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"Hongjun, is your mom... doing well in there?"
Li's old man's question abruptly silenced the laughter in the room.
Li Hongjun and his wife exchanged glances and finally decided to tell the truth, "Dad, I visited my mom once since last Chinese New Year; she seemed fine to me, and she looked quite healthy." He spoke rather tactfully; the way Qiu Shuping had been cursing then, she indeed seemed very well.
"This, it's been almost a year, haven't you gone to see her again?" Li's old man was somewhat displeased. What kind of son does this?
Once again, the room fell silent, with the children sneakily glancing around at one another, all unanimously keeping quiet.
"Dad, you know as well as anyone that Hongjun is a soldier; he doesn't have the freedom to come and go whenever he pleases. And he just got stationed in a new place; of course, he needs to work hard to secure his footing first..." Li Xianglian tried hard to explain to her own father.
