Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

Liu Neng immediately moved forward:

"Didn't you see how embarrassing Xie Guangkun was this morning!"

"That old bastard must have taken the wrong medicine today. He went up on stage and started bragging, trying to claim kinship with the Wang family, saying his family had a share in their factory. And what happened? He got a thorough dressing-down from Lin Chen right there and then, completely losing face! The whole village gathered around to laugh at him!"

The more Liu Neng talked, the more excited he became. He raised his hand and slapped his thigh, finally getting to the bottom of his mind.

"If you ask me, let's follow suit and do one too! Let's have an opening ceremony for our flower nursery!"

"I'll go on stage and say a few words, make a grand spectacle of it, completely overshadow Xie Guangkun, and shut him up. Let's see... let's see if he dares to show off again!"

Zhao Yutian smiled helplessly after hearing this, not taking it seriously at all.

"Dad, our little business isn't worth all this fuss. If we really throw a big celebration, won't the villagers laugh at us behind our backs? Besides, every celebration costs money, and we're not exactly rolling in dough right now. It's pointless to go through all this trouble."

These words immediately displeased Liu Neng, whose face fell instantly, looking very unhappy.

"What do you mean by 'messing around recklessly'? I think you just lack... courage!"

"Wang Xiaomeng, a young woman, dares to open a factory and hold a grand celebration. How can you, a grown man, be such a coward? I'm telling you this now, you have to hold this celebration! If you don't, I won't be able to get over this, I'll never be at peace for the rest of my life, I'll die...die...die with my eyes open!"

After saying that, Liu Neng stood up abruptly, patted the dirt off his pants, puffed up like a toad, and stormed off, lifting the curtain to leave.

The greenhouse fell silent instantly, with only the sweltering air enveloping everyone.

Liu Ying stopped spraying the water bottle, a stubborn streak rising in her heart.

She put down the kettle, wiped the sweat from her face, turned to stare at Zhao Yutian, and spoke with obvious resentment.

"Zhao Yutian, he only has one father. He doesn't have any grand ambitions in his life, he just wants to have this moment of glory. Whether you hold this celebration or not is up to you."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yutian also lost his temper, glared at her, and shoveled his small shovel into the soil.

"Everyone has a father. Is your father the only one who's special?"

"My dad never forced me to do any of this fancy stuff. It's just your dad who makes a fuss and stirs things up! We can just live a normal life, why do we have to put on this show? Who are we trying to impress?"

Liu Ying pursed her lips, too lazy to argue with him, and turned away in a huff.

In the afternoon, the sun was slightly lower in the west, not as scorching as at noon, but the temperature was actually hotter.

Inside the Xiangyashan Village Clinic, there was a faint smell of disinfectant. Xiangxiu was wearing a clean white coat, and her hair was neatly pinned up.

The door was gently pushed open, and Li Daguo walked in with his hands in his pockets, swaying casually.

Xiangxiu looked up and casually asked while writing:

"What are you doing here at this time? Don't you have to go to work at the farm?"

Li Daguo quickly stepped closer, grinning as he said:

"I took some time to sneak over and see you. I was thinking of you. Besides, I was worried about Wang Musheng. I was afraid he would come and bother you. We've already made up and registered our marriage. It wouldn't be right for him to come and cause trouble again."

Xiangxiu rolled her eyes at him, put down her pen, and said helplessly:

"Can you please stop overthinking all the time? I've already made it clear to him, and I'm not even dating him."

"Now that we've made up, I'll definitely be honest and straightforward. Why would I get entangled with other people? Can't you trust me a little more?"

Li Daguo chuckled twice, and was about to reply when Xiangxiu suddenly remembered what had happened before and looked up at him.

"By the way, how's the renovation of your wedding apartment in the county town going? Didn't you tell me before that you were short 20,000 yuan and couldn't afford a house? How come you suddenly have the money to buy an apartment?"

Upon being asked this question, Li Daguo's eyes immediately darted away, not daring to look Xiangxiu in the eye. Xiangxiu had only gotten back together with him because he bought the apartment, and they had even successfully registered their marriage.

He raised his hand and scratched the back of his head, quickly trying to smooth things over.

"Hey, it's not that hard. I borrowed some from my cousin, and we managed to fill the gap."

"The renovation will start right away, and I guarantee you'll be satisfied with it, so you don't need to worry about anything."

He spoke casually, but he knew in his heart that the 20,000 yuan was not borrowed from relatives at all, but lent to him by Lin Chen on his own initiative, and he even wrote an IOU.

When he was rejected everywhere he tried to borrow money, he complained to Xie Dajiao. Two days later, Lin Chen found him and took the money without saying a word. He even wrote an IOU in advance and didn't ask for a penny of interest. He has always kept this favor in his heart.

Now, whenever he sees Lin Chen, it's like seeing a Bodhisattva; he always wants to bow down to him.

