"Successfully, Brother Junhui took me to buy a watch and a piece of red fabric so I could make a new outfit."

Huang Qinqin suddenly felt a little reserved and nervous in front of Zhang Yumei. Before she and Xu Junhui had even met, she had gotten along quite easily with Zhang Yumei.

But now she was inexplicably nervous, so she answered whatever Zhang Yumei asked.

Xu Junhui found it somewhat amusing to see Huang Qinqin sitting so upright; she looked like a primary school student, sitting obediently waiting for the teacher to arrive.

Seeing that the atmosphere between them was a bit awkward, Xu Junhui simply sat down next to them.

"Mom, Qinqin's parents said they'll come over for dinner in a few days when they have some time off. You might need to prepare in advance."

Zhang Yumei's reaction was the same as Xu Junhui's, happy and excited: "Really? That's wonderful! Actually, we should have invited our in-laws over. Oh dear, we hadn't even thought of that!"

He gently asked Huang Qinqin, "Qinqin, what kind of dishes do you and your family like to eat?"

"Tell Auntie, and she'll cook for you! Just tell her what you want to eat, and she'll try her best to make it."

When the topic of food came up, Huang Qinqin suddenly stopped being nervous, and a long list of dishes flashed through her mind.

However, when it came out, it became: "Anything is fine, we're not picky eaters, Auntie, you can cook whatever you want."

Huang Qinqin felt this was the safest answer; she didn't want her future mother-in-law to think she was greedy, which would be too immature.

Zhang Yumei thought Huang Qinqin might be shy, so she continued, "Even if you're not picky about food, you still have preferences. Don't be shy, just say it."

"Even if you don't say anything, you'll still buy just as many groceries. Buying groceries and cooking them in your favorite way is always better than just cooking whatever, don't you think?"

It seems to make a lot of sense, but Huang Qinqin still feels like something's not quite right (●′ω｀●)

After Zhang Yumei said that, Huang Qinqin had no choice but to name a few common dishes that her family actually liked.

"Okay, then let's have a tomato and egg stir-fry and a pork liver and wolfberry leaf soup. My family really likes these two dishes."

Zhang Yumei frowned as she listened, not because she felt Huang Qinqin was talking too much, but because she felt Huang Qinqin wasn't telling the truth, since both dishes were relatively inexpensive.

She simply took matters into her own hands: "These are too bland. How about we cook some sweet and sour pork or braised pork belly? Or maybe crab? Do you like crab?"

"I heard that in a few days, a batch of crabs will be available for sale at the market, and no tickets are required!"

Huang Qinqin had also heard about it, but although no tickets were needed, the price was still very expensive. Huang Qinqin's family had bought crabs once before, and although they tasted very delicious.

However, there was simply too little meat! So after buying crabs once, Huang Qinqin's family never bought them again.

In Chen Zhaodi's words, why not just buy pork or chicken for the same price?

Since you don't need a ticket anyway, why not just buy fish? Crabs have a lot of shells and little meat, and they're expensive, so it's not worth it at all.

Huang Qinqin quickly shook her head and refused: "Auntie, no need for crabs, my family doesn't really like eating crabs."

"Alright then, I'll..."

"If it wasn't your family who took it, then whose would it be?!"

"Your family is the poorest in the whole compound. You only have one worker, and your daughter-in-law is sickly!"

"You must have stolen my meat! Give it back to me right now, or I'll make you pay!"

Huang Qinqin's attention was involuntarily drawn to the arguing sounds coming from the neighboring courtyard.

However, since it wasn't at home, I had to suppress my desire to join in the fun.

Like Huang Qinqin, Zhang Yumei was also eager to go to the wall to see what had happened.

But I was worried that Huang Qinqin, being a young girl, wouldn't like to join in the fun, and that she might think I was too gossipy, so I didn't do anything.

But both of them involuntarily leaned their bodies, wanting to hear more clearly.

Xu Junhui couldn't help but laugh when he saw how curious the two of them were, yet both were too embarrassed to go over and join the fun.

He simply spoke up for them: "Why don't we go over and see what happened? After all, we're neighbors, and it's always good to show some concern for neighborly relations."

Huang Qinqin thought Xu Junhui was really smart!

Yes, they were just showing concern for their neighbors, not trying to get involved in any trouble! (° ? °)??° Oh ho!

When Zhang Yumei saw that Huang Qinqin not only didn't feel disgusted after listening, but instead looked excited, she knew that Huang Qinqin also wanted to join in the fun.

He took Huang Qinqin's hand, the two looked at each other, and ran towards the wall in tacit agreement.

We've seen that look in each other's eyes, we're both gossip lovers!

Huang Qinqin was initially curious about the large stones placed at the base of the walls on both sides of the Xu family's house. She wondered why there were so many stones in the yard.

Now she understands, it was all just for the convenience of watching the excitement!

Sure enough, what's ingrained in our blood is the same for everyone; regardless of age or gender, everyone loves to join in the fun.

They stood on the rock, just enough to peek out and see what was happening next door. It was perfect – they could watch the commotion without it being too obvious.

"Nonsense! Our family may be poor, but we have never taken anything from anyone else!"

An auntie, whose clothes were covered in patches and faded, retorted loudly.

Zhang Yumei quietly introduced to Huang Qinqin: "This is Aunt Qin. There are five people in her family: her son and daughter-in-law, a grandson, and Uncle Qin."

The aunt standing opposite Aunt Qin said fiercely, "You think you can just say you didn't take it and therefore you didn't?!"

"The meat I bought is gone. If you didn't take it, do you think I hid it and deliberately framed you?!"

"A family of short-lived fools! Bah! Hand over the meat now, or I'm afraid you'll have the chance to eat it but not the chance to enjoy it!"

Zhang Yumei continued her off-site commentary: "This is Aunt Hu. She has three sons, and she's involved in almost every argument."

"However, many times, after arguing for a while, we find out that it was Aunt Hu who was just being unreasonable."

Aunt Qin was furious at Aunt Hu's words and wanted nothing more than to hit her. However, she was also afraid that Aunt Hu would try to extort money from her. She had been extorted by Aunt Hu several times before.

Now all we can do is watch helplessly.

Aunt Hu continued, "If you didn't take it, let me go in and look for it. We'll know right away if you do!"

The onlookers chimed in, "That's right, if you didn't take it, just let her go in and look for it."

"Exactly, exactly. A clear conscience fears no accusation. A quick search will reveal who's lying."

Seeing how easily the others spoke, Aunt Qin simply threw the question back at them.

"Why should I let you into my house? If that's the case, does that mean I can just say someone took my things and walk into their house?!"

Do you all feel the same way?