From Meng Tao's point of view, Tian Laoliu and Lin Sanmeng did deserve to be beaten, but as a brigade cadre and the leader of the entire brigade, Captain Bao must emphasize stability and unity. In front of the younger generations in the village, he must not show support or encouragement for using fists or force to solve problems. He symbolically scolded Meng Tao a few words and walked away with his hands behind his back.

The young people also left one after another, and Meng Tao did not try to keep them. According to the older generation, the more people who come to the house on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the more blessings and fortune the year will have, so the host family will cook sweet soup and take out melon seeds and peanuts to entertain them. She didn't believe this, and thought that too many people would cause chaos. Now, they all came to her house to fight.

When I returned to Jinniu's room, there were still a few people who had not left. The two guys who were playing chess continued their game without being affected. Three girls were sitting by the brazier, warming themselves by the fire and talking to Meng Jinniu. Wang Tiegen was cleaning the room with a broom and dustpan.

When Jinniu saw Meng Tao coming back, his eyes were full of guilt. He blamed himself for being a useless brother who always had to take the lead for his sister.

He said distressedly, "Sister, next time you beat someone up, use a stick and don't hurt your hands."

"I'm fine. I haven't had enough fun yet." Meng Tao replied.

The three girls all laughed. Meng Tao looked at them. They were Luo Lihua and her cousin Luo Xiuhua. The other one was Yu Xiaomin. This was a rare visitor. Meng Tao seemed not to have seen Yu Xiaomin since the time she encountered the wild boar in the mountains. She heard that she had gone to another county with her mother to visit and take care of her cousin who had given birth.

Today, all three girls wore new clothes, and they were dressed especially brightly. In the village, there is no such thing as wearing the same clothes. It is good to have something to wear. Therefore, the Luo Lihua sister wore the same cotton-padded jacket with a red background and large flowered gowns, new blue cloth pants, and new cloth shoes she made herself. The uppers had two flowers and leaves embroidered with colored thread, and they also wore plaid scarves with tassels around their necks. This is a very common new outfit in the countryside. They looked like a pair of twins, which was quite festive.

Yu Xiaomin's style is that of a city girl, very fashionable, in a beige Lenin suit with an iron-red half-high collar sweater underneath. Her two waist-length pigtails were cut short to the shoulders, and the ends of the pigtails were tied with bows with bright red glass silk, making her look lively and pretty.

But it's not time to wear a jacket yet. Although the sun is out today, the snow is still there. The shade is still freezing cold. It's hard to resist without a cotton coat. Meng Tao is in very good health now, but she still has to wear a fluffy cotton coat to keep warm. So even when Yu Xiaomin was sitting by the brazier, she was still sniffing and her voice was nasal. It was obvious that she had a cold.

This is a guy who prefers grace to warmth.

Meng Tao greeted them one by one and asked Yu Xiaomin: "I haven't seen you for a few days. Did you go to visit relatives?"

"Yes, my cousin from my aunt's family gave birth to a baby. My aunt is old and in poor health, so she asked my mother to go over to take care of her during the confinement period. My mother insisted that I stay with her, so we lived in Wuhe County for a while. Taohua, do you think I have changed?" Yu Xiaomin said with a smile.

Meng Tao nodded: "It has changed. It looks better now."

"Hehehe!" Yu Xiaomin was very happy.

Luo Lihua reached out and pulled Meng Tao: "Taohua, come sit down and warm yourself by the fire. You were right just now. Tian Laoliu and Lin Sanmeng are not good people. They deserve to be beaten!"

Luo Xiuhua took out a handful of melon seeds from her pocket: "Taohua, come and eat some melon seeds."

Meng Tao waved her hands: "I just had a fight with Lin Sanmeng, my hands are dirty, I need to wash them. I also have peanuts and melon seeds at home, I'll give them to you later."

Meng Tao took Xiao Wangcai out to wash their hands, unlocked the door and entered the main room, bringing out a basket of fruit candies, melon seeds and peanuts for everyone to eat.

As long as Taurus has a full meal, he won't eat snacks. He won't even eat melon seeds, so Meng Tao keeps all the snacks in the main room.

The radio on Jinniu's bedside table was turned on by Yu Xiaomin, who asked Jinniu which channel he wanted to listen to. Jinniu said any channel was fine, just turn it down because they were still playing chess.

The chess player waved his hand: "You can do whatever you want, it doesn't matter to us."

Yu Xiaomin turned on a program, telling a story and then singing a song. The volume was moderate so as not to affect the conversation, and it made the atmosphere lively and interesting.

Everyone was eating peanuts, melon seeds, and candies while chatting. Yu Xiaomin suddenly asked about the cloth bag that Jinniu had just returned to Zhou Cuimei: "Jinniu, what's in that? Is it an engagement item? Have you been in a relationship with Zhou Cuimei? How long have you been in a relationship?"

Yu Xiaomin's series of questions made Meng Jinniu blush and he quickly denied: "Don't, don't talk nonsense. Girls from bad families have a bad reputation. I don't have a relationship with her!"

"Then why did Zhou Cuimei give you something so eagerly? She even spoke to you in that tone just now, and we all thought you two were a couple." Yu Xiaomin said.

Meng Tao also looked at Brother Jinniu curiously. It must be said that Zhou Cuiling was not joking last night. Her brother Jinniu has indeed become more handsome! He is kept in the house every day, and he has enough nutrition. His skin has become white and fleshy, with a healthy rosy complexion. The bald head handed in at the hospital has grown some black hair. He is wearing a jacket-style cotton coat given by Meng Zhehan, a branded product bought from the Friendship Store. Even the leather wheelchair he sits in adds a lot of points. This is probably the image of a tall, rich and handsome man in this era, right?

