The sky collapsed, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself transported to Nanluoguxiang.

The banquet lasted a long time.

Chen Yongtai finished the last sip of wine in his glass, his face flushed, and waved his hand: "Brother Kaixin, that's enough for today! Yong'an and I have some things to take care of, so we'll be leaving now."

"Hey! Brother Yongtai, who was it that said 'Don't chicken out halfway through'?" Liu Jianming immediately teased with a smile.

He held a grudge against Chen Yongtai for squeezing out his position, and now he finally had his chance.

Chen Yongtai glanced at him sideways and slowly began to speak:

"Jianming, I see you haven't sparred with me in ages. Are you itching for a beating? Want me to loosen your skin later?"

Liu Jianming's smile froze, and his eyes darted away.

Seeing that he remained silent, Chen Yongtai withdrew his gaze with satisfaction.

He patted Li Kaixin on the shoulder: "Brother Kaixin, don't listen to Jianming's nonsense. It's just not the right occasion today. Let's find another time to have a good drink later."

"Yeah, yeah!"

Chen Yong'an, who was the first to raise the white flag, also raised his head at this moment, "Today is Grandpa Liu's birthday banquet, so neither of us dares to drink freely. Next time, I will definitely get you drunk."

"Sure! I'll be waiting." Li Kaixin smiled.

Through their drinking session, Li Kaixin learned that both men were straightforward and honest, and they even revealed that Political Commissar Chen had sent them.

After the Chen brothers left, Liu Jianming breathed a sigh of relief: "They're finally gone. Every time I saw them, I knew it wouldn't be anything good."

"Brother Jianming, why do you seem so afraid of Brother Yongtai and the others?" Li Kaixin asked curiously.

Liu Jianming glanced again in the direction the two had left, and lowered his voice to say:

"Kaixin, you don't know these two idiots. Apart from Lingling and the other girls, everyone at our table has been beaten up by these two brothers."

The men at the table, including Hong Guozhang, nodded seriously after hearing this.

Ye Ling and the other girls exchanged glances and covered their mouths, chuckling to themselves.

Li Kaixin suddenly realized that when Chen Yongtai and his brothers were there, Hong Guozhang and the others barely spoke.

"Don't you all know how to rebel together? If all else fails, tell their old man and let him stand up for you!"

Li Kaixin offered suggestions with a smile, hoping to ease the tension.

Upon hearing this, Liu Jianming immediately straightened his back: "Kaixin, we men are real men. If we can't beat someone, we can't beat them. How could we do something as dishonorable as ganging up on someone! As for reporting it, that's even more impossible."

Hong Guozhang and the others nodded again, putting on a righteous and awe-inspiring appearance.

Ye Ling couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Brother Kaixin, don't believe them. They didn't even manage to beat him when they ganged up on him."

Then he looked at Liu Jianming, paused, and said, "As for complaining, my cousin tried it too. The next day, when the old man found out, he hung him up and beat him. No one could stop him."

"Lingling!"

Liu Jianming blushed when his secret was exposed. "You've only known Kaixin for less than a day, and you're already siding with outsiders?"

Ye Ling stuck out her tongue at him playfully and said, "Mind your own business. It's just a fact, why can't I say it?"

Hong Guozhang and his group of men were initially a little embarrassed, but after hearing the rest, they realized that their inability to defeat the opponent in a group fight was nothing to worry about.

Zhao Weidong became even more interested and stepped forward with a grin, asking, "Brother Jianming, when did this happen? How come we didn't know? Tell us in detail!"

"Get out! Get out!" Liu Jianming waved his hand and said irritably, "If you say that again, believe me, I'll beat you up."

Zhao Weidong immediately took a step back, knowing when to stop while he was ahead, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.

Seeing her cousin's embarrassed and angry expression, Ye Ling laughed even harder.

"You're still laughing!"

Liu Jianming glared at her, then, as if remembering something, said in a playful tone, "If you really like Kaixin, I'll talk to your aunt about it, what do you think?"

Ye Ling's smile froze instantly, and her face turned red to the roots of her ears.

She stomped her foot: "Cousin, you're bullying me again! I'm going to tell Auntie!"

As he spoke, he made a move to leave.

"No, no, my dear lady!" Liu Jianming quickly stopped her, begging for forgiveness, "I was wrong, okay?"

The thought of his mother's nagging gave him a headache.

The person who was most uncomfortable on set was Li Kaixin.

From the moment Liu Jianming said those words, the eyes of the people at both tables kept shifting back and forth between him and Ye Ling.

In the outhouse on the other side.

"Damn it, second brother, don't throw up on my feet." Chen Yongtai, leaning against the wall, had just moved to the side when he also started to vomit.

The two brothers squatted in the corner and vomited for a while before they finally calmed down.

Chen Yong'an wiped his mouth, sat down against the wall, and said weakly, "Brother, we didn't give ourselves away just now, did we?"

"I'm sure I didn't!" Chen Yongtai said firmly, then turned to look at his younger brother. "As for you, I don't know."

"This shows how much the Happy Brothers can really drink!"

Chen Yong'an sighed, then became somewhat worried:

"Big brother, do you think it'll make him think we're being too..." if we just directly tell him that Second Uncle arranged for us to help him build connections?

"Won't!"

Chen Yongtai interrupted his younger brother, his gaze deep, "I only decided to speak up earlier to test Kaixin's character. It's better if we're more sincere."

"Oh!" Chen Yong'an nodded, then scratched his head. "By the way, brother, neither of us can outdrink him. Are we really going to ask him to drink again next time?"

Chen Yongtai raised his hand and patted his younger brother on the head: "Are you stupid? Didn't you know to call more people? Next time, call all the brothers from our army camp to come together."

Chen Yong'an paused for a moment, then chuckled.

If someone who knew the two brothers had overheard them whispering those few words in the outhouse, they would have been astonished.

When the banquet ended, it was already 3 p.m., and many guests had already left.

After saying goodbye to his old friends, Old Master Liu was standing at the door.

Seeing Li Kaixin and his family come out of the courtyard, he immediately waved and smiled, "Little Kaixin, come here!"

Li Kaixin responded and led her parents, younger brother, and younger sister over.

As they approached, Old Master Liu took a wooden box from the guard and handed it to Li Kaixin: "Kaixin, there are three ginseng roots inside."

"Alright, Grandpa Liu, leave the rest to me!" Li Kaixin solemnly accepted the gift and tucked it into his pocket.

"Kaixin, thank you for your hard work." Old Master Liu patted him on the shoulder, then smiled at Li Kaixin's father. "Mingde, I apologize for not being a good host today. I'll invite you to my home another day."

"Grandpa Liu, you're too kind. Today has been more than enough," Father Li Mingde quickly replied.

At this moment, Liu Jianming squeezed in from behind: "Kaixin, I'll come find you when I have time!"

"Sure, Jianming-ge," Li Kaixin replied with a smile.

Ye Ling stood not far away, glancing over a few times, wanting to come over but feeling too embarrassed.

Finally, Liu Jianming called out, and Ye Ling reluctantly walked over, lowering her head and whispering, "Brother Kaixin, be careful on the road."

As soon as she finished speaking, she ran away, giving Li Kaixin no time to react.

Liu Jianming saw this and shook his head with a wry smile.

Li Kaixin didn't linger and said goodbye to Director Liu and his wife, and Secretary Liu and his wife.

Afterwards, the family got into driver Zhang's car and left.