Chapter 817 - 818: Visiting Uncle

Chapter 817: Chapter 818: Visiting Uncle

Li Sijie also hadn’t seen this uncle for several years, and she didn’t call in advance before coming here today, mainly because she didn’t want to trouble her uncle with preparing lunch and such.

Li Sijie’s uncle lived in a modest neighborhood. She knocked on the door, and a woman in her forties opened it.

Li Sijie immediately showed a sweet smile and said, "Hello, Aunt."

"Ah... Isn’t this Sijie? How come you’re here?" Li Sijie’s aunt, named Cui Ying, was taken aback at first and then her face lit up with surprise.

Li Sijie said, "I’m now in Minghe and knew that Uncle and Aunt were here. How could I not come to visit?"

"This is..." Cui Ying turned to look at Song Xiaodong, finding him very unfamiliar. She had attended Li Sijie’s wedding to that man before, and now Li Sijie was suddenly bringing a stranger, which made her a bit suspicious.

"Aunt, I got divorced. This is my current husband, Song Xiaodong," Li Sijie explained directly.

"Oh, I see. There’s been this development, I had no idea. Your mom called me and never mentioned it. Come in, come in, take a seat."

As she spoke, Cui Ying let Song Xiaodong and Li Sijie into the house.

The place was a modest three-bedroom and one living room house, nothing fancy. Although the space wasn’t small, the decoration was quite simple and didn’t match the luxury one might expect from a typical official’s home.

"Old Jiang, come out quickly, Sijie has come."

A man in his forties came out from one of the rooms, with a square face and slightly lean body, but his expression was somewhat gloomy. It was Li Sijie’s uncle, Jiang Xueliang.

"Hello, Uncle," greeted Li Sijie promptly.

"Hmm, Sijie is here, take a seat," Jiang Xueliang nodded then glanced at the gifts Li Sijie had brought with her, frowning as he spoke, "You should just come, why bring things? Don’t tell me you want your uncle to do you a favor? I really don’t have the ability to help you out anymore."

"Old Jiang, cut it out. It’s just a change of position. Sijie hasn’t seen you for years, and you greet her with this act, don’t make your niece laugh at us," Cui Ying reprimanded, then sighed and said, "Sijie, Little Song, don’t mind him, your uncle has just changed jobs and is not in a good mood."

From Jiang Xueliang’s expression, Li Sijie and Song Xiaodong could guess that it certainly wasn’t a promotion, at the very least it seemed like a demotion to a less important department, which definitely wasn’t good for career advancement.

Knowing that this topic would upset her uncle, Li Sijie swiftly changed the subject, smiling, "Uncle, I should have visited you every year, but it was too far and inconvenient for me. Now that I’m living in Minghe, I’ll visit you every year. I wasn’t sure if you still smoke or drink, so I just brought a little something."

Cui Ying took the items, glanced over them, and in addition to two cartons of cigarettes and two bottles of liquor, there was also a set of cosmetics and a box of health supplements—all obviously expensive. She immediately said, "Child, you should have just come to see us, why spend so much money?"

Laughing, Li Sijie responded, "It’s the least I can do. Uncle has always taken good care of our family, and it was my fault for not visiting you before."

Having been an executive in the past, Li Sijie was quite skilled in conversation, and the atmosphere relaxed significantly.

At this point, Jiang Xueliang also returned to normal, shook his head, and said, "I apologize for the scene earlier. Your uncle was just in a bad mood, please don’t take it to heart."

"It’s alright," Li Sijie said, holding her belly and slowly sitting down.

"Eh, are you pregnant?" Cui Ying stared at Li Sijie’s belly.

"Yeah, a little over three months, almost four months now." Li Sijie gave a sweet smile.

Cui Ying immediately exclaimed with joy, "That’s a happy occasion, definitely worth celebrating."

As Li Sijie and Cui Ying chatted about the child, Jiang Xueliang turned to Song Xiaodong and asked, "Little Song, where are you working now?"

Song Xiaodong replied, "I started a small company and am doing entrepreneurship."

"Starting your own business is great. How big is the company now? What does it mainly do?"

"The scale is so-so, I guess. We can make a little over a million in monthly revenue, mainly dealing with medical equipment."

Jiang Xueliang’s eyes lit up and said, "The profits must be quite high. With revenue of a million or even more than that, you’re really doing quite well in business."

Song Xiaodong smiled and said, "I need to earn more money. Otherwise, how can I provide a good life for Sijie and the child?"

"Mhm, very good, very good," Jiang Xueliang nodded repeatedly and then asked some questions about the family.

Song Xiaodong’s parents had passed away, and he mentioned something about having an older sister as well. This further pleased Jiang Xueliang. In the eyes of the bride’s family, the absence of the groom’s parents often made them more satisfied, as it seemed to minimize conflicts and ensure that the groom would treat the bride’s parents wholeheartedly.

After chatting for a while, Jiang Xueliang’s mood also improved and he said, "Let’s go out for lunch at noon."

"No bother, we’ll just sit for a while and then leave," Li Sijie hurriedly said.

Jiang Xueliang sternly replied, "How can that be possible? You don’t visit your uncle’s home for years, and when you do, you don’t even stay for a meal. I’d be a pretty lousy uncle if I allowed that. We won’t eat at home; I’ll reserve a spot and we can all go out to eat."

Song Xiaodong and Li Sijie, seeing their uncle’s sincerity in wishing them to stay, agreed to the plan.

Jiang Xueliang immediately called a restaurant to reserve a private room, then hung up the phone and said, "The food at this restaurant is pretty good. I used to always make reservations here for the leaders..." As he said this, Jiang Xueliang’s mood suddenly dipped again.

Cui Ying immediately glared at her husband disapprovingly and said, "Enough already, that kind of job serving others, what’s there to miss about it? Let’s go, let’s go have our meal."

Jiang Xueliang shook his head and a smile also appeared on his face, saying, "I’m just reflecting a little."

The group went downstairs and then got into Song Xiaodong’s car. Today, Song Xiaodong was driving a Mercedes Benz S320, which was neither ostentatious nor low-key, perfectly fitting the status of a business owner with a net worth of several million.

The uncle and aunt didn’t show any surprised expressions and then arrived at the reserved restaurant.

As soon as they entered the restaurant, the lobby manager greeted them, saying, "Deputy Director Jiang, you’ve arrived."

Jiang Xueliang felt a bit awkward. Before, this manager had always greeted him with such enthusiasm, but now that he was no longer a director, it felt unnatural to receive the same level of warmth from others. Still, he replied, "I’m having a meal with relatives, it won’t be necessary to trouble you."

"Deputy Director Jiang, this is... somewhat embarrassing, but we’re out of private rooms now," said the lobby manager with an embarrassed face.