"Well, it's almost lunchtime now. Let's start preparing the meal. You can help us with the cooking. Make sure you behave well at lunchtime, and we'll ask my parents what they think and what Yueyue thinks of you."

Ruan Ruan felt that the best course of action for now was to leave it at that. Actually, he thought Fu Mingyi and Huo Yue were a good match, but he didn't know what Huo Yue thought.

"Okay, thank you, sister-in-law," Fu Mingyi said happily, bowing deeply to Ruan Ruan.

"You want to send me away?" Ruan Ruan was stunned by his actions. People these days are so...

"Who are you calling sister-in-law? It's not even close to happening yet! Come on over and get to work!" With that, she pulled Fu Mingyi to the backyard to continue tidying up.

Seeing that they were tidying up and there wasn't much work left, Ruan Ruan went to the field and picked some green beans, eggplants, and other vegetables.

When the Huo family returned at noon, Ruan Ruan, Huo Haocheng, and Fu Mingyi had already prepared the meal.

"Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt, Uncle, you're back!"

"Xiao Fu, when did you arrive?" Grandma Huo asked Fu Mingyi.

"I've been here for a while, I need to talk to Huo Haocheng about something."

"Grandpa and Grandma, Dad and Mom, dinner's ready. Wash your hands and eat first. Come and try Fu Mingyi's cooking!" Huo Haocheng saw that the usually eloquent man was now speechless in front of his future mother-in-law, so he spoke up to help.

"Oh, how could you let the guests cook?" Zhao Hongmei said, gently patting Huo Haocheng on the back.

Upon hearing Huo Haocheng's words, the two elders of the Huo family glanced at the somewhat nervous Fu Mingyi, then at Huo Haocheng, who gave them a knowing look.

"Alright, let's eat first. Let's all try Xiao Fu's cooking," Grandpa Huo said as he sat down at the table.

Under Fu Mingyi's anxious gaze, Grandpa Huo first picked up a piece of rabbit meat and put it in his mouth. "Hmm, not bad."

Hearing that it was not bad, Fu Mingyi's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was relieved. He had passed the first hurdle. Fu Mingyi and Huo Haocheng had learned their cooking skills from their master in the army's cooking squad, so their food was not bad, but it wasn't terrible either.

During the meal, Fu Mingyi kept observing Huo Yue. Seeing that she was eating with great relish, he also enjoyed his meal.

After lunch, Fu Mingyi had no reason to stay. As Huo Haocheng saw him off, he kept asking for help to put in a good word for him, saying, "My brother's lifelong happiness is in your hands."

"Get lost! I treat you like a brother, but you want to be my brother-in-law!" Huo Haocheng said this, but he knew Fu Mingyi's character well and was very at ease entrusting his sister to him.

After seeing the person off, the Huo family members sat in the main room waiting for him.

"Tell me, what's going on today?" Grandpa Huo asked, though he had a rough idea beforehand, he still wanted to make things clear.

"Fu Mingyi has taken a liking to Huo Yue and wanted me to ask for your opinions. I met him today, and he seems to be this kind of person. So what are your thoughts?"

"What do you mean by 'basically this kind of person'? Is this how you introduce someone? His job, age, family background—aren't you going to mention any of that?" Zhao Hongmei was truly speechless with Huo Haocheng.

The other siblings were also quite shocked by their eldest brother's words, and they all silently mourned for Fu Mingyi for having such an unreliable brother.

"He's only two months older than me. We were comrades-in-arms. Now he's a retired deputy director of the Public Security Bureau, as you all know. He has an older sister who's married and works at the Women's Federation, and an older brother who's still in the army. I heard his family has arranged a marriage for him, but he's not married yet. His father is the deputy director of the county's steel plant, and his mother is a primary school teacher. I visited his home a few years ago when I came back to visit. The family atmosphere was quite nice; his parents were very open-minded and treated their children equally. Fu Mingyi said that after they got married, they didn't want to live with their parents, so they moved out and lived on their own. After he retired from the army, he only bought a house, a small courtyard house, between his parents' house and the Public Security Bureau."

"If that's the case, his family is very well-off. Won't they look down on us because we're from the countryside?"

"No, his grandparents live in the countryside, and they go back to visit them whenever they have time. They also get along well with his uncle's family. Moreover, his mother has been asking people to introduce him to suitable girls, but he has never gone, which has made them very anxious. Now that he has found one himself, they will only be happy."

Huo Haocheng thought about how Fu Mingyi's mother had been nagging him ever since he learned that Huo Haocheng had arranged a wife for him since he was a child, constantly pressuring Fu Mingyi to find a wife. She was afraid that by the time her own children were old enough to run errands, Fu Mingyi would still be single.

"So, you think highly of him," or Huo Haocheng's words implied that he was speaking well of Fu Mingyi.

"Yes, if Huo Yue is also interested in him, I think they're a good match. Of course, if she's not interested, then forget it."

Now the pressure is on Huo Yue, and everyone's attention has turned to her.

"Why are you all looking at me like that? If you think he's good, then that's great!" Huo Yue's words trailed off, but everyone still heard them. Judging from Huo Yue's expression, the two of them had made up.

"Then I'll talk to him about it tomorrow."

And so, Huo Yue became the third person in the Huo family to find a partner.