It was midday, and wisps of smoke rose from chimneys along the way.

As they approached the village, Cheng Baidong took the things he had bought out of his spatial storage and hung them on the handlebars of his bicycle.

Along the way into the village, many people greeted him with smiles.

Among the successful people in the village, Cheng Baidong was one of the top performers, so most villagers were happy to get along with him.

Cheng Baidong smiled and nodded in response, then addressed him with a respectful greeting according to the village's seniority.

After turning into the village alley and making two more turns, Cheng Baidong arrived home, where dinner had just started.

A group of people sat around the dining table in the main room.

Seeing Cheng Baidong push his bicycle in, Tian Tian and An An couldn't sit still. They got off the bench one after the other, one calling out "Uncle" and the other "Dad," and ran towards Cheng Baidong.

Cheng Baidong patted the two children's heads, took out two White Rabbit milk candies from his pocket, and put one in each of their hands: "Have some candy."

"Thank you, Dad!"

"Thank you, Uncle!"

The two children's sweet, childlike voices melted Cheng Bodong's heart, and seeing the smile on Tiantian's face, his worries subsided somewhat.

Children's emotions come and go quickly; after a good night's sleep, Tian Tian is fine again.

Ultimately, she grew up being pampered and protected by her aunt, which gave her a sense of security. Even if she was temporarily affected by panic, it wouldn't last long.

Cheng Baidong put his arm around the two children's shoulders and pushed them toward the main room: "You can eat the candy later, let's go back and eat first."

Wang Qiuju quickly stood up: "Brother, you're back just in time. Please sit down and eat. I cooked a lot today, there's still a bowl left in the pot, I'll go get it for you."

"No need, you sit down, I'll get it myself."

After Cheng Baidong finished speaking, he patted Tian Tian's shoulder and said, "Take your sister back to her seat to eat. Your uncle will go get some rice."

Sweetie obediently agreed.

Fang Qiao added a word of caution: "There's a fire under the stove, be careful not to get burned."

Cheng Baidong nodded: "I know."

He went out of the main room, but instead of going directly to the kitchen, he walked to his bicycle, took out a can of yellow peaches from the things he had bought, went into the kitchen, opened it, poured the peaches into an empty bowl, and brought it out along with the half-bowl of rice he had served himself.

Upon entering the main room, an empty seat had been cleared out next to Fang Qiao.

Cheng Baidong sat down next to Fang Qiao and placed the canned yellow peaches in the middle of the table.

"I just bought some canned yellow peaches from the department store in the county town. The salesperson said they were made from yellow peaches from the neighboring county. They have hundreds of acres of peach orchards there, and this is the first year that they've produced canned yellow peaches. I'll try them all and see if they're good."

Cheng Baidong picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and put it in the old lady's bowl: "Grandma, please eat."

"Canned peaches? I only have four teeth left, can I even bite into them?" The old lady shakily picked up a piece with her chopsticks and took a bite.

Cheng Baidong asked with a smile, "Grandma? How is it? Isn't the peach preserve soft and tender? You don't need to bite it, it melts in your mouth, you can just sip it and eat it!"

The old lady smiled and nodded: "Okay. I can eat it!"

Cheng Baidong then urged everyone, "Eat, eat, everyone, try it. If you like it, we'll buy some more later. This is local canned food, and it's much cheaper than before."

While we were eating, the front door was suddenly pushed open from the outside, and we heard the sound before we saw who it was.

"Hey, everyone's eating?"

Hearing the sound, everyone turned around and looked at the gate. When they saw who it was, they were all stunned.

It turned out to be Li Jinlong.

Cheng Hongmei's husband, Cheng Yajun's brother-in-law.

This man was a gangster and a snob. For several years, he and Cheng Yajun were very close, calling each other brothers. But ever since Huang Yan extorted 300 yuan from him as a bride price two years ago, the two families have become enemies, yet they are still bound together by the marriage.

After several unsuccessful attempts to break off the engagement, he reluctantly married Cheng Hongmei last December. Since then, he has never returned to Chengzhuang Village.

Cheng Hongmei was not favored by her husband, and the relationship between her and her mother-in-law alone was enough to give her a hard time. To make matters worse, she also had four older sisters-in-law, who controlled her completely and made it impossible for her to get away from them.

She had to live a life of constant worry and sustenance in her husband's family home. Her husband clearly disliked her family, so she didn't dare ask him to accompany her back to her parents' home. Even on the second day of the Lunar New Year after her marriage, she went back to her parents' home alone, carrying two bags of fruit, and was ridiculed by the villagers for several days.

Auntie San found it strange. What kind of wind blew today? It brought such a rare guest to Chengzhuang Village.

They just lack manners.

Who would specifically choose to come to someone's door when they're eating?

"It's you! I've never seen you here before, it's quite a surprise to see you today. Have you eaten yet before you come out for a stroll?" Auntie said, feigning politeness. "It's a pity we don't have any extra food, otherwise we would have invited you to stay for dinner."

"No need, my father-in-law's family is cooking."

Li Jinlong, seemingly oblivious to his aunt's lack of welcome, entered the courtyard with a smile and greeted Cheng Baidong: "Brother Baidong, when did you get back? If I hadn't just seen someone riding a bicycle at the alley entrance who looked like you, I wouldn't have known you were back."

He flattered, "You're as refreshing as ever!"

Fang Qiao couldn't help but chuckle and corrected her, "That's called heroic and dashing."

Li Jinlong scratched his head, looking embarrassed, but he was actually quite thick-skinned and didn't feel ashamed at all. He even flattered Fang Qiao, saying, "Sister-in-law, you are so educated. I only have a third-grade education. I can only recognize half of the characters and don't understand anything."

Fang Qiao smiled but didn't say anything.

Li Jinlong turned around and praised the children again.

"Is this An'an? She's grown so much! I remember when you left, she was just a tiny little thing. She's so pretty, just like you."

"These twins are your children too, right?"

"I guessed it right away, they look just like my brother Bai Dong."

Li Jinlong stayed close to Cheng Baidong's family the whole time, not giving the others a second glance, and didn't even call the oldest old lady "Grandma".

Auntie San figured it out: this was someone who had come specifically to curry favor with Cheng Baidong after hearing he was back.

He truly lives up to his reputation as a snob.

However, it's quite entertaining to watch as a joke.

The meal passed amidst Li Jinlong's endless flattery. After they finished eating, Cheng Hongmei called him back to eat over the wall. He didn't want to leave, so he cursed at Cheng Hongmei and chased her away.

After Cheng Hongmei left, he even took the initiative to look after the children, playing jump rope with Tian Tian and An An.

You need at least three children to play jump rope together, otherwise you'll have to tie them to a tree. Sweetie and her friend were happy to play because they needed someone to hold the rope up.

Fang Qiao glanced out the window.

Sweetie has shaken off the fear she felt from being scared by Su Chen's mother this morning and is now happily playing hopscotch, her cheerful laughter audible from afar.

Fang Qiao looked away and glanced at Cheng Baidong: "So you're just letting him play with the two kids?"