From the capital airport into the city, Gao Shen stared out the window the entire way.
After a long-haul flight, Su Qing and Gao Ming were both tired. Their eyes were closed, half-reclining as they rested. Only he remained leaning against the headrest, blankly watching the scenery flash by outside the window.
Even though he owned several properties in the capital, and despite having landed there many times when returning to China and having traveled this road countless times, he still felt an overwhelming sense of unfamiliarity.
But today, from the moment the plane touched down—or rather, strictly speaking, from the moment he boarded the flight in London—he had been fighting the urge to cry.
Su Qing and Gao Ming found his behavior strange, but they hadn't experienced what he had, so they couldn't understand.
Without having lived through those years, Gao Shen wouldn't feel what he was feeling now.
It was a completely different world.
When the plane landed and he stepped out to take his first breath of air, the feeling was simply wonderful.
Even after all these years, Gao Shen still remembered it clearly.
It was January 2020, just before the Lunar New Year.
After the company went on holiday, he embarked on a long-planned trip, accompanying his parents to the capital for the New Year.
It was a trip that he, his father, and his mother had looked forward to for a long time. He had to persuade his elderly parents many times before they finally agreed to go.
At the time, there were already some news reports from Jiangcheng in China, but nobody paid much attention.
They climbed the Great Wall, visited the Ming Tombs, toured the Forbidden City, watched the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square... They were originally planning to stay in the capital for over half a month, so his parents, who had only ever seen the capital on TV, could walk its streets, touch its landmarks, and truly experience it for themselves.
It was something he had always wanted to do as a son, but never got around to.
Then everything was abruptly cut short just before the Spring Festival.
News kept rolling in.
At first, they wanted to press on with the trip, since this was his parents' first-ever vacation.
But with flights and high-speed rail being cancelled and people beginning to sense the danger, even a McDonald's cashier subtly asked about their situation when they went out in the morning.
They started to panic.
They canceled their return flights for the Spring Festival and tried to grab tickets home before the New Year but couldn't get any.
Finally, on New Year's Eve itself, he managed to get three tickets to Hucheng, then transferred from there to return home.
That was his last trip before he transmigrated, and also the only trip his parents in his previous life ever took.
Two ordinary working-class people who had lived their whole lives in a small third- or fourth-tier city. Their first-ever trip ended like that.
Afterward, their experience was much like that of most others in China.
There was no dramatic tragedy like something out of a reality show. Under the government's protection, Gao Shen and his family remained safe. But Gao Shen always carried deep regret for that unfinished trip.
Even now, thinking back, he still felt immense regret.
Those who hadn't lived through those years couldn't understand Gao Shen's feelings at this very moment.
It was truly wonderful.
So wonderful, it made him want to cry.
Like a dream.
...
"What's wrong with you lately?"
Back at their home in the capital, after settling Gao Ming into bed, Su Qing slipped under the covers and hugged Gao Shen tightly. He could feel her entire body trembling.
As the person closest to him, she could sense the change in him.
A profound and unprecedented change.
Like just now, when he had been staring out the window and actually shed tears.
She was genuinely afraid.
She couldn't shake the feeling that Gao Shen was hiding something terrible from her.
"It's nothing. What could be wrong?" Gao Shen laughed, but it was clearly forced.
Those were memories deeply etched into his heart, like marks carved with a blade.
"Besides, didn't you just drag me to get a physical check-up? The doctor said I'm perfectly healthy. I'm not coaching anymore, I don't have any pressure, and I don't have anything weighing on me. What could be wrong?" he said reassuringly.
But Su Qing still felt that something wasn't right, even if she couldn't say exactly what.
Noticing that her arms were still tightly wrapped around him and her body slightly trembling, Gao Shen realized he had probably scared her quite a bit.
"Alright, I'll be honest. Actually, I'm just homesick."
"Homesick?"
"Mmm." Gao Shen chuckled, pretending to be embarrassed. "Sounds a bit silly, right?"
Seeing her skeptical expression, Gao Shen knew that such a perfunctory excuse wouldn't fool this smart woman. So he told her the story of what happened around the Spring Festival in his previous life, framing it as something he had read online and describing it in the third person.
"It was a story I came across online. About a family from a small, obscure city. But for some reason, it really struck a chord with me."
Unexpectedly, Su Qing felt relieved after hearing it.
"That's because we, like that family, are just ordinary people. We're just a bit more fortunate."
Gao Shen fully agreed with her.
He had always considered himself lucky.
Lucky to have transmigrated, lucky to have become Real Madrid's head coach, lucky to have everything he had now.
And the luckiest thing of all was that everything was peaceful now.
"Now you've made me a bit homesick too," Su Qing complained playfully.
"See? I told you." Gao Shen laughed.
