After lunch at the Shu family’s house, Lu Qingyuan and Second Aunt Lu headed home.

Xiao Tingting was reluctant to part. “I really hope you and Third Brother get married soon. The house will be even livelier! Wait, no—knowing his personality, if you two get married, he’ll definitely take you to live in town.”

Thinking about Shu Beiqiu mentioning renting a house, Lu Qingyuan blushed. “We can meet up anytime. Come visit me at my house whenever you’re free.”

“Okay, and you should come over often too!” Xiao Tingting grinned.

When Lu Qingyuan arrived home, Grandma Lu eagerly asked about the Shu family’s attitude and how her future sister-in-law treated her. After hearing everything, she nodded firmly. “This is a good match. You have good judgment.”

If it were the Tan family, things would never go so smoothly.

Grandma Lu was well aware of that.

“I think so too!”

Lu Qingyuan grinned, her eyes sparkling like stars. “Oh, by the way, Aunt saw the Cheng family’s girl today and thought she was great. She wants Brother Qingguo to meet her.”

“Your aunt has a good eye for people,” Grandma Lu said, reassured by her second daughter-in-law’s judgment. “Go call her over.”

“Alright!”

Lu Qingyuan went to fetch Second Aunt Lu.

When Second Aunt Lu came out of Grandma Lu’s room, she was holding a piece of black fabric. She looked helpless as she told Mother Lu, “Mother wants me to make a new outfit for Qingguo to wear when he goes to meet the girl.”

“That’s only right. Back when Qingming, Qingtian, and Qingyuan had their matchmaking meetings, Mother prepared things for them too. Now, it’s time for your family’s Qingguo, Qingguang, and the third son’s Qingjun.”

“When is the meeting? If it’s soon, we should help out and make the clothes quickly.”

The eldest sister-in-law suggested.

“Yes! With more hands, we can finish it faster. Aunt, just make sure you give us the right measurements. We can finish a spring outfit in half a day.”

The second sister-in-law agreed.

If it were a winter outfit, stuffing it with cotton would take more time, but a spring outfit would be much faster.

Second Aunt Lu wasn’t one to hesitate. She immediately called over Third Aunt Lu to help as well.

After washing her hands, Lu Qingyuan picked up a needle. Once Mother Lu swiftly cut the fabric, she focused on her task.

The women were busy working, and Second Uncle Lu couldn’t sit still either.

“Should I renovate the house a bit?” Second Uncle Lu mused.

Third Uncle Lu rolled his eyes. “What for? It’s only been a few years since we split the household and built these houses. Big Brother’s house is the oldest, and even he isn’t renovating. Why should you?”

“That’s true.”

Second Uncle Lu chuckled. “Then, how about fixing up Qingguo’s room? His bed was hastily put together when he was twelve—just two stones underneath with a few planks on top.”

Lu Qingyuan felt sorry for Brother Qingguo after hearing that.

She had a proper wooden bed, which was part of her mother’s dowry.

“Yeah, he definitely needs a proper bed. He’s about to get married—how can he sleep on makeshift planks?”

Father Lu agreed. “The wasteland will be cleared in a few days. We can head to the mountains to get some wood and make him a sturdy bed.”

“Big Brother is right.” Third Uncle Lu nodded.

But Second Uncle Lu wasn’t done yet. “Since we’re at it, we might as well make one for Qingguang too.”

“That makes sense. We’ll be cutting wood anyway, so we might as well build two beds at once.”

Father Lu nodded again.

Third Uncle Lu rolled his eyes. “Big Brother always indulges you.”

Second Uncle Lu just grinned.

“Why don’t we make one for Qingjun too—”

“You better shut up!”

Third Aunt Lu couldn’t take it anymore. “I brought two wooden beds as part of my dowry. Qingjun is already sleeping on one of them!”

“Fine, I lost to Second Brother again.”

Third Uncle looked regretful.

Second Uncle Lu just laughed heartily, clearly enjoying himself.

The people on Lu Qingyuan’s side also laughed.

Grandma Lu, who was resting against a pillow and lost in thought, heard the laughter of her children and grandchildren from the main room and couldn’t help but smile along with them.

By the time Lu Qingming and his brothers returned, Lu Qingguo’s new clothes were already finished.

“Hurry up and take a bath, then try on these clothes. When the time comes, go to the matchmaking meeting for me!”

Second Aunt Lu said loudly.

Lu Qingguo, who was still sweating, was stunned. “Huh?”

“Brother, if you don’t go, then I will. Mother,” Lu Qingguang fixed his eyes on the freshly made outfit, “whoever goes to the matchmaking meeting gets to wear these clothes, right?”

“You wish!”

Lu Qingguo snatched the clothes from Second Aunt Lu’s hands and ran off immediately.

Lu Qingguang pouted. “Going just for the new clothes? How boring.”

“If that’s the case, when it’s your turn for a matchmaking meeting, I won’t prepare any new clothes for you. Would you still be willing to go?”

“No way. I have to have new clothes too.”

Lu Qingguang quickly changed his tune.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed. During this time, the livestream had taken place three times, and Lu Qingyuan’s fans had grown to 436.

She was looking forward to reaching 500 fans.

Early in the morning, Lu Qingguo left with Fifth Aunt to attend the matchmaking meeting.

Second Aunt Lu and Second Uncle Lu were absent-minded while working in the morning.

However, they didn’t stay distracted for long because, not far away, two female educated youths suddenly got into a fight!

“It’s Educated Youth Zheng and Educated Youth Zhao from the educated youth quarter. Why are they fighting?”

“Wow, they were going at it fiercely. One was scratching at the other’s face, while the other was pulling hair.”

“Quick, go and stop them!”

