Factory Director Li was busy with work as usual after get off work. When he heard his wife calling him, he thought something serious had happened. He rushed out without even putting on his shoes properly. It wasn't until he saw Gu An'an's smiling face that a smile appeared on his face. "An'an."

"Uncle Li and Aunt Li, it's me."

The couple looked Gu An'an up and down several times before saying with satisfaction, "You've gotten fairer and plumper."

Gu An'an pouted and pretended to be unhappy, saying, "You've gained weight, so you're not pretty anymore?"

Aunt Li immediately shook her head, "How could she not be beautiful? An'an is the most beautiful no matter what she looks like."

Her gaze fell on Wang Xiaojuan, and Aunt Li asked in confusion, "Whose daughter is this pretty little girl?"

Wang Xiaojuan didn't expect the topic to suddenly fall on her, so she quickly stepped forward to introduce herself, "Hello Uncle Li and Aunt Li, I'm from Xiaowang Village. This is my first visit, and I brought some local specialties. I hope you won't mind."

She was still quite uneasy as she placed the items on the stool. After all, it was the home of the director of the Haishi Machinery Factory, who must be a very high-ranking official.

"Haha, little girl, don't be afraid, we don't eat people."

Aunt Li herself has no daughter, so how could she not like such a well-behaved girl as Wang Xiaojuan?

Pulling the two of them to sit down, the couple asked about Gu An'an's life in the countryside over the past few months, afraid that Gu An'an would only report good news and not bad.

It wasn't until Wang Xiaojuan occasionally chimed in to confirm the truth of the matter that the couple finally felt relieved.

"Please thank your father for us. If it weren't for them, An'an wouldn't be living such a good life over there."

The saying "bad people come from poor and remote places" is true at any time; the key is the village leader.

If village officials are kind and upright, and the local customs are simple and honest, things will ultimately turn out well.

"No need, no need, it's all what we should do. In fact, we should thank Sister An'an; she has helped many people in our village."

Uncle Li and Aunt Li also knew about that old man from back then, and Gu An'an wasn't afraid of their suspicions, so she let Wang Xiaojuan talk.

Sure enough, the couple was even more pleasantly surprised.

"An'an, you can even treat patients?"

“I learned a little bit from Grandpa Zhang before, mainly because I liked it. But they always took my things before, so I didn’t dare to do it at home. I hid the things in the old house that my maternal grandfather left me and secretly learned it.”

Wang Xiaojuan didn't know anything about the Gu family, but she could still sense something fishy from those few words. However, she didn't ask, but just looked at the Li couple with the same pained expression.

"Good, good child, you must have inherited Madam Gu's medical talent."

"Yes, when I had a difficult childbirth with my first child, it was Old Madam Gu who helped me. It's a pity..."

Factory Director Li quickly nudged his wife, telling her not to bring up anything that might upset Gu An'an, lest it stir up painful memories.

Of course, Gu An'an wouldn't be sad.

People are dying every day in this apocalypse. If you're really that sentimental, you'd be depressed by now. "Grandma would be so happy to know that someone still remembers her."

"Alright, you two continue chatting. I'll go cook. You two stay home for dinner."

Aunt Li brought out all the good food in the house; you could tell from her manner that she wanted to show off her culinary skills.

"Uncle, look what this is."

Gu An'an took out the dried vegetables on top, revealing what had been hidden underneath.

"Ginseng?"

Factory Director Li was genuinely surprised that Gu An'an would bring out such a good item. It would be a lie to say he wasn't delighted. "I'll take it. How much? I'll pick it up for you tomorrow."

He's a connoisseur; whether it's the appearance or the age, this ginseng is top-quality and must be very expensive. His family definitely couldn't afford that much money right now.

Moreover, he had already decided that no matter how much Gu An'an asked for, he would give her more subsidies, since Gu An'an's words were exactly what he wanted.

His father-in-law's health has been deteriorating over the years, and what he needs most are these nourishing and life-saving things. He's willing to spend any amount of money on them.

"It's free."

"It won't work if you don't pay. This thing isn't cheap, and we can't take advantage of just one child like you. If you don't pay, then I don't want it."

Factory Director Li assumed that Gu An'an had paid for it herself.

"I dug this ginseng myself up the mountain; I didn't spend any money on it."

Wang Xiaojuan added, "This plant was indeed dug up by Sister An'an herself."

She had only just heard about it, but out of trust in Gu An'an, she had no doubts whatsoever.

Factory Director Li was genuinely pleasantly surprised. He felt that the young girl in front of him was growing up so fast that he was almost not used to it.

"Just luck."

After laughing, Director Li returned to the original topic, "Even if you dug this up yourself, I can't just take it for free. If you don't specify how much, I'll just give you whatever I think is fair."

"Really, you don't need to..."

Factory Director Li's face hardened. "I definitely can't accept the goods without the money, otherwise your aunt would scold me to death."

Aunt Li wasn't deaf, so how could she not hear? Upon hearing this, she said, "I'm not just going to curse you to death, I'm going to beat you to death."

Gu An'an knew that nothing she said would make a difference, so she could only nod and say, "You can't possibly return the money for this, can you?"

When Gu An'an took out the deer antlers from another uniquely shaped bag, Director Li smiled.

"This thing is not easy to carry."

"That's right. In order to avoid being noticed, I have to disguise it, otherwise it will look like I'm giving a gift to curry favor with the boss."

Judging from her resentful tone, Aunt Li guessed what was going on. "Did someone say something they shouldn't have on the way here?"

Gu An'an then recounted what had just happened.

"She's just jealous. Don't take it to heart. Her daughter was supposed to go to the countryside after you, but she tried to hang herself and went on a hunger strike, making a spectacle of herself in the family compound every day."

Gu An'an was not surprised at all by Wang Xinghua's actions.

"It's something she's capable of doing."

Since they were already on the topic, the couple decided to tell them about Zhang Changsheng and the others. "Zhang Changsheng and his companion are currently eating sand at a farm in the Northwest. Zhang Xiaojun and Zhang Yanhong were forcibly sent away. But Zhang Yanqing is quite ruthless; to avoid being sent to the countryside, she became someone's stepmother."

"By the way, you should also remember her husband, Old Liu from the slaughterhouse."

"Old Liu? Is he the guy at the slaughterhouse who beats his wife?"

Aunt Li nodded, "That's him. Choosing a man like that, she'll regret it sooner or later."

Gu An'an sneered. Regret? With Zhang Yanqing's personality, she would regret whatever choice she made; it wouldn't make a difference.

They spent nearly two hours at the Li family's house, where they not only ate a lot of delicious food but also listened to a lot of gossip.

As Wang Xiaojuan left, her eyes were still sparkling, and her voice was more excited than ever before, "An'an, it turns out city people are just as gossipy as people in our village..."

Just as she was about to continue speaking, the figure that appeared in front of her made her shut up.