Having a car was indeed convenient. Fan Shuting sat in the back with Lin Guozheng half-leaning against her. Lin Han drove, and Eldest Brother Lin sat in the passenger seat.

It was the first time any of them had ridden in a car, but they were in no mood to enjoy the experience. They were all worried about Lin Guozheng’s health. Lin Han didn’t dare drive too fast, constantly keeping an eye on the road conditions to avoid too much bumping.

Zhou Wei was extremely curious about how Nan Sheng had managed to persuade their father-in-law. “Sister-in-law, Dad is so stubborn. What exactly did you say to make him willing to go to the hospital for treatment?”

Nan Sheng glanced at Zhou Wei, thinking to herself that even if she told the truth, Zhou Wei wouldn’t be able to use the same method. She could only give a perfunctory answer.

“How else could I persuade him? I just said a few random words and he went. Maybe he regretted it because of the pain and was just too embarrassed to say it himself.”

Zhou Wei felt her sister-in-law made sense. “I wonder how much the medical bills will be this time. Let me make it clear first: no matter how much it costs, we will all pay a share. We can’t let you two shoulder all the expenses alone.”

After getting married, Sicheng sent them money every month. It was Xiao Wanru’s idea. She said it was hard to make money far away in their hometown, so they just needed to be a little more frugal themselves.

Sicheng didn’t let Wanru regret her decision. He was incredibly considerate to his family after marriage. After they had a child, she was reluctant to spend money on vanishing cream and lipstick, so he would take her empty bottles to the department store and buy the exact same ones for her, never letting her feel wronged.

Over the years, Sicheng had also been very filial to his parents-in-law. At first, some people in the military district said Xiao Wanru had married down, but now everyone praised her for her good eye in finding such a great husband.

Third Brother Lin also came to the old house after hearing the news. Seeing Nan Sheng, he greeted her respectfully, “Second Sister-in-law, I heard Second Brother took Dad to the county hospital, is that right? Then I’ll take a bus to go see him tomorrow.”

“It’s hard to say which hospital they went to. They might have gone to the city. Don’t worry for now. Someone will definitely come back first in a couple of days, and it won’t be too late for you to go then.”

Hearing Nan Sheng say this, Third Brother Lin decided to go home first, telling her to let him know if she needed anything since he was always at home. He seemed much more sensible than he was a couple of years ago, and even Zhou Wei praised him for being more capable now.

At dinner time, the accompanying staff cooked for themselves at home, staying in the west room. Nan Sheng’s house lacked nothing, and all the necessities had been fully stocked.

The mother and daughter ate with Zhou Wei, listening to her chatter about family matters.

“Sister-in-law, when Dawa looks for a wife in the future, he must not find someone with too overbearing of a maiden family. I have no hope of holding a grandson in this lifetime. Sizhong’s wife can’t have children, and Sicheng’s wife refuses to have any.”

Qiqi felt unhappy hearing this. “Auntie, Little Sister is so pretty, and Zhuzhu is also very cute. Why do you insist on having a grandson?”

It wasn’t just Zhou Wei who thought this way; Eldest Brother Lin didn’t say it aloud, but he felt bad about it too. He didn’t understand why the country had to implement family planning. Wasn’t this cutting off people’s family lines!

“Having a grandson means someone to provide for us in old age and carry on the family name. Granddaughters will marry into other families when they grow up. Is it the same? It seems our family can only rely on your brother to carry on the ancestral line, otherwise this branch will die out.”

As Zhou Wei spoke, she lost her appetite. Qiqi did too, feeling full of pent-up anger. Only Nan Sheng remained unaffected, eating and drinking as usual.

Zhou Wei had made four dishes, but they didn’t eat much. When leaving, she packed two plates of food for them to take back, telling the mother and daughter to heat them up for breakfast the next morning. Anyway, she couldn’t eat much herself.

“Sister-in-law, are you scared being home alone? How about you stay at my house tonight?”

“No need, I’m not afraid of anything. You guys hurry back and rest!”

At this moment, Lin Han and the others were transferring from the county hospital to the city hospital. Lin Guozheng’s fall had broken two of his ribs. Instead of getting checked, he had found someone to buy bone-setting medicine to apply externally, and now the bones had grown misaligned.

The doctors at the county hospital said they couldn’t perform the surgery because the difficulty level was too high. Moreover, given the patient’s advanced age, it was safer to go to the city hospital for treatment.

