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Wei Linxuan seemed to find the cafeteria food mediocre, so he actually had meals delivered from home every day. Old Zhou's cooking was flawless, and the boxed meals were tailored to both Wei Linxuan's and Lu Heng's tastes. With Fang Yuqing's homemade soups arriving from time to time as well, Lu Heng, who had lost a shocking amount of weight under the pressure of studying, had not put the weight back on after just one month, but his complexion had improved considerably.

Maybe drinking too much soup really did nourish the brain, or maybe his chubby deskmate's class notes were just that useful. Lu Heng found that he could finally barely understand the concepts in the textbooks.

Feeling that he had gotten on track, Lu Heng let out a small sigh of relief and had the mood to improve his life a little—for instance, bringing Miao Miao, who attended Yanjing Affiliated Primary School, and his eldest brother, who attended the high school division, home on weekends, then rolling up his sleeves to cook for everyone.

After he had cooked more often, Wei Linxuan was pleased to discover that Lu Heng's culinary skills seemed even better than before.

However, Wei Linxuan failed to keep his promise to tutor Lu Heng. Someone had discovered in surprise that even if he could write proposals for reality shows and talent competitions, that did not necessarily mean he could solve problems involving cubic equations. Forget tutoring Lu Heng—he needed a tutor himself.

And the "tutor" Wei Linxuan hired was Lu Heng's eldest brother, Lu Chi.

It really was true that studying depended on talent. During the second semester of his first year of high school, Brother Lu transferred from a high school in J City to Yanjing University Affiliated High School. When he first transferred, he even found it somewhat difficult to keep up with the lessons. Yet within a single semester, not only had Brother Lu caught up, he had even placed tenth in the entire grade on the final exams.

The world of top students was simply incomprehensible!

Under Lu Chi's targeted tutoring, Lu Heng finally managed to pass all nine subjects in his final exams. Passing the entrance exams was within sight~

It was truly a cause for universal celebration!

After the finals came winter break. Father Lu and Mother Lu, who had been working hard to start a business in Lu Family Village, traveled north to Beijing to attend their three children's parent-teacher conferences and bring them home.

This was probably the most eventful year the Lu family had experienced in decades.

Half a year ago, Father Lu had taken the ten thousand yuan the police awarded Lu Heng and returned to J City. He rented a fleet of vehicles, found several old comrades who had retired from the military, and began hauling freight.

Their main business was transporting vegetables and grain from Lu Family Village to the city or even farther away to sell.

Though Father Lu was not much of a farmer, he was honest and loyal, and he had always been well-liked in the village. Everyone trusted him too. When it was time to harvest grain at the end of autumn, Father Lu had no money to buy it, so the villagers simply handed their grain over to him and let him take his fleet south to sell it. Once he brought back the money, they could collect it from the Lu family. They did not worry in the slightest that Father Lu would run off with their goods.

After Father Lu delivered the grain in the south, he also bought back quite a few southern specialties to sell. He did not make empty trips in either direction, and after deducting the money owed to the villagers for their grain, the wages for his old comrades, the fleet rental fees, and fuel costs, he still had more than eight hundred thousand yuan left.

This was a massive fortune the Lu family had never earned in all these years.

Father Lu and Mother Lu could hardly believe their family could have such glorious days. More importantly, after several months of hard work, the Lu family's fleet had developed a stable customer base. Even after the grain-collection season ended, they could still take orders and handle logistics.

With money in his pocket, Father Lu felt secure. Ready to make a big go of it, he returned the rented fleet to the dealership and took his old comrades to the vehicle market to buy several transport vehicles. There were large trucks for long-distance routes and vans for local deliveries. They maintained their old customers while working hard to develop new ones.

Besides that, Father Lu spent one thousand yuan renovating their home. He mainly tidied up the rooms, whitewashed the walls, and repaired the kang. Since the weather was cold and construction was impossible, they would make do for a year. Once spring arrived the next year, they would tear down the old house and build a new one.

They would build a two-story house with a courtyard. Every child would have their own room, just like city people, with a bed, desk, and large wardrobe. The house would have a color TV and refrigerator, and they would even use a rice cooker in the kitchen...

Father Lu and Mother Lu took the train to Beijing, but when the family of five returned, they flew. After arriving in C City, Father Lu drove everyone straight home.

The family had not seen one another for nearly half a year, and they seemed to have endless things to say. They either enthusiastically discussed the adults' business or questioned the three children about their grades. How was school? Were their classmates easy to get along with? When it came to Lu Heng, they also had to ask how things were on set, whether the director and other stars were easy to get along with, and so on.

Mother Lu held Lu Miao in the front passenger seat, smiling as she listened to her husband and children talk. She believed their lives would only get better and better.

But Lu Heng's thoughts were on Father Lu's business.

"Dad, have you ever thought about moving the fleet to Beijing?"

The moment he said it, the entire car fell silent.

Lu Heng said, "Big Brother, Little Sis, and I are all studying in Beijing now. The school facilities are great, and the dormitories and cafeteria are both pretty good. But living in dorms and eating at the cafeteria all the time doesn't feel like home at all. I miss Mom's cooking."

Lu Miao immediately added, "I miss Mom's chicken stew with potatoes too. Even though Big Brother's cooking is good too."

Lu Chi said as well, "I think Xiao Heng makes a lot of sense. Dad, Mom, can you come to Beijing to do business next year? I miss you both so much."

Mother Lu could not hold back any longer. She pulled Lu Miao into her arms and kissed her, choking up as she said, "I'm sorry. Your father and I have let you down. We haven't taken good care of you."

Father Lu's eyes reddened too. The usually quiet and honest man moved his lips, remained silent for a long while, then said firmly, "Then we'll go to Beijing. The children are right. A family should be together. Otherwise, what are we making all this money for!"

"But what could we do if we went to Beijing?" Mother Lu asked softly.

To this woman, who had never left J City before, Beijing was simply too big. It was so big that one could not even tell east from west, north from south. The overly prosperous metropolis instinctively filled Mother Lu with fear.

Father Lu smiled and said, "Didn't Xiao Heng say it? We'll move the fleet to Beijing. Thinking about it, it's nothing much. We've already managed to take our business all the way to the south, so why can't we take it to Beijing too? Later, I'll have the brothers keep an eye out and see what jobs are available. After the New Year, we'll go to Beijing."