The newly appointed clan leader, Xia Xintian, realized that as the clan leader, he was just there to make up the numbers; he hadn't helped at all and hadn't said a word.

He wasn't stupid. The way Xia Hongfen, Chen Jinlian, and Chen Jinlian's father, Chen Shuitian, were acting in unison was clearly pre-arranged.

But why did Chen Shuitian side with her? It was because Chen Jinlian was making money from it.

It wasn't until Xia Xintian saw Chen Xiaoyu, and until Chen Xiaoyu called Chen Jinlian "Auntie," that everything suddenly became clear to him!

Xia Xintian admired Xia Chunmei's intelligence, noting that she had already won over Village Chief Chen so early on; she must have been thinking about dealing with Chen Jinshui's family back then.

It's a pity this girl is a woman; if she were a boy, she would surely be extraordinary in the future.

When I get back, I should remind my children to associate more with smart people like Chunmei.

Xia Chunmei, carrying a small basket and three fish, didn't enter Chenjiaqiao Village; she waited outside.

Seeing Xia Hongfen and the others come out, they immediately went to greet them: "Auntie, Grandma Ming, Auntie, Uncle..."

"With the village chief's help, we'll get our things back. I doubt they'll dare to cause trouble again." Xia Hongfen breathed a sigh of relief.

Her niece lives far away, and she won't feel at ease until the problem is completely resolved.

Fortunately, my niece had the foresight to bring Village Chief Chen to her side early on.

Village Chief Chen is a clever man, and he came up with this idea.

If Xia Hongfen doesn't make a big fuss, Village Chief Chen won't be able to get involved and will have to treat it as a family matter.

However, Xia Hongfen made a big fuss, which affected the reputation of the entire village, and Village Chief Chen was able to deal with Chen Jinshui in a legitimate way.

Xia Chunmei knew that she had made the right move by taking Chen Xiaoyu to run a kitchen.

"Chunmei, we're heading back now. If you need anything in the future, just come to our house," said Brother-in-law Ding Yi.

"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, thank you for coming all this way. We don't have much to give you, so please take this fish back for my sister and my nephew. If you have time, please have my sister bring her child over to play. We sisters should visit each other more often."

Xia Chunmei gave each of them a fish, which weighed six jin (approximately 3 catties), making it a very suitable gift.

"Little sister, this fish..."

"Don't say no, I caught them all myself, they didn't cost me any money. If you don't accept them, I'll feel embarrassed to ask you for help next time."

“Uncle, you’ve come to stand up for your niece. She doesn’t have much to offer in terms of filial piety. Please take this fish back with you. There are also some cheap dried vegetables and pickled vegetables in the basket. Please take them back to add to your meal.”

Xia Chunmei handed the basket and fish to Xiao Youyin.

Xiao Youyin didn't stand on ceremony.

Xia Hongfen knew that Xia Chunmei was good at fishing, and seeing that Xia Chunmei was only giving her fish and dried vegetables, she didn't say anything about not wanting to accept them.

Seeing how poised and graceful Xia Chunmei was in her interactions with others, Xia Xintian admired her even more and thought that he must teach his child to learn from her when he got back.

There are banquets tomorrow and the day after, so Xia Hongfen will stay with Xia Chunmei and start learning cooking skills from her tomorrow.

"It's so heavy, brother, can you carry it for me? I can't carry it anymore." Xiao Quanfu, carrying the basket given to him by Xia Chunmei, climbed a big slope and was panting heavily, so he took it off and handed it to Xiao Quangui.

“You complain about being tired when I ask you to do some work.” Xiao Quangui complained, but he still felt sorry for his younger brother and reached out to take the work.

Upon receiving it, I immediately realized something was wrong; a few handfuls of dried vegetables and pickled cabbage couldn't possibly weigh this much.

Xiao Quangui flipped through the dried vegetables and found ten wild eggs underneath, and below the eggs was a piece of pork fat weighing about three jin (approximately 1.5 kg) wrapped in banana leaves.

"Sister Chunmei is so generous," Ding Yi exclaimed.

"She must have been afraid my mother would find out and stop us from taking it, so she hid it underneath." Xiao Quangui was deeply moved.

They only buy a few pounds of pork fat each October, and save the rendered fat for the Lunar New Year.

Because meat prices rise in the eleventh and twelfth lunar months, pork fat that usually costs 20 wen per jin (500 grams) will cost 22 wen per jin in the eleventh, twelfth and first lunar months.

"If they bully Sister Chunmei again, we must come to their aid and beat them to a pulp." Xiao Quanfu raised his fist.

"Absolutely! From now on, we'll be her family!"

…………

Yijia Village.

After that incident, the Fan family was afraid it would affect Fan Baowen's reputation, so Madam Fan Jiang always remembered what Xia Chunmei had said: that her aunt was here today and they could come to discuss the marriage.

However, Madam Fan did not expect Xia Chunmei to be away from home. She felt that Xia Chunmei was very inconsiderate. Knowing that Madam Fan was coming to discuss the wedding date today, she still went out. It was really impolite of her.

However, she was even more shocked when she heard that Xia Chunmei was building a new house!

She originally thought that the money was only temporarily in Xia Chunmei's hands, and that Xia Chunmei would definitely take the money with her when she married her nephew. But the money was actually spent!

A bunch of money-losing good-for-nothings are actually building tile houses! They really don't know how to manage a household; they're simply wasting money!

Madam Fan Jiang thought she must remind her family that once Xia Chunmei entered the Jiang family, the financial power must not be in Xia Chunmei's hands, because she was too wasteful.

When Xia Chunmei and the others returned, they happened to see Fan Jiangshi lingering near her house.

"Chunmei, you're back." Madam Fan Jiang came up warmly and affectionately took Xia Chunmei's hand.

“Aunt Jiang,” Xia Chunmei introduced to Xia Hongfen, “Aunt, this is Fan Baowen’s mother.”

Xia Hongfen did not know Fan Jiangshi, but she did know Fan Baowen.

"Oh dear, we just went to Chenjiaqiao and completely forgot you were coming today. We're so sorry, please come in and have a seat."

Xia Hongfen was unaware of the Fan family's heartless nature. Thinking that this was her niece's future mother-in-law, she warmly invited her in.

"Auntie, you should know what happened to Chunmei before, right?"

"I know everything. I never imagined that relatives with the same surname could be so wicked!" Xia Hongfen was still furious when she talked about Xia Changjiang and his wife.

“Our Fan family only recognizes Chunmei as our daughter-in-law. My son Baowen is also devoted to Chunmei. The two children are not young anymore. Why don’t we set a wedding date and get them married as soon as possible to avoid any further complications? What do you think?”

“Our Chunmei is a good girl. Whether it’s her interpersonal skills or her personal abilities, she’s top-notch. To be honest, I’m reluctant to see her get married.”

"Chunmei is indeed a good girl. Our Fan family has really struck gold this time."

Fan Jiangshi spoke very eloquently, praising Chunmei at every turn, and Xia Hongfen was very satisfied with Fan Jiangshi's attitude.

Madam Fan continued, "Since Chunmei is such a wonderful girl, we want to make the wedding as respectable as possible. So I'd like to set the wedding date for December, so that we'll have time to prepare."

I had someone choose auspicious dates, and December 12th and December 28th are both good days. What does the child's aunt think?

"The New Year is just around the corner, so is twenty-eight not appropriate? You know Chunmei has three younger sisters who are still young."

“I can understand that. Even if they get married, Chunmei can come home to see her sister every two or three days. We won’t mind.”

"I'm glad you understand."

"Then let's set the wedding date for December 12th."

"Okay, twelve it is."

"Then I'll go back and prepare now."

Xia Hongfen got up and saw Fan Jiangshi out.

Everyone in the village knew that Fan Jiangshi had come today to discuss the marriage. Seeing Xia Hongfen seeing Fan Jiangshi off with a smile, everyone knew that the matter was probably settled.

"Hongfen, Chunmei's wedding date has been set."

"Yes, it's settled. December 12th. Everyone, come and have a drink at our wedding!"

"Absolutely."

“We’ve watched Chunmei grow up. Now that she’s getting married, we definitely have to ask for a drink at her wedding and share in the joy.”

"Chunmei's in-laws are quite nice. When they came, I saw that the gifts they brought were quite substantial."

"The Fan family is indeed very generous; didn't they send grain to Chunmei before?"

"Chunmei is a lucky child."

...

Xia Hongfen returned to the house and carefully counted the gifts brought by Fan Jiangshi. There were eight feet of cloth, half a catty of white sugar, two catties of longan, two catties of red dates, and twenty eggs. This was a very heavy gift for the wedding in the countryside.

This time, Madam Fan Jiang really went all out.

"Chunmei, I think the Fan family values ​​this marriage quite a bit. Madam Fan is a very kind person. After you get married, you'll have children. It's a pity your father won't be able to see your good days." Xia Hongfen couldn't help but tear up.

“My father often appears in my dreams, so I think he can see me. Aunt, please don’t be sad.”

Xia Chunmei decided not to tell Xia Hongfen the true colors of the Fan family yet, so as not to hurt her or ruin her plans.

Xia Xiumei secretly returned to Yijia Village to gather information and see if the Fan family was still there.

As it happened, they ran into Madam Fan Jiang, who was bringing gifts to discuss the marriage of Fan Baowen and Xia Chunmei with Xia Hongfen.

Xia Xiumei returned to her current residence in a huff and told Xia Changjiang and Chen Sanhua what had happened. After telling them, she even threw things to vent her anger.

"Why are you smashing things? Don't you know things cost money to buy?" This time, the family suffered heavy losses, and Xia Changjiang hated Xia Chunmei, but he also couldn't stand his youngest daughter, Xia Xiumei.

"They're engaged, sob sob sob..."

"I'm not even dead yet, and you're already wailing like a mourner? If you don't want to stay in this house, then get out!"

Chen Sanhua said, "Their setting a wedding date is just for show. The Fan family won't really marry Xia Chunmei. They will definitely find a way to resolve this. Stay calm. If Fan Baowen passes the imperial examination, you will be an official's wife. If you can't stay calm, how will you manage the household in the future?"

"But I'm just sad and angry."

Fan Baowen and Xia Chunmei have set a wedding date, but her reputation is ruined and she has already lost her virginity to Fan Baowen. All of this makes her feel very insecure.

Xia Xiumei felt she couldn't just sit and wait to die; she had to go find Fan Baowen.