...
Gao Shen was lucky.
Because when he and Su Qing felt homesick, they could immediately book pricey flights for the next day without blinking, choosing business class, and the family of three flew back home.
Their parents and in-laws had already been told they would return for the holidays. Originally, they planned to stay in the capital for a while, so the sudden change in schedule surprised them.
Especially Gao Shen.
As soon as he walked through the door and saw his parents, he rushed over and hugged them tightly, eyes red.
His parents were also caught off guard by this unusual behavior. In the end, Su Qing explained the situation, which finally put them at ease. They teased Gao Shen, calling him a greasy middle-aged man still acting like a child.
"Being a child is great! Haven't you always said, in a parent's heart, their child is always a child?"
Gao Shen's words almost made his mother swat him.
"Dad, tell me, is there somewhere you've always wanted to go?"
"Somewhere I've wanted to go?"
"Yeah."
"Like, I remember you once told me, when watching TV, that you wanted to go to the capital to watch the flag-raising ceremony. After that, you wanted to visit the ***..."
That was something many people from his father's generation dreamed of.
"Oh, silly boy, he's lived in the capital for so many years. Do you really think he hasn't gone?" his mother interrupted.
Right. The trip he had longed to complete in his previous life, the one that had been cut short, had already been done countless times in this life.
But Gao Shen still wasn't satisfied.
"I also remember you saying you had an aunt and a cousin in Hong Kong. You hadn't been in touch for many years, right?"
"Haha, we got back in touch a long time ago! One year, your mom and I, along with the Sus, flew to Hong Kong for the New Year. You guys were busy and didn't come back then."
Gao Shen was disappointed. That had been done too?
"What about Thailand? I remember when I was a kid, I overheard you joking with the neighbor, saying that if you had the chance, you'd go to Thailand to see that... that 'fairy'..."
Before he could finish, his mother almost slapped him, but his father quickly covered his mouth and cut in sharply.
"I never said that! Don't talk nonsense! Do I look like that kind of person?"
"Hmph, of course you don't. Even your son knows what men are like... hmph!"
"No, dear, when we traveled to Thailand that time, Old Su and I didn't mess around. We just looked, just to broaden our horizons..."
"What's so enlightening about that?"
"Hadn't we never seen it before?"
"Why would you even want to?"
"Curiosity."
"Curious about what?"
The two elders started arguing, and Gao Shen exchanged glances with Su Qing. She gave him a look that said, "This is your fault."
Gao Shen was also speechless.
And the trouble was only beginning—it was about to spill over to the Su family.
Because his mother was already on the phone, calling Su Qing's parents over.
"Dad, what's that 'fairy' you and Grandpa were talking about? Take me to see it too," Gao Ming, who had been quiet the whole time, suddenly piped up.
Su Qing immediately raised an eyebrow and glared at Gao Shen, on the verge of exploding.
Like father, like son.
"What's there to see? Come on, I'll take you out to play."
Gao Shen grabbed Gao Ming and dragged him away.
Seeing his son and grandson sneak off, Gao Jianguo, not wanting to be left behind, quickly followed.
Su Qing and Zhang Wenying were left fuming in the living room.
"My son was led astray by his dad," Zhang Wenying said angrily.
"Mine too," Su Qing added, full of resentment.
He's just a child!
...
The three men strolled around the community, stopping to greet this family and chat with that one. Everyday life surrounded them, filling the air with warmth.
They walked to a pavilion in a corner of the park, where Gao Shen and his father sat and chatted.
"Dad, after all these years, is there anything you've wanted to do?"
"Something I've wanted to do?"
"Yeah."
"Of course there is."
"Tell me."
"You know, at our age, most things don't really matter anymore. Sometimes I just think about staying healthy. That way we don't become a burden to you kids."
Gao Shen agreed. That was indeed true.
"I also wonder what kind of girl this kid will bring home in the future. I don't know if I'll still be around to see it." Gao Jianguo looked at Gao Ming, who was playing on his phone, and chuckled warmly.
"But if you ask me what I want most, it's actually very simple."
"Go on." Gao Shen listened intently.
"All these years, our family has grown from three people to five. And if you include the Sus, it's been over a decade now. Yet we've never had a proper New Year's Eve dinner together."
By the end, Gao Jianguo's eyes were a little red.
Clearly, this was something that had weighed on his mind for a long, long time.
They had shared New Year's Eve meals before, but it was always abroad. It never had that same atmosphere, that same warmth of being truly home.
Could that really be called a New Year's Eve dinner?
"I understand." Gao Shen nodded, heart heavy with guilt.
"This year, we'll make it happen."
"Really?" Gao Jianguo asked, surprised and emotional.
"Absolutely," Gao Shen said firmly.
(To be continued.)