Old Lady Xia heard it from the side and hurried over. She smiled and told Wu Yue, "Don't wash those few bowls. Wu Yue, you quickly take a rest. None of these chores need you."

  Lai Yue quickly took the bowls from Wu Yue's hands. "Sister Wu Yue, you go back home and rest. I'll wash these bowls."

  Everyone is looking forward to the summer solstice. As soon as the summer solstice arrives, they sit on the kang and wait for dinner. She helped with the busy work for half a day, but no one let her off. Even if someone told her not to do chores, it was to let her go home and rest.

  In May, I was resentful and unbalanced in my heart, but I had to leave and couldn't bear to part with it, so I had to thicken my skin and continue to rush to work.

  All the dishes were served, and wine was also placed in front of Xia Lao Ye Zi and Chang Sheng. Xia San Shu and Lar Yue were cleaning up in the main room, so they let Xia Lao Tai Tai hurry to the table to eat.

  They're waiting for Old Lady Xia to sit down before starting dinner.

  Old Lady Xia had nothing to be polite about with San's daughter-in-law and Lao Yue. Wu Yue saw the advantage and quickly supported Old Lady Xia as they walked towards the house. "Mother, please hurry up and sit down at the table, my elder sister, Eldest Brother Changsheng, and Pearl are all waiting for you."

  As she spoke, she had a plan in mind. For today's meal, Old Man Xia didn't intend to have his sons join as companions, only calling over one of the Xia girls, Xia Zhi. Among the granddaughters in the Xia family, she was the oldest. If there was a seat for Xia Zhi, then there should be one for her too. Even if Old Man Xia and his wife didn't have this intention, she wouldn't leave, supporting Old Lady Xia as they sat down at the table - could Old Man Xia really bring himself to drive her away?

  If Old Man Xia doesn't drive her away, she can stay.

  It was quite embarrassing for Old Lady Xia in May. Just then, La Yue suddenly walked in. She grabbed May: "Sister May, Grandma doesn't need your support. If you want to work, come out with me."

  The twelfth month dragged out the fifth month without saying a word.

  Old Lady Xia let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the kang.

  Xia Zhi watched all this on the kang, secretly laughing. It's rare for Lao Yue to be so saucy today. As they say, a clay figure still has its earthly nature; Lao Yue had been taken advantage of by Wu Yue too many times in May, but this time she managed to turn the tables.

  That side of the fifth month was pulled out by the twelfth lunar month, and when she arrived at the main house, she put on a long face. She couldn't go up to the dinner table, and naturally she wouldn't continue to stay in the main house with Xia San's aunt and the twelfth lunar month to work. She let out a cold snort, swung her hand and went back to the east wing of the house.

  The people beside the dinner table in the house were not affected by this, and everyone continued eating while chatting idly.

  Xia Lao Ye Zi then asked Xia Da Gu: "Can't you stay for a few more days? Otherwise, it's also fine to leave Zhang Sheng and Zhen Zhu here for a few more days."

  "Dad, I really can't stay." Xia Dagu smiled and replied, "I also spent a lot of effort to take out these two days. ... The shop still needs Zhang Sheng's help. ... Zhenzhu is still young, she can't leave me."

  Originally, Aunt Xia said that I could only stay at my mother's home for one night and had to leave tomorrow.

  Actually, Changsheng really can't stay behind, he's already able to help Guo uncle. But Zhenzhu is a leisurely person, she should be able to stay behind. However, she absolutely won't stay behind.

  Zhenzhu didn't like the countryside and didn't like living at her maternal grandmother's house. This wasn't a secret in the Xia family. In the past, when Zhenzhu wasn't around, Eldest Paternal Aunt could stay for several days whenever she came back. But after Zhenzhu was born, she would only stay overnight at her mother's hometown.

  When Zhenzhu didn't understand things, she would cry. After leaving the Xia family, she stopped crying. When she grew up a bit and understood things, could speak, and stopped crying, but still didn't want to stay at her grandparents' house for long.

  In her own words, she was not used to living in rural areas.

  Xia Dagu and Guo Gufu both spoiled this little girl very much, so she was like that, and they had to follow her.

  Even following her own mother wouldn't let her stay longer, and letting her stay by herself is even more impossible.

  "Grandpa and grandma, bring my uncle along and come to my home for a few days." Changsheng said with a smile after drinking a cup of wine with Old Man Xia.

  When these words came out of his mouth, they made Old Man Xia and Old Lady Xia even happier than when Eldest Aunt Xia said them. Moreover, what Changsheng said was quite sincere and heartfelt, not just polite talk.

  "I'm old, I don't go anywhere. To be honest, I really can't get used to living in your city. As long as you have this heart, Grandpa is satisfied." Xia Lao Ye laughed and then said to Xia Lao Tai, "Why don't you go live with your daughter for a few days? The number of days you two see each other in a year can be counted."

  How could Old Lady Xia abandon Old Man Xia? Besides, she wasn't used to living in her daughter's home either.

  "Daughter, why don't you come back with me? We're busy and you can also help me take care of Zhenzhu." said Xia Dagou.

  Old Lady Xia didn't say a word. Actually, Pearl wasn't close to this grandmother of hers, and besides, the Guo family had servants to attend to them, so Pearl didn't need her to take care of her either. She let Big Aunt Xia eat some dishes: "Eat more, you love eating our home-made dried tofu. Tomorrow when you leave, I'll pack a few catties for you to take along."

  After dinner, Xia San Aunt and Lao Yue helped with the cleanup. Xia Zhi wanted to help, but Grandma Xia wouldn't let her, so she had her accompany Eldest Aunt Xia instead.

  "Have you seen your elder brother these days?" Old Man Xia asked Eldest Aunt Xia.

  "No. Eldest brother never went to our place. A few days ago, I sent Changsheng to deliver a dish to his uncle. Eldest brother is probably busy too, the county exam is about to start these days." Xia Dagu replied.

  "Grandpa, don't worry. I saw Big Uncle that day and he looked quite well."

  "Hmm, that's a relief." Old Master Xia nodded. He didn't tell Eldest Aunt Xia and Changsheng that what he was relieved about wasn't that Xia Xiucui was doing well, but rather that she hadn't dared to disobey him and borrow money from Eldest Aunt Xia after all.

  Xia Lao Ye Zi and Xia Da Gu were chatting about family matters. Chang Sheng was talking to Xiao Hei Yu Er and Xia Zhi. "Sixteen, I saw the words you wrote. They are written quite well."

  "Changsheng, you're not kidding me, right? I've only just started learning to write and it's really not good." Xia Zhi laughed.

  "You've only been studying for a short time, and that's already quite good. If you had started earlier, with a good teacher, you would be better at insurance than anyone else." Changsheng's words were sincere.

  "Then what I wrote is no good?" Little Black Fish said with a pout.

  "Old Uncle also wrote well." Changsheng laughed loudly, "Old Uncle, I heard my grandparents say that you will go to school next year."

  "Hmm." Little Black Fish nodded.

  "Xia Dagu turned back at this time: 'Sixteen is clever following her father. Xiaolong is also clever, but he likes to play. Later when he goes to school, there will be teachers to take care of him.'"

  "Fourth sister, are you learning to read and write with your uncle? Is it easy?" Jingzhu asked Xia Zhi in a soft voice, showing some curiosity.

  "It's alright, it's not difficult. Zhenzhu, didn't you learn?" Xia Zhi glanced at Zhenzhu.

  "My brother is fine with just learning. We've learned it, but it's not very useful. Besides, I think it's quite difficult." Pearl said, looking at Xia Zhi's hand, "Fourth sister, have you learned needlework?"

  "Your fourth sister is good at everything. You should learn from her too." Xia Dagu said lovingly to her daughter.

  "Fourth sister, can you show me what you've made?" Pearl continued to say.

  "Alright." Xia Zhi went back and brought over the embroidered pouch she had sewn halfway for Zhen Zhu to see.

  Zhenzhu held the purse in her hands and looked at it for a long time. Xia Dagou smiled beside her, took the purse to look at it, and praised Xia Zhi endlessly, saying to her daughter: "Now you should be convinced."

  Pearl didn't say anything, but her expression wasn't very pleasant.

  "I'm older than Pearl, and when Pearl is as old as I am now, she'll definitely do better than me." Xia Zhi said with a smile. Moreover, this was a skill for making a living for her, but Guo Zhenzhu learned it just as a hobby to embellish herself.

  But she didn't say what came after.

  Guo Zhenzhu felt that Xia Zhi's words were very reasonable, and her expression improved a lot.

  Xia Dagu smiled and handed the purse back to Xia Zhi's hands.

  Xia Zhi accompanied Xia Dagu for a while and then returned to the front yard.

  Xia Lao Ye Zi and Xia Lao Tai invited her to come back for dinner that night, and she agreed, planning to arrive early to help out. Xia Zhi came out of the backyard, turned his head and took a look, only to see Xia Lao Ye Zi bringing Chang Sheng and Xiao Hei Yu Er out as well.

  Xia Dagu rarely comes back, and she must have some personal things to tell Old Lady Xia.

  Because he saw them coming out, Xia Zhi waited a bit.

  "Grandpa, Uncle, Zhang Sheng, where are you all going?"

  "Take Changsheng to the ground and have a look. Sixteen, are you going too?" Little Black Fish replied.

  "Uh," Xia Zhi thought for a moment, she didn't have anything going on right now, so she nodded, "Okay, I'll go too."

  The little black fish was very happy, came over and let Xia Zhi hold his hand. Chang Sheng thought it was quite fresh to see this. Several people walked happily in the front, while Da Qing followed closely behind with a big smile on her face.

  As they walked through the fields, Old Man Xia told Changsheng about the state of the land, such as how this year's rainfall was and what kind of harvest to expect. Changsheng's family didn't have any farmland, so he had never planted crops before, but he listened with great interest. If he wasn't genuinely interested but just being polite, then Xia would be very impressed by him.

  The little black fish jumped and played, chasing after dragonflies one moment and playing with the big green fish the next. Among all these people, he was the happiest.

  Xia Lao Ye Zi brought Chang Sheng to see the wheat field at home. This year's wheat is growing very well, it should be a bumper harvest. Xia Lao Ye Zi was delighted. The wheat fields of Xia Zhi Jia were adjacent to those of Xia Lao Ye Zi, followed by those of Xia Er Shu and Xia San Shu.

  Old Xia looked around on the ground and then walked further into the fields. When he came out, his face was somewhat unhappy.

  "Your second uncle's land is all going to waste. The weeds on the ridge have been cleared, and the tall grass inside has grown as high as wheat!" Old Man Xia muttered in a low voice, "He still thinks he's helping me with farming, what a mess!"

  Because they found weeds in Xia Ershu's field, Old Man Xia lost interest in continuing to take the children to see the fields, so everyone turned back. Halfway through, they met Wu Yue and Qi Yue.

  May and July sisters two picked up clean and tidy, one person holding a basket in hand, looks like they came to dig wild vegetables.

  "Grandpa, why are you leaving so soon?" May came over and greeted Old Man Xia with a smile, then turned to Changsheng and said, "Changsheng is here too? The ground is not easy to walk on, don't get your shoes and clothes dirty again."

  Changsheng just smiled and said it was nothing.

  "Don't look at Changsheng Ge as a person from the prefecture city, but he's not spoiled at all." May said again.

  Changsheng accompanied a smile, he somewhat didn't dare look at May, glanced around, and subconsciously hid behind Old Man Xia.

  "Are you digging up vegetables?" Old Man Xia interrupted Wu Yue, asking her, "Where are your parents? Are they at home?"

  "Not at home, no, not at home." May didn't know why Old Man Xia asked this way, but seeing that Old Man Xia's face wasn't looking good, she added carefully in her response, "My parents went to buy vegetables."

  "Go, call them back. Tell them to hurry up and pull the weeds." Old Master Xia instructed with a stern face, "The grass in the field is already very tall, but they still have the mind to go buy vegetables. Not even a bit of a farmer's appearance!"

  When Old Man Xia got angry, both May and July were still a bit afraid. May hastily pushed July, telling her to hurry back and tell Second Uncle Xia and Second Aunt Xia.

  July was somewhat reluctant.

  May was facing away from Changsheng, glaring fiercely at July: "Are you going or not? Don't make me say it twice!" Then she also gave July a meaningful look.

  She turned around and walked away quickly in July.

  In May, he accompanied Xia Lao Ye Zi and Guo Chang Sheng, walking slowly back.

  "Brother Changsheng..."

  May just opened her mouth, and Xiao Hei Yu Er glanced at the basket in her hand: "Wu Yue, aren't you going to dig vegetables? What are you following us for?"

  The basket in May was still empty, and when asked by Xiao Hei Yu, she really couldn't answer. At this time, her face helped her. "Uncle, I'm not busy digging vegetables, I'll accompany you back."

  Then she said to Old Man Xia, "Grandpa, my father said that when my eldest aunt comes back, we'll have dinner at our house tonight and invite Eldest Aunt, Zhang Sheng and Pearl to come over and eat." What Summer Second Uncle and Summer Second Aunt were buying groceries for was precisely to treat Eldest Aunt to a meal.

  "Oh?" Old Xia was taken aback, he looked at May with a puzzled expression, but said nothing.

  These years, Xia Ershu has never invited Xia Dagou. It can be said that the old Xia family doesn't have this rule. Xia Ershu is not a very hospitable or generous person either. So when Lao Xia heard May say that her family was going to host a banquet, he didn't feel happy at all. He suspected that Xia Ershu wasn't just asking for something from Xia Dagou, but rather wanted to stir up some other trouble. In short, it shouldn't be anything good.

  Have to say, Old Man Xia still knows his son pretty well.

  "We won't bother Second Uncle's family then." Changsheng heard this and smiled as he declined.

  "Changsheng, why are you still being polite with me? We're not strangers!" May said with a giggle.

  Here it comes again!

  Xia Zhi seems to be allergic to May's laughter in June, and as soon as she hears it, she feels goosebumps all over her body.

  Xiao Hei Yu also looked at Wu Yue with suspicion, then he called Xia Zhi to one side and whispered in his ear: "What is Wu Yue going to do? I don't think it's right!"

  May walked and walked, and finally reached Changsheng's side. Changsheng squeezed next to Old Man Xia. Just as Old Man Xia was about to be squeezed into the field, they still didn't realize it.

  Finally, it was Old Man Xia himself who discovered this, as one of his feet had already stepped into the field. He looked at his great-grandson with some surprise and said, "Changsheng, walk carefully."

  (。)