Sun Wang scolded Sun Lan'er, feeling more comfortable in her heart. She then raised her chin and ordered Sun Lan'er: "Boil two eggs for me, go pick a basket of bean sprouts, and use a spoonful of lard to stew them for your father and brother until they're soft."

  Sun Lan'er received the order and immediately responded with a "yes", then picked up the basket to go to the garden to pick bean sprouts.

  In the yard of the Xia family next door, Tian Shi was coaxed by Xia Xiuzai for half a day and finally calmed down. The several children of Xia Zhi all ran to the west wing to talk, and Tian Shi also remembered her two nieces who had been sent out by her. Tian Shi then called out at the outer house door.

  Daiyu and Xiangling heard the summons of Lady Wang, so they hastily wiped their faces with their sleeves and quickly walked to her presence. Lady Wang had already washed her face but hadn't reapplied any makeup, and both Daiyu and Xiangling saw obvious signs of crying on her face.

  Tian should have thought of covering it up but couldn't, so he just left it like that.

  Da Ya and Er Ya lowered their heads and ears: "Auntie."

  "Uh-huh." Mr. Tian looked at his two nieces' obedient appearance and felt a little comforted in his heart, "Let's go back to the house."

  As they spoke, Tian Shi walked ahead. Da Ya and Er Ya followed Tian Shi into the house. Xia Xiuzai was sitting on the kang, saw them coming in, smiled and greeted: "Da Ya, Er Ya, make yourselves at home, don't be polite. If there's anything, just tell your aunt."

  The two sisters looked at Xia Xiuzai's smiling face and felt a warmth in their hearts. They sincerely called out "Uncle". Da Ya still spoke to Xia Xiuzai with great respect.

  "We two have caused trouble for Aunt and Uncle. If there's anything that Er Ya and I can't do, Aunt and Uncle will scold us just like their own children, that's the way they care about my sisters." This was also taught to them by Jiang.

  "The two kids are quite sensible." Xia Xiuzai smiled and praised Da Ya and Er Ya to Tian Shi.

  "They two are quite obedient." Tian said, meaning that Da Ya and Er Ya were very well-behaved. The tone of her words was somewhat unusual at this moment. Xia Xiu only then realized that Tian was hinting that the children in their own household were not listening to them.

  Xia Xiuzai didn't say anything, he just smiled.

  Da Ya and Er Ya both thought that their uncle Xia Xiuren's smile was very good-looking. In their home, no one ever gave them a smiling face. Tian Lao Tou and Tian Wang Shi were always gloomy-faced, their smiles were only for their brother Da Bao and their father Tian Da Jiu. Tian Da Jiu never paid much attention to them, many times they felt that they did not exist in Tian Da Jiu's eyes.

  As for Jiang who truly pitied them, it was because the weight of life and worries made her rarely smile. Of course, they also had an older brother, Da Bao. Tian Da Bao did often smile, but that smile held no significance to them.

  They only knew one person who could smile so warmly and beautifully, and that was their uncle Xia Xiuciai. Even when facing them, Xia Xiuciai always wore such a warm and beautiful smile.

  She is really a lucky woman.

  The two sisters, one fourteen and the other twelve, were not without their fantasies about future life. They knew they would eventually get married. They didn't think of marrying into a wealthy family or a noble family. If they could marry someone like their aunt's husband, Xia Gufu, then this lifetime wouldn't be in vain.

  The two sisters had once said such a thing in private. This was a secret that their mother, Jiang, did not know about either.

  "The two children haven't eaten yet, hurry up and get them to eat dinner." Xia Xiuzai said to Tian Shi.

  The Tian family also knew that they had to prepare dinner. They only had breakfast in the mountain village and rushed back at noon. Even if they came back after noon, the Tian family would not have prepared lunch. This was the Tian family's rule for treating guests. Although over the years, the Tian family's guests were only them.

  Dà yā and èr yā didn't know that Tiān Shì was hungry. Unlike Dà yā and èr yā, who had gotten used to eating two meals a day at the Tiān family home, Tiān Shì had grown accustomed to three meals a day after marrying into the Xià family all these years.

  "I still don't know about Zhang Luo eating." Tian Shi responded with a sound, but her eyes looked towards the west house. As a result, she saw Xia Zhi, Xia Qiao, Xiao Shu Er and Xiao Hei Yu Er coming out of the west house and going to the back.

  Tian's family was not harmonious. "Is this going to the backyard to eat again?! Good, we've saved a lot of food." Although she said angrily in her mouth, Tian didn't want the children to go to the backyard to eat.

