Upon hearing the words "mystery gift," Yu Yao immediately perked up.

She hadn't forgotten the tiger penis medicine that Hu Lingyu had sent her last time.

Later, after Lu Ze learned that she had misunderstood, he would drag her out for a drink every night before going to bed, claiming that he couldn't waste his mother's good intentions.

She still feels aches and weak in the knees when she thinks about those nights, and not everyone can endure the days of having to lean against the wall to walk.

Hu Lingyu opened her luggage bag and took out a bag. Judging from the appearance, it should be a dress inside. "This is what your sister-in-law bought when she went to Hong Kong on a business trip. I heard that this dress is very popular in Hong Kong."

Hearing that it was a dress, Yu Yao breathed a sigh of relief.

"This dress is a nightgown; you can wear it to bed at night."

Upon hearing that she would wear it to bed that night, Yu Yao had a bad feeling. Then, seeing Hu Lingyu's ambiguous gaze, she breathed a sigh of relief again.

Hu Lingyu brought a lot of things for Yu Yao and the others, including what she and Grandpa Lu had prepared, as well as what her elder brother and sister-in-law had given them.

Yu Yao accepted the things. The food in the room was fine, but the dress... she looked at it from left to right, and finally her gaze fell on the cabinet at the very back of the bed.

It's safest to keep it here. I'll take it out and check it secretly when Lu Ze isn't home.

Time was still on his side. When Lu Ze saw Yu Yao and the others come out, he handed Tian Ya over to her and drove his jeep to the shipyard's residential compound to pick up Wu Wanying and the others.

The passion fruit in the yard has ripened. Neither Hu Lingyu nor Tianya had ever seen it before. Yu Yao led the two of them around the vines, searching for the ripe fruit among the branches and leaves.

It's not time yet; I only found one purple one.

"Yu Yao, are you home? My family made braised chicken with potatoes today. I'll bring you a bowl to try." Su Meihua's voice came from over the wall next door.

Su Meihua brought over braised chicken with potatoes. When she saw Hu Lingyu's phoenix eyes, which resembled those of Commander Lu, she instantly recognized them and greeted them warmly.

Yu Yao smiled and said to Hu Lingyu, "Mom, this is Sister Meihua, the wife of Commander Lei next door. Sister Meihua, this is my mother-in-law and my niece, Tianya."

Hu Lingyu took Su Meihua's hand affectionately: "My Yuyao told me about you. She said that when she first arrived, she was very grateful for your help, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to adapt to island life so quickly. Oh, right, I almost forgot. Yuyao, you chat with Meihua for a while, I'll go in and get it."

Yu Yao nodded and patted Tianya's head. "Tianya, this is Aunt Meihua from next door. Call her Aunt Meihua."

Sweetie nestled close to Yu Yao, a little shy in front of strangers. "Hello, Aunt Plum Blossom."

"So good!" Su Meihua had always wanted a daughter, but unfortunately she had given birth to four boys in a row. Looking at the sweet girl with her hair in two buns, her heart melted. "So cute, much better behaved than my stinky boys. Auntie loves you so much."

Hu Lingyu came out with a gift box. "Plum Blossom, this is something my aunt brought from Guangdong Province. Here, thank you for taking care of Yuyao. Please accept it!"

"Auntie, this won't do, I can't accept it. Speaking of taking care of us, Sister Yu Yao and Commander Lu have taken good care of us, I can't accept this." Su Meihua refused to accept it no matter what.

Having exhausted all other options, Hu Lingyu could only turn to her daughter-in-law for help.

Yu Yao stuffed the things into Su Meihua's hands, "Sister-in-law Meihua, please accept these. Consider them our housewarming gifts for you. We won't need any other gifts for your housewarming party later."

Hu Lingyu nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, consider it a moving gift. Meihua, please accept it. It wasn't easy for your aunt to carry it all the way from Guangdong Province. Can you bear to let her carry it back?"

