Being officially together is simply a happy thing for the two of them, but their relatives and friends who were informed have different opinions.

First, the Liu family. Actually, the rest of the family had long since tacitly accepted that Liu Ben and You Ying were dating, rather than "trying it out" as Liu Ben himself had claimed. While they were a little reluctant, they'd gotten used to it over time and seemed to be just... okay. On the other hand, Liu Yibiao, who usually hummed in protest at the mention of You Ying, was a bit surprised to see him no longer express any opinion.

So when the news of "Liu Ben and You Ying officially being together" came out, they didn't think it was anything special. Liu Ben and You Ying had only been dating for less than two months, but the Liu family already felt like they were an old married couple. There was no need to be surprised. It was the end of the year, and they were busy! Lengmo.jpg

As for the You family, everyone knew that You Ying had been forced to come out, and they had long been prepared for the day when she would bring a man home. However, nearly a decade had passed, and You Ying had yet to find a partner. This led You Ying's parents, along with Mr. and Mrs. You, to believe that You Ying had a sexual problem and that his attraction to men was just an excuse. To avoid eroding You Ying's pride, they remained silent, neither advising him to change his sexual orientation nor urging him to find a partner. This was the greatest kindness the You family could offer him.

When they first heard You Ying announce he had a boyfriend, their first reaction was: Oh! My son/grandson isn't incompetent after all! This is great news! But then they thought, You Ying is quite shrewd. Maybe he felt that not finding a partner for so long might arouse suspicion, so he deliberately spread the news?

Suddenly, the You family group was filled with fake happy congratulations: "Wow, congratulations to you, son.", "That's really good news.", "Haha, then have a good time.", "Okay, great, got it."...

You Ying always felt that his family's response was a bit dry, but he didn't know why. It was You Guoguo who came out to break the deadlock.

You Guoguo: "I knew you two were definitely together!"

You Guoguo: "You always denied me before! Humph."

You Guoguo: "You two are flirting with each other, and you think people can't see it?"

You Guoguo: [photo][photo][photo]]

You Guoguo posted some secretly taken photos of You Ying and Liu Ben getting along harmoniously. Some of the photos were taken before they were together, and some were taken after they tried dating. No matter when, they looked very sweet in the photos taken by You Guoguo.

This is what it means when a fujoshi sees a gay person, and this is also what a fujoshi’s phone looks like. You Ying thought so, but his hand honestly clicked to save the original picture.

The You family carefully enlarged the photo and looked at every corner. After finding no trace of photoshop, they finally believed that this was not a Schrödinger's object that might or might not exist, but an object that You Ying was 100% certain to exist.

Hey, take a closer look, the boy is quite strong and handsome, not the coquettish and weak pretty boy as imagined. Not bad, not bad.

…

Liu Ben and You Ying didn't have any special activities to do since they officially got together, so they just spent the afternoon playing games. Liu Ben had never used any gaming equipment before, but after visiting You Ying's house several times, he was now quite proficient. His current goal was to play every game in You Ying's house, both sealed and unsealed.

Liu Ben played until dinner time, and after a moment's thought, he decided to go back for dinner. You Ying had wanted to keep Liu Ben, but Liu Ben remembered that he had to help Mr. Qi find information about his aunt, so he had to go back. His mother had left behind so many notebooks, and the sooner he went, the sooner he could find them.

As for whether the two should stay together for a while longer, Liu Ben didn't think it was that complicated. He and You Ying still had plenty of time to spend together in the future.

Not long after Liu Ben left, You Ying received a call from his grandfather, asking him to go back when he was free to talk to him.

When Liu Ben rode his motorcycle back to his home, he found that the door was not closed and there was a wide gap. A fluffy cow's head was sticking out, looking around. When it saw Liu Ben appear, it immediately jumped excitedly, and then kicked its legs in place and bleated. The sound of a cow should be mooing, but when an avocado is happy and excited, the sound will occasionally split, and it will be thin and sharp, sounding very much like "baa".

The Liu family all knew that Liu Ben would not be coming back for dinner today, but Avocado didn't know. The Liu family saw Avocado looking for Liu Ben inside and outside the house, and tried to explain to it, but Avocado didn't understand what they said at all.

Avocado saw that Liu Ben left with the people who almost beat him bald this morning and did not come back until it was almost dark. He wanted to go outside the door and wait for Liu Ben to come back, but Liu's family was afraid that he would run around at this time and would not be able to find him until dark, so they closed the door directly.

