Lin Jinyan whispered, "Isn't silver expensive in the spring? Second Aunt and her partner opened a silver shop outside and made a lot of money..." Then she leaned into Tao's ear and whispered, "I heard that she secretly exchanged gold and copper coins for pure silver, took it to the shop to sell, and only left a little silver as a show. When the matter was exposed, Grandfather spoke up and asked Eldest Aunt to calculate how much silver had been embezzled. According to the highest price of silver at the time, Second Aunt was told to pay it back. Second Aunt said she only took 10,000 taels, but Eldest Aunt said she took 20,000 taels. The two women refused to give in and quarreled in front of Grandmother. I didn't know that Eldest Aunt could be so fierce when arguing. In the end, Grandmother mediated and Second Aunt paid back 15,000 taels as compensation."

  Lin Jin-yin took advantage of Tao Shi and Lin Jin-rong's grooming to quietly report the situation at home to Tao Shi: "A few days ago, Second Aunt had some problems with managing the household, and Grandfather spoke out, replacing her with Eldest Aunt. When it was time to settle accounts, the two aunts quarreled unpleasantly in front of Grandmother and still haven't made up until now. They can barely force a smile when others are around, but behind their backs, they don't even speak to each other."

  "Trouble with the account? How embarrassing! This is a big deal, didn't your grandmother say anything? Is that it?"

  Lin Jinyan whispered, "Isn't silver expensive in the spring? Second Aunt and her partner opened a silver shop outside and made a lot of money..." Then she leaned into Tao's ear and whispered, "I heard that she secretly exchanged gold and copper coins for pure silver, took it to the shop outside to sell, and only left a little silver as a show. When the matter was exposed, Grandfather spoke out, asking Eldest Aunt to calculate how much silver had been embezzled, and asked Second Aunt to pay back the amount according to the highest price of silver at that time. Second Aunt said it was only 10,000 taels, while Eldest Aunt said it was 20,000 taels, and they refused to give in to each other, quarreling right in front of Grandmother. I didn't know until then that Eldest Aunt could be so fierce when arguing. In the end, Grandmother mediated, and Second Aunt paid back 15,000 taels as compensation."

  "She's got a lot of nerve! She really thinks she's the mistress of the house, and can get away with anything. This is only her first few days as the manager, and already she's showing off such an ugly side, it's like she's slapping your grandmother in the face."

  Tao Shi laughed heartily: "She racked her brains for a long time, but ended up giving away three or four thousand taels of silver to Gong Zhongping for nothing. I'm sure she must be furious with your aunt."

  Lin Jin-yin smiled and said: "Your aunt is still angry that she made off with over a thousand taels of silver. And she's also resentful that her mother favors her, so she often puts on a long face in front of her mother. Her mother doesn't take it too seriously, but then she turns around and gives your second aunt the cold shoulder. As a result, neither Sixth Sister nor Seventh Sister dares to get close to their mother."

  As soon as he got home, he heard such an interesting thing, Tao Shi laughed and fell over, clapping his hands and saying: "Your grandmother covered up your second aunt, feeling guilty in her heart, so she didn't dare to argue with your eldest aunt. This slap was well-deserved, it's about time! Although I'm not a likable person, this kind of dirty thing is really something I couldn't do."

  When they left, the first wife was disappointed and the second wife was pleased. When they came back, the second wife lost face and the first wife was pleased. In these six months, the situation at home has turned around again. Lin Jirong listened quietly on the side, smiling lightly: "If Second Aunt comes like this every year, I suppose First Aunt will be much more generous when giving out monthly allowance and during holidays, and our family won't have to be so frugal."

  "You... " Tao's family thought it was even more amusing, and inserted a festive red coral hairpin into her hair, with flying eyebrows and eyes saying: "Let's go and pay our respects to the old lady."

  Lin Jinyong then took Lin Shenzhi's hand and went with the Tao family to the Harmony Hall.

  The Hele Hall is still the same, with the same old ladies, the air filled with the unchanged scent of sandalwood, and fresh flowers in the copper vase. Only the cushion on the chair has become much older than before.

  Mrs. Lin had just woken up from her afternoon nap and was still not in high spirits, half-reclining on the couch to drink tea and refresh herself. Seeing Mrs. Tao and others come in to pay their respects, she forced a smile onto her face that could neither be described as joyful nor unjoyful: "Sit down. Have you all recovered? As long as your body is well taken care of, it's good, and you can live a good life from now on. Fourth Girl has grown taller, and her complexion is also quite good." While speaking, she opened her arms to Lin Shenzhi and said, "Little Seventh, come to Grandma here, your grandfather is letting you off the hook?" Lin Shenzhi looked at Mrs. Tao reluctantly, took a step forward, leaned against Mrs. Lin's side, and smiled: "Yes, Grandfather knew that my mother was coming back today, and he said that it's no use trying to control people, so he might as well let me go. He can be at peace, and I'll be happy too."

  Mrs. Lin handed over two pears and touched his head, reminding him: "Listen to your grandfather's words carefully, study hard, and bring honor to our ancestors in the future."

  Lin Jinrong watched from the side as Lin Lao Tai was like this, and found that Lin Shen was even more affectionate than before. She knew it was because Lin Shen had been with Lin Lao Ye for a while and had also studied well, so she was very happy and winked at Lin Jinrong. The two sisters exchanged a knowing smile, both feeling a sense of pride and honor.

  Lin Lao Tai coaxed her grandson and then raised her eyelids to ask Tao Shi: "I heard your brother has come?"

