Chapter 89:

The family of Great-Aunt Yu Changxi is flourishing with an abundance of descendants.

Back then, it was Great-Aunt Yu’s entire family who moved south. Now, some of them have decided not to return, but one of her sisters and her family have come back with her.

When Yu Xiang’an and the others went back to meet them, they recognized that Great-Aunt Yu bore some resemblance to the Yu family. When she stood beside Yu Changcun, one could still see a faint likeness.

When she smiled, her eyes would curve into slits, making her look very amiable.

Great-Uncle Tian Dazhuang had a slight limp in one leg and scars on his face, but the two of them shared a deep bond.

Though one was a child bride and the other had physical disabilities, their affection wasn’t something they boasted about—it was evident in their daily interactions, the unspoken understanding in their glances. Such a connection couldn’t be cultivated without genuine love.

The couple had eight children, making her the one with the most offspring among her siblings. However, her first two daughters passed away in infancy, while the remaining six survived.

Of those six, four were sons and two were daughters. The four sons, in turn, had many children of their own, so when they returned, they brought along a large extended family. That’s why Zhang Chahua described them as “flourishing with an abundance of descendants.”

Yu Changxi asked, “Are you the granddaughter of my eldest brother’s family?”

Yu Xiang’an smiled and replied, “Yes, Great-Aunt. I’m the fifth child in my father’s line, his youngest daughter.”

Yu Changxi suddenly understood. “Ah, your father is my eldest brother’s youngest son.”

Zhang Chahua cheerfully pulled Lin Chuanbai over to introduce him. “Yes, yes! This is my grandson-in-law, and these are their two children.” It was clear she was in high spirits.

…

After Yu Xiang’an’s family of four had been introduced, Yu Xiangju stepped forward, and the introductions continued one by one.

When they stepped back, Yu Xiang’an glanced at the crowd and felt her brain was overwhelmed. Lin Chuanbai also found it headache-inducing. Fortunately, they didn’t interact often, so they only needed to recognize the key faces. Otherwise, with such a large group, how could they possibly remember who was who?

Yu Qingbao knew they wouldn’t be able to keep track, so he secretly prepared a note for them to refer to:

Great-Aunt: Yu Changxi

Great-Uncle: Tian Dazhuang

Eldest son: Tian Yougen—the most stout-looking. His wife, He Li, had curly hair. They had four daughters and two sons. The two sons currently with them were Tian Yuqian and Tian Yucai.

Second son: Tian Youjia—the tallest. His wife, Li Sanya, had three sons and two daughters. The two sons currently with them were Tian Duofu and Tian Duoshou.

Third son: Tian Youle—the chubbiest. His wife, He Hua, was also the plumpest. They had three sons and three daughters. The two sons they brought back were Tian Changzhi and Tian Changkun.

The fourth son hadn’t returned—he was managing a shop in the Philippines—but his eldest son, Tian Fujiang, had come.

The note didn’t include the names of Great-Aunt Yu’s daughters-in-law or the great-grandchildren. After reading it, Yu Xiang’an felt like she was about to forget how to write the character “Tian.”

Yu Qingshan also rubbed his temples. “Here, let’s all copy this down. Otherwise, we’ll end up mixing people up.” It was highly likely they’d confuse names and faces.

Yu Yegui: “…”

Recalling when they had first returned to reconnect with relatives, they had also struggled to recognize everyone. It had taken some effort to get most of them straight.

While they found it hard to keep track, the Tian family felt the same way.

On their father’s side, there weren’t many relatives, so introductions had been quick. But on their mother’s side—wow, four brothers!

Those four brothers had sons, who in turn had grandsons, adding up to a number even larger than their own family.

The headache mostly fell on the younger generation. Yu Changxi and Tian Dazhuang knew about Yu Changyou’s four brothers, so it was easier for them to match names to faces—just remembering which family each belonged to was enough.

