However, Xia Qiao only glanced at Tian Shi and immediately lowered his head again. Tian Shi suddenly let out a sigh of relief, and she raised her voice to scold Xia Qiao: "See if you dare do this again in the future. Your grandfather and uncle won't blame you, but I won't forgive you."

  At this time, Tian's uncle and Jiang came over to persuade Tian. Tian's uncle said in a pleasant tone: "It's just going into the mountain for a trip, it's nothing. The bridge hasn't gone far. Besides, Dabiao is not someone else, he is my own nephew. What can I say as his uncle, haha."

  Tian said it was not Xiaqiao's, and secretly looked up at the upper house. The old Tian's figure was still printed on the window, but this time he wasn't facing his back to the window, and half turned his body over.

  Tian Wang also walked over at this time: "It's all good that everyone is back, if something happens, the Lao Xia family will blame us." Then he asked everyone to go inside. "Don't stand in the courtyard, go inside and talk."

  After saying all this, she deliberately walked to Xiaqiao's side: "Daqiao, your mother is also for your own good. Your mother will be counting on you in the future. How about it, didn't your mother hurt you? Quickly let grandma take a look."

  "I'm fine." Xia Qiao dodged Tian Wangshi's hand.

  "Daughter, don't mind him. He's getting more and more out of it." Tian said loudly.

  Xia Qiao didn't say a word, but managed to infuriate both Xia Zhi and Xiao Shu. Xia Zhi sneered inwardly, but put on the most innocent smile on her face. She explained for Xia Qiao: "Grandma, my brother didn't intentionally run into the mountains. He heard that in Kuangshan Village, there are people who abandon their newborn babies to feed the wolves, and he was curious, so he ran into the mountains to take a look."

  At this time, they had all walked into the upper house. As soon as Xia Zhi's voice fell, the atmosphere in the room suddenly solidified. Xia Zhi seemed to be unaware of it, but a pair of eyes quickly swept across everyone's face.

  Yes, it seems that the Tian family's abandonment of their infant daughter to be fed to wolves in the mountains is something that everyone in the Tian family knows about, including Madam Tian. The only person present who still doesn't know about this is probably Xia Xiuzai.

  Ignorance is sometimes bliss. Xia Zhi fully understood the meaning of this sentence for the first time in summer.

  Seeing the rigid, gloomy and fearful expressions on the faces of the Tian family members, Xia Zhi's heart felt much more at ease.

  Jiang's first move was to cover her face, lower her head and run out. Da Ya and Er Ya hesitated for a moment before chasing after her.

  Tian Lao and Tian Wang looked at Jiang's back with gloomy faces, then shifted their gaze to Xia Zhi. Xia Zhi still had a completely innocent expression.

  "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong? Everyone outside is talking about it, don't you know?" Xia Zhi deliberately spread his hands.

  Xia Qiao silently walked to Xia Zhi's front and blocked the line of sight of Tian Lao Tou and Tian Wang Shi with her own body.

  Tian's family then came to his senses, but sharply scolded Xia Zhi: "Let you go outside and run around, listen to what people say. This time I shouldn't have brought you here." However, he didn't come forward to catch Xia Zhi, nor did he make a move to hit him.

  "Alright, let's just calm down for today and get some rest early." Old Tian said in a low voice on the kang.

  At his order, everyone stopped talking, and only Tian Wang walked to the door of the outer room and shouted outside, asking Jiang to bring Da Ya and Er Ya back to sweep the floor, lay out the bedding, so that everyone could go to sleep early.

  The east house and the west house each have two rooms. The east house is where Old Tian, Tian Wangshi, and their eldest grandson Tian Dabao live. The west house is where Tian Dashu, Jiangshi, and their two daughters, Da Ya and Er Ya, live.

  Xia Xiuzai and his family arrived, and they all lived in Old Tian's house.

  The Tian family didn't have many quilts, and they didn't go out to borrow any either. Fortunately, it was summer, so not having enough quilts wasn't a big deal. Old Man Tian slept with Tian Dabao on the outermost kang, followed by Tian Wangshi.

  Tian Shi is next to Tian Wang Shi, then Xia Xiuzai. Xia Zhi is at the head of the bed, next to his younger brother Xiao Shu Er.

  A group of people, no partition board in the middle, nor a curtain. In the past, everyone just lived together like this. Today, before even mentioning summer solstice, Xia Qiao had already furrowed her brow.

  Xiaqiao told Tian Wangshi that they should put up a partition or hang a curtain. "I and Xiaoshu will accompany Shi Liu on the edge of the kang."

  Tian Wangshi looked at Tian Shi. Tian Shi had just severely scolded Xia Qiao and hit her, Xia Qiao's reaction was a bit strange, although she was confident in her eldest son, but still felt a little guilty. So when Tian Wangshi looked over, Tian Shi pretended not to see.

  "Hey, Xiaqiao, our family's conditions aren't as good as yours. What's the point of living like this? We didn't used to live like this before." Tian Wangshi said with a smile on her face.

  If it were in the past, Xiaqiao would have said nothing, but today Xiaqiao insisted exceptionally.

  "There's no shutter or curtain, so just take any piece of cloth will do." Xiaqiao discussed with Tianwangshi.

  "Hey, you kid, it's not like this every time, why so many complaints this time?" Tian Wangshi looked at Xia Qiao in puzzlement.

  Tian and Xia Xiucai both remained silent.

  The old man in the field suddenly spoke up: "Find him a piece of land."

  Tian Wang's family looked at old Tian strangely, seeing that he wasn't speaking in reverse. He then quietly rummaged through the cupboard and pulled out two pieces of cloth. Xia Qiao was naturally skilled with his hands, and without anyone's help, he quickly hung up the curtains between the beds.

  On the other side of the curtain were Lao Taitou, Da Bao, Wangshi, Xia Xiuren and several others from the Tian family. On this side of the curtain were Qiao, Xiao Shu'er and Zhi.

  Xiaqiao didn't say much, but he swept the floor himself and laid out a mat for Xia Zhi. The three siblings only got one mat, which was given to Xia Zhi, so Xiaqiao and Xiao Shu'er slept on the reed mat. Xiaqiao also carefully checked the edge of the kang before letting Xia Zhi lie down.

  "Take a good rest, I won't sleep tonight," Xia Qiao whispered to Xia Zhi.

  Xia Zhi felt that Xia Qiao's emotions were still not right, but it was not a good time to ask. She could only tell Xia Qiao not to worry too much. "Nothing will happen."

  Xia Qiao just hummed.

  Xia Zhi didn't say anything else. The other side blew out the candle, and everyone lay down. Xia Qiao's low voice said a sentence: "I just want to sleep, but I couldn't sleep."

  "Brother, it's all in the past." Xia Zhi could only comfort Xia Qiao with one sentence.

  That night, Xiaqiao didn't sleep. Xia Zhi's sleep was also not stable. Even if she had a strong psychological quality, Grandma Zhuang's words still had a significant impact on her.

  She felt uncomfortable living in this big tile-roofed house of the Tian family.

  The next day, the three siblings got up early. The other members of the Tian family also got up quite early, except for Tian Dabao, who was still lying on the kang and snoring loudly. He had a mental disability, but his body seemed to be in good shape, especially when it came to eating and sleeping, without any worries at all.

  Tian Lao Tou got up and called Tian Shi to the backyard to talk. He was avoiding Xia Xiuren and Xia Zhi, but was seen by clever little Shu Er.

  The little tree ran over and told Xia Zhi.

  Xia Zhi guessed that Lao Tuo must have some secret mission assigned to the Tian family, which was definitely related to their well-being. After Xia Zhi had figured out the location, he quietly took Xiao Shu'er and slipped away unnoticed.

  Tian Lao and Tian Shi were standing under the wall at the back of the yard, talking in a low voice. Xia Zhi quietly made his way over with Xiao Shu, hiding behind the nearest bean trellis. Through the dense bean leaves, Xia Zhi could almost see the faces of Tian Lao and Tian Shi.

  Tian Lao's face was as gloomy as water, and since Xia Zhi saw him, he seemed to have no expression. However, Xia Zhi knew that Tian Lao also had happy and smiling times, but only when facing Tian Da Shu and Tian Da Bao, and facing others, Tian Lao always had a stern face.

  Tian stood facing Old Tian, looking very submissive and nervous.

  Although they hid here, Old Tian seemed to still be afraid that someone would hear their conversation, so every sentence was spoken in a lowered voice. However, Xia Zhidi was close by and had sharp ears, so she still heard the conversation between Old Tian and his wife.

  The old man Tian is scolding Mrs. Tian.

  "How was your day? What have you been thinking about? Look at those kids of yours, they're so spoiled that their noses aren't even noses and their faces aren't even faces anymore! It's as if I owe them thousands and millions of dollars and haven't paid back! They don't even put me and your mother in their eyes. How did you usually teach them? Each and every one of them is a white-eyed wolf, a white-eyed wolf!"

  "Dad......" Tian Shi muttered, unable to come up with any excuses.

  "What's going on?" After Old Tian vented for a while, his emotions seemed to calm down a bit, and his tone also softened, but it was still cold. He asked if Tian Shi knew the reason for the changes in the children. "That little brat Xia Zhi is big-hearted and ambitious, we didn't notice before that she was so capable. The Xia family's offspring will climb high, we don't care about them. Our eldest son is a thousand times, ten thousand times better than her."

  Xia Zhi muttered to herself. Old Man Tian's words meant that he had completely given up on her, thinking that she was beyond cure. She should really be grateful to Old Man Tian from the bottom of her heart, without him worrying about her, her future breathing would be much smoother.

  Old Tian mentioned Xia Zhi and then brought up Xia Qiao and Xiao Shu'er.

  "What's going on with Daqiao and Xiaoshu? Xiaoshu is still young, hasn't settled down yet. And what about Daqiao? It wasn't like this before. What happened this time? Good kid, how did you let him grow crooked!"

  "Dad, I don't know what's going on either. Xia Zhi will be married off in a year or two, and after that, I won't bother with her anymore. Xiao Shu is just having occasional episodes, nothing serious. Da Qiao, Da Qiao has a bit of a soft spot for me, for our family, he doesn't have anything to say."

  "What's there to say? Look at the fuss he made yesterday, going up the mountain to find that dead child, and wanting a wooden board and a curtain. Who is he trying to deceive?" Old Tian harshly scolded the Tian family.

  Tian's family was also confused. She could only think while talking to Old Tian: "Wasn't it yesterday that someone in the village said something? I heard his aunt say that yesterday, several children were found at the temple head, Wu Yiniang and many people from the village were with them, chatting very happily."

  "Tan Lao's wife is a gossipmonger!" Tan Lao spat on the ground in disgust, "She can't think of anything good to say, and who knows what she'll tell Da Qiao and his family. That's why I don't let our kids run wild outside, it's because of this. Those people are jealous of how well we're doing, they resent us. They can't say anything out loud!"

  "Go back and tell Daqiao to ignore those people's nonsense outside!"

  "Dad, I'll definitely tell Daqiao when I get back." Tian Shi replied obediently.

  "Niezhen, I'll teach you. That Xia Zhi is a white-eyed wolf, she now looks down on us, which means she looks down on you too. I see that when you talk to her, she doesn't listen at all. This little girl has quite a thick skin, daring to scratch my face like this. Don't wait for your aunt to come and propose marriage or anything, just find someone who wants her and marry her off!"

  "The Lao Xia family doesn't lack that dowry money either. You find her a sturdy husband, a formidable mother-in-law, and she'll be taken care of. Get her married off early, and it's better for everyone. I think Big Bridge and Little Tree are both being ruined by her."

  "The little tree doesn't listen to me, now it's close to Xia Zhi. The big bridge is also protecting Xia Zhi." Tian Shi felt that Old Tian said something very right, her two sons had successively become estranged from her, and in the end, it was all because of Xia Zhi.

  "You should understand by now. What are you waiting for? Just go ahead and hire her back. Don't be afraid of those people in your backyard, she's someone who came from your own belly, if you want her to die, she'll die, that's the heavenly rule, what are you afraid of her? I'll take a look later and see if there's any family that wants her as their daughter-in-law, maybe she can still be arrogant again!"

  Tian Lao said fiercely, and Xia Zhi couldn't help but grit her teeth. Tian Lao really hated her, and he was ruthless too. No wonder the clansmen from Kao Shan Tun didn't want to have anything to do with him.

  That old man scolded Xia Zhi, and then instructed Tian Shi: "From now on, you still have to rely mainly on Da Qiao. This eldest son listens to you, his father can't do it this way, let alone his grandfather and those other miscellaneous people. If you hold onto Da Qiao, you'll be set for life, understand?"

  "Dad, I understand." Tian nodded repeatedly.

  "It's up to you how much effort you put into Dabao's matters, just follow your conscience. I've already told you about Dahua and Erhua's affairs, so I won't remind you again. At the end of the year, marry off Dahua and get as much dowry as possible from her husband's family. This money will be used for Dabao's marriage. In the future, Dabao will still have to rely on his sisters for support..."

  "Dad, I'll definitely try my best."

  "Nizi, how could you be so heartless? You agreed with me just now, but as soon as you turned around, you changed your mind."

  "Dad, I can't. This time, it's really out of my control."

  "If you had listened to me and your mother back then, you wouldn't have followed that poor scholar. If you were willing to follow Old Master Jin, our family wouldn't be struggling like this now!" Tian Lao shouted at Tian Shi again.

  Tian lowered his head, and his voice was like a mosquito buzzing. "That Old Master Jin, I heard he just passed away last year."

  "A man without money is still a man, isn't he? A poor scholar, fortunately, passed the imperial examination and became a xiucai, otherwise, being young and handsome would be useless! You arrange marriages for Da Ya and Er Ya, don't be foolish again!"

  "I understand, Father." Tian Shi was like a parrot in front of Old Man Tian.

  (。)