As the time passed, Zeng Rui Xiang and Shen Shi were busy finding people to till the land, flatten it, incubate eggs, plant seeds, and by the time all this was done, it was already early March. Zi Fu also returned home.

  Zi Fu entered the house on the evening of March 8th, looking disheveled and exhausted. He knelt down on the ground, embracing Shen Shi, and said: "Mother, I'm sorry to you, I didn't pass the exam, I didn't get in. Scold me, son has disappointed you."

  Shen looked at her son's appearance, and tears came out immediately. She patted her son's back and said: "Son, it's okay, Mom knows you did your best. You're only 18 years old, there's still plenty of time. Mom believes you'll make it, and you should believe in yourself too. Come on, listen to Mom, take a good bath, and I'll go cook something delicious for you." After finishing speaking, she hurriedly helped Zifeng up.

  Zeng Ruixiang also said: "First, let's get some food for the child to eat a good meal. After so many days of wind and rain, listen to your mother, take a good bath, sleep well, and we'll talk about it tomorrow after waking up."

  Shen's mother heard that she quickly let go of Zi Fu, went to the kitchen to cook for her son by herself. Zi Qing had no choice but to go boil water and arranged for Zi Fu to take a bath first. After taking a bath, dinner was ready. Shen's mother accompanied Zi Fu to finish eating, and the mother and son talked about their heartfelt words for a long time.

  The next day, Zifeng woke up to find that Zirui had already gone to school, and Ziqing had prepared breakfast. After eating, she said: "Big brother, I want to go to the back mountain to pick up eggs, the peach blossoms on the back mountain are in full bloom now, big brother hasn't seen them yet, why not take advantage of the time now and accompany sister to take a look?"

  Zi Fu naturally knew that his sister was trying to comfort him and couldn't bear to disappoint Zi Qing's kindness. Unexpectedly, when he went to the back mountain, he saw a sea of flowers, bees flying and butterflies dancing, as well as a large area of lush orange groves, and chickens and sheep everywhere. His mood really improved a lot.

  "Qing Er, are these all your doing? I really didn't expect that you would have such great abilities. How did you manage to do it?" Zi Fu was truly surprised.

  "It's nothing, it's simple, if I couldn't do it in a year. Two years, still couldn't do it. And then there was the third year, as long as I didn't give up and kept working hard, there would be results eventually. Now we're already into the seventh year, what was it like at the beginning, do you remember, big brother?"

  "I certainly remember, at first I wondered why you had to buy this broken mountain. Now it's really changed its appearance. Unconsciously, my family's Qing'er has also grown up, can talk, and can comfort people. Don't worry, big brother knows what to do. Thank you, good little sister, big brother will hug you too. Those days your foot was not convenient, originally big brother wanted to hug you, but who knew every time it was robbed by Kangping. By the way, Kangping also asked me to bring something for you, he said maybe in early April he can come back for a while, but also can't stay for long." Zifeng said and really hugged Ziqing for a moment. Endlessly lovingly rubbed Ziqing's hair, sighed: "Really don't want you to grow up, growing up will be taken away by others, brother is reluctant to part with you."

  Zi Qing's heart was also sour, and she forced a smile: "Big brother, it seems like you're the one who grew up first to marry your sister-in-law. Don't forget about me after you get married."

  Zi Fu smiled after hearing it, and the two of them chatted for a while before each carrying their baskets of eggs back home. Zeng Rui Xiang and Shen Shi were waiting for them to have lunch. Seeing that Zi Fu had gone to the mountain and returned with a calm expression, they both let out a sigh of relief.

  Zeng Ruixiang took the opportunity to ask about his situation, the topic of strategy and so on. Afterwards, Zeng Ruixiang told Zi Fu that he was preparing to get married in autumn, a new house is being built, and if there are any ideas, hurry up and draw them out within these two days. "First establish a family, then establish a career, it's all the same. You lack life experience, your strategies are dry and empty talk on paper. You're still young, go home and build the house yourself, take care of it, after it's built, find opportunities to go out and broaden your horizons. Next spring I have plans."

  Shen's family urged Zifu to go and discuss with Liu's daughter, "Speaking of which, ask the matchmaker from last time to go to Liu's house with you, discuss getting married this autumn, what requirements there are for the house. Also, our family will give the other side 100 taels of betrothal gifts, and prepare a decent dowry. When you come back, go find your grandfather to choose an auspicious day."

  "Mother, the house can be built like this at home, it doesn't have to be too big, five rooms in the main house are enough for living, and two rooms on one side of the wing room are enough, no need to build a separate hall. I'll go to Liu's family first, when I come back, I'll ask San Tang Shu to arrange the construction of the house. Father is right, I should also know some worldly affairs." Zi Fu said.

  There's something to be busy with, and Zifu's mood has improved a lot. The Liu family didn't have any thoughts about Zifu falling behind, and Mr. Liu even gave more advice, saying that this year they would get married, and he readily agreed. As for the silver ticket left by Zifu, he refused it again and again. Only after Zifu repeatedly explained that it was Shen's intention, as a betrothal gift, did the other party put down the silver ticket. He also said that once the house is built, be sure to tell them the size of the house so they can make furniture.

  Although the old man was slightly disappointed with Zifu's failure, he also understood that Zifu was still young and must have many shortcomings. At such a young age, he had already become a jinshi, which was quite impressive. Looking around the surrounding villages, who could boast of such an honor? This time, when Zifu was getting married, the old man was even more delighted to see acquaintances and would say with a smile that his eldest grandson was getting married and they must come to drink a cup of wedding wine.

