Rekindling the Youthful Era

Chapter 881 I want it all
The fourth day of the Lunar New Year, February 19th.

After lunch, Li Luo's second aunt, Li Xuefeng, prepared to head back to the city to open the mahjong parlor with Li Xuemei.

I'll also visit Chen Lu's boyfriend Zhao Shuhan's house in the evening to have dinner with his parents and discuss our wedding plans for the second half of this year.

The eldest aunt, Li Xuexian, was going back to Chenjia Village with her husband, Chen Hailin, to visit relatives and would be back in a couple of days.

Li Dao and Chen Yongqi left a couple of days ago. Li Guoru wanted to stay a few more days, but he is getting old and hasn't been feeling well these past few days, so he has to go to the hospital.

So after lunch, I said goodbye and left.

The grandparents watched their children leave one by one, feeling quite reluctant, but their mood was still relatively good, after all, Li Guohong's whole family was still there.

Li Luo's grandson also brought back three adorable and well-behaved girls, and their families also came to the countryside to celebrate the New Year together.

The atmosphere was still lively and bustling.

Moreover, although Li Xuefeng and Li Xuemei are usually quite busy with work, they don't come back very often.

But Li Luo's aunt, Li Xuexian, has always lived in the countryside to take care of the two elderly people.

Chen Hailin works as a chef in the countryside. He leads a small team and goes to any rural area that needs a banquet. He earns a little money through hard work.

When he had free time, he would stay with his parents and Li Xuexian.

Li Guoru, the eldest and most successful of the children with the most wealth, has been responsible for the daily expenses and medical costs of Li Luo's grandparents for many years.

Now that Li Guohong's family has become wealthy, Li Guohong privately discussed with Li Guoru about taking on some of his grandparents' expenses.

The main expense is routine check-ups and medical visits, while the cost of normal life for the elderly is relatively low.

As for Li Xuefeng and Li Xuemei, they usually have difficulty finding work, and their wages are barely enough to support themselves and their daughter, so their family members don't criticize them too much.

As long as they can come back to visit every year during the Lunar New Year and get together with everyone, they can consider it as fulfilling their duty as children.

However, if an elderly person is sick and hospitalized and needs someone to take care of them, it is usually Li Xuefeng and Li Xuemei who rush back to stay by their side.

In short, the five children of the grandparents have always contributed their time and effort, and the whole family is very united.

In their previous life, when Lin Xiuhong was seriously ill, Li Luo and Li Guohong were able to support her hospital expenses and surgery costs thanks to the help of their family.

So seeing her aunts' lives getting better and better throughout her life, Li Luo felt quite gratified.

Especially the chess and card room in Jincheng Community. When Lin Xiuhong said she wanted to set one up, she even asked Li Luo for his opinion. Li Luo naturally agreed wholeheartedly and even reminded his mother that she could invite his two aunts over.

Before leaving, Lin Xiuhong's aunt, Li Xuemei, was still talking to her. Lin Xiuhong nodded repeatedly. When Li Luo noticed this, he asked curiously when Lin Xiuhong returned, "What were you talking about with your aunt?"

"Oh, it's nothing, just about the card room." Lin Xiuhong waved her hand and said, "We considered that they needed to rest, and that staying up late is not good for their health, so the card room closes at two o'clock in the morning."

"But Xuemei said that many guests had previously given feedback that they felt it wasn't enough without rooms available overnight."

"So she figured that the small room behind the front desk was usually used by them to play mahjong."

"So they asked me if I could get a bed there and then start an all-night service."

"If possible, she wouldn't need to rent a place outside; she could just stay at the card room all the time."

"I figured that her single room was shared with others, so it would be better to stay in the card room, which is more spacious and has a bathroom, so I agreed to it."

Lin Xiuhong said a lot and finally explained the whole story.

Upon hearing this, Li Luo nodded and then said, "Our houses in Tianlu Yaju have been under renovation, haven't they? They should be finished in about two months."

"Once the formaldehyde dissipates, you and Dad can move in during the second half of the year and live in the same community as us at Tianlu Yaju. This way, it will be closer for Dad to go to the hot pot restaurant, and it will be much more convenient for you to play mahjong with Aunt Cui."

"Wouldn't that free up a place in Jincheng Community? Then my second aunt and my youngest aunt can move in."

"It's easier to keep it to our own family than to rent it out to strangers later."

Hearing what he said, Lin Xiuhong thought it made a lot of sense, and immediately nodded with a smile: "Indeed, I'll tell them when we get back."

