“You should learn from your two older sisters; they dress better than you.” Fourth Sister-in-law, unable to use one hand, was bored and joined in the conversation.

"You're favoring them again! I'm your own daughter!" When it comes to taste, Sister-in-law Si sticks to her own style, and no one can change that.

“I don’t care what my wife wears, but what about you two…” Qi Si walked over, and Xiao Si’s wife clung to him like a piece of candy. Qi Si quickly pushed her away: “There are children watching, behave yourself.”

"Sigh, I'm truly relieved that these two have come to this," Fourth Sister-in-law sighed.

“They’re all good people. We’ll get along better with each other eventually.” Zhou Xing’s mother smiled as well.

Fourth Sister-in-law's one hand is not very useful, but she can't stay idle. She went to the kitchen and brought back a tin can of food.

She held the can under her arm, scooped some up with a small spoon, smelled it, and then took a bite.

"Is this canned food spoiled? It tastes a bit fishy. The people in the kitchen are so careless; they don't even put it in the refrigerator if they're not going to eat it..."

"No!" Qin Xiaoyu shouted.

Fourth Sister-in-law was startled, her arm trembled, and the can fell to the ground.

"What's going on? Is it poisonous? You scared me to death!" Fourth Sister-in-law said, trembling.

"That's cat food!"

"Cat food? Ugh, I don't eat cat meat!"

"It's not cat meat, it's canned food for cats, a treat for cakes," Qin Xiaoyu said helplessly.

The people in the room then realized what had happened and burst into laughter. Fourth Sister-in-law was both ashamed and embarrassed. Qin Xiaoyu helped her clean up the things on the floor, just as A Lei came in carrying a cake.

Thinking about what happened last night, Qin Xiaoyu blushed a little, and A Lei was not as natural as usual.

Commander Zhou couldn't hold back any longer and called Qin Xiaoyu over.

"I've noticed that A Lei hasn't been very talkative these past few days. Did you two have a fight?"

"We didn't argue, we're doing fine." Qin Xiaoyu said, a little embarrassed.

“During the Spring Festival, I asked Lei why he didn’t go home to be with his parents. He said his parents were abroad and didn’t need him to accompany them. I suggested that he could go back to Shanghai to be with his grandmother, but he said his family didn’t have the custom of celebrating the Spring Festival.” Commander Zhou sighed.

"Big Brother, don't listen to his nonsense, he's doing just fine." Qin Xiaoyu knew that A Lei was setting a trap for Commander Zhou by using a sob story.

"Whether it's good or bad isn't determined by what people say, but by what you look at with your heart. Can someone who's in their thirties and hasn't spent a single Spring Festival with their parents be considered well-off?" Commander Zhou's question left Qin Xiaoyu speechless.

"What does it matter to me whether he's good or bad?" Qin Xiaoyu still wanted to be stubborn.

"Little Fish, it's not appropriate for me to interfere in your love life. Just think it through and don't hurt him." Commander Zhou shook his head and sighed as he left.

Qin Xiaoyu couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. How did it become that she was going to hurt A Lei? Shouldn't she be the one being protected?

On the second day of the second lunar month, Mrs. Tang's cold not only didn't get better, but actually got worse. Tang Hu's mother stayed to keep her company, but Tang Hu didn't like watching that kind of thing anyway, and preferred to go out and play with his classmates.

Because of the recent flu outbreak, Deng Jianyan was extremely careful, fearing that Zhou Yue might catch it. He pleaded with her repeatedly before she finally agreed not to go to the performance.

Originally, Xiao Si's wife was very excited, but when she saw that Zhou Yue was not going, she became worried about Xiao Zhengxin. She thought that the child would catch the flu in crowded places and would easily cry. After hesitating for a long time, she gave up.

Ever since Jing Tian snatched the child, Qi Si had been traumatized and dared not leave the mother and child alone at home at night, even reducing his social engagements. Seeing that she wasn't going, he was happy to stay home with her and the child.

Aunt Wang refused to go. In her words, the singers were not as good as her, and the dancers were not as good as her. Why should she go?

The Ge family had two children, one with a cold and fever, and the other with a leg ache, so the whole family refused to go.

Xiaoyu's car contained three children plus Wang Jian, while A Lei's car carried Commander Zhou and his wife, along with his cousin and his wife.

Tang Long and Xiao Li didn't come back; they said they would go directly there.

Wang Lei had his family and Tang Fengqin in his car.

Three cars driving out in a line was quite a sight for that era.

"Wang Jian, did you go home for the New Year?" Qin Xiaoyu asked.

"I'm going back. These are the things my godfather gave me." Wang Jian lowered his head.

"That's good. We should definitely go back and visit. Mom isn't our biological mother, but Dad is." Qin Xiaoyu didn't want Wang Jian to forget his roots.

Qin Xiaoyu's car followed behind A Lei's car. Seeing that he was driving steadily, she had a strange feeling in her heart.

The tickets were pre-assigned for easy entry, and the family quickly entered the hall.

Qin Xiaoyu was now at ease with her younger sister; the child no longer cared about performing on stage and wasn't nervous at all. The backstage area was crowded and chaotic, and she didn't want to cause any trouble. So she arranged for the three children to sit down next to her.

Commander Wang didn't have any performances today, but there were many leaders and friends present, so he was busy greeting everyone.

For some reason, Qin Xiaoyu felt uneasy. She glanced at A Lei in the back seat. His brows were furrowed, his finger tapping his forehead, and he seemed lost in thought, looking quite troubled.

The performance began, and it was the same old routine. It seemed that the performing arts troupe's programs were all based on the same formula; they would just change the setting and perform the same thing again.

Everyone else was fine, but Xiao Lisheng couldn't sit still. This kid's personality had become increasingly lively lately; the timid child who used to avoid eye contact had completely transformed. His mischievous nature was also showing, so when he said he was going to the bathroom, Qin Xiaoyu immediately followed him warily.

Lisheng ran around the lobby having fun, then his eyes fell on the posters on the wall. He was about to make a move on one when Qin Xiaoyu stopped him, scolded him a few times, and took him back to his seat.

There's a dance performance on stage right now, a torch dance. The torches in everyone's hands are fake, just balls of red silk that are being blown around by the side wind, making them look like blazing flames.

Amidst enthusiastic applause from the audience, the song ended. Tang Fengqin gracefully stepped onto the stage and announced the next program.

"Please listen to the sheng solo 'Phoenix Spreads Its Wings,' performed by Lü Jiang."

Tang Fengqin gracefully walked to the side. Wang Lei's gaze followed her, unwilling to look away for even a moment.

"My wife is beautiful and has a sweet voice," Commander Wang said with a smile. Her confidence drew the attention of the surrounding audience.

"Mom, keep your voice down." Wang Lei then glared at her.

"She's my daughter-in-law, I'm happy to show her off!" Commander Wang gave him a haughty glare.

“Something doesn’t seem right,” Are suddenly said.

"What's wrong? What's that smell?" Qin Xiaoyu also noticed a strange smell in the air. It wasn't the smell of perfume; it seemed to be the smell of something burning.

"Quick, something's happened! Take the elderly and children and get out of here! I'm going to find my little sister!" Aret stood up abruptly and ran from the aisle toward the stage.

As if in response to his words, a ball of fire suddenly burst forth from behind the curtain and instantly burst into flames. Screams erupted throughout the theater.