No wonder the girl came to me and confessed her love to me.

Meng Tao couldn't help laughing: "When did Zhou Cuimei come? Even I didn't know?"

"On the day you went to Mengzhou."

Meng Jinniu thought that Taohua was laughing at him, and his face turned even redder, turning into a large piece of red cloth, and his neck and ears also turned red. He imitated Shen Yu, Meng Zhehan, Xu Yulin, and Liu Jianye, trying to adjust his expression and clarifying very seriously:

"She and I are nothing, and we are definitely not a couple! When she gave me this, I didn't even agree to accept it, and I didn't even get to say a few words. She was the only one who kept talking.

Later, Wang Tiezhu came over. I thought she couldn’t do anything in front of Wang Tiezhu, but she still stuffed the thing into my arms. I quickly stuffed it back into her hands, and she stuffed it into my arms again. I… I was anxious and threw it to the ground. She cursed, "Meng Jinniu, you are a fool." She picked it up and stuffed it under the pillow on the bed. But that was Wang Tiegen’s bed. Before I could say anything, she ran away! I could only chase her to the door in my wheelchair. I looked around for a while, and then I turned around and saw Wang Tiezhu opening it and looking at it. I told him not to look at it, but he insisted on looking at it. "

Wang Tiegen threw a peanut into his mouth and said, "I put it under my pillow. Brother Jinniu didn't want it, so I just took a look out of curiosity. I can't bear this reputation for nothing, right? There is a letter and two kinds of needlework inside."

Yu Xiaomin asked: "Isn't that a love letter? What does it say?"

Meng Jinniu stopped Wang Tiegen from saying anything: "Don't talk about this."

Wang Tiegen nodded, and Yu Xiaomin was very dissatisfied: "Jinniu, what do you mean? Are you in love with her?"

Meng Jinniu: “No.”

"So what kind do you like?"

"I, I don't know either."

"Taurus, what do you think of me?"

Yu Xiaomin said as she squatted in front of Jinniu's wheelchair, grabbed his two pigtails, tilted her head, blinked, acted cute, and posed beautifully: "Brother Jinniu, if you agree, we can start dating now!"

This series of operations shocked the sisters Luo Lihua and Luo Xiuhua, and opened the eyes of Wang Tiegen and the two guys playing chess.

Meng Jinniu was so scared that he quickly turned his wheelchair and moved back two meters.

Meng Tao: “…”

Regardless of whether Yu Xiaomin is true or false, her courage is commendable, but Meng Tao doesn't like it and seems aggressive. Even if Jinniu agrees, this partner is a strong woman and a weak man. I don't know what it will feel like to talk about it. If Luo Lihua and Luo Xiuhua also have this idea, she is inclined to them.

Just when I was trying to find a reason to help Jinniu out, Jinniu spoke up himself: "No, I, I have someone I like, she's in the village where we came from."

The room was quiet. Wang Tiegen lowered his head and chuckled. The two people playing chess also lowered their heads and chuckled. The Luo Lihua and her sister pretended they knew nothing and ate melon seeds.

Yu Xiaomin performed okay. She smiled awkwardly and said she was just joking with Jinniu. Then she picked up the wire cutters and fiddled with the charcoal fire. She said her family might look for her and then hurried back.

After a while, Luo Lihua, Luo Xiuhua and the two chess players also got up and went home. Meng Tao invited them to have lunch, but they all declined.

After Wang Tiegen also returned home, Meng Tao asked Meng Jinniu: "Do you really have a girlfriend in your hometown? Whose girl is she?"

Meng Jinniu scratched his head: "Which girl would like me? I just lied so that they wouldn't think I don't have a boyfriend. If one or two of them do this... I'm scared!"

Meng Tao laughed: "Good Taurus, you've learned to be cunning! You're a man, what are you afraid of? They come to you on their own initiative, just go with whoever you like, take it seriously and aim to get married, don't be a playboy!"

Meng Jinniu: "I'm definitely not a playboy, but I'm just afraid of them and don't dare to like them."

"Is it because you don't like it or you don't like it?"

"I, I don't even know what love is now."

"It's just heart-thumping. When they talk to you, does your heart beat fast and frantically?"

"No! My heart didn't beat at all when they came. How could I be on guard against what they might do to me?"

"Hahaha! Well, we are young, there is no rush. One day, you will meet someone who can make your heart beat faster, and that is the one you like."

Meng Tao laughed so hard that her stomach hurt because of Brother Jinniu. Her bad mood caused by Tian Laoliu sneaking into the house and the fight with Lin Sanmeng disappeared without a trace. She went to the kitchen and made two large bowls of three-fresh shredded pork noodles and gave some to Xiao Wangcai. The brother and sister had a nice lunch with Xiao Wangcai.

After eating and drinking, Meng Tao washed the dishes and trained Xiao Wangcai according to the booklet left by Shen Yu. Xiao Wangcai was very smart, as if he was born to understand. As long as Meng Tao gave an order, he would complete it accurately. Taurus was itching to do so and also gave orders to Xiao Wangcai, but Xiao Wangcai ignored her. He would go when he was happy and ignore her when he was unhappy.

Jinniu was so depressed that he turned his wheelchair and insisted on chasing after Xiao Wangcai to hug him. Meng Tao was watching them playing with a smile when suddenly a howling voice came from outside the courtyard gate: "Grandma Taohua, help!"

(End of this chapter)