat, and we even had a meal on the boat.”

Wang Liansheng felt both surprised and a little embarrassed.

He had left the children at the hotel, intending for them to keep the old gentleman company, not expecting Mr. Lian to have taken them out on an excursion instead.

“I truly appreciate it,” Wang Liansheng said sincerely.

Mr. Lian waved it off with a laugh, “It was no trouble, no trouble at all. My grandchildren are all grown up, and it’s been years since I’ve had little ones around. Having such well-mannered and delightful children around made me very happy.”

Back in their room, Xiaoxing was somewhat uneasy, lingering behind, while clueless Shi Tou pulled Wang Liansheng to show him his toy train, with tracks and a wind-up engine that could run.

Surprised, Wang Liansheng turned to look at Xiaoxing again.

Nervously, Xiaoxing stammered, “We didn’t ask for it; Mr. Lian insisted on buying it for us.”

Noticing his sister’s demeanor, little Shi Tou seemed to grasp the situation too, blinking his eyes while holding his dad’s hand, saying, “We really didn’t ask for it.”

It was Mr. Lian who bought it; he and his sister didn’t ask for anything.

Seeing the worried expressions on the two children, Wang Liansheng pulled them close, one in each arm, and gently reassured them, “Daddy knows, you’re both good kids.”

With Wang Liansheng’s acknowledgment, the two children perked right up, and even Xiaoxing wanted to show her new dress to her dad.

Wang Liansheng patted the children on their heads, told them to play by themselves for a while, and went to find Mr. Lian with his wallet, insisting on reimbursing him for the children’s expenses, no matter what Mr. Lian said.

Returning, he played with the children for a bit and then put them to bed, before turning on the desk lamp to organize his materials… Once everything was sorted, he glanced at the sleeping children on the bed, smiled, and took out paper to record: toy train, doll…

The next day, Wang Liansheng and Manager Chen Xiong went back to the port; this time, he didn’t leave the children at the hotel but took them along to the pier.

The sight of the super-sized ships docked at the port left the children wide-eyed.

Yesterday, they had seen the riverboats and thought they were big, only to find the sea vessels were much larger.

Little Shi Tou said, “Ships on the sea are like big houses!”

While Xiaoxing exclaimed, “There aren’t houses this big; it’s like a mountain, a tall, massive mountain!”

The siblings weren’t in the mood to argue, joining hands as they walked along the pier, eager to see just how big the ocean liners were and how many of these giants there were.

Mr. Lian followed behind them at a leisurely pace with his secretary, Jenny Feng, while the children walked tirelessly. Mr. Lian, even at his age, was sprightly as he followed, though poor Jenny Feng, in high heels, ended up limping from the pain in her feet.

Thankfully, the equipment inspections and handover procedures were finally completed that day. From then on, Chen Xiong would take charge of arranging freight cars for transport.

With his tasks completed, Wang Liansheng had the opportunity to spend time with the children. So, he took them to Hai City’s zoo, to Nanjing Road, and Mr. Lian even gave him several Overseas Remittance Vouchers, with Wang Liansheng not hesitating to pay the market price to exchange them.

Seeing his adherence to principles, Mr. Lian merely shook his head with a smile, not objecting further.

Over the days, the children grew very fond of Mr. Lian, calling him grandfather, and the three of them, the old and the young, walking together, seemed like a real family of grandfather and grandchildren.

On that day, they went together to the City God Temple, and as Mr. Lian watched the children eating small steamed buns, he suddenly sighed, “It’d be wonderful if they were my grandchildren!”

Wang Liansheng smiled politely and said, “A couple of mischievous rascals, it’s a rare honor to meet your approval.”

Mr. Lian glanced at him, smiled, shook his head, and said no more.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep