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

Li Xiaoxiao, the younger sister, felt somewhat displeased as she listened to their conversation.

She looked up at Li Kaixin across the stove, pouted and muttered, "Big brother, you're too good to Li Kai, you've thought of everything for him."

Upon hearing this, Li Kaixin looked up and chuckled as she looked at her jealous younger sister.

"What's wrong, Xiaoxiao? Don't you want Xiaohua to be your best friend anymore?"

"Brother, what nonsense are you talking about! I was talking about Li Kai."

Li Xiaoxiao glared at him reproachfully, then quickly turned to Zhang Xiaohua and hurriedly explained, "Xiaohua, please don't misunderstand, that's not what I meant."

"Xiaoxiao, I know." Zhang Xiaohua smiled and nodded, then stepped forward and took her hand: "We'll always be the best of sisters."

Li Xiaoxiao breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, then turned back to stare at Li Kaixin: "Big brother, don't try to change the subject."

"Xiaoxiao, but you don't have a boyfriend!"

Li Kaixin tapped the edge of the pot with a spatula and said with a smile, "But, when you get a girlfriend in the future, I promise you'll get the same treatment as Xiao Kai, no, even better."

"Big brother, I knew you were the best to me." Li Xiaoxiao's brows relaxed, and she smiled again.

Seeing her short temper tantrum that came and went so quickly, Li Kaixin chuckled and shook his head, continuing to stir the moose meat in the pot.

Zhang Xiaohua, who was standing to the side, listened to the interaction between the brother and sister and her eyes were full of envy.

She was the eldest child in her family and had never experienced being protected by her older brother before.

But after thinking about it again, I felt much better.

Li Kaixin had just recognized her as his younger sister, so he could now consider himself an older brother.

A little while later, the second dish, deep-fried moose meat, was also prepared.

Li Kaixin was about to start making the third dish when he suddenly realized something and frowned slightly:

"Xiaoxiao, tell me the truth, have you started dating someone like Li Kai?"

Li Xiaoxiao paused in her hand as she was adding firewood to the stove, her face instantly turning red: "Big brother, what are you thinking? How could I possibly be in a relationship!"

"Really not?" Li Kaixin stared into his sister's eyes, his gaze scrutinizing her.

"No, not at all! They're all just little kids in my class, I wouldn't even look at them."

"That's good, that's good."

Li Kaixin breathed a sigh of relief and patted his chest, then earnestly instructed, "But Xiaoxiao, remember this: you have to wait until you're an adult before you start dating. Otherwise, I'll deal with every single one you date."

"Why, big brother?" Li Xiaoxiao pouted, a little confused. "Didn't Xiaohua start dating Li Kai too?"

Li Kaixin was taken aback by these words. Surely I couldn't be the one applying double standards.

He was silent for a moment before speaking: "That's different. Xiaohua knows us all very well. Anyway, if you dare to talk, I will do what I said before."

Zhang Xiaohua, who was standing to the side, understood what was happening and immediately leaned close to Xiaoxiao's ear to whisper some advice:

"Xiaoxiao, your brother is doing this for your own good. When you meet the right person, he'll be happier than anyone else."

Li Xiaoxiao hummed in agreement, fiddling with the firewood with her fingertips, and didn't argue further.

Li Kaixin ignored her two younger sisters' little antics and focused on making the third dish.

.......

On the other side, Liu Jianming rode his bicycle with Zhou Anran on the back, and they had already arrived at the guard post of the military family compound.

Four armed soldiers stood guard at the sentry post.

They saw a bicycle approaching, and two of them immediately went to meet it.

"Jianming, what are you doing..." the leading soldier said, glancing discreetly at Zhou Anran in the back seat.

Liu Jianming braced himself on one foot to steady the car, then turned around and introduced with a smile: "Brother Wang Chu, this is my girlfriend, Zhou Anran. I brought her back today to meet my father."

"Oh, it's your wife!" Wang Chu immediately put on a smiling face and warmly extended his hand, "Hello, hello!"

"Hello, Brother Wang Chu." Zhou Anran shook hands with him lightly, their fingertips touching briefly before separating.

Wang Chu looked Zhou Anran up and down again, then winked at Liu Jianming:

"Jianming, you have a good eye. Hurry up and go in, Uncle Liu and the others are here right now."

"Thanks, Brother Wang Chu!"

Liu Jianming agreed, pushed off with his foot, and rode his bicycle into the courtyard.

The military family compound is lined with trees on both sides, and small red brick buildings are occasionally placed next to it.

Zhou Anran sat in the back seat, looking at the place she had never seen before, her palms already sweating.

All the courage I had when I was at the police station was gone, replaced by nervousness.

A short while later, the bicycle stopped outside the courtyard of a two-story building.

"Anran, let's go inside!" Liu Jianming turned around and took Zhou Anran's hand.

Zhou Anran hesitated.

She stood still, her expression somewhat unnatural: "Jianming, maybe we shouldn't go in."

"Anran, we're just one step away from success. Have you forgotten what you said before?" Liu Jianming said, staring intently at her.

Hearing this, Zhou Anran steeled her resolve and nodded: "Xing Jianming, I'll go in with you!"

In the courtyard, beside the stone table in the pavilion.

Grandpa Liu, Liu Jianming's father Liu Hongtao, his uncle Liu Hongyu, his mother Ye Wanning, and his aunt were all present.

Two guards stood on either side of the pavilion, surveying the surroundings.

At this moment, Old Master Liu was playing chess with his second son, Liu Hongtao.

"Hong Tao, your Public Security Bureau has been making quite a few moves lately, what's happened this time?" Old Master Liu made a move, capturing one of his second son's pieces.

"There wasn't anything major, just busted a few speculation and profiteering dens." Liu Hongtao mounted his horse and said with a smile, "Old man, you've lost your game."

Old Master Liu looked down at the chessboard and, sure enough, it was a dead end. He simply pushed the pieces aside.

"I'm not playing anymore, I'm not playing anymore. You brat, you don't even know how to let your old man win a game of chess."

"Grandpa, there are no fathers and sons on the chessboard, that's a saying you taught me since I was a child." Liu Hongtao leaned back in his chair and stretched.

Seeing this, Ye Wanning picked up the teapot on the table and poured a cup of tea for Grandpa Liu and her husband.

"Hongtao, we've come all this way, can't you let Dad win a game?" She rolled her eyes at her husband and said reproachfully.

Upon hearing this, Old Master Liu burst into laughter: "Hahaha! Wan Ning is so considerate, unlike this brat who gives this old man so much trouble."

Liu Hongtao picked up his teacup, took a sip, and was about to say something when he suddenly heard the sound of the courtyard gate being opened.

Immediately afterwards, a clear voice came from the doorway: "Grandpa, Grandpa, I've come to see you!"

Grandpa Liu, Liu Hongtao, and the others in the pavilion stopped what they were doing and looked at each other.

"Hey, Jianming, that kid, he actually came to visit this old man today!" Old Master Liu said, a smile spreading across his face.

A short while later, the people in the pavilion saw Liu Jianming leading a short-haired girl towards them.