To make up for the debt owed to Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

Lin Qingping realized something from Zhiyuan's silly look: Zhiyuan might really not have figured it out yet!

"No, Zhiyuan..." Lin Qingping really wanted to question Gu Juncheng. He said he was going to talk to his son, but had he actually done so?! Lin Qingping just felt a headache coming on. "Zhiyuan, tell me, why did you fight with Xiaomai and Xiaoyuanlian, and even fight with Yun Xiaoshan? What was it all for?"

Zhiyuan blinked. "Of course, it's to avenge Xiaomai!"

Lin Qingping: ...

Lin Qingping struggled to suppress the words "silly son" and asked him, "Zhiyuan, do you like Xiaomai in the same way... um, Little Round Face likes Xiaomai?"

Lin Qingping herself thought the sentence was really too convoluted, but Zhiyuan, if you call him stupid, he really is a bit stupid, but when it comes to using his brain, he is not stupid at all. He understood such a convoluted sentence immediately, jumped up and shouted, "Mom, what nonsense are you talking about? Do you think I'm as shameless as them? Besides, Xiaomai is my sister!"

"I see..." Lin Qingping finally understood. She and Gu Juncheng were both wrong; Zhiyuan had only gotten angry and hit them because he felt that Xiaoyuanlian and Yun Xiaoshan had "bullied" his sister...

Zhiyuan looked at her with a reproachful and incredulous expression. "Mom, what are you thinking?" His eyes seemed to say: How can the thoughts of you adults be so filthy?

Well, Lin Qingping suddenly lost interest in teaching her son, and snorted with a hint of regret, "What are you thinking? Do you want Xiaomai to be my daughter-in-law?"

"Mom!" Zhiyuan cried out, his voice filled with condemnation.

Lin Qingping waved her hand, "Forget it, I'm not lucky enough to have that. Forget it, let your father teach you!"

Of course, after the two children fell asleep at night, Gu Juncheng washed up and went back to his room to sleep. As soon as he lay down, his ear was grabbed.

"What's wrong?" Gu Juncheng quickly covered his ears.

"Didn't you want to talk to your son about puberty? How did you talk to him?" Lin Qingping asked, pulling his ear hard.

"I told you... I had to protect my sister from harm!" he said innocently.

Upon hearing this, Lin Qingping exclaimed, "Alright!"

She sneered, "Back when you and Chen Xia were childhood sweethearts, did you also protect your sister from harm?"

Don't blame her for bringing up old grievances!

"Lin Qingping... what... what's going on here?" Didn't he confess this matter and get leniency?

Lin Qingping snorted, turned over and went to sleep, too lazy to pay attention to him, leaving Gu Juncheng completely puzzled.

The next day at breakfast, Gu Jun asked Zhiyuan, "What did your mother say to you?" She made him get his ear pulled and ignored him all night.

Zhiyuan gave him a look and snorted, "I don't have any childhood sweethearts to protect. My sister is my sister, my real sister!"

Gu Juncheng: ...

"You brat! Eavesdropping on adults?" Gu Juncheng gave him a smack on the head.

"Am I a child again now? Am I an adult when I want a daughter-in-law?" Zhiyuan was full of complaints and his words were starting to sound sarcastic.

Gu Juncheng noticed that this kid was becoming more and more eloquent. He could make him dizzy with his sharp tongue when they were kids, and now he was even quicker to respond.

He thought for a moment, then pointed at him, "Let your mother deal with you."

Zhiyuan snorted again, "My mom would never punish me, she'd only punish you!"

Gu Juncheng: ...

The girl looked at her brother, then at her father, and asked, "Are you two arguing?"

"Who's arguing?" Lin Qingping had just finished breakfast and gone upstairs to rinse her mouth when the father and son started arguing again.

"We weren't making any noise." Zhiyuan had almost finished eating. "I wasn't eavesdropping. I was just passing by your room and you were talking so loudly! Mom, I'm going out now. I'll be back for dinner tonight."

Lin Qingping hadn't figured out what was going on yet, so she looked at Gu Juncheng, who simply said, "There's no argument, you know I'm just good-natured."

Lin Qingping was actually hesitant about whether to talk to Xiaomai, but Xiaomai had Gu Youlian as her mother, and as her aunt, wouldn't it be inappropriate for her to interfere too much?

When she voiced her concerns, Gu Juncheng was very supportive, saying, "You raised Xiaomai and her mother single-handedly, so what's there to be polite about?"

Lin Qingping was still considering when Gu Juncheng went directly to his sister's house and called her over.

Wheat is truly intelligent; compared to Wheat, Zhiyuan is like a blockhead.

Before Lin Qingping could even ask, Xiaomai spoke up, "Auntie, are you asking about us?"

Lin Qingping smiled and patted her head.

Wheat looks more like Gu Youlian. She was pretty from a young age. Her skin was a bit dark from being exposed to the sun and wind in her hometown when she was little. But these years, she has been studying in the capital and has received better nutrition. She has grown up to be fair-skinned and rosy-cheeked, and is becoming more and more beautiful.

"Your aunt wants to know what you think," Lin Qingping said, pulling her to sit down beside her.

“Aunt, I grew up with them and we’re good friends. There’s nothing more to it. Zhiyuan is right. Even a rabbit doesn’t eat the grass near its burrow.” Xiaomai was still young, and when she spoke, she lowered her head to avoid Lin Qingping’s gaze, and her ears turned red.

Lin Qingping wasn't entirely sure if Xiaomai was being sincere about what she said. However, a young girl's thoughts are usually kept secret, and she herself had been young once. She had called Xiaomai over simply to tell her how to protect herself.

After talking with Xiaomai for about an hour, Xiaomai, who had been keeping her head down lower and lower, gradually became more alert and nodded vigorously as she listened. "Thank you, Auntie. I know. I'm still young, and I need to focus on my studies."

Lin Qingping nodded. She had always known about Xiaomai. The child felt that it was not easy for her to come to the capital to study, so she worked as hard as she could.

As they were talking, someone called from outside the door, "Excuse me, is this Lin Qingping's house?"

The voice sounded very familiar.

"I'll go take a look." Lin Qingping got up and went to open the door.

To everyone's surprise, the people standing outside were Lei Sufang and Chen Lei.

Lin Qingping was overjoyed. "How did you find us? Why didn't you send me a telegram before you came?"

Chen Lei has grown into a young man, looking a little taller than Zhiyuan. He's tanned dark, grins, and calls out "Aunt Lin."

Lin Qingping hasn't seen Lei Sufang for a long time.

The last time was when she returned from receiving medical treatment in the capital. Lei Sufang and several of her sisters-in-law from the island made a special trip to visit her. After that, they never saw her again.

Lei Sufang was very happy to see that she was doing well. "They all missed you and asked me to keep an eye on you. They all asked me to bring you things."

Lin Qingping was also very touched that the friends she made on the island still remembered her after many years.

"Come in quickly, really! You should have told me sooner so we could have come to pick you up," Lin Qingping said.

Wheat was still at home when she saw this and quickly helped pour water and bring fruit.

After another introduction, upon hearing that she was Gu Juncheng's niece, Lei Sufang only said that apart from being more like Gu Shibai, they really looked alike.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Lei Sufang finally revealed her purpose. It turned out that Chen Lei had been admitted to a military academy in the capital, and she had come to see him off to school. "I've never been to the capital before, so I came to visit while I was there."