118: Depart for Hanoi

He thoroughly enjoyed the coolness of the breeze on his bottom in the river bend.

In hot weather, there was nothing more comfortable than soaking in water. If there had to be something even better, it would be adding two delicate, beautiful women to the water.

Li Qinghe returned to the car with Nguyen Thi Linh and Nguyen Thi Trinh, who were a bit weak in the legs. Watching the two girls walk unsteadily, Li Qinghe thought they must have been exhausted from swimming, as moving in the water required constant leg work.

Swimming until one's legs were weak was a very reasonable explanation, and Li Qinghe believed this deduction.

When they drove back to the corrugated iron house, they found that under the workers' operation, the entire corrugated iron house had been reduced by half and appeared at the edge of the land.

All the furniture from the house was piled inside, and a kitchen had even been set up. This would also serve as the construction site's kitchen for the workers to cook their own meals.

The original location of the corrugated iron house had been completely dug up by the excavator, with the ground lowered by more than a meter.

With a length and width of 10 meters by 20 meters, covering an area of 200 square meters, it was enough to build a very spacious house.

The improvement in construction efficiency brought by engineering machinery was earth-shattering.

In just one morning, the entire plot of land had been leveled.

Ho Anh Tuan was on site throughout, directing the workers to transport the materials needed for the foundation into a shed, ensuring that even if it rained, these materials would not get wet.

"Boss Hu, I'll have to trouble you to put more effort into the subsequent work. We'll be sending a batch of fresh fruits every two days, so everyone can enjoy them without worry."

Li Qinghe shook hands with Ho Anh Tuan, gesturing towards the fruits in the shed.

"Boss Li, you're too kind," Ho Anh Tuan said with a smile, having never met a client so generous.

He understood very well what Li Qinghe wanted to express.

Li Qinghe had done his part, so the remaining task of building the house was up to Ho Anh Tuan.

Ho Anh Tuan's main priority in all this bustling activity was to earn money.

Given that Li Qinghe had promptly transferred 1 billion vietnamese dong right after signing the contract, Ho Anh Tuan knew that as long as he did a good job, Li Qinghe would not treat him unfairly.

After exchanging pleasantries with Ho Anh Tuan for a while, Li Qinghe politely declined Ho Anh Tuan's invitation to stay for lunch. The food at the construction site was merely enough to fill one's stomach, and Li Qinghe didn't want to shortchange himself in that regard.

He turned to Tran Thi Bao Anh, calling her to get in the car. They still needed to rush back to the county town for lunch. Tran Thi Bao Anh's cooking skills were quite good, and she was quick. With the help of Nguyen Thi Linh and Nguyen Thi Trinh, cooking would be done very quickly.

During lunch, Li Qinghe mentioned his plan to take Nguyen Thi Linh and Nguyen Thi Trinh back to Hanoi tomorrow.

Tran Thi Bao Anh paused for a moment, then said she would buy more good dishes in the afternoon so the family could have a nice dinner together that evening.

After lunch, Li Qinghe took Nguyen Thi Linh out for a big shopping trip. They also needed to bring back some Nghe An specialties. After all, a trip always called for some souvenirs.

Finally, at Xiangyang County's largest market, they bought a batch of local specialty pork liver pâté and shrimp paste. These pastes could be mixed with noodles or spread in baguettes.

They also vacuum-packed a batch of crab cakes, which were golden-brown pancakes made with rice batter wrapped around crab meat and mantis shrimp meat, and tasted excellent.

Finally, in a corner of the market, they spotted some very distinctive rattan furniture. Li Qinghe bought more than a dozen woven fruit plates and storage baskets, filling the Wrangler's trunk to the brim.

That evening, Nguyen Shi Shui and Nguyen Tan Minh both returned to their new home. The dazzling array of dishes on the table made their eyes widen.

Nguyen Shi Shui even thought it was some kind of holiday and happily prepared to sneak some food, but when she heard Nguyen Thi Linh say they were going back to Hanoi tomorrow, the little girl burst into tears.

She had been very happy to see that Li Qinghe had rented a house in the county town and wanted to cultivate more feelings with him, but now he was going back to Hanoi, and she didn't know when they would meet again.

