Zi Fu brought Zi Qing and Zi Lu back home directly. Shen Shi asked about Xia Yu's situation in the Zhou family, then let them go do what they should be doing.

  The next day was the day of Xia Yu's third morning return, when Zi Qing and his family arrived, Tian Shi was waiting at the door, looking up, about half an hour later, seeing Xia Yu rushed over to hug her, crying bitterly, as if she hadn't seen him for a long time. Zhou Shi and Shen Shi were helping in the kitchen, entertaining the new son-in-law, according to the rules of returning home, they should stay overnight at their mother's house, but not together. Zi Qing felt that there were really many rules.

  After lunch, Zeng Rui-xiang took Zi-qing and the others to go home, telling Old Master that they would take Zi-fu back to the county town today. Tian heard this and said to Shen: "The second family's, your brother-in-law is a distinguished guest because of the division of the house, so you two families should entertain him separately for one meal, let your brother-in-law get familiar with the door, this is the rule. Today's dinner will be hosted by your sister-in-law first, and you all come over. Tomorrow at noon, it will be at your house, and you should prepare well. After finishing lunch, they should hurry back." Shen nodded and left.

  After seeing off Zeng Rui Xiang and his son, Shen Shi herself hurriedly prepared the ingredients needed for the next day. Zi Lu and Zi Qing helped her. Zi Qing wanted to put away the new tableware and tea sets, but it wouldn't be right to not use them for the first-time guests. Shen Shi said that children don't drink tea, so the tea sets won't be put away. With many guests, the children sat at a separate table using old bowls and chopsticks, while the adults used new ones.

  Dinner, the family returned to their old house. If they didn't go, not only Tian Shi, but also Zeng Ruiqing and Zhou Shi would have to be in charge of the arrangements. It was Zhou Shi's first time entering the kitchen, which was too small, so the dishes were still placed in the hall. Shen Shi followed and busied herself for half a day. There weren't any formal big dishes, just seeing Zhou Shi prepare three steamed eggs for her new son-in-law, Zhou Tianqing ate them all up. Ziying thought that eating at noon and then again at night, could he digest six eggs? Zeng Ruiqing and Zhou Shi never spoke to Yan Ren Da and Chun Yu, the couple. Ziying saw that his uncle was still eating and drinking as if nothing had happened.

  The next day, at around 10 o'clock, the old man led everyone over. Zeng Ruiqing said he was going back on duty, and Chunyu's family followed again. Xiaoyu took her husband to visit, while Ziqing observed that Zhou Tianqing had only surprise and admiration in his eyes, without any jealousy. Ziqing led the guests to the hall, where Xiaoyu helped pour tea, and then went to help with cooking in the kitchen. Shen Shi had started preparing food early in the morning. Since Zi Lu went to school, Ziqing was even busier, having to feed the chickens, breed them, sweep the yard, and accumulate fertilizer. Fortunately, He Shi helped take care of Zi Xi.

  The welcoming banquet began, and Shen's family had prepared a sumptuous feast with both meat and chicken. The big fur ones were delighted and immediately snatched up the chicken legs, while San Mao, being smaller, grabbed a chicken wing. Shen's family looked anxious but couldn't say anything, as the chicken legs were specifically reserved for the two newcomers to eat; otherwise, Shen would have cut them into smaller pieces.

  "Big brother, my mother said that the chicken leg is left for Er Gu and her husband to eat. It's their first time visiting our home, what are you guys fighting for?" Zi Qing said.

  "Let the children eat, we don't need to, there's plenty of good food here." Zhou Tianqing said hastily.

  "It's just that whoever eats isn't eating, is it? Second Uncle and Auntie have no opinion on this, did they make it for people to eat or not?" Er Mao said.

  Chun Yu felt a bit embarrassed and scolded the child a few words, but Tian Shi didn't like to hear that and said: "You know there are many children today, why not kill another chicken? The children can't even see meat all year round, how can they not fight for it?"

  Shen's family didn't respond, and Zi Qing despised her from the bottom of her heart. This old woman always thought that outsiders were wrong.