"But Lulu is getting married this year. If she has a child in the future, Xuefeng will probably have to go and help take care of it."

“Xuemei has plenty of free time, so let her stay at our house. There’s someone to look after the house over there.”

"I just don't know when Jiajia will find a boyfriend."

As they talked, Lin Xiuhong's topic started to veer off course.

Li Luo immediately interrupted the conversation, urging Lin Xiuhong to hurry up and play mahjong, and then called Xixi over to play with her.

Sitting beside them watching them play mahjong, Li Luo was eating sunflower seeds when he heard Xu Youyu, who was also eating sunflower seeds, ask him, "Is your new book about to be released?"

“Yes.” Li Luo spat the sunflower seed shells precisely into the trash can next to him and nodded in response. “Tomorrow night at 9:30, I’ll upload three chapters then, about 10,000 words in total.”

"Are you even human?" Xu Youyu was speechless upon hearing this. "Who starts a book with ten thousand words right off the bat?"

"It's only the first day," Li Luo said. "We still need to get featured on the recommendation page, and we'll still be updating with four or five thousand words a day."

The group chatted and played mahjong, and the happy afternoon passed quickly.

But Li Luo's mood became increasingly gloomy, and it was unclear what he was thinking. He didn't say a word during dinner that night.

Ying Chanxi keenly noticed Li Luo's unusual behavior. She stopped playing mahjong with Lin Xiuhong and the others that evening, asked her father to cover for her, and then took Li Luo back to their bedroom on the third floor.

"Are you worried about anything?"

"Huh?" Li Luo was taken aback, thinking that Ying Chanxi had pulled him up here because she wanted to be intimate with him, just like Zhu Shengyouyu.

Unexpectedly, they noticed that something was wrong with him.

"Is it that obvious?" Li Luo touched his face and asked in confusion, "How did you know?"

“You didn’t say much at dinner. You usually take the initiative to steer the conversation.” Ying Chanxi leaned into Li Luo’s arms and whispered, “So something’s wrong? Are you nervous about launching a new book? It doesn’t seem like it.”

"It's alright." Li Luo patted her back, pulled her into his arms, and chuckled softly, "Let's talk about this when we go to bed tonight, when Sister Yu and Zhusheng are both here."

Upon hearing this, Ying Chanxi seemed to sense something, and looked up at Li Luo from his arms.

Ying Chanxi then stopped asking questions and nodded slightly, as if he had realized something, and his heart began to pound rapidly.

……

Ten o'clock in the evening.

Tonight, it was supposed to be Ying Chanxi's turn to sleep on the floor.

But this time they didn't sleep in beds; instead, the floor mats were made extra wide, big enough for all four of them to lie down.

Ying Chanxi nestled obediently in Li Luo's arms, with Xu Youyu and Yan Zhusheng on either side.

Li Luo shared many of her innermost thoughts with them, and the girls listened attentively, occasionally adding a few words of their own.

She didn't know when she fell asleep, but when she woke up again, it was already the morning of the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Li Luo and the three girls got up together. Even Xu Youyu, who usually loved to sleep in, got up on her own without Li Luo having to wake her.

The four of them went for a morning run together, had breakfast together, and spent the morning playing mahjong and chatting with their elders.

In the afternoon, the four of them went to the village market together and bought a lot of ingredients, saying that they would cook for dinner.

The elders were naturally pleased that the children had this idea, and said they were looking forward to enjoying the delicious food.

But before she was about to start cooking, Li Luo secretly found an opportunity to first inform her grandparents, and then called Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong to find a place where there was no one else.

"No matter what I say during dinner tonight, don't interrupt," Li Luo said to her parents earnestly. "Don't offer your opinions. If your aunt and uncle talk to you, I'll handle it."

Upon hearing this, Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong were stunned for a moment, somewhat bewildered.

But after a moment's thought, he immediately realized what was going on.

"What are you going to do?" Lin Xiuhong asked, frowning.

“My uncle and aunt aren’t here today. Tonight, besides my grandparents and Grandpa Ying, it’ll just be the rest of us for dinner,” Li Luo honestly explained. “There are some things I think are better said sooner rather than later. I don’t want to drag this out any longer.”

“But…” Li Guohong frowned slightly, clearly not mentally prepared for this, “You’re only freshmen, you still have several years until graduation, why are you in such a hurry?”

“That’s right,” Lin Xiuhong added. “Anyway, you and Xixi already… um… maybe you’ll even have kids in a few years…”

Lin Xiuhong herself felt a little embarrassed by what she said, and her voice grew softer and softer.

