Are you really planning to date Su Wanwan?

Lin Yu carefully collected all the wild eggs from the chicken nest and placed them gently on top of wild greens so they wouldn't crack.

The group then headed down the mountain. Su Wanwan turned her head to look at Xie Beishen, who was walking beside her. "Thank you for saving me just now. When we get back, I'll cook plenty of fish for you. I know how to prepare fish in many different styles, so I'll make sure you can taste them all."

Xie Beishen's eyes held a smile. "Any dish at all?"

Su Wanwan nodded, her eyes full of sincerity. "Yes, just tell me whatever you want to eat."

This man had saved her family, and now he had saved her as well. A few meals were nothing by comparison.

The group arrived back at the Su household.

Xie Beishen and Lin Yu planned to go back and change their clothes before returning, so the two headed off toward the educated youth point.

Su Heng set about cleaning the chicken and fish.

Meanwhile, Su Wanwan began preparing the other dishes.

Back at the educated youth point, Xie Beishen looked at Lin Yu and said, "Once you've changed your clothes, go to the supply cooperative and buy two bottles of liquor. We can't visit empty-handed."

"Alright." Lin Yu nodded. "Brother Shen, are you really planning to pursue Su Wanwan?"

Xie Beishen glanced at Lin Yu, letting him know it wasn't out of the question—especially since the kid had already figured it out anyway. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Should I just buy liquor then? Shouldn't we get cigarettes and something else too?" Lin Yu pondered for a moment and said, "It doesn't seem right for a prospective son-in-law to show up with only two bottles of liquor."

After all, this was Brother Shen's first time visiting her family; bringing only two bottles of liquor felt a bit shabby.

"Su Wanwan and I aren't even officially dating yet, so bringing heavy gifts right now is a bit much. It might startle her, and besides, she wouldn't accept them," Xie Beishen explained. "Once things are settled between us, I'll definitely bring more gifts then."

"Got it, I'll go take care of it right away," Lin Yu said.

Xie Beishen returned to his room and dug out a white shirt and black trousers he had bought back in Beijing.

He decided to take a quick shower first.

After showering and changing into his clean clothes, he took a bag of milk powder, a can of malted milk extract, and a tin box of biscuits from the items sent to him from home, setting them on the table.

Just then, Lin Yu walked in carrying two bottles of liquor and a package of peach blossom pastries. Seeing the items on the table, he asked, "Brother Shen, you're not planning to bring all this, are you? Doesn't that make your intentions a bit too obvious?"

Xie Beishen looked at the items in Lin Yu's hands, thought for a moment, and ultimately put everything he had just taken out back into the cabinet.

He left only six bottles of soda on the table.

The two of them then stepped outside.

He knew this meal was intended as a thank-you gesture, so bringing too many gifts certainly wouldn't be appropriate.

Two bottles of liquor, six bottles of soda, and a package of peach blossom pastries made for a very fitting gift.

They arrived at the Su house while it was still quite early.

Su Heng had just returned from dropping off fish at his maternal grandmother's place, where he had also reassured his parents so they wouldn't worry, when he spotted Xie Beishen and Lin Yu approaching with gifts.

"Brother Xie, you're being far too formal. Just coming over for a meal is enough, why bother bringing gifts? My dad isn't one for accepting things like this."

Xie Beishen replied, "The soda and liquor are for us to drink during dinner later. The peach blossom pastries were bought by Lin Yu."

Lin Yu smiled cheerfully. "It's just a small snack."

Hearing this, Su Heng said, "Fine, hand them over. I'll tie the soda bottles in the well water so they'll be even more refreshing to drink during dinner."

Lin Yu promptly handed the soda over to Su Heng.

At that moment, Su Jianjun and Zhao Hefen heard the commotion outside in the courtyard and walked out from the room.