Xiangxiu didn't notice anything amiss, nor did she think much of it. She simply nodded and remarked:

"I didn't expect you to be so resourceful. I thought you just didn't want to buy me a house."

No one knew Lin Chen's purpose in borrowing the money; only Lin Chen himself knew why he was helping out.

Wang Dana and his son treated him like family. If he didn't know what kind of person Xiangxiu was, that would be fine. But if he really let Wang Musheng and Xiangxiu become a couple, he would be betraying his conscience.

When he learned that Xiangxiu was still secretly contacting Li Daguo and that the only thing missing between them was a house, he took the initiative to lend money to Li Daguo so that the two could finalize their marriage as soon as possible.

To put it bluntly, it's about completely cutting off Wang Musheng's hopes and helping him avoid an unsuitable marriage.

As for the 20,000 yuan that was lent out, Lin Chen didn't care. Li Daguo couldn't run away, and an IOU had been written. The interest could be considered as Xiangxiu's hard-earned money.

Xiangxiu bent down, opened the drawer, and pulled out a decoration brochure. She flipped through several pages, stopped at the colorful picture in the middle, and handed the brochure to Li Daguo.

"Look, I've been bored these past few days, so I picked out three styles."

"Look at this, the ceiling has plaster moldings, it looks nice inside. And this floor, it's wood-look flooring, better than tiles. And this custom-made TV wall, simple yet beautiful. I think all three are great, let's decorate our wedding room like this, okay?"

Li Daguo took it and glanced at it casually, then his heart tightened instantly.

He knows all about these things. They look nice, but they're all expensive to do. Each one is much more expensive than a regular renovation. He simply can't afford to go through all those fancy things with the little money he has.

But he didn't dare tell the truth, fearing that Xiangxiu would get upset, so he casually pushed the booklet aside and started making things up.

"Oh, come on, all this useless stuff."

"Only those people like to do these fancy things. They look exquisite, but they're not practical and just a waste of money. Don't worry, I'll definitely install it properly for you, and it will look much better than in the pictures."

Xiangxiu glanced at him sideways. Didn't she know Li Daguo? It wasn't that the style was bad; he was just stingy and unwilling to spend a penny more.

Xiangxiu was too lazy to expose the truth. The two had finally made up, and it wasn't worth arguing and getting angry over such a small matter as renovations.

She silently took the booklet back and stuffed it into the drawer, saying softly:

"Alright, do whatever you want. I won't be picky, just don't make it look rustic, or people will laugh at you."

Li Daguo felt a little itchy as he watched her tidy up her things.

He secretly moved forward, reaching out to put his arm around Xiangxiu's shoulder, thinking he could take advantage of the situation and give her a kiss.

Xiangxiu reacted quickly, raising her hand and slapping his hand hard on the back of his hand, causing Li Daguo to flinch.

She glared at Li Daguo and said seriously:

"What are you doing! You're always hitting me, you have no manners at all!"

"Haven't I made myself clear? The house isn't finished being renovated, and the wedding isn't even happening yet. Don't even think about it! There's no way you're going to have any ideas! I'm a very traditional woman!"

Li Daguo rubbed his reddened hand, not annoyed at all, but instead grinning.

"Look at you, why are you in such a hurry? I just missed you and couldn't resist. Okay, okay, I'll control myself, I'll hold back, I won't touch anything, we'll talk about it after the wedding, okay?"

He verbally admitted his mistake, but secretly he was quite pleased with himself.

Xiangxiu is clearly a decent person, a girl who lives a down-to-earth life. The more she is like that, the more Li Daguo cherishes her and the more he feels that he made the right choice.

……

On the other side, Changgui was hunched over the table writing a work summary, the pen scratching loudly. Running between the town and the village had really worn him out.

The landline on the table suddenly rang. Chang Gui immediately put down his pen, grabbed the receiver, and upon hearing the voice of Mayor Qi Santai, he instantly sat up straight, his tone extremely respectful.

"Mayor Qi! Yes, it's me, Chang Gui. Just tell me what instructions you need, and I guarantee I'll get them done!"

Qi Santai's tone was quite serious, without a hint of joking.

"Changgui, I have something important to tell you. From today onwards, our town's top priority is attracting investment."

"All the cadres in the town and villages need to get involved and use all their connections to try to attract business owners to invest and build factories here. This time, you'll have a chance to put your skills to good use."

Chang Gui didn't understand, but blurted out:

"Mayor, please give me your instructions! Who should I fight? Who should I engage in combat with? I will absolutely not hesitate and guarantee to complete the mission!"

Qi Santai was amused by him.

"You're still as humorous as ever, hitting anyone you want! This is a place to use your skills, not a place for you to resort to violence!"

(The outline has been revised. I still couldn't bear to see Huo Huo and his son Dana suffer, so I'll let Li Daguo bear the burden. It'll be less of a psychological burden, and the subsequent plot will be more interesting.)