  On the wine table, Yan Renda was the protagonist, persuading Zhou Tianqing while pouring himself cup after cup, and still not forgetting to stuff meat into his mouth. The old man looked on with a frown. Zhou Tianqing's alcohol tolerance was clearly not good, he got drunk easily, and it was his first time visiting, so he was a bit awkward. Shen Shi had prepared three braised eggs as usual, it turned out that this was the custom when the new son-in-law came to visit for the first time. After dinner, they rested for a while, drank some tea, and Zhou Tianqing began to prepare to leave, afraid that if he went home late, the road would not be safe.

  Yan Renda was enthusiastic about keeping the guest, "Brother-in-law, don't be in a hurry to leave, let's drink again tonight, it's dark, what are you afraid of? At worst, we can stay overnight. There is plenty of room on Er Sao's side."

  "No, I still have to go home. Thank you for the warm hospitality of Second Brother and Sister-in-law." Zhou Tianqing said goodbye with Xia Yu, and everyone sent them off at the door. The guests had walked a long way before Yan Renda finally stopped talking. It was still the old man who didn't want to lose face in front of them, after all, there was still He Shi present.

  After seeing off the guests, Zi Qing hurriedly ran to the vegetable field to see how the melon seedlings were doing. She hadn't had time to take a look in the past few days. Fortunately, they were lush and dense, with one or two leaves each.

  Back in the house, Shen Shi was transplanting cucumbers and other vegetables in the small courtyard. She said she should have done it long ago, but forgot due to being busy these past few days. He Shi helped her. The extra seedlings of various vegetables, He Shi said would be left for Zi Qing's uncles.

  Zi Qing thought that the watermelon seedlings had also grown, so she discussed with her mother: such a large piece of land, should be around 5 mu, when to plant? And didn't want outsiders to help.

  "Shen thought for a moment and said, 'Why don't we invite your uncles to come over this year? Didn't they plant them last year too? We can bring back the remaining melon seedlings and vegetable sprouts. Don't worry, I'll tell them not to mention it outside, you know you don't want others to know. Your uncles have been very good to me all these years, taking care of me with kindness. Now that our family's days are slightly better, I also hope they can make some extra money and live a more comfortable life.'"

  Zi Qing thought for a moment, and it was also reasonable. In the future, he would definitely hope that his family members could live a happy life, at least without worrying about food and clothing.

  On this day, after finishing the watermelon seedlings, Zi Qing had some free time and watched Master Xu making furniture. Suddenly, she thought of the study room and thought it would be best to have a wooden floor and make a few low tables, like those in Japanese-style houses, where adults could read books and children could play.

  Ziying sought the advice of Master Xu, who said that ordinary wood from their own home would be fine, but they needed to split it open and match the joints well first, then disassemble and brush on tung oil. After the tung oil dried, they could formally pave it. Ziying remembered that she seemed to need to nail down wooden wedges to prevent moisture, and Master Xu listened thoughtfully for a moment before saying that seemed to be the right idea.

  Xiao Liu removed the green bricks from the study room, under the guidance of Master Xu. Xiao Liu took action and spent half a month laying down the wooden floorboards. Zi Qing looked at the shiny wooden floor, took off her shoes, and walked back and forth on it. Zi Long excitedly pulled Zi Shou to jump around on it, saying "Third brother, from now on we'll have a great place to study and write! I never even dreamed that I could read and write in such a wonderful place!" Zi Xi didn't understand what this meant, but seeing his siblings rolling around in a ball, he also excitedly crawled around on the floor.

  Ziying had Xiaoliu make five more low tables, and she made a few cushions herself. At this point, Master Xu's work was left with only the study room and screen. Each bedroom had a pair of small armchairs and tea tables. Except for Shen's house, they planned to make another bookshelf in the study room. Zirong and his family also moved back to the first room of the west wing, next to Ziying's family.

  At the end of the month, Zeng Rui Xiang and Zi Fu returned home. They were amazed by the wooden floor and low table in the study room. Zi Fu even spun around twice while holding Zi Qing, "Qing Er, brother really likes it."

  Ziying explained that it was because she liked the whole family to study together, and the desk and chair took up too much space, so she thought of this method. The backrest could also serve as a cushion, and in winter, it would be even better if they could spread out thick woolen blankets. This room had two windows, so the lighting was the best. Shen Shi also moved her embroidery frame over, anyway, she didn't need to go downstairs now, and there was still plenty of time.