In front of Xia Xiucai's shack, Xiucai's wife sat on a wooden stool, skillfully stretching the thread with fan ribs and silk cloth.

Beside her, brightly colored silk threads were placed in a sewing basket at her feet.

Not far away, Xia Yuan was reciting his lessons.

Touching the familiar embroidery cloth and silk threads, the scholar's wife's delicate face was full of composure and determination.

She has now found a place to live.

Although her husband is ill and unable to participate in the imperial examinations, as long as her mother-in-law helps, she can continue to live here and earn money to raise the children.

Although the area is poor, with Chief Jiang in charge, even though everyone lives among displaced people, there is no theft or robbery.

I will no longer hear ridicule or harsh words, nor will I worry about being attacked and mocked.

Just then, a thin, pale hand reached out from the side: "Huilan, are you going to embroider a fan again? Let your husband paint one for you!"

The scholar's wife was taken aback. She turned to look at Xia Xiucai, her lips moved a few times, and then her voice seemed to be squeezed out from her throat, very hoarse, as she said, "Alright, I want the Falling Flowers!"

"OK!"

Xia Xiucai lifted his clothes and sat down on a bench with Han Huilan quite naturally.

He rolled up his sleeves, bent down and picked up a finely sharpened ink brush from the sewing basket, took the fan his wife had just finished tying, and began to paint meticulously.

With a few strokes, a slender red plum blossom leaps onto the canvas, standing proudly with its subtle fragrance and sparse shadows!

What I originally intended as falling peach blossoms turned into plum blossoms in the snow on the white fan.

It's drawn wrong!

The scholar's wife stood to the side, her eyes reddening, but she held back her tears and dared not utter a sound.

Even though Xia Xiucai drew it wrong, she was still very happy and excited.

Previously, all embroidery designs were drawn by Xia Xiucai.

At that time, although there were many things going on at home, her relatives also looked down on her husband, who had failed the imperial examinations for a long time.

She and Shuyan were deeply in love. Every day, he would read books while she embroidered. Each embroidery pattern was drawn by her husband himself. The couple lived in perfect harmony.

But ever since he fell ill, Shuyan has stopped painting and has been lazy and sleepy all day.

He appears blank and indifferent in front of his family, only becoming emotional and reciting incoherently when he holds a book.

Although his manic-depressive disorder subsided after arriving in Xujia Village, aside from being a bit dull, he would occasionally become a little lucid, say a few words to his family, and teach Yuan'er to read and write.

But this is the first time I've ever had someone take the initiative to draw patterns for me like this.

The scholar's wife stared blankly at Xia Xiucai, tears finally streaming down her face.

Just then, Jiang Zhi came out of the shack while talking to Xia's mother and saw this heartwarming scene.

Without saying a word, Xia's mother grabbed the still bewildered Jiang Zhi and immediately pulled her back into the shack, her voice excited: "Shuyan hasn't drawn any patterns in two years."

Jiang Zhi also realized what was happening and lowered her voice to say to Xia's mother, "The scholar is getting better every day!"

"Yes, yes, let's not go out and startle them!"

So Jiang Zhi and Xia's mother hid in the shack, watching the two people sitting outside and chuckling foolishly.

If anyone else saw the two women acting suspiciously and laughing foolishly outside, they would surely be arrested as peeping tom.

The deep wrinkles between Xia's mother's brows smoothed out, and she said gratefully in a low voice, "Village Chief Jiang, we are so grateful to you for allowing us to stay here. If it weren't for the food and oil you provided, our family would have not been able to survive long ago."

She said this while tightly holding Jiang Zhi's hand.

All her words of gratitude coalesced into a powerful gesture, instantly causing the village chief, whom she was thanking, to grimace in pain.

Jiang Zhi smiled wryly: "Sister-in-law Xia, it's a good thing that Xia Xiucai is getting better, but if you keep pinching him, you'll ruin things for me."

Xia's mother quickly let go: "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! I... I'm just so happy."

The two whispered to each other again.

Jiang Zhi said, "Xia Xiucai was despised and looked down upon, which made him lose his mind. I will have people praise him more in the future. Praising him every day will make him better."

She knew in her heart that Xia Xiucai was suffering from depression and his self-confidence had collapsed.

Mental illness requires mental medicine; as long as one can regain confidence, the illness can be cured.

Only when Xia Xiucai recovers can his primary school be truly established, and only then can Nini and Caixia go to school.

Xia's mother was both amused and exasperated: "Even though you are the village chief, you can't expect people to praise you for no reason."

Despite saying that, Xia's mother still had hope in her heart, thinking that perhaps things would really get better with the care of these kind people.

Jiang Zhi did not return to the mountain that day, but was busy arranging manpower.

He had taken over the 10,000 mosquito coils from the Huo family. If it were just pressing the coils, the eight people on the mountain could make them. But with grinding the powder and drying various herbs, there was no time to do it, so he had to hire more people.

Fortunately, there are now plenty of people available for us to use.

"Tian Gui, Gen You, Li Laoshi, I need to hire people!"

As soon as Village Chief Jiang gave the order to hire people, the warehouse was filled with able-bodied young men.

Xia Xiucai was carefully taking notes with his pen in hand.

Jiang Zhi said loudly, "This time the time is tight and the task is heavy. The daily wage is fifty coins."

Those who do well will receive an additional reward! One pound of pork, ten pounds of white rice, and one pound of cooking oil!

After she finished recounting her reward, one would expect it to elicit laughter, but no one in the crowd spoke; instead, all eyes turned to Xia Xiucai.

They inexplicably believed what Village Chief Jiang said, because Xia Xiucai had recorded all of these words.

People believe that once something is written down, it's settled. Hehe, it's all in black and white on paper. Once you've done your job, no one can erase it!

As Xia Xiucai continued writing, he had just finished recording the wages and rewards when he was immediately surrounded by people.

"The scholar's handwriting is so good! Each character is like a cotton ball made in spring."

"Even the scholar's face is handsome! His eyebrows are eyebrows, his eyes are eyes, his nose is a nose, and his mouth is a mouth!"

"You've all finished speaking, what should I say? The scholar's hair is beautiful, so black and thick, like soot from the bottom of a pot. Ah, like splashed ink." Someone racked their brains to come up with a refined phrase.

"The scholar's hands are beautiful! They are long and slender, clearly the hands of someone who holds a writing brush."

In the crowd, Xia Xiucai's originally blank face turned bewildered. He didn't understand why the villagers were praising him!

Jiang Zhi was also somewhat bewildered.

She said something before recruiting workers: anyone in the village who wants to work will have to curry favor with Scholar Xia.

No need for gifts, just a compliment every day.

This was a small matter. Now that it was time to get to work, everyone immediately started praising Xia Xiucai, their mouths practically dripping with honey.

Suddenly, social phobics encountered social terrorists.

Faced with such straightforward and simple praise, even the most taciturn scholar like Xia Xiucai blushed with embