We agreed not to date, so why are you crying now that I've become the richest man?

Ye Chen closed the car door and then patted the car window.

"Drive carefully."

The bread truck restarted.

They quickly disappeared around the street corner.

Around 8 a.m., the neighborhood was already bustling with activity.

Several elderly people were walking back carrying vegetable baskets, while others were chatting with birdcages by the flower bed.

Familiar buildings, mottled walls, and a few old locust trees growing crookedly by the roadside.

Everything before my eyes is just like in my memory.

Ye Chen walked around the two flower beds and arrived at the foot of his building, number six.

As soon as I arrived at the entrance of the building, the unit door was pushed open from the inside.

Chen Xiulan carried a black garbage bag in each hand and walked out with her head down.

Ye Chen stopped in his tracks.

"mom."

Chen Xiulan suddenly raised her head.

She stood at the doorway for two seconds, stunned, as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

The next moment, both hands released at the same time.

The garbage bag fell to the ground with a thud.

She didn't even have time to look at him; she ran quickly to Ye Chen and grabbed his arm.

"Chenchen?"

Ye Chen smiled and looked at his mother.

She had a few fine lines around her eyes, but her complexion was still rosy, and she stood perfectly fine in front of him.

Ye Chen didn't speak immediately, but let his mother hold his arm.

The temperature on my hand was crystal clear.

My mother is still here, and so is my home.

"You silly child!"

Chen Xiulan complained, but her hands didn't loosen their grip.

"Why didn't you call ahead when you were coming back from vacation?"

She looked him over from head to toe several times, as if afraid that her son might be missing a piece of his flesh outside.

Only after confirming that Ye Chen was safe and sound did her eyes slowly redden.

This was the first time Ye Chen had been so far from home.

He used to study in the county town, and he would always go home, no matter how late it was.

Now that he's gone to Shanghai, thousands of miles away, and she hasn't seen him for over a month, Chen Xiulan doesn't say anything, but she's been thinking about him constantly.

"What kind of surprise is it if we told you beforehand?"

Ye Chen opened his arms and said with a smile:

"Come on, let me check. Your arms and legs are all there, nothing's missing."

"You brat, all you do is talk nonsense."

Chen Xiulan patted him on the shoulder, and her tears almost welled up from those words.

She quickly remembered something, turned around and shouted upstairs:

"Old Ye!"

"Old Ye, come down quickly!"

"My son is back!"

The second-floor window was suddenly pushed open with a bang.

Ye Jianguo leaned out halfway, holding a wrench stained with oil in his hand.

His eyes widened immediately upon seeing the person downstairs.

He put the wrench on the windowsill, turned around and ran outside.

The sound of hurried footsteps soon echoed in the hallway.

In less than ten seconds, Ye Jianguo rushed out of the building entrance.

He hadn't even had time to put on his coat; he was only wearing a long-sleeved thermal shirt, and his shoes weren't even fully on.

"You brat!"

Ye Jianguo cursed first, but his hand had already reached for Ye Chen's shoulder.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?"

"So I can pick you up from the train station."

As he spoke, he snatched Ye Chen's backpack, slung it over his own shoulder, and even weighed it in his hand a couple of times.

"It's so heavy, did you walk back by yourself?"

"no."

Ye Chen explained with a smile:

"I ran into Zhao Peng's dad; he came back in his family's van."

"That needs to be said in advance."

Ye Jianguo tried to keep a straight face, but his hand had already patted Ye Chen's shoulder, looking him over several times.

"Okay, you haven't lost weight."

"It looks rather sturdy."

"Don't just stand downstairs, come upstairs right now."

After he finished speaking, he asked again:

Have you had breakfast?

"Not yet."

Ye Chen rubbed his stomach.

"I was starving the whole way."

"Did you hear me?"

Ye Jianguo immediately turned to look at Chen Xiulan.

"Hurry home and cook noodles, and add two extra eggs."

"Do you need to tell me?"

Chen Xiulan rolled her eyes at him.

