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  ***

  Wu Yue glanced at Xia Zhi and was very dissatisfied. In a low voice, she said to Xia Zhi: "I'm your sister." Meaning that Xia Zhi wasn't qualified to lecture her yet.

  Summer smiled and said in a low voice: "Then you should show some sisterly qualities and set a good example for me."

  In May, she felt stifled and thought that Xia Zhi's temper was broad. But she couldn't get the better of Xia Zhi, and in her heart, she also had some fear of this younger cousin. So, she followed Xia Zhi's lead and sat down on the kang.

  Seeing that the two sisters no longer moved her things, Pearl's face looked much better. She also understood that this was because of Xia Zhi's intervention and felt a little grateful to Xia Zhi in her heart. However, it wasn't entirely gratitude, as both May and July were people from the Xia family, and Pearl still had a bit of resentment towards Xia Zhi.

  Several girls sat on the kang, although they were fiddling with their knitting needles, but no one's mind was on this.

  May laughed and chatted with Pearl, complimenting her on her beautiful clothes. Pearl was delighted and returned the compliment, saying May's clothes were also lovely. This was exactly what May had hoped for.

  "These clothes were made by the needlework daughter of Tianjiansheng's family, not by an outside tailor." In May, she let Pearl see the stitches on her clothes and the embroidered patterns. "These are flower patterns that can't be found outside." Her tone was both reserved and proud.

  May and July look very beautiful today, especially May is good at dressing up. Pearl has noticed their clothes for a long time. Now hearing May's various boasts, Pearl doesn't say anything on the surface but feels envious in her heart.

  May was very talkative, and while showing off herself, she didn't forget to praise Pearl. Before long, Pearl had already forgotten her previous unhappiness and chatted with May very congenially, thinking that May was a pretty good person.

  The topic somehow turned to dressing boxes. Wu Yue said that Zhenzhu's dressing box was very beautiful: "Is the one with plum blossoms yours?"

  "The peony is mine, and the plum blossom is Fourth Sister's." Pearl nodded, completely unaware of the hint in May's words.

  May swept a meaningful glance at Xia Zhi, then smiled and asked Pearl: "Pearl, you're really generous. You'd give such a good dressing box to Sixteen."

  "It was my mother who gave it to me." Pearl replied, pursing her lips, she had not forgotten that she was still angry about this matter and had been scolded by her mother.

  "My aunt treated Sixteen really well." May's face still had a smile on it, but her tone was slightly sour. She didn't ask Xia Zhi directly, and instead continued to ask Pearl: "The clothes that Sixteen is wearing were also made by my aunt, right?"

  "Yes." Pearl replied with relish, "The three of us were just about to go out when the fourth sister arrived. My mother took her and my uncle to make clothes."

  "That must have cost a lot of money." May said immediately.

  "It cost a lot of money." Zhenzhu said one by one to Xia Zhi how much money was spent on making clothes.

  Xia Zhi was speechless and let out a dry cough. Pearl suddenly remembered Xia Dagu's words and realized that she had said too much to Wu Yue, and had let the cat out of the bag.

  In May, she looked at the summer solstice and then at Pearl. She pouted her mouth, and her eyes were very meaningful. "My aunt is just heartbroken for sixteen." This sentence was said with a prolonged tone.

  Zhenzhu couldn't help but feel that something was off about this, so she quickly explained: "That's what my paternal grandmother told my mother."

  "It turned out to be that way." May immediately picked up the conversation and smiled at Xia Zhi. The meaning of this smile was easy to understand. May was telling Xia Zhi that the reason why her aunt treated her well, made clothes for her, was all because of Old Lady Xia's orders. May let Xia Zhi know not to be too proud, thinking that her aunt treated herself exceptionally well.

  Xia Zhi couldn't let the conversation continue like this, so she had to intervene and change the subject. She smiled and told Wu Yue: "If you two also come to live with Big Sister, Big Sister will definitely make clothes for you too. Wu Yue Jie, Qi Yue, don't be jealous."

  "You guys are pretty good now too. Such great relatives, neither I nor Pearl have."

  Zhenzhu finally heard Xia Zhi helping her and hurriedly agreed with Xia Zhi's words.

  In May, he chuckled and said: "I think that dressing box looks pretty good, I don't have one yet." Meaning he also wanted a dressing box.

  When Pearl heard this, her face didn't look good again. She was also a bit clever and pulled the corner of her mouth to say to May: "Third sister, if you want Fourth Sister's dressing box, just tell Fourth Sister."

  This is a deliberate misinterpretation of May's words when she wanted a dressing case for her summer solstice.

  May flew quickly glanced at Xia Zhi, with a faint strange smile on the corner of his mouth: "Sixteen, did you hear Pearl's words?"

  Xia Zhi revealed a surprised expression: "May sister, what did you just say? I didn't hear it." She didn't want to get mixed up with the two little girls. What she could help with, she helped; the rest was none of her business.

  In May, he chuckled and turned his head to say to Pearl: "Pearl, I was just teasing you. I know your family's small business is not easy to make money. How could I ask you for a dressing box? This thing, I have it, better than yours."

  A weight was lifted off her mind, and at the same time, she felt like she had been played by May.

  Xia Zhi thought they wouldn't cause any big trouble, but they were quite annoying, so she didn't want to bother with them anymore. Just as she was thinking of an excuse to leave, she heard the sound of people talking outside.

  Xia Xiuzai has arrived.

