On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Feng Mingshu went to the alley entrance to meet Zhou Jinshan as agreed.

Before they could even exchange a word, Mingyu's shouts suddenly rang out from outside the alley.

"Sister, sister, Uncle Li is back! Where are you?"

Uncle Li, who went out to search for his relatives for half a month, has finally returned?

Feng Mingshu immediately became happy and quickly said to Zhou Jinshan, "You go to the library first. I'll go later, and I might not have time to go. You can arrange it yourself."

After saying that, Feng Mingshu ran out, grabbed her younger brother, and asked, "Uncle Li came to our house?"

Mingyu nodded vigorously: "Uncle Li came to our house as soon as he got off the train, and he brought a lot of things with him."

As Zhou Jinshan walked out of the alley, watching the cheerful figures of the siblings, a sense of defeat welled up in his heart.

However, as he had told the political commissar before, the word "give up" was never in his dictionary.

His three days of being a good student were not just for the sake of being a student, but to lay the groundwork for his future endeavors.

Feng Mingshu had no idea what was going on in someone's mind. She rushed home and saw Uncle Li, who looked travel-worn, with a large bundle of homespun cloth at his feet, a stark contrast to his usual style.

The Uncle Li that Feng Mingshu had known since childhood was always clean and tidy, initially dressed in a suit and leather shoes, and later in a Zhongshan suit. Unlike now, Uncle Li's hair was a bit long, his stubble on his chin was unkempt, and there were bloodshot eyes, but his smile was as warm as ever.

"Mingshu is back? Uncle Li brought you a gift, see if you like it." Li Yanzhong took a box out of the package and handed it to her with a smile.

"Thank you, Uncle Li. I'll definitely like everything you give me." Feng Mingshu happily accepted the gift, opened the box, and was greeted by a snow-white interior. The fur felt smooth and warm to the touch, and she immediately fell in love with it. "Is this ferret fur?"

“Yes, my family found a dying ferret in the woods, but unfortunately, there wasn’t enough fur to make a scarf,” Li Yanzhong said with some regret.

“It’s so rare, I can’t accept it. Uncle Li, give it to my mom. She’ll definitely look good in it.” Feng Mingshu returned the box and winked playfully at Uncle Li.

Li Yanzhong hesitated for a moment, then looked at Yu Jingqiu.

Yu Jingqiu gave her daughter a reproachful look: "Your Uncle Li also brought a gift for Mom, so you can keep the scarf yourself."

Feng Mingshu accepted the gift without hesitation, then turned her gaze to the box beside her mother: "Mom, can I see your gift?"

She was genuinely curious and wanted to use this to determine the progress of the two elders' relationship.

"I want to see it too!" The twins, who had also received gifts, ran over to join in the fun.

Yu Jingqiu always doted on her children. Seeing their curiosity, she opened the box and saw the wild ginseng inside with its distinct roots. Judging from its age of over fifty years, she paused for a moment, then quickly closed the box, ignoring the children's curiosity, before looking up and asking, "How much did you pay for it? I'll give it to you."

"I didn't buy it; my family gathered it from the mountains back home. I thought you needed this herb to nourish your body, so I rushed over to deliver it," Li Yanzhong said with a smile, his smile revealing his satisfaction.

“Even if it was picked by people from my hometown, it took a lot of effort. This is too precious, I can’t accept it.” Yu Jingqiu pushed the box toward Li Yanzhong.

The smile on Li Yanzhong's face disappeared. He opened his mouth to say something, but Feng Mingshu spoke first.

"Mom, Uncle Li, I'm taking Mingyu and Mingxue out ice skating. We won't be back until noon." Feng Mingshu pulled one of them by the hand and walked out.

"Sister, we haven't had breakfast yet." Mingxue reluctantly turned her head to look at the kitchen; she could already smell the aroma of the egg porridge.

"I'll take you out to eat, we'll have jianbing guozi with two eggs on it," Feng Mingshu promised.

Mingxue's eyes lit up immediately, and she held up one finger: "One egg is enough."

"Sis, I want two eggs and two fried dough sticks," Mingyu said loudly, only to be flicked on the forehead.

"If your eyes are big but your stomach is small, ordering too much is wasteful and wasteful is shameful," Feng Mingshu earnestly instructed.

"Can I just eat fried dough sticks?" Mingyu asked hesitantly, rubbing his forehead.

"Okay, here's your fried dough stick and soy milk."

Feng Mingshu finally managed to coax the twins out, closed the door, and headed to the market. There was a shop there that made an exceptional jianbing guozi (Chinese crepe), and she was starting to crave it.

Inside the room, Yu Jingqiu pushed the box towards Li Yanzhong again: "I won't accept something that has no name or status."

Li Yanzhong was stunned: "Madam, what do you mean..."

“I told you last time, you don’t need to call me ‘wife,’ just call me by my name.” Yu Jingqiu poured him a cup of tea and handed it to him. “Sit down and have some tea.”

The tea steamed and smelled fragrant, but Li Yanzhong did not sit down. His gaze was fixed on the quiet woman at the table, a boldness he had never shown before.

Yu Jingqiu looked up to meet his gaze: "Before you went to find your relatives, I erected a cenotaph for Ming Shu's biological father."

Her tone was as calm and gentle as ever, as if she were talking about something very ordinary, but it dropped a bomb in Li Yanzhong's heart, making him lose his balance.

So, Li Yanzhong pulled out a chair and sat down, his gaze fixed on Yu Jingqiu opposite him. He opened his mouth and found his voice was terribly hoarse: "Comrade Yu, do you have someone you want to marry?"

"Does Comrade Li have someone he wants to marry?" Yu Jingqiu asked instead of answering.

Li Yanzhong suddenly grabbed the teacup, tilted his head back, and gulped it down. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, and after finishing the last drop of tea, he put down the teacup, staring intently at the woman opposite him, and uttered a single word: "You."

Yu Jingqiu seemed unsurprised by his answer, and calmly took the ginseng, saying, "Consider this a betrothal gift."

Clang!

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!