Meanwhile, in An Qingsong's room in the second house of the An family.

Seeing Wu Pandi pressed against the door listening for any sounds, An Qingsong couldn't help but say, "What are you listening to? They're eating in the main room; there's no way they could hear anything!"

"Can't I even smell it? I'm so unlucky to have married such a spineless man like you. Look at your third brother, these two families aren't even related by marriage, and Mother is already cooking goose stew! Why didn't she cook it for my family when I married into your family?"

"Back then, there was a disaster in the fields, and the harvest was poor, which your family knew about. You didn't say anything then, so what's the point of bringing up old grievances now?"

An Qingsong is usually a man of few words, but when Wu Pandi brought up the matter again, he couldn't help but raise his voice.

"You dare yell at me, An Qingsong? I'll teach you a lesson!" she said, and lunged at An Qingsong.

"That's enough! I don't want to talk to you anymore! I'm going for a walk!"

An Qingsong pushed away Wu Pandi, who was lunging at him, opened the door, and walked out.

The two little girls, Lai Di and Deng Di, dared not make a sound, for fear that their mother would notice and they would be scolded or even beaten.

"Bang!" The loud sound of the door slamming reached the ears of the people eating goose in the main room.

"Sister, let me tell you the truth, once Zhimeng joins the family, I will separate them from the rest!"

"Mother!" An Qingbai was stunned upon hearing this.

"Don't say anything. Your father and I discussed this a long time ago. We'll separate the family property after you get married!"

An Qingbai looked at An Tanxiao.

"Indeed, your mother and I have discussed this. As trees grow up, branches spread out, and children move out of the family. This is a perfectly normal thing!"

Seeing that his father had agreed, An Qingbai didn't say anything more, thinking he would try to persuade him again later if necessary.

"Sister, we are all very satisfied with Zhimeng!"

"Big sister, we also approve of Qingbai. We've heard from Zhimeng that we usually take good care of her."

"That's what he should do."

Sister, I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me, but of all these children, I favor the third one the most.

The eldest is too honest, the second is a taciturn fellow, rarely uttering a word. The youngest is most like me, quick-witted since childhood.

The youngest son is a bookworm, much like his father; both are people who can quietly do one thing for half a day.

Look at these toys for your grandchildren, they were all carved by your eldest brother himself. Now that things are like this, he can't even display them, so he just carves them for the kids to play with at home.

Now that we're not allowed to read books anymore, the young and old alike are always reading books.

Our family's current situation is like this—not rich, but better off than most. The main reason we've managed is because our third son is capable; he's been able to get by thanks to him. If Zhimeng marries into the family, we'll definitely give her the best we can afford!

“Sister, since we’re on the topic, we’ve all been there. Now that the two young people are dating, we can’t stop them.” She glanced at Zhuang Zhimeng and continued, “They’re not old enough to get a marriage certificate yet. How about we get them engaged first? What do you think?”

"Let's get engaged first! Let's get engaged first! That way no one will gossip!"

"Then let's come again next May or June, and bring my father-in-law along. Let him be the matchmaker and engagement man for the two children. He dotes on Zhimeng the most, and he'll definitely be happy to have him do this!"

"Alright, I have no objection! We're overjoyed that the old man is coming; it's such an honor! We'll see what he likes to eat and I'll cook it for him!"

"Then I will definitely tell the old man!"

Seeing that everything was settled, Zhuang Xingzhou picked up his wine glass and stood up. "Big brother, big sister! Let's have a drink. From now on, we're all in-laws, we're family!"

Shi Meiling and An Tanxiao quickly stood up, and finally An Qingbai and Zhuang Zhimeng also stood up. The six of them clinked glasses and drank a glass of wine.

Of course, the lady was drinking tea brewed with the tea leaves that Zhuang Zhimeng brought over; it had a refreshing, delicate, and rather light taste.

After finishing their meal, Zhuang Xingzhou left with An Tanxiao, who was very interested in wood carving.

Shi Meiling pulled Hao Caiyun back to the room to chat as well.

An Qingbai took Zhuang Zhimeng's small hand and said, "Zhizhi, that's wonderful! We can get engaged next year! I really want to marry you as soon as possible!"

"Heh, you're just dreaming. There are still several years to go! Young man, you'd better work hard!" After saying that, he patted An Qingbai on the shoulder in a serious manner, and then ran out of An Qingbai's house.

She was getting revenge for An Qingbai running away earlier, and An Qingbai smiled indulgently and quickly chased after her.