To Lin Zhengrong, it sounded as if Jiang Qiuyue felt she could rely on him as long as he was around. The corners of his lips curled up.

Meanwhile, Lin Beibei and Lin Nannan, who had been waiting with their heads raised for a long time, finally couldn’t hold back any longer when Lin Beibei drooled onto the ground. “Dad, Mom, when can we have a bite?”  

“Oh, I forgot about you two!” Jiang Qiuyue chuckled as she scooped a small bowl for each of the children. “It’s a bit spicy, so try a little first. It’ll go perfectly with rice later.”  

Lin Beibei couldn’t wait—he grabbed a piece of intestines with his hand and stuffed it into his mouth. Lin Nannan, sitting beside him, was a bit more refined, but both of their faces turned red from the spiciness.  

“So good!” Despite the heat, Lin Beibei couldn’t stop eating.  

Lin Nannan gulped down water but kept eating too.  

Jiang Qiuyue filled another bowl. “I’m going to take this to Aunt Niu. She gave me peanuts earlier. The vegetables in our garden haven’t grown yet, so we’ve been eating greens from her garden lately. Aunt Niu doesn’t work in the fields for work points, but she’s so diligent—her home garden has the tastiest vegetables in the whole village.”  

She was deeply grateful for a good neighbor like Aunt Niu. Carrying the braised taro and intestines to the Niu household, she reminded Lin Zhengrong before leaving, “Keep an eye on the stove fire. I’ve got rice cooking—don’t let it burn.”  

When she arrived at the Niu household, Aunt Niu was stewing meat. At first, she instinctively wrinkled her nose at the sight of the intestines Jiang Qiuyue brought, but then she caught the enticing aroma.  

“My goodness, how did you make this? I can’t smell any stink at all!” Aunt Niu took a bite—the intestines were tender, flavorful, and the spiciness awakened her taste buds, instantly whetting her appetite. “So delicious!”  

Jiang Qiuyue explained how she made it, and Aunt Niu gasped in amazement. “No wonder it’s so good! The ingredients you used cost more than the intestines themselves—you really went all out!” Just the half-bottle of rice wine alone would last Aunt Niu’s family two or three months, yet Jiang Qiuyue used it all in one meal. She couldn’t help adding, “I know life’s been better since you split from the family, but you should still save where you can. Don’t spend so freely—money is security.”  

“Don’t worry, Auntie, I know what I’m doing,” Jiang Qiuyue reassured her. Just as she took the bowl Aunt Niu handed back, Aunt Niu grabbed two green pumpkins for her.  

Aunt Niu asked if she wanted some leeks, and even though Jiang Qiuyue declined, she still stuffed a handful into her hands. “The pumpkins behind the house are growing like crazy—come pick more anytime. When autumn comes, I’ll dry them into pumpkin strips for Beibei and Nannan to snack on.”  

Jiang Qiuyue didn’t refuse and thanked her before heading home, where Lin Zhengrong had already set the table.  

After soaking the pork liver to remove the blood, she marinated it briefly with cooking wine and soy sauce. During that time, she chopped some green and red peppers, along with ginger and garlic.  

Once the wok was hot, she first stir-fried the ginger and garlic until fragrant, then added the peppers and pork liver. Stir-frying liver required high heat and quick movements. Jiang Qiuyue poured in the pre-mixed sauce, rapidly tossing everything together. When the liver was about 80% cooked, she added a starch slurry and immediately plated it.  

With two spicy dishes, she made an egg and loofah soup to cut through the richness. A simple meal of two dishes and a soup, yet Lin Beibei had already swallowed his saliva countless times. The moment Jiang Qiuyue said, “Let’s eat,” he immediately grabbed food and shoveled rice into his mouth.  

Even Lin Zhengrong ate until fine beads of sweat formed on his forehead. In less than three days back home, he had been amazed by Jiang Qiuyue’s cooking skills multiple times.

She had managed to turn something as universally disliked as pork intestines into a dish so delicious it made everyone eat extra rice, and the stir-fried liver was tender and silky—Lin Zhengrong ended up having an extra bowl of rice.  

