An Qingbai grabbed his playful little hand on his chest and pulled him into his arms.

"Zhizhi, I like you so much!"

An Qingbai held Zhuang Zhimeng tightly, feeling as if he were embracing the whole world.

"Aber, I like you too."

"Zhizhi, I like to hear it. Please say it a few more times. I love to hear it."

"Hehe, I won't tell." With that, Zhuang Zhimeng broke free from An Qingbai's embrace.

An Qingbai smiled indulgently: "You little rascal!"

He pulled Zhuang Zhimeng's hand and put the savings book back into her hand. This time, Zhuang Zhimeng accepted it, thinking that she would save it for him first.

I opened it and saw that there was 5,000 yuan inside.

"This is all what I've collected over the years by trading game and some precious herbs from the mountains. I gave my mother a small portion for household expenses, and the rest is all here. You can keep it!"

"Aren't you afraid I'll run off with your money?"

"Would you? If you really run away, I'll chase you to the ends of the earth."

"You have a good eye! Someone as beautiful and kind as me would never do such a thing!"

"Oh right, I haven't looked at the red envelope your family gave you yet!"

Zhuang Zhimeng suddenly remembered and took out the red envelope. She opened it and saw that there was 10 yuan inside, a single ten-yuan note.

"It seems my mother is very satisfied with you; you're not going to get this wife now!"

"Then you'd better treat me well! If you don't, I'll replace you..."

Seeing An Qingbai's increasingly dangerous gaze, Zhuang Zhimeng promptly shut up.

Come here, let me hug you!

Zhuang Zhimeng quickly stepped forward, and An Qingbai hugged her tightly.

Holding Zhuang Zhimeng in his arms, An Qingbai whispered in her ear, "Zhizhi, my little darling, you are my precious baby. You are not allowed to say such things again, understand?"

Hearing An Qingbai's sweet words, Zhuang Zhimeng felt a warm glow in her heart. Sensing the unease in his voice, Zhuang Zhimeng's voice softened unconsciously as she said, "I know, I won't say it again." She then patted his shoulder reassuringly.

The two embraced each other quietly, listening to each other's heartbeats. At that moment, their hearts were connected. After embracing for a while, they let go of each other.

An Qingbai then realized that he hadn't told Zhuang Zhimeng's family yet, so he suggested, "Your family doesn't know about our situation, right? Should we visit them in person, or should you write a letter to them first?"

“I’ll write a letter to let you know first, but you’d better be prepared, my dad might come over in person. My parents said they don’t allow me to date in the countryside, and you’ve managed to steal their precious daughter away.”

“I’m not afraid,” An Qingbai said, feigning composure.

"Hehe, I hope you can be just as tough when you meet him in person. I wish you good luck."

"You'll speak up for me then, right?"

"Hmph! We'll see how you perform!"

An Qingbai knew Zhuang Zhimeng was ticklish, so he tickled her. "How did I do? Wasn't it great, hmm?"

"Haha! Ha!...Very good, very well done, stop tickling, it tickles! Haha..."

An Qingbai stopped bothering her after a while and kindly let her go.

After laughing and joking around for a while, the two decided to head back.

On their way down the mountain, they ran into Aunt Wang. Seeing their close relationship and the ambiguous look in their eyes, Aunt Wang quickly glanced at Zhuang Zhimeng.

Are you two dating?

"Um!"

"Great! You two are a perfect match. I'm really looking forward to your wedding!"

"Don't worry, Aunt Wang, we will definitely invite you then."

"Okay, you guys get back to your work, I'll go up the mountain to gather some firewood."

An Qingbai escorted Zhuang Zhimeng home and was about to help her with something when Jiang Yanxia and Su Mengmeng rushed back in a hurry.

"What's wrong with you all? Why are you in such a hurry? Were you chased by a dog?"

"You still have the mood to joke? Meng Ge and I were just gathering firewood on the mountain when we heard Shi Hongye say that she was going to harm you! So we rushed back."

"Oh? How does she plan to harm me?"

“I heard that she got some kind of powerful drug for breeding boars from somewhere and plans to take it to you in the next couple of days. She found the butcher Ma from the next village.”

"What do we do now? We absolutely cannot let her get away this time!"

After thinking for a while, Zhuang Zhimeng called An Qingbai, Su Mengmeng, and Jiang Yanxia over.

"Come closer, we'll do this... then this... understand? Now let's split up and make her suffer the consequences this time."

"Brilliant! Boss is the best! Let's do it this way!" Su Mengmeng looked at Zhuang Zhimeng with admiration.

Jiang Yanxia nodded in agreement with Su Mengmeng.