Shanghe Village is so small that news of which family ate a lot of fatty meat at night is known throughout the village. In just half a day, the news that the Su family had separated their second branch of the family had spread like wildfire throughout the village.

One by one, they were all filled with sighs of regret.

For the past ten years or so, the Su family has been plagued by bad luck, so poor that they almost sold off all their land. Just when Hua Ya was finally leading the Su family to a better life, they had a big brick house, hundreds of acres of fertile land in Zaozhuang, and a shop to make money. But then, the second branch of the family was suddenly separated from the Su family.

It's equivalent to losing all the immense wealth that was about to be yours overnight.

If the second wife hadn't done something unforgivable, how could things have come to this?

After all, although Madam Su was shrewish, she always treated her sons equally, except for her favoritism towards her youngest daughter. This second branch of the family will probably never catch up with the other branches of the family for the rest of their lives!

Those who had good news tried to subtly inquire with the Su family, but this time the Su family was like an iron barrel. Not to mention the adults, even the three little children and the gossipy Qian family couldn't get a single useful word out of them.

The Su family had no time to pay attention to the villagers' gossip. After Su Dahu and Su Sanhu finished helping the second branch of the family move, they headed to Qingshui County.

Firstly, we're having a housewarming party tomorrow, and we've already bought the melon seeds and peanuts for the guests, but we still need to buy fresh meat soon.

Secondly, Su Baishi was grateful to Liu Amao for coming to the end of the village to deliver the news late at night. In addition to rewarding him with silver, she also instructed the two brothers to prepare some fatty pork belly and pastries in Qingshui County as a thank-you gift.

Thirdly, tomorrow is the day of rest for Baichuan Academy. Su Dahu was so busy looking for his sister that he forgot to ask for leave, so he has to ask the teacher for a leave slip.

Fortunately, the family had a horse-drawn carriage, and the round trip to Qingshui County only took about half an hour, so it wasn't too much trouble.

In the courtyard, Su Hua was about to go back to her room for a nap when she saw Chunhua bustling around in the west room. She stopped in her tracks. After a period of recuperation, the little girl was completely different from her previous dark and thin appearance. Her skin was much fairer and her face had gained some weight.

She's no longer the little girl I first met.

Qian went to rest at the Su family's ancestral home early in the morning, while Chunhua helped tidy up. She packed the small things she needed into a bundle and carried it on her back, and neatly put away the things she didn't need. When she was about to leave, she even swept the floor of the west room clean.

For no reason, Su Hua felt a pang of tenderness. She walked to the window and tapped the window frame with her finger. "Xiao Chunhua, if you keep sweeping this floor, it'll be a mirror. You should take a break."

Chunhua turned her head at the sound. In the light, the little girl's eyes were red and swollen, and her tightly pursed lips showed no trace of her usual dimples. "I'll listen to my aunt! I'll stop sweeping after this round."

However, this time, each stroke was extremely slow.

Su Hua sighed inwardly, "Xiao Chunhua, you can come back to your aunt if you need anything in the future. If there's anything you want to eat or play, just tell your aunt, and your aunt will make it for you."

Everything remains the same here as before.

She adored this little guy from the bottom of her heart.

It's truly remarkable that the unruly Qian family could produce such a well-behaved and intelligent daughter; it's like a fine bamboo shoot emerging from a rotten bamboo.

However, given Qian's patriarchal nature over the years, and now that Chunhua is carrying this precious child, her future days are likely to be difficult.

Knowing this, Su Bai was also afraid that Chunhua would become corrupted by Qian Shi, so she suggested that Chunhua stay in the old house. However, Qian Shi refused to agree and threatened that if Chunhua was not allowed to go with her, she would give her money to buy a maid to serve her.

The Su family is not short of money to buy maids, but Su Baishi hates the Qian family so much that she would never be willing to buy servants to serve her.

This matter can only be left unresolved for the time being.

"Chunhua understands." The little girl nodded emphatically, wiping away her tears. Her voice was childish and a little hoarse. "I remember all the good things my aunt has done for me. When I grow up, I will take care of my aunt in her old age and see her off when she dies."

"Silly girl! What are you talking about taking care of me in my old age and seeing me off in my final days? That's all so far away. Today's division of the family is a matter between adults. You're just a child, don't overthink it, or you won't grow tall." Su Hua patted the little tuft of hair on her forehead and then secretly pulled out a crabapple that was eight parts tender green and two parts bright red from her sleeve.

"Don't you love sweet and sour apples? This fruit happens to be one of those, you can have it."

The apples are as big as an adult's palm, with a tender green color tinged with red. As soon as you take them out, you can clearly smell a slightly sour fruity aroma.

Chunhua was still a little girl, and when she looked at Linqin, she couldn't care less about her grief over the family division. Instead, she swallowed hard.

"Auntie, wasn't this fruit already eaten?"

She remembered that her aunt had brought back a basket of green and red fruits from Fuhu Mountain. Her grandmother told them to eat them sparingly, but the family had people, dogs, and tigers, and there were quite a few of them. Even if they ate them sparingly, they would have eaten them all in a month.

Thinking this, she slightly widened her eyes and looked at the center of the vegetable garden. The apple trees were covered with small white flowers, some of which had already withered and produced small white and green fruits the size of a fingernail.

“This is the one I had left over.” Su Hua blinked, then pointed to the apple tree and said with a gentle smile, “These little fruits on the tree will ripen in two months. Don’t forget to come home and eat them then.”

Upon hearing the word "go home," Chunhua's nose suddenly stung, and tears streamed down her face.

My mother said that after the family split up, the small courtyard at the end of the village would no longer be their home; their home would only be in the ancestral house.

But her grandmother is still her grandmother, and her aunt is still her aunt. How can it not be her home anymore?

Chunhua held the apples in her hands, tears falling drop by drop onto the fruit's peel. She nodded like a chick pecking at rice, "I'll listen to my aunt. When the fruit is ripe, I'll come home to eat it..."

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