  Zi Fu's handling of affairs was very efficient. He said he wanted to finish building the house before Lin Kangping returned, and then accompany Lin Kangping on a trip to Guangzhou to see the scenery and customs of Lingnan. If there was an opportunity, he also wanted to go abroad. So while building the house here, he also asked Master Xu to find some good wood materials in advance to prepare for making furniture. Fortunately, Zi Qing had reserved the land for the house in advance, but even so, it still wasted some melon seedlings.

  The wedding date has been set for September 18th. Seeing the hustle and bustle at home, Shen's wife was worried that she might not have enough experience and would overlook some details, so she invited her mother, He Shi, over to discuss how to determine the betrothal gifts. He Shi thought that they should not be too shabby, but also not too extravagant, after all, this is in a rural area, being too showy is not good, it's easy to invite criticism from neighbors and leave behind trouble.

  One set of gold, silver and jade hairpins, four pieces each of satin, silk, brocade, velvet and gauze fabric, eight sheepskins, 88 taels of gift money, two baskets of wedding cakes, six boxes of tea, six jars of wine, a pair of white geese, totaling 22 trays.

  After the discussion, Shen asked Zi Qing to write down the gift list and consulted with Zeng Rui Xiang again. Then, she took it to show Lao Ye Zi and Tian Shi. Lao Ye Zi had no objection, but Tian Shi thought it was too much, saying: "I married two sons-in-law and married off three daughters, all together not even equal to your one-time expenses. It seems that you have indeed saved some family property in recent years, but you have wronged these few younger sisters of yours, they can't even afford a good dress when going out. What can this stingy brother do?"

  "Girl, you're going too far. Didn't I build Xiaoyu's house? Didn't I give a generous gift when the two sisters got married? Didn't I raise Damao and the others? Last year on New Year's Eve, I even made a new silk padded skirt for her aunt." Zeng Ruixiang argued.

  Shen's family didn't think much of it either, but now she knows that Chunyu's affair is like a thorn stuck in Tian's heart, and he will take it out to scratch whenever he gets the chance.

  As expected, after a while, Tian heard Mr. Zeng say to Rui Xiang: "That's your second sister, I'm talking about your older sister. Since you said that, your nephew Da Mao is getting married this fall, so prepare a good gift for him. As an uncle, you have to sit in the head seat and be the first nephew to get married, don't be too stingy or people will laugh at you."

  "Mother, I'm already lucky to be able to go, and it's all thanks to Father and Mother. Even if there's Elder Brother around, I wouldn't even get a turn as the eldest son. As for what gift to bring, I certainly can't surpass Elder Brother." Zeng Rui Xiang replied.

  Tian's face immediately turned black, just as he was about to speak, Qiuyu walked in with the child. Qiuyu saw Tian's dark face and smiled, asking: "What are you discussing? Why do I see that none of you look happy?"

  "Zi Fu will definitely get married in September. Here, take a look at the gift list for Father and Mother." Shen Shi said.

  "Hey, let me take a look and see what good things our family's respected elder has brought for the wedding." said Qiu Yu.

  Shen's family had no choice but to hand over the gift list. Autumn Jade had followed Zeng Rui Xiang to learn a few days of words, and she could still recognize common characters. After reading the gift list, she said: "Sister-in-law didn't spare her efforts, I think there's nothing special, just some common things, it's just that the fabric and gift money are not small, it's just slightly better than ordinary people's homes. I thought that with sister-in-law's ability, you would have made a big deal out of it."

  "A bit stronger? I have five children, and in total, they only cost me this little. You few go out, and isn't it just a few taels of silver as betrothal gifts to send them off?"

  "What can you do? Your second brother and sister-in-law are now more prosperous than you were back then, what do you have? It's not me saying it, but your daily life is still supported by your second brother. Zi Fu is a scholar, so it's only right that he should spend some money." Autumn Jade advised.

  "I didn't say it shouldn't be, I just mentioned that Damao's marriage should be a bit more generous with the gift money, and it's all for his own good, so that he can save face when he becomes the uncle. But he kept pushing back, saying that we should see what your older brother says, you don't know what kind of person your older brother is, how much money can he take out?" Tian Shi complained.

  "Don't listen to your mother's nonsense, she's getting more and more muddled with age. She can't see anything else in her eyes, nor think of anything else in her mind. What younger brother would dare to humiliate his older brother in public? Xiang Er, go home, I know you two are busy." The old man finally spoke up.

  Zeng Ruixiang and Shen listened, and they quickly took their leave. As soon as the two of them went out the door, Tian said with a pout: "Can't you just secretly give her some money? You're willing to spend so much on a daughter-in-law, but not one cent on your own sister."

  The old man scolded Tian: "You're really stupid, you don't see the things that Chunyu's family has done in recent years. If it weren't for my son and daughter-in-law being kind, they would have cut off relations with others long ago. You still think about giving gifts? Not even a single hair was pulled out from your body! Who gave you the silver? Who raised Damao? One must be content, can't just calculate others' gains. Look at Xiayu, she's so honest and kind. The house, fruit trees, fabric, pork... everything is helped by Erge. Even the well in the yard was thought of by Erge's wife, adding a few strings of cash to get it dug. Such good children, you still want to pick faults? You're really possessed by a ghost!" The old man finished speaking and stormed out with his back turned.