Next, Old Man Tian carefully instructed the Tian family to find a suitable husband for Da Ya and Er Ya. He said a lot, but the conditions can be summarized as not being complicated. That is, the other party must have money, be able to take out a large amount of silver as betrothal gifts, and it's best if they can continue to help the Tian family and Tian Dabao in the future.

  As for what kind of person the other party is, how old they are, and what they do, Old Tian has no requirements whatsoever.

  In fact, this is still in the name of marriage, but actually selling the granddaughter.

  Xia Zhi listened for a while, and Tian Lao Tou and Tian Shi were talking about Da Ya and Er Ya again, without mentioning their siblings. Xia Zhi stopped listening and gave Xiao Shu Er a signal with her eyes, and the sister and brother quietly left.

  As soon as the two of them left, Old Tian instinctively glanced in the direction of the bean frame. He naturally didn't see anything, but his eyebrows still furrowed.

  "Those two girls are following you, keep them away from Xia Zhi as far as possible, or they'll corrupt our family's girl again... Hurry up and get rid of Xia Zhi, it's better for everyone." Old Tian instructed the Tian family with a gloomy face.

  Tian nodded repeatedly, but in her heart, she had some doubts. Agreeing to Da Ya and Er Ya's matters was not difficult for her, but when it came to hiring Xia Zhi, it might not be that easy.

  If it were in the past, it would be a matter of her one sentence. But now the situation is different.

  Although she thought so, she still agreed with Old Man Tian. She didn't dare to argue with Old Man Tian on the one hand, and on the other hand, as long as she handled the Tian family's affairs well, even if things were slightly worse on Xia Zhi's side, Old Man Tian shouldn't mind too much.

  Xia Zhi and Xiao Shu'er walked back to the upper house, Tian Wangshi and Jiangshi were cooking with Da Ya and Er Ya. Xia Qiao came out of the east house, saw Xia Zhi and Xiao Shu'er, and seemed to have let out a sigh of relief.

  "Xiaoshu, little tree, where are you two going? I've been looking for you two all afternoon." Xiaqiao asked his brother and sister.

  Summer solstice looked at Tian Wang's family and several of them raised their heads to look at her, so they didn't say anything about going to the backyard. "Brother, we've been here all along, haven't gone anywhere."

  "Brother, I'm going to the toilet with sister." Little Shu said almost at the same time.

  Xia Zhi was a bit embarrassed, but didn't show it on his face. Because the two had different ways of speaking, Xia Qiao became suspicious and it showed on his face.

  "Brother, I was just looking for you." Xia Zhi hurriedly stepped forward, not letting Xia Qiao ask any more questions. She led Xia Qiao to the front yard. Xia Xiucai, Tian Dashu and Tian Dabao were all standing in the front yard, Tian Dabao was playing with mud, Tian Dashu was stretching his waist, and he was also smiling and chatting with Xia Xiucai.

  Xia Zhi directly brought Xia Qiao outside the gate. Xiao Shu naturally followed them out as well.

  "What's wrong, Sixteen?" Xia Qiao asked.

  "Little Tree, you say it." Xia Zhi pointed to Little Tree, "Just now we all heard what, you and my brother learn to say it again."

  "Ah." Little Shu quickly responded, looking around. At this time, there were already people walking in twos and threes on the street, all of whom were going to the mountain to take care of the fruit trees. As they passed by the Tian family's gate, they couldn't help but glance over at them.

  The little tree waited until everyone had passed by, then told Xia Qiao all the words he had secretly heard from Tian Lao and Tian Shi, with a focus on Tian Lao letting Tian Shi hire Xia Zhi early.

  "Find a bad guy for my sister and also find an evil mother-in-law to torment her." Little Shu'er added his own understanding when he said it.

  Xiaqiao's eyes widened and he paused for a moment before asking: "What did our mother say?"

  The little tree looked at the summer solstice.

  Xia Zhi told Little Tree: "You really said it."

  "My mom just nodded in agreement, didn't say a word. My grandpa said it's my sister who has been spoiling us, not listening to them anymore. Mom seemed to agree, saying it was all my sister's fault." Little Shu finished speaking and pursed her lips.

  "This is what Mother agreed to, but Father also has a say in this matter." Xia Qiao said.

  "Can Father control Mother?" Xia Zhi asked.

  "Then there's our grandfather. And... me."

  "Brother, what mom said, do you dare to say a word?!" Xia Zhi intentionally asked Xia Qiao. "Brother, yesterday you were so unhappy and ran into the mountains by yourself, wasn't it just because you heard from Wu Ji that our grandma's family threw many children into the mountains?"

  Just as Xia Zhi had not finished speaking, he heard Tian Shi shouting "Xia Qiao" in the courtyard.

  "Brother, our grandfather taught our mother that she should rely on you. In the future, Xiaoshu and I are just like grass, who knows when we'll be sold, but you, brother, won't have any danger... Brother, mother is calling for you, it must be something good for you." Xiatou said to Xiacao, word by word.

  She admitted that she was using these words to provoke Xiaqiao. Xiaqiao's strengths, sometimes are also his weaknesses. The Tian family has been helping the Tian family all these years, always saying how poor they are and how pitiful they are. If they don't help the Tian family, it would be heartless and not showing familial affection.

  Xiaqiao is not only filial, but also extremely kind-hearted. He is the type of person who would rather suffer losses himself than wrong others. Moreover, Xiaqiao's temperament is soft and gentle. Even if he feels that something is not quite right, as long as Tian Shi uses a combination of soft and hard tactics, Xiaqiao will yield.

  Xia Qiao is kind and has a strong sense of justice.

  The Tian family threw a baby girl into the mountains to feed wolves, and didn't treat their grown-up daughter as a human being. These two things touched Xia Qiao's moral bottom line, making him unacceptable, and at the same time, he couldn't regard the Tian family as weak and pitiful people who needed help.

  In addition, it should be about Tian Jia building a house.

  Yesterday night, Xia didn't sleep well either. She connected the timeline and events before and after, and found something out. Back then, Tian Shi sold Da Yue Er because Tian Wang Shi was dying from illness. At that time, Xia Xiu Cai hadn't raised enough silver money, so in order to save Tian Wang Shi's life, Tian Shi had no choice but to sell his eldest daughter.

  But according to Auntie Tiezhuan, Tian Wangshi has never been seriously ill in all these years, let alone dying from illness. The money earned by selling Da Yuemei was sent to the Tian family and used to build this five-room tile-roofed house.

  At that time, Xiaqiao was still young and couldn't take care of this matter. Over the years, he grew up gradually and should have accepted the fact that Dajie saved Nainai, but he couldn't accept the fact that Dajie built a house for Nainai's family.

  This is Xiaqiao's pain, he can't face the fact that his deeply loved mother would do such a thing. Tian Shi didn't abandon her infant daughter to feed wolves in the mountains, she raised all her children. But selling Daming to her maternal family to build a house, how much difference is there between this and that?

  Xiaqiao was in pain, but because of her soft and tolerant nature, she didn't erupt, only doing some things that seemed like throwing a tantrum in the eyes of others.

  Xia Zhi wanted Xia Qiao to make a move.

  Xia Qiao is the eldest son of Xia Xiuren and Tian Shi. In this era, this identity is very weighty. If anyone in this family has words that are weighty enough to shake the Tian family, it would be none other than Xia Qiao.

  Xia Zhi conflicts with the Tian family, and conflicts with Old Man Tian. While it's possible to provoke them, if you want to severely hurt them and make them lose face, Xia Qiao should take action.

  Tian's voice was warm and pleasant, which just confirmed what Xia Zhi had said earlier. Tian didn't hear any response from Xia Qiao in the courtyard, so he slowly took a few more steps forward while calling out to Xia Qiao again.

  Xia Qiao stood at the gate, taking a few deep breaths.

  At this time, Tian also walked out of the courtyard.

  "Big Bridge, you're here, I'm calling you and you don't make a sound." Tian said to Xia Qiao, glancing at Xia Zhi and Xiao Shu beside him, "You two are stirring up your big brother again. This is your grandma's house, I won't hit you. Wait till we get back and I'll settle the score with you two."

  "Daughter." Xia Qiao didn't wait for Tian Shi to finish speaking and interrupted her words.

  "What's wrong?" Tian turned his head back in surprise, looking at Xia Qiao. He found that Xia Qiao's expression was very off, and he had a faintly ominous feeling in his heart. "Da Qiao, what's going on with you?"

  "Mother, I'm asking you. Will we ever see our eldest sister again?"

  "What?" Tian's eyes widened in shock, wondering if she had misheard Xia Qiao's words. The matter of Da Yu'er had long been buried deep within her memory. Over the years, everyone seemed to have forgotten that it had ever happened, and they all tacitly avoided mentioning it.

  Especially in the summer bridge, in the days when Da Yue had just left, Xia Qiao always asked him. Da Yue was four years older than Xia Qiao, and usually when she was busy, it was Da Yue who took care of Xia Qiao. The feelings between the two siblings were very good.

  She patiently answered Xiaqiao's words at first. She told Xiaqiao that her sister Dàyùe had gone to a good place to enjoy happiness. Moreover, Dàyùe had also saved their grandmother's life. Therefore, Dàyùe was a kind and filial child who would live a happy life in the future. Xiaqiao shouldn't always think about Dàyùe.

  But later on, Xiaqiao also couldn't forget about Dayout, so she got impatient. After being scolded a few times by her, Xiaqiao stopped asking about Dayout.

