With the aroma of meat as their companion, Xiao Dabao and Xiao Erbao were happy even in their dreams, their eyes slightly narrowed.

"So greedy, I wonder who he takes after."

The complaints sounded sweet to my ears.

"Who else could he be like? Like Aheng, of course. Don't let his serious demeanor fool you; he was a real glutton when he was young. Whenever there was meat to cook, he'd be sitting on a little stool waiting at the door long before it was cooked."

Feeling a little embarrassed by his mother's words, Xiao Yuheng said, "Mom, don't talk nonsense and ruin my image."

"When did I say anything wrong, Lao Xiao? Don't you agree?"

When faced with the choice between helping his son and helping his daughter-in-law, Xiao's father decisively chose his daughter-in-law without even a second's hesitation.

“Your mom is right. You had quite a big appetite when you were little. You were a chubby boy back then. Luckily, you lost weight later. Otherwise, you definitely wouldn’t have been able to join the army. Your grandparents know this. You can ask them if you don’t believe me.”

Xiao Yuheng: ...Never mind, let's not ask anymore.

The days at home flew by, and the day came when it was time to part ways with my family.

"Old Xiao, I'm thinking of letting someone who needs the job more have it. I'll go to the army to help take care of the kids."

In the past, Xiao's mother wouldn't have been so decisive, but after these months of training, she is full of confidence in herself. Whether it's cooking or taking care of children, she can now handle it with ease.

Actually, Mr. Xiao didn't really want to stay home alone, since the couple had never been apart for so long before. But he understood that the two children needed someone to take care of them, so he nodded and said, "Okay, you take good care of the children. I'll take care of things at home."

To be honest, he was a little envious of Xiao's mother. Her grandchildren were so cute, and he didn't want to be separated from them for even a day. But as the head of a factory, he had a heavier responsibility and couldn't truly follow his own heart.

"I'm not worried about your parents, but you must remember not to only focus on work. Eat when you're supposed to eat, and sleep when you're supposed to sleep. Otherwise, if your health collapses, how will you work?"

Mr. Xiao listened obediently to his wife's nagging, showing no sign of impatience.

The next day, Xiao's mother packed her bags and left with An'an and the others. As for the village chief's wife, she did not come along. After all, she had a large family to support, and Gu An'an could not allow them to be separated for long, not to mention that there were so many things waiting for her in the village.

After Xiao's mother left, the job opening was still available. After some discussion, Zhang Xiaojun took over. Of course, the Zhang family wasn't unreasonable; even though Xiao's father didn't want it, they still paid him the market price.

Originally, Zhang Xiaojun could earn money by working in the fields and mountains in the village, but since that incident, there has been a lot of gossip in the village. Although some people may not have any bad intentions, it is still a big problem for Zhang Xiaojun.

Just then, they heard that Xiao's mother was going to the army to take care of the children, so the Zhang family shamelessly went to their door to tell them about it.

When Xiao's mother called home and heard about this, she was quite happy. After hanging up, she shared the gossip with Gu An'an.

"An'an, those two surnamed Qian are really in big trouble..."

When Zhang Xiaojun went to the county town to tell Qian Mancang's wife about this, the woman didn't show any expression, unlike other women who would start crying and wailing when they heard about such things.

But as soon as Zhang Xiaojun left, they started investigating the matter. The affair between Qian Mancang and Qian Dahua was now an open secret. It was only because the village and the county town were far apart and Qian Mancang's wife didn't like to go back to the village that no one had heard about it before. Now it would be very easy to find out.

Not only that, they also investigated all the other things Qian Mancang had done, and only after finding concrete evidence did they call him back to confront him.

Qian Mancang's son and daughter will both live with the woman and have no relation to him from now on. They will also have to change their names.

He didn't want to agree. Without his wife's family, he would be just a poor boy, and he couldn't bear such a fall from grace.

But this is not something he can refuse simply because he doesn't want to. Even if he refuses, his in-laws will expose his affair, and he'll suffer an even worse fate.

There was nothing Qian Mancang could do but grit his teeth and accept it, since they held his life in their hands.

After the divorce, he lost everything he had because of his wife's family, including the job he had worked for several years. Qian Mancang could only slink back to his village in disgrace.

Qian's parents were naturally unhappy about this, but they couldn't afford to offend the family in the county town, or rather, they didn't have the confidence to do so. So they set their sights on Qian Dahua. In their view, all of this was caused by Qian Dahua. If she hadn't seduced their son, he would have had a job in the city and a powerful in-law family, instead of having to work in the fields in the village like he does now.

They certainly wouldn't allow that coward Qian Daguai to use his son's savings to arrange a wedding for him.

The two families argued for a long time. Qian Mancang's family only wanted money. With money, they could find a wife for their son. They could find one from a faraway place. They just couldn't let their son be a bachelor for the rest of his life.

But the money was already in Qian Daguai's pocket, so there was no way it would ever be taken out again. The two families argued back and forth, providing several days of laughs, but in the end, Qian Daguai won.

Since Qian Dahua was pregnant with Qian Mancang's child anyway, she simply gave her daughter to the other party as compensation.

Qian Dahua still had feelings for Qian Mancang and was happy to see this happen, but Qian Mancang and his parents were not willing.

The ruthless fear the stubborn, and the stubborn fear the reckless; in the end, it was Qian Daguai who prevailed.

Qian Dahua returned to Qian Mancang's house full of expectations, but what awaited her was completely different from what she had imagined. Whether it was Qian Mancang or the other members of the Qian family, they would take their anger out on her when they were in a bad mood, without caring whether she was pregnant or not.

Just when she was spending her days in tears, news came that Zhang Xiaojun had gone to work in the factory, and Qian Dahua was filled with regret.

If, if she hadn't gotten involved with Qian Mancang, if she had lived a good life with Zhang Xiaojun, wouldn't she be a worker's wife now?

She recalled the two months she spent living with the Zhang family, which were the happiest days of her life.

Later, she evaded the surveillance of Qian Mancang's family several times, and went to ambush Zhang Xiaojun on the road he always took, even though she was heavily pregnant. But every time Zhang Xiaojun saw her, he would pedal his bicycle very fast and not even bother to look at her, leaving her with a cold back view.

Of course, these are all minor incidents and not worth mentioning.

"Mama, mama."

Gu An'an was translating the manuscript in her hand when Xiao's mother pushed the two children out the door for a walk. As soon as they got home, they wanted to find their mother.

As soon as the door opened, Xiao Dabao let out a muffled "Mama," startling Gu An'an so much that she dropped her pen.

"Mom, what did Yun'an just call me?"