At this moment, Zhang Min's face was extremely ugly. Her eyes were filled with anger as she glared at Zhuang Tunan and said, "Fine, I don't care. You can stay here by yourself!"

With tears streaming down her face, Zhang Min turned and went back into the alley.

"Xiaomin, what's wrong?"

Huang Ling, who was taking Huang Zijuan home, saw Zhang Min crying as she walked home and asked with heartache, "Tell me what happened, and I'll stand up for you!"

But Zhang Min ran over without saying a word.

Seeing this, Huang Ling knew that Zhang Min must have suffered some injustice, so she quickly turned to Zhuang Tunan and asked, "Zhuang Tunan, what happened?"

When Zhuang Tunan saw that his mother was angry, he knew that she had just had surgery and shouldn't get angry, as it might affect her health. So he said with shame, "Mom, I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You made Xiaomin cry without doing anything? Ever since our family had that accident, Xiaomin has been helping us day and night, not asking for food or money, and even giving you her own meals. And you, you made her cry. Don't you have any conscience at all?"

"Mom, don't get angry! I just raised my voice a little to Zhang Min, that's all!"

"Really nothing else? If nothing else happened, why would she cry? Are you kidding me?"

"Just now, Li Jia came over and asked me to have dinner. We had already agreed, but Xiao Min immediately said that Li Jia wasn't a good woman, so I yelled at her, 'It's none of your business!'"

Huang Zijuan said to Zhuang Tunan, "Brother Tunan, I'm not trying to be mean, but a woman who breaks up with you the moment you hurt your leg is no good woman. A good woman will take care of you, not despise you. This time, I'm on Xiaomin's side, and you made a mistake, my brother!"

Huang Ling said irritably, "Look, anyone can see that Li Jia is not a good woman. Why are you so stubborn? I'll have Xiaoting put in a good word for Xiaomin and get her to come over. You have to apologize to Xiaomin, do you hear me?"

"I,,"

Zhuang Tunan might have his own ideas, and he didn't want to apologize, but now he had two women opposing him in front of him. If he didn't say something conciliatory, it would be inappropriate. So he thought for a moment, then smiled and said to Huang Ling, "Okay, Mom, I understand. I'll apologize, okay?"

Even though Huang Ling saw that Zhuang Tunan had changed his mind, she still didn't change her tone and said, "Li Jia asked you out, you can't go on a date with her!"

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Tunan looked displeased and said, "Mom, can you please leave my love life alone?"

"you,,!"

Just as Huang Ling was about to get angry and say a few words to Zhuang Tunan, Huang Zijuan, who was standing next to her, quickly said, "Brother Tunan, love is important, but you need to open your eyes and see how Li Jia treats you, and how Xiao Min treats you. One broke up with you when things went wrong, while the other took care of you without ever leaving you. It's obvious who is real and who is fake. How can you not tell the difference?"

"Zijuan, you don't know, I treat Xiaomin like a younger sister, but my heart only belongs to Li Jia. What am I supposed to do? I can't deceive myself, can I?"

Huang Zijuan suddenly glared at Zhuang Tunan, frowned, and said, "Cousin, should I call you an ingrate or a blockhead?"

"Zijuan, what are you saying? I can't accept either of those terms of address!"

"I don't care whether you accept it or not, I'm leaving. Talking to you is like casting pearls before swine!"

"Wait a minute!"

"what?"

I have a question for you!

"explain!"

"How did you suddenly become the deputy director of the tax bureau? Did you get in through connections?"

"Pah! Auntie, you should really put some order around Brother Tu Nan!"

"Can't I just ask?"

"I should be thanking you for this. Last time Zhou Chengzhi opened a bookstore, I went to question him, and he let slip that he had treated our bureau chief to a meal. So I reported our deputy bureau chief, and I didn't expect that my report would be successful. The bureau chief saw that I had done a good job reporting him, so he made me the deputy bureau chief. Are you still asking questions? You're going to misunderstand things again!"

"Oh, I see!"

Zhuang Tunan grinned sheepishly at Huang Zijuan and said, "I understand, you can go now!"

"you,,!"

