Zhuang Zhimeng took a day off because her parents were coming, so she didn't have to go to gather pig feed in the afternoon.
I just stay home and tend to the vegetable garden. If there are vegetables I don't have, I'll have to borrow them from other people.
Zhuang Xingzhou and Hao Caiyun couldn't stay idle, so they went out to find Shi Meiling and An Tanxiao, and decided to go over for dinner that evening.
Zhuang Zhimeng decided not to go. She could go anytime she wanted, but she didn't want to go all the time. Every time she went to eat, An Qingbai's second sister-in-law would make sarcastic remarks, which she really couldn't be bothered to watch.
That evening, Zhuang Zhimeng was considering what to eat when An Qingbai arrived.
"Zhizhi, my mom asked me to come and invite you to our house for dinner!"
Zhuang Zhimeng hesitated.
"Brother Qingbai, I think I'll pass! Your second sister-in-law will start nagging again!"
An Qingbai directly grabbed Zhuang Zhimeng's hand.
"Let's go, let's go over there. My second sister-in-law isn't here today; she must have gone back to her parents' house! Who knows!"
Zhuang Zhimeng was happy when she heard that she was not there, and followed him.
"Brother Qingbai, what delicious food did your aunt make? She even sent you to call me."
An Qingbai told her.
“My mother specially made pork skin jelly. She knows you love it, so she made it especially for you.”
Zhuang Zhimeng quickened her pace upon hearing about the pork skin jelly. She had eaten the pork skin jelly she made during the Chinese New Year first. Once, when she went to eat at a restaurant, Zhuang Zhimeng ate the pork skin jelly made by her aunt and felt that it was even better than the one she made herself. She fell in love with it!
Zhuang Zhimeng walked quickly for a while before noticing that An Qingbai was still walking slowly, so she urged him on.
"Brother Qingbai, hurry up! Why are you so slow?"
An Qingbai chuckled in exasperation, thinking to himself, "She's already complaining about how slow I am just because she wants to eat something. Wasn't she the one who didn't want to come earlier?" But his body still involuntarily quickened its pace to keep up with her.
When Shi Meiling saw them coming, she told them to wash their hands and that dinner would be served soon.
Zhuang Zhimeng looked at the table and saw not only pork skin jelly, but also pan-fried small river fish, boiled peanuts, and cucumber noodles, all of which are suitable for summer, and the portions were quite large.
Shi Meiling invited them to start eating.
"Eat up, everyone! Don't stand on ceremony, we'll be family soon!"
An Tanxiao also opened a bottle of wine and poured a glass for Zhuang Xingzhou.
"Hey bro, let's have a drink!"
Zhuang Xingzhou had a decent alcohol tolerance, and he was also craving a drink, so drinking suited his taste perfectly.
"Okay, let's have a drink!"
The two of them savored each bite, it was truly delicious!
Hao Caiyun ignored Zhuang Xingzhou and kept talking to Shi Meiling.
"Sister, how many dishes should we serve at a wedding table in our village?"
Shi Meiling thought for a moment and then told her.
"There's generally no such thing as 'suitable' or 'unsuitable,' as long as there are an even number of dishes. For our child's engagement, I'm thinking of arranging ten or twelve dishes!"
Hao Caiyun agreed with the arrangement, saying it had a good meaning and was perfect!
An Qingbai sat next to Zhuang Zhimeng, listening to the two mothers' discussion. He was very excited, as he was about to get engaged to Zhizhi. He secretly hooked his finger with Zhuang Zhimeng's under the table.
Zhuang Zhimeng glanced at him while eating, noticing that he remained calm and showed no sign of anything amiss.
Zhuang Zhimeng thought to herself, "Little brat, he's quite the actor!"
She mischievously tickled An Qingbai's palm with her finger, and An Qingbai simply grabbed her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. Zhuang Zhimeng struggled a little but couldn't break free, and dared not exert any force, so she could only let him hold her hand.
Fortunately, An Qingbai knew the occasion, so he let go after holding hands for a while and then ate his food as if nothing had happened. He even took the time to serve some food to Zhuang Zhimeng.
Zhuang Zhimeng looked at An Qingbai, wanting to see how he could do such a thing without changing his expression.
An Qingbai felt that Zhizhi was looking at him, so he stopped picking up food and gave her a gentle smile.
"What's wrong, Zhizhi?"
Zhuang Zhimeng shook her head, and then she smiled.
"It's nothing, I was just looking around!"
She thought to herself, "What a hypocrite! He was just holding her hand a moment ago, and now he's acting like nothing happened. Ha! Men!"
An Qingbai chuckled to himself, "Hehe, I knew Zhizhi wouldn't say she wanted to hold hands."
Shi Meiling and Hao Caiyun exchanged a smile with them, then went back to their own conversation. What could they say about how good the children's relationship was?
After finishing her meal, Shi Meiling stopped Hao Caiyun and Zhuang Zhimeng, a mother and daughter, who wanted to help her wash the dishes.
"You don't need to worry about the dishes and chopsticks. The eldest son will wash them for us later!"
Seeing that Shi Meiling said they didn't need to do anything, they stopped insisting on washing the dishes.
Zhuang Zhimeng linked arms with Hao Caiyun, with Zhuang Xingzhou following beside them, and the three of them strolled home.
Zhuang Zhimeng didn't let An Qingbai see them off. It wasn't far. If he came to see them off, wouldn't she have to see him off again on the way back, and then it would be an endless cycle!
Another beautiful day has passed, and Zhuang Zhimeng is in a great mood.
Unexpectedly, her good mood vanished the very next day.
An Qingbai suddenly came to find her and told her some not-so-good news.
"Zhizhi, my mother sent me to call you home. She said we need to separate the family property!"
Zhuang Zhimeng looked at him strangely.
"Brother Qingbai, what happened? Why does Auntie suddenly want to separate the family property?"
An Qingbai then explained the reason to her.
"My second sister-in-law wasn't home yesterday, was she? Turns out she was worried our engagement would cost her money, so she took all of my second brother's money back to her parents' house for her younger brother's wedding. My second brother only found out last night! When she came back this morning and I asked her, she said..."
An Qingbai couldn't continue speaking at this point; what he said was truly infuriating!
Zhuang Zhimeng patted him on the shoulder.
"What did she say? Tell me!"
An Qingbai paused for a moment before continuing.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