Li Luo smiled helplessly: "I don't want to use the children's situation to blackmail them. That would be irresponsible to the uncles and aunts, to Xixi and the others, and to the children themselves."

"I would much rather gain their genuine recognition and support than have to compromise for some other reason."

"Whether it's me, Xixi, or the other two, we all hope that we can always be happy together and not break up because of this kind of thing."

"so……"

“But do you think it’s possible?” Li Guohong sighed, not expecting to reach this juncture so soon. “I haven’t had much contact with Lao Xu, but your Uncle Ying and I have been friends since we were kids.”

"Given his personality, it's a miracle he didn't try to stab you."

"Getting him to accept this is harder than climbing to heaven."

Li Luo knew this, of course, but her expression remained resolute as she said seriously and earnestly, "I have already made up my mind about this matter, and I have also had in-depth discussions with Xixi and the others. I hope you can support us."

“Of course we support it.” Lin Xiuhong looked worried, clearly not optimistic about the matter either. “Since you’ve already thought it through… sigh… just thinking about it gives me a headache. And you, how did you manage to provoke three people at once?”

"Mom, you seem pretty happy most of the time," Li Luo said speechlessly.

"Of course I'm happy to have three such good daughters-in-law." Lin Xiuhong glared at him. "You have three obedient wives, you must be a hundred times happier than me."

"Ahem..." Li Luo touched his nose to cover his embarrassment, "Anyway, you two should talk less during dinner. Xi Xi and I will take care of it."

"Are you sure you can handle this?" Li Guohong asked.

Li Luo shook his head: "It's definitely not something that can be resolved all at once, so we're prepared for a long battle. It's impossible to convince Uncle and Auntie on this matter all at once."

"It's good that you're prepared." Li Guohong pondered for a moment, then continued, "If you need any help, just tell us."

"Hmm." Li Luo nodded heavily, then returned to the kitchen.

At this moment, Ying Chanxi was already washing and preparing vegetables with her two sisters. When she saw Li Luo return, she asked in a low voice, "Have you told them?"

"Okay, I'm done talking." Li Luo nodded in response. "Alright, don't overthink it. Just focus on cooking, and be careful not to hurt yourself while chopping the vegetables."

"Know it."

……

Six o'clock in the evening.

Several families sat around a table.

Grandpa Ying and Li Luo's grandparents sat on the east side.

Next to Grandpa Ying were Ying Zhicheng and Yuan Wanqing, and then Yan Zhusheng.

Ying Chanxi sat between Yan Zhusheng and Li Luo.

Xu Youyu was sitting to Li Luo's right, followed by Xu Rongsheng and Cui Suling.

Lin Xiuhong sat with Cui Suling, and Li Guohong sat next to her.

Grandpa and Grandma had learned about tonight's events from Li Luo beforehand, and the wrinkles on their faces were somewhat unsettled.

Ying Zhicheng and the others sensed that something was off about the atmosphere at the table, but they didn't know why. So they continued to eat and chat casually as usual.

After chatting for a while, Grandpa, Grandma, Li Guohong, and Lin Xiuhong all relaxed, and the atmosphere at the dinner table returned to normal.

Li Luo, however, remained very quiet.

Even after everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Cui Suling went to the restroom.

When she returned and sat down again, Li Luo finally stood up, took a deep breath, looked around to make sure everyone's eyes were on him, and then slowly spoke:
"Grandpa Ying, Uncle Ying, Uncle Xu, Aunt Yuan, Aunt Cui."

"I have something I want to say to you."

"I know this may seem absurd, but I also know that the longer it drags on, the more irresponsible it becomes."

"So... I hope you can give me this opportunity to make these things clear."

As soon as these words came out.

The atmosphere at the dinner table immediately became heavy.

Yan Zhusheng blinked, showing no signs of nervousness, and even had time to steal glances at the expressions of the parents.

Ying Chanxi was so nervous she could hardly breathe, her heart pounding, her head bowed and her fists clenched, not daring to look at anyone else.

Xu Youyu took a deep breath along with Li Luo, seemingly trying to adjust her mood and state of mind, but her slightly trembling arms betrayed her emotions at that moment.

As Ying Zhicheng and the others nodded solemnly, Li Luo took another deep breath and then said earnestly:

"I like Xixi, Youyu, and Zhusheng. I truly love all three of them and we are tolerant of each other."

"I hope my uncle and aunt can give me this opportunity to spend a happy life with the three of them in the future."

As soon as these words came out.

The room fell silent.

(End of this chapter)