"What's the big joy?" Old Man Xia immediately asked.

  Xia Zhi looked at Xia Xiū Cái and smiled: "Dad, then I'll tell my grandfather?" Xia Xiū Cái nodded and said to Xia Zhi: "Go ahead. You're eloquent, you can explain it more clearly than me."

  "What's going on?" Old Man Xia asked suspiciously, looking at Xia Xiuzai and then at Xia Zhi.

  Xia Zhi then told Old Man Xia, "My father has decided not to give my mother so much money. My father plans to only give the Tian family thirty taels of silver to help Tian Dabao get a wife, and that's all."

  Thirty taels of silver may not be a small amount, but it's still something Xia Xiuren can afford. Moreover, these thirty taels are much less than the two hundred taels. Mr. Xia's face lit up with joy, but he was still a bit skeptical, so he asked Xia Xiuren to confirm.

  "Is what Sixteen said true?"

  "It's true." Xia Xiuzai hastily replied, and also told Old Master Xia that Li Shanzhang was unwilling to lend him an advance on his salary, and he couldn't borrow money from his colleagues or students either. "I don't know why, I guess it's because I've borrowed money too many times in recent years. However, I've been paying it back slowly."

  Xia Xiuzai is still in the dark and doesn't know why everyone has stopped lending him money.

  Xia Zhi lowered her eyelids, and then she saw the little black fish staring up at her with a smile. Xia Zhi quickly lifted her eyelids to look around, seeing that no one had noticed her, she winked at the little black fish, meaning to let him not reveal his flaws. Her actions were not suitable for Xia Xiuzai to know about for now.

  Little Black Fish was originally a clever child. On the summer solstice morning, he winked at him and immediately understood, pursing his small mouth tightly.

  Old Man Xia understood it clearly. It turned out that Xia Xiuren made such a decision, to a large extent, because he really couldn't borrow money anymore. However, this was still much better than Xia Xiuren having to raise another 200 taels of silver.

  Old Xia nodded: "For a family like ours, thirty taels of silver is enough to handle a marriage. Even if Tian Jiaobao's case is special, this amount of silver should be about right."

  Saying so, Old Man Xia couldn't help but complain. "All these years, you haven't given them a little either. I'm sitting here and I know that the new house they built, and the land they bought, were all paid for with your money. If they had been living a good life, they would have saved some money over the past few years, which would be enough for Dabao to get married."

  Although Old Man Xia had some complaints, what he said was indeed wise and patriotic words.

  Xia Xiuzai nodded, as for the affairs of the Zhuang family, Old Man Xia understood more clearly than he did.

  "This is a great thing." After Old Man Xia was happy, he began to worry about Xia Xiucui. "However, can you communicate with your wife?"

  Xia Xiuzai's face showed a look of difficulty. Old Man Xia took one glance and thought, "As expected."

  "Then just let my dad try, what else can we do? My dad can't borrow money either, and we can't sell the house or land. Otherwise, they would have sold me, my brother, and my little brother."

  "She thinks she can." Old Master Xia said immediately. "As long as I'm around, she won't dare do such a thing again." Da Yu'e's affair was an eternal pain in Old Master Xia's heart.

  "I myself raised twenty taels, and another ten taels were borrowed from Sixteen." Xia Xiuren was a straightforward person, and he actually mentioned this in front of Old Master Xia and everyone else.

  Xia Lao Ye Zi just looked towards Xia Zhi.

  "Ah, yes, that's true. Actually, if my father can handle this matter well, I don't need the ten taels of silver afterwards either." Then she hurriedly added and explained, "This silver is not for Tian Dabao, I want to help my father."

  Old man Xia nodded with satisfaction: "This child is really considerate." After saying this, he scolded Xia Xiucui, "Such a good child, look at how you and your wife usually treat her. When she's going out, she doesn't even have one piece of clothing that's suitable for wearing outside. It's still this child who works hard herself to make these things for herself."

  "That ten taels of silver, you must return to Sixteen. Sixteen can use it for whatever he wants." Old Master Xia smiled at Xia Zhi. Xia Zhi was holding the money, and what he wanted to do was definitely something that would make him happy.

  "My grandfather said so. Otherwise, let's do it this way: if my father can repay these ten taels of silver, then send my brother and me to study." Ten taels of silver, as a year's tuition for two children, should be enough for a private school in Linshui Town.

  Old Xia couldn't hide the smile on his face anymore. This time, he didn't praise Xia Zhi, but instead scolded Xia Xiucai: "Look at you, a father, still thinking like a sixteen-year-old. Who have you been good to all these years? You haven't even been good to Tian Laiyu, let alone the Tian family. You can't even be good to your own child."