Next door, the Niu family was also praising Jiang Qiuyue’s cooking. At first, Niu Jianshe and the others were hesitant to try it, but after Niu Zhuangzhuang bravely took a few bites, Niu Jianshe finally gave it a taste.  

Once the rest of the family started eating, they even mixed the leftover sauce with their rice, scraping the bowl clean.  

Niu Zhuangzhuang let out a satisfied burp. “See? I told you—anything Aunt Jiang makes is delicious. Beibei and Nannan are so lucky. I wish I were her son!”  

Niu Jianshe pinched his son’s ear. “Keep dreaming, you little rascal. Even if we offered you up, no one would want you!”  

“Oww, Dad, that hurts!” Once freed, Niu Zhuangzhuang, afraid of getting scolded again, ran off to find Lin Beibei and the others to play.  

Meanwhile, Lin Zhengrong was assembling the new bed. Since he was eager to sleep on it, he didn’t care much about aesthetics and worked quickly.  

When the bed was nearly done, he rinsed it with water, his muscular arms flexing with strength. Jiang Qiuyue’s heart fluttered again, and she was tempted to ask if she could touch them.  

But before she could, Lin Beibei came running back, saying that a few people had gone to the village committee to take away Lin Xiao and Lin Sanzhu.  

Hearing this, Jiang Qiuyue and Lin Zhengrong immediately knew it was the Bai family’s doing. Lin Zhengrong wiped his sweat. “Let’s go check it out.”  

When they arrived at the village committee, several men were standing in front of Lin Sanzhu and Lin Xiao. One of them was talking to Hu Haizhi. “We’ve received reports that you’ve abused your authority. I’m taking these two with me now.”  

Lin Zhengrong had already warned Hu Haizhi, so despite the man claiming to be a city policeman, Hu Haizhi wasn’t intimidated. “If you say you’re a policeman, show me proof. You accuse me of abusing my authority, but I followed the rules. If you’re wrong, I can’t just let you take them.”  

Bai Shengli, seeing Hu Haizhi being difficult, frowned. His uncle had paid him to pose as a policeman—all he had to do was take the two away.  

Most people would cower at the mention of the police, so why was Hu Haizhi different?  

In the city, Bai Shengli was a known troublemaker, and people at the factory feared him. But pretending to be a cop was a first. As Hu Haizhi continued to resist, Bai Shengli started to panic. He pulled his uncle, Bai Yongquan, aside. “Uncle, maybe we should just drop this. If we get exposed, we’re done for.”  

“You’re already here. Don’t you want that fifty yuan?”  

Bai Yongquan had tried pulling strings, but none of his connections were powerful enough to make a brigade leader release someone. Wang Chunhua and Lin Fugui had been squatting in his house, refusing to leave unless he fixed things—threatening to send his son to labor reform if he didn’t help.  

He only had one son—how could he bear to see him sent away? After much deliberation, this was the only plan he could come up with.  

At the mention of fifty yuan, Bai Shengli wavered. But Hu Haizhi was tough, so he raised two fingers. “Make it seventy, or I’m out. You see how stubborn this Hu guy is.”  

He was hiking up the price, but Bai Yongquan had no choice. He gritted his teeth and nodded. “Fine.”

With an extra twenty yuan on the line, Bai Shengli strode straight up to Hu Haizhi, grabbing him by the collar. “Are you deaf, old man? Do I need to drag you to the police station too?”  

Seeing Bai Shengli act so boldly, Hu Haizhi hesitated. If this guy really was a cop, wouldn’t he be in trouble?  

Spotting Jiang Qiuyue and her family at the door, he quickly shouted, “Dazhu, come quick! This guy says he’s a policeman!”  

Lin Zhengrong walked over with a dark expression. “You claim to be a cop? Which precinct in the city? Who’s your superior?”  

“None of your damn business!” Bai Shengli let go of Hu Haizhi and reached for Lin Zhengrong’s collar, only for his wrist to be twisted violently. The next thing he knew, the world spun—he’d been flipped over Lin Zhengrong’s shoulder and slammed onto the ground.  

It took Bai Shengli a good while to recover enough to howl in pain. “You motherf—! You dare hit a cop?!”  

