Jiayin quickly waved her hand, beckoning her silly fox, "San Tiao, come here!"

The little fox immediately darted over, nearly knocking Jiayin flat on her bottom.

The boys, curious, finished their melons in a few bites and then crowded around the little fox, stroking its smooth fur and bombarding it with questions.

"My father said that the Marquis caught a little fox for my sister to keep as a playmate. Is this it?"

"Oh my, it really has three tails? Is it a fox spirit?!"

The little fox woke up thirsty, but before he could even get a piece of melon to moisten his throat, the boys smeared melon juice all over him.

It was extremely disgusted and immediately stuck out its tongue, licking it incessantly.

Cat Brother was surprised, "Little sister, don't you ever give it any watermelon at home? Look how hungry it is, it's so pitiful!"

The little fox seemed to understand, for it almost didn't retract its outstretched tongue.

It bared its teeth in anger, trying to explain to the cat that it was cleaning its fur, not being greedy!

There are so many melons in the space, and it just lies in the pile of melons and eats them, rolling around in them!

Unfortunately, the people couldn't understand fox language, and seeing how "fierce" it was, they became worried instead.

Jiaren asked, "Has Grandpa Zhang examined this fox? Does it have any diseases? Will it bite? What if it hurts Fu Niu'er?"

Jia'an and Jiaxi nodded in agreement.

Grandma Li said, "Don't worry, the Marquis had the palace eunuchs who train animals inspect them, and the three dogs' sharp teeth and claws have been trimmed. Moreover, Fu Niu'er has taken good care of them these past two months; the three dogs have never run away and are even more well-behaved than puppies and kittens."

Only then did everyone feel somewhat relieved.

Dinner was ready in no time.

While Li Laosan and Zhao Yuru were busy in the canteen, Li Laotai took her grandchildren to eat.

The children gathered together, making a ruckus, and their laughter carried on the wind to the Sun family's house next door.

Sun Siyuan and his wife were sitting under the eaves enjoying the cool air when they inevitably heard it.

Madam Sun whispered, "The old lady of the Li family next door has brought the young princess from Broken Gold Beach."

Sun Siyuan nodded and instructed, "Just be ordinary neighbors. It's a real pity that Nannan's wet nurse doesn't know her place and has had a very unpleasant falling out with the Li family..."

"Otherwise, if such a good family took care of Nannan even a little, her life would be much smoother."

Mentioning Nannan's wet nurse, Madam Sun frowned and sighed, saying, "The account books from the estate have arrived. I took a look at them. Sister Li is too ambitious and too strong-willed."

"She somehow found a way to buy seeds and actually planted half an acre of corn and half an acre of potatoes, spending more than two hundred taels of silver. She even said that if they had a good harvest in the fall, they could sell the seeds and make a tenfold profit."

"But why doesn't she consider that in the autumn, when everyone has a bumper harvest of corn and potatoes, the prices will inevitably drop? She probably won't even be able to recoup her costs, let alone make a tenfold profit!"

Sun Siyuan was furious. "Nonsense! We sent her to look after the estate, why is she still not behaving?"

Madam Sun smiled bitterly and did not respond.

She's already doing a lot of work raising her niece, and if she interferes in her niece's business too much, outsiders might say she has ulterior motives!

At the very least, Sun Chengjian's family will come and cause a huge uproar.

Sun Siyuan clearly understood this as well. He patted his wife's hand and sighed, "You've worked hard. You don't need to worry about these things. Keep all the account books safe, and hide the land deeds for the estate. We'll give them to Nannan when she grows up."

"What to do with this wet nurse is up to Nannan herself. As long as the estate isn't sold, the annual harvest... well, it's all gone if it's squandered."

"If that wet nurse is really ignorant, give her twenty lashes to teach her a lesson!"

"Alright, sir, don't worry." Madam Sun smiled and dropped the subject.

The couple couldn't help but feel envious as they listened to the cheerful laughter next door.

The elders are wise, the brothers live in harmony, and the grandchildren are successful. Such a thriving family is probably one of the few in the whole world.

When it got dark, Jiaren took his younger brothers back to the academy for their evening lessons.

The boys were reluctant to leave, their eyes practically glued to the remaining jade melons, which made Old Lady Li laugh uncontrollably, and she told them to shoo them away.

"Don't worry, these melons aren't for gifts. They're all for you to enjoy secretly. Hurry up and go to class. There will be more when you come back tomorrow night!"

"Thank you, Grandma!"

The boys were relieved and ran off in a swarm.

On the way, they encountered Tao Hongying and Jia Huan, who were returning from a restaurant in the city.

So they each got a chicken leg.

Jiaren was full and couldn't eat any more chicken legs. Not wanting to disappoint his aunt's kindness, he took the chicken legs back to the school and gave them to the fattest classmate who was the glutton.

The other boys sitting nearby joined in the fun, crowding around the fat man and grabbing at his food. They each took a bite before they stopped.

For a time, the school was filled with joy.

The other classmates simply watched them laugh and joke, and laughed along with them.

But the two sitting in the back row looked at them with disdain and a hint of smugness.

But everyone got used to it; these two were like donkey dung balls in a soup pot, always surfacing from time to time to show off their presence.

Since we can't find it, we can only pretend we didn't see it.

Even Jiaren didn't take it seriously; after all, he wasn't rich enough to please everyone...

Li Laosan and Zhao Yuru returned to the courtyard very late. Without the children's noise, everyone gathered together, eating jade melons, fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans, and chatting idly, feeling much more at ease.

It was very late before everyone went to sleep.

The next morning, Li Laosan and Zhao Yuru went to the canteen before dawn.

After the busy breakfast period, and the students had started their classes, Zhao Yuru returned to take the elderly and children out for a stroll, fearing they might be bored at home.

Jiayin is young and loves new things.

Wenjuan has to look after the small courtyard, do housework, and make ice. She's usually very busy and hasn't been to the street in a long time. She's a little tempted.

Grandma Li and Tao Hongying dote on their children. Even if they don't want to buy anything, it's nice to just go for a walk with them.

Today, there were a few clouds in the sky, and it wasn't too sunny yet, making it a perfect time for sightseeing.

So, the whole family, along with Granny He and Shui Ling, went out.

The first thing I did when I went out was to buy sticky rice cakes from the end of the street.

Jiayin ate as she walked, occasionally stopping to look at the little things on the roadside stalls.

But she only looked at them; nothing caught her eye, as the workmanship was too rough.

As a result, a vendor, perhaps having not made any business for half a day, noticed that they were well-dressed and kept pestering them to introduce their wares.

Finally, he took out a pair of beautifully carved wooden plaques and said, "These are auspicious charms that have been blessed at a temple. Do you have any students taking exams in your family? Buy these for them and they will surely pass with flying colors!"

Zhao Yuru often saw students wearing these things on their waists at the academy, and she laughed and said, "Many people in the academy have them, but they don't look as good as this."

"Of course, madam, these two plaques are carved from sandalwood and have been offered at the temple for forty-nine days..." The vendor's words were full of flowery language, but he was suddenly interrupted by the three strips in Jiayin's arms.

For some reason, San Tiao seemed to dislike the vendor, baring his teeth at him and even appearing eager to jump over and bite him...

Served at midnight~~~