  Xia Xiuzai is not only unfilial to his own children, but also to himself.

  "Grandfather, my father is also very hardworking in the provincial city." Xia Zhi then told Xia Xiucui about his father's frugal lifestyle in the provincial city, including washing his own clothes.

  Old Man Xia was both heartbroken and resentful of his son's lack of ambition. He let out a deep sigh, but didn't scold Xia Xiuzai again. Today, he was in a good mood and the timing was right, so he had already said many things that he had kept hidden in his heart for a long time. His son had grown up and become independent, busy with his own life and also because of Tian Shi, they had drifted apart, and even his children were all grown up now, it had been many years since he last spoke to Xia Xiuzai.

  Xia Xiuzai glanced at Old Man Xia and knew he was worried about her, so she quickly said that she wasn't working too hard.

  "Alas." Old Xia sighed again, "Anyway, it's good that you can understand now. Straighten your back and go talk to Tian. If she has any conscience and still cares about you and the children, she shouldn't be pressuring you anymore."

  This half-day's work was enough for Tian Shi to know to hurry back carefully.

  Xia Xiuzai thought of this and said a few more words to Old Master Xia, then headed towards the front yard. Xia Qiao hesitated for a moment, thinking that if Tian Shi and Xia Xiuzai quarreled, he could mediate between them.

  Xia Zhi stretched out his hand to stop Xia Qiao, then said to everyone present: "I'm doing manual labor selling zongzi to make money, don't tell anyone outside, especially my mother can't know." And even more so, Tian Shi must not know about the ten taels of silver.

  She had already discussed this matter with Xia Xiuzai, and Old Man Xia and Old Lady Xia would not tell anyone outside, so she only needed to remind these few children.

  Several children nodded their heads. They are now loyal fans of Xia Zhi. Whatever Xia Zhi says, they are willing to listen.

  Xiaqiao nodded, knowing that Xia Zhi's worries were not unfounded. He would also keep Xia Zhi's secret. Xiaqiao went to the front yard, but Xiao Shu did not follow. Instead, he surrounded Xia Zhi and asked her about things in the city, his big eyes filled with envy and hope.

  "It would be great if I could go to the city with you sometime." Xiaoshu said, "Sister, next time if you have something to do, take me with you. I can also help you. I'm two years older than Uncle, whatever he can do, I can do too."

  It's because Little Black Fish told Xia Zhi about being in charge of things.

  Xia Zhi patted the little tree's head and smiled, but didn't say anything. As it was getting close to evening, Old Lady Xia started cleaning up and began preparing dinner. Since Old Man Xia had said something, she wanted to call all her children and grandchildren over to eat together, so she decided to make a few more dishes.

  Xia Zhi wanted to help, but was stopped by Old Lady Xia. "Let Lamei help me with the work. You accompany your grandfather and chat with him. In these days when you were away, your grandfather almost recited your name every day."

  "Let your mother go with you in December, sixteen. You sit here." Old Master Xia said, pointing to the position in front of him.

  Xia Zhi knew that Old Man Xia had something to ask her, so she smiled and walked back over, sitting down in front of him. Old Man Xia looked at Xia Zhi with a discerning eye, first asking her about the carriage.

  Xia Zhi concealed the fact that he was going to sell the recipe for Point Heart Cakes, only saying it was mainly because of Tian Lai Bao's sake, and also another thing, which is that the champion zongzi was finally sold to Gui Xiang Zhai.

  "I went to Lao Bao's house with Old Uncle and met Lao Bao's parents." Xia Zhi told Old Master Xia.

  Tian Changzai and Tian Fuchun also brought some gifts to Xia Lao Ye, Xia Lao Ye guessed that it was not just because of Tian Laibao's sake. After listening to Xia Zhi's words, there was also an episode of Zhuangyuan Zong in it, he understood.

  "I'll go to Old Tiantai's house right away." So saying, Old Xia got up and went to Tian San Niang's home. Originally, they didn't have much contact with the Tian family, but now that they had received pastries from them and their own people had been sent back in someone else's carriage, Old Xia wanted to hurry over and express his gratitude, while also strengthening the bond between the two families.

  Mr. Xia is a man who understands human relationships and remembers others' kindness.

  Xia Zhi followed him out and watched Xia Lao Tai Tai and Larou Zhang preparing food in the main room. Xia Lao Tai Tai knew that Xia Lao Ye Zi had gone to Tian San Nai Nai's house, so she smiled and said: "Your grandfather is just a hot-tempered person, once he thinks of something, he has to go do it right away."

