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Lu Heng said with a smile, "The company happened to rent me a small apartment near Yanjing University Affiliated High School. Once Mom and Dad move there, Big Brother and Little Sister can apply to commute from home."

Especially Lu Miao. Lu Heng's schedule had been unstable before, and junior high school let out much later than elementary school. Aside from picking her up on weekends and feeding her something better, Lu Heng could do nothing else.

But if their parents could go to Beijing, things would be different. The Lu family's fleet had already been established, they had earned their first pot of gold, and the logistics company had basically taken shape. For the next stage of development, setting up headquarters in Beijing would actually be more beneficial for the future than keeping it in Lu Family Village or J City.

They returned to Lu Family Village a little after two in the afternoon. When they saw Father Lu's car drive into the village, all the villagers who had been keeping an eye out came to greet them.

Country folk were naturally simple and warmhearted, without much concern for formalities. Knowing that the five members of the Lu family had rushed back from Beijing and probably had not eaten properly, Father Lu's elder brother and sister-in-law directly invited them over for a meal.

"...We knew you wouldn't have eaten well after traveling so far. The food's already made and warming on the stove. Hurry over to our place and eat."

Uncle Lu immediately scooped Lu Miao into his arms, then said to Lu Chi and Lu Heng, "Oh my, my two big nephews have grown so tall. You've really made something of yourselves."

Then he grabbed Lu Heng and bombarded him with questions.

"You must have made quite a bit of money filming movies, huh?"

"Are those big celebrities really as good-looking as people say?"

"Are Beijing schools especially strict? I heard you have to learn English and computers too. Can you keep up with the classes?"

The villagers all rushed to Uncle Lu's house upon hearing the news. Sitting on and around the heated kang bed, they began chatting about everything under the sun.

Their words were full of envy for the Lu family's three children, who could study in the big city, and for Lu Heng, who could become a famous star and earn money. Quite a few of the kids also chased after Lu Heng, asking him for other celebrities' autographs.

Lu Heng agreed with a smile. The day after returning to the village, he was dragged by that group of kids to the village middle school.

The village middle school, once nothing but single-story buildings and a dirt-pit playground, had changed beyond recognition. There was a row of three-story school buildings, a level athletic field and a library, clean shelves filled with extracurricular books, bright and spotless classrooms with brand-new desks and chairs, as well as a fully equipped gymnasium...

The kids looked at Lu Heng and eagerly said, "The road outside was newly built too. The school even got school buses. We used to have to walk for hours to get to school, but now we just wait for the bus at the village entrance, and we'll be at school in half an hour."

"...It's too bad you won't be studying here anymore."

Surrounded by the village kids, Lu Heng looked at the school blanketed in snow and heard their heartfelt sighs. "...We like that show, and we like Brother Wei Linxuan too. Will he come to Lu Family Village again?"

Lu Heng smiled slightly. "Even if he doesn't come, you all should study hard. Then you can go to Beijing to see him yourselves someday, okay?"

That one sentence stirred the children's ambitions. They all raised their hands and swore that they would study hard and get into a university in Beijing. Then they could go see Brother Wei Linxuan.

Yet Lu Heng never expected that just half a month after he said those words, Wei Linxuan would actually arrive, dusty from travel, with members of the Exchanging Lives production crew.

Watching Wei Linxuan, who was surrounded by children playing at the village entrance the moment he arrived and escorted in grand procession to his doorstep, Lu Heng asked in surprise, "It's the New Year. What are you doing all the way out here?"

Wei Linxuan flashed a brilliant smile, baring a mouthful of white teeth at Lu Heng. Pointing at the production crew members behind him, who were carrying cameras of all sizes, he said with a grin, "I'm here to make a show~"

That October, the second season of Exchanging Lives aired on Huaxia TV as scheduled. Its explosive ratings and enthusiastic public response likewise sparked viewers' desire to learn how the young guests from the first season were doing now.

Many loyal viewers wrote letters to the station, asking about the current circumstances of the first season's guests. The station relayed the viewers' requests to the company. After Wei Linxuan learned of it, he simply made the call to produce Exchanging Lives: New Year Gratitude Season. They invited the city children who had participated in the first season to return to the rural families they had stayed with during filming and visit their rural "fathers and mothers."

Because the production crew was short-handed, filming for this New Year Gratitude Season was entirely voluntary. Wei Linxuan and the crew had thought that many of the young guests would not want to make such a long journey during the New Year, but unexpectedly, after being persuaded by the crew, most of them agreed to take part. Several of the children's parents even wanted to accompany them to the countryside to visit their children's other "parents."

As a result, the Exchanging Lives crew had no choice but to temporarily pull in Huaxia TV employees to help with filming.

Wei Linxuan's group arrived at Lu Family Village on the morning of the seventh day of the Lunar New Year.

Seeing Wei Linxuan and the crew members with faces reddened from the freezing wind and snow, Father Lu and Mother Lu hurriedly ushered them inside.

The young assistant director smilingly handed Lu Heng two large woven sacks of letters, all written by viewers for him. Since they did not know the Lu family's exact address, most viewers had sent their letters to the television station. Wei Linxuan had already passed one batch on to Lu Heng before; these were the ones that had arrived recently.

Mother Lu urged the group into the inner room and onto the kang bed. The cameraman instinctively raised his camera and began filming everywhere.

Half a year had passed, and the Lu family home had changed greatly as well. The walls and ceiling, once covered in pasted newspapers, had been whitewashed, making the house look especially bright. A large new color television had been added to the main room, and the wardrobes and standing cabinets were all newly bought. Two desks had also been installed in the west wing where Lu Heng and Lu Chi slept, piled high with textbooks and extracurricular reading.

After counting the number of guests, Mother Lu hurried to the kitchen to cook porridge, steam buns, and boil eggs. In less than half an hour, golden millet porridge, soft white steamed buns, and farm eggs laid by their own chickens were set on the kang table. Mother Lu also sliced more than ten rich, oily salted duck eggs and laid out all kinds of fresh mixed side dishes. Smiling, she said, "There's nothing much to eat in the morning. Have some porridge first to fill your stomachs and warm yourselves up. Auntie will make you something delicious for lunch."