The sun was scorching, even the chickens at home didn't want to lay eggs. As soon as Zi Qing and the others arrived under the sun, they were busy watering the fields. Zeng Rui Xiang usually got up early to work in the fields and came back around 10 o'clock. In the afternoons, he would go again around 4 or 5 o'clock. At this time, Zi Qing really missed wearing the short skirts she used to wear, as well as the suspenders. The three of them were squeezed onto a small bed with mosquito nets hanging above, feeling hot and stuffy. It would be great if they had a bamboo bed to sleep outside.

  Zeng Ruixiang listened to Zi Qing's nagging and immediately went to buy two bamboo beds back to the yard. However, there is one bad thing about summer - mosquitoes are plentiful. Shen Shi burns a large pile of mugwort in the yard every day to repel mosquitoes. Nevertheless, it is still more comfortable than squeezing on a small bed.

  There's also the chore of watering every day, which isn't easy with such a large vegetable garden. Zi Qing wishes there were pipes. Wait, pipes... by the village, there's a bamboo forest, but those are just thin bamboo shoots, not suitable for making pipes. It needs to be that thick and sturdy kind of bamboo, split open and used as pipes. Forget it, I'll just tell Zi Fu about this idea and let him worry about it. Of course, Zi Qing's excuse is that she read in a book that the Miao people use this method to irrigate their terraced fields on the mountain.

  Zi Fu thought it was feasible after hearing, after all, he was the main labor force for watering. He took Zi Lu out to search around and came back to find Zeng Rui Xiang. Zeng Rui Xiang went out to find Zeng Rui Yu of San Bao's family and really brought back a lot of bamboo, connecting the bamboo pipes on the side of the vegetable field. Zi Fu dug a hole in the vegetable field, bought a large-mouthed low water tank to hold water, making it much easier to water the land.

  After the second crop of rice was transplanted at home, Qiu Yu came to deliver a message, saying that Chun Yu gave birth to a son on June 28th. The Chun Yu family wants to hold three banquets for the postpartum, full moon and hundred days celebrations. After finishing the notification, Qiu Yu walked around the courtyard and saw Zeng Rui Xiang, then said: "I want to pick a watermelon." Zi Qing heard this and said: "Little auntie, wait for me, I'll go help you pick one."

  Qiu Yu glared at Zeng Rui Xiang and said: "Second brother, take me with you, what can she pick?"

  Zeng Ruixiang said somewhat displeased: "You go with her, at home she's the only one who can cut off life and death."

  It seems that she doesn't trust herself, and Zi Qing really wants to just walk away. At the melon patch, she searched around and knocked on several of them. Zi Qing wanted to pick a ripe one for her, but Qiu Yu looked at her and asked: "Zi Qing, why are you knocking on them?"

  "Listen to the sound and see if it's ripe."

  "Oh, Zi Qing I see there are still a few more over there."

  "Little sister, those are for seeds and aren't fully ripe yet." Her eyesight is quite good, no wonder she wanted to follow me.

  "Ah, Ah, Auntie asked you, how much can this watermelon be sold for per catty?"

  "It's five cents per catty now."

  "Five cents a catty, with so many watermelons on the ground, there must be several thousand catties. One catty is five cents, one thousand catties is fifty taels, two thousand catties is one hundred taels. Your family can't sell several hundred taels of silver in a year."

  "Little sister, you can count, huh?"

  "What's difficult about arithmetic? Your dad taught you when you were young, besides I always go to sell goods, how can I do without knowing arithmetic?"

  "Zi Qing, is this watermelon good for planting? Why don't you suggest that your aunt's family also plant some watermelons? Otherwise, you pick a big one for your little aunt to use as a seed, see if there are any ripe ones. Auntie will embroider a beautiful lotus bag for you tomorrow." The fox's tail slipped out.

  Originally, she had thought of this idea, and just for a small purse, she wanted to buy herself. Zi Qing had originally planned to take advantage of the situation to extort a pair of shoes, but considering Autumn Jade's temperament, she would probably go back and make up some story about her own family, forget it, no need to stir up trouble. "Auntie, you'd better keep the purse for yourself, my mother gave me one during New Year."

  Ziying didn't say much after finishing speaking, and picked a big one. Anyway, the watermelon varieties left at home were about the same. Every time Ziying picked melons for her family to eat, she would choose the biggest ones and then collect the seeds. Rather than letting Qiuyu cause trouble when she went back, it was better to satisfy her. After all, the family's watermelons relied on being sold early to make money.

  Qiu Yu walked away with a satisfied smile, carrying the melon. Zi Qing returned to the house and told her parents about what had happened. Zeng Rui Xiang quickly glanced at Shen Shi and accompanied by a smile said: "Let them plant some melons too, there are really too many children in their household, Brother-in-law is someone who doesn't know how to plan."

  "Isn't it a calculation? Can't he just combine three meals into one and even notify us specially, isn't it just to collect three gifts for the price of one meal? I've lived for almost 30 years and have never heard of anyone hosting like this. Is there anyone more calculating than him? Every year when we don't live in the old house for a month or two, whenever something happens at home, doesn't the whole family come together? Last time I went to give birth gifts, I brought pig's stomach and eggs, as well as 2 feet of fine cotton cloth, worth 80 cents. My mother still thought it was too little and scolded me severely, saying I didn't bring chicken. I held back my anger until I arrived at your sister's house. As soon as the brother-in-law heard that I couldn't stay to work with my elder sister, he immediately changed his face and wouldn't even make a decent meal. Those few kids eating like they hadn't seen food in hundreds of years."

  Shen said this, took a breath, and continued: "Actually, she just needs to say straightforwardly that she wants to grow watermelon, find seeds, how can I not agree? Relatives have all passed away, I'm also happy, or else we'll all go to our house to enjoy the autumn breeze, I haven't gotten those angry yet. You say what to send this time, last time your mother said the gift was too thin, I said it couldn't be more than big sister's, you say is that reasonable? Besides, in these ten or so years, when has he ever sent anything home? He's just a freeloader."

  "You can't just bypass your elder brother, he's also a person who values face. You'd better go discuss it with your sister-in-law instead. It'll only take half a day, and it's not like it's going to take more than two days anyway. And you'll have to make the effort to run an errand."

  In the afternoon, Shen went to the old house and found Zhou, who was even more furious than Shen. She scolded him for being so greedy and shameless, saying that he had never seen anyone like him before. He wanted money for everything, including a gift for the newborn baby just a few days after birth, and they didn't even have enough food to eat. After discussing it with each other, they decided on a gift of 10 eggs and 1 catty of meat per visit, so three visits would be 30 eggs and 3 catties of meat. Zhou was heartbroken because this would cost more than 80 cents. Zhou said: "Sister-in-law, why don't you all go? Every time they come, it's always the whole family. You can also go and eat with them for a day, let him feel the pain too. Your brother is at home, I'll ask him to go too."

  "My family has many children, it's troublesome to bring them along, so I didn't. Otherwise, I would have brought Zi Qing too, and she could have accompanied Zi Ping as well. Eldest sister-in-law, do you think mother will say something again this time?" Shen Shi is still worried that Tian Shi will think the gift is too thin.

  "No, tomorrow Father will be at home, and your elder brother will also be at home. Father doesn't think highly of his son-in-law's behavior either. If you don't have money, then don't pretend to be rich and hold a banquet, and don't accept gifts." Madam Zhou firmly believed that Tian wouldn't cause any trouble this time.

  When Shen returned home and told Ziying that she still wanted to take her to Yancun, Ziying was extremely unwilling. Several people made excuses, but Zishou was too young and wouldn't know how to resist even if he went and suffered a loss. It was only when Shen said that he would be with Ziping for company that Ziying agreed. But Ziping wasn't friendly towards Ziying at all, what kind of companion would she make?