Avocado refused to give in. It kept yelling at the Liu family to open the door. The Liu family ignored it, so it kept kicking and banging the door, making it bang loudly. The Liu family was annoyed by the noise, so they had to open the door a crack and put a chain on it, allowing Avocado to just poke its head out to look out but not run away. Only then did Avocado behave itself and stuck its head out eagerly, looking around and waiting.

"I'm back." Liu Ben parked the car and opened the chain on the door.

Avocado suddenly jumped out of the door and circled around Liu Ben.

Liu Ben touched Avocado's head and told it that he was going to a friend's house to play. After Avocado calmed down, he took it into the house.

The kittens didn't bother with Avocado today and no one knew where they went to play. Liu Ben smelled a strong aroma of oil and followed the scent into the Liu family's old house.

The old house is made of yellow mud bricks. It was where my great-grandparents lived when they were young. My grandfather was still a child when it was built. Now my great-grandparents have passed away, and my grandparents have also become elderly. Although the old house is still there, no one lives there anymore.

However, the Liu family members are now all living in the old house, with clear division of labor and everyone doing their own things, which is quite lively.

The old house's earthen stove was also made of yellow mud and burned wood. It was shaped into two square pits, side by side, with two large pots placed on top and two fire holes below. A large chimney in the middle led to the roof. The stove had been used for many, many years, older than Liu Ben, no, older than Liu Shuangying and the others. Therefore, the fire pit and the roof were blackened by smoke.

If you looked up from outside the house at this moment, you could see plumes of smoke wafting from the chimney. Wang Caiqing was sitting alone on a bench behind the earthen stove, occasionally poking at the two fire pits with tongs. There were flickers of fire and occasional sparks, but fortunately, the firewood and other combustibles were kept far away from the pits, making them very safe. Wang Fengjing and He Mei stood on the other side of the stove, across from Wang Caiqing, fiddling with something, their figures obscured by Liu Shuangying and Liu Lei.

Liu Shuangying and Liu Lei were pounding glutinous rice cakes. Each of them held a thick wooden stick, pounding the large, white rice balls in the stone mortar. The balls constantly changed shape under their vigorous pounding, appearing as white as snow and with a relatively uniform texture, as if they had been pounding for a long time. Liu Yibiao and Liu Shuanghu sat nearby, panting softly; they must have just been replaced.

There was half a basin of prepared rice dough next to several people.

The whole room was filled with various fragrances, and the Liu family seemed to be immersed in it. They only saw it when Liu Ben walked in.

"Is Xiao Ben back?"

"We saw the message you sent in the group, haha."

"Is this officially a relationship? I thought you were already together last time."

"Hehe, since you've decided to be with him, bring him over for the New Year."

"Congratulations, Brother Ben, on finding a partner! Is there a red envelope? Hehe!"

…

Liu Ben responded to everyone's questions and blessings with a smile, and sent a big red envelope in the group on the spot.

Only after Liu Ben finished speaking did he carefully look at what his grandmother and Third Aunt were doing.

Grandma was smoking bacon, or rather, she was almost done and was taking the bacon off the fire pit. The piece she picked up was top-quality pork belly, the lean part dark red, the fat part milky white and translucent, and it looked very firm. Liu Ben could already imagine what such bacon would taste like.

Liu Ben could tell that his grandmother had finished smoking the bacon because the process of smoking bacon was smoky and hot, and even if there was a chimney, it would be impossible to stay indoors while smoking bacon.

On the other side, Third Aunt seemed to be frying meat. Upon closer inspection, the pot was filled with fat that had shrunk and turned brown, and next to the pot was an enamel jar that was already full. Oh, it turned out that she was boiling lard, no wonder it smelled so good.

He Mei used a spatula to scoop out the remaining oil in the pot, leaving only the lard residue. Next, pour the washed green peppers into the pot, add some soy sauce, and sprinkle some salt when stir-frying. It is a delicious dish of fried lard residue with peppers.

Seeing that his second uncle and Liu Lei were also tired, Liu Ben immediately stepped forward and took the sticks from their hands, one in his left hand and one in his right hand, and started beating them quickly.

Liu Ben's strength is greater than that of more than a dozen big men combined, and his speed is also unmatched by ordinary people. Under his regular beating, the broken rice grains are quickly ground and mixed into the fine rice ball, and finally become completely uniform and sticky together.

