The second update is here. Thank you everyone for your support. Though placing on the leaderboard may be a stretch, we still shouldn’t be too discouraged, so please, beg for votes. There might be a surprise, hehe..
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As everyone was chatting happily, there was a gentle knock on the door. Zhou Hanliang, facing the window, saw who was outside and his face brightened, "It’s my sister." He said as he got up to open the door, "Hanying, what brings you here?"
Feeling the gaze of everyone in the room, Zhou Hanying was slightly embarrassed and gave a shy smile, handing over the bundle she carried, "Grandma and mom made some bean buns and asked me to bring them over to you."
"I just had some at home a couple of days ago..." Zhou Hanliang pulled his sister inside, introduced her to everyone one by one, and after exchanging greetings, they all sat down. Yun Doudou visibly became tenser.
Chuxia and Luo Xiaoqiong were seeing Zhou Hanying for the first time and scrutinized her closely. With delicate, thin eyebrows and a slightly darker complexion, she was much more attractive than Zhou Hanliang.
The first time Chuxia met Zhou Hanliang, she thought he was middle-aged. Fortunately, his sister didn’t look old. She had heard from Zhou Mikang that Zhou Hanying was 23 this year, which matched her actual appearance.
Putting chestnuts and peanuts from the stove into a dish, Chuxia quietly tugged at Yun Doudou’s sleeve. Doudou looked at her confusedly, her eyes clearly spelling out "What’s the matter?"
Unable to make it obvious, Chuxia could only nod toward the dish of peanuts and chestnuts, signaling Yun Doudou to offer them to her future sister-in-law to foster some goodwill.
However, the confused Yun Doudou misinterpreted Chuxia’s gesture, grabbed a chestnut, "Crack!" squeezed it open, pulled out the golden-brown flesh, and stuffed it into Chuxia’s hand, then took another "Crack!" and gave it to Luo Xiaoqiong, then another "Crack" for herself, and yet another "Crack" for Chuxia...
Holding her cheek as if it ached, and Luo Xiaoqiong drooping her head with her shoulders twitching... Okay, they didn’t mean to be rude, but Yun Doudou’s absent-minded actions were just too... stylish!
"Brother, Yuxiang said she’d come over later to see you. She was delivering pancakes to her brother and brought some for you too," Zhou Hanying said.
This statement effectively snapped Yun Doudou back to reality, her previously wandering eyes now sharply focused on Zhou Hanliang, her eyebrows furrowed.
Zhou Hanliang chuckled, looking earnestly at his sister, "Didn’t I tell you? No matter how much Li Yuxiang pleads with you, don’t bring her to see me. You have a sister-in-law now; you have to consider her feelings, right?"
"Brother, you’re about to go on a mission, aren’t you? Normally, I would never agree...," Zhou Hanying said, her face flushing as she hung her head, "Besides, you and Sister Doudou had broken up before, she knows, and I couldn’t really fool her with that." Looking apologetically at Yun Doudou, "Sister Doudou, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you and my brother were back together. I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry."
"It’s okay, it’s okay, you’re just in time..." Yun Doudou said, her smile not quite reaching her eyes as she looked at Zhou Hanliang, "Ready to resolve this once and for all? You did promise me."
"Alright, I’ll introduce her to you in a bit. I believe she will back off when she knows the situation."
Speaking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrives; a short-haired girl flashed past the window. Zhou Hanying quickly stood up to open the door, "Yuxiang, come in quick. My brother is here, and so is my sister-in-law."
Chuxia and Luo Xiaoqiong exchanged glances, amusement twinkling in their eyes. Zhou Hanying’s words were quite interesting, but it did suggest that she wasn’t against Yun Doudou; she just didn’t know how to refuse Li Yuxiang.
Li Yuxiang’s smile stiffened, and then she blatantly ignored Zhou Hanying’s introduction, heading straight for Zhou Hanliang: "Brother Hanliang, my mom made these pancakes, asked me to bring you some, and this..." pulling out a stack of embroidered shoe pads from her bag, "I made these for you, was going to give them to you during New Year’s."
"Yuxiang, give these to your brother. I don’t need them." Feeling a little hand twisting at his waist, Zhou Hanliang gave a wry smile. He couldn’t just stop addressing her altogether; the families were neighbors for so many years, and their elders got along extremely well. His parents and Li Yuxiang’s parents always thought the two families could be relatives by marriage. However, he had no feelings for Li Yuxiang, which eventually made his parents give up the idea, but Uncle Li and Auntie Li still hadn’t let go.