Su Jianjun greeted them warmly. "Educated Youth Xie and Educated Youth Lin, you two are being much too polite." He then looked at Xie Beishen and said, "Educated Youth Xie, we owe you a massive thanks this time. Otherwise, our family wouldn't have known what to do. I haven't even had the chance to thank you properly, yet you're the one bringing gifts to us."

Xie Beishen answered, "It was just a small effort, no need to thank each other back and forth. Besides, you didn't do anything wrong; you were bound to come out sooner or later. Team Leader, don't stand on ceremony with me."

Su Jianjun smiled. "Alright, we'll share a couple of drinks tonight."

"You two take a seat first, dinner will be ready very soon," Zhao Hefen said before heading into the kitchen to help her daughter cook.

Zhao Hefen chopped vegetables to assist her daughter. There was no helping it—her daughter's culinary skills were now far superior to her own.

She felt a pang of heartache every time she watched her daughter pour cooking oil into the wok, but since they were hosting guests today, she understood the logic that good food requires plenty of oil.

More oil it was, then. They simply had to make sure Educated Youth Xie ate well.

When her son had returned earlier, he had told them how Educated Youth Xie had saved her daughter up on the mountain.

Just hearing about it still made her heart race with lingering fear; if she had truly been bitten by a poisonous snake, even being rushed to the county hospital might not have saved her.

It was truly a blessing that nothing had happened to her daughter.

Su Wanwan was also genuinely grateful to Xie Beishen for saving both her and her family, so she put a lot of heart into preparing this meal.

She made wild chicken stewed with dried mushrooms.

The dried mushrooms had been sun-dried by Zhao Hefen herself.

Last time they had eaten pickled cabbage fish, so this time she made braised fish instead. Since she had promised to cook different styles of fish for Xie Beishen, she naturally intended to fulfill her word.

Figuring that nobody in this era could possibly dislike braised pork, she also prepared a large bowl of braised pork.

More than a dozen wild eggs were transformed into tiger-skin eggs.

She stir-fried cured meat with garlic sprouts, made smashed cucumbers with dressing, braised eggplant, stir-fried potatoes, and fresh green vegetables.

She carefully arranged and garnished each dish on its plate.

This was something she had learned from her mother.

Food needed to look as appealing as it tasted.

By the time all the dishes were finished, she was completely drenched in sweat. Cooking in front of a large wood-burning stove in the middle of summer felt just like sitting in a steam room.

It was truly exhausting.

If she had to do this every single day, it would be simply unbearable.

In the future, whoever she chose as a partner would definitely need to know how to cook; otherwise, if she had to do all the cooking every day, she wouldn't be able to stand it.

Besides, whenever she cooked, she always ended up eating a bit less than usual herself. She didn't know how it was for others, but both she and her mother were like this.

It was as if smelling the food constantly while cooking already left them feeling full.

Zhao Hefen carried the dishes out to the courtyard.

Su Wanwan planned to return to her room to change into a clean set of clothes before eating. As she walked through the courtyard, she saw her father and Xie Beishen chatting heartily.

Their gazes accidentally met.

Su Wanwan quickly averted her eyes and hurried back to her room.

Lin Yu was dumbfounded when he saw the dishes laid out on the table. This was his first time seeing such exquisitely prepared food; even every single piece of braised pork was cut to the exact same size—it was almost as if they had been measured with a ruler.

Every single sliver of potato was kept as thin as a matchstick, without a single exception. Such knife skills were simply exquisite.

The eggs gleamed with oil, their surfaces covered in a layer of sauce-colored wrinkles, radiating an appetizing sheen. He had never eaten eggs prepared in such a manner before.

No matter which dish he looked at on the table, every single one of them showcased the cook's superb culinary mastery.

Su Jianjun gestured with both hands for them to hurry and take their seats. "Little Xie, come sit over on my side, let's have a few drinks together."

Xie Beishen sat down next to Su Jianjun. " Uncle, if you don't have anyone else to keep you company while drinking, I can have a little bit to accompany you, but I won't drink too much."