At the dinner table, Da Bao and Xiao Bao had a discussion about who missed their third uncle and Lin Dong more.

Da Bao said, "I think, this is a house as big as this, and the whole house is filled with my longing."

Xiao Bao immediately chimed in, "I think I miss you 24 hours a day. Whether I'm awake or asleep, I miss you every day."

After Xu Yan finished clearing away the dishes, she quietly watched from the side. When these two kids got all lovey-dovey, there was really nothing left for her to do, at least she had never said anything like that before.

They don't even easily say something as simple as "I miss you."

The debate continued, and the two kids were practically tearing the roof off. Li Aihua shouted all the way from the front door to the kitchen before Xu Yan finally heard her.

"Oh my, your house is so lively!" Li Aihua walked in with a smile, and seeing that Da Bao and Xiao Bao were still talking non-stop, she patted each of them on the head.

The two kids jumped up immediately, "Aunt Li, you can't touch her head, or she won't grow tall."

Then, without waiting for Li Aihua to say anything, he ran outside to play.

“They’ve become quite mischievous lately,” Xu Yan said with a smile, watching them run off.

“Boys are like that,” Li Aihua said. “My Xiaoshuanzi is always jumping around like a monkey. Your two are considered good.”

Xu Yan still smiled, "I wish they could be like Xiao Shuanzi."

“Hey, if it really comes to that, you’ll have a real headache,” Li Aihua said, then changed the subject, “You know about how the whole brigade was in an uproar today, right?”

"Understood," Xu Yan nodded.

Although she got back from the city quite late, she still managed to overhear a bit of what was going on as she walked home from the bus stop.

It would be strange if such a big event as the resumption of the college entrance examination didn't cause a commotion.

“Hey, let me tell you, it was a huge loss that you weren’t here this afternoon,” Li Aihua said. “You missed out on so much excitement, and the brigade leader’s family almost got into a fight again today.”

"Huh?" Xu Yan was a little surprised. "Their family, who are they?"

"It's about Yan Yuhong and the brigade leader and his wife," Li Aihua gossiped. "Yan Yuhong said that the brigade leader and his wife were biased and didn't give her little girl any eggs, so they argued and now they're saying they want a divorce!"

"However, the brigade leader disagreed, saying that she wanted to take the college entrance examination and go far away, so she made up this reason to file for divorce."

“There are several other families,” Li Aihua said. “They are all educated youth who wanted to register for the college entrance examination, but their families disagreed.”

"I heard that there was also a commotion at Sun Guoan's house, but they made it behind closed doors. Apart from a very few individuals, no one else was willing to climb over the wall, so we don't know much about it."

Xu Yan listened, completely stunned.

She never expected that so much trouble could happen in just one afternoon.

"Hey, Xu Yan," Li Aihua called out to Xu Yan, then paused when Xu Yan looked at her before continuing, "You and Xie Zhuo... you two..."

Li Aihua hesitated before asking, and even after she said it, she felt awkward. So she gritted her teeth and asked directly, "You're also going to register for the college entrance exam, right?"

"Hmm," Xu Yan thought she was going to ask something, but she was so hesitant to speak. She nodded.

"Then, then," Li Aihua stammered again, "what about Xie Zhuo? What about Da Bao and Xiao Bao? You won't... get a divorce too, will you?"

"Of course not," Xu Yan replied quickly.

Once the words were out, she realized her reaction had been a bit too much.

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Xie Zhuo and I took the college entrance exam together. Once he gets into university, he'll come back to my hometown with me."

Actually, Xie Zhuo didn't say that. When she asked him at the hospital, he didn't give a direct answer, but he did say that he would follow her wherever she went.

He also said that he, his two kids, and he were so happy that he would stick with her for the rest of his life.

"That's good, that's good," Li Aihua breathed a sigh of relief. "I've seen so many arguments and fights today, and my heart has been in my throat, afraid that you two might have some more trouble."

Xu Yan laughed, "My sister-in-law is even more worried than we are."

“What are you saying?” Li Aihua gave her a reproachful look. “I was the one who arranged your wedding banquet back then, so of course I hope you two will stay together for a long time.”

The two chatted about other things for a while, and then Li Aihua started to worry again, "There's only one month left until the college entrance exam, and Xie Zhuo has gone to the city. How is he going to study?"

More than half a month ago, everyone in the village knew that Xie Zhuo had brought a child back from outside.

Now, people still gossip about it during their leisure time.

Especially Granny Tian, ​​ever since Xie Zhuo spoke ill of Tian Fang in the field, she has hated Xie Zhuo and Xu Yan even more, and she would gossip about them all the time.

After learning that Xie Zhuo had brought a child to the city hospital, she would gossip to others every day, saying that the child was Xie Zhuo's son with a woman from another village.

"Hmph, why would I treat him so well if he's not my own son?"

“He’s not his son, yet he’s willing to spend money to send him to a city hospital for treatment. I’ve heard that city hospitals are rife with disease; one dose of medicine can cost a family several months’ worth of food.”

As the gossip circulated, some people actually asked Xu Yan about it in private, and even tried to comfort her.

Xu Yan laughed at the absurdity of it.

However, she didn't say much, only that the child was a classmate of Da Bao and Xiao Bao, and that no one at home took care of him, so they thought they could look after him.

A few old women didn't believe it, but Xu Yan didn't care much about their thoughts. After all, she and Xie Zhuo treated Lin Dong this way not for others to praise them for being kind-hearted, but because they cared about Da Bao and Xiao Bao from beginning to end.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!