Xu Changle looked around, trying to find familiar traces in the street scenes outside the car window.

He had left the country at age 5, yet still retained some impressions of Shangdu – his memory truly was better than most. Even passing Erqi Square, Xu Changle pointed at the Erqi Memorial Tower:

“This tower is different from before, it wasn’t this tall.”

Xia Xiaolan nodded, “Yes, I heard it was originally a wooden tower, only 15 meters tall. It was renovated in ’71 to become the current memorial tower.”

The original Erqi Memorial Tower was 15 meters tall with a wooden structure.

After the ’71 renovation, the tower reached 63 meters, built with reinforced concrete – naturally quite different.

Xu Changle lowered his head and smiled.

He had been taken to America by his parents in ’66, never seeing the later Erqi Memorial Tower. Seeing it so different from his memory, he couldn’t help but comment.

In 20 years, Shangdu had changed significantly – the streets, the scenery… Every familiar spot Xu Changle recognized brought him joy. Unlike Tina, he was born in Shangdu; this city felt intimate, giving him a sense of belonging.

This was completely different from Xu Zhongyi’s homesickness-induced anxiety.

Xu Changle wanted to see his grandmother quickly.

Regardless of their thoughts, they were getting closer to home bit by bit.

At the street corner, Xu Changle’s memories fully awakened, and he grew extremely excited:

“I lived here when I was little!”

Indeed, the house Grandmother Yu had held onto was where the family had once lived.

It had been confiscated by the state for a while and then returned.

Grandmother Yu could give up everything else but this house, firmly believing her son’s family would find their way back – Xu Zhongyi’s surgically altered face trembled; despite his intense emotions, this was all the expression he could manage.

The street was swept exceptionally clean.

Xia Xiaolan had wanted to mention that Grandmother Yu used to work as a street sweeper but thought better of agitating Xu Zhongyi.

She didn’t need to criticize him; Xu Zhongyi only needed to explain himself to Grandmother Yu.

Whether Grandmother Yu could forgive him wasn’t for Xia Xiaolan to decide.

Someone had laid out a red carpet on the clean street, with firecrackers along the sides. Xia Xiaolan suspected the street office had done this, treating Xu Zhongyi and his son like distinguished guests.

As several cars approached, someone shouted “They’re here!” and the firecrackers were lit, crackling loudly.

The firecrackers, of unknown quantity, lasted a full two minutes. When Xu Changle opened the car door, sparks hit his clothes, but he paid no attention, craning his neck to try to see his grandmother.

The firecracker smoke hadn’t cleared, and Xu Changle couldn’t see clearly.

“Dad?”

Xu Zhongyi took a deep breath and also got out.

Xia Xiaolan and Zhou Cheng naturally followed, with Zhou Cheng shielding Xia Xiaolan’s face and keeping her behind him, afraid the scattered firecrackers might hurt her.

“Quite the spectacle.”

Zhou Cheng cared only for his wife’s thoughts, not the Xu father and son.

If not for Grandmother Yu, why would he bother with Xu Zhongyi’s affairs?

Zhou Cheng didn’t know that at this moment, he shared the same thoughts as one of his fathers-in-law, Old Tang… wasn’t this a destined connection between in-laws?

As the firecracker smoke cleared.

A crowd rushed forward – street office staff, neighbors, and even people with no connection came to join the excitement.

But Xu Zhongyi stared at the house entrance, where a trembling elderly woman stood.

He had never seen his mother this close before, and only now realized how quickly she had aged.

Liu Fen supported Grandmother Yu, who held the doorframe with her other hand. The old woman tried to stand straight, straining to see who had stepped out of the car.

Was that her son?

He looked so different.

Even his way of walking had changed.

Before leaving the country, he had been a spirited young man; now mother and son met again under such circumstances.

But that was her son.

No matter how his appearance changed, a mother could always recognize her child.

And standing beside him was her grandson Changle… Liu Fen hadn’t explained everything clearly, only saying there had been some accident in Hong Kong, and that Xu Zhongyi and Xu Changle were returning.

“Zhongyi?”

Grandmother Yu called out tentatively. Xu Zhongyi pushed through the welcoming crowd, ran forward several steps, and immediately knelt before his mother.

“Mom, it’s me! I’m Zhongyi. I’ve been unfilial, making you suffer all these years!”

Xu Zhongyi knelt and kowtowed.

Liu Fen was startled, and the gathered neighbors fell silent.

Grandmother Yu’s face was streaked with tears.

“It’s good that you’re back, quickly get up, it’s good that you’re back…”

Xu Changle felt some uncertainty too.

In his memory, his grandmother had been younger, always well-groomed, with few wrinkles, and would not tolerate even a few white hairs among her black ones – she would either have his grandfather pluck them out or dye them black – but now before him stood an old woman with completely white hair.

Yes, he had seen her earlier in the San Francisco TV station interview and was mentally prepared.

But seeing her in person had a stronger impact.

Xu Changle stepped forward to support his grandmother’s other hand, “Grandmother, I’m Changle, Changle has come back to see you.”

The old woman’s vision was blurred by tears; she could barely see Xu Changle’s face.

The hand holding hers was trembling too.

The voice calling her was filled with genuine emotion; Grandmother Yu had no doubt this was her grandson Changle! This child had grown so tall, so big.

This pair of grandmother and grandson, this pair of mother and son, all three were crying.

Liu Fen had initially glared at Xu Changle, but when Grandmother Yu started crying, she cried too.

Crying is contagious, and some neighbors who had come just to watch the excitement found themselves tearing up as well:

“Ah, finally reunited after 20 years abroad, right?”

“No contact all these years, missed even his father’s passing… this Xu Zhongyi looks so different from before, like a completely different person.”

“Shh, stop talking, you’re making people cry more, everyone has their difficulties.”

“Is that Sister Yu’s grandson? I remember he was tiny when they left, just five or six, and now look how big he is.”

As the neighbors chattered, Xia Xiaolan saw how inappropriate it was for everyone to crowd around pointing and commenting, so she stepped forward to control the situation:

“Everyone, please listen. First, we thank you all for your concern. This reunion after 20 years is very moving, and Grandmother Yu and Uncle Xu are both very emotional. They can’t properly host everyone right now, so why don’t we give the family some private time? Once they’ve calmed down, they’ll surely invite all the neighbors for a proper gathering. What do you say?”

This was perfectly reasonable.

Previously, when Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen had rented Grandmother Yu’s house, they had claimed to be distant relatives.

Now with Xia Xiaolan making this decision, the neighbors couldn’t object and gradually dispersed, pushing and pulling each other away. People should be sensible – the Xu father and son had just returned after 20 years, they wouldn’t leave after just a short while, so why rush?

Zhou Cheng negotiated similarly with the street office staff.

After a while, only spent firecracker paper remained outside Grandmother Yu’s door, and with the onlookers gone, Xu Zhongyi still knelt, weeping with his head on the ground.