At home, He Xiaolei's mother rushed back from work at noon to make lunch for He Xiaolei. Unable to contain her worry, she still asked, "Xiaolei, were you and Dongqiang ever together?"

"What do you mean?" He Xiaolei seemed to understand, but not quite.

"Exactly, have you ever had that kind of relationship?" He Xiaolei's mother looked at He Xiaolei, wanting to get to the bottom of it first.

"Mom, no!" He Xiaolei's cheeks flushed slightly.

He Xiaolei's mother breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. Xiaolei, you two can't be together now, you know? You can't be together." Her tone was urgent.

He Xiaolei nodded obediently. Her best friends had all been with their boyfriends after falling in love. Their parents must have disapproved of Fang Dongqiang's family and didn't want them to have this relationship so that she would still have room to break up.

They didn't know how good Fang Dongqiang was, even though his family wasn't well-off.

Will they break up with her because of this? He Xiaolei's eyes darted around. She was determined to be with Fang Dongqiang. If she had been with Fang Dongqiang, their objections would be useless.

But a dissenting voice sang in her heart. "Mom, my high school classmates and I are having a get-together tonight. I won't be home for dinner."

"Dinner, our family will be together..." The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back. He Xiaolei's mother didn't know when her father would come back.

"Dad isn't home today either, let's have dinner together tomorrow."

She couldn't tell He Xiaolei where she had gone, so He Xiaolei's mother nodded and said, "Xiaolei, remember what I said: girls should respect themselves."

"knew!"

He Xiaolei's father had already rushed to the county town. He knew that He Xiaolei's biological father was named Fang Shugen, but he couldn't go to their village to ask. The only person he could inquire about was Fang Dongqiang.

He didn't go back to his workplace; he went directly to find Fang Dongqiang.

Fang Dongqiang ran to the security guard's booth at the entrance, his hands clenching tightly. "Xiaolei's dad?"

"Dongqiang, you recognize me?" He Xiaolei was also surprised.

"Yes, I saw you when you took Xiaolei to school and when you picked her up from the station."

"Dongqiang, I need to talk to you about something."

“Okay,” Fang Dongqiang led him to the reception room. “Come on, Xiaolei’s dad, have some water.”

Fang Dongqiang sat down next to her, rubbing the hem of his trousers with his palm.

"Dongqiang, are you from Fangjia Village?" He Xiaolei's father spoke first.

"Yes, Xiaolei's dad."

"Do you know Fang Shugen from your village?"

"Know."

He Xiaolei's father took a sip of water. "What's the relationship between his family and your family?"

Fang Dongqiang was also at a loss. From his childhood, he knew from his family members' conversations that his family and the other family did not have a good relationship and did not keep in touch. His grandmother was not as good to Jingming and Huahua as she was to Fang Yu. He did not know why their relationship was not good.

Why did He Xiaolei's father ask that question, and how should he answer it? Fang Dongqiang thought for a moment and decided to answer truthfully, "My family doesn't have much contact with his family. It's just that we sometimes play together with his two kids."

"Is it true that he has a daughter and a son?" He Xiaolei's father asked tentatively.

"Yes, Huahua is a year younger than me, and Jingming is several years younger than me. Xiaolei's dad, do you know each other?"

He Xiaolei's father didn't want to tell Fang Dongqiang the truth. "Our two families are related by blood, but we've had disagreements for a long time and haven't been in contact since. Xiaolei doesn't know this. She said you're from this village, so she just wanted to ask if you and Fang Shugen's family are related in any way."

"No." Fang Dongqiang shook his head.

"That's good!" He Xiaolei's father breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, "How is her mother now?"

His mother passed away a few years ago.

"Gone? Gone at such a young age?" He Xiaolei's father exclaimed in surprise.

Fang Dongqiang's brow furrowed with doubt. Fang Shugen's mother wasn't exactly young, was she? Seeing Fang Dongqiang's expression, He Xiaolei's father realized what was happening. He wanted to ask about Xiaolei's biological mother, but things had gotten too fast, and he hadn't quite caught on yet. "I meant, the Huahua's mother you mentioned earlier," he added.

“Oh, I thought you were asking about Uncle Shugen’s mother. Grandma Huahua passed away a few years ago, and Huahua’s mother…” Fang Dongqiang hesitated, unsure how to put it. The villagers categorized his mother and Huahua’s mother as the same type of person. Would He Xiaolei’s father care about his family? “It’s about the same as before, nothing particularly bad.”

“Xiaolei’s dad,” Fang Dongqiang said, mustering his courage, “Xiaolei has told you before, right? My mom also suffered a trauma when she was young, and she might not be able to help our family like other moms do.”

Regarding Fang Dongqiang's work, appearance, and the conversation just now, He Xiaolei's father was satisfied with Fang Dongqiang. Since he and He Xiaolei were not related by blood, they could be together. "Dongqiang, you are honest and not bad. As long as you treat Xiaolei well, that's enough."

"Thank you, Xiaolei's dad." Fang Dongqiang stood up. "I will be good to Xiaolei."

"Oh, Dongqiang, don't tell Xiaolei that I came to ask you about Fang Shugen's family. It's too complicated. You young people should just live your own lives."

"Then, what about the time you came to see me?"

"Let's not talk about this anymore." He Xiaolei's father gripped the glass on the table.

"That's not a good idea. Next time Xiaolei takes me to see you, let's pretend we don't know each other and it's our first time meeting?" Fang Dongqiang frowned.

"Heh, you're quite honest, kid."

"It's better to tell the truth. If you tell one lie, you need ten more to cover it up," Fang Dongqiang said earnestly.

Fang Dongqiang's words struck a chord with He Xiaolei's father, who was now filled with worry because he had concealed He Xiaolei's true identity.

Fang Dongqiang's words further improved He Xiaolei's father's impression of him. "Dongqiang, just say I came to see you. I was in the area on business. Xiaolei told us last night, so I came to meet you. Also, let's not mention Fang Shugen's matter, okay? We've met, so we won't hide it from her. As for the other things, it's not that I'm lying, it's just that there's no need to say everything. It's making things too complicated. Anyway, you're all in the city now, and you won't be going to the countryside much in the future."

Fang Dongqiang nodded. He didn't say anything more; to say anything more would just be him getting himself into a rut.

"Dongqiang, I haven't finished get off work yet, I still have to go to my workplace. I'll be leaving now. Oh, could you give me your number?"

"good."

After He Xiaolei's father left, Fang Dongqiang thought about it. Her family and Fang Shugen's family were related, and considering blood ties, they should be closer relatives from recent generations. Jingming and Xiaolei really did look a bit alike, which made sense. No wonder he felt like he had seen Xiaolei somewhere before when he first saw her. If she looked like Huahua, he could remember her, but how could he connect a girl's and a boy's appearance? No wonder he hadn't thought of that.

So how close are they? When it comes to her own village, He Xiaolei knows absolutely nothing about it.

What kind of relatives are they? If it's Hua Hua's dad and grandpa, who live in the same village, Xiao Lei's dad should know a little about what's going on in the village, but he seems to know nothing about anything else.

Grandma Huahua and Mom Huahua's side of the family might not know what's going on in the village, but if it's a relative from Grandma Huahua and Mom Huahua's side, who just said that Grandma Huahua has passed away, but he thought it was Huahua's mother, how could a relative not even know that someone has passed away?

There's no need to worry about blood relations between people separated by several generations, but it's impossible for people from more recent generations to be completely unaware of this situation.

Fang Dongqiang felt there were many suspicious points here, but he couldn't figure them out.