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

Shortly after the meal, Secretary Qin and Li Kaixin left one after the other.

For a moment, the courtyard returned to silence.

Qin Huaijiu sat at the cleaned-up table, sipping his tea.

He couldn't hide the smile on his face; he was clearly in a very good mood.

At this moment, Li Guilan came out of the kitchen after cleaning and asked with a smile:

"Honey, judging from your expression, Secretary Qin has agreed?"

"I agree!"

Qin Huaijiu put down his teacup and looked at his wife with a smile: "However, we also have to thank that kid Kaixin."

Li Guilan sat down opposite him, her face full of curiosity: "Honey, does he really have that much influence?"

"Of course, Secretary Qin only agreed to it to make things easier for me."

Qin Huaijiu leaned forward and lowered his voice, "Wife, please help Kaixin's maternal grandfather's family more in the future. After all, we owe them a big favor this time."

"Okay, I'll arrange for his two aunts to do lighter jobs then," Li Guilan readily agreed.

Qin Huaijiu nodded and continued drinking his tea.

......

After leaving Qin Huaijiu's house, Li Kaixin headed straight for her maternal grandparents' house.

Just as I reached a fork in the road, I saw a pretty girl of about fifteen or sixteen years old waiting for someone ahead of me.

Li Kaixin ignored him and was about to walk past him.

Suddenly, the girl reached out and stopped him.

Li Kaixin paused, then politely asked, "Miss, what brings you here?"

"Brother Kaixin, my name is Qin Hongjuan, don't you remember me?" The girl blushed as she was stared at, and stammered a little.

"Oh, it's Hongjuan!" Li Kaixin realized and smiled, "What can I do for you?"

There really was such a person in the original owner's memories, but they hadn't been in contact for a long time.

"I...I..."

Qin Hongjuan clutched the hem of her clothes, and after a long pause, she finally mustered up her courage: "Brother Kaixin, I like you. Will you be my girlfriend?"

After saying that, she immediately lowered her head, not daring to look at Li Kaixin again.

Li Kaixin was stunned by these words; it was the first time someone had confessed their feelings to him like this.

"That Hongjuan!"

Li Kaixin didn't want to hurt anyone, so she politely declined, saying, "I'm still young and haven't thought about this kind of thing, so..."

Qin Hongjuan didn't understand the implication at all and quickly interrupted, "What's the big deal? Kaixin-ge, I can wait for you!"

Before Li Kaixin could even reply, he heard a soft cough from behind him.

The two turned their heads and saw Qin Huairu standing a few steps away, looking rather unwell.

"Hongjuan, what are you doing here!"

Qin Huairu stepped forward, her tone tinged with helplessness, "I haven't seen you for a while, and you've already run out to find Brother Kaixin. Did you just ignore everything I said before?"

She had just gone to see her aunt to tell her cousin not to have any feelings for Li Kaixin, and promised to help find her a suitable match in the city.

As for whether his cousin and Li Kaixin could get together, Qin Huairu hadn't even considered it.

The difference in their social status is too great; it's no longer a simple gap between rural and urban areas.

She was afraid that her cousin would pester Li Kaixin and say something inappropriate, which might lead people to misunderstand that she had instigated the situation.

After all, it was his own fault for not keeping his mouth shut and revealing Li Kaixin's situation.

"Cousin, I..." Qin Hongjuan said awkwardly, her voice lowering, "I just wanted to talk to Brother Kaixin."

Qin Huairu leaned closer and tugged at his cousin's arm: "Alright, let's go home! Don't bother Kaixin the Brother!"

Qin Hongjuan was immediately indignant, but she didn't say anything at the moment.

She glanced at Li Kaixin again, blushed, and ran away.

Qin Huai watched his cousin run off into the distance, then turned back to Li Kaixin and smiled apologetically: "Brother Kaixin, Hongjuan is still young, please don't take it to heart."

"It's nothing, Sister Huairu." Li Kaixin waved her hand. "Thank you for getting me out of that situation today."

"That's good, that's good. If Brother Kaixin is alright, I'll be going now." After saying that, Qin Huairu turned around and went to catch up with his cousin.

Seeing this, Li Kaixin shook her head and continued walking towards her grandmother's house.

On the other side, Qin Hongjuan hadn't run far when Qin Huairu caught up with her.

"Hongjuan, stop right there!"

Qin Hongjuan paused, but didn't turn around; her body was tense.

Qin Huai caught up with her in a few steps, panting, "Why are you running? I'm not going to eat you."

"Cousin, tell me the truth, are you really that afraid that I'll be better off than you in the future?"

Qin Hongjuan turned around and poured out her heart.

Qin Huairu was taken aback for a moment, then sighed, "Hongjuan, how could you think of me like that? Didn't I already promise to help you find someone in the city?"

"Looking in the city?" Qin Hongjuan sneered inwardly. "Do you think you can find someone as well-off as Kaixin?"

A hint of unease flashed across Qin Huairu's face. Of course, she couldn't find anyone; at most, she could only introduce someone like Xu Damao from the courtyard.

Qin Hongjuan thought she had hit the nail on the head, and her tone hardened further: "What's wrong? Can't you say?"

"Fine! I'm not going to bother with you anymore."

Qin Huairu was also annoyed, "Don't blame me for not warning you when you suffer a big setback."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Anyway, he had already made things clear before, so even if his cousin kept bothering him, Li Kaixin shouldn't misunderstand anything anymore.

Qin Hongjuan pursed her lips, completely ignoring her cousin's words. She was already planning what to say to Li Kaixin next time she saw him.

When Li Kaixin returned to her maternal grandparents' house, her maternal grandfather and two uncles were sitting in the yard chatting.

Upon seeing Li Kaixin return, his uncle greeted him with a smile, "Kaixin's back?"

"Uncle, Second Uncle, Grandpa." Li Kaixin walked over and sat down on the empty stool.

Grandpa put down his pipe and asked with a smile, "Kaixin, what's up with Huaijiu calling you over?"

Li Kaixin smiled and briefly explained the matter of distributing relief grain.

The eldest and second uncles were pleasantly surprised after hearing this.

Although Kaixin had already helped them fill the food gap last time, who would complain about having too much food at this time!

Grandpa remained silent for a long while before saying, "Kaixin, this time we've dragged you down!"

"Grandpa, what are you saying? What do you mean by being a burden? We're family, it's too formal to say such things," Li Kaixin quickly replied.

The smiles of the eldest and second uncles gradually faded. They looked at each other, completely bewildered as to what riddle their father and Kaixin were playing.

Seeing his two sons looking bewildered, the grandfather began to explain:

"Haven't you two figured it out yet? What ability does Huaijiu have to get Secretary Qin to agree? It must be because of Kaixin's influence that Secretary Qin agreed to send relief grain to our village first."

He paused, his tone turning serious: "Kaixin could have ignored all this, but I don't need to say who this is for, do I?"

The eldest and second uncles immediately understood, opened their mouths, but didn't know what to say.

Seeing the somewhat subdued atmosphere, Li Kaixin smiled and changed the subject: "Uncle, Second Uncle, didn't I bring you some things? Did you receive them?"

"Take it, take it!" Upon hearing this, the eldest uncle's face broke into a smile again.

The second uncle, standing to the side, echoed the sentiment with a broad smile.

Grandpa didn't say anything more. He just wanted his two sons to know what Kaixin had done for them.