Chapter 84: Family Ties and Unexpected Revelations

Xu Chen forced a smile.

“Don’t worry, Uncle. I won’t go astray!”

His eldest uncle, Xu Zhishan, frowned, arms folded behind his back as he snorted.

Xu Chen kept his grin and pressed on.

“Uncle, Fourth Uncle’s doing well working with Dad. You don’t need to pester him every day to quit, do you?”

“Besides, I’m not a kid anymore.”

“Whenever you come here you badmouth Dad right in front of me…”

“Isn’t that a bit… inappropriate?”

The moment Xu Chen finished, the air between them went stiff.

He’d been stewing over his uncle’s passive-aggressive lectures and seized the chance to fire back.

Fourth Uncle Xu Zhilin glanced at Xu Chen and stifled a chuckle.

He’d long been fed up with his brother’s nagging—always coaxing him to quit and go back home.

He knew his brother too well.

Those so-called well-meaning “advice” weren’t purely out of concern.

As the elder brother, Xu Zhishan couldn’t help feeling conflicted seeing a younger sibling outshine him.

…

Xu Zhishan clenched his long smoking pipe, paused, his face flushing pale then dark.

Xu Chen plastered on an innocent smile.

“Don’t take it personally, Uncle. Stay and have lunch with us!”

Xu Zhishan cleared his throat.

“Oh… not today. I’m busy…”

Without another word, he turned and strode away, hands clasped behind his back.

…

…

At noon, Fourth Aunt stir-fried five or six dishes, steam rising in the factory yard.

There’s no proper kitchen on the factory grounds—just a simple stove behind the dormitory.

In a large iron wok they burned leftover coke from the casting works.

When they set up the factory, Fourth Aunt had been in charge of the workers’ lunches.

Cooking a few dishes now was second nature to her.

Spicy fried chicken, cabbage stewed with pork, garlic eggplant, egg-fried bitter melon…

Plus two cold sides: cucumber salad and century eggs.

Fourth Uncle, Fourth Aunt, Maternal Uncle Zhang Yongqing, Xu Chen and Li Rui gathered around the simple spread.

Fourth Aunt bustled around, serving rice and refilling plates with a cheerful chatter.

Fourth Uncle Xu Zhilin grabbed the big cola jug and poured each Xu Chen and Li Rui a glass.

He raised his cup and said,

“To Chen and Li Rui, Fourth Uncle thanks you both!”

Li Rui, a bit shy, set his cup low and clinked it against Fourth Uncle’s.

Xu Chen laughed and tapped his glass too.

They fell silent, treating cola like wine and downing their drinks in one go.

Fourth Aunt piled a large chunk of meat onto Xu Chen’s bowl and whispered,

“Chen, how did you handle things up on Beishan? Tell me your secret.”

Fourth Uncle clicked his tongue and snapped,

“This is women’s business. Don’t go prying where you shouldn’t!”

Unfazed, Fourth Aunt burst into a hearty laugh.

“Fine, Aunt won’t ask! But our Chen really is something else!”

She refilled Xu Chen’s cola, then topped off Li Rui’s glass.

“Li Rui’s talented too!”

Li Rui offered an embarrassed smile and said,

“Thank you, Aunt.”

Maternal Uncle Zhang Yongqing quietly ate his food and smiled along.

…

After lunch, Xu Chen lingered at the factory a bit before asking Li Rui to drive him home.

With the college entrance exam near, he needed to return and review.

He’d come mainly to check on his injured Fourth Uncle.

Fortunately, Fourth Uncle was fine and the Beishan issue settled, so there was nothing more to worry about.

No sooner had Li Rui parked than his phone buzzed.

He pulled it out and glanced down.

“President Xu’s back. I’ll pick him up at the station!”

Xu Chen smiled.

“Drive carefully.”

Li Rui asked, “Chen, are you heading back to school today?”

Xu Chen replied, “I’ll decide after Dad gets home. We still need to clear things up about Beishan.”

He paused and added,

“Dad might not know everything. On your way back with him, mention it briefly.

Tell him to stop by the factory and see Fourth Uncle…”

Li Rui agreed, got in, and turned the car around.

Xu Chen went straight to his room on the second floor and resumed his exercises.

…

Around four o’clock, the sound of a car came from below.

Peering out, Xu Chen saw his father, Xu Zhiquan, get out and head inside with Li Rui.

He put away his exercises and headed downstairs.

Xu Zhiquan strode in laughing, carrying two large bags.

“Dad!” Xu Chen greeted him and took the bags.

Xu Zhiquan laughed and ruffled his son’s hair.

“Your old man brought back a few famous braised chickens from the provincial capital. We’ll have them tonight.”

He glanced at Li Rui and said,

“Li Rui, you’re joining us too!”

Li Rui nodded with a smile.

Xu Zhiquan went to wash his face and said,

“You two, come in.”

He led them into his study.

Xu Zhiquan pulled out a cigarette. Li Rui hurried forward and lit it for him.

“Tell me what happened on Beishan and how you handled it.”

On the drive back, Xu Zhiquan learned the whole story from Li Rui and stopped by the factory to see Fourth Uncle.

Relieved that Fourth Uncle was all right, he relaxed.

Xu Chen and Li Rui had withheld nothing about the North Mountain Joint Village affair—every detail went to Xu Zhiquan.

Xu Zhiquan puffed his cigarette and listened in silence.

After a moment’s thought, he said,

“You two planned that thoroughly.

Those families know they picked the wrong fight now—they won’t mess with us again.

I’ll make a few calls to the village committee in the next day or two.

And I’ll smooth things over with the town and district officials…”

He smiled and offered a cigarette to Li Rui.

Li Rui took it anxiously with both hands.

Xu Zhiquan grinned and said,

“Li Rui, I’m giving you a raise starting next month!”

Li Rui froze, glanced at Xu Chen.

Xu Chen didn’t say a word but winked at Li Rui with a smile.

“Thank you… President Xu!”

…

Evening fell.

Xu Zhiquan brought out the braised chickens and sent Li Rui to fetch some cold sides.

The three men gathered around the table and dug in heartily.

The TV played a local channel’s rerun of “My Own Swordsman.”

Xu Chen glanced at Tong Xiangyu, Bai Zhantang, Zhu Wushuang and Lu Xiucai…

He couldn’t believe this show was already twenty years old and felt a pang of nostalgia.

He bit into a chicken leg when the ad break began, and he grimaced at the jingle, an awkward smile on his face…

【Kidney fatigue: after overwork your back and legs ache, your spirit flags—like your body’s been hollowed out…】

…

【HuiShuang Shenbao—good for him, good for me~】

Well, he thought,

the Shenbao ad was back on the air.

Xu Chen glanced again and noticed it matched what he’d seen in his past life—with only minor tweaks.

Different actors, camera work, color grading and so on.

It seemed his return had subtly shifted the timeline of this world.

Xu Chen let out a self-mocking laugh.

“Of course it’s changed!”

“My return already altered Dad’s and Xie Bingran’s fates.”