Eldest brother Yu Changyou had two sons: Yu Qingbao and Yu Qingshan.

Second brother Yu Changcun had two daughters and one son: Yu Shunwen.

Third brother Yu Changxin had two daughters and two sons.

Fourth brother Yu Changyi had only one son: Yu Niangen.

As for the grandchildren of these brothers, even Yu Changxi and Tian Dazhuang couldn’t keep track—they had to recognize them one by one.

A flourishing family with many descendants was a good thing. With more brothers, outsiders wouldn’t dare to bully them easily.

This was especially true abroad, where Chinese people had to stick together for warmth.

If a family had too few able-bodied men, they were easy targets.

If a family was small in number and mild in temperament, survival could become difficult.

Now that Yu Changxi had returned, even if she couldn’t recognize all the younger generation, knowing they were doing well was the happiest thing for her.

She had never expected her natal family to be thriving like this.

Some were cadres, some were skilled craftsmen, some were teachers, some held official positions…

Back when the family had been on the brink of starvation, the best she had hoped for before returning was that they were all safe and sound.

This was an unexpected delight.

After the lively reunion, Yu Xiang’an asked Yu Changxi, “Great-Aunt, now that you’ve returned, will you go abroad again?”

Yu Changxi chuckled. “No, I won’t.” Her face was full of contentment. “I won’t leave again. At this age, if I go abroad once more, the next time I return will likely be as ashes. I want to stay in my hometown. As for my children, they can decide for themselves where they want to live. They’re grown now—it’s not like when they were kids and had to obey whatever the adults said.”

Yu Changcun nodded. “That makes sense. Falling leaves return to their roots—being away from home is hard enough, let alone being in a foreign country. Your family’s house was confiscated before. What do you plan to do about it?”

The Tian family’s house had been left empty when they departed, and later the local brigade had requisitioned it. Now, they were negotiating with the brigade to reclaim it, currently renting another place in the meantime.

“We’ve already discussed it. They’re cleaning it up now, and once it’s ready, they’ll return it to us. We’ll just pay some maintenance fees. If no one had taken care of the house all these years, it would’ve fallen into ruin long ago.”

“That’s fair.”

Over the years, their house had been used as a village warehouse. Reclaiming it had required some persuasion, but in the end, they succeeded.

Yu Changxi and her family stayed for several days, and it was a lively affair. However, the younger generation mostly just made up the numbers—there was no real emotional connection between them. The older generation was different. For example, Yu Changcun and Zhang Chahua were visibly overjoyed, and the next generation down, like Yu Qingshan, also felt close—after all, this was their own aunt, a close blood relative. But for the generation after that, like Yu Xiang’an, she was just a great-aunt—someone they had never met before and had assumed was long gone.

Though the blood ties weren’t distant, there was no real closeness.

*

Yu Manchang: “Xiao An, why don’t we open some of the wine you brewed last year and give it a try?”

The year before, on a whim, Yu Xiang’an had brewed several jars of wine—some from grains, others from wild berries.

In the past, households couldn’t afford to brew alcohol because grain was too precious. But now that they farmed their own land and hadn’t encountered any disasters, their granaries had gradually filled up. Their family had stockpiled quite a bit of grain.

Year after year, new grain became old grain. Though selling the old grain after the new harvest would fetch a lower price, nearly every household did the same—those who had gone hungry in the past knew the value of food.

Yu Yegui tasted the opened wine and gave a thumbs-up. “Not bad!”

“Do you want to go see our fields? We planted a patch of sesame this year.”

“Sure.”

As they walked, many people came up to chat. With Yu Changxi’s return, their family had once again become a hot topic of conversation.

In people’s retellings, the story was highly dramatic—and indeed, the reality was quite dramatic.

Some families who had also lost contact with relatives began to nurture hope.

Could their missing loved ones be living in some unknown corner, unable to return for some reason—just like the Yu family’s two relatives, one in Hong Kong and the other in Southeast Asia, who hadn’t been able to return in all those years but were now coming back one after another?