  If it weren't for a few kids walking closer and closer to the backyard, Old Man Xia wouldn't have been egged on and become bolder, and none of this would have happened.

  "It shouldn't be." Xia Xiuzai said, "If they go to the backyard to eat, they must leave a message for us." No matter what Tian Shi said, Xia Xiuzai was very convinced of this.

  Although the children are young and not very obedient, they are reliable in what they say and do. Seeing them at Liangshan Village made me angry, but when it was time to leave, they didn't forget to ask someone to deliver a letter for them.

  "They've all run off, leaving me to cook alone!" Tian said again, still somewhat puffed up with anger, but without raising his voice.

  Da Ya and Er Ya both hurriedly said: "Auntie, we can cook, we can do anything. Auntie, assign us tasks, we'll start the fire and cook."

  Tian Shi glanced at her two nieces: "Da Ya, Er Ya, you're guests in your aunt's house." Although Tian Shi's words were gentle, they didn't contain much sincerity.

  Da Ya and Er Ya hurriedly said they were not guests. "At home, we do everything too. Auntie, you're afraid we won't do well, just watch us from the side. Teach us more, Auntie, and we'll be filial to you and Uncle in the future."

  The sentence behind is also taught by Jiang to them.

  Tian smiled and said to Xia Xiucai, "These two nieces of mine are not only sensible but also filial. Whoever treats us well, we won't forget it. Our old Tian family knows how to repay kindness."

  Xia Xiuzai naturally wouldn't refute Tian's words and just smiled and nodded.

  Tian brought Da Ya and Er Ya to the main house to cook.

  Xia Xiuzai saw Tian Shi doing household chores as usual, and his heart felt a sense of relief. He let out a long sigh, feeling that this time's family storm had passed.

  Actually, this result is not bad either. Xia Xiuzai sat on the edge of the kang silently thinking, except that Tian Shi had a hard time, but now Tian Shi was fine too.

  From then on, I won't go to Tian's house again.

  The Tian family got this big tile house in exchange for their own daughter. Xia Xiuzhen believed that the Tian family was deceived by Old Man Tian and Tian Wangshi, but Old Man Tian and Tian Wangshi...

  Xia Xiuzai could not forgive them either.

  He didn't like them the first time he saw them. But he didn't show it, instead turning that dislike into affection for Tian's family. He knew that with parents like theirs, life at their daughter's home couldn't have been easy.

  Now, he can finally stop seeing them, even if Tian still pays the bills. Money is just a material thing; what he wants is for Tian to be happy.

  ……

  At this moment, several people were in the backyard. Xia Zhi told Lao Ye about the result of her negotiation with Tian Shi earlier. Lao Ye was very happy and reminded Xia Zhi to take it easy.

  "Your dad's earnings, just consider them as if he didn't make any. If there's anything lacking at home, you can come to the backyard. I and your grandma will take care of your uncle, we don't use much."

  "Grandpa, we don't need you to support us," Xia Zhi immediately said with a smile. "With the output from our own home, we can live quite well."

  "Uh-huh, uh-huh." Old Man Xia nodded repeatedly. "I know, we'll get by on the 16th. Your brother and younger brother are now in your care, let them all listen to you. If they dare not listen, they can come find me."

  Old Man Xia said with a smile, looking at the three siblings with a warm and affectionate gaze.

  The little tree immediately expressed his attitude, saying he would definitely listen to Xia Zhi's words.

  Xia Qiao also followed up and said: "I also listen to Shi Liu. Shi Liu is good at managing daily life, better than me. Listening to Shi Liu is not wrong. From now on, I will take the lead in doing things. Everything in the fields will be handed over to me."

  "Brother, you can't handle it alone. Xiaoshu and I will definitely help out. I also plan to hire temporary workers during the busy farming season," said Xiatou.

  "You can hire temporary workers." Old Man Xia said immediately.

  Xia Qiao originally wanted to say no to hiring temporary workers, as it would save them some money, and they still had a lot of expenses in the future. But when he heard Old Man Xia agree with him, he didn't say anything else.

  "Sixteen," Old Man Xia said to Xia Zhi, "your father's temper is too soft, he doesn't know how to live a good life. From now on, you need to pay more attention."

  This made Xia Zhi neglect Xia Xiucui completely, focusing only on his own siblings.

  "Grandpa, I'll definitely take care of what I can." Xia Zhi said, then she glanced at Grandfather Xia, "Grandpa, you're too doting on my dad."

  "Ah!" Old Man Xia was taken aback and didn't say a word for a long time.

  Xia Laoyezi couldn't help but laugh, and quickly turned her body around, not letting Xia Laoyezi see her smiling face.

