Zi Qing listened to Qiu Yu's words, furrowed her brow and said: "Little aunt, what kind of rich family is he? He's just a bit better off than ordinary people, where did you get the idea that he's rich? It seems like my uncle has been learning from you since he got back home. I don't even know what's inside, I've never been there."

  "This isn't even considered a rich family, look at what you're using, wearing, and sporting, which one of these things have we ever seen before? The dowry for all the ladies in our household combined doesn't add up to the value of just one hairpin on your head. All our clothes put together aren't worth as much as a single piece of clothing on your body. You say that you and Zi Ping, when you were young, would wear each other's hand-me-downs, not a single piece was intact. Nowadays, you two are like heaven and earth, it's a pity she didn't come today. This woman, her good fortune is all thanks to marrying a good husband." Autumn Jade said, not noticing the increasingly dark faces of Tian Shi and Chun Yu beside her.

  "Little sister, you're wrong. I can marry Zi Qing is my good fortune, Zi Qing is the lucky star in my life." Lin Kangping said from another table.

  "This kid, he's really good at talking. Kangping, is your uncle doing well? He's very serious about keeping accounts, and although he's a man, his calculations are meticulous and not wasteful at all. I heard that he's the one who keeps track of the accounts for your garden. If you ask me, why don't you just let him be your housekeeper? I've heard that big households always hire housekeepers." Autumn Jade said to Lin Kangping.

  "Little aunt, you're really good at joking. My family's situation is still enough to invite the housekeeper, don't let people know and laugh their teeth off." Lin Kangping replied.

  "Zi Qing, can you find something for San Mao to do? This time, just find something lighter, and don't sign that contract again. After this experience, he will definitely behave well. Forget about the past. That time when you and your uncle dug a pond together, it was really tough, but he learned a lot from it. Since he came back home, he has been looking for work in Anzhou City for over half a month, but there's nothing suitable. Why not let Gui Hua come to be your maid for two years? She's still young, only 11 years old this year, and there are still a few years before she gets married. It would be good for her to earn some dowry money. With such a big garden, you'll definitely need to hire someone, right? Wouldn't it be more reassuring to have your own family members working for you? San Mao can sweep the garden every day, and Gui Hua can do laundry and tidy up the house. Si Mao can go to your father's school to learn some characters in the morning, and come back in the afternoon to help with work together with San Mao. No need to pay them wages, just provide food and lodging." Spring Jade asked hastily.

  "Chun Yu, don't think about it again, it's impossible. Let's not mention it anymore so we won't offend our relatives." Shen Shi hurriedly refused before Zi Qing could say anything.

  "Big sister, my home is not a wolf's den," said Zi Qing.

  "What does it mean? Who said your home is a wolf's den?" asked Qiu Yu.

  "How can that aunt think that our family only raises white-eyed wolves? We've raised several already, been bitten before, how can she still foolishly think we don't learn from experience and still raise them?" Zi Qing said.

  Chun Yu was really annoyed when she heard this. Looking at the elders of her clan around her, she couldn't say anything to defend herself, and neither could Tian Shi. She glared at Zi Qing for a moment, but San Ba Bao's daughter-in-law was also eloquent and quickly changed the subject, smiling as she said to Shen Shi: "Second Auntie is really lucky! We've watched Zi Qing grow up, who wouldn't praise her? When she was five or six years old, Second Auntie did her month of confinement during the big winter. She would go to the edge of the pond to wash clothes, and that little hand of hers would be frozen like a carrot! We wanted to help her, but she said that if we helped once, we couldn't help twice or thrice, it's better for her to learn herself. In the blink of an eye, ten years have passed. This child has finally made it through, truly 'a girl changes eighteen times', and becomes more beautiful with each change."

  "Alas, I've encountered this several times before. I couldn't bear to see such a small child doing chores. With just a bit of effort from an adult, the task would be done. Why make a tiny kid suffer like this? Tsk, tsk, it's really cruel." said Third Aunt.

  Zi Qing looked at Tian Shi and the three aunts' faces, which were red, white, and black, and really didn't know what to say, so she could only awkwardly smile.

  At that table, Yan Renda toasted Lin Kangping across several seats and said: "Nephew-in-law, among Ziying's three aunts, my family is now the most difficult to get by. Can you see if your eldest uncle can help you do something? Look at you, born with a rich appearance, so generous with your spending, it's obvious that you're a wealthy person. That big garden of yours, San Mao said it's even bigger than the richest family in our village. If you just leak a little from your fingers, we'll be able to get by for a while. As the saying goes, one strand of your hair is thicker than our waist! For the sake of my niece Ziying, can you spare a strand of hair for me?"

  Lin Kangping listened and frowned, looking at the guests in the room, forcing a smile: "Why don't you go ask Big Uncle if Big Mao is willing to come and do something?"

  The old man glared at Yan Renda and scolded, "This yellow soup has gone into the dog's belly again. After drinking two cups, he doesn't know what nonsense he's talking about. He should drink a cup of strong tea instead." After scolding, he smiled at the several elderly men on the table and said, "I'm sorry to make you gentlemen laugh. Today is my granddaughter's birthday, so everyone must have fun. Come, let's drink!"

  "Thanks to the help of several people last time, I, Rui Xiang, would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone. Today, I have prepared a cup of wine to show my gratitude. Cheers!" Rui Xiang said, noticing that one of the elderly men looked somewhat displeased, and quickly picked up his wine cup and stood up.

