Things are different now. Every month, Xu Qinghe will give Xu Zhong twenty yuan, as money for him to buy meat and cigarettes, and Xu Zhong looks at him with extra affection in his eyes.
The stepmother Liu Sanmei calls "Qinghe" with every breath, even more affectionately than before the family split up.
"My grandson and granddaughter are truly outstanding—especially my grandson. Yicheng is an architect; although he's just a junior in college, his design for the Xiyue Hotel in Ningbei won the bid in the recent competition." Du Chang was speaking with pride—this is his grandson, after all!
"Won the bid?" Xu Qinghe didn't really understand architecture, but he listened to Du Chang and got the gist, though not everything.
Du Chang explained, "It means that, in a few years, the Xiyue Hotel designed by Yicheng will actually be built."
"Amazing."
Xu Qinghe gave him a thumbs up, then glanced at Pei Yicheng sitting nearby—handsome, young, and full of talent. What a fine young man.
