Engagement

Zhuang Zhuang carefully leaned his ear against Mrs. Yang’s stomach and held his breath, listening carefully for any movements.

They both burst out laughing at his innocent gesture.

Zhuang Zhuang was the only one who was still in a daze. “Didn’t they say that there was a little brother? Why was there no movement? Wouldn’t it be boring living in such a small space?”

Although he more or less knew a little about this, he didn’t fully understand it.

After sending Mrs. Yang off, Zhuang Zhuang finally had time to take out the candy from his pocket.

“Mother, I kept this for you!”

Zhuang Zhuang eagerly wanted to stuff it into Xiaoguo’s mouth. This piece was the most delicious piece because Mr. Kong had given him something similar before. It was sweet and yummy.

“Huh?” Before Xiaoguo could see what it was, Zhuang Zhuang had stuffed it into her mouth. As soon as it entered her mouth, the sweetness instantly diffused and she smacked her lips. The candy was fruity and delicious.

“How is it? Is it good?”

Zhuang Zhuang looked extremely eager to share. Xiaoguo was instantly amused by his behavior, so she made an exaggerated expression. “It’s so delicious…”

“Hahaha…” Zhuang Zhuang lay on Xiaoguo’s lap. “That’s too fake.”

Of course, Zhuang Zhuang could tell from her pretentious expression.

Xiaoguo chuckled. It was a little exaggerated, but the candy was indeed delicious.

“Who gave it to you?” She was halfway through the candy when she remembered to ask the question.

“Someone from the village gave it to me. I’m not sure who it was.”

“A villager?” Xiaoguo looked at Zhuang Zhuang seriously. “Are you sure that person is from the village? Have you seen him in the village before?”

“Yes!” Zhuang Zhuang said firmly. “Many people in the village gave snacks to me. My pocket almost exploded. I only kept this piece of candy and gave the rest to the other children.”

Seeing that Xiaoguo looked interested, Zhuang Zhuang told her everything.

At first, Xiaoguo was thinking that someone from another village had come with the intention to abduct children. However, when she heard Zhuang Zhuang say that he knew the person, she heaved a sigh of relief. At least they were not strangers.

But then again, why did the villagers give Zhuang Zhuang snacks? After all, according to Zhuang Zhuang’s description, he received a lot of candies, melon seeds, and peanuts. All these did not come cheap. Why did they only give them to him for no reason?

Xiaoguo couldn’t be blamed for her conspiracy theories. She believed that there was no free lunch in this world. There must be a reason for this abnormality.

But before she could figure it out, another strange thing happened.

—-

Zhuang Zhuang stayed at home for a total of three days. In fact, Xiaoguo did not urge him to go back to school. He was the one who suggested it. He said that he missed Master Kong and his wife.

Mrs. Kong and Mr. Kong really doted on Zhuang Zhuang and Xiaoguo knew that. So when Zhuang Zhuang suggested going back, she sent him back on the same day.

When Zhuang Zhuang returned to Teacher Kong’s residence with his small bag, he was still in a daze. This speed is too astonishing…

Actually, there was a reason why Xiaoguo had sent him back so quickly. It was mainly because of the strange things that had happened in the past two days.

For some reason, from the first day of Zhuang Zhuang’s return, all the villagers had become inexplicably solicitous of Xiaoguo.

Why did she use the word solicitous? It was because she really couldn’t understand what had happened in the past two days. How did she become the most popular person in the village overnight? Not only did everyone greet her warmly when they met her, but even those whom she hardly met would come to her door, making up excuses to say hi to her.

There was more. She didn’t interact much with the other villagers to begin with. When they passed each other on normal days, they would nod to acknowledge each other. If they didn’t make eye contact, they would just pass each other by. She couldn’t even tell who was who in the village. But in the past two days, the threshold of her house was almost flattened by all these villagers.

There were suddenly a lot of crops in her house. From corn and sweet potatoes for human consumption, to vegetable skins and stems for the animals’ feed, they were all used by the villagers as an excuse to visit her. She still didn’t know what their real motives were.

