Chapter 37 Are you full?

“Dad, Mom, Huaijin-ge is here at our house!”
Hearing their daughter’s excited shout, Jiang Fugui and Li Shuzhen hurriedly came out from inside.

“Aiya… Huaijin, you’re here! Quick, quick, come inside, come inside,”
Li Shuzhen said, beaming with smiles, warmly inviting Lu Huaijin into the house.

Lu Huaijin handed the gifts he brought to Li Shuzhen and politely greeted them.
“Uncle Jiang, Auntie Li, Happy New Year! I came to pay my respects for the New Year.”

“Good, good, Happy New Year to you too!”
“Huaijin, come sit here and chat with Uncle. Let’s have some tea together,”
Jiang Fugui said cheerfully, pointing to a nearby chair to invite him to sit.

Li Shuzhen put the things down and went to the kitchen to pour two cups of tea, then came back out.
“Here, Huaijin, have some tea.”
Lu Huaijin reached out and took it.
“Thank you, Auntie Li.”

“You’re welcome. You’ll stay for lunch, okay? Try Auntie’s cooking.”
“Then I won’t be polite. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Alright, you two chat, I’ll go prepare lunch.”

Soon after, Jiang Yanshu and the others returned home from their New Year visits.
Seeing Lu Huaijin at their house, they all came over to greet him, and then the men sat together chatting.

Jiang Piyu followed Yang Xiaoyan into the kitchen. She didn’t know how to cook much, but she could at least sit by the fire and add wood.

Though Li Shuzhen’s cooking wasn’t on par with a restaurant chef, it was quite decent and presentable.

When the meal was ready, the family invited Lu Huaijin to sit at the table.
Since it was his first time visiting as a future son-in-law for New Year, Li Shuzhen brought out her best dishes—the table was full.

Jiang Piyu sat nearby, laughing as she watched her mother enthusiastically pile food into Lu Huaijin’s bowl.

While serving him, Li Shuzhen kept saying,
“Huaijin, eat more! It’s your first time here, and I don’t know what you like, so help yourself.”
Lu Huaijin nodded with a smile.
“Auntie Li, I’m not picky. Everything you made is delicious.”

“In a few days, we’ll all be one family. Just treat this as your own home. Don’t be polite… Come, have a drink.”

“Yes, Huaijin, drink a bit more today,”
Jiang Fugui and Jiang Yanshu encouraged him.

“Alright. Uncle Jiang, Auntie Li, I toast to you—wishing you good health and all the best in the new year!”
The three of them clinked glasses. Lu Huaijin then turned to Jiang Yanshu and the others.
“Big Brother Jiang, Sister-in-law, Yanwen, a toast to all of you too—Happy New Year!”

“Happy New Year!”
They all raised their glasses cheerfully. Since the sister-in-law and Jiang Yanwen didn’t drink, they toasted with tea instead.

Li Shuzhen noticed they were drinking a lot but barely touching the food. Worried that Lu Huaijin might get drunk on his first visit and give a bad impression to the future in-laws, she quickly reminded everyone to eat.

“Alright, time to eat! Everyone, eat more!”

“Auntie Li, got it. You eat too.”
Lu Huaijin, very thoughtful, gave Li Shuzhen a few servings of food and poured wine for Jiang Fugui, making the elderly couple beam with joy.

At this point, Li Shuzhen truly and wholeheartedly accepted Lu Huaijin.
Her daughter was getting married in a few days anyway—there was no turning back now.

“Huaijin, from now on, our Piyu is in your hands. You must take good care of her.”

“She’s still young, hasn’t suffered much hardship, and is a bit childish in nature…”

“If, after marriage, she makes mistakes, please be tolerant of her…”

“I understand, Auntie Li.”
Lu Huaijin stood up with his glass and said to both Jiang Fugui and Li Shuzhen:

“Uncle Jiang, Auntie Li, please rest assured and entrust your daughter to me.”

“I, Lu Huaijin, promise you—
I will cherish her, love her, and never let her down for the rest of my life.”

After speaking, he downed the wine in his glass in one go.

“Good. With your promise, your Uncle and I feel at ease handing her over to you.”

“Now, eat! Don’t just drink,”
Li Shuzhen urged.

Jiang Piyu, seeing Lu Huaijin had already had four or five cups of wine, quickly grabbed her bowl and went to the kitchen to get a big bowl of rice for him.

“Stop drinking and eat some rice.”

“You don’t want to get drunk on New Year’s and end up with a headache.”

“Okay.”
Lu Huaijin took the bowl and began to eat seriously.
After he finished the first big bowl, Jiang Piyu, noticing he didn’t look full, took his bowl and refilled it with more rice.

Lu Huaijin had planned to eat only one bowl, but when Piyu handed him another, he didn’t hesitate.
He quietly kept eating while Li Shuzhen kept happily serving him more food.

The person who cooked is always happiest when they see others enjoying their food.
Seeing him eat so well made her feel very pleased.

When Lu Huaijin finally swallowed the last bite, Jiang Piyu asked with a smile,
“Are you full?”

He quickly nodded, afraid that if he hesitated, Piyu might go back and get him another bowl.
What if he scared off his future in-laws by eating too much the first time?

“I’m full, very full… extremely full.”

“Really full?”
Jiang Piyu knew how much soldiers could eat.
She had seen it before during university military training—some instructors even ate out of metal basins.

“I’m full.”
Lu Huaijin glanced at the nearly empty dishes on the table, and his face turned red with embarrassment.

Just now, when A’Yu went to get him a second bowl of rice, he really should have stopped her.
Now look what’s happened—when he gets back, Uncle and Auntie will definitely have something to say about it.
He regretted it so much…

He had eaten more than the other five adults and a child combined. He had completely embarrassed himself.

Even though there were three grown men in the Jiang family, they only ate a lot during the busy farming seasons.
Now that life at home had improved and it wasn’t the harvest season, everyone just ate a normal amount.

After the meal, everyone sat in the main hall chatting for a while. When Lu Huaijin saw that it was getting late, he stood up.
“Uncle Jiang, Auntie Li, thank you so much for the meal today. I’ll be heading home now.”

“Alright then, take care on your way.”
Li Shuzhen got up to walk him to the main hall entrance, then turned to her daughter.
“Sweetie, go walk Huaijin out.”
“Okay.”

Jiang Piyu stood up and walked out together with Lu Huaijin.

The two strolled side by side along the country path.
As they passed by households along the way, remnants of red firecracker paper from last night’s celebration were scattered at the doorsteps.

Lu Huaijin didn’t go straight home. Instead, he wandered through the village with Jiang Piyu.

Jiang Piyu quietly followed him, saying nothing, until they arrived at a small creek in the village.

By the stream, lush green trees formed a natural barrier, shutting out the noise and bustle of the outside world.

After confirming that no one else was around, Lu Huaijin finally mustered the courage to gently take hold of Jiang Piyu’s delicate hand.

With a slight pull, he softly drew her into his arms.
As their bodies drew closer, Jiang Piyu’s back rested gently against a tall tree.

“A’Yu…”

It was the first time Jiang Piyu had ever heard Lu Huaijin call her that so intimately.
His voice was deep and magnetic—so pleasant to the ear, it felt like it carried some kind of enchantment, making one feel completely intoxicated.