“You children are also foolish. Why didn’t you bring him in earlier for such a severe injury, and why did you believe in folk remedies? The old man will have to suffer a lot this time. Is this the level of awareness a soldier has?”

At this point, Lin Guozheng stayed silent. His two sons were being thoroughly scolded by the doctor because of his stubbornness.

Lin Han had a comrade-in-arms in the city and had called ahead. By the time they arrived at the city hospital, everything had been arranged.

They first did the examinations, and then performed the bone-setting surgery overnight. The old man would have to recover in the hospital for over twenty days before he could go home.

Lin Guozheng hadn’t woken up after the surgery. Besides, with Eldest Brother Lin and Fan Shuting taking care of him in the ward, Lin Han went outside to chat with his comrade, taking the opportunity to drive him home.

“We haven’t seen each other for almost ten years.”

“Indeed, but you haven’t changed a bit. You’re just doing better than me, already promoted to division commander…”

Lin Han drove his brother-in-arms to his residence. Neither had any intention of getting out of the car. They kept chatting about their memories in the military district and their experiences over the years, both feeling deeply moved.

Seeing that it was getting too late, having chatted for over three hours, Lin Han immediately called a halt.

“Alright, hurry upstairs and sleep. Look what time it is, don’t make your family worry.”

“It’s a deal then. Tomorrow you have to treat my whole family to a restaurant, and we’ll continue catching up!”

“Sure, no problem!”

The next day, Sicheng and his wife also took the train back to their hometown. When Zhou Wei didn’t see her granddaughter, her face immediately fell.

“If you didn’t bring the child, why did you even come back?”

Xiao Wanru didn’t know that Zhou Wei wanted to take her daughter to the countryside to raise. She only thought the mother and son were having a disagreement, so she tried to mediate.

“Mother, don’t be angry. We wanted to bring the child back, but she got sick. She’s been having recurrent fevers these past few days and only started getting better yesterday. I promise we will definitely bring her back to the hometown next year. Or, after the New Year, you and Dad can come stay with us in Kyoto for a while and see the child?”

“Forget it, Kyoto is such a precious place, I can’t afford to go. You guys rest for a bit, I’ll go cook!”

Although Zhou Wei sounded unhappy, she didn’t slack off when cooking, picking only the best ingredients. When her daughter-in-law offered to help, she refused, shooing her into the room to rest.

Hearing that his grandfather had been sent to the hospital, Sicheng felt restless and wanted to go see him.

“Your dad and second uncle are both there, what do you need to do? Just stay at home. If something happens at home, we still have to rely on your third uncle to make decisions!”

Sicheng thought that made sense. He was also afraid that if he left his mother and wife alone, they wouldn’t get along. It was better to wait until his second uncle returned!

Lin Han stayed in the city for two days before heading back. He specifically timed it to pick up his son from the county before going home together.

When Sizhe came out of the train station and saw Lin Han, he was visibly stunned for a moment. Then he happily threw his bag aside and jumped onto his father’s back.

“Dad, you actually came to the county to pick me up! I’m so touched!”

“Don’t be too touched. I just happened to be on my way home from the city. Your grandfather broke his ribs and is in the hospital. Let’s go, we’ll talk in the car.”

Ever since Sizhe was assigned to Rongcheng, he and Nan Sheng made sure to visit him once or twice a year whenever they had time.

It wasn’t dark yet when the father and son arrived home. Nan Sheng had just finished cooking. She knew her son was coming back today, so the dishes were exceptionally sumptuous.

Lin Han went over to the old family house to give them an update. He had paid the hospital bills himself and had no intention of asking the others to split the cost. Eldest Brother Lin took the initiative to shoulder the responsibility of caring for the patient.

Right now, Sizhong’s family and Sicheng’s family were both present. The two of them discussed whether they should go to the hospital to relieve Eldest Brother Lin. Regardless, a proper family reunion for the New Year was definitely out of the question now.

Since ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‍Lin Guozheng and Fan Shuting were absent, there was no need for Nan Sheng and Lin Han to spend the holiday with the other two families. The couple decided to go to the Nan family’s home for the New Year and return in the middle of the night. After all, having a car made it convenient to travel anywhere.

After the New Year passed, Lin Han drove Dawa, Qiqi, and Third Brother Lin to the city. Third Brother Lin claimed he was broke and couldn’t chip in for the medical bills, but he offered to handle the dirty work of nursing their old man. Lin Han was more than happy to give his younger brother that opportunity…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep