Back home, after Xia Zhi and the others entered the house, Tian Shi immediately closed the back door. Things had blown up like this, completely not in her plan, she didn't want to deal with the gossiping neighbors who came to her door now.

  The meal was still on the table, but Tian Shi had no appetite to eat. She didn't even call Xia Zhi to work, and she put all the bowls and chopsticks away in the main room, then busied herself inside and out.

  Not the busy happiness of a mother, but suppressing anger, which may erupt at any time.

  Xia Zhi seems to be unaffected, and as soon as he enters the house, he teases Da Qing. Xia Shu is both loving and fearful of Da Qing, staring at him with wide eyes, wanting to get close but not daring to.

  Mother is angry, younger brother and sister are all like this without a conscience. Xia Qiao frowned and looked gloomy, could only take on the responsibility, followed Tian Shi to help, wanted to find an opportunity to persuade Tian Shi.

  "Didn't the chicken lay eggs today?" Mrs. Tian counted the eggs in the gourd and found that the number was not quite right. Even if she was very troubled in her mind, she would not forget to take care of the family's property.

  "Today's egg production is low, I asked Sixteen to cook some for us to eat. It's too tiring to go down." Xia Qiao immediately said, apparently covering up for Xia Zhi.

  "What's going on with this oil? It's less than before!" Tian picked up the oil bottle, shocked to the point of almost jumping up.

  Xia Qiao gritted his teeth: "It was me trying to cook myself, and I spilled oil when I poured it."

  "Who let you cook by yourself? Is that a job for men? Why don't you let Xia Zhi do it, what was he doing at that time?" Tian Shi couldn't help but feel angry.

  "It's none of your business, I just wanted to try it out. Mother, you're also tired, go rest early." Xia Qiao persuaded Tian Shi to stop checking.

  The sound of movement in the hall did not stop, but the voice was no longer heard.

  After a while, Tian and Xiaqiao walked back one after another.

  "Take a rest, I'll go into town tomorrow to find your father." said Tian Shi.

  Summer solstice then took the big green, want to go west house.

  Tian Shi smiled as he looked at Xia Zhi, as if the quarrel and unpleasantness from just now had never happened. "Xī Wū Cháo, Xia Zhi don't go over there, sleep with your mother today."

  "No." Xia Zhi gave Tian Shi a glance and refused bluntly.

  Tian's family watched Xia Zhi leave with a mixture of emotions.

  The west wing was originally used for storing miscellaneous items, and as Xia Zhi grew older, he cleaned up half of the kang to sleep in at night. Returning to the west wing, Xia Zhi looked around and was very dissatisfied with his living environment.

  In her heart, she secretly planned how to clean up afterwards, and started washing up at the beginning of summer.

  The door was slowly pushed open, and Tian's wife stood at the entrance with a smile on her face that seemed to be trying to please. "Xiatian, mother is coming to keep you company."

  In Xia Zhi's memory, Tian had never smiled at her like this before.

  Da Qing was originally circling around Xia Zhi's legs, but as soon as the door opened, he ran to the entrance and bared his teeth at Tian Shi, letting out a menacing growl from his throat.

  Tian's family did not dare to enter the house, and the smile on his face became somewhat stiff.

  Xia Zhi thought for a moment, Mrs. Tian wasn't going to sleep with her, but rather had something to say to her, the content of which was still about letting her marry Tian Dabao. She was very curious, as a mother, what kind of excuse she would come up with for such a harmful act towards her daughter.

  "Da Qing, come back." Xia Zhi called out to Da Qing. Tian Shi then carried the quilt and walked into the house, she spread the quilt on the kang, right next to Xia Zhi's, and sat on the edge of the kang, smiling as she looked at Xia Zhi.

  Xia Zhi is styling her hair.

  Because she wasn't very good at braiding buns, when she got up early, she braided two cornrows and then coiled them into two buns, similar to a bun, but more neat. Now that she was going to rest, she loosened her hair buns and untied the braids, using a wooden comb to carefully comb out her hair.

  Her hair was black and thick on the summer solstice, she liked it very much and planned to take good care of it from now on.

  Tian's family was about to help. "Come, mom will comb your hair."

  Xia Zhi didn't want to be so intimate with Tian Shi, so she hastily combed her hair a couple more times before putting down the wooden comb.

  Tian's family quietly looked at Xia Zhi on the kang, got into the quilt and also got on the kang, lying beside Xia Zhi. There was no candle lit in the house, nor was it needed, as the silvery moonlight spilled onto half of the kang.

  "Summer Solstice... Mother is not here today, did someone tell you something?" Tian Shi waited for a moment before opening her mouth to ask Summer Solstice. She knew her own daughter well. Summer Solstice was gentle and timid, always listening to her words, even if she didn't want to marry Tian Da Bao in her heart, she wouldn't dare to go against her, let alone seek help from the back house.

  It must be someone who instigated Xia Zhi.

  Tian wanted to know who this person was.

  Xia Zhi didn't want to get involved with Tian Shi's affairs, but it seemed that Tian Shi had a suspect in mind. Based on today's situation, the person Tian Shi suspected most was likely Xia Lao Tai Tai. Xia Zhi couldn't let Xia Lao Tai Tai take the blame.

  "You're overthinking it, no one said anything to me."

  "Really no one? Didn't your grandma tell you something?" Tian Shi didn't believe it.

  "Believe it or not." Xia Zhi abruptly stopped talking and pretended to fall asleep.

  Tian knew Xia Zhi hadn't slept, but the topic they were discussing earlier couldn't be continued, and besides, she had more important things to attend to.

  "Summer solstice, I am your mother. In this world, there is no one closer to you than me. Anyone can harm you, but a mother won't... A mother won't harm you. You're still young and don't understand many things."

  "Your mother has been through a lot. You see, your father looks good on the surface, he's even a scholar. But the suffering your mother has endured since marrying your father, others can't see that."

  Their home doesn't look like it belongs to a scholar.

  "Your grandfather is a very overbearing person, there's nothing at home that he doesn't control. He always finds fault with your mother, and she has been holding in so much anger and endured so many scoldings all these years... Your grandmother is your grandfather's second wife, on the surface she seems calm and collected, but behind his back, she hasn't been helping to make things easier for us either."

  "What about the house in the backyard, that big courtyard? That's our old Xia family's ancestral property, which should have belonged to your father. But look at this broken thatched hut we're living in now! When marrying someone and becoming a daughter-in-law, it doesn't matter what the son is like, what matters is his family, who are they?"

  "If you marry Da Bao, nothing like this will happen. Your grandparents don't need to be mentioned, you're their own granddaughter. Your uncle is also someone you know, no need to mention him either. Your aunt also dotes on you. With your mother around, she wouldn't dare do anything to you. And then there's Da Bao's older brother, if you marry into the family, he'll listen to everything you say. In the Tian family, in the future, you'll be the one giving orders. Think about it, where else can you find such a good deal?"

  Xia Zhi almost couldn't help but laugh.

  The Tian family will say anything to coax her into marrying the fool from the maternal family, and it's really a talent that they can come up with such reasoning.

  "Girl, it's hard to find a talented scholar, but it's not hard to find a fool. Why didn't you try harder to find a fool back then, instead of finding trouble for yourself and ending up with a talented scholar." Xia Zhi could also be quite sharp-tongued if needed.

  "You little scoundrel, what are you talking about?" Tian's family pinched Xia Zhi hard, obviously furious. "I didn't marry your father, where did you come from."

  Anyway, Tian Shi is always right, Xia Zhi is too lazy to talk again.

  The mother and daughter fell silent for a while, perhaps finally realizing that such words could not move Xia Zhi. Tian Shi quickly changed her strategy.

  "Your grandparents have had a tough time all these years..."

  This is Mrs. Tian's old story, and it's nothing more than those things. Her several children have long been tired of hearing them.

  Because Tian's family had a hard time, Old Man Tian and Wang were too tired, so they would unconditionally and without any bottom line help the Tian family and satisfy them.

  That's Tian's logic.

  She spoke emotionally and shed tears. She put her arm around Xia Zhi's shoulder: "Xia Zhi, you are my own child, I didn't raise you easily. You mustn't hurt me, think of me? You have to avenge me."

  Tian let Xia Zhi repay her kindness by becoming the daughter-in-law of her natal family's nephew Tian Dabao.

  "Mother knows, you're a obedient and kind child, you'll agree with mother, won't you?"

  If tonight Xia Zhi was moved by Tian Shi and nodded. Then tomorrow, Tian Shi didn't need to go to the prefecture city to find Xia Xiuren at all.

  This is Tian's ideal plan.

  Xia Zhi could no longer bear it, she turned over and sat up, staring at Tian Shi.

  "I'd rather die than marry into the Tian family and become a daughter-in-law to Tian Dabao. You can give up on that idea now. I'm not kind-hearted, nor do I listen to others. I am exactly what you people call... a heartless woman!"

  "What?!" Tian's eyes were almost disbelieving as he stared at Xia Zhi, his gaze piercing through to the bone.

  "My heart is already made up, Mother, all those words are pointless." Xia Zhi repeated, his tone very relaxed.

  Tian raised his hand.

  Summer solstice is unavoidable.

  Because Tian's voice rose, Da Qing raised his head from under the bed and let out a threatening hum in his throat again. Tian's slap did not fall after all. She no longer looked at Xia Zhi, got up neatly, hugged the quilt and went out to sleep.

  "Dead girl, I don't believe you can't be handled, wait for your dad to come back and see if you're still tough."

  Xia Zhi comforted Di and stroked the head of the big green dog, not letting him go chase and bite Tian Shi.

  Her marriage, Xia Xiuren is the key. Old Master Xia wants to hear Xia Xiuren's own decision, and Tian seems to have full confidence that Xia Xiuren will definitely stand on the same line as her.

  Searching for memories of Xia Zhi, Xia Zhi found that her impression of Xia Xiucai, this father, was really too vague.

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