Although Qian Wanyue was also a little scared, she still started to lecture her sister after hearing her sister's unrestrained words.

“Your sister is right. You can eat, but you can’t say whatever you want. After Zhuzhu changes her clothes, you’re not allowed to mention this again, understand? Alright, you two stop playing and come with me to the pavilion to stay put. I’m worried about you.”

Qian Yulan took one niece in each hand and led them away from the pond.

"I think the fifth daughter of the Qian family is quite nice. She's lively and complements you perfectly. You rascal, you've become less and less talkative as you've grown up. You're so quiet you can't even fart with a stick. It's good that you married someone who talks a lot; it'll make the house more lively." Xu Chunxia watched the three of them leave, and only after they were out of sight did she speak to her son.

"I don't want to."

Wang Yuanshan refused outright.

"You brat, if you don't want her, who do you want? She's not good enough for you. I think you're the one who's not good enough for her. Fifth Miss is so nice. She's fair-skinned and has a round face. She looks like she's destined for good fortune."

Xu Chunxia was so angry that she slapped the back of his head with her hand.

"Hiss—Mom! You'll beat me into an idiot sooner or later." Wang Yuanshan's icy face finally showed some expression.

He grimaced and covered his head.

"Then tell me, what kind of woman do you want to marry? Your Aunt Yan has been running around for you, but all that work has been for nothing, hasn't it? These girls are all better than the ones in the village, and they can even read. When you have a child, your wife can teach him to read, and we can save up some money to send him to school for a couple of years. We don't expect him to pass the imperial examinations or anything like that; he could even work as an accountant. It would be good enough if he didn't starve to death from farming. If it weren't for your sister's good fortune in marrying into the Yan family, would we still have meat to eat every day? We probably wouldn't even dare to put too much coarse rice in the pan!"

"Mother, you hit me before you even finished asking me a question. How could I possibly get a word in edgewise? I want to marry Qian Wanyue." Seeing his mother getting angrier and angrier, with her eyebrows raised, Wang Yuanshan quickly tried to explain.

I was terrified of getting slapped again.

"What? You want to marry the Fourth Sister? Tsk, as expected, a quiet person likes another quiet person. Oh well, you've chosen one after all, so I won't say anything. Being quiet is fine, both sisters are nice people. But why did you choose her?"

Xu Chunxia calmed down, but soon became puzzled again.

In her eyes, the two Qian sisters each had their own merits.

She is dignified, sensible, and gentle.

She's lively and talkative, and seems like a ray of sunshine.

He never expected that his son would want to marry the fourth daughter.

“My son thinks that a good wife is the one to marry. If you don’t marry a good wife, it will ruin three generations. Qian Wanyue is very good, just what I want.” Wang Yuanshan thought of Deng Qiuzhi, who was far away in Jiangnan County.

He absolutely must not marry that kind of troublemaker.

That's terrifying.

He might get killed by his wife one day.

“What you said makes sense. Mother agrees. Mother agrees.”

Xu Chunxia thought to herself, as long as it's not a girl from the Liu family, it's fine.

After all, his family simply couldn't afford to get married.

"Let's go, don't just stand there, go sit in the pavilion. I'll go talk to Madam Qian and ask her about Fourth Miss."

Xu Chunxia couldn't help but smile.

Yan Xia on the other side had already changed her clothes.

Her hair had long since come undone, with stray strands flying everywhere and still damp. There was no hairdryer here, so she couldn't put her hair up again. She could only simply tie it up with a white jade hairpin.

Fortunately, they were all acquaintances, so it wasn't too impolite.

Yan Xia changed into a moon-white light gauze coat, paired with a darker turquoise skirt as an inner layer. The dark inner layer and light outer layer made the overall look simple and refreshing.

"Auntie, come on, drink this ginger soup to warm yourself up." Xiao Ji came in carrying a tray with a bowl on it, filled with thick ginger soup that was still steaming.

Yan Xia took it, first taking a small sip tentatively, and then drinking it all in one gulp when she found it wasn't too hot.

"Where is Miss Liu? Has the ginger soup been sent over?" After finishing the ginger soup, Yan Xia put the bowl back on the tray and asked Xiao Ji.

"Don't worry, Auntie. As soon as the ginger soup was ready, I sent a maid to deliver it to the third courtyard." Xiao Ji has never made a mistake in doing things.

Yan Xia nodded in satisfaction.

"Okay, I'm going to the pavilion. Tell the kitchen to start cooking. Make sixteen meat dishes, and the rest of the vegetables can be prepared by the cooks themselves. Oh, and there are quite a few girls today, so make more sweet dishes, as girls like them. Hmm... and make a bowl of lily bulb and lotus seed soup too. Remember to tell the kitchen to add a few red dates."

"Okay, Auntie, I'll go right away." Xiao Ji kept Yan Xia's words firmly in mind and took the tray and left.

When Yan Xia arrived at the pavilion, Jing Shui and the Liu family aunt and niece had not yet arrived.

"Sister Yan, you're finally here! You ran so fast just now, you disappeared in a flash. When we got there, we saw you jump into the pond. That speed was amazing!"

Qian Yulan joked.

"There's nothing I can do. This is my home. If Miss Liu gets frightened in my house, how am I supposed to explain it to Sister Liu?"

Yan Xia smiled and sat back down in her original seat.

She picked up a piece of pastry and ate it in small bites as she spoke.

The strong ginger flavor in her mouth made her feel nauseous, so she simply ate some pastries to calm herself down.

Yan Xia hates eating ginger the most.

"That's true. Luckily, Miss Liu is alright. Look how scared Sister Liu was just now, her body went limp. If Sister Xu and I hadn't held her up, she probably would have collapsed on the ground and wouldn't have been able to get up. Sigh, what a mess this has made. Why did she go to the pond?"

Qian Yulan patted her chest with lingering fear. Luckily, it wasn't her niece who fell into the pond, otherwise she would have definitely fainted from fright.

She watched her two nieces grow up, and they were no different from her own children.

"He probably wanted to feed the fish. He's just a kid, it's perfectly normal. When Sister Liu comes over later, don't mention this, so she won't lose face."

After Yan Xia finished the last bite of the pastry, she said to Qian Yulan.

"That's for sure. Since he didn't come, let's just talk about it ourselves. Okay, let's not mention it anymore." Qian Yulan understood immediately and quickly changed the subject.

Inside the third courtyard, Liu Zhuzhu had recovered and was excitedly touching the clothes she had just changed into. "Auntie, this fabric is so nice! It feels so cool and smooth. I've never seen anything like it before. Auntie, can I wear it home?"

“You definitely have to wear them home. Your clothes are soaking wet and won’t dry anytime soon. When you get home, have the servants wash them properly and dry them. I’ll bring them over myself, and you can come with me to thank your Aunt Yan properly, okay? She’s the one who saved you.”

And besides, did the family starve you? Did they not give you anything to eat or drink? You secretly took pastries! I saw it myself, did you think no one else could see? I told you to stay away from the pond, but you insisted on going closer. You fell in, didn't you? Aren't you ashamed? You scared me half to death! I'm definitely going to tell your parents when we get home, and they'll give you a good scolding! Yan-meimei will definitely invite us to stay for dinner later. After we eat, let's go home. It seems this marriage is off. Auntie will just consider this an outing for you.”