Jing'an County, Li Family Village.

Li Xiang's mom came back from the market with a face full of joy. Neighbors passing by asked, "Sister-in-law, are you having guests at home? Bought so many groceries?"

"Yes, Li Xiang is bringing his girlfriend back in a bit."

"Wow, Li Xiang found a girlfriend? Just the other day someone asked me to arrange a match for him. Whose girl did he get?"

"That boy is so stubborn now, doesn't like blind dates, found someone himself and is bringing her over."

"Young people these days just love to fall in love freely."

"Yeah, they're coming back soon, so I won't chat with you now—got to go home and prepare a meal."

Ever since Li Xiang became successful, their family's relations in the village improved quite a bit.

How does that saying go?

When you become famous, everyone around you is a good person.

Those who used to bully Li Xiang's family now come over bearing gifts and apologies.

Although Li Xiang isn't some big official, in this little Li Family Village, a police officer's job is something they value enough.

After all, Li Xiang is still very young and has already been awarded a second-class merit at home, with boundless potential.

They don't even know that Li Xiang actually also has a first-class merit, but the approval process for that is more complex and hasn't gone through yet. If they knew, they'd be even more amazed.

What's the concept of being the family of someone with a first-class merit?

The county party secretary would have to personally come to his house to pay respects.

From Jinghai City to Jing'an County, it takes about an hour on the highway, and then to Li Family Village, the total travel time is an hour and a half.

Usually, when Li Xiang takes the bus, with transfers, it takes about three hours to get there.

You have to admit, having a car is really convenient.

A red Panamera drove past the head of the village, its striking design and color attracting the attention of the villagers.

The cars usually seen in the village are ordinary small ones, many have never seen a car with such a design, which clearly isn't cheap.

"It's parked in front of Li Xiang's house."

Nearby villagers, upon seeing this, slowly gathered together to chat:

"Sister-in-law Li just said her son is bringing his girlfriend today, that must be them, right?"

"Did Li Xiang, after becoming a police officer, start embezzling? How did he buy such a good car?"

"The character for 'official' has two mouths, there's no one in government who isn't corrupt. I bet he's probably corrupt too."

"Don't talk nonsense, see how it's a girl getting out from the driver's seat, the car is probably hers. Finding a rich girlfriend beats anything else."

The forest is big, and you find all sorts of birds.

There are quite a few gossipers in the village, but they only dare speak behind people's backs.

"Mom, we're back."

Upon hearing noise at the door, Li's mom quickly ran out: "Ah, you're back!"

"Hello auntie, I'm Lin Feifei. It's my first time here, not sure what uncle and you like, so I just bought a few things. Please don't mind."

Seeing them come down from a luxury car with a bunch of items, just from the packaging, she knew they were valuable. She said, feeling a bit heartache: "Just coming over is fine, buying so much is a waste of money. We rural folks don't need these."

Following behind, Li's dad, upon seeing the Huazi and Wuliangye Li Xiang was carrying, was grinning ear to ear.

He usually can't bear to smoke anything more than ten yuan a pack and drinks spirits worth just ten-ish yuan. Now, with the daughter-in-law buying Huazi and Wuliangye, he's immediately won over: "Right, buying such good liquor and cigarettes, too wasteful."

"You just accept them; these are a token of Feifei's sentiment."

"Alright, mom will take them, let your dad carry these in. You've been driving for so long, go inside and rest for a bit."

The happiest one with Li Xiang bringing his girlfriend back must be Li's dad, while the most worried one must be Li's mom.

Lin Feifei's looks and the financial power she exhibited made her, who always thought her son was the best, doubt a little whether her son was truly worthy.

In rural areas, people highly value being well-matched, very few dream of joining a wealthy family or marrying a rich bride.

The greater the disparity in status, the more conflicts will gradually arise, eventually ending in tragedy.

What the ancestors concluded from experience can't be wrong.

However, the girl came for the first time, bringing so many gifts, the politeness was on point, showing she cared about them too. Although Li's mom verbally said no need, she was happy inside.

"You go watch some TV in the room first, I'll wash some fruit for you, and I'll call you to eat once the meal is ready."

Having driven for over an hour, Lin Feifei was indeed a bit tired, so she followed Li Xiang into the room.

Once they were in the room, Li's mom came over to see what they had brought.

She felt awkward doing it earlier in front of them.

By the time she got there, someone had already beaten her to it.

"Oh, soft Huazi. One carton alone costs six to seven hundred."

And she bought four cartons of that kind of cigarette.

"So expensive?"

Four cartons of cigarettes cost nearly three thousand, this girl is really willing to spend money.

"And this liquor, Wuliangye, costs over a thousand per bottle too."

"This young lady doesn't seem simple, is our son good enough for her?"

"No confidence in your son? How many people have gone from auxiliary police to regular officer and been awarded a second-class merit? Our son has a great future. Even if it doesn't work out in the end, he doesn't lose out."

Li's dad cherished the bottle of Wuliangye dearly, definitely reluctant to drink it.

"Seems like you're the one not losing out."

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