  Everyone came out to welcome Xia Xiuzai. Summer Second Uncle was quite surprised, didn't expect to run into Xia Xiuzai here. The fact that Xia Xiuzai would come today hadn't been told to him by Xia Dagu or Guo Gufu yet.

  Everyone exchanged a few pleasantries and talked about family matters, the kitchen had already prepared all the dishes. Xia Dagu led the way and arranged for two tables to be set up. The women's table was in Xia Dagu's room on the kang, while the men's table was set up in the main hall, with Guo Aunt and Changsheng accompanying Xia Xiucan and Xia Ershu drinking wine.

  Xiao Hei Yu'er and Xia Zhuang, although still unable to drink wine, were also arranged to sit next to Xia Xiucai and Changsheng respectively. Xiao Hei Yu'er was of high rank, while Xia Zhuang was due to Guo Shu's intention, as he had heard from Xia Ershu that Xia Zhuang was also in charge at Gui Fang Zhai. Although it is still uncertain whether this is true or not.

  The two tables of dishes were naturally the same, eight dishes, steaming, stir-frying, boiling and frying. Xia Zhi sat with Xia Dagu on the kang in the east room. The dishes were served, and Xia Erniang picked up her chopsticks and began to praise and criticize.

  Xia Dagu's table of dishes was prepared quite well, but compared to what they had at Tian Jian Sheng's house, it was far inferior. "We arrived late that day and they still set up a table for us. There were over ten hot dishes alone, not to mention eating them, just looking at them was overwhelming."

  Xia Dagu smiled slightly, letting Xia Erniang eat while saying lightly: "Ernie knows, we're just a small business family, can't compare to Master Wang's family. It's just some home-cooked dishes, Ernie just make do with eating a bit."

  Aunt Xia's mouth said that the dishes were far inferior to what they ate at the monitor's house, but her chopsticks moved without hesitation, eating big mouthfuls with great relish.

  Xia Dagou accompanied everyone, but she herself ate very little. Her face always wore a smile, but Xia Zhi felt that Xia Dagou's heart was probably not happy.

  Xia Er Shu and Xia Er Shu's temper, just now still don't know what unpleasant words were said.

  The east wing and the main house were only separated by a curtain, and everyone could hear each other's conversations. Although they sat at two separate tables, sometimes one side would pick up where the other left off.

  The topics were mainly about three things: Xia Xiuzai's affairs in the academy, Guo Shu's miscellaneous goods store business, and Xia Ershu's affairs in the prefectural city.

  The most talked about thing is still Xia Ershu's matter.

  After drinking a few mouthfuls of wine, Xia Ershu began to talk fluently and his words became more and more absurd. He kept saying that Tian Jian Sheng was this and that. According to their generation, Tian Jian Sheng was still his junior and should address him as "Gū Fù" (Uncle) along with Zhang Cai and Luo Juan.

  "Big brother, don't you know Tian Jian Sheng?" Xia Ershu asked Xia Xiucái.

  Xia Xiuzai drank little wine, his tone was always neither fast nor slow, neither warm nor fiery. Just listening to him, he was different from business people like Guo Shu and Xia Ershu, who were not easy to position at the same time as Xia Zhi.

  He carefully asked Xia Ershu a few questions, confirmed that Tian Jian Sheng was the one he thought of, and then nodded to tell Xia Ershu that he knew this Tian Jian Sheng: "...... have met before."

  Xia Er Shu then showed a look of "I knew it" and said, "I mentioned Big Brother to the Imperial Tutor, and he also recognized him. The Imperial Tutor had also studied at Wen Shan Academy."

  Then he said, "Others who are born into wealthy families don't have to study hard like you do. Once they have a son, they can buy an official position and be appointed." He also said that Tian Monitor praised him for being capable and handling matters carefully, "Later on, when Monitor Master goes to take office, I'm afraid he'll still want me to go with him as his assistant, haha. At that time, I'll also be a teacher's assistant, and in one year, I can at least get several thousand taels of silver."

  As he spoke, he lowered his voice even further, and a strong smell of alcohol was already emanating from his eyes. "I heard that for just saying something ordinary, talking about personal matters, you can get several hundred taels of silver."

  Then he burst out laughing loudly. "I'm just a farmer, I've only heard people talk about these things. My elder brother is a scholar, my sister's husband and nephew are all old men in the prefectural city, they must understand more than me, haha!"

  It's really wonderful, feeling extremely pleased and satisfied.

  Xia Er's aunt and several others in the house listened with continuous nods, also feeling complacent and invincible.

  It seems that Tian Jian Sheng and Zhang Cai have drawn a big pie for Xia Er Shu. Xia Zhi lowered his head to eat, and heard Xia Xiucai's serious tone advising Xia Er Shu to always abide by the law and morality, and to be a man of integrity, saying that this was the true nature of the Xia family.

  Xia Ershu seemed not very pleased to hear such words, he murmured in response, and finally said to Xia Xiucan: "If Big Brother becomes an official, I'll follow Big Brother, as long as Big Brother is always watching. What a pity, hehehe..."

  After Xia Xiuzai passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, he failed to pass the provincial examination several times. As for becoming an official, it was even more unlikely. Xia Ershu said such words, which had some sarcastic meaning towards Xia Xiuzai.

  "It's all the same whoever you follow, Second Brother should just stick to his own duties." Xia Xiuzai seemed not to grasp the meaning behind his brother's words and continued to advise sincerely.

  (。)