The eldest brother, Fang Hai, also thought it was too expensive, but since his younger sister had finally asked for it, he couldn't bear to refuse.

Dong Ping said with some dissatisfaction: "If you can't bear to refuse your sister, then you can bear to let our whole family go hungry."

“What do you mean by starving? Our family isn’t at the point where we’d go hungry if we bought a few more bags of milk powder.” Fang Hai sighed. “Besides, my little sister didn’t mean to make things difficult for us. She said in the telegram that we should pay first and she would pay us back later. It’s just that Mom and Dad don’t want her money.”

"She may have calculated that her parents wouldn't want her money, which is why she said that in the letter."

"No way?" Fang Hai hesitated.

"Why not?" Dong Ping sneered. "What kind of place is the countryside? So many people there are so poor they can barely afford to eat. We can't even afford milk powder in the city. Even if she marries well in the countryside, can she be better off than us? I bet she can't afford it herself. She's just writing to trick us out of money to buy milk powder for her child. Once we send her the milk powder, there's nothing we can do if she doesn't pay us back, is there?"

"No way, my sister isn't that kind of person." Under Dong Ping's repeated questioning, Fang Hai's heart began to waver.

"What if? What if she really doesn't give it to us? Then our money will be gone!"

When Dong Ping married into the family, Fang Qiao had already gone to the countryside. She had never even met Fang Qiao. She would never spend a month's salary to buy milk powder for her sister-in-law's child whom she had never met!

Even her own children haven't drunk it!

"Besides, formula isn't something you absolutely have to drink. If you don't have enough, you can just add some rice water. My sister-in-law didn't have any milk after giving birth to my nephew, but she still managed to feed him with rice water."

"You can feed rice water to a baby?" Fang Hai was a little skeptical: "Will it make them gain weight?"

"Of course! Why not!" Dong Ping insisted, sticking her neck out, in order to gain Fang Hai's trust. "Go around asking around, babies who don't have milk drink rice water."

"Alright then, let's go back and discuss it with Mom and Dad." Fang Hai was still unsure and said he wouldn't buy it.

Well! Saying this is pointless!

If we go home and discuss it, we'll still have to listen to the two elders and they'll have to take out the money!

Dong Ping gritted her teeth in anger and glared at Fang Hai secretly.

*

Fang Qiao held An An upright, letting her rest her head on his shoulder, and gently patted her from bottom to top with a cupped hand to help her burp.

After patting it a dozen times, it successfully produced a loud burp.

When Cheng Baidong came back after washing the baby bottles, he laughed as soon as he heard it: "Wow, our daughter's burps are really loud, louder than some adults' burps."

"Get lost." Fang Qiao gave Cheng Baidong a reproachful look. "Bold and bold? Listen to the word you used. How can you talk about your own daughter like that?"

Cheng Baidong chuckled and reached out to Fang Qiao, saying, "Come on, let me hold your daughter. You can't overexert yourself during your postpartum period. This little one doesn't look big, but she actually weighs seven or eight pounds. Don't tire yourself out and make your back hurt."

"It's okay to hold her for a little while." Despite saying that, Fang Qiao still readily handed An'an over to Cheng Baidong to hold.

An'an was full of energy after drinking her milk when the old lady led Tian Tian in to see her little sister.

The family surrounded An'an and teased her. She stared at them with her big, bright eyes, looking incredibly adorable.

Fang Qiao waved her hand in front of her eyes: "Hey baby, can you see clearly now? Are you just staring at me with your eyes wide open?"

The baby won't understand, but adults don't need the baby to understand either.

Newborn babies are the most adorable babies; even just blinking their eyes can earn them a lot of praise.

"Sweetie, you're so great! You can blink now!"

But since no one in the room noticed anything amiss, they all competed to find reasons to praise him.

Just as I was playing with the child, the front door suddenly rang, and someone came in from outside.

"Who is it?" Fang Qiao turned to look at the window and asked, "Bai Dong, can you see who's here?"

Cheng Baidong, holding An'an, looked out the window and replied, "It's Auntie."

"Why is she here?" The old lady had barely finished speaking when Aunt Cheng lifted the curtain of the main room and walked into the inner room.

Her expression wasn't good, but she managed a weak smile when she saw people: "Everyone's here."

Fang Qiao and Cheng Baidong politely addressed her as "Auntie".

Aunt Cheng looked at the swaddled baby in Cheng Bodong's arms and smiled: "Oh, the baby's awake too."

After exchanging a few polite words with the child, the old lady led Aunt Cheng to talk in the main room.

"It's too crowded in the inner room, let's go to the main room to talk."

Aunt Cheng nodded; she had something to say to the old lady.

Aunt Cheng was still talking about Cheng Yajun's mess.

Fang Qiao was initially uninterested and didn't want to listen, but the inner room was only separated from the main room by a wall, which was not soundproof at all.

Aunt Cheng speaks loudly, and Fang Qiao can hear her clearly even if she is sitting in the inner room. She can't just plug her ears and not listen.

I was shocked when I heard it.

Fang Qiao overheard Aunt Cheng say—

Jiang Moli cheated on Cheng Yajun!

Good heavens, how could such a thing happen?!

Fang Qiao's gossipy nature was immediately piqued by Aunt Cheng, and she turned to exchange a glance with Cheng Baidong.

Cheng Baidong wasn't interested in gossip, but since he had nothing else to do, he figured it wouldn't hurt to listen.

The couple each moved a chair, leaned against the wall, and focused on eavesdropping.

It's not entirely accurate to say that Jiang Moli cheated on Cheng Yajun, since the two are currently going through a breakup, and it's not uncommon in the countryside for someone to date another person while also going on blind dates.

Jiang Moli wasn't in a hurry to break off the engagement because she was planning to find someone better while still having an option, and also wanted to take advantage of the dowry Cheng Yajun offered.

The reason she's in such a hurry to break off her engagement with Cheng Yajun now is because she's actually found the right one while looking for a better one!

She had already gone on a blind date with a cadre in the town, and they had even set a date for their engagement. They had also promised to arrange a job for Jiang Moli once they got married.

That's why the Jiang family, these tightwads, went to great lengths to return the bride price and pay compensation, all so that Jiang Moli could get out of this mess and marry into a cadre family as soon as possible!

Aunt Cheng cursed as she spoke, "That Jiang family is truly despicable! What do they take our runner-up for? When they were looking for someone better while still on the job, they kept saying they wanted to break off the engagement but wouldn't return the betrothal gifts. They just wanted to keep us hanging on, using us as a backup plan when they couldn't find anyone better. Now that they've found someone better, they immediately turn their backs on us and can't wait to dump our runner-up and climb the social ladder. Good heavens, how can there be such a shameless family in this world!"

Aunt Cheng's voice was high-pitched and thin, giving Fang Qiao a headache, but for the sake of gossip, she just picked at her ears and endured it.

"If the engagement is called off, it's called off. A forced marriage won't be happy."

Cheng Guihe and his son Cheng Yajun have gone astray from the very beginning. The old lady has been heartbroken over the years and now she has no desire to get involved in their affairs. She also advises Aunt Cheng not to interfere.

"You're his aunt, not his mother. This isn't your business. Why are you meddling so much?"