Su Sanhu was startled when he saw the girl's eyes suddenly fill with tears. He instinctively raised his hand, which was hanging by his side.

Just as he was about to touch her skin, he withdrew as if startled awake.

Then he gave a bitter laugh, "Don't cry. I've never blamed you. It's just that I'm not capable enough to come up with twenty taels of silver to marry you."

After learning that Liang Siyu was not present at the time, most of the dissatisfaction he had been suppressing dissipated.

Now, hearing her explanation, there is not a trace of resentment.

He can only blame himself for not being able to help her when she was being pressured by her family.

Upon hearing this, Liang Siyu's sobs stopped, and she looked at the young man with tears streaming down her face. "What is Brother Sanhu thinking now? Does Brother Sanhu really not want our friendship of all these years?"

The girl's suppressed sobs seemed to strike Su Sanhu's heart with each sound.

They met when they were ten years old, and now six years have passed.

But the scene from that time is still vivid in my mind.

At that time, the Su family was living a very difficult life. They didn't see any meat for a month. He was so hungry for meat that he secretly ran to the hillside behind the yard. Coincidentally, he actually saw a rabbit.

Without a second thought, he immediately followed the rabbit.

After running for an unknown amount of time, the rabbit disappeared, and he himself fell into a deep pit and twisted his ankle.

It was a situation where no one would answer their cries for help.

For a full day and night, he shouted until he lost his voice, but still no one appeared.

Just when he thought he was about to lose his life in the deep pit.

A little girl with her hair in two buns appeared. She was not even as tall as his shoulder at the time, but she went to great lengths to pull him out of the pit and then led him back to her home, stumbling along the way.

I also cooked him a bowl of hot wild vegetable porridge. The warmth of the porridge still seems to linger on my fingertips after all these years.

That little girl was nine-year-old Liang Siyu.

From that moment on, his heart belonged to her.

His greatest wish is to marry her and be with her forever.

Seeing the expression on his face, the girl took another step closer, tears streaming down her face. "Brother Sanhu, if you don't take care of me, my parents might really marry me off to anyone for twenty taels of silver. Can you really bear to do that?"

“I…” Su Sanhu murmured.

He couldn't bear to do it, but where could he find twenty taels of silver?

Hua'er's things belong to Hua'er; he never coveted them.

As for his mother, both his eldest and second eldest brothers got married for two taels of silver. Even if his mother could give him twenty taels for his own wedding, he wouldn't have the face to accept it. He couldn't let his own happiness cause chaos in the entire Su family.

Seeing this, Liang Siyu gently bit her lip and said, "Brother Sanhu, there's something I don't know if I should say."

"What did you say?" Su Sanhu was stunned for a moment, then grinned slightly. "You can say whatever you want with me."

Upon hearing this, Liang Siyu raised her wide sleeve to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes. After hesitating for a long time, she slowly spoke: "My parents told me that they don't need the twenty taels of betrothal gift, as long as... as long as you teach them the recipe for making flavorful snails."

"Impossible!" Su Sanhu's brow twitched violently.

"This flavorful snail dish is Hua'er's business; she would never teach it to anyone else!"

The boy's cold voice made Liang Siyu feel wronged.

"An outsider? Am I an outsider too? Are my parents outsiders?"

Over the years, whenever we met, all I heard him mention besides wielding weapons was Su Hua.

She knew, of course, how much Su Hua meant to him.

I had guessed he wouldn't agree easily, but I didn't expect his attitude to be so resolute.

"That's not what I meant, don't overthink it." Su Sanhu felt bad seeing the hurt look in her eyes, but Hua'er was his bottom line, a hard rule imprinted in his mind since childhood.

It can never be changed, no matter when or where.

"Then what do you mean?" Liang Siyu flicked her sleeves and took a few steps back, her red eyes filled with resentment. "Your family doesn't run the snail business anymore, so can't you even teach my parents the recipe?"

If you're unwilling to persuade your family to provide twenty taels of betrothal gifts, then so be it.

Now, they actually value an inanimate object more than I do.

All she ever talked about was the Su family and Su Hua!

They didn't consider me at all from beginning to end.

Our friendship over the years is probably less than a single hair on Su Hua's head in your heart!

"What are you saying?" Su Sanhu looked at Liang Siyu and suddenly felt that she was a stranger to him.

He took a deep breath and said slowly, "If the recipe for the snail and the money were mine, I would be willing to give them to you without hesitation, but they are not."

I, Su Sanhu, would never do anything like stealing my brothers' or sisters' belongings!

But don't worry, I will definitely find a way to handle the twenty taels of betrothal gifts.

I will never let you marry someone else.

"Think of a way?" Liang Siyu looked at the boy's stern face and suddenly burst out laughing. "What way can you think of? Do you expect to earn those few copper coins by carrying bags at the dock every day?"

By the time you've earned twenty taels, I might have already been married off by my parents and have both a son and a daughter.

"It's better to just let it go."

After saying that, she turned and left without waiting for his reply.

In just a few breaths, they disappeared into the path at the end of the village.

Su Sanhu stood on the riverbank, gazing at the deserted road, not knowing how much time had passed.

As the sun set, the two brothers who were tending the horses returned.

"Third Uncle, what are you still standing here for? The food at home smells delicious..."

In the small courtyard kitchen, firewood roared in the stove, and hot oil bubbled in the pot, with golden-brown fried tofu puffs floating on top.

Among the bean products in Cangwu Town and even Qingshui County, Su Hua had never seen dried tofu; all she ever had was old tofu. But how could mala tang (a type of spicy hot pot) be without bean products?

So today I bought ten pieces of old tofu at the market, each piece costing two copper coins.

Two pieces of tofu will be reserved for stewing fish soup for Su Baishi's birthday tomorrow, and the rest will be used to fry tofu puffs. Eight pieces of old tofu are enough to fry almost a whole pot of tofu puffs.

Of course, a lot of oil is needed for frying tofu puffs.

From the moment the frying began until it was almost finished, Su Baishi sat in front of the stove, glancing at the oil in the pot every now and then, her eyes revealing a visible heartache.

Su Hua, wearing a homemade apron, stood by the stove, about to try and pick up a tofu puff to see if she could succeed.

Turning around, he saw Su Sanhu and Dalang standing at the door of the kitchen.