SAG -Chapter 108 Preparing to Visit the In-Laws

After resolving He Qing’s matter, Zhang Ran once again returned to his ordinary life.

Actually, the reason Zhang Ran had finally let He Yong handle things that way was because he had his own purpose.

From the moment he heard Yuan Debiao’s name, a series of plans had flashed through Zhang Ran’s mind.

The main reason he called Yuan Debiao was to put on a show for Ning Qing and the others. He needed Ning Qing and the others to unite as one, so that during the early stage of Zhang Sicheng’s career, they could help him.

From the looks of it now, the effect seemed quite good.

…

Time passed just like that. The two little ones’ New Year’s Day parties did not trouble Zhang Ran for too long either, because Susu’s New Year’s Day party was in the afternoon, while Taotao’s was in the evening.

This way, the timing was perfectly staggered, and Zhang Ran had time to attend both.

However, what made Zhang Ran somewhat amused and helpless was that Taotao’s performance at the New Year’s Day party was storytelling, and the name of the story was Calabash Brothers.

This was a story Zhang Ran had told the two little ones when they pestered him for a bedtime story.

The story of the Calabash Brothers was quite popular with the children. On top of that, Taotao vividly imitated the cries of “Grandpa! Grandpa!” making many people laugh.

…

After the New Year’s Day parties ended, the two little ones soon welcomed winter break.

Once winter break arrived, they became even happier, because Grandpa would take them out to all kinds of places to play every day. Every day, they lived very happily.

It was not only the two little ones who were happy. Zhang Sicheng and the others were also busy and fulfilled.

After one month of development, Zhang Sicheng’s Biaoxue Company had already completed the game. Both the PC version and the mobile version had been developed. Because they had a clear planning document, they only needed to follow the blueprint step by step.

Moreover, their company had a lot of previous game data and some original artwork that could be used, greatly saving both time and cost.

During this period, because Liu Lu often spent time with Ning Qing, she also slowly began learning how to dress up and apply makeup.

In addition, the family no longer lacked money now, so her entire temperament had undergone some changes.

She no longer acted so cautiously around others. She appeared increasingly graceful and dignified.

However, she still had not changed her somewhat frugal habit. It could not exactly be called stinginess; rather, she absolutely would not spend money that did not need to be spent.

For example, when it came to luxury goods, aside from the ones Zhang Ran had bought for her at the beginning, she rarely bought any herself.

Although she had so much money in her hands, over this past month, her personal expenses—or rather, the expenses of the entire household—had not increased much compared to before.

Only their spending on food had gone up somewhat.

Zhang Siyan and Qian Li’s business had also improved quite a bit. Although they had encountered some trouble, with Kangshilan Company’s full support, they developed very quickly.

Zhang Siyan transformed from a housewife into a strong career woman in a very short time.

The reason she could transform so quickly was not only because of Zhang Ran’s support, but also because of the change in her own mindset.

Right now, Zhang Siyan had no other thoughts. She was focused entirely on making money. She also wanted to live as a different version of herself.

Although Zhang Ran’s appearance had changed Zhang Siyan’s life greatly all at once, deep down, she still had not completely settled down.

Her previous marriage had made her understand that only by relying on herself could she truly fear no setback.

…

“How’s the situation with the house?” Zhang Ran asked casually.

These past few days, Liu Lu had been constantly running over to the new house, so Zhang Ran wanted to ask about the situation.

“It’s already been ventilated for a month. It should be about ready,” Liu Lu said, a smile appearing on her face.

Ning Qing had indeed been very capable. She had not been careless at all with the renovation. In one month, the house had been fully renovated. She had even prepared all the household appliances.

Everything used was also the best eco-friendly material. After ventilating it for one month, they could officially move in.

Zhang Ran nodded. He did not really care much about the house, but being able to move into a new house was still good. At the very least, they would not have to squeeze into such a small place anymore, which was very inconvenient.

“Do you have time recently?” Zhang Sicheng suddenly asked.

Zhang Ran said, “I don’t have anything to do anyway. I have time whenever. What is it?”

“It’s like this. I want to visit Lulu’s family in a couple of days to pay New Year greetings. If you have time, come with us,” Zhang Sicheng said.

It was already February 5th, and the fifteenth was New Year’s Eve.

The reason Zhang Sicheng wanted Zhang Ran to go with them was actually for another purpose as well. He wanted both sets of parents to meet once. Since Zhang Ran had already returned, they needed to meet.

Moreover, this time, he wanted to truly obtain Liu Lu’s family’s approval.

Back then, when he and Liu Lu got married, they had not received the approval of her family at all. Everything had been decided privately by the two of them.

At the time, Zhang Sicheng also had no elders.

Although after so many years, Liu Lu’s family had resigned themselves to it, and although they had never given Zhang Sicheng and Liu Lu any pleasant expressions, they had not mocked or ridiculed them either.

In the past, Zhang Sicheng had never thought about these things. After all, their own lives had not been going well either, and Liu Lu had never mentioned it.

But now that their family’s life had improved, he thought of this matter. Moreover, his father had returned as well. He wanted to make it up to Liu Lu.

Zhang Ran had no objections to this. It would be good to meet these in-laws. After all, his son had married their daughter, and Zhang Ran also very much approved of Liu Lu as his daughter-in-law.

“Oh right, Siyan, have you ever been to your sister-in-law’s family?” Zhang Ran asked.

Zhang Siyan shook her head. Back then, Liu Lu could be considered to have eloped with Zhang Sicheng. How could Zhang Siyan have gone?

“Then take this opportunity to go together this time. It can be considered our whole family paying them a visit together. You can also take the chance to rest for a few days. Don’t work yourself so hard every day. It’s not worth damaging your health,” Zhang Ran said with some heartache.

Zhang Ran had seen how desperately Zhang Siyan had been working during this period.

Zhang Siyan originally wanted to refuse. Now that the end of the year was approaching, there were many things to handle. But when she saw the heartache in Zhang Ran’s eyes, the words that had reached her mouth were swallowed back down.

“Okay,” Zhang Siyan said softly.

At this moment, Zhang Sicheng and Liu Lu were both somewhat excited, especially Zhang Sicheng. Right now, he had quite the feeling of returning home in glory.

After being looked down on by his in-laws for so many years, now that he had turned things around, he naturally wanted to win back some face.

This was not being carried away with pride. It was human nature.

Just like that saying: wealth and honor without returning home is like wearing brocade robes at night.

Liu Lu actually had the same mentality.

In the past, they would always go back on the twenty-seventh, stay for one day, then return the next day.

This year, they were going back so early. Perhaps there was a bit of homesickness in it, but more than that, they wanted to let out a breath they had been holding.

Not the kind of venting that involved hitting people. Rather, Liu Lu wanted people to know that she had not chosen the wrong person back then.

She had married for love, and she had also obtained excellent living conditions.

Although these were not the result of Zhang Sicheng’s own efforts, so what?