Seeing that Uncle Qin was only dropping them off before leaving, and that he hadn't been persuaded to stay for dinner earlier, An Qingbai remarked to Zhuang Zhimeng, "Uncle Qin is quite nice. We should try to get closer to him in the future, so that people don't think we're impolite!"

"good!"

The three dogs, Maotuan, Maoqiu, and Maoxian, sensed Zhuang Zhimeng's approach to the village entrance and ran out as fast as they could, despite Jiang Yanxia's attempts to stop them.

"Woof woof, woof!"

Zhuang Zhimeng was carrying her luggage towards the village when she heard a dog barking that sounded a lot like Maotuan. She said to An Qingbai, "Maotuan and the others are here!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the three dogs rushed to her, rubbing against her legs affectionately.

Jiang Yanxia also chased after her.

Upon seeing that it was Zhuang Zhimeng who had returned, he rushed over and hugged her tightly: "Zhimeng, you're finally back! We were going to starve to death if you hadn't come back!"

"What's wrong?"

"These past two days you've been away, I've been the one tending the fire, and Meng-ge'er volunteered to cook."

The result was either too salty, tasteless, or undercooked. I was about to have a breakdown! Do you think I've lost weight? She even pretended to squeeze out two tears as she spoke.

"Alright, stop pretending! Just say you want something delicious!"

"Hehe, we all want to eat hot pot with mutton! We didn't get enough last time."

"Okay, then let's have hot pot for mutton tonight."

Jiang Yanxia was overjoyed to hear that there would be a good meal that evening. Seeing that she was carrying a lot of luggage, she helped her carry some of it over.

"Why are you carrying so much stuff? Didn't you only take luggage before you left?"

"This is a thank-you gift from them, and even this is only a portion left over for my second brother!"

Jiang Yanxia didn't press the matter further after hearing that it was a thank-you gift.

When they got home, Zhuang Zhimeng saw Su Mengmeng coming out of the next room covered in soot and dirt, and she laughed out loud: "Ha! Did you go to dig coal?"

"It's not that Xiazi went chasing the dog, but I don't know how to use this big stove to start a fire! No experience, that's why this happened!"

"Alright, stop burning it. We'll have hot pot tonight!"

"This is wonderful!"

An Qingbai had never eaten it before, but he could tell it must be delicious from the way they all looked so excited.

After Zhuang Zhimeng put away all the luggage, she directed the three of them to work.

Some were washing vegetables, some were tending the fire, and some were cleaning earthenware pots.

She took out all the remaining mutton from the cellar and handed it to An Qingbai to slice, while she prepared the base sauce herself.

This cellar was dug specifically for her by An Qingbai later. She usually stores potatoes, sweet potatoes, dried sweet potatoes, and dried meat.

Meanwhile, at the Beijing Military Region compound.

Zhuang Xingzhou and Hao Caiyun arrived in Beijing yesterday, and the old man invited them to dinner tonight.

Hao Caiyun handed the newspaper to her father: "Dad, look, your granddaughter is in the newspaper!"

The old man took the newspaper, then suddenly remembered he wasn't wearing his reading glasses: "Old woman, where are my glasses?"

"Isn't this right in front of you? What's wrong with your eyes every day!" The old lady handed him the glasses.

I put on my glasses and read the newspaper carefully.

"Great, great! Our Yaya is really something! By the way, isn't that young man next to her Yaya's boyfriend?" the old man suddenly asked, pointing to the young man in the newspaper.

"Yes, Ya Ya even took a picture of the two of them together and asked me to bring it back for you to see!"

"Where is it? Give it to me now!"

"Don't worry, here it is!" Hao Caiyun took the photo out of her bag.

They were all black and white photos, and the ones from the photo studio were definitely clearer than those from the newspaper.

The old man looked at the two people in the photo. The girl looked natural and had a smile on her face, while the young man looked serious, though he wasn't bad-looking.

"Does this young man have a bad temper? He never seems to smile."

The old lady also wanted to see it: "Bring it here so I can take a look!"

Hao Caiyun saw the old man hand the photo to the old lady and spoke up to explain for An Qingbai: "I heard from Yaya that he has never had his picture taken before and was too nervous!"

"What kind of person is he? Is he good to Ya Ya?"

"He spoils Ya Ya a lot, indulges her in everything, and we all approve of him. We're thinking of getting them engaged next May or June, and you could be the fiancé, what do you think?"

Grandpa Zhuang looked at Zhuang Xingzhou, who had remained silent, and asked, "So you agree too?"

"Hmm, the young man seems nice. He treats Ya Ya very well, and he seems quite reassuring!"

"Okay, then I'll be Yaya's fiancé. It's my first time doing this! I'm quite excited!"

Hao Caiyun also gave the old lady the three treasures of Northeast China that Zhuang Zhimeng had asked her to bring back, saying, "Mom, these were specially asked by Yaya to be brought back for you. Eat them and use them as you please, don't be reluctant to spend them."

Seeing this, the old lady didn't refuse and accepted it directly. This was a gift from their beloved granddaughter!