"Okay, that's it," Liu Yibiao said, "Liu Ben is still very strong. Hey, this rice is good. When it's made into glutinous rice cakes, it should be delicious."

"Yeah," Wang Caiqing said as she was still working on the fire, "I told you, Wushuang rice is also very good for making glutinous rice."

Of course, there were still many grains of rice to be pounded, but for Liu Ben, that was no problem. He had great strength and endurance, and in Liu Yibiao's words, he was a natural at making glutinous rice cakes. By the time Liu Ben had pounded all the broken rice grains, the basin was filled with pure rice paste, ready to be fried and eaten at any time.

"This year, many families in our village are busy during the day and can only prepare New Year's dishes at night, but being busy is a good thing," said Wang Fengjing with a smile.

"That's right. In the past, people in our village didn't have much to do. We only spent a little time tinkering with the fields. The rest of the time we could only chat and stare blankly. It was quite deserted."

Today, the village is like an old man who has regained his youth, thrown away his crutches, stood up again, opened his arms, and embraced the future. Every villager has light in his eyes and hopes, looking forward to making his life better through his own hands in the new year.

After Wang Fengjing took out the bacon, she put the pot back on the stove and started cooking.

"Xiao Ben probably hasn't eaten yet, right? Let's stir-fry some quick dishes and have dinner soon."

It happened very quickly, and soon the Liu family members were at the table ready to eat.

Freshly fried thin rice cakes are drizzled with melted caramel, and sprinkled with sesame seeds for an added sweetness. The rice, mixed with hot lard, is glistening and shiny, its rich, oily color making your mouth water. Mixed in with round potato chunks, it adds a sweet and sticky texture to the already delicious rice. The green peppers complement the crispy lard crumbs, and they're sprinkled with fine grains of salt...

"Hey, will we gain weight if we eat such oily dishes for dinner?" Liu Lei said, but he took a big mouthful of rice mixed with lard and put it in his mouth. It was sweet, fragrant and moist. It was so delicious!

"If you are afraid of getting fat, just work harder tomorrow. We still have plenty of life to live." Liu Yibiao said that today he finally ate the lard he had been craving for. Not only did he have lard crumbs to eat, but he also had rice mixed with lard. Life was so wonderful. He felt like he was just like what was sung in the song. He really wanted to live another 500 years.

"If you're afraid of getting fat, try eating more mixed zucchini. I didn't add any oil to this dish. I just blanched it and added some light soy sauce and chili peppers. It's delicious."

"Take less pickled radish, or you'll be too full and won't be able to sleep at night."

Liu Ben had never eaten rice with lard before, and today was his first time. How should I put it? It was a taste that was a bit amazing and a bit satisfying. It made people feel very happy after a tiring day. It was delicious even without adding anything in the space.

Not to mention the glutinous rice cake made from Wushuang rice, which is made with freshly boiled lard and freshly ground rice paste. The texture is so crispy and sweet that it is beyond words.

If you can’t finish the glutinous rice cake in one day, the leftovers can be kept for a long time and you can eat them next time you come.

Liu Ben is looking forward to that day, because he still has a lot to share with You Ying.

On the other side, You Ying was talking to Grandpa You.

Mr. You frowned. "I have no problem with you dating a guy, but is that guy really just an ordinary anchor? Let me be clear, I don't agree with you being with someone who's a star, a model, an internet celebrity, or anything like that."

Although the man in the photo does not look like a weak and useless young hunk, the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" can also be used to describe people who appear all show and no substance but are rotten inside.

You Ying held his forehead with his hand: "Grandpa, have you heard any gossip?"

Although the misunderstanding that Liu Ben made during his first live broadcast was clarified immediately, many people learned about it through different channels, or knew part of it, and then secretly spread it into a variety of different rumors.

"Just tell me if it's true or not." Old Master You frowned.

"He is indeed a live broadcaster, but his purpose is to promote the agricultural products of the villagers in his village."

After hearing this, Mr. You's expression relaxed: "So, he is still a person who loves his hometown very much."

"Yes," You Ying nodded. "When I have the chance, I will bring him to see you. You will definitely like him."

Mr. You nodded and said, "He sells agricultural products in the village. Well, he may be a little poor, but as long as he has good character, it's okay."