When Zhuang Zhimeng returned home, she went to Aunt Tian's house to exchange eggs, garlic sprouts, and pickled vegetables, and also invited Aunt Tian and the brigade leader to her house for a housewarming dinner that evening.

I invited Aunt Wang yesterday after work. I'll have Jiang Yanxia go to the educated youth settlement and invite the two team leaders later.

I didn't invite the others because I wasn't very familiar with them, mainly because I didn't want to invite Shi Hongye and Luo Qiuping.

After changing the supplies, I need to hurry up and cook dinner. There will be quite a few people tonight, eight or nine in total.

Su Mengmeng was in charge of tending the fire, Jiang Yanxia was in charge of washing and chopping vegetables, and Zhuang Zhimeng was, of course, the head chef. The three of them worked together very well, as if they had rehearsed it many times.

Aunt Wang and Aunt Tian arrived a little early that evening to see if there was anything they could help with. It turned out the three children had already prepared the meal, which immediately warmed their hearts; it showed the children valued them.

Everyone arrived and took their seats in turn. Zhuang Zhimeng even brought out a bottle of baijiu (Chinese liquor) and poured a glass for the team leader.

Tonight, Zhuang Zhimeng made braised fish, Mapo tofu, stir-fried pickled cabbage with cured pork, as well as chicken stew with mushrooms and stir-fried eggs with garlic sprouts. The main dish was steamed buns.

Looking at this table full of food, I felt embarrassed to eat. It's almost Chinese New Year!

"Uncle, Aunt, don't worry, eat up! This is just to celebrate our move! We definitely won't do this again!"

After taking a bite of the food, he was too busy eating to even speak. He wished he had eight hands, wielding his chopsticks so fast they seemed to leave afterimages. In the end, there was nothing left; he even dipped his steamed buns in the soup.

After eating, they all collapsed on the chairs, completely stuffed!

"Zhuang Zhiqing, your cooking skills are really good! It's even better than the state-run restaurants." The brigade leader smacked his lips, looking quite pleased with the food.

"Exactly! It's so delicious! If this educated youth Zhuang went to a state-run restaurant, the chef wouldn't stand a chance!" Wang Zhaodi agreed.

"I wonder which young man will benefit from this, he'll be in for a treat!" Tian Cuie said mischievously.

Zhuang Zhimeng was thick-skinned and chuckled, but if you looked closely, you could see that her ears were red.

After finishing their meal, they helped Zhuang Zhimeng clean up the kitchen, rested for a while, and then went home.

On the way, Wang Zhaodi praised Zhuang Zhimeng to the brigade leader and others, saying she was capable and straightforward. The housewarming meal was really good; they ate very comfortably.

Seeing that everyone had left, Su Mengmeng approached Zhuang Zhimeng and Jiang Yanxia and said, "Let's officially become sworn sisters today!"

Seeing that Zhuang Zhimeng and Jiang Yanxia had no objections, Su Mengmeng continued, "Since I took the lead in this matter, then I will organize it."

“We won’t do that blood oath ceremony anymore, and we’re not allowed to kneel to heaven and earth anymore. We’ll just bow to the north.”

The three people stood facing north and bowed.

"Let's exchange a token, and that'll be it, giving each other proof."

As he spoke, he took out two pieces of fine white jade and handed them to Zhuang Zhimeng and Jiang Yanxia.

"I've prepared these tokens a long time ago, just waiting to exchange them when we become sworn brothers. I've prepared white jade for the girls, and something else for the boys. You'd better hide them well, these things can't be seen in the light of day. If someone with ulterior motives finds out, all three of us will be in trouble!"

Zhuang Zhimeng thought this token was quite valuable!

Zhuang Zhimeng took out the golden peanuts. She had seen a small box of golden peanuts when she was getting gold bars with her mother, and thought they were quite interesting, so she put a few in the warehouse.

Jiang Yanxia prepared a purse that she embroidered herself.

"Your embroidery skills are quite good!" Zhuang Zhimeng said with great pleasure.

“That’s right, this is a skill that my maternal grandmother passed down to me. My grandmother was a renowned tailor in our surrounding villages, and everyone knew her name,” Jiang Yanxia said proudly.

After exchanging tokens of love, Su Mengmeng said, "We still have one last ceremony to complete."

He then extended his hand, palm down, gesturing for Zhuang Zhimeng and Jiang Yanxia to place their hands on it.

"Let's shout another slogan, shout it after me!"

"I am Su Mengmeng."

“I am Zhuang Zhimeng.”

"I am Jiang Yanxia."

"Today we become sworn siblings, sharing honor and disgrace, fortune and misfortune, and supporting each other."

After Su Mengmeng shouted, no one responded.

"Ahem...! I know you're embarrassed, but that's enough!" Su Mengmeng said, trying to save face.

"From now on, we'll call you Boss! You can call me Mengzai or Mengge'er."

"Whatever you want, you can call me Zhimeng! We'll just call you Meng-ge'er."

"You can call me Yan'er or Xiazi, it's fine."

"Okay! Then we'll call you Xiazi."

Zhuang Zhimeng thought that since he had come to the 1970s, he should enjoy this unrestrained youth and go crazy with them.

Six hands clasped tightly together, and from then on, they were connected and looked after each other.