While Sheng Xiping and the others were working, their ears were also busy; they overheard Zhou Mingyuan's conversation with the others.

Upon hearing Zhou Mingyuan introduce Sheng Xiping to outsiders as Zhou Qinglan's boyfriend, Wang Jianshe and the others winked at Sheng Xiping.

Zhou Mingyuan's attitude just now shows that the Zhou couple has accepted Sheng Xiping.

A good start is half the battle won; judging by this, Sheng Xiping has a good chance of getting married.

When Sheng Xiping saw this, he just smiled and ignored the group's ridicule.

The Zhou couple were highly educated, reasonable, and fully respected their daughter's wishes, something Sheng Xiping already knew.

Working with two chainsaws together is quite fast.

As soon as the logs were sawed off, the others immediately gathered outside the Zhou family's gate.

Sheng Xiping just told everyone that there's no need to clean up the yard yet.

After lunch, they found a few large axes, and they chopped the logs into large bundles, then carried them into the yard and stacked them up.

This way it's less troublesome. Otherwise, with both Zhou Mingyuan and his wife working, when would they ever finish cleaning up all this firewood?

If it's left outside, who knows, some lazy bum might steal some in the middle of the night? It's not impossible.

While things were bustling outside, in the Zhou family kitchen, Wang Chunxiu, along with Zhou Qinglan and Tang Fengying, were busy cooking.

"Qinglan, count how many dishes there are in total? If there aren't enough, hurry up and go to the store to buy a few more cans."

"It's Xiao Sheng's first time visiting our house, and he even brought a friend to help with the chores. We don't have enough vegetables to serve."

While cooking, Wang Chunxiu turned around and called to her daughter.

Zhou Qinglan glanced at the cutting board: scrambled eggs with persimmons, cucumber and dried tofu salad, pork ribs stewed with green beans, fried eggplant fritters, stir-fried pork, stir-fried pork with bell peppers, stir-fried peanuts, and pork head meat.

There were eight dishes in total. In this town, that's quite good. Even during the Chinese New Year, it's only about this level of food.

To be able to put together such a meal, Wang Chunxiu probably used up all the meat coupons her family had saved up for a long time.

It's possible they even had to pull strings to buy it.

It's clear that the Zhou family went to great lengths to entertain Sheng Xiping.

However, compared to the Sheng family's banquet, these dishes are far inferior. When the Sheng family raised their roof beam, the whole table was filled with hearty dishes.

Of course, ordinary people can't compare to the Sheng family.

Sheng Xiping knows how to hunt. The forest farm is located in the mountains, so it's not difficult for him to eat some wild game.

"Mom, there are eight dishes in total. That's fine, it's good, we don't need to buy canned food anymore."

Zhou Qinglan counted the dishes and turned to her mother.

"Okay, that's fine. You can bring the dishes you've prepared to the table. I'll stir-fry some big peppers and stir-fry some pork, and then we can start eating."

Wang Chunxiu deftly poured the sliced ​​meat into the wok and stir-fried it, then added chopped green onions and large chili peppers.

As they were talking, the last two dishes were cooked. Wang Chunxiu then told Zhou Qinglan to tell everyone to rest and come back for dinner.

"No rush to eat. There's only a little left. Let's gather everything back together before we eat."

Zhou Qinglan went out to find Sheng Xiping and Zhou Mingyuan, and asked them to bring people home for dinner.

As a result, Wang Jianshe, Gao Haining, and the others glanced at the little bit of firewood left at the entrance of the alley and shook their heads.

Sheng Xiping and Zhou Mingyuan had no choice but to continue shoveling firewood back with the others.

We decided to stop sawing for now, carry away what we could carry, and we'll talk about it in the afternoon.

After finally tidying up all the firewood at the entrance of the alley, everyone stopped to rest.

"Oh dear, look, it's already past midnight. Everyone must be hungry, right?"

Come on, come on, let's go inside and eat. Your aunt has already prepared the food, and the firewood has been gathered up too.

"It won't get stolen if it's left at the main entrance. Qingyue and I can clean it up slowly."

Zhou Mingyuan had been so busy working that he hadn't checked the time, but now it was almost 12:30. He quickly invited everyone inside for dinner.

"It's alright. I ate some bread at the station, so I wasn't very hungry."

Wang Jianshe and the others walked into the courtyard with smiles on their faces.

"Uncle, this afternoon you go to the neighbor's house and borrow a few large axes. We'll chop up the firewood and stack it up while we're at it."

You and your aunt both work and are busy. Qingyue is still young and in school, so he can't do this kind of work.

"Let's get this done while we're all here," Sheng Xiping said to Zhou Mingyuan as he walked over.

"Oh dear, how can that be? We can't let you go through that trouble again."

You said you transported this firewood down from Qianchuan Mountain, then helped carry it home and even sawed it.

All that's left is to chop some firewood; I can do that slowly. How much effort does that even need?

Upon hearing this, Zhou Mingyuan felt incredibly pleased.

Where did his daughter find such a capable partner? He's thought of everything so thoroughly.

"It's alright, Uncle. We've been sitting around doing nothing, so we just took care of this little bit of work for you."

"Perfect timing! We can have another meal here with Uncle tonight, right?" Wang Jianshe and the others said with grins.

"Look, why are you saying you're freeloading? As long as you're happy, eat however you want."

"I wouldn't dare say anything else, but isn't it enough that my family can provide you with food?"

Zhou Mingyuan knew that the young men were just joking around, so he laughed along.

However, he also realized that Sheng Xiping's friends were indeed quite loyal.

Having such a friend proves that Sheng Xiping is well-liked and has good character, which makes Zhou Mingyuan value Sheng Xiping even more.

The group chatted and laughed as they washed their hands and then went into the east room to sit down and eat.

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