The True Monarch had effectively severed ties with the Official General Chief System.

Li Sanjiang continued, "You Hou's family has good conditions. They've got a temple and a hill. You can give him a little Enchanting Soup, and both him and money would be lured to Wenzhou by you?"

Child: "Yes, yes, yes!"

Chen Lin: "Isn't this a bit off?"

Li Sanjiang: "Nah, what's off about it? Aren't you Wenzhou folks the best at business? This deal is great."

Child: "Exactly, exactly!"

Lin Shuyou felt like he was in a livestock market now, and Mr. Li was just short of rolling up his sleeves to haggle prices with Chen Lin.

Chen Lin didn't know how to respond; somehow, the carefree spirit she was accustomed to seemed ineffective in front of this elderly man.

Tan Wenbin proactively attracted the fire to resolve the situation, saying, "Mr. Li, Yunyun's here too."

Li Sanjiang glared at Tan Wenbin and asked, "What's with you, intending to resell? I'm telling you, I don't agree with this."

Tan Wenbin: "Of course not."

Li Sanjiang: "Let me tell you, Yunyun's such a good girl; the fact that she likes you is your luck as a blondie."

Tan Wenbin: "Yes, absolutely correct."

Li Sanjiang looked at Zhou Yunyun and asked, "I heard you can get a certificate and have children even in university?"

Zhou Yunyun: "Huh?"

Li Sanjiang: "If you can get the certificate early, do it; if you can have kids, do so. Best to have twins right away.

Look, Zhuangzhuang's dad is getting promoted like a rocket.

We should hurry up too; isn't that how it's portrayed on TV? When their status is high, they'll do things like split couples for an alliance."

Though Zhou Yunyun was very shy, she could sense the elderly man's care and protection for her.

Tan Wenbin: "Mr. Li, you should eat first; we've eaten already. We're heading downtown to sing, are you coming?"

Li Sanjiang: "You guys go ahead, I wouldn't go."

A group of people left, and Yin Meng drove the small pickup because there were too many people.

Tan Wenbin knocked on Yin Meng's car window.

Yin Meng rolled down the window and asked, "What's up?"

"Lots of people bring excitement; go ask Lihua at Big Beard's house if she's coming; also ask Xiao Yingying; she loves singing."

"Oh, okay."

Yin Meng drove the car onto the village road with confusion, saying, "Is it appropriate to bring Xiao Yingying?"

Seated in the back, Aunt Liu said, "No problem, that girl isn't so easygoing herself."

Yin Meng: "So do they not know? Or do they know but didn't tell me?"

Aunt Liu: "They might think it's harmless."

The small pickup arrived outside Big Beard's house; Yin Meng went down to call them.

Lihua agreed readily, and Xiao Yingying also agreed, temporarily leaving Beng Beng with Xiong Shan.

Xiong Shan started playing with his own son; Beng Beng turned his head away from his father, unfamiliar.

Both Lihua and the Deadman followed Yin Meng to the car with light steps; as they got closer and saw Aunt Liu sitting in the car, they both slowed their pace together.

Aunt Liu: "Sigh, I shouldn't have come along; I'm dampening your spirits."

Lihua and Xiao Yingying quickly opened the car door and got in.

Xiong Shan held the child, standing in the yard, looking at everyone in the car, and couldn't help but lower his head to say to his unfamiliar son,

"Your mom must be really happy now."

Beng Beng: "Hehe."

In the yard, those who didn't go singing were eating.

Liu Yumei sat alone at the small round table and said to Li Sanjiang, "How can you be such a pushy elder, urging everyone to marry and have children, treating people like they're breeding mules?"

Li Sanjiang wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, glanced at Li Zhiyuan and Alii who were eating together, and said nothing.

Was he trying to rush others? His own family was mostly grown up, but theirs was still young, right?

After dinner, Liu Yumei took Alii back to the house to shower.

A while ago, when she was the Liu family's eldest daughter, she sat in the bathtub, having Alii keep refilling hot water.

Occasionally saying, "Sister, the water's cold," or "Sister, add some petals."

Alii genuinely did what she was told, doing whatever was asked of her.

Now, watching Alii sitting in the bathtub, Liu Yumei couldn't help laughing, saying,

"Come on, sit still, sister will help you shower."

Alii turned her head, glanced at her grandmother, then turned back.

Standing behind, Liu Yumei saw the reflection of her granddaughter on the petal-filled water; the girl smiled.

...

A bunch of people entered the karaoke room, Tan Wenbin booked a private room and ordered lots of beer and fruit platters.

Initially, everyone seemed a bit reserved due to various reasons, but gradually, the scene warmed up.

Aunt Liu's voice was excellent, singing beautifully, carrying a professional vibe that even impressed Chen Lin.

You should know, when they first met, this lady was wearing an apron, cooking for the family.

Tan Wenbin requested a song for Xiao Yingying, "Thousands of Songs," purely reminiscing about the tunes Brother Xiao Yuan used to listen to.

Recalling Brother Xiao Yuan being serenaded by Little Huang Ying with this song made Tan Wenbin unable to hold back a laugh.

But this small wicked pleasure could only be enjoyed privately, not shared.

Then, Tan Wenbin specially requested a popular song of the moment, and after he ordered it, he handed one microphone to Chen Lin and another to Lin Shuyou.

Lin Shuyou refused, "Brother Bin, I can't sing."

Since entering, Lin Shuyou had sat properly on the side, not singing a single song.

Tan Wenbin: "It's fine; you surely know this one."

When the backing track started, Lin Shuyou looked at the screen and found that he indeed knew it.

Chen Lin boldly pointed at Lin Shuyou, "Come on, ex-boyfriend, join in!"

Their voices blended as they sang:

"Sometimes discouraged, inevitably lament; sometimes down and out, inevitably feel fear… Love to struggle will succeed!"