They acted like they were just chatting casually. No matter what Xiaoguo said, they agreed with her readily. Even when she laughed, they were very eager to join in and laugh with her.

And it wasn’t just that. Xiaoguo wasn’t sure if she was being too sensitive, but she had an indescribable feeling. It seemed as if their target was Zhuang Zhuang instead of her. Everything they said basically revolved around Zhuang Zhuang.

Many thoughts were running through Xiaoguo’s mind. After driving the donkey cart home, she had just entered the house when she heard a voice outside the door.

“Sigh…” Xiaoguo sighed softly. “Here we go again…”

Even though she was extremely reluctant, she couldn’t show it on her face. She could only put on a welcoming look and walked out towards the door.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw that it was indeed one of the frequent visitors. She was a famous busybody in the village.

“Auntie Lin.”

“Sigh, Xiaoguo, I knew you were at home! Haha, I brought some vegetable stems for your chickens and ducks.”

As she spoke, she walked past Xiaoguo and entered the house. She skillfully threw the vegetable stems into the stone sink. Even the chickens and ducks subconsciously surrounded her when they saw her. It was obvious that she had come here many times over the past few days.

“Thank you so much.” Xiaoguo said the same words that she had said countless times.

The other party also gave the same reply that she had said many times. “It’s nothing. We are all neighbors. There’s no need to thank me.”

Xiaoguo smiled and didn’t say anything. “Yes, yes. Living in the same village, the words they exchanged over the past five years were fewer than that in the past two days…”

Auntie Lin chatted with Xiaoguo for a long time. She looked around and asked, “Where’s Zhuang Zhuang?”

“Here we go…” Xiaoguo said to herself. She had been wondering why she hadn’t gotten to the point after so long. Just as she was wondering, the woman started to ask about Zhuang Zhuang.

“Zhuang Zhuang isn’t at home.”

“Oh, did Zhuang Zhuang go back to school again?”

“That’s right.” Xiaoguo nodded insincerely. Then she was stunned. “How did you know that he was attending school?”

She didn’t usually talk to the villagers. How did they know that Zhuang Zhuang was enrolled in a school?

“I heard it from someone else,” Auntie Lin said vaguely. She couldn’t tell Xiaoguo who she heard it from.

Xiaoguo nodded. She knew that she wouldn’t get anything out of Auntie Lin.

“Haha…” Auntie Lin laughed awkwardly. “By the way, how old is your Zhuang Zhuang this year?”

“Four years old.”

“Aiyo, what a coincidence!” Auntie Lin clapped her hands and exclaimed that it was fated.

Xiaoguo was stunned by her reaction. Why did she feel like she had fallen into a trap?

Xiaoguo let Auntie Lin continue with her act. Xiaoguo was wary and did not try to find out what she meant.

“…” Auntie Lin knew that she was almost there. Although she didn’t arouse the other party’s curiosity, she was one of the top matchmakers in the village. This posed no difficulty to her.

“Sister, listen to me.” Auntie Lin held Xiaoguo’s hand as if they were close friends. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth curled up. “Zhuang Zhuang is already four years old. In a few years, he will become a big boy. You’ve been kept busy for so many years. It’s really not easy for you to take on the roles of a father and a mother…”

Xiaoguo tried to endure the awkwardness. She was really not used to holding hands with a woman. Besides, who was she calling a sister? Auntie Lin was already fifty years old, while she was only in her early twenties. This was a little far-fetched!

No matter how impatient she felt, Xiaoguo didn’t show it. The other party talked for a long time, but Xiaoguo didn’t know what she was trying to get at. One moment, she was talking about Zhuang Zhuang, and the next moment, she was talking about her.

“To be honest, I’m here on a mission today. Brother Liu Hai’s wife had passed away a long time ago and left a five-year-old girl behind. Although she is from a single-parent family, that little girl is beautiful and obedient. She is a year older than Zhuang Zhuang, but this is not an issue at all, so…”

The more Xiaoguo listened, the wider her eyes became. In the end, she exclaimed in disbelief.

“Engagement?!”