Lin Zhengrong scoffed. “Oh, so you’re really a cop?” From the moment he laid eyes on Bai Shengli, he knew the man was lying. No cop carried himself like some delinquent. If there really were cops like this, he’d have to have a word with their superiors about their hiring standards.  

“If I’m not a cop, then are you?” Bai Shengli was helped up by the two lackeys he’d brought along. “You’re dead, kid. I’ll beat the fear of god into you—or my name isn’t Bai!”  

“Let’s go! All three of us—beat him to death!”  

Hearing the surname “Bai,” Lin Zhengrong sneered. “Fine. Come at me together.”  

He motioned for Jiang Qiuyue to take the kids back. As the three men charged at him, he kicked each of them down in turn. With a few sharp cracks, he efficiently dislocated their arms—then just as swiftly popped them back into place.  

The agonized screams of Bai Shengli and his men echoed through the courtyard. They writhed on the ground, unable to get up. Bai Shengli regretted his greed now. He never should’ve taken this job. Who’d have thought some backwater village would have a fighter like this?  

If he failed to take the people his uncle wanted *land got wrecked in the process, wouldn’t that be losing on both fronts?  

Lin Zhengrong watched Bai Shengli’s guilty expression coldly and nudged the men with his foot. “Still insisting you’re cops?”  

Bai Shengli: “I—”  

“Comrade, don’t you think you’re going too far?” Bai Yongquan, sensing the situation slipping away, cut in first. “Who in their right mind would impersonate a cop nowadays? We’re just following the law, yet you resort to violence! Aren’t you afraid of being sent to labor reform? We’re only taking Lin Sanzhu and the other one in for questioning—you people are being completely unreasonable!”  

“You’re asking me?” Lin Zhengrong loomed over Bai Yongquan, half a head taller, his presence oppressive. “I’d like to ask you—where do you get the nerve?”  

Bound and gagged, Lin Sanzhu and Lin Xiao had initially thought their saviors had arrived. But at the sight of Lin Dazhu, Lin Xiao burst into tears. “Uncle Bai, don’t listen to him! Just take us away, quick!”  

“Shut your mouth!” Bai Yongquan roared. If it weren’t for this idiot Lin Xiao, would he even be taking such a huge risk right now?

Bai Shengli and his men were utterly useless—three against one, and they still couldn’t win. Fortunately, he had come prepared and pulled out a forged document. “Take a look. Are they really fake cops or not?”  

Bai Yongquan knew Wang Chunhua and her husband were scoundrels. If he didn’t help them settle this matter, his son’s life would be ruined.  

Just in case, he had prepared counterfeit documents in advance.  

At that moment, Wang Chunhua and her husband arrived in a hurry. Seeing Bai Shengli and the other two on the ground, Lin Fugui asked Bai Yongquan what had happened.  

Upon learning that Lin Dazhu was the one who had beaten them, Wang Chunhua raised her hand to slap him, but Lin Dazhu caught her wrist and shoved her away.  

“Lin Dazhu, do you have a death wish? How dare you hit a police officer?” Wang Chunhua glared at him, wishing he would drop dead on the spot.  

Lin Fugui’s face darkened. “Dazhu, even if you’ve cut ties with us, you still have to be reasonable. These officers are just doing their job—why are you interfering? Do you really think just because you served in the army for a few years, you can do whatever you want in this village?”  

Hu Haizhi, seeing the documents in Bai Yongquan’s hand, began to panic. Though Lin Dazhu was reliable, what if these men were the real deal?  

Just as he hesitated over whether to relent and let Bai Shengli take the person away, Jiang Qiuyue stepped forward. “Uncle Lin, your scheme is too sloppy. I can tell at a glance that their documents are fake.”  

“You can swallow your words, but you can’t spit them out recklessly! How dare you claim they’re fake?” Bai Yongquan shouted. At this point, even if they were forged, they had to be treated as real—there was no turning back.  

Right then, four more people arrived at the door. Leading them, Qiujie took out his own credentials. “Let’s compare them with mine. We’ll see whose are real and whose are fake.”