  As she grew up and became more understanding, Xia Qiao also never mentioned Da Yue'er to her.

  In Tian's view, a four-year-old child has no memory, and Xiaqiao should have completely forgotten about Dayout.

  She really didn't expect Xia Qiao to ask her about Da Yue after so many years of silence.

  Caught off guard, Tian's face flashed a flustered expression. She didn't respond to Xiaqiao's words, instead scolding him: "What do you know about grown-up matters? When can you take care of things? Early in the morning, spouting nonsense!"

  Tian's voice was shrill, but Xia Zhi always felt she was putting on a show.

  "Mother, just tell me. Where is my older sister now? Mother, she's your own flesh and blood! The maternal grandparents' family wants to build a house, we borrow money, slowly save up, why did you sell my sister?" Xia Qiao said as he cried, loudly wailing.

  Xia Zhi immediately let out a sigh of relief. She was worried that Xia Qiao, because of his personality, would bury the matter deep in his heart, and if it couldn't be vented for a long time, it wouldn't be good for his body. Now that Xia Qiao had finally cried, he had released the pent-up pain and anger in his heart. This was beneficial to Xia Qiao in every way.

  The secret that had been hidden for many years was thus revealed by a single sentence from her son. Tian Shi was momentarily stunned, and all she could do was stubbornly deny it: "Nonsense! Who told you such nonsense? I tore up her mouth, didn't mean to harm her, didn't mean to harm her."

  But refused to answer questions about Da Yue'er.

  The noise outside grew louder and startled the people passing by on the street. In twos and threes, people gathered over, and soon a small crowd had formed in front of the Tian family gate.

  These people were talking about it, and those who came early told those who came late. In a short while, everyone knew what was going on.

  Tian's face turned increasingly ugly.

  The noise naturally startled the people in the courtyard, and Xia Xiucan and Tian Dashu were the first to rush out.

  "What's going on? What happened? Why are all these people surrounding us?" Tian Da Shu was startled.

  Xia Xiuzai saw Xia Qiao crying, and Tian Shi's face was as pale as death. He was also startled. "What's wrong, Daqiao? You and your mother are both like this? What's going on? Tell me slowly, don't be angry or upset."

  Xia Zhi thought that this was not just a simple anger and sulking, but she didn't say anything. Until Tian Wangshi and Jiangshi also came out.

  Tian Wang wanted everyone to go into the yard. Xia Zhi walked up to Xia Qiao's side and secretly held Xia Qiao's hand. Xia Qiao didn't move, and it was futile for others to enter the yard as well.

  Tian Wang thought of dispersing the crowd again, but everyone saw her come out and discussed it even more enthusiastically. At most, they retreated a few steps, but no one turned around to leave.

  The Tian family was somewhat unable to hold up the scene, and in the end it was still Old Man Tian who came out.

  "Everyone go inside!" Old Tian said with a gloomy face, his hands behind his back. "It's shameful to be seen like this!" After finishing speaking, he himself turned around and went back first.

  Tian Wangshi, Jiangshi, Tian Dashu followed into the courtyard, then Xia Xiutai and Tian Shi.

  Xia Zhi grabbed Xia Qiao's hand. Xia Qiao was just at the moment of excitement, he was a surge of hot blood, and he couldn't help but find Tian Shi to question him.

  But what will be the outcome after questioning, and what should he do, he actually has no idea in his heart.

  He has no claim, but Xia Zhi has.

  "We didn't enter this courtyard, nor those five rooms. We lived in a state of panic. Father, don't you know where this courtyard and those five rooms came from? You've been living inside, are you at peace? Ask Mother carefully. Father, have you forgotten that we had an older sister?"

  Xia Xiuzai looked at Tian Shi with a surprised and uncertain expression.

  "Nonsense, all nonsense!" Tian's wife burst into tears, almost hysterical.

  "What's going on here?" Xia Xiuzai asked anxiously, stamping her foot.

  "My brother is going to take us home." Xia Zhi didn't respond to Xia Xiucai, nor did she pay attention to anyone else. She pulled Xia Qiao and left, and Xiao Shu naturally followed her without needing to be told.

  Xia Xiuzai was worried about the Tian family and wanted to persuade them properly, but seeing that several children had really left, he also became anxious. "Sixteen, where are you going?"

  "Dad, let's go home first. We can't stay here and we won't come back again in the future." Xia Zhi said. As for Xia Xiucai not catching up, she had mentally prepared herself, but still felt a little disappointed, just a little bit.

  But Xia Xiuzai's choice couldn't change anything.

  The Lao family was completely blackened this time.

  …………

  The reason why the hostess did not clarify Da Yue's affairs in front of everyone is the same as why Xia Lao Ye never mentioned this matter over the years. Xia Lao Ye wanted to protect Xia Xiuzai and the whole family, just like Xia Zhi was doing it for the sake of protecting this family.

  (。)