When the Revitalize smartphones first appeared in the Chinese market, Chu Xia bought two and brought them back, considering it as supporting her son's company.
At this time, only Revitalize was capable of producing smartphones domestically, and they were independently developed.
It has been several years ahead since the last popular smartphone brand in China from the previous era.
Of course, the smartphone market in China was still chaotic at this time, with various counterfeit phones. Companies like Revitalize, which independently developed and had their own branded phones, were the only ones.
Mainly, Revitalize had developed its own chips and had been closely following the international development of smartphones.
In 1993, the first smartphone appeared in foreign countries, and foreign mobile phone companies continued to develop their own mobile technology.
Cen Huai'an and Bangzi planned to open a similar company, and they were well aware of this information. They were determined, especially until Cen Huai'an successfully developed the chip.
It was only when other research teams at Revitalize successfully developed smartphones that the pressure eased a bit.
Chu Xia knew that the journey of Cen Huai'an's company in developing smartphones would not be smooth, but she couldn't provide much help.
However, when the company needed money, she would organize her assets and invest in Cen Huai'an's research.
While Cen Huai'an and his team worked day and night on their research, she occasionally ordered delicious food from private kitchens and sent it over, along with homemade tonics and health supplements.
Everyone at Revitalize knew that Cen Huai'an had a caring mother, and they all knew Chu Xia, liking the aunt who often brought them delicious food.
In fact, they felt a bit guilty calling her "aunt" because Chu Xia was too young. The first time she brought food, Cen Huai'an's colleagues mistook her for his sister.
When Cen Huai'an looked up and called her "mom," everyone in the lab was shocked and couldn't say a word.
The usually rough and laid-back laboratory researchers became shy lambs in front of Chu Xia.
They politely addressed her as "aunt," took the food she distributed, and when talking to her, their usually thick-skinned faces turned red.
Cen Huai'an felt embarrassed by the behavior of his researchers.
Although his mom loved his dad the most and there was no chance for these people to get close to her, he still found their behavior annoying.
As soon as Chu Xia finished distributing the food, he immediately took her away.
When Cen Huai'an returned, he quietly assigned a lot of tasks to the researchers who had blushed earlier.
As Chu Xia visited more often, everyone got used to it, but sometimes people still got unintentionally surprised by Chu Xia's appearance.
***
Chu Xia was tinkering with her smartphone when Cen Zhengnian returned home from work. Immediately, Chu Xia held up her phone and said to him, "Smile for a photo."
Cen Zhengnian subconsciously followed her voice and smiled a little. With a crisp "click" sound, Chu Xia looked down at the photo that appeared on her smartphone.
Cen Zhengnian had a smiling face, an elegant temperament, and didn't appear greasy despite his age. On the contrary, he exuded more mature charm.
"Come and take a look. Do you think I captured you well?"
Chu Xia really liked this candid shot, capturing Cen Zhengnian's authentic appearance, along with the natural and upright demeanor that had developed over time in the research institute.
Cen Zhengnian walked over, lowered his head to look at the photo, and saw the most common side of himself facing Chu Xia.
Unlike the tense atmosphere in the research institute, he seemed a bit more relaxed in the photo. However, due to habit, his back remained straight.
He nodded with a smile, "Not bad. But is this a smartphone? Did you buy it from abroad?"
Although Cen Zhengnian was not involved in semiconductor research and did not work in the communications industry, he would subconsciously pay attention because Cen Huai'an was in that industry. He had seen the item in Chu Xia's hands through foreign news.
"No."
Chu Xia teased him, letting him guess where she bought it.
Cen Zhengnian took the phone, saw the familiar brand logo, and burst into laughter. Looking at Chu Xia, he said, "Is it the new product from An'an's company?"
Chu Xia nodded, "Just launched. I purposely bought it to support their company."
In fact, if Chu Xia wanted, considering the amount she invested, she would have become a shareholder in Revitalize Technology a long time ago.
But Chu Xia didn't want to get involved in her son and Bangzi's business. The money was considered a loan to Cen Huai'an, allowing him to invest in the company himself.
As the company started making money, Cen Huai'an returned the principal and interest to Chu Xia, depositing the entire amount into her bank account, which he then handed over to her.
Apart from the money Chu Xia earned herself, Cen Huai'an would transfer money to that bank account every month.
Chu Xia has never checked how much money she has; she only knows that she isn't lacking funds for personal expenses. She allows Cen Huai'an to take what he needs on his own.
Chu Xia handed the phone she bought for Cen Zhengnian to him.
She held her white phone and Cen Zhengnian's black phone together, smiling charmingly, "Doesn't it look like couple phones? I deliberately chose them."
Cen Zhengnian didn't care about what phone to use; he usually only used it to contact family, and the pager worked just fine for him.
But hearing Chu Xia say that, he looked at the black phone and inexplicably developed a liking for it.
Cen Zhengnian picked up the phone and, after playing with it for a while, figured out how to use it. He couldn't make use of most of the features, but he could tell how much progress this phone had made compared to the pager.
"How is it? An'an's company did a good job with this phone, right?"
Chu Xia was extremely proud; this was a phone made by Cen Huai'an's company. She even had plans to buy a few more, one for each of her close ones.
Cen Zhengnian looked at Chu Xia's proud expression and nodded with a smile, "Excellent."
Chu Xia became even happier, holding the phone and telling Cen Zhengnian about various interesting apps she found on it.
Cen Zhengnian sat beside her, patiently listening, responding to her, and discussing areas where the phone could be further improved.
Listening to Chu Xia's voice, the smile in Cen Zhengnian's eyes never disappeared. It persisted even when Chu Xia said she was tired and pulled Cen Zhengnian to cook, his lips still carrying a smile.
Outside, the cold wind was biting, making tree branches seem as if they were about to break. Inside, there was a warm atmosphere. Chu Xia stood in front of the refrigerator, holding a piece of cured meat, asking him if he wanted to eat it today.
Cen Zhengnian: "Sure."
Three meals, four seasons, the warmth of life.
Accompanied by the one they loved, doing what they enjoyed, Cen Zhengnian's lifelong pursuit was no more than this.