78: First arrived in a small town in Vietnam

Nghe An Province is currently Vietnam's largest province, with a population of about 3.5 million, and it is one of the 11 provinces that remained unchanged after Vietnam's provincial mergers.

Nguyen Thi Linh's home is in western Nghe An Province, just west of the border with Laos.

The journey from Hanoi, less than 400 kilometers, took nearly 6 hours, mainly because the mountain roads increased significantly after entering Nghe An Province, inevitably slowing down the vehicle.

Nguyen Thi Linh, who was excited in the car at first, became a bit dispirited, feeling she had nothing left to say after talking so much.

"A Ling, recline your seat and get some sleep. You might be home by the time you wake up."

Li Qinghe noticed the fatigue on Nguyen Thi Linh's face. Thinking about going home today, she had woken up early to make breakfast and then talked with him all the way, so she must be exhausted by now.

More importantly, she didn't know the way at all. Since leaving Xiangyang County on the bus, she hadn't seen any familiar scenery along the route. It was normal for her to feel a bit sleepy looking at the similar scenery by the roadside.

"Okay, Big Brother, I'll sleep for a bit. Wake me up when we arrive." Nguyen Thi Linh obediently reclined the passenger seat, took a blanket from the back seat, and covered her legs, as the air conditioning was a bit cool.

Li Qinghe then turned on the car's music, playing piano pieces to pass the time, which wouldn't disturb Nguyen Thi Linh's sleep.

The navigation showed they had already entered Xiangyang County, and the roads were much smoother. Nguyen Thi Linh's home was in a town further down.

When Li Qinghe's fiery red Wrangler appeared on the town's main street, it attracted many curious glances.

Many people saw it had a Hanoi license plate and assumed it was an out-of-town tourist visiting.

Li Qinghe slowed down the car because Nguyen Thi Linh had said her mother sold pork on the town's main street. The central street wasn't long, but there were three or four meat stalls.

Li Qinghe suddenly saw a young girl with a high ponytail standing in front of one meat stall. She must have been over one meter seventy tall, standing out among the adults around her.

Looking at her inherited appearance, it was clearly Nguyen Thi Linh's younger sister, A Shui. He knew they had found the place.

"A Ling, wake up quickly, we're here."

Li Qinghe slowly drove the car forward and reached out a hand to nudge Nguyen Thi Linh.

"Hmm~~ Big Brother, where are we?"

Nguyen Thi Linh opened her blurry eyes and looked at Li Qinghe. Because her seat was reclined, she couldn't see the surroundings outside the car.

"Sit up and you'll know."

Li Qinghe smiled, urging her to sit up.

Nguyen Thi Linh, still groggy, sat up, her eyes widening instantly: "Ah! We're in town! That's A Shui, she's helping Mom with the business."

She fumbled to unbuckle her seatbelt. By the time Li Qinghe's car glided to a stop in front of the girl, she flung open the car door and jumped out: "A Shui, I'm back! Where's Mom?"

The girl had initially looked curiously at the red car driving up, thinking a customer wanted to buy pork, and was about to greet them and make a sale.

But then she saw a familiar figure jump out of the car.

"Ah, Big Sister, Big Sister is back!"

The young girl's sharp voice startled half the street.

Many people doing business along the street stood up from behind their stalls and looked over.

Some people gathered together, discussing animatedly.

That feeling was very similar to the countryside in the Dragon Kingdom.

"A Shui, can I park here?" Li Qinghe rolled down the car window and asked Nguyen Shi Shui.

"Big Sister, Brother-in-law."

Nguyen Shi Shui greeted Li Qinghe a little shyly. She had chatted with Li Qinghe a few times on video, and from then on, she started calling Li Qinghe Brother-in-law.

"You can park here."

Having received an affirmative answer, Li Qinghe turned off the car, engaged the handbrake, and got out.