The women hurriedly dropped their hoes and rushed over to intervene. The two educated youths fought in complete silence, focusing solely on attacking each other.

Even after being pulled apart, no one knew what had caused the fight.

“You wouldn’t believe it. The deputy team leader arrived and sternly questioned them about why they were fighting, but both of them stayed silent as if they had no mouths.”

Second Aunt Lu and Third Aunt Lu shared the news with Mother Lu and Lu Qingyuan when they got home.

Grandma Lu didn’t know much about the two women.

She was curious. “Why would they start fighting out of nowhere and go at it so fiercely? There must have been some kind of conflict.”

“Exactly. But no matter how much the deputy team leader questioned them, they wouldn’t say a word.”

“They wouldn’t even speak when he threatened to deduct their work points. Then, Educated Youth Zhao’s eyes turned red, and Educated Youth Zheng started crying too. Sigh, we still don’t know what happened.”

“Not just us, even the people from the educated youth quarter are clueless.”

Some people had asked around, but even the educated youths living with them were completely baffled.

“Does Secretary Chen know?”

Lu Qingyuan suddenly asked.

“He knows. He was the most furious one, scolding both of them harshly.” Second Aunt Lu replied.

Lu Qingyuan recalled the argument she and Shu Beiqiu had overheard between Secretary Chen and Zheng Xiaoxin. She figured that their fight today might have something to do with Secretary Chen.

But Educated Youth Zhao didn’t have feelings for Secretary Chen.

Liking someone who doesn’t like you is one thing, but disliking your romantic rival who also doesn’t like that person is quite another.

At noon, Lu Qingguo and Fifth Aunt still hadn’t returned, and everyone burst into laughter.

If they were eating lunch together, it most likely meant the matchmaking was successful.

Lu Qingyuan suddenly thought about the time she and Shu Beiqiu had their own matchmaking meeting, and she found herself missing him a little.

She wondered if his hair had grown back.

Thinking about her fiancé’s bald head, Lu Qingyuan covered her mouth and laughed.

At that moment, Shu Beiqiu was staring at himself in the mirror.

He was working the afternoon shift today, starting at two o’clock. He had just washed his hair and was now studying his reflection in a small palm-sized mirror.

“Brother Wu, it looks like it’s grown quite a bit, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, you’re not completely bald anymore. It’s not as thick as a buzz cut yet, but at least under the sunlight, you don’t look like a lightbulb from a distance.”

Wu Xiankang’s words made Shu Beiqiu’s mouth twitch.

“Comrade Shu Beiqiu from XXX Workshop, there is a person named Shu Beidong waiting for you at the factory gate. Please proceed to the gate…”

“Your brother is here to see you.”

Shu Beiqiu handed the mirror to Wu Xiankang. “Brother Wu, let me borrow your bicycle.”

Back when Lu Qingyuan had visited, Wu Xiankang hadn’t managed to get a bicycle ticket yet.

“Here,” Wu Xiankang handed him the keys.

Shu Beiqiu quickly rode to the factory gate.

Standing there was a burly man carrying some goods. He bore a strong resemblance to Shu Beiqiu.

That’s right, Shu Beidong was a doctor, but he was also a muscular one.

He stood over 1.8 meters tall, slightly shorter than Shu Beiqiu, with well-defined muscles.

“Third Brother.”

His voice was as loud as a bell.

“Mother made some jarred dishes for you. And here,” Shu Beidong took out a piece of paper and handed it over, “this has the date for the proposal meeting.”

“As for the betrothal gifts, you can prepare whatever you want. Our parents have already taken care of the major items.”

Shu Beiqiu nodded, taking the paper and glancing at his burly brother. He frowned. “Why do you look even bigger?”

Shu Beidong grinned and flexed his biceps. “I lift heavy things whenever I have time. Not bad, right?”

“You’re built like an ox,” Shu Beiqiu commented with a hint of envy. He was strong too, but his brother’s size was on another level.

“My Tingting likes that I’m built like an ox, but I doubt my sister-in-law will.”

“That’s true,” Shu Beiqiu laughed. “You’ve gotten better at talking since the last time we met.”

Shu Beidong rolled his eyes. “I’m leaving now. Make sure you request leave according to the date. Can you take time off?”

“I can. The factory is quite accommodating when it comes to older workers taking time off for marriage-related matters. They even grant leave without deducting wages or ration tickets.”

Shu Beiqiu returned to his dormitory with the goods. Before heading to work, he went to his supervisor to apply for leave for the designated days.

After confirming the reason, the supervisor generously wrote a three-day leave slip for him. “When the day comes, just fill in the exact dates here.”

“Thank you, Leader.”

Shu Beiqiu happily took the leave slip and was about to leave.

“Wait a moment,” the leader called out to him, pulled open a drawer, and handed him two ration tickets. “Consider yourself lucky, kid. Add these to your betrothal gifts.”

“Then I’ll thank you, Master.”

That’s right, this person was not only his leader but also his mentor, who had guided him for several years after he joined the factory. When Shu Beiqiu became a full-time worker, his mentor was promoted to a leadership position.

“You brat, hurry up and get back to work.”

Shu Beiqiu quickly made his way out.

As he walked toward the technical department, he unfolded the two tickets—one was a six-pound sugar ration ticket for the province, and the other was a fabric ration ticket for a whole bolt of cloth.

These were indeed valuable items.

Shu Beiqiu silently remembered this favor, carefully tucked the tickets away, and began thinking about what else to add to his betrothal gifts. Later, when they got married, what more should he prepare…

The more he thought about it, the more the corners of his mouth lifted. He couldn’t help but smile, looking so cheerful that anyone who saw him would find it amusing.