A woman in her 70s marries a rough-looking man; her plump wife is too delicate and alluring.

Xie Changhe walked directly up to He Weiye and the others. "Are you leaving or not?"

He Weiye swallowed hard as he looked at Xie Changhe's tall figure, but still forced himself to say, "I'm not leaving. What can you do to me? I'm the bride's father."

Xie Changhe was different from Sheng Kaiyuan; he directly picked up He Weiye's clothes.

He Weiye struggled, "What do you want to do? Are you out of control? Don't think that just because you're a soldier you can bully us ordinary people."

Xie Changhe neither let go nor put him down, but just kept holding him like that.

Are you leaving or not?

Liu Aiyun immediately tried to pry his arm off, shouting, "Let go of my man!"

Xie Changhe didn't look at her; he kept looking at He Weiye.

"I'll ask you one more time, are you coming or not?"

He Weiye swallowed hard. "Let's go, let's go, let's go."

Xie Changhe put him down and gestured for him to leave. He Weiye tugged at He Yaozu.

He Yaozu was busy eating braised pork and completely ignored He Weiye.

"Let's go!"

He Weiye tugged hard at He Yaozu, "Stop eating."

He Yaozu put down his chopsticks, his eyes still fixed on the braised pork, while Liu Aiyun instructed He Xidi to pack up the dishes on the table.

Liu Aiyun reached out and scooped the remaining half plate of peanuts into her pocket with her hands. After scooping them in, she clapped her hands and called out to He Xidi.

"Hurry up, don't dawdle, pack that plate of meat too."

He Xidi lowered his head, reached for the plate with a few pieces of braised pork left, and poured it directly into a plastic bag.

Li Nan's voice came from the next table, her tone full of sarcasm.

"Wow, you're really taking advantage of me, eating and taking things as you please."

Liu Aiyun paused for a moment, straightened up, and turned to look at Li Nan.

"Who are you? What business is it of yours if I take my daughter's things?"

Li Nan leaned back in her chair, twirling her chopsticks in her hand.

"Your daughter's family? Your daughter got married today and you didn't even give a wedding gift, not a single penny. Not only did you eat and drink for free, but you also took all the food off the table."

"If this were in my hometown, we'd usually wait until the banquet was over to pack up the leftovers. You've already started packing before your table has even been cleared."

"What's it to you!"

Liu Aiyun interrupted her, raising her voice a notch.

"Who do you think you are? What business is it of yours to interfere in my daughter and my affairs?"

Li Nan put her chopsticks on the table, stood up, and braced herself on the edge of the table with both hands.

"Your daughter? When you were calling her an ungrateful wretch, she wasn't your daughter at all. Now that she's being packed up, she's suddenly your daughter?"

Someone nearby couldn't help but chuckle.

Liu Aiyun's face flushed red. She turned to look at He Zhaoyang, waiting for her to say something on her behalf.

He Zhaoyang stood next to the main table, and Sheng Yuze put food into her mouth.

Liu Aiyun stood there, her face turning red and white in turns.

Xie Fei slowly chimed in from the side.

"Auntie, if you're missing something to eat, just let me know, and I'll have my brother bring you two pounds of meat. Today is a special day for them, let's not make everyone unhappy."

Ignoring the sarcastic looks from the crowd, Liu Aiyun slung her bag over her shoulder and shouted to He Weiye, "Let's go."

He Weiye responded at the door and pulled He Yaozu's arm to walk out.

He Yaozu was pulled so hard he stumbled, still with a piece of meat in his mouth, and asked in a muffled voice.

"Mom, aren't we taking that candy?"

Liu Aiyun didn't turn around; she had already stepped across the threshold.

"What are you taking? Can't you see they don't welcome us? Let's go!"

He Xidi followed behind her, his hands full of packed meals.

Liu Aiyun's voice was still outside, coming in faintly through the door.

"I knew we shouldn't have come. So many people gave us attitude."

After they left, the courtyard became lively again.

Qin Meng came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of freshly cut watermelon, her voice steady.

"Here, a watermelon, bought from the store, it's very sweet."

After the group of guests left at noon, the courtyard became much quieter.

The tables and dishes have been cleared away, but a few chairs haven't been brought inside yet.

The people who stayed behind to help were in the courtyard.

Liu Hongmei and the others were washing dishes in the kitchen, while Xie Changhe and the others were moving tables and chairs and cleaning.

As it was getting dark, a few more people arrived.

They were Sheng Yuze's comrades who hadn't left that afternoon. Xie Changhe led the group, bringing three or four people and several bottles of liquor. They called out as soon as they entered.

"We didn't get to drink enough at lunch because there were too many people, so let's have another round with just the group tonight!"

Sheng Yuze stood up to greet them and was patted on the shoulder. The group laughed and walked into the courtyard.

Qin Meng brought out a plate of peanuts and a dish of smashed cucumbers and placed them on the table in the middle of the courtyard.

He Zhaoyang was pulled to sit down by Li Nan, who poured her a bowl of wine.

"You're so busy at noon, you can't hide anymore at night."

He Zhaoyang smiled, picked up the bowl, took a sip, and didn't refuse.

Xie Fei also sat down, holding her own tea. She didn't drink alcohol, but she sat with everyone else.

The moon gradually rose along with the stars, and the sound of cicadas began to appear.

The courtyard was filled with laughter and cheerful conversation.

Then someone stood up and yawned, and one after another, as if they had been infected by someone.

Xie Changhe was the last to leave. He couldn't even walk when he stood up, and Xie Fei had to support him.

Soon, only He Zhaoyang and Sheng Yuze remained in the courtyard.

He Zhaoyang's face was flushed from drinking, and her eyes were starting to glaze over.

Sheng Yuze wasn't much better off; his consciousness was also somewhat blurred.

Sheng Yuze sat down next to her and gently tapped her cheek with his finger.

"Shall we go back inside?"

He Zhaoyang shook his head like a rattle-drum, repeating himself in a mumbled voice.

"No, no, I don't want to go back inside."

Sheng Yuze coaxed in a gentle voice, "But it's already very late."

Sheng Yuze picked up He Zhaoyang and carried him into the house.

They put her on the bed without even turning on the lights.

As soon as He Zhaoyang closed his eyes, Sheng Yuze reached out his hand.

It was draped directly over her waist, through her thin summer shirt.

He Zhaoyang suddenly woke up, rolled over and pinned Sheng Yuze down, leaned close, and gently pressed his lips to Sheng Yuze's.

Sheng Yuze stared at He Zhaoyang on his body with a gloomy expression.

At this moment, He Zhaoyang said happily, "Sheng Yuze, your lips are so soft, hehehe, I like them so much."

After saying that, He Zhaoyang lowered his head and kissed his lips again.

After the kiss, she kept giggling, propping herself up on her arms and leaning against him. Her heart seemed to be pressed tightly against Sheng Yuze's chest, pounding loudly.

Sheng Yuze watched her from the darkness.

Moonlight streamed in through the cracks in the window, and he could vaguely make out He Zhaoyang's silhouette.

He didn't move or speak, letting her lie on top of him, as if waiting to see what she would do next.

He Zhaoyang's eyelashes swept down, covering half of her eyes.

She touched the corner of his mouth with the tip of her lips, then touched his chin, buried her face in the crook of his shoulder, chuckled softly, and breathed on his neck.