Huang Zijuan pointed at Zhuang Tunan and said, "You're my cousin, so this is the last time I'm advising you to open your eyes wide. Li Jia is unreliable. If you want happiness, be with Zhang Min. I'm not going to waste any more words with you. I'm leaving!"

Huang Ling pointed at Huang Zijuan and said to Zhuang Tunan, "Did you hear that? Even your cousin knows who's reliable and who's not. How can you be so unreasonable?"

Zhuang Tunan grinned foolishly at Huang Ling and said, "I know, Mom. I can tell right from wrong. I guarantee I can see through things better than Sun Wukong's fiery eyes!"

"You! I really don't know what to say to you. I'd better let Xiaoting comfort Xiaomin so she won't be too upset!"

"Okay, Mom. By the way, Mom, could you help me pack my new clothes? I'll wear them this afternoon!"

"I'll tidy you up for good! I'll hide all your decent clothes in a minute. You think you can go on a date? No way!"

After watching his mother leave, Zhuang Tunan sat in front of the stall and waited, hoping that Zhuang Xiaoting would persuade Xiaomin to come over so that he could apologize to Xiaomin. But he waited and waited until noon, when Huang Ling brought him food, but she didn't give him a kind look.

Zhuang Tunan figured that it might be because Xiaoting hadn't gone in the morning. He would apologize to Xiaomin when she calmed down and came to help him in the afternoon.

But as the sky gradually darkened and the sun was about to set, Xiaomin still hadn't arrived. Zhuang Tunan began to have doubts. Later, Huang Ling and Zhuang Xiaoting came to help tidy up the stall, but they still didn't see Xiaomin.

As the newsstand was about to be packed up, Zhuang Tunan began to think about how to respond to Li Jia's invitation, where to eat, what to eat, and how to present himself to Li Jia. But he couldn't decide after thinking it over and over.

Perhaps Huang Ling felt sorry for Zhuang Tunan, because she didn't try to persuade him anymore. Zhuang Xiaoting also pretended not to know anything. The two of them packed up their things and left the newsstand.

Zhuang Tunan waited alone at the alley entrance until after 5 PM. The streets were almost deserted, except for Wang Yong and his son, who were still frantically graffitiing. And you know what? Among all the places Zhuang Tunan could see, Wang Yong was quite skilled; the figures on the wall were truly lifelike and incredibly realistic. Two or three times, Zhuang Tunan caught a glimpse of those images out of the corner of his eye, which always gave him a slight fright and made him break out in goosebumps, as if the figures on the wall had already come to life. Especially as it got darker and darker, and by 8 PM, the weather was getting chilly, Zhuang Tunan also felt the cold. But Li Jia was still nowhere to be seen. It seemed that Li Jia was going to break her promise this time; otherwise, she would have come long ago.

"Tunan! Let's go back!"

Huang Ling arrived at the alley entrance and said to Zhuang Tunan, "She couldn't possibly be coming. It's already this late, how could she possibly still be here?"

Zhuang Tunan glanced at his mother and said, "Mom, you go back! I'll wait a little longer. Maybe Li Jia gets off work late. That's how it is at the design institute. Sometimes we get off work very, very late, and there's nothing we can do about it!"

"Tu Nan, I'm not trying to be mean, but look, it's almost nine o'clock. Even if she manages to come, the restaurants will probably be closing soon!"

"Yes, the restaurant might close, but I'm thinking of taking a walk with her on this street. Maybe that will make things better!"

"Okay! Then just wait a little longer, I'll come pick you up at ten o'clock. By the way, Tu Nan, I have to tell you that Zhang Min has been sitting at our house for two or three hours, waiting for you to come home. She hasn't said a word. She hopes you'll come home soon, but she can't resist her own insistence, so she hasn't looked for you!"

Zhuang Tunan nodded and said, "Mom, I know. I owe Xiaomin too much, and I'm afraid I can never repay her in this lifetime. But I can't be nice to her just because I owe her. That would be irresponsible to both her and me!"

"Okay, then follow your heart! I'll push you again later!"

Huang Ling turned and entered the alley. Then, she was heard saying to someone inside, "Xiao Min, let's go! You can't wake someone who's asleep!"