  The people from my wife's family always run to this place, which is not very good-looking. Mrs. Tao originally knew that Mr. Luo was quite pleased with his misfortune, and upon hearing this question, she had to explain hastily: "Yes, he is now outside paying respects to his father, and it will take a little while before he can come to pay respects to his mother-in-law. Our daughter is not young anymore, and there are some things that should be prepared. Qingzhou has a market where goods are cheap, so I asked my sister-in-law to help me buy some lumber, fur, and incense, and he happened to have business in Pingshou, so he kindly brought them over for me."

  "Your brother is not young anymore, always running back and forth, it's really tiring. You must take good care of him. Pay attention to his accommodation and food."

  If it weren't for her being so troublesome and always causing problems, Tao Shunqin wouldn't have to keep running back and forth. The Tao family's face was rarely slapped red with anger, and in a low voice, he said: "Yes."

  Old Lady Lin said, "Speaking of preparing dowry for Fourth Miss, I've been wanting to ask you, have you prepared everything for Third Miss? You've always lived in the villa, it's not convenient for me to ask, but I've been worried about this matter every day and couldn't put my mind at ease."

  "I've been ready for a long time." Speaking of this, Tao added a few more points of excitement: "After putting away the luggage properly, I'll take some time to review everything again and make up for what's missing. Absolutely no mistakes will be made."

  "Your own flesh and blood, and the eldest daughter at that. I naturally have no worries, only fear that something might be overlooked." Old Lady Lin reached out to take her tea cup and slowly took a sip: "But as for Yìzhī's child, I recall he's already fourteen this year? Don't know if you've got someone suitable in mind for him? You should settle his affairs soon, so you can also settle the fourth daughter's affairs."

  Taoshi's good mood was suddenly squeezed out of existence by this incessant knocking, and he slightly puffed out his chest, saying: "Isn't the woman from before always ill? It's not easy to find someone to ask in a rural place. This time, we'll have to send someone to ask around. No matter if it's Pingzhou or Qingzhou, we must choose someone with a suitable family background, appearance, and character for him."

  "Hmm." Old Lady Lin said with a heavy heart: "You truly think for his sake, in the future he will not forget your kindness."

  It sounds like she's being too harsh on Lin Yizhou, but she hasn't been around for over half a year, so how can she be harsh? This old witch clearly saw that she was happy and intentionally made her feel uncomfortable. Tao Shi's face suddenly turned black, and she forced herself to remain silent.

  Lin Jirong and Lin Jinyu saw that Old Lady Lin was intentionally teasing the Tao family, and the Tao family was unhappy. Although they didn't like it in their hearts, they couldn't interrupt her because everything she said was reasonable. When Old Lady Lin saw that the Tao family no longer had the same spirit as when they first arrived, she finally stopped teasing them and asked: "I heard that during springtime, Lu Xuan went to Master Zhus place to study, fell into the water in the mountains, and was rescued by a young boy from your village? What happened?"

  Speaking of this matter, Mrs. Tao finally found a reason to vent her anger and said angrily: "Mother-in-law, speaking of this matter now still makes me angry..."

  Lin Jianrong hastily glanced at Old Lady Lin, but saw that she didn't seem unhappy or unwilling to listen to Tao Shi's accusations. He secretly guessed that Old Lady Lin had probably known the truth all along and was now intentionally letting Tao Shi repeat it, so he just ignored her and listened with his head bowed.

  "I'm being kind, but Mrs. Tao thinks I'm delaying the child's studies. Should I drive the child away and not allow him to live in the village? Who can do such a thing? Besides, he goes to Mr. Zhu's place every day before dawn, where is he delayed?" Mrs. Tao said repeatedly, concluding: "Such relatives are really hard to deal with! I've never seen anyone so unreasonable."

  Mrs. Lin had been quietly listening before, but when she heard this last comment, her face couldn't help but look a bit ugly, yet she endured it and hummed: "You misunderstood, Yu Zhen didn't mean that, you know what kind of situation she's in, she also has difficulties bottled up inside and can't speak out. Lu Xuan doesn't understand things, and the people below him won't do anything about it. She even told me that day to apologize to you when she saw you. We shouldn't bother with her anymore, don't put it in your heart again, earlier Si Yatou didn't understand either, but she didn't say anything."

  This is just a trick to fool people! It's nothing but the mother protecting her child, trying to cover up Lin Yuzhen's inappropriate behavior. Mrs. Tao understood it very well, but because she was severely oppressed by Old Lady Lin earlier, she had almost no strength to fight back. Later, when Old Lady Lin mentioned Lin Jiren, she had to force herself to hum a response.

  Mrs. Lin just hummed a couple of times, let it go and let them go back to rest: "It's been a long day on the road, it's hard work, go down and rest. The family hasn't gathered together for a long time, I've ordered your sister-in-law to set up a family banquet to welcome you in the evening. The men eat and drink outside, the women and children eat and drink inside, all let loose and have fun." She looked at Lin Jianyin warmly again: "Third daughter will be getting married soon too, such days are fleeting, the children who stay by my side are fewer and fewer, it's really hard to bear."

  The unhappiness in Tao's heart suddenly dissipated and turned into a bit of sadness.

  Lin Jinyan hastily smiled and said, "Grandmother, don't be sad. I'm leaving, but aren't there still other siblings to keep you company? In a few years, my younger brothers will get married, and our family will flourish. Perhaps Grandmother will find it troublesome again."

  Lin Jianrong thought that Old Lady Lin was really impressive at this moment. She scolded, suppressed and pulled them, all the girls should learn from her. If there's one thing wrong with Old Lady Lin, it's that she's too protective of people she likes, otherwise Lin Yuzhen and Luo Shi wouldn't have ended up like this. Just thinking about it, she was called out. Old Lady Lin stared at her with a pair of old eyes: "Fourth daughter, you've grown up, why are you still like a dumb melon? Nothing to do, accompany your sister more, learn from your sister, say some pleasant and soft words, who doesn't love listening?"

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