Xia Dahe took out the wine his daughter had bought earlier and poured a glass for Gu Yanxiao. He poured one for himself as well. Just as he was about to pour one for his son, his son said, "Dad, you drink with Yanxiao! I won't drink. Otherwise, Xiaohui will feel uncomfortable if she smells alcohol on me." Xia Dahe nodded and didn't force him. He drank with Gu Yanxiao. After a few rounds of drinks, Xia Dahe asked, "Gu, when did you meet my daughter?" Gu Yanxiao honestly replied, "Uncle, I met Xia Liang last year. I came back from vacation last year and my mom tricked me into going to a matchmaking event. That's where I met Xia Liang." Xia Dahe nodded and then asked, "What do your parents think about your relationship?" Gu Yanxiao replied, "My parents respect my wishes when it comes to dating. After all, a partner is someone I'll spend my life with. Their opinions are just for reference and can't be taken as gospel." Xia Liang glanced at him but didn't say anything. Xia Dahe then asked, "Where do your parents work?" Gu Yanxiao replied, "They both work at the county government." In this exchange, Xia Dahe had already learned about the basic situation of his daughter's potential partner.
After that, Xia Dahe didn't say anything more. After all, one should bow one's head when marrying a wife and raise one's head when marrying off a daughter. He was now marrying off his daughter, and even if his in-laws were of high status, he couldn't be too humble. After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Gu Yanxiao also took his leave, and Xia Liang saw him off.
Once outside, Gu Yanxiao closed the door tightly, then pulled Xia Liang into his arms, excitedly saying, "Ah Liang, I'm so happy! Tomorrow, after meeting my parents, we can discuss our marriage plans after both sets of parents meet." He kept stroking Xia Liang's hair, like petting a dog. Xia Liang pulled away from his embrace, grabbing his hand and asking, "Are you drunk?" Gu Yanxiao looked intently at her and said, "I'm not drunk, I'm perfectly sober." Xia Liang, seeing his expression, said, "Let's go! Let's go for a walk." Gu Yanxiao didn't refuse, and the two walked hand in hand towards the main road. It was quite late, and there weren't many people around. They didn't say a word, just walked hand in hand. Only after Gu Yanxiao had calmed down did he take Xia Liang home. At the door, he kissed her forehead, watched her go inside, and then went home himself.
In the Gu family compound of the county government, Gu Weiguo and Han Yulan were still awake, waiting to see their son's results. Although they trusted their son, they still wanted to wait and see. Seeing their son return, the couple went up to him and asked, "How did it go? What did her parents say?" Gu Yanxiao smiled at his parents, beaming, "Don't you know who I am? The woman I found is top-notch, and my future in-laws are top-notch too!" Han Yulan rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes, yes! Your in-laws are the best, your parents are like stepparents!" Gu Yanxiao, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, fawned over Han Yulan, "Haha, my mom is the best mom in the world, no mom in the world can compare." Han Yulan was at a loss for words; she wasn't really angry with her son. Gu Weiguo, standing to the side, couldn't bear to watch.
At this moment, Xia Liang was lying in bed thinking about what clothes to wear tomorrow and what gifts would be appropriate to bring on her first visit. She fell asleep while thinking about it.
In the next room, Xia Rong and Zhou Xiaohui were still awake, talking about their meeting that day. Zhou Xiaohui said, "I never thought they'd get together. We were just getting together when they were together." Xia Rong laughed and said, "Yes! We didn't dare admit it back then, afraid she'd be unhappy. Time really flies! In the blink of an eye, they're talking about marriage, and we're about to become parents." Zhou Xiaohui snuggled closer to Xia Rong and said, "It's only now that I'm slowly accepting that I'm carrying a child. It's incredible. I can feel her growing little by little, and she'll call us Mom and Dad in the future." The two happily embraced and fell asleep.
The next morning, Xia Liang got up early, found the clothes she planned to wear that day, and prepared the clothes she would take to the Gu family. With nothing else to do, she went to the department store and spent all her milk powder coupons. She bought these on the black market in the provincial capital for her future nephew. She also bought some malted milk powder, as Zhou Xiaohui gets hungry easily every day, and she wanted to give her some to supplement her nutrition. After shopping, she carried the bags home. When she got home, Zhao Danxiang was surprised to see so much stuff and asked, "Why did you buy so much? Can you finish it all?" Xia Liang replied, "After the baby is born, my sister-in-law will definitely have to go back to work. You'll be home alone taking care of the baby. If you don't prepare enough milk powder, my nephew won't have any food." Zhao Danxiang nodded in agreement, "That's true, we need to feed him milk powder. Now that conditions are better, we can feed him something better. Before, you and your brother could only drink rice water. Your brother was okay; your grandfather would make sure your milk was thicker. But for you, all you had was rice water, not a single grain of rice. Your cousins..." "They all have malted milk powder to drink!" she said, bursting into tears. Xia Liang hadn't expected that buying just milk powder would make her mother cry. She went over to comfort her, saying, "It's okay, Mom. Look at how they're doing now. They're always calculating how little they have left. Instead of working hard to build a family fortune, they're only thinking about how much savings the old couple has. If this continues, their descendants will never improve." Zhao Danxiang thought about it and realized it made sense. The life she was living now was something she never dared to dream of before, while her family back home had always remained the same. Once she understood, she stopped crying, washed her face, and carried the things Xia Liang had bought to the main room.
At 2 PM, Gu Yanxiao came to pick up Xia Liang. Zhao Danxiang opened the door, and Gu Yanxiao asked, "Auntie, is A-Liang home?" Zhao Danxiang replied, "Yes, please come in and sit down for a while. She went to change her clothes." Gu Yanxiao followed her into the main room and found a stool to sit on while waiting for Xia Liang. Xia Liang was changing clothes inside, wearing a white shirt, black trousers, and leather shoes. Her hair was pulled up high in a ponytail, and she looked young and beautiful. She was a little surprised to see Gu Yanxiao when she came out and asked, "Why are you here so early?" Gu Yanxiao saw his mother-in-law in the kitchen and whispered to Xia Liang, "I missed you. I wanted to take you home as soon as possible." Xia Liang gave him a playful glare and said, "Take it." After leaving the house, Xia Liang said goodbye to Zhao Danxiang in the kitchen, "Mom, we're leaving now." Gu Yanxiao also said goodbye, helped carry the gifts, and rode his bicycle towards the county government compound.
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