Su Meihua had no choice but to accept it. "Then it's settled. Just come to the housewarming party in person, but you're not allowed to bring any gifts."

Yu Yao coaxed, "Okay, okay. Give me the braised pork, I won't be polite, it'll save you a dish."

Su Meihua said she brought a bowl, but it was actually almost a small basin. Yu Yao took the large soup bowl, ladled out the stewed chicken with potatoes, and went out to return the bowl to Su Meihua.

The group sat under the passion fruit trellis, chatting happily.

It wasn't until she heard the sound of a jeep that Su Meihua came to her senses: "It's getting late, I won't disturb your family reunion any longer."

When Yu Yao found her biological parents, the two families communicated by phone and even exchanged photos.

So they recognized each other almost immediately upon meeting.

"These must be my in-laws' mother and father-in-law. Hello, I'm Hu Lingyu. It's been so long since I've met you. Just as Lu Ze said on the phone, my in-laws' mother and Yu Yao are cut from the same cloth, both are top-notch beauties."

Hu Lingyu stepped forward warmly, grasped Wu Wanying's hand, and smiled broadly.

Wu Wanying smiled gently and said, "Sister Hu, Lao Cui and I have heard from Yu Yao that when she was in Baihe Brigade, we were very grateful for your care. Lao Cui and I thank you. Thank you for taking care of Yu Yao."

As she spoke, tears welled up in Wu Wanying's eyes.

If Lu Ze hadn't sent Yu Yao money, food, and clothes every year, she would have found it hard to imagine how Yu Yao could have lived under her stepmother's mistreatment.

Hu Lingyu held her hand and said, "Wanying, you're too kind. It's a blessing for our Lu family and for Lu Ze to meet Yuyao."

The two sets of parents hit it off immediately and had a very pleasant conversation.

Yu Yao didn't see Wu Huaiqing and asked Lu Ze, "Why didn't my brother come?"

Lu Ze tucked a stray hair behind her ear, saying, "He went to pick up Fang Qiaoqiao; he'll probably be there a little later."

Yu Yao understood and went to the kitchen with Lu Ze to make lunch.

Seeing this, Hu Lingyu and Wu Wanying also came over to help.

The family huddled in the kitchen, talking as they prepared lunch.

Today is the Lantern Festival, so dinner will be the main meal. Yu Yao and the others didn't make anything too complicated for lunch.

I steamed a fish, and also made braised ribbonfish, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, steamed sea cucumber with eggs, meat soup, and braised prawns. In addition, I had braised chicken with potatoes, which was a gift from Su Meihua. That made a total of seven dishes.

After dinner, Lu Ze, Cui Zhizhou, and Wu Huaiqing, the three male comrades, washed the dishes in the kitchen, while the female comrades sat in the courtyard to digest their food.

In the afternoon, with nothing much to do, Yu Yao first took Hu Lingyu to the house of Sister Yu Feng next door and the house of Political Commissar Qin to deliver the gifts she had prepared for both families.

Hu Lingyu was truly grateful for their care of Yu Yao, and Wu Wanying and Cui Zhizhou saw this and were very gratified.

It was Yu Yao's good fortune to marry into the Lu family. With such a loving in-law family, they were all happy for her.

After delivering the items, Wu Wanying and Hu Lingyu suggested, "I've discussed it with my in-laws. While we're all here, let's go to the house you've been assigned and help you tidy up, so you and Lu Ze won't be too busy later."

Yu Yao stopped them, saying, "Dad, Mom, Lu Ze and I can handle cleaning the house. It's a rare holiday today, so let's all sit and chat for a while."

Fang Qiaoqiao had heard Yu Yao talk about how nice the new courtyard was and had long wanted to go see it. Upon hearing this, she said, "Anyway, we're just killing time. You mentioned before that the new house is near the sea and has a beautiful view. We haven't seen the house you were assigned yet, so why don't we go take a look?"

Seeing their curiosity, Yu Yao nodded, "Alright, I'll take you there to take a look."