"Let's watch over your little sister. Auntie, go cook."

"good."

Fang Qiao washed her hands and walked into the kitchen: "Xiao Jing, let me do it."

“Okay.” Xiaojing took a step back, handing the stove over to Fang Qiao: “The rice and millet are already in the pot, and I’ve also cut a sweet potato in it. It’ll be cooked in a little while. I’ve also chopped the cabbage, so we can just stir-fry it.”

Stir-fried cabbage alone was a bit too bland, so Fang Qiao fried four eggs to make sweet and sour poached eggs.

Both of these dishes are quick and easy; they were ready in less than ten minutes.

Cheng Baidong gets off work at noon, and with the time spent walking, he should be home by now.

Fang Qiao set the food on the table and just then heard voices coming from outside the door.

A minute later, Cheng Baidong came in from outside the door.

"You're back just in time. Wash your hands and eat." Fang Qiao gestured for him to wash his hands, then casually asked, "Who were you talking to outside just now?"

“I ran into a female employee in the cafeteria twice when I first came here and went to buy food,” Cheng Baidong answered honestly.

"What's your name? Are you from our residential compound?" Fang Qiao asked.

Cheng Baidong shook his head: "I don't know her name. I've only seen her twice through the window when she's getting food. But I saw her come out of the house on the west side. I don't know if she's a neighbor of the house on the west side."

"Working in the cafeteria? Then they're probably not neighbors. Sister-in-law Guizhi said that only men work at the house on the west side."

The two chatted casually for a bit and then went to eat, neither of them taking it to heart.

After dinner, Xiaojing volunteered to wash the dishes.

Fang Qiao noticed that Tian Tian's hair was messy, so she took off her braids, combed them back together, and tied them into two pigtails, one on each side.

She spoke softly to Cheng Baidong, asking him, "How was your first day at work? Were your colleagues easy to get along with?"

Fang Qiao knew he was engaged in confidential work, so she didn't ask any further questions.

Cheng Baidong: "So far it's been alright, everyone's been quite polite."

"That's good." It's good to be polite among colleagues. The worst kind of colleague to work with is one who has no sense of propriety and is a troublemaker.

Cheng Baidong's lunch break was very short. After eating and chatting for a while, it was time to go back to work in the afternoon.

Just then, An'an woke up crying, and Fang Qiao hurriedly lifted her clothes to feed the child. Cheng Baidong said something and then left.

Fang Qiao doesn't have much breast milk, so after breastfeeding, she has to give An An another 30 ml of formula so that An An can be full and stop crying.

Fortunately, after a period of trying to increase milk supply, the difference between supply and demand has become very small. It is estimated that after a while, the supply and demand will reach a balance, and we will no longer need to drink formula.

After drinking her fill, An'an was very well-behaved. Fang Qiao picked her up and let her rest on his shoulder, patting her back to help her burp.

Just as he was burping, he heard Chen Guizhi's voice coming from outside the courtyard.

"Xiaojing, is your sister-in-law home?"

"Yes, I'm home," Xiaojing replied shyly, opening the door.

Through the window, Fang Qiao saw a bamboo basket slung over her arm.

She didn't just come alone; she was followed by two women. One of them was about the same age as her, and Fang Qiao had never seen her before. The other was younger and was the woman Fang Qiao had met at her neighbor's house on the west side when she left home that morning.

Chen Guizhi led the two directly into the main room, lifted the curtain blocking the door and entered the room. She smiled and said to Fang Qiao, "Xiao Qiao, this is the shepherd's purse I dug up on the mountain this morning. I've washed off the mud and dried it clean. Here's some for you. It's delicious whether you stir-fry it, steam it, or make it into dumplings with shepherd's purse filling."

Fang Qiao, holding An An, couldn't take the baby, so she said, "Thank you for thinking of me, Sister-in-law Guizhi. I can't take the baby with me, so just put it on the table for me."

"We're neighbors, a little bit of wild vegetables isn't worth much." Chen Guizhi scratched her head, mainly feeling embarrassed about the tofu coupons she received yesterday.

It's true that she likes to take advantage of others, but after taking advantage of someone, she always thinks about finding a way to return the favor, and then taking advantage of them again next time.

He's a rather contradictory person; his relationship with his neighbors in the residential compound is one that makes people both love and hate him.

"Xiao Qiao, let me introduce you. This is your neighbor to the west, Director Liu's wife, Li Dan." Liu Guizhi first introduced the woman, who was about the same age, to Fang Qiao.

Then she took the arm of the younger woman and said to Qiao, "This is Sun Shuyi. She works in the cafeteria and now lives in the women's dormitory in the back."

Fang Qiao nodded and smiled: "Hello."

Li Dan seemed to really like children. After they were introduced to each other, she kept teasing An An, occasionally grabbing An An's little hand and shaking it.

Sun Shuyi didn't seem to like the child at all; instead, she was very concerned about Fang Qiao's background.

"Xiao Qiao, how old are you this year?"

“I’m twenty-two, how about you?” Fang Qiao asked back.

“What a coincidence, I’m also twenty-two.” Sun Shuyi then asked, “What month were you born in?”

"The fifth month of the lunar calendar".

Sun Shuyi immediately replied, "I was born in the eleventh month of the lunar calendar, so I'm half a year younger than you. I'll call you 'older sister' then."

"..."

What are you doing?

Fang Qiao was speechless. "No need. I don't have a younger sister, and I don't like people calling me 'older sister.' Just call me by my name."

“Okay.” Sun Shuyi kept talking: “I heard from Sister Guizhi that you, Xiao Qiao, were a sent-down youth?”

Fang Qiao looked at Chen Guizhi.

Chen Guizhi covered her mouth somewhat embarrassedly: "I didn't mean to say it, it just slipped out during our conversation."

Fang Qiao smiled and said, "It's okay, it's not a secret."

Sun Shuyi asked curiously, "So, in which year did you go to the countryside?"

She asked so many questions that it felt less like a conversation and more like an interrogation.

Fang Qiao was getting annoyed and replied perfunctorily, "The earliest batch."

“My brother was also among the first batch, that was in 1966…” Sun Shuyi counted on her fingers, “From 1966 to 1971, there was a five-year gap. You are twenty-two years old now, so you were 17 when you went to the countryside. At 17, you hadn’t finished high school, right?”

Fang Qiao nodded frankly: "I graduated from junior high school."

"Then how do you know Director Cheng?" Sun Shuyi asked, puzzled. "Director Cheng is so young and already the head of the research department. You only graduated from junior high school, so you probably wouldn't even qualify to be a temporary worker in a pharmaceutical factory. It doesn't seem like you're very familiar with him..."

Before he could even utter the words "perfect match," Chen Guizhi grabbed his arm.

She winked at Sun Shuyi: "Shuyi, this is a matter between the young couple, why are you asking so many questions?"

"I'm just curious!" Sun Shuyi didn't think there was anything wrong with what she said and continued to ask, "Xiao Qiao, tell me about it."

Her lips curled up in a smile, her eyebrows curved, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

Fang Qiao finally realized that this female neighbor named Sun Shuyi had no good intentions.

But she found it strange, since today was their first meeting.

Even if it's a targeted attack, it's come out of nowhere.