Without waiting for Song Ze to greet her, Qin Jiajia sat down opposite him as if they were old friends.

Seeing this, Liu Xiaoying, who was following behind her, quickly sat down as well.

"Brother Song Ze, I knew you would come to the state-run restaurant for dinner. Why didn't you wait for me when you left this morning? I had to walk all the way here, and my legs are almost worn out," Qin Jiajia complained about Song Ze's misdeeds, rubbing her sore legs under the table.

Song Ze had originally intended to stop her when she was about to sit down, but then he suddenly remembered Xia Qingqing chatting happily with someone in the corner, and swallowed back the words he was about to say.

Song Ze wanted to see Xia Qingqing's reaction, but he met her gaze and quickly turned his head back.

Qin Jiajia nudged Liu Xiaoying, who was sitting quietly to the side, and said, "Xiaoying, go order two dishes. I'll give you the money later."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xiaoying obediently got up and walked towards the window. After ordering her food, she promptly paid the bill and wasn't worried at all that Qin Jiajia wouldn't give her the extra money later.

Xia Qingqing watched Qin Jiajia and Song Ze sitting at the same table. When she thought of Qin Jiajia saying that she and Song Ze were childhood sweethearts, she felt a little uneasy. But when she realized that something was wrong with her, she immediately dismissed the thought.

Qin Jiajia rested her chin on her hand and looked at Song Ze, pleading, "Brother Song Ze, could you take me home on your bicycle later? I'm exhausted from walking all this way."

Song Ze glanced at her indifferently: "Didn't you come with Liu Xiaoying?"

"It's okay, Xiaoying can walk back by herself. My feet really hurt, so please give me a ride back," Qin Jiajia said, trying to pull at Song Ze's clothes.

Song Ze yanked his clothes back: "No, go back the way you came."

Without paying any more attention to Qin Jiajia, he picked up a large piece of braised pork and put it in his mouth.

Qin Jiajia noticed that Song Ze's gaze kept drifting in a certain direction. Curious, she looked up and immediately spotted the country bumpkin and the village girl sitting in the corner.

"Brother Song Ze, why are you always looking at those two annoying guys?" Qin Jiajia stared with wide eyes, her face very unpleasant.

Song Ze was surprised that Qin Jiajia would notice him peeking at Xia Qingqing. He glanced guiltily at the corner and breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that Xia Qingqing hadn't heard what Qin Jiajia said.

"I don't think that's any of your business. Just mind your own business."

Qin Jiajia said somewhat indignantly, "It's all because of those two nasty kids that I didn't get a ride on the oxcart this morning. That Xia Qingqing must be having an affair with that country bumpkin, otherwise why would he save her a seat? You agree, right, Xiaoying?"

Liu Xiaoying quickly put food into her bowl, and when she heard Qin Jiajia call her, she mumbled incoherently, "Yes, that's right, that's it."

Qin Jiajia, feeling smug after receiving approval, looked at Song Ze suspiciously and asked, "Brother Song Ze, are you very familiar with that village girl?"

Xia Qingqing clearly promised her that she would stay away from Song Ze, so is she lying to her while pretending to be compliant?

When Song Ze heard that Zhang Jianguo had actually saved a seat for Xia Qingqing, the veins on his hand holding the chopsticks bulged, and he said somewhat angrily, "We're not familiar with each other!"

He wasn't familiar with Xia Qingqing at all; she ignored him now and did everything with Zhang Jianguo.

Qin Jiajia was unaware that Song Ze was just saying those hurtful things. She was actually quite happy to hear him say that. She thought the village girl was sensible, so she would reluctantly stop bothering her.

......

Because they had to drive the oxcart, Xia Qingqing and Zhang Jianguo ate quickly and left the state-run restaurant together after finishing their meal.

Song Ze had already finished eating, but he had been waiting here because Xia Qingqing hadn't left. Seeing that Xia Qingqing had left, he quickly followed her.

"Qin Jiajia, you guys enjoy your meal. I have something to do, so I'll be leaving now."

"Brother Song Ze, wait a minute!" Before Qin Jiajia could stop him, Song Ze had already disappeared from sight.

Seeing Liu Xiaoying still eating, he subconsciously vented his anger on her: "Xiaoying, all you know is eating, eat, eat! Didn't you see that Brother Song Ze has already left?"

Liu Xiaoying was used to her doing this every now and then, and took her hand to comfort her, saying, "Oh, Jiajia, you don't understand. Men don't like women always clinging to them. You just finished eating with Comrade Song, so you should separate for a while. Distance makes the heart grow fonder."

"Is that so? What you said makes some sense. I haven't been to see Song Ze much these past two days, and he seemed to be treating me a little better today," Qin Jiajia said, carefully considering Liu Xiaoying's words.

Liu Xiaoying put the last piece of braised pork into her mouth, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and said, "Let's go too. Jiajia, don't you still have to go to the post office to pick up a package? We need to hurry up, we still have to walk back later."

When Qin Jiajia heard that she had to walk back, she became completely dejected, looking utterly hopeless.

——

After Xia Qingqing returned home, she was caught by Zhang Hongyan, who anxiously asked her about the outcome of her date that day.

"Mom, Zhang Jianguo and I didn't work out. He didn't like me, and I didn't like him either," Xia Qingqing calmly said, uttering the words she had prepared long ago.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hongyan immediately became anxious: "How could you not have your eye on him? Jianguo is such a good kid. Your standards are too high."

"Oh dear, Mom, you only listen to half of what I say. That's why they didn't even like me."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hongyan felt immediately indignant: "What kind of taste does Zhang Jianguo have? My daughter is so beautiful and a high school student, and he doesn't even like her. Does he want to be a bachelor for the rest of his life?"

When Xia Qingqing heard her mother start making personal attacks, she immediately stopped her: "It's not that exaggerated. These things are all about fate. Zhang Jianguo and I are not meant to be. Forcing us to be together wouldn't have a good outcome."

Zhang Hongyan's eyes twitched as she listened to Yuan Bu Yuan's words, her tone tinged with helplessness: "Fine, since you don't like it, then Mom will find you someone else."

When Xia Heping went to bed that night, he heard his wife sighing and saying, "What's wrong? Aren't you going to sleep?"

Seeing the man's lifeless state, Zhang Hongyan kicked him, saying, "Sleep, sleep, all you know is sleeping! You don't care at all about our daughter's marriage."

Xia Heping huddled in the corner, feeling wronged: "How could I not care? It's just that Qingqing doesn't like guys like Jianguo. I told you long ago that our Qingqing likes pretty boys like Xiao Song, but you didn't believe me."

"Although Jianguo is tall, he is a bit dark-skinned, and his face is not as good-looking as Xiao Song's," Xia Heping said sincerely.

Zhang Jianguo: Uncle Heping, are you being polite?

Zhang Hongyan glared at her husband and said angrily, "Shut up! I don't agree to Qingqing marrying an educated youth. You can't go around saying this. If you ruin Qingqing's reputation, I'll show you why flowers are so red."