Chapter 58: Returning Home in Glory

A brand-new Tank 500 sped down the national highway.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Li Ya gripped the seatbelt tightly, wishing she were tall enough to reach the overhead grab handle.

Gone was any trace of the excitement Li Ya had felt when she first got into the car!

Feeling her older brother's clumsy novice driving, Li Ya suddenly remembered that her brother hadn't driven a single time since getting his driver's license!

"Bro, my dear brother, please drive a bit slower. I'm scared."

Li Pingan glanced sideways at his younger sister and chuckled, "Your big brother picked it up so fast, what on earth are you scared of?"

"Big bro, the speed limit is 80, you're speeding!"

"No, I'm not. We haven't reached the speed limit zone yet."

The entire journey from the provincial capital Luzhou to their hometown took three hours without a single stop.

They arrived at their uncle's house right around mealtime.

Even if they had missed it, it wouldn't have mattered; they had already told their aunt they would be back today, and she definitely would have saved lunch for them and her younger sister.

Only... Li Pingan hadn't told his uncle and aunt that he had bought a car and was driving back in it!

When the imposing Tank 500 pulled to a stop in the yard, Zhu Guodong, who was puffing on a cigarette, initially thought someone had just pulled into the yard to turn around.

But upon closer inspection, good heavens, weren't those his sister's two kids!

The moment Li Pingan parked the car, Li Ya pushed the door open and hopped out.

"Uncle, we're back."

Zhu Guodong, still holding a cigarette, was a bit dazed for a moment.

Realizing what was happening, he bit down on his cigarette filter and scurried into the house.

A moment later, he emerged carrying a box of fireworks.

Watching the fireworks soar into the sky, Zhu Guodong felt a pang of heartache.

According to custom, a child's new car should be driven home, and the fireworks should be lit by the children's parents.

"My dear sister, why didn't you know how to enjoy life? You left us so early."

Hearing the commotion, the aunt and grandfather also came out of the kitchen.

Seeing the new car and the fireworks lit by Zhu Guodong,

how could they not know that this new car was bought by Li Pingan?

The 49-shot fireworks quickly came to an end.

Zhu Guodong walked over to Li Pingan, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "You should have told your uncle beforehand when buying a car."

"Good thing the family always keeps fireworks on hand."

"Uncle, I just wanted to give you all a surprise."

Zhu Guodong patted the car, nodded, and turned into an automotive critic as he remarked:

"This car is nice. Solid, spacious, should be able to haul quite a bit of stuff."

"Dinner's ready. Let's eat first and talk at the table."

After lunch, upon learning that his nephew's company now had forty or fifty employees, Zhu Guodong felt genuinely happy for Li Pingan.

Especially when little Ya pulled large and small packages out of the trunk, explaining that Xiaoyan had bought clothes for everyone, Zhu Guodong became even happier.

Not because of the gifts.

But because these two children hadn't let their newfound wealth distance their affection from their relatives or cause them to forget their roots!

While Li Pingan was talking with his uncle, Li Ya stealthily slipped back into the passenger seat.

Thinking his sister had gone to play on her phone, Li Pingan glanced over and said nothing.

School started tomorrow, and once she was in high school, aside from holidays, she wouldn't get to play on a phone anymore.

She might as well play now.

Meanwhile, sitting in the passenger seat with the car door closed, Li Ya pulled a paper bag from her schoolbag and looked at a small stack of red hundred-yuan bills.

Li Ya rubbed her chin, vaguely remembering that whenever the New Year or holidays came around, her mom and dad used to give their grandfather 500 yuan.

"Hmph!"

"One hundred, two hundred, three hundred..."

"One thousand..."

After counting back and forth several times to confirm it was indeed one thousand, Li Ya carefully tucked the money into her pocket.

On the way back from Luzhou, she had already made up her mind.

She was going to give one thousand to her grandfather!

It wasn't until a little after two in the afternoon that her older brother got up to leave.

Watching her brother turn the car around and call for her to get in, Li Ya nimbly pulled the thousand yuan out of her pocket and shoved it into her grandfather's jacket pocket.

Then she sprinted to the car.

"Eh? You child?"

Though someone was giving him money, the grandfather was not pleased.

"What would I want with your money!"

Seeing this scene, Li Pingan was also a bit surprised.

He hadn't expected his sister to take a thousand yuan out of her own pocket and give it to their grandfather.

Seeing that their grandfather was about to shove the money into the car,

without needing his sister's reminder, Li Pingan locked the car doors immediately.

Li Ya shouted loudly, "Grandfather, this is what I earned from my summer job."

"Just go ahead and spend it without worry."

"Big bro, step on it!"

Hearing this, Li Pingan gave a light chuckle and drove away.

Too slow to catch up, the old man was both angry and amused.

Lighting a fine cigarette gifted by his nephew, Zhu Guodong smiled and said, "Dad, Xiaoyan already said that's what she earned from her summer job."

"Just keep it."

"It's rare for the kids to show such filial piety."

On the other side, Li Pingan chuckled and said, "I had no idea you could pull a stunt like that."

"Hmph~ Of course."

Li Ya tilted her head like a proud swan.

"Big bro, stop by the street for a moment later, I need to buy some joss paper."

"Alright."

Li Pingan nodded.

Without his sister even saying so, Li Pingan had already planned to buy some joss paper to visit their parents.

Ten minutes later, he drove the car straight to the road outside his parents' cemetery. Arriving at his parents' grave, Li Pingan noticed black burnt paper ash still lingering in front of the headstone.

He turned his head to look at his sister.

"Did you burn this before going to the company?"

Li Ya giggled, "Not quite."

"I came to burn it before the high school entrance exams."

"Who would have thought Mom and Dad would be so supportive, blessing me to exceed expectations and easily get into the county's first-tier high school."

"You really something else."

Watching his sister kneeling to burn the paper, complaining about him as an older brother throughout the summer while simultaneously worrying about keeping up with the fast-paced life of high school,

Li Pingan stood off to the side and watched with amusement.

Li Pingan strongly suspected that this girl ran over to burn paper for their parents every single weekend she came home for a break.

Otherwise, how could he explain why the ground in front of the grave was completely bare without a single weed?

Besides, it had been the rainy season during the two months of summer vacation.

How could there possibly be leftover ash after such a long time?

There was only one possibility: someone frequently came to burn paper, and the black ash had already melted into the soil.

After finishing the burning and bowing respectfully three times, Li Ya patted the dust off her knees and stood up.

She yielded the spot to her older brother.

After standing up from bowing, making sure the joss paper was completely burned out and would not cause a fire, she finally spoke:

"Let's go."

Passing by the doorstep of their Great-Uncle's house, Li Pingan saw that his great-uncle was still in robust health, sitting under a large tree playing on his phone with the volume turned all the way up.

Li Pingan stopped the car and shouted loudly:

"Great-Uncle!"

The old man looked up and was very surprised to see Li Pingan.

"It's Xiaoyan. You bought a car?"

"Not bad, not bad! A prestigious university graduate really amounts to something!"

In the evening, sitting in the courtyard cooling off while eating dinner,

Li Ya suddenly gave her older brother a gentle kick from under the small table.

"Big bro, look."

Following the direction of his sister's finger, Li Pingan saw their second uncle walking over with a box of fireworks and a big smile on his face.

"Second Uncle, my uncle already set off some."

Before Li Pingan could run over, the second uncle had already set the fireworks down and ignited them.

PS: Thank you to the readers Shangba1122, Feng Xiu, and A Chengcheng for their tips and support! ღ(´･ᴗ･`) Heart