Old Lady Xia has already cooked dinner and brought portions for her three siblings, including Xia Zhi.

  Xia Zhi readily agreed. Xiao Shu is now whatever his sister says, he has no opinion. On the contrary, Xia Qiao hesitated and seemed embarrassed.

  Old Xia saw it and said: "What's wrong, can't even eat a meal at grandma's place? Are you afraid your mother will scold you?"

  Xiaqiao could only nod at this sentence.

  Mrs. Xia happily went to prepare the dishes. Xia Zhi and Xiao Hei Yu discussed, putting all the paper and pens they bought in his place. Old Man Xia smiled and took a closer look at the paper Xia Zhi bought, which was very ordinary, but quite economical for beginners.

  Old Xia felt a bit sentimental and said to Xia Qiao: "In the past when your father was studying, in order to save some money, he also used this kind of paper."

  Since the separation, Xiaqiao has been under the provocation and supervision of the Tian family, becoming increasingly estranged from Old Master Xia, and naturally, she no longer had the opportunity to hear Old Master Xia talk about Xia Xiuren's youthful days.

  Old Master Xia said a few words to Xia Xiucan, seeing that Xia Qiao was listening seriously, the old master's eyes paused on his eldest grandson for a moment. "Daqiao, if you still want to study, next year I'll send you and your uncle together to the town."

  Xia Qiao seemed to have been stung by something, he suddenly lifted his head and made brief eye contact with Xia Lao Ye, then immediately looked away. "Grandpa, I don't want to go to school anymore. I'm...fine now." He was so uncomfortable that it seemed like if Xia Lao Ye mentioned going to school one more time, he would not be able to sit still.

  Xia Lao Yezi let out a quiet sigh, changed the subject and asked how the crops in Xiaqiao's field were doing. Only then did Xiaqiao slowly calm down again.

  Old Lady Xia quickly gathered a table of dishes, in addition to the torn open roast chicken, she also stir-fried another plate of eggs, a plate of dried tofu, and then made a bowl of pork skin noodle soup.

  At the dinner table, Xia Qiao was still a bit shy.

  The villagers ate at home, without the fuss of not speaking while eating. Old Lady Xia asked about Xia Zhi and Xiao Hei Yu's experience selling things at the market and temple fair, and asked if they had worked hard. Without waiting for Xia Zhi to speak, Xiao Hei Yu chattered on about everything.

  "Things sell pretty fast! I and sixteen had a great time." Also said the temple fair and the collection of new things encountered, there are children squatting in front of the big green who don't want to leave, and some people see the big green from afar and their legs go soft.

  "What's with that young fellow who helped you carry your things?" Old Man Xia suddenly asked.

  "Dad, you asked about Li Xia? Li Xia is a good person, he's a new friend I made with Sixteen. I even invited him to our home." Little Black Fish then told his dad about meeting Li Xia at the Great Buddha Temple, and how Li Xia treated them to dinner, took them shopping, and strolled through the market with them.

  Mr. and Mrs. Xia were both stunned, especially Mr. Xia. Although he had just asked a question, he didn't think much of it and thought that the two children and Li Xia were just acquaintances.

  "You two, you're quite bold. If he's a bad person, what then?" Xia Laotaitai thought with a motherly heart, first thinking of this matter, and also reminded the two children not to get close to strangers in the future. "If you two were kidnapped by a swindler, what would happen!"

  "Don't worry, Mother. The temple is crowded with people coming and going, and Uncle and I are here, plus Da Qing is by our side, no one would dare to have any bad ideas about us." Xia Zhi comforted Xia Lao Tai Tai, not to mention that they encountered a good person like Li Xia, even if they encountered someone with ulterior motives, she had her own way of dealing with them.

  "We still need to be more careful." Old Lady Xia said, but she wasn't too worried. Xia Zhi and Xiao Hei Yu were clever kids, and Da Qing was a good dog. The three of them together could be summed up in three words: not to be trifled with.

  The little black fish was much younger than his brothers, and the whole family had long since separated and lived apart, so the little black fish felt a bit lonely. The old couple pitied their youngest son and searched far and wide for a one-in-a-thousand puppy to let the little black fish raise himself, on the one hand giving the little black fish a companion, and on the other hand also serving as a bodyguard for the little black fish. When something really happened, two or three ordinary adults were no match for Daqing.

  "The master of the house who gathers talents..." Old Master Xia said while drinking, "The Li family in the prefectural city is a big household. Your father's academy was established by the old Li family... In the future, we must repay their kindness when there is an opportunity."

  As he spoke, Old Man Xia carefully asked Xia Zhi if they had known that Li Xia was a member of the Xia family before he invited them to dinner, and whether or not Xia Xiucun had been mentioned.

  Li Xia never mentioned Xia Xiuzai and didn't ask about the Xia family's affairs either.

  "It's a big household of the Li family, so it shouldn't be Li Shan Chang and his family."

  After dinner, everyone chatted for a while longer. Seeing that the sky was almost dark, Xia Zhi finally returned to the front yard with Xia Qiao and Xiao Shu'er.

  Sun Lan'er had already helped to feed the chickens and pigs, and was now sweeping the house. Seeing Xia Zhi return, she hurriedly came forward: "Sixteen, were all the things sold? Was it a good sale?"

  "All sold out, Sister Lanzi." Xia Zhi smiled and took out the things he bought to show Sun Lanzhu.

  Sun Laner widened her eyes: "How did you buy all this old stuff? Was it bought with the money from selling things?"

  "Of course." Xia nodded and took out the three pieces of Songjiang fine cloth, letting Sun Lan'er cut them. "Lan'er sister, let's each make a small garment for ourselves to wear when we sleep at night."

  Sun Lan'er stroked the fine cotton cloth stuffed into her arms by Xia Zhi, her eyes wide with incredulity: "Such good fabric, how much did it cost? It's enough to make outerwear, we're making undergarments, isn't that a waste?"

  Such fabric, for people like them, can be made into outer garments to wear, but: "Lanzi sister, if we make it into outerwear, isn't that too showy?"

  Sun Lan'er suddenly understood Xia Zhi's words, but even if she wore it inside, there was still a chance of being discovered by Sun Wangshi. After hesitating for half a day, Sun Lan'er made up her mind. "Sixteen, I'll just touch this fabric and make two sets of clothes for you. One set to wear inside and one set to wear outside. Sister will cut and sew them for you, guaranteed to be good."

  "Lan Zi Jie," Xia Zhi said unhappily, "if you're not going to do it, then I won't do it either."

  "That won't work." Sun Lan'er.

  Finally, Xiazhi took charge and Sun Lan'er agreed. She was a young girl in her teenage years who had never worn new clothes before, so how could she not like such good fabric?

  The two little girls made a plan, and Sun Lan immediately cut the fabric with scissors. It was Xia Zhi who stopped her, fearing that she would hurt her eyes, otherwise, she would have stayed up all night to make clothes for Xia Zhi.

  At night, the two little girls lay on the kang, Sun Lan'er asked many things about the temple fair and the gathering, even asking one question repeatedly, Xia Zhi said what, she all listened with relish.

  "Sixteen, if I..." Sun Lan'er said half a sentence and couldn't continue. Although the days of Xia Zhi were not easy to pass, she, even if she wanted to spend days like Xia Zhi, was just an illusion.

  P.S: I feel like I've already gained a bit of weight, if you all think it's still okay then save it.