Nguyen Shi Shui was a little taller than her older sister. Both sisters were impressively tall girls, but after Li Qinghe got out of the car, he still stood half a head taller when he stood next to them.

"Mom went to deliver pork; I'm watching the stall." Nguyen Shi Shui glanced at Li Qinghe, her eyes full of curiosity.

"Brother-in-law, you're so tall, even taller than Big Brother."

Nguyen Thi Linh had already told Li Qinghe that her younger brother, Nguyen Tan Minh, was the tallest boy in town, standing at a full 1.8 meters.

"Where's A Ming? Didn't he come out?" Li Qinghe naturally looked around.

This Vietnamese town looked so much like the rural areas of the Dragon Kingdom decades ago.

The entire town had only one street that served as its commercial center, with most buying and selling concentrated on this street.

The street looked old and had a sense of history, but overall it appeared relatively clean.

Because the American bombs and Dragon Kingdom's artillery fire had not reached the mountains here, everything still retained its original appearance.

"Big Brother is at home doing exercises; their teacher gave them a lot of test papers to do."

Li Qinghe had only stood there for a short while, and Nguyen Shi Shui had already adapted to his presence. Her responses were no longer so shy, and her voice was clear and crisp, making her seem a bit more spirited than Nguyen Thi Linh.

"A Ling, is this your man?"

An old woman selling vegetables at a nearby stall finally couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, Grandma."

Nguyen Thi Linh admitted a little shyly.

There are no secrets in a small town. The conversation between the old woman and Nguyen Thi Linh had already been overheard by others nearby who were listening intently.

Soon, the news that Tran Thi Bao Anh's eldest daughter had returned with her man in a beautiful car quickly spread throughout the street.

"A Shui, don't you have class today?" Li Qinghe asked casually, then immediately realized his mistake.

"I forgot today was the weekend," he quickly added by way of explanation.

At school, time is calculated week by week. After starting work, in addition to calculating weeks, one also calculates months.

And since Li Qinghe became a streamer, he has almost lost the concept of weekends.

"Brother-in-law, today is Saturday; none of us have class."

"How's business today?"

"It's okay. Today, a family had a bunch of relatives visit and bought dozens of pounds of meat. Mom went to deliver it. It would be great if someone bought this much meat every day."

Nguyen Shi Shui looked a little wistfully at the street with not many pedestrians.

Watching Nguyen Thi Linh dealing with the old woman at the next stall.

"A Shui, don't you have homework to do?" Since he was bored waiting, Li Qinghe decided to chat with Nguyen Shi Shui.

"I finished it ages ago! I can only come out and help Mom with the business after I finish my homework, otherwise, she'll scold me."

Nguyen Shi Shui giggled, speaking ill of her mother behind her back.

"Aren't you afraid Mom is right behind you?"

"Ah? Oh no, Brother-in-law, you're so mean!"

Li Qinghe's words startled Nguyen Shi Shui. She quickly turned her head and looked around a few times. When she found that her mother hadn't returned, she pouted and playfully scolded Li Qinghe.

Her playful pouting expression was very similar to Nguyen Thi Linh's, but Nguyen Shi Shui generally seemed a bit more outgoing.

In a family, the youngest child is usually more outgoing than their older siblings.

This is likely because they are the youngest and thus a bit more doted upon.

However, there are also many youngest children who have experienced the 'iron fists' of their older siblings' love; those are different stories.

Nguyen Thi Linh's mother's delivery location must have been quite far. Li Qinghe and the others had been there for half an hour, and she still hadn't returned.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Linh's small meat stall enjoyed a somewhat celebrity-like treatment today, with many people using the excuse of passing by to chat with Nguyen Thi Linh for a few moments.

Nguyen Shi Shui even managed to make two sales, and although not much meat was bought, Nguyen Shi Shui still seemed very happy.

For her, as long as there's business, it's something to be happy about.

Not long after, the sound of a motorcycle engine approached from a distance.

"Mom's back!" Nguyen Shi Shui jumped up.