It wasn’t impossible.

Laughing, Yu Yegui said, “This isn’t the first time, but I still have to say—people here are really warm.”

Yu Manchang laughed heartily. “Our Yu family is a big clan here. If you trace it back, almost everyone is related.”

Yu Xiang’an and the others lived relatively close, so they arrived early. A few days later, Yu Manwu, who was in Shanghai, also returned, bringing his wife and daughter with him.

He hadn’t been back in years, and everyone understood why—after breaking up with Ruan Chenxi and remarrying, he had been too embarrassed to return, unable to face the past.

Now that he was back, it meant he had moved on.

Yang Huili had heard his voice over the phone before but hadn’t seen him in person. Now that she had, she was overjoyed—all three of her sons were together again.

How could she not be happy?

Even the usually reserved Yu Qingbao was grinning all day.

This was Yu Xiang’an’s first time meeting Yu Manwu’s wife in person. Her name was Ding Xiang, and she was slightly plump, with a gentle demeanor.

She came from a rural family in Shanghai—completely different from Ruan Chenxi.

That was for the best. If he had married someone similar, it would’ve been awkward later on.

Yu Mansheng punched him lightly when he saw him. “After all this time, you finally remembered where home is! Did you forget which way the door opens?”

Yu Manchang followed up with a punch to his arm. “You brat. Keep looking forward.”

Yu Manwu smiled sheepishly. “I won’t do it again.”

Yu Xiang’an and Xu Xiaojuan kept Ding Xiang company.

Xu Xiaojuan introduced everything warmly. Faced with these two outstanding sisters-in-law, she had never acted timidly.

Though she had no education, no prestigious family background, and no high-status job, she had given birth to the family’s two grandsons—that was her confidence.

Her second brother and his wife wouldn’t have more children due to work, and her third brother might, but by then, her own children would already be grown.

With this confidence, she could hold her head high around her sisters-in-law.

Besides, she knew they wouldn’t stay at home for long. As long as she made these few days pleasant, everyone would be happy.

What had started as a family reunion had turned into a grand gathering.

Yu Manwu’s daughter was over a year old—adorable, with chubby cheeks, always smiling and good-tempered. Even if she fell while walking, she wouldn’t cry, just sit on the ground giggling, making everyone else laugh along.

Lin Yining adored this cute little sister.

How could such a round, sweet little thing not be loved? When held and teased, she would call her “sister” in the sweetest voice.

Lin Yining even started wishing her mother would have another little sister.

Yu Xiangyan was too busy to return. Yu Xiangqing had wanted to come when she heard the news, but she couldn’t get away and could only regretfully say she’d try next time.

Notably, the family’s return even made the newspapers. A social news segment interviewed them, featuring a photo of Yu Changxi’s entire family.

At the start of the reform era, few people had returned from abroad. But now, more and more were coming back—some to return to their roots, others to find relatives. This family’s return was emblematic of the trend.

They had also planned their livelihood. After resettling, the village intended to allocate them land. They wouldn’t be able to farm much this year, having been away from agriculture for so long, and would need time to relearn the skills. But if they had no other work, farming could sustain them.

However, since they had previously run a Chinese restaurant, they planned to return to that trade.

But there was no rush. They had just returned and were still getting their bearings. Their closest ties were with the Yu family—Yu Changxi still had her second brother and sister-in-law, and her nephews were all blood relatives. That was the closest bond they had.

Yu Changxi and Tian Dazhuang often visited Zhang Chahua and Yu Changyou to chat, and the older couple enjoyed their company.

They listened to her stories of their journey south, the hardships they endured abroad, and how they eventually built a life.

In turn, Yu Changxi listened to her sister-in-law and second brother recount events from their hometown.

Decades of separation meant there was much to catch up on. Even if they weren’t from the same commune, they were neighbors—geographically close.

