How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

Old Hei finally realized that Xin Wu Hui was his nephew, and immediately told Qing Ru the good news.

"Young Miss, is Wu Hui my nephew?"

"Nephew?" Qingru was already quite surprised by the two's sudden recognition of their kinship, and she was even more surprised to hear Lao Hei call Xin Wu Hui his nephew.

“Yes,” Old Hei said with satisfaction, “Since my sister chose for Wu Hui to have the surname Xin, then he is my nephew, and he shares the same surname as me!”

Xin Wu Hui was also very happy. It had been almost twenty years since he had found an elder he could act spoiled with, and he was still enjoying the novelty. Although it was their first meeting, the natural blood ties and kinship were undeniable, and he felt incredibly close to Lao Hei as soon as he saw him.

"Yes, I'm just a nephew, an adopted nephew." Xin Wu Hui patted his chest, appearing quite proud.

Xiao Erlang smacked a few times in "jealousy," and then cuddled with Qingru, "You just found her? I've been looking for my sister for ages."

“Me too!” Xiao Fuzi retorted, quickly grabbing Qingru’s other arm.

"Ha ha…"

Suddenly, the room was filled with joy as everyone cooked and shopped, preparing a lively reunion dinner for Lao Hei and his wife.

Braised crab meat lion's head, braised silver carp head, mandarin fish with dragon whiskers, eight-treasure shrimp... a table full of dishes, leaving the younger children dumbfounded.

Xiao Fuzi, in particular, swallowed hard several times. "Goodness, Sister Qingru, this is what you call food! Compared to this, what I made before was just pig swill!"

Qingru chuckled, "Even if you wanted to, you wouldn't have had all these ingredients. Eat more later, so you don't drool in them."

As Qiu Shuang served the dishes, she kept an eye on the two children. Although they were both very sensible, she still had to be careful not to burn them.

"That's right, you two be careful not to break anything."

"This is the last dish, soybean and pig's trotter soup." As he spoke, Xin Wu Hui steadily brought in a pot of soup, and Lao Hei entered the house while wiping his hands.

Qingru quickly led Lao Hei to the head seat, "Uncle Xin, please take a seat. This is the first time you've eaten with us in so long."

Previously, Lao Hei was aloof and always stayed in his room without going out. This time, he recognized his relatives, which can be considered an exception.

"No, no, I am employed by your father and eat the food of the Lü family. There is no reason for the master to sit in the second seat and me to sit in the first seat."

Qingru advised, "Although you say that, I can also see that you and my father are good friends. Since you are of the same generation, you are my elder. How can it be that an elder sits in the second seat and a junior sits in the main seat?"

They both refused to sit at the head table, one pushing and the other declining.

Little Erlang grew anxious. "Sister Qingru, please serve the food! I'm starving! If you're not all cooking, then I'll sit. Hehe, I'm just being a child, please excuse me."

Everyone burst out laughing. The young man was right, "children speak without thinking," and it was no big deal for him to sit at the head table.

Therefore, Xiao Erlang sat in the main seat, with Qingru and Lao Hei on either side. The rest of the people took their seats in turn, including Qiushuang and Guiying.

The dishes were plentiful, and the aroma of wine filled the air. Old Hei couldn't resist taking a big gulp of wine first. The two children were already eating, taking bites of shrimp and chicken, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Qingru also offered a cup of sake, and then it was time for the uncle and nephew to drink together.

Guiying ate a few mouthfuls of rice and then stopped eating, seemingly losing her appetite.

Qingru noticed her unusual behavior and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Have you run into trouble?"

Guiying opened her mouth several times, but hesitated before speaking.

Qingru was puzzled. Guiying had always been hardworking and diligent, so why was she acting so coy?

Qiu Shuang lived with her and knew her best. Seeing her like this, she nudged her and said, "Tell me quickly, oh dear, I'm so worried about you."

Guiying looked at Qingru somewhat embarrassedly, "Sister Qingru, I..."

Qiu Shuang chimed in, "Oh dear, Guiying wants to go back and get married."

Guiying's face flushed bright red, and she quickly lowered her head, but did not refute Qiushuang's words.

Seeing this, Qingru put down her chopsticks and hurriedly asked, "Who is it? I haven't heard you mention it before. Have you been seeing someone lately?"

Guiying's ears were red by now, but since the words had already been spoken, it wasn't so difficult to say them again, so she simply laid her cards on the table.

"That's my cousin, my second cousin. Back in Woniu Village, he was the village chief's wife, and she's my aunt."

Qingru thought back carefully, but at that time she was injured in the leg and had been taking Niujia to the house to recover, so she didn't seem to have seen the people Guiying mentioned.

"How is he? Is he a good person?"

Since Guiying wanted to get married, and to her own cousin no less, Qingru couldn't really interfere. She just wondered why Guiying, who was doing so well in the city, would want to go back.

Qiu Shuang clearly understood that as long as she had work to do, she wouldn't go back to the countryside.

Guiying tucked her hair behind her ear shyly. "He's a really good person. When I was about to go out to work, he followed me all the way out of the mountains before he went back."

Qingru asked curiously, "Why haven't I heard you say this before? Why are you suddenly going back to get married?"

Guiying's hard-won fair complexion flushed red, a mixture of shyness and joy on her face, her half-raised eyes filled with longing for the future.

“You’ve been busy lately, and if I were to bother you with such a small matter, it would only delay your important plans, so I haven’t said anything. Now that you have some free time, I was thinking that I should tell you sooner or later.”

Qingru patted Guiying's hand. The case had been so urgent lately that she had indeed neglected many things at home.

Xiao Erlang interjected, "I know, it's the village chief's brother, Zhu Zi, right? He's a good person."

Guiying blushed and turned away.

Qingru teased, "Oh? How do you know that Brother Zhu is a good person?"

Little Erlang: "I used to go up the mountain to herd cattle on an empty stomach. Sometimes I would run into Brother Zhuzi, and he would gather food for me. Isn't that a good person?"

"Okay, you're a good person. Then why don't you say I'm a good person when I give you snacks all day long?" Xiao Fuzi pouted and told Xiao Erlang a lie.

Xiao Erlang's eyes darted around, and he said with a fawning smile, "Hehe, Sister Fuzi, you're such a good person too! Everyone in our family is good, they're all great people!"

Okay, let's just stamp the conclusion on the whole family.

Qingru smiled and shook her head, then spoke to Guiying: "If you want to go back to get married, I certainly won't stop you, but how will you get back? Woniu Village is quite far from here."

Qiu Shuang said, "Her lover has already arrived, so naturally he's here to take Guiying back with him."

Guiying was so ashamed that she couldn't lift her head and hurriedly avoided the stares of the crowd.

Qingru said, "This is a joyous occasion. I haven't had anything else to do lately, so I need to see your brother Zhuzi first before I can feel at ease letting him take you back."

"Exactly, we also need to eat your wedding candy in advance."

Wedding candy…

The place became lively again as children surrounded Guiying, asking for wedding candy and pestering her so much that she couldn't get away.