The man on the other end of the phone had a deep, authoritative voice.

He said a few words, his tone carrying a hint of warning.

"I know, I know." Zhou Zhengqing's tone was somewhat aggrieved and impatient. "I've already given them the money. That mother and daughter are greedy. They're happy as soon as they see money. Three hundred yuan is enough to make them grin from ear to ear. No wonder Chen Feng would do such a disgraceful thing as selling her niece for a dowry."

The man on the other end of the phone said a few more words, and Shen Jingyan seemed to hear phrases like "be law-abiding," "keep a low profile," and "work hard."

"Okay, Dad, I can't stand this awful place for another day. You'd better find a way to get me out of here!"

Shen Jingyan lost interest in hearing what followed.

She wasn't surprised at all when she heard Zhou Zhengqing and his father say these things.

Shen Yuqin and Chen Fengzhen are both laughable and pathetic.

Thinking of this, Shen Jingyan felt even more sorry for Shen Honggang.

At noon, she invited Shen Honggang to her dormitory for lunch.

She told Shen Honggang everything she had heard outside the communications room.

Shen Honggang took a swig of wine in silence, his face clouded with worry, looking preoccupied.

"Things have come to this point, what can we do if he doesn't marry Yuqin? If he dares to play any tricks, I'll chase him to the ends of the earth and never let him go!"

Shen Honggang knew perfectly well that Zhou Zhengqing was only taking the money to shut him and Chen Feng up.

He said nice things, but Shen Honggang could tell at a glance that Zhou Zhengqing wasn't being sincere about a single word he said.

But what could he do? Shen Yuqin had ruined her reputation. She was already lazy, cruel, and had a terrible appearance, making it hard for her to find a partner. Now she was known as a "loose woman," so how could she possibly get married?

He could only force Zhou Zhengqing to swear that he would not go back on his word and that he would take responsibility for what he had done.

After a while, we'll just ask the village chief for a certificate so the two of them can get married.

Whether the two can get along, and whether Shen Yuqin can be happy with Zhou Zhengqing, are things to consider later.

Shen Jingyan felt that Shen Honggang, such an honest and upright man, was really unlucky to have such a shameless daughter.

But there was nothing she could do for Shen Honggang, so she could only silently put a piece of meat on his plate.

Grandma Xu arrived right after we finished lunch.

"Jingya, are you alright now?"

Shen Jingyan hurriedly welcomed Grandma Xu inside: "Grandma, please have a seat in the room!"

He was about to pour her some tea when he said that.

Grandma Xu grabbed her arm, beaming, and said, "Oh, why be so polite, we're family! Grandma came here just to ask if you still have that dog-skin plaster for treating back pain?"

Shen Jingyan nodded and said, "There's more!"

"Okay, your grandpa's been complaining of back pain lately. Get me two patches, and I'll pay you back!"

"Grandma, that ointment isn't worth much. I'll bring it to you in a bit."

Grandma Xu had been waiting for these words, and she nodded with a smile.

"Okay, then I'll go back inside and wait!"

As soon as Grandma Xu left, Shen Jingyan used her points to redeem five ointments from the medicine shop in her space.

She took the ointment to the main room, and as soon as she lifted the curtain, she heard voices coming from inside: Old Xu's voice, Grandma Xu's voice, and a young man's voice.

"Grandma Xu, I've brought you the ointment!"

Grandma Xu hurriedly got up from the kang (a heated brick bed) and pulled Shen Jingyan closer to the young man.

"Xiaopeng, this is Jingya! Jingya, you don't recognize Xiaopeng yet, do you? He's my grandson! He's twenty-one this year, and he just came back from the army today to visit Lao Xu and me!"

Grandma Xu's enthusiastic introduction caught Shen Jingyan somewhat off guard.

The young man in front of me was about twenty years old, wearing a crisp military uniform and his leather shoes were spotless.

He has a square face and big eyes, and his brows exude a soldier's masculine aura.

"Hello, Comrade Jingya, my name is Jiang Wanpeng, I'm currently in the army, I'm a squad leader..."

Before Shen Jingyan came in, Grandma Xu had already exaggerated her beauty to an extreme degree, and Jiang Wanpeng still didn't quite believe it.

But when I actually saw Shen Jingyan, I found that she was even more beautiful than Grandma Xu had described. The little girl stood there gracefully, like a fairy who had flown out of a New Year's painting, with bright eyes, white teeth, peach cheeks and an apricot face.

He got nervous and stammered out his self-introduction, which he had prepared in advance, and a blush rose on his dark face.

"Haha, look at him, Xiao Peng rarely interacts with girls in the army, he's a little nervous seeing you."

Grandma Xu quickly smiled and smoothed things over for her grandson.

The clever and calm Yan immediately saw through it: sending her to deliver the ointment was a pretense; the real purpose was to lure her to the main house for a blind date!

She immediately thought of Gu Zhiyun, whose handsome face was full of jealousy, as if he had fallen into a vat of vinegar.

However, the two are currently in a "secret relationship" stage, and Mr. and Mrs. Xu are unaware that the two are dating right under their noses.

So it's only natural that Grandma Xu would introduce her to potential partners.

What reason could she possibly give to refuse?

"Hello, my name is Shen Jingyan, and Shen Honggang is my uncle."

Now that everyone has arrived, she can't just walk away with a cold face; that would hurt Mr. and Mrs. Xu's feelings.

"Hey Lao Xu, I just remembered, there are a few pounds of cured pork on the kitchen beam, can you take them down for me? We're having stir-fried cabbage with cured pork tonight!"

Grandma Xu waved and winked at Old Xu.

The elderly couple walked out with smiles on their faces.

"You two chat for a bit, we'll be right back!"

The room fell silent. Sensing the slightly awkward atmosphere, Shen Jingyan took the initiative to ask:

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