Yu Xiang’an didn’t interact much with Great-Aunt Yu’s children.

She only spoke a little more with Great-Aunt Yu herself.

Her children—Yu Xiang’an’s uncles and cousins—could speak the local dialect, but with an accent. They probably couldn’t fully understand Yu Xiang’an and the others either.

Language barriers made communication difficult.

But if they decided to stay, it wouldn’t take long to adjust.

They visited often, and whenever Yu Xiang’an was around, she made sure to serve tea promptly.

As long as Zhang Chahua was happy, they were all welcome.

*

Yu Xiang’an hadn’t sold produce from her farm in a long time. By now, she no longer needed the income from selling those items, and time didn’t permit it either. So all the harvests were stored in the warehouse, which seemed bottomless—never filling up no matter how much was added.

Some of the fruits she harvested were directly fermented into wine and stored for future use.

She controlled the number of fish and ducks she raised because, unlike crops, they couldn’t be harvested or bred with a single command.

The stockpile in the warehouse grew larger and larger.

Just after returning from the family reunion, her farm leveled up.

This farm was a half-baked system—otherwise, it wouldn’t have started with only four types of fruit and no way to expand. After leveling up, no new crops were added, but a ranch was unlocked.

Now it’s upgraded again, but the variety still hasn’t increased. A new processing workshop has appeared.

Yu Xiang’an feels that this farm of hers can probably be upgraded one or two more times in the future.

She wonders what will appear next—a store, or something else?

She has already tried the processing workshop. She puts raw materials in, adjusts the data herself, presses the button to confirm, and after a while, the finished product is ready.

The processing time ranges from fifteen minutes to twenty-four hours.

This time, she put some grapes in and chose to process them into wine, setting the fermentation time to twelve hours.

Previously, she had chosen to make raisins, which took half an hour.

Turning beef into beef jerky took forty minutes.

The taste was pretty good because the recipe and time were all decided by her—it was essentially her own creation, with familiar flavors.

One important aspect is that the processing here isn’t limited to materials from the farm. Things she brings in from outside can also be used.

Lin Chuanbai really likes this feature. Whenever he has free time, he happily comes in to experiment.

Sometimes he makes medicinal wine, sometimes processes herbs, and sometimes prepares food—like a big boy with a new toy, he can’t get enough of it.

However, the two of them have to avoid being seen when they go in.

To keep the twins from finding out what they’re up to, they come up with different excuses every day to send them out.

By the time Lin Chuanbai has had his fill of experimenting, they slow down the frequency of their visits. But by then, Yu Xiang’an’s warehouse is already packed with processed goods.

One day, when the twins returned home, they found the cabinets filled with all kinds of beef jerky—five-spice, spicy, fruit-flavored, air-dried, hand-shredded…

It was overwhelming.

Lin Yining loved beef jerky and knew exactly how much they usually had at home. Seeing so much now, she jumped for joy and cheered, “Mom, you made so much beef jerky!”

Yu Xiang’an replied seriously, “Enjoy it.”

In reality, most of it was made by Lin Chuanbai, and he had even tweaked some of the recipes himself. Some flavors might be… unusual, possibly leading to some “surprising” tastes.

Besides beef jerky, the fridge was also stocked with juices—grape, pear, and apple.

Lin Yihong took out a pack of five-spice beef jerky, chewed on a piece, then grabbed two juice bottles from the fridge—grape for himself and apple for Lin Yining.

Lin Chuanbai cleared his throat and said, “We made too much beef jerky. Take some to school tomorrow and share it with your friends.”

That way, it would be consumed faster.

The twins agreed. The next day, they each brought a few packs to school. During break time, Lin Yining shared hers with Wang Lipan and his chubby deskmate.

The little chubby boy took a piece, chewed, and said without missing a beat, “Your mom made this again, right? It’s so good! My mom tried making pork jerky once, and it was such a waste—we had to force ourselves to finish it. But your mom’s stuff is different—you can’t stop at just one!”