  "Come, Kangping, right? I've been busy helping you with things for several months now. We only met briefly last time, but the masters you hired are all very skilled. The style of furniture they made is something we've never seen before. And Mr. Tong is even more impressive - he took that broken reed marsh and turned it into a beautiful garden! In the spring, there are peach blossoms; in the summer, lotus flowers; in autumn, osmanthus flowers; and in winter, plum blossoms. There are also many other flowers and plants in the garden that I don't even know the names of. It's so cozy to live here now - Mr. Tong really has a lot of knowledge!"

  "Really? My family's house was just built this spring, and there is a small courtyard too. Would you like to take a look around?" asked Yan Renda with his eyes still closed.

  "All right, his price is one hundred taels of silver at a time. You can send the silver first." Lin Kangping said coldly without even raising an eyebrow.

  "One hundred and twenty?" Several people asked in surprise, including Zeng Rui Xiang.

  "Then this courtyard of yours will cost at least 700 or 800 taels, and if you buy some decorations, even 1,000 taels may not be enough. No wonder it's so well done," said Zhou Yunjiang.

  "Hey kiddo, you're quite capable, I can see that. You've got some family background and you're quite resourceful too. My granddaughter is really not bad, not bad at all. When are you planning to get married?" The old man said with a pat on Lin Kangping's shoulder.

  "Of course, the sooner the better. Best if it's next spring, what do you think?" Lin Kangping also put on a smiling face and asked hastily, but in his heart he thought: "How can this not continue to pretend, just one thousand two silver coins and I get a smile in return?"

  "Next spring is not possible, Zilu will get married by the end of the year, and Ziqing will have to wait until next autumn at the earliest. Next spring, Zishou has to rush for the exam. From February to June, where can we find time to prepare? Besides, Ziqing is still young, and we want to keep her for another year." Zeng Ruixiang refused.

  Lin Kangping looked pitifully at the old man, who suppressed a smile and said: "Youngster, what's the hurry? Can't you wait another half year? You can't swallow hot tofu in a hurry. With my granddaughter's conditions, you should earn more silver for another half year. Prepare a good betrothal gift, let this old man see it, and show off."

  "Hey old man, I'm the one who's getting married, what are you showing off?" Lin Kangping muttered.

  The crowd burst out laughing, and Lin Kangping gave the old man a slap on the shoulder.

  The women at the table heard that Zi Qing's garden would cost a thousand two silver coins, and they all looked at Zi Qing. Zi Qing waved her hand and said, "Don't look at me, I don't know. That's his business, it shouldn't be that much, right?"

  Guiying's eyes were filled with resentment as she looked at Lin Kangping, while Guihua's eyes were fixed on Ziying's clothes and jewelry.

  "Zi Qing, after getting married, let Er Gu have a good stroll. Er Gu will also stay for two days, following my niece to enjoy the blessings and see what it's like to live in a wealthy family." Xia Yu said.

  "Second Aunt, as you said, whenever you want to move in, you can come."

  "Why wait until after marriage? If you want to see it now, just go." said Qiu Yu.

  Shen's wife was worried about Zi Qing. She hurriedly said, "Alright, alright, it's just a small courtyard, isn't it? What you're saying is nonsense, and the rent hasn't even been collected yet, let's eat."

  After dinner, the three old ladies and a few guests from the village left first. Shen gave each family a basket of oranges and a basket of eggs. Tian and Chunyu's families were among the last to leave. Yan Rendai was still smiling at Lin Kangping, while Zeng Ruixiang said with a straight face: "Chunyu, take a look at your husband, is he drunk again? In the future, you shouldn't come to such gatherings. You're losing face and trying to take advantage of having outsiders here to force Kangping and Ziying to agree to your unreasonable demands. You still think that things have passed and I'll treat you like my sister as before. You've miscalculated. It's only been a few days, but you've already forgotten the promises you made to us. Each family lives their own life, is this how each family lives their own life? It seems that this time you're not calculating against us, but against the two younger ones instead. I'll say it again today, in the future, unless the children get married, don't come to my house without a reason. Even if you do come, we won't receive you."

  "Second brother's meaning isn't to lock us out, is it? It's not like we've never been locked out before. Last time we came in good faith to deliver a message, didn't second sister-in-law refuse to even let us in the door? And it wasn't just once or twice either. Second brother's words are really too much, I'm also a man in my forties with a wife, if you don't want to, just say so, why bring up old accounts from before? Today's matter was truly brought about by your mother, we thought maybe it was an opportunity for us to get along better in the future, and not dwell on past grievances. Your family's Zi Qing really knows how to talk, how did we become white-eyed wolves? Is this what a niece should say? Can't we just leave?" Spring Jade's eyes still held some resentment, her tone of voice was somewhat high.

  "It's just that, Xiang Er, today it really is I who called your sister over. You said there was no need to bring gifts, but I thought it wouldn't be good for me to let her come alone with her family. With more people, it will also be livelier, what's wrong with that?" Tian Shi said.

  "What are you talking about? If there was a hole in the ground today, I'd want to crawl into it. Look at what you two have done! Nobody comes empty-handed, but you, the child's aunt and grandmother, come with nothing, bringing so many people to freeload. And to make matters worse, you got kicked by a donkey and speak without thinking, making fools of yourselves in front of outsiders. My old face is losing its dignity. Hurry up and go home, Old Two's family has had a long day too." The old man sighed.

  Tian's family wanted to say something, but was pulled away by the old man. Chunyu also supported Yan Rendai and walked away. Yan Rendai was still muttering: "I haven't received a return gift yet, others all have return gifts." He was kicked in the back of his leg by the old man.