At this moment, Du Ping was exuding an air of exhaustion. After glancing at Du Heng, he walked straight into the house. "If you can't talk properly, just say less. Can't you see I'm tired?"

Du Heng didn't expect his big brother's temper to flare up, considering he was just joking, but his words seemed to have hit a nerve.

However, Du Heng had no shame in front of Du Ping, and laughed it off. "Oh my, Big Brother, why are you so angry? Calm down. I already prepared cool, boiled water and cooked dinner. Hurry in and have a drink."

Du Ping knew the kind of person Du Heng was and, given his low mood, chose not to engage with him, simply walking into the house with his head down. But as soon as he stepped through the door, he saw Lu Qiaoer standing in the room, which caught him off guard.

After Du Heng stepped inside, he quickly introduced her. "Big Brother, this is Lu Qiaoer, Secretary Lu's daughter. She's the one who wants to buy a goat."

Du Ping 'oh'ed twice and promptly invited Lu Qiaoer to sit while a smile spread across his face. He looked back at Du Heng and asked, "Have you guys eaten yet?"

Du Heng nodded. "We've already eaten, and we've been waiting for you at home. By the way, Big Brother, where did you go today and why did you only come back now? Also, look at your clothes! They're all torn apart. If you said you weren't in a fight, I wouldn't believe it."

Du Ping didn't rush to reply to Du Heng's words. First, he picked up the cool, boiled water from the table and chugged several mouthfuls, clearly parched.

Once he quenched his thirst, he began to explain, "I almost died of anger. It's all because of Du Jun's family issues. His wife ran away."

Du Heng was stunned. "Ran away? His wife ran away, and what has that got to do with your appearance?"

"Someone said she ran into the mountains. She didn't come home last night, so today we all went into the mountains to help search for her." Du Ping's expression was a mix of frustration, anger, and worry.

"Did you find her?"

"No, the blackthorns in Linzi grow too densely, and the mountain path hasn't seen any traffic in a while, so it's no longer usable. We couldn't go too deep in, and although we didn't find Du Jun's wife, the searchers almost couldn't make it back."

Du Ping slowly stretched his back and stood up. "Enough about that. Let's go buy a goat from Li Hai now. Who knows what might happen tomorrow?"

Upon hearing this, Du Heng got up and called for Lu Qiaoer to accompany them to Liang Lihai's family.

The goat-buying process was smooth. They spent 1,800 yuan and got the goat. But what Du Heng and the others wanted was not the goat or the goat meat, but the goat blood. As Liang Lihai could handle the processing, they had him take care of the goat right there on the spot.

With an expert at work, the live goat was quickly drained of blood, skinned, and cleaned. Some of the offal, which Lu Qiaoer and the Du brothers didn't want as it was hard to deal with, was given back to Liang Lihai at a discounted price.

Du Ping and Liang Lihai carried the goat meat to Du Heng's car, while Du Heng himself brought the goat blood back to his own house to dry and obtain the materials he needed.

Upon seeing that it was getting late and worrying about her father in the hospital, Lu Qiaoer felt uneasy in the company of the two men. She expressed her desire to leave.

Du Heng considered the steps and time involved in drying the goat blood, and said to Lu Qiaoer, "Lu, how about this: take my car and bring the goat meat home to deal with. I'll stay here and prepare the materials I need. You can pick me up tomorrow morning."

Since Lu Qiaoer hadn't driven herself there, this suggestion became the best option. Lu Qiaoer wasn't the type to be coy, so after a bit of thought, she agreed to the plan. Then, she opened the trunk and tried to give half of the newly slaughtered goat to Du Heng and Du Ping.

Seeing Lu Qiaoer trying to move half of the goat, Du Ping quickly stopped her. However, Lu Qiaoer was genuinely offering it, and two mere sentences wouldn't be enough to convince her otherwise.

In desperation, Du Ping shouted, "Sister, don't give it! Seriously, don't! Even if you did, we wouldn't be able to eat it. As you can see, it's just me at home right now, and there's no way I can eat that much."

Upon hearing this, Lu Qiaoer paused her goat-moving actions, allowing Du Ping a small sigh of relief. But then she said, "Fine, let's go home and get a kitchen knife. I'll cut a leg off for Big Brother, that should be acceptable, right?"

I'll cut a leg off for Big Brother?!

Du Ping couldn't help but shiver, suddenly feeling very uneasy about his own hips. "Sister, it's really not necessary. It's just that the farm has some issues these days, otherwise I'd already be in the city. If everything is settled tomorrow, I won't be staying at home and will head straight to the city."

Du Heng also tried to persuade her, "Lu, we're family. There's really no need for formalities."

The two brothers joined forces and finally pulled Lu Qiaoer away from the trunk. Du Heng quickly shoved the car key into her hand. "Lu, you haven't driven on these roads before. It's better to leave early and drive slower along the way. If it gets too late, there won't be any cars on the mountain roads. It's too unsafe in the pitch dark."

Lu Qiaoer was stubborn, but she was no match for the two brothers. Once they pulled her away from the goat meat, the brothers pushed her into the car.

When they returned home, Du Heng brought dinner to Du Ping in the living room. This allowed Du Ping to eat on his own while Du Heng went back to the kitchen. There, he took out the induction cooker and slowly began to simmer the goat blood.