Wang Lipan also opened a pack and took a bite. After chewing twice, his face froze in shock—the sourness hit him like a truck!

He immediately gulped down a huge mouthful of water. “Did your mom soak this beef jerky in vinegar?”

The chubby boy asked, “Sour? What flavor is this?”

Lin Yining checked the pack. “I haven’t tried this one yet, so I don’t know.” She took a small piece and popped it into her mouth—her face instantly scrunched up. So sour! And a little spicy too—sour-spicy beef jerky?

She had never tasted this before. It wasn’t good. Did Mom try a new recipe and fail?

(Yu Xiang’an: *My reputation is ruined.*)

Not wanting to waste food, Lin Yining forced herself to swallow it. “This must be a new flavor Mom was testing. Don’t waste it—I already took it out.” Who would eat it if she took it back?

Wang Lipan: “…”

Can I at least soak it in water first?

The chubby boy, who could handle sour flavors, took a bite and shrugged. “It’s a bit weird, but not that bad.”

Lin Yining pushed the whole pack toward him. “Then it’s yours now!”

She wanted the normal flavors!

***

Yu Xiang’an’s farm had upgraded, but Lin Chuanbai’s herb garden remained unchanged—except for the increasing number of medicinal plants and stored items.

After years of effort, he now had his own small lab in the garden. Though it lacked high-end equipment, the tools he had weren’t cheap either.

On the shelves were some finished products.

Now, Yu Xiang’an and Lin Chuanbai planned to turn some of these into profit.

From the beginning, Lin Chuanbai had been making skincare products for Yu Xiang’an—moisturizers, sunscreens, and more.

In the 1970s, such products were hard to come by. The supply and marketing cooperatives only sold basic items like clam oil and snow cream.

The market was still wide open, and Yu Xiang’an saw huge potential.

Lin Chuanbai dreamed of building a high-tech lab. Even excluding restricted equipment, the cost of other instruments was astronomical. The more income streams they had, the sooner his lab could become a reality.

Yu Xiang’an decided to register a new company called “Mei Yan” (Beauty) in Hong Kong, making it a foreign-funded enterprise.

Foreign businesses enjoyed many perks—free land, infrastructure support, tax breaks, and more.

With Yu Yegui’s help, the paperwork was quickly settled.

While waiting for product certifications and patents, she began negotiating for land with the government.

Yu Yegui was surprised by her efficiency. Intellectual property wasn’t a big focus domestically yet, and the process took time—most people wouldn’t bother.

By the time certifications and patents were approved, the factory construction would already be underway.

When Clayton heard about her new venture, he approached her. “Yu, can I join in? You know supermarkets have skincare and cosmetics sections.”

“I trust your products. I won’t interfere with management, and I can help with sales later. We’ll make great partners.”

For example, setting up counters in his supermarkets—though that would depend on how well the products performed. Overseas, his uncle wouldn’t allow subpar items.

Yu Xiang’an agreed.

He invested capital and secured distribution channels, taking a 10% stake.

Seeing Yu Xiang’an dive into yet another industry, Yu Mansheng started wondering if he should expand too.

Currently, his business was limited to construction and real estate—fairly monotonous. But after some thought, he realized branching out wasn’t easy without expertise or formulas.

When Yu Xiang’an heard his thoughts, she asked, “What about hotels? Office buildings? Or shopping malls with entertainment?”

Yu Mansheng had one doubt: “Will there really be enough customers?”

“Look around—how many bosses wear gold chains and fur coats now? Have any of your properties gone unsold? Can’t we afford these things ourselves? People might hesitate normally, but for business or showing off, wouldn’t they spend?”

“Things change every year. Remember how remote my land was when I bought it? Now look at it. If you’re interested, start planning now. By the time construction finishes, the market will be ready.”