Before dinner, Nguyen Shi Shui, with teary eyes, held Li Qinghe's hand, crying and asking him to remember to come back and see her whenever he had time, making it seem as if the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were to meet only after a long time.

Li Qinghe promised her and also said that Nguyen Shi Shui could come to Hanoi to play during her holidays.

Nguyen Thi Linh and Nguyen Thi Trinh, standing by, also tried their best to comfort her.

The little girl's emotions came and went quickly. When Tran Thi Bao Anh called everyone for dinner, Nguyen Shi Shui was already sitting cheerfully at the dining table, holding her bowl, eagerly watching the large spread of dishes, waiting for the meal to begin.

After dinner, Nguyen Tan Minh was in a hurry to go to his tutoring class and still wasn't staying at home. Li Qinghe urged him to study hard and to call him if he needed any study materials or tutoring fees.

Nguyen Tan Minh left with gratitude towards his brother-in-law.

And ever since dinner, Nguyen Shi Shui had monopolized one of Li Qinghe's arms.

By the looks of it, she intended to hold on until tomorrow morning.

Seeing that Li Qinghe didn't resist, Tran Thi Bao Anh let her be.

But then, that girl Nguyen Shi Shui, in the evening, huh? While hugging, she fell asleep soundly on Li Qinghe's arm.

Li Qinghe gently carried her to the bed in the third-floor bedroom.

After their afternoon of swimming and playing in the river bend together, Nguyen Thi Linh and Nguyen Thi Trinh naturally stayed in the same room.

That night, Li Qinghe once again enjoyed the treatment of having his eyes covered with silk ribbons. Although she would be returning to Hanoi with Li Qinghe, Nguyen Thi Linh was still very enthusiastic today, making Nguyen Thi Trinh next to her feel inadequate.

The next morning, Nguyen Shi Shui, who woke up early to go to school, still wanted to come to the room to have a goodbye ceremony with Li Qinghe.

But Tran Thi Bao Anh persuaded her otherwise.

So, when Li Qinghe woke up, he still found breakfast already prepared.

While eating breakfast, Li Qinghe asked Tran Thi Bao Anh if she could stay, she should take care of the two younger ones at home.

If she couldn't settle down, she could find a storefront nearby and open a shop she liked.

In Xiangyang County, there were still many untapped markets that no one had ventured into. Seeing Tran Thi Bao Anh hesitate for a while, she still didn't make a choice.

Li Qinghe didn't rush her for a decision but told her to think about it for a while longer. He would cover the household expenses, so Tran Thi Bao Anh didn't need to worry about money.

After Li Qinghe finished breakfast and reorganized his belongings, the Wrangler roared as it left Xiangyang County.

Nguyen Thi Trinh, leaving Xiangyang County for the first time, was full of curiosity. She knew her life had been rewritten, and her world had been rewritten too.

To prevent Nguyen Thi Trinh from being too bored sitting alone in the back, Nguyen Thi Linh also sat with her in the back seat.

Li Qinghe drove alone in the front, while the two girls in the back quietly discussed the driving, often bursting into laughter.

With Nguyen Thi Linh's companionship, Nguyen Thi Trinh's homesickness was greatly alleviated, and before they knew it, they had driven into Thanh Hoa Province.

Li Qinghe drove, telling them that after returning to Hanoi, he would have Nguyen Thi Linh and Nguyen Thi Trinh also learn to drive and get a driver's license.

In the future, when they went out, he would let the two of them take turns driving, while he would lie in the back seat like a master.

Nguyen Thi Linh gently fed him some purple-skinned cashews, a specialty of Nghe An. Nguyen Thi Trinh, finding it amusing, also clumsily tried to feed Li Qinghe.

However, on one stretch of road, due to a sudden large pothole, Li Qinghe braked sharply, and Nguyen Thi Trinh almost tumbled into his arms in the front seat.

To comfort the frightened girl, Li Qinghe turned the steering wheel onto a side road, and after a scenic drive, Nguyen Thi Trinh, like Nguyen Thi Linh last time, slept tiredly the whole way.

Because the road conditions ahead were more familiar, the return journey was driven a bit faster. After a five-hour drive, the red Wrangler parked below the house at Hoan Kiem Lake.

A beautiful figure was already standing at the door to welcome them.