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

After everyone left, Song Qiang finally let go of his wife's hand.

Aunt Lu looked puzzled and frowned, asking, "Husband, why are you pulling me? Kaixin has helped us so much, what's wrong with giving her more money?"

"He doesn't even look at us!" Song Qiang sighed. "Wife, haven't you realized yet? Kaixin isn't delivering food to us for the money at all."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chunhua fell silent.

Song Qiang didn't stop there, and continued, "Wife, when Kaixin delivered the grain, didn't I tell you not to tell anyone else in the yard?"

"Husband, how did you know?" Lu Chunhua stared wide-eyed at her husband.

"Is there any need to guess? If he wanted the institute to know, he wouldn't have specifically emphasized the speculation and profiteering to us."

Song Qiang had one more thing he didn't say: even if they told the people in the courtyard that the grain was given by Li Kaixin, they wouldn't admit it.

Lu Chunhua realized what was happening and didn't continue the topic.

She looked down at the money in her hand, hesitating slightly: "Honey, what about this money?"

"Keep it! We'll figure out a way to repay this favor later." Song Qiang said, leaning forward a little more.

"Okay!" Lu Chunhua nodded and walked towards the cabinet behind her with the money.

At this moment, Song Anting stepped forward and stretched out her hand: "Dad, take out the medicine bottle that Brother Kaixin gave you earlier, I'll make you a medicine first."

"Hey, An Ting, you're calling me 'Happy Brother' pretty affectionately!" Song Qiang handed over the medicine bottle, teasing her with a smile.

When Li Kaixin was there, he noticed that the girl's eyes kept glancing at him.

Upon hearing this, Song Anting's face immediately flushed red: "Dad, what did you say?"

"Is there anything wrong with what your father said?" Lu Chunhua turned around and looked at her daughter with a half-smile. "Just now, the two of you were holding hands at the door."

Holding the medicine bottle in her hand, Song Anting lowered her head shyly: "Mother, how can you talk nonsense? I just bumped into Kaixin by accident."

"An accident?" Lu Chunhua walked back and sat down on the edge of the bed. "But you seemed quite proactive at the time!"

"Mother!" Song Anting stamped her foot. "Why don't you apply the medicine to Father first? I'm going back to my room."

With that, he shoved the medicine bottle into his mother's hand and ran back to his room as if fleeing.

Lu Chunhua looked at the closed door of her daughter's room and shook her head with a smile.

She unscrewed the medicine bottle, poured out the medicinal wine, and gently applied it to her husband's legs, saying:

"My lord, I think our An Ting is really falling for you."

"Don't worry about that."

Song Qiang closed his eyes and slowly said, "Kaixin is so capable and knows so many high-ranking officials, how could he possibly be interested in our daughter?"

"Honey, you're boosting the enemy's morale while diminishing our own!" Lu Chunhua continued working, her face full of dissatisfaction.

"Our daughter is beautiful and sensible, and she's still in high school. How could she be bad?"

Song Qiang shook his head, not wanting to argue with his wife any longer.

He had actually had the same idea before, but later realized that his family was far inferior to Li Kaixin.

Don't be fooled by the fact that we live in the same courtyard now; if someone wants to move to the leadership's family housing, it's a piece of cake.

In the next room, Song Anting lay on the bed, burying her face in the pillow.

"So annoying, so annoying..." she muttered, turned over, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

The thought of how she had grabbed Li Kaixin at the door and her parents' teasing just now kept her awake at night.

Meanwhile, in the room across the hall.

Li Kaixin had already prepared medicine for Song Qiang in the secret space, and was now lying in bed unable to sleep.

A lot happened today.

Just like the second apprentice we just took in today, who came with a purpose, we really need to observe him for a while, just as Father said.

And then there's the matter of Uncle Song, whose grain was stolen in broad daylight, which shows that things are getting increasingly unsafe in the city.

I'll remind my parents again tomorrow, telling them to be careful and it would be best to go to the grain station with other people from the compound.

Immediately afterwards, Song Anting's face flashed into Li Kaixin's mind again.

I've met quite a few girls this past year, but never like this before. Could it be...?

Thinking of this, he forced himself to close his eyes and stop his mind from wandering.

.......

It's the second day again in the blink of an eye.

Li Kaixin was awakened by the noise from the courtyard.

He sat up, put the several doses of oral medicine he had prepared the night before into his pocket, opened the door and went out.

In the courtyard, several middle-aged women were huddled together, whispering to each other.

Li Kaixin ignored him and continued walking straight towards Aunt Lu's house.

When he reached the door, just as he was about to knock, the door opened.

Song Anting stood inside the door with her schoolbag on her back, her eyes showing dark circles, clearly indicating that she hadn't slept well last night.

"Happy Bro?"

She stared blankly at the person in front of her.

"An Ting, this is the medicine I prepared for your father."

Li Kaixin handed over the bags of medicine she was carrying, saying, "You can give these to your mother. I've already written the dosage on the paper packets."

"Oh! Okay, okay." Song Anting came to her senses and took the medicine with a flushed face.

Li Kaixin nodded, just as he was about to leave.

He then noticed the dark circles under her eyes and casually asked, "An Ting, why are your eyes so dark? Did you not sleep well last night?"

"No, no, that's not true. Brother Kaixin, I... I'll take the medicine back first."

As soon as Song Anting finished speaking, she seemed to be startled and ran into the house with the medicine bag in her arms.

Li Kaixin stood at the door, scratching his head.

I felt that Song Anting was acting a little strange today, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.

"Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore."

Li Kaixin didn't linger any longer and turned to leave.

This scene was witnessed by several elderly women in the courtyard.

Not long after Li Kaixin left, Lu Chunhua and Song Anting ran out of the house together.

Lu Chunhua looked around as if she was looking for someone, while Song Anting left the courtyard with her schoolbag on her back.

The group of middle-aged women exchanged glances and quickly crowded around.

"Chunhua, we just saw Kaixin come to your door and talk to Anting for quite a while," Yu Guifen said first.

"Yes, yes!" The other middle-aged women chimed in, their faces full of gossip.

"Hi!" Lu Chunhua knew they had misunderstood, and explained with a smile, "Guifen, what are you all thinking all the time? Kaixin just came to deliver medicine to Uncle Song."

Upon hearing this, Yu Guifen and the other women thought about it carefully and realized that they had indeed seen Li Kaixin carrying something that looked like a medicine bag.

Seeing that they were silent, Lu Chunhua waved her hand and said, "Alright, alright, Guifen, if you don't have anything else, I'll go back to my room first."

After saying that, without giving them a chance to speak again, he took a few steps back and closed the door.

Yu Guifen and the other women were left looking at each other in bewilderment.