A New Dawn for the Whitlocks Chapter 31

The drizzle was falling, and the iconic Hagia Sophia in Harbin stood quietly in the twilight rain. Siweilou has been remodeled into a combination of Chinese and Western styles, and it is no longer the shabby appearance of the Shandong Hotel. The only thing that remains unchanged is that the hotel is still full of guests and business is booming.

Xiu'er hurried out of the restaurant in the drizzle holding an umbrella, and looked around at the intersection. In a covered carriage in the distance, Lily Summers lifted the curtain of the canopy and called out, "Xiu'er, you're here!" Xiu'er ran over and got on the carriage, asking, "What's the matter? Why did you call me out? It would be great if we could go home and talk. Your parents miss you so much." Lily Summers said, "Let's talk slowly in the carriage." Xiu'er said, "Why are you getting in this carriage on such a rainy day? Is there anything you can't say at home?" Lily Summers said, "Don't you feel that the situation has been tense these past two days? The government troops and police everywhere seem to have smoked opium, their eyes are shiny, and they look at everyone with a second glance. I'm afraid I'll cause trouble for my family if I go home." Xiu'er nodded and said, "It's true. There are so many people in the hotel all day long. Several groups of police, what happened?" Lily Summers said: "I also want to ask you, Ethan Whitlock hasn't come back these two days?" Xiu'er said: "He is still in Peking, and there has been no letter these two days." Lily Summers was silent for a moment and said: "If Ethan Whitlock was at home, he might know what happened." Xiu'er said: "You came here for this matter?" Lily Summers said: "There is one more thing. The eighth day of next month is our father's sixty-sixth birthday. As the old saying goes, on the fifty-fifth, the King of Hell comes to count, and on the sixty-sixth, a piece of meat. It means that a girl should buy a piece of meat for the old man on his sixty-sixth birthday to avoid disasters and misfortunes. It is not convenient for me to go back, so you can do it for your sister."

Xiu'er said, "Sister, you are very considerate." Lily Summers smiled, handed Xiu'er a package and said, "This is eighty dollars, I give it to our father as a gift." Xiu'er said, "Then I will accept it for our father." Lily Summers took out another small package and said, "This is for having a child, you can give it to Sister Wen. You and Ethan Whitlock don't have a child yet?" Xiu'er said, "He is still the same, he doesn't stay at home when he comes home, he just goes to see our father and mother and leaves." Lily Summers sighed and said, "Well, when will he be able to restrain his donkey temper?" Xiu'er said, "Let's just live like this, it's been so many years."

Lily Summers said, "Sister, when I see him one day, I will make sure everything is clear to me. If he doesn't turn around, I will never see him again in my life." Xiu'er said, "Sister, that's not necessary." Lily Summers said, "Sister, just listen to me. I will make the decision." The coachman suddenly cracked his whip with a crisp sound. Lily Summers said, "Something has happened. I have to leave first and won't take you back." Xiu'er got off the carriage and they said goodbye.

The Zhu family was having dinner. Wen's mother kept adding food to her grandson Shengzi's bowl, until the bowl was bulging out. Aiden Whitlock said, "Mom, don't spoil him. A foreigner came to the restaurant the other day, and they said foreigners don't let their children eat too much." Connor Whitlock glared and said, "We are Chinese, don't listen to their nonsense. Come on, dear grandson, eat it all." Then he picked up a big piece of meat for Shengzi. Wen's mother asked Nawen, "Daughter-in-law, Xiu'er left without telling you?" Nawen said, "Mom, the guys said she just received a phone call, and she left in a hurry without saying anything." Wen's mother said, "She didn't say where she was going?" Nawen said, "No." Shengzi interrupted and said, "Mom, my second aunt took an umbrella and left."