"Pig's head meat is not good at all! I like to eat mutton." Li Wenlan continued, he dislikes pig's head meat.

  "Tomorrow, have someone go buy a braised pig's head and also buy some mutton back." County Magistrate Li instructed two sentences, turned to Li Wenshan, just about to open his mouth, and quickly turned his head to look at Li Dong, "Dong sister first say, what do you want to eat? And Shan brother, tell your mother, tomorrow we'll buy it together."

  "Let's eat first, the dishes are getting cold." After this interruption, Mrs. Xü had basically calmed down, glanced at the water clock, and ladled a bowl of soup for County Magistrate Li.

  The Li family ate their meal in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. After finishing the meal and clearing the table, they poured tea and sat down. County Magistrate Li sipped his tea contentedly and continued the conversation with his son from earlier, "Your article broke new ground, Mr. Qin's insight is extraordinary, I hadn't thought of that..."

  Mrs. Xue and Li Dong stared at each other, their eyes fixed on the water clock. Li Wenshan was also distracted, while Li Wenlan was the most innocent one, climbing onto the couch to fetch her own calligraphy, presenting it to County Magistrate Li's face, "Father, look at the characters I wrote today! I wrote five more pieces today and memorized two more lessons. Father, take a look."

  "Good, good, good!" County Magistrate Li took the little boy's calligraphy and sat him on his lap, pointing out each character one by one. "This stroke should be pressed down, hmm, these few characters are not bad..."

  As the time was almost up, Li Dong looked at Mrs. Xu, Mrs. Xu looked at Li Wenshan, and Li Wenshan gazed at Ah De who was holding his little son and instructing him intently, his heart stuck, he blinked dryly, trying to think of an excuse to pull Ah De over to listen by the wall.

  Li Xia saw her mother, then her sister, and then her brother, and from her brother's glance, she caught sight of Hong Yiniang standing at the door with her hands hanging down, her eyes rolling wildly in anxiety, and Li Xia couldn't help but let out a series of long sighs in her heart - this family of hers!

  "Father," Li Xia pounced on Magistrate Li's leg, "what is 'one drunk and then rest'? Little Jiu'er said that Mother Zhong said to take a break after getting drunk, what does it mean? Is it something you eat or play?"

  "You can't eat or have fun!" County Magistrate Li couldn't help but laugh and pinched Li Xia's nose.

  Li Wenshan's tightly closed heart suddenly loosened with a click, and his spirit returned. "Dad, Auntie is getting older, drinking too much will harm her body. Why don't I accompany Dad over to take a look? It'll be just right, can't let Auntie drink too much."

  Magistrate Li nodded hastily, "Still, Shan Ge thinks of everything, let's go take a look."

  Mrs. Xu let out a breath of relief and almost whispered a Buddhist prayer.

  Li Dong rushed up, took his brother out of Li County's arms and hugged him, then picked up Li Xia and kissed her face fiercely twice. This sister of his was really too lovely!

  Watching County Magistrate Li and Li Wenshan leave, Mrs. Xu spun around in a circle on the spot, raising her foot to follow them, but was pulled back by Hong's nanny, "Madam, you can't... Sixth Brother wrote some words today, Sixth Brother will cry if he sees you, hurry up and take a look at what Sixth Brother wrote today, Winter Sister go take a look in the kitchen, forget it, Winter Sister should still take care of Ninth Sister, I'll go take a look in the kitchen." Hong's nanny's arrangement was quite clear.

  Li Xia leaned on her sister's bosom, looking at Mrs. Xu who was anxious and worried, and Liu Ge who looked wronged and aggrieved, and nudged her chin against her sister's shoulder a few times, "Sister, I want to play Hu Rong Dao with Liu Ge."

  Li Dong took out the Huarong Dao and sat close to Mrs. Xu, nervously watching Xia and Lan Ge playing together with their heads touching.

  ………………

  Li Wenshan and Li Xianling came out one after the other, the sky had already darkened, a cool breeze was blowing gently, the fragrance of osmanthus flowers was sometimes strong and sometimes faint.

  Magistrate Li Shu took a few deep breaths, feeling even more pleasant, and continued the previous topic, "In terms of strategy, you should ask Mr. Qin for advice, as he is better at practical matters than I am..."

  "Yes." Li Wenshan's mind was not on this at all, he was thinking of finding an excuse to get his father to listen to the wall with him. The county government's back house was small, and in just a few words, the two people were already close to Clock Granny's room.

  Just a few more steps and they would be at the door, Li Wenshan still hadn't thought of an excuse, in his anxiety, he simply spoke directly, "Father, let's... I mean, let's listen to what they have to say first... my intention..."

  The county magistrate looked at his son with a mixture of anger and amusement, raised his hand and knocked on his head, "Want to learn from others to listen to the wall corner? Look at you, the more you grow up, the more you go back, mischievous."

  Speaking in a mischievous tone, County Magistrate Li slowed down his footsteps and slipped to the window with his son, one after the other, standing close to the wall, eavesdropping on the conversation inside.

  "...You said you, how come, the craftsmanship of those years has been lost? Don't even have this little trick?" It was Zhong's voice, somewhat vague, with a hint of drunkenness.

  "We are all one family, how can we use those old skills?" This voice should be Yang's wife.

  "A family? Ha! " Zhong Yini spat, "You treat them like a family, but do they treat you the same way? If they did, would you still be worried about these things? You're just trying to get close to someone who doesn't care about you. I told you before, what's the point of talking about one family or two families? Let me tell you, this family is just you, alone, that's a real family. Even those two, they'll fly their separate ways when disaster strikes!"

  "Look at me, what's in front of me... this doesn't count, don't worry, just half a month, 15 days, I'll move back to that upstairs room, still the old lady, the ancestor! Bah! I'm the ancestor of this whole nest of fools!"

  Li Wenshan's heart lifted, and he hastily turned his head towards Ah Da. Li County Magistrate's eyebrows were slightly furrowed, standing still without moving.

  "You really have skills. I'm no match for you, after all, it's not like I raised you myself." Yang's voice was low and clear.

  "This is indeed the case! It's like raising a dog... and our own thin horses, from young to old, although it's hard work, but since childhood training, you want what kind of thing, can be pinched into what kind of thing." Zhong Yiniang's tone sounded very pleased with herself. "I'm telling you, it's also exhausting! At first in the Bo Mansion, I didn't dare to relax for a moment, they were okay at home, but those masters in school are all good-for-nothings!"

  The old woman let out a long sigh and said, "I'm telling you, this world is not a good place! We, the lower class, are not as good as those with a humble background, slaves! No matter what, we're just lowly people, can only move down, not up. I'm telling you, it's impossible to rise up!

  "Look at him now, that little brat of his, he can just fawn all over Master Wang and think he's got it made. Look at him, and you'll see that gratitude is worthless! No matter how great the favor, it's nothing compared to that little brat of his!"

  "Are you really going to send his sister's son to Wang Tongzhi's mansion?" Yang's voice dropped a bit.

  "It's hard to find even with a lantern!" Zhong Yiniang took a loud sip of wine, "He's a merchant by birth, crawled out from the lowest level, they don't understand, breaking rules is nothing, strip naked and put on the bed, I tell you, he dares to get on! I'm telling you, ah, sister, we're in the same boat, you say I've been working hard for half my life, got old and became a slave again? Then these twenty or thirty years, wasn't it all in vain? The thin horse I raised, I spent all my heart and silver to send her to Hou Ye's bed, I'm telling you, that girl is not a good thing!"

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