  Old man Xia sat there for half a day, thinking deeply, but in the end didn't say anything.

  Xia Zhi looked at Xia Lao Ye Zi's appearance and should be very serious about pondering her words. She secretly smiled and came out of the upper house.

  Old Lady Xia chased after him. "Sixteen, why don't you have dinner here instead? There's still a lot of food left from noon that hasn't been finished."

  "Mum, let's go home for dinner tonight. We can come back here another day." Xia Zhi said.

  Old Lady Xia knew that Xia Zhi had plans and didn't force her. "In the future, if you don't want to cook or anything, just go to the backyard to eat. Anytime is fine. I'm at home all day and have nothing else to do, so I'd be happy to cook."

  "I understand. You can go back now." Xia Zhi smiled slightly.

  When the old lady went back to her room, Old Master Xia came out silently. Seeing his expression, Xia Zhi knew he had something to say, so she didn't hurry to go to the front yard either.

  Old Man Xia hesitated for a moment before finally walking over to Xia Zhi's side.

  "Your dad... his mother passed away early. Ah, your dad was a sensible kid from young age, always giving in to your second uncle. I feel sorry for him. He studied well." Old Man Xia said as he sat down on a wooden bench at the entrance of the east wing room.

  Xia Zhi hurriedly followed and sat down together.

  It's rare for Old Master Xia to talk about the past, and he analyzed his feelings towards Xia Xiuzai. The reason why Xia Zhi respected Old Master Xia was mainly because he could reflect on himself.

  "People all say I'm biased towards your uncle. Actually, the one I pity the most is still your father. Your father was an orphan. Orphans suffer." That's why he would tolerate Tian so much, it's actually all for his biological son Xia Xiuzai.

  Old Man Xia got emotional as he spoke, his eyes reddening. He went on to tell Xia Zhi about Xia Xiuzai's childhood. When Xia Xiuzai was young, she was gentle and polite, and unusually considerate of others.

  It's just that when I heard about Xia Zhi, I also thought Xia Xiucai was quite pitiful.

  Although Xia Xiuren is now middle-aged and has children, in Old Master Xia's eyes, he is probably still the little boy who lost his mother at a young age, sensible, considerate, and pitiful.

  Having heard Old Man Xia's words, Xia Zhi could only sigh and say: "Pitiful are the parents of this world."

  "I used to hope that he would make further progress and bring glory to our ancestors. Now, I don't have such thoughts anymore, just hoping that he can live a comfortable and happy life." Old Man Xia sighed and said this sentence.

  "Grandpa, I'll try my best to take care of Father." Xia Zhi said.

  "Alright, alright, child." Old Man Xia patted Xia Zhi's head comfortingly.

  She bid farewell to Old Man Xia and didn't return to the front yard. She walked around to the lower slope and sat under a tree to cool off. Xia Qiao said she knew how to live life, but in fact, Xia Qiao himself was the one who knew how to live life. He had just returned, his mood wasn't great, yet he couldn't stop thinking about the wheat in the fields.

  Xiaqiao took Xiaoshu down to the fields to look at the wheat, and Xia Zhi didn't plan on going home either. She knew that Tian Shi should be cooking now, she just didn't want to go back at this time.

  She wondered, in her absence, if Tian would take charge and what dishes he would serve to entertain the two nieces from her mother's family. Without mentioning how long Da Ya and Er Ya would stay at her house, how would Tian arrange this meal?

  Xia Zhi was polishing the jade, when she heard someone calling her. She hastily turned around and saw Sun Lan'er standing beside the bean trellis in the neighboring courtyard, holding a basket.

  "Orchid sister." Xia Zhi called out.

  Sun Lan'er glanced in the direction of her own house, then put down the basket and quickly pushed open the gate to walk out.

  "Sixteen, you're back!" Sun Lan'er walked up to Xia Zhi, her face full of smiles.

  "It was already noon when I got back." Xia Zhi told Sun Lan'er with a smile, because she had brought Qian Yue back, she hadn't had time to look for Sun Lan'er yet.

  "I know, is it Qian Yue who had a crush on in May?"

  "It's him." Xia Zhi smiled and nodded.

  If it were in normal times, Sun Lan'er's curiosity would have prompted her to ask another question about Qian Yue, but now she had something even more pressing on her mind.

  "Did your mother bring her two nieces back?" Sun Lan'er asked Xia Zhi.

  "Yes, Lanzijie, have you seen those two?"

  "No." Sun Lan'er shook her head and lowered her voice, "My mother heard them talking at the foot of the wall."

  Xia Zhi looked at Sun Lan's unusual expression and lowered his voice to ask: "What did the two of them say?"