When Hua Wanhe and his wife saw that the Wang family had come to deliver vegetables, they brought out Huo Yanping's relatives and started making arrangements for the meal.

Zheng Shuzhen couldn't say anything more, and had to force a smile to keep up the conversation.

There were two tables, one for men and one for women. The food was quite plentiful. It was Hua Kai's first time eating a traditional Northeastern rural feast from this era, and she found it quite interesting.

Four cold dishes, four hot dishes, two stir-fried dishes, two dishes with a thick sauce, plus four main dishes: chicken, fish, pork knuckle, and four-happiness meatballs, plus two large bowls. Today, the Wang family's two large bowls are braised pork with mung bean noodles and bok choy with meatballs. This depends on the season; in winter, it might be something like "pig-killing feast".

Men and women sat separately. The two tables were a bit crowded, but there was still room to sit. The younger children ate some food from the kang table next to them.

During meals, Hua Kai's family usually eats a lot of meat and doesn't really crave food.

Everything that happened today made Zheng Shuzhen feel uncomfortable; she now knows what it means to have no appetite.

However, because Huo Yanping's family was present, the atmosphere was still acceptable; after all, neither Hua Zhongzhi nor Zheng Shuzhen wanted to lose face in front of their in-laws.

Not long after they finished eating, Hua Wanjiang and Hua Wanhu helped Hua Qingsheng in.

Hua Fengxiang complained from behind, "What's going on with this birthday celebration? He got drunk and started acting crazy at Linlin's in-laws' house. Isn't that embarrassing?"

Hua Chongjin felt a tightness in his chest, he couldn't explain why, he just felt uncomfortable. He had only drunk a few sips earlier, and now, looking at Hua Qingsheng, he vented, "How can this child be so useless? He's brought shame to the whole family."

Huo Yanping felt sorry for her son and said to Hua Zhongzhi, "Dad is so drunk from celebrating his birthday. Let's talk about it after he sobers up."

Huo Yanping's family offered a few words of advice, then helped Huo Yanping to help Hua Qingsheng to the kang (heated brick bed) in the west room. The Huo family members then went back to the west room as well.

Huo Yanping's family home wasn't far away, and they knew Wang Shengli wasn't a good choice. They had heard Huo Yanping say she could cancel the engagement, and they thought Hua Lin wouldn't be able to get married this year. But a few days ago, they were suddenly notified of Hua Lin's wedding date.

So anxiously, Huo Yanping's family couldn't even send many people over, making things very rushed and chaotic, so there were many questions to ask Huo Yanping.

We talked for a while before dinner, but we didn't finish. So, we used this as a starting point to move on.

Hua Kai felt she had seen enough of the drama today, and now Hua Qingsheng was going to get drunk and cause trouble again, potentially harming her family in the process.

So she said to Hua Zhongzhi, "Grandpa, my cousin is probably feeling reluctant to see his sister get married. Please take good care of him, and we won't squeeze in here anymore."

As he spoke, he gave Gu Lanyan a meaningful look.

Gu Lanyan quickly stood up and said, "Yes, Father and Mother, you've both been busy all day, you need to rest. We'll go back now. I saw that Wanjiang has been drinking, let him go home and sober up too."

Hearing that his wife and daughter were leaving, and that he was indeed feeling dizzy from drinking and wanted to go home, Hua Wanjiang said, "Father, Mother, then we'll go back."

After saying goodbye, Hua Kai and the others quickly went outside.

Hua Fengxiang heard Zheng Shuzhen talk about Hua Wanjiang and his group in the morning, but they didn't say much. There were many people in the house, and they were more curious. They wanted to ask what happened as soon as they left, so they naturally didn't try to keep them.

After the flowers bloomed and they left, Zheng Shuzhen sighed, "They're all such a worry."

Hua Zhongzhi snorted: "The ones who are the least troublesome are the ones who are usually the least involved."

Zheng Shuzhen glared at Hua Zhongzhi: "What do you mean?"

Hua Zhongzhi's feelings had indeed changed a lot today. He said directly, "What do you mean? Literally, it's too stuffy in this house, I'm going out for a walk." After saying that, he went out. Of course, since there were guests at home, he couldn't go far. He just strolled around in front of the gate to clear his mind.

Watching Hua Chongzhi leave through the door, Zheng Shuzhen burst into tears, feeling wronged: "What kind of situation is this? How did you let Hua Wanjiang suppress you? How am I supposed to live like this?"

Hua Fengxiang pouted: "Mom, don't you still have me? Aren't I your daughter? Aren't I better than them?"

Zheng Shuzhen sighed: "Not necessarily. This flower has become a spirit, opened a factory in the city, and is also good at studying. She will have no problem getting into university. How do you think you can surpass her?"

Hua Fengxiang laughed after hearing Zheng Shuzhen's words: "Mother, you think too highly of them. Is it that easy to get into university? It's good if half of the high school students go to university, and it's even rarer for people from rural areas to get into university. Don't listen to their nonsense."

Third Aunt Wang Min sighed beside Hua Fengxiang: "Sister, Hua Kai was the top student in her grade. Do you think she can get in?"

Hua Fengxiang was stunned: "No way? She could get first place in the grade? You're not kidding, are you?"

Hua Shuang whispered, "Wang Min was a classmate of Hua Kai in junior high school. If she were lying, wouldn't we know?"

Hearing this, Hua Fengxiang had no choice but to believe it. Then she remembered what Zheng Shuzhen had said about opening a factory: "No way, how can someone study so hard to get first place in the grade? And then open a factory? Where would they find the time? Besides, their family is so poor they can't even afford underwear, how could they possibly run a business? That can't be right."

Zheng Shuzhen said, "She's climbed the social ladder. Huakai met the team leader who came to the village to do surveying. He's rich and he's taking her into business with him."

Hua Fengxiang thought for a moment and said, "Then people are probably only after Hua Kai because she's pretty. Who knows, Hua Kai might even have to sleep with them. Should we report her to the school?"

Hua Wanhe spoke up: "Don't even think about it. They have connections at the school. Last time I went to the school to help Hua get a withdrawal, I almost dragged your sister-in-law's relatives into it."

Hua Fengxiang looked at Zheng Shuzhen in disbelief: "Mother, how have you kept them in check all these years? They've always been well-behaved. When I came back for the New Year, they were all obedient, weren't they?"

“In the last two months, I don’t know how, everything has changed. You have no idea how much it has changed. They didn’t help with the autumn harvest this year, let alone ask me for anything. Now everyone has become cunning. Hua Wanjiang and his wife go to the market to sell some kind of pancake. I heard they can earn several dozen yuan a day. When people go out to earn money and see more of the world, I can’t control myself anymore.” Zheng Shuzhen said, feeling extremely sad, and clutched her chest as she spoke.

This time, Hua Fengxiang realized that it was all true. She took two deep breaths and said, "This, this, this is too unbelievable! What should we do? I never even looked at them properly before, and now I'm watching them turn the world upside down?"

Zheng Shuzhen, panting, said, "What else can I do? Can I kill them?"

This caused everyone in the room to fall silent.

Hua Shuang used to enjoy bullying Hua Kai, but now her mindset has changed. They're both girls, and Hua Kai has become so powerful; she must be capable. Should I try to get close to her? If I can get to know Ye Yifan or Ye Yifan's friends through her, I can turn my life around.