"Zhao Lanlan, I advise you to think it over. If you become friends with Su Xiaoxiao, you’re going against us. Lili’s dad is the secretary to Director Song of our department store. Are you sure you want to go against us?" Zhao Lanlan retorted, "What about a secretary to the director? Even if Director Song himself came, I would still want to be friends with Comrade Su." As she spoke, she affectionately linked arms with Su Xiaoxiao, "Comrade Su, let’s go." Su Xiaoxiao didn’t expect Zhao Lanlan to be willing to stand up to Wang Lili for her. Everyone around her had been deliberately avoiding her ever since they learned she had offended Wang Lili. Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but feel a little touched. "Comrade Zhao, aren’t you afraid of offending Wang Lili, that she’ll make life difficult for you in the future?" Zhao Lanlan thought for a moment, "I’m not afraid. My uncle is the deputy director of the department store. Her dad’s just a secretary. What do I have to fear?" Upon hearing this, Su Xiaoxiao fell into a peculiar silence. She thought Zhao Lanlan was someone unafraid of power, but it turned out she had power herself. Why does everyone she meets have a dad who’s either a director, deputy director, or secretary? With so many privileged kids around, why can’t she be one of them? The two of them walked back arm in arm when they saw a tall young man walking towards them from a distance. Because the man was backlit, Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t see his face clearly for a while. Soon, the man approached them. Zhao Lanlan recognized the person and cheerfully greeted him, "Cousin." For more chapters visıt 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽 At the same time, Su Xiaoxiao also recognized the cultured and handsome face. Isn’t this Zhao Yang whom she just met at noon? She never expected that Zhao Lanlan and he were cousins. Seeing him, Zhao Lanlan warmly pulled Su Xiaoxiao forward for an introduction, "Cousin, this is my friend Su Xiaoxiao." As soon as she spoke, Zhao Yang’s cheerful voice came through, "Comrade Su, what a coincidence to meet again." She had the feeling that there was an ambiguous undertone in his voice, yet his face remained very composed and serious-looking. "Do you know each other?" Zhao Lanlan’s eyes darted between the two, sensing that her cousin’s gaze towards Comrade Su was somewhat unusual. Two voices spoke at the same time. Zhao Lanlan’s gaze at Zhao Yang suddenly turned teasing. Now she understood—this is a case of unrequited affection. Her cousin had a crush on Comrade Su, but Comrade Su clearly wasn’t interested in him. Thinking of this, she looked at Zhao Yang with sympathy and made a cheering gesture at him. "The bus is about to leave, goodbye to both Zhao comrades!" Seeing the atmosphere becoming awkward, Su Xiaoxiao hurriedly waved goodbye and found an excuse to leave. As Su Xiaoxiao ran away, Zhao Lanlan nudged Zhao Yang with her elbow, "Cousin, do you like Comrade Su?" Zhao Yang watched her graceful figure fade into the distance, curling his lips slightly, "Isn’t it obvious?" Unaware she’s been noticed by someone, Su Xiaoxiao sneezed, got on her bicycle behind the bike shed, and headed home. Just as she cycled to the village entrance, she ran into Li Huilan. Li Huilan saw her and snorted coldly, her tone mocking, "Always flirting with men. Who knows if you can get what you promised everyone." Earlier, when Zhang Dongmei returned, she told Li Huilan that on her first day at work, Su Xiaoxiao was getting close to two men. Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t be bothered with her. Were this mother and daughter just full from too much food so they got nothing better to do than focus on her? "Which eye of yours saw me flirting with men? We were just having normal interactions. If talking counts as flirting, then I saw you flirting with Grandpa Wang next door this morning." Li Huilan turned green with anger, "Dead girl, what nonsense are you spouting? We only exchanged a couple of sentences." Su Xiaoxiao looked at her with a half-smile, "Isn’t it just baseless rumors? Who can’t do that?" Li Huilan was so furious she couldn’t speak. Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t be bothered with her and pedaled her bike away. She was in a good mood today and didn’t want to be affected by irrelevant people. Just as she neared home, she turned into a nearby alleyway, and when nobody was around, she quickly placed an order for two bags of milk powder in the game store. In this era, baby formula wasn’t as varied as modern-day kinds. Su Xiaoxiao browsed for a long time and only found one kind in bag form, so she casually placed an order for two bags. The products in the mall arrived quickly. Almost as soon as she clicked "use," the two bags of milk powder appeared out of thin air in front of her. Su Xiaoxiao picked up the milk powder from the ground and, after thinking for a while, ordered ten fragrant meat buns too. Only then did she hang the things on the bike handle, and leisurely pushed the bike towards home. Before she even reached the doorway, she heard the sound of a baby crying from a distance. Su Xiaoxiao quickly pushed the bike into the yard. After placing the bike against the wall, she hurriedly carried the things inside. Upon entering the main room, she saw Liu Cuilan holding Little Stone and pacing back and forth, sweat trickling down her forehead from anxiety. "Mom, what’s going on?" Su Xiaoxiao approached and saw the little baby crying with a pouty face, looking extremely aggrieved. Liu Cuilan sighed, "Your Sister Zhaodi is out of milk; the child has been drinking rice soup all day, and that stuff doesn’t fill you up. After a few wet diapers, the baby is hungry and crying." Hearing this, Su Xiaoxiao immediately raised the items in her hand to show Liu Cuilan, "Mom, look at this!" "Meat buns? Why did you buy so many meat buns? Are we not going to live?" Looking at the paper bag crammed with white, plump meat buns, Liu Cuilan appeared a bit distressed. These meat buns cost several dimes each, and with so many, imagine how much flour and meat this could buy. Su Xiaoxiao quickly showed her the milk powder in her other hand. Liu Cuilan was surprised and widened her eyes, "Where did you get so much milk powder from?" You know, baby formula is currently supplied by ration tickets, and even then it’s limited. "Our department store happened to have stock today, so I grabbed two bags." Su Xiaoxiao easily spun a lie, knowing her mom wouldn’t go to the city department store to confirm. Unexpectedly, Liu Cuilan’s eyes lit up upon realizing their third child actually managed to get milk powder. The baby had been fussy all day from hunger, but now there’s finally a solution. She immediately instructed Su Xiaoxiao to quickly prepare a mugful of milk powder. Following the instructions, Su Xiaoxiao prepared the milk powder and scooped some up with a spoon, cautiously bringing it to Little Stone’s mouth. Smelling the fragrance from the milk powder, the baby who had been crying incessantly instantly ceased crying, eagerly drinking with a pouty mouth. After tasting the first sip, the little one impatiently began gulping down the milk. Su Xiaoxiao thought she could see a sense of urgency on that pouty face. Maybe the baby was terribly hungry, but he sucked down half a mugful of milk powder in one go and finally closed his eyes contentedly. The adorable chubby baby looked very cute, prompting her to poke the little one’s nose. Just then, there was a sudden knocking at the gate.