She then remembered the trash bag on the ground, quickly picked it up and threw it into the trash can next to her, and then pushed Ye Chen into the stairwell.

"Hurry upstairs."

"You must be exhausted after sitting on the train all night."

The family of three entered the house in a lively and cheerful manner.

Nothing has changed at home.

The sofa was covered with a faded white cloth, Ye Jianguo's toolbox was next to the coffee table, and the calendar on the wall was still set for October 1st.

"Please sit down for a while."

Chen Xiulan tied on her apron and quickly went into the kitchen.

"Mom will make you some noodles right now."

Soon, the sounds of cooking and washing pots filled the kitchen.

Ye Jianguo carried the backpack into the bedroom and then moved a chair to sit next to Ye Chen.

He poured Ye Chen a glass of water first, then casually asked:

"Is studying in Shanghai tiring?"

"Is your living allowance enough?"

"If it's not enough, just say so. Don't try to tough it out on your own."

"I'm not tired, and I have enough money."

Ye Chen took the water glass.

"The school cafeteria isn't expensive, and I don't usually spend much."

Ye Jianguo nodded.

"Enough is enough."

"But don't be too frugal. Eat when you're hungry. You're growing right now, so don't eat steamed buns and pickled vegetables every day."

"understood."

Just as Ye Chen was about to drink some water, his phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

He took it out and glanced at it.

A new text message appears on the screen.

The sender was Shen Anran.

The content consists of only four characters.

"Are you home yet?"

Ye Chen looked up at the kitchen.

The mother was busy at the stove, while the father asked about things at school, but his eyes never left her.

He lowered his head, tapped the keys a few times, and then pressed send.

Not long after, a steaming bowl of soup noodles was served.

Two golden poached eggs rest in a large bowl, chopped green onions are sprinkled on the soup noodles, and the aroma of sesame oil wafts straight into your nose.

Ye Chen picked up his chopsticks and ate the noodles in large bites.

The noodles are chewy and the soup is delicious.

He ate half a bowl in one go, then looked up and wiped his mouth with a tissue.

Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced across the living room.

Instead of going back to the kitchen to wash the vegetables, Chen Xiulan sat on the sofa, holding a rag, and idly wiped the coffee table.

She would occasionally glance at the balcony, a look of worry on her face.

The sliding door to the balcony was half open.

Ye Jianguo stood by the window with his back to the living room, a cigarette between his fingers, taking a puff only after a long while.

The cigarette was already more than half burned, with ash clinging to the tip, teetering precariously.

Neither the couple said anything, but they were much quieter than usual.

Ye Chen put down his chopsticks.

The half-burnt cigarette his father was smoking reminded him of what happened after National Day in his previous life.

The factory where my parents work is about to undergo restructuring.

This month, the factory's profits have been declining, and wages have started to be delayed.

The factory leaders took the lead in selling off equipment, followed by large-scale layoffs.

The factory, which had been operating for over thirty years, was dissolved just like that.

Once National Day is over, notices announcing the buyout of seniority will be posted at the factory gate.

In their previous lives, Ye Jianguo and Chen Xiulan were both on the first batch of layoffs.

To support Ye Chen's university education, Ye Jianguo, who was in his forties, went to work on a construction site, where he spent his days covered in dust on scaffolding.

Chen Xiulan went to a small restaurant on the street and washed dishes in the kitchen.

In those years, my father never straightened his back again, and my mother's hair turned white very quickly.

Ye Chen closed his eyes.

The image of my father standing in a corner of the construction site, coughing with his hand over his mouth, flashed through my mind.

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze had darkened.

In this lifetime, I can't let my parents go down that path again.

You could simply slap millions of dollars in cash on the table, but that wouldn't explain anything either, and might even scare them.

We need to find a way to express it that they can accept.

Ye Chen finished his noodles in a few bites, pushed the large bowl aside, wiped the soup from the corners of his mouth, and got up to go back to his room.

"Mom, I'll go back to my room and get something done."

Chen Xiulan nodded absentmindedly.

"Go ahead, you've been on the train all night, lie down for a while if you're tired."