  This is indeed Old Man Xia's temperament.

  Xia Zhi smiled and was about to help Old Lady Xia. But Old Lady Xia didn't need her: "You've come all the way back by car, Sixteen, you should rest instead. This bit of work can be handled by me and Duan Yue. Your Third Uncle and Third Aunt will also be back soon."

  Xia San Aunt can help Xia Old Lady cook and prepare dishes.

  Xia Zhi thought for a moment and didn't compete with Old Lady Xia for the task. She said to Old Lady Xia, "Nai, then I'll go back to the front yard first."

  Old Lady Xia stopped chopping with her knife: "You go back and take a look, advise your parents to not let them quarrel. If there's anything, let the two of them discuss it slowly."

  Xia Zhi responded with a sound and came to the front yard without bringing her own burden. Xiao Shu was playing with Xia Xialin in the yard, saw the situation and hurriedly followed up.

  I don't know when it started, but Xiao Shu has been Xia Zhi's loyal little tail since then.

  "Little Shu, have you been doing well at home these days?" Xia Zhi asked while walking towards the front yard.

  Little Tree wrinkled her nose. "Sister, it's not good when you're not at home." Since Xia Zhi started going to the market to earn money, she often bought some snacks for Little Tree and also frequently brought back meat dishes for everyone to enjoy as a treat. Even if she didn't buy anything extra to eat, Xia Zhi was willing to put thought into every meal and spared no expense on oil and eggs.

  When Xia Zhi was at home taking care of the meals, Xiao Shu Er ate very satisfactorily. But once Xia Zhi left, Tian Shi took charge of the meals and gradually became stingy. Although Tian Shi also doted on her youngest son, she was now anxious to save money for Tian Da Bao's marriage, so she couldn't even bear to let Xiao Shu Er eat eggs.

  Xiao Shu is missing Xia Zhi very much, missing Xia Zhi's home cooking, and good things always happen when following Xia Zhi.

  "Sister, I've missed you so much." Xiaoshu said, pulling on Xiazhi's hand and acting spoiled.

  "Are you thinking of the delicious food I brought back?" Xia Zhi asked with a smile. Xiao Shu was a clever ghost and also a very standard foodie.

  "Sister, I miss you, and I also miss the delicious food you brought back." Xiaoshu said with a raised chin, speaking the truth in a spoiled tone.

  Xia Zhi smiled and said: "Little tree, you be good, wait for sister to make money in the future, I'll send you to school, and take you to the prefectural city."

  "Really, sister?" Xiaoshu immediately stopped in her tracks, her big eyes staring at Xiazhi.

  "Of course it's true! Why would I lie to you?" Xia Zhi also stopped and smiled at Xiao Shu.

  "Sister, you're really my own sister!" Xiaoshu buried his head in Xiazhi's arms.

  "I'm your own sister." Xia Zhi slapped Xiao Shu's back of the head.

  The little black fish was talking to the little friends who came to hear the news at the gate, letting them see his silver necklace. At this time, he saw Xiaoshu and Xiatie making a scene. The little black fish immediately walked over, with a dark face, and pulled Xiaoshu away.

  "Look at you, you're so big now, still acting like a 16-year-old, aren't you ashamed?" Little Black Fish scolded Little Tree with an air of being his uncle.

  The little tree was somewhat afraid of the little black fish, so it just chuckled and didn't make a sound.

  "Where are you going, Sixteen? It's almost time for dinner." Little Black Fish pushed aside Little Tree and walked up to Summer.

  "I'll go back to the front yard and take a look." Xia Zhi winked at Xiao Hei Yu.

  "Ah." Xiao Hei immediately understood and then asked, "Sixteen, I'll go with you. I also have something to say to your mother."

  There were little black fish going with them, which was naturally the best thing that could happen.

  Xia Zhi arrived at the front yard with Xiao Hei Yu and Xiao Shu Er, chatting and laughing. Before entering the back door, Xia Zhi heard Tian Shi's sharp voice.

  She must have had a fight with Xia Xiuzai.

  It was already dark when he arrived home and he hesitated for a moment at the door before entering.

  Dong Wu, Tian Shi and Xia Xiuzai were sitting on the kang not far apart, with Xia Qiao standing between them. Tian Shi was pointing at Xia Xiuzai's nose and scolding him.

  "You promised to prepare at least 100 taels of silver, but now you're only taking out 30 taels. What's the use of that? How did you agree with me back then? You made a fool of me and I've lost face in front of my parents!"