The door to Director Niu’s office wasn’t closed, and she stood outside, intermittently hearing voices.
Director Niu listened incredulously to what Old Guaizi was saying, "You mean the child that Old Quan asked me to handle years ago was yours, and your child, Su Xiaofeng, was Old Quan’s daughter."
The whole story sounded quite fantastical, and he was somewhat confused.
"Yes, years ago my ex-wife..." Old Guaizi began telling Director Niu about the past, adding that if he didn’t believe, he could call Old Quan and ask.
Seeing that the other party was sincere in his tone and didn’t seem to be lying, Director Niu gave them the address, "It’s now filled with pear trees, if you want to go there, I’ll take you there early tomorrow."
With Director Niu saying so, the Guaizi couple naturally thanked him.
Seeing that they were about to come out, Lin Jing quickly moved aside, as if she had just arrived.
After work, Su Peng rode his bicycle home.
It wasn’t far to his home from the factory, and unless he was going to the city, he usually rode his bicycle.
At the turn, a woman suddenly appeared from nowhere, and he, caught off guard, collided with her.
Su Peng hurriedly braked, but due to inertia, he almost fell over himself.
Getting up from the ground, not caring about his bicycle, he hurried to help her: "Miss, are you alright? Why were you running so fast? I rang the bell earlier, didn’t you hear it?"
Looking down and clearly seeing her face, he was very surprised, "Why, it’s you!"
Wasn’t this the young lady who had asked him for directions at the Xiqian Town bus station? It’s just that she had been dressed more nicely last time; this time, her outfit was not as good.
Yin Li sat on the ground, glanced at Su Peng, and continued sitting: "I was wondering who it was being so careless, it turns out to be you."
"How are you, no injuries?"
"I’m fine." Yin Li stood up: "I’m just a bit hungry, since you bumped into me, why don’t you treat me to a meal?"
"Sure, I was just about to head home for dinner, how about you come to my place for dinner?" Su Peng offered, then realized it might sound inappropriate: "Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. You tell me what you’d like to eat, and I’ll treat you."
Yin Li, looking at his goofy appearance, thought to herself: idiot.
"Let’s go to your place then."
Su Peng felt a bit embarrassed: "Or maybe we should just eat out somewhere, we barely know each other, and taking you to my home doesn’t seem proper."
"I’m not embarrassed, what are you embarrassed about? Besides, it was you who hit me, and me not asking for compensation is already good enough; stop hesitating about having a meal at my home." Yin Li laughed at his words. What a fool, scared when a beauty shows up at his door, truly a dolt.
Su Peng chuckled, "I just don’t want others to misunderstand, alright then, since you don’t mind, I certainly have no say as a man. My home is just ahead, we’ll be there in a moment, let’s go."
Yin Li looked at his tall and big frame, walking beside him: "What’s your name?"
"I’m Su Peng, and you?"
"Call me Lili." Yin Li glanced at him: "I’m an orphan, I never really knew what to call myself, I just take whatever surname I feel like."
Knowing that she was an orphan, Su Peng felt a surge of sympathy: "You’re not from around here, are you? What brought you here?"
The way she spoke fluent Mandarin, she definitely wasn’t a local.
If they grew up locally, they generally communicated in their hometown dialect and didn’t speak Mandarin.
"I was deceived into coming here," Yin Li said with an indescribable sense of loss. "Someone told me last time that they would bring me here to make money. It turned out they wanted to sell me here, and I barely managed to escape."
"I’m not going to lie to you, I haven’t eaten anything for a day and a night, otherwise I wouldn’t have fallen down just from a slight bump from your bike," Yin Li’s face indeed looked terrible, almost frightening.
"So that’s what happened, those people are really despicable," Su Peng felt indignant when he heard this: "I’ve heard that many beautiful girls are not safe outside, you are so beautiful, you’re definitely targeted by those with bad intentions."
"Do I look beautiful?" Yin Li suddenly looked at him.
Su Peng’s heartbeat suddenly accelerated, meeting her eyes, he felt utterly disoriented.
Her eyes were so beautiful, like they could captivate souls, he couldn’t look away: "Yes, you are the most beautiful woman I have seen so far."
Yin Li smiled: "You are honest. Considering your age, you’re not young anymore, are you married?"
"What are you talking about, I don’t even have a girlfriend. If I had a wife, would I dare to bring you home? My wife would skin me alive," Su Peng scratched his head, feeling quite awkward.
Su Peng looked at the courtyard in front of him and said to Yin Li: "This is the place. This is my brother-in-law’s house. Our house is still under construction, so until it’s completed, our family is staying at my brother-in-law’s house."
The big fire last time burnt down our house, and because a year passed in between, the house is still not rebuilt.
"How many siblings do you have?"
"Just me and my sister." Su Peng opened the door, only to realize his parents had come down.
"Pengzi," He Ximei came out of the kitchen wanting to greet her son, but her eyes lit up when she saw the girl with Pengzi, who was indeed pretty: "Pengzi, who is this?"
Yin Li stood quietly in her place, smiled at He Ximei: "Auntie, hello, I’m Lili, I’m Su Peng’s friend."
"Hello, friend, friend, please come in," He Ximei liked the girl as soon as she heard her speak, her voice was pleasant and polite.
Su Peng wasn’t young anymore, he had turned 24 this year.
Kids his age were already ’buying soy sauce,’ and she had been worried for a long time.
Su Peng had not expected his parents to come down, he looked a bit embarrassed: "Mom, why did you and dad come down."
"If we hadn’t come down, how would we know you’ve made a new friend?" He Ximei was very enthusiastic: "Girl, take a seat, I will just stir-fry two more dishes and we can eat."
"Auntie, let me help you."
"No need, no need, just sit. Pengzi, take good care of her." He Ximei entered the kitchen, unable to hide her smile, she whispered to Guaizi: "Pengzi is finally showing his feathers. This girl is tall and beautiful, I think she’s the right match for Pengzi."
Suddenly thinking of something, she said to Guaizi: "Quick, help me cut some more meat, and bring me a few more eggs."
Guaizi silently picked up the meat to cut it, halfway through: "This girl doesn’t seem to be from around here."
She had spoken in Mandarin just now.
"Who cares where she’s from, as long as she is willing to marry Pengzi and she’s a decent person, I wouldn’t mind. To have such a beautiful daughter-in-law, I would wake up laughing."
"Look how happy you are, marriage is a big deal, there are still things to consider."
"Go on, stop being a spoilsport, she might not even want to marry him." He Ximei smiled and gave Guaizi a glance, she was just talking, but he took it seriously.