The two walked towards the oxcart. An Qingbai noticed that Zhuang Zhimeng was not in a good mood and knew that what she had just seen had upset her.

“My family was like that too, but luckily they didn’t burn anything; they just took all the valuables.”

Zhuang Zhimeng's attention was indeed diverted. She looked at An Qingbai with a pained expression and took his hand, saying, "Brother Qingbai, things will definitely get better in the future!"

"Yes, I know!" An Qingbai had always believed it in his heart.

When the two returned home, Zhuang Zhimeng told him that she would come over the next day and then sent him home.

That evening, Zhuang Zhimeng prepared the gifts for her visit the next day, including a pound of peach shortbread, two bags of fruit, some chocolate, and some White Rabbit candy to make up the pound.

Each man received a cotton hat, each woman a silk scarf, plus a bottle of liquor and a pack of cigarettes.

The next day, Zhuang Zhimeng got up, tidied herself up, and was about to leave when An Qingbai came over.

"Why did you come over? I could have gone there myself!"

"Let me help you carry your things! I'm afraid you'll be nervous."

"I think you're just nervous!"

"Hehe! Hehe!"

The two chatted and laughed as they walked toward An Qingbai's house. When they arrived at the door, Zhuang Zhimeng became nervous.

"So, did I do anything wrong?" Zhuang Zhimeng asked An Qingbai uncertainly.

Zhuang Zhimeng straightened her clothes and combed her braids, looking very nervous.

An Qingbai turned his head to look and saw a girl in front of him wearing a blue floral dress, sneakers, and a ponytail. She was youthful, radiant, and beautiful.

Her large, watery eyes seemed to speak volumes, shining brightly as she looked at him, and these captivating eyes resonated deep within his heart.

“My Zhizhi is the most beautiful of all! No problem, let’s go in!” After saying that, he took Zhuang Zhimeng’s hand and walked inside.

Upon entering the room, they attracted the attention of everyone who was talking. The man was handsome and the woman was beautiful; they looked perfectly matched standing together.

"Father, Mother, Eldest Brother and Sister-in-law, Second Brother and Sister-in-law, Little Brother, this is Zhuang Zhiqing."

"Uncle, Aunt, Eldest Brother and Sister-in-law, Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law, and Little Brother, hello! I am Zhuang Zhimeng. It's our first meeting, so I've prepared a small gift for you. Please don't find it offensive."

"How could that be? Your daughter is so beautiful, my little rascal is so lucky! If he bullies you, just tell me, and I'll break his legs." Shi Meiling said enthusiastically, holding Zhuang Zhimeng's hand.

"Brother Qingbai is very good to me," Zhuang Zhimeng said, glancing at An Qingbai.

"That's good. Don't be afraid! If he really bullies you, tell me and I'll deal with him. If he dares to bully such a beautiful doll, I won't let him get away with it."

"Okay, Auntie. I'll definitely tell you then and let you deal with him."

"Haha, okay! You sit down first, I'll go check the dishes in the kitchen, dinner will be ready in a little while."

“Pretty sister, you’re my third aunt now! I’m so happy!” Yangyang said, sidling up to Zhuang Zhimeng.

"Thank you so much! Here, have some candy."

"Thank you, Third Aunt!"

"What nonsense is this child talking about? Don't take it personally, this brat has been spoiled by his family." An Qingbai's sister-in-law, Yangyang's mother, Qian Yunshuang, said to Zhuang Zhimeng.

"It's okay, I like Yangyang very much."

“Are you sure you’ve got your eye on our third son? Our family’s current situation is definitely not as good as yours. You’re an educated youth from the city, while our third son has nothing…” asked Wu Pandi, An Qingbai’s second sister-in-law.

"Second sister-in-law! Don't say such things. I will definitely make sure Zhimeng lives a good life."

"I'm just saying that, it's for your own good!"

"No need, thank you for your concern, Second Sister-in-law. Just live your own life and Second Brother's life well."

"I trust Brother Qingbai; he'll definitely make sure I live a good life. But I might not be so sure about some other people."

Wu Pandi…

Shi Meiling brought all the dishes to the table. Seeing that the atmosphere was off, she knew exactly what was going on.

They quickly invited Zhuang Zhimeng to the table for dinner, but no one paid any attention to Wu Pandi.

Look at the dishes on the table: chicken stew with mushrooms, steamed fish, braised rabbit, tofu with scallions, scrambled eggs with chives, braised pig intestines that Zhuang Zhimeng asked An Qingbai to bring back, and a winter melon meatball soup.

Looking at all these dishes, Zhuang Zhimeng felt valued and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Shi Meiling kept urging Zhuang Zhimeng to eat, and kept putting food on her plate with serving chopsticks, until the food in front of her was almost piled up like a small mountain.

Zhuang Zhimeng looked at An Qingbai for help. Seeing that Zhuang Zhimeng really couldn't eat, An Qingbai directly put the food from Zhuang Zhimeng's bowl into his own.

"Mother, let her eat by herself. She's uncomfortable with you doing this."

Shi Meiling looked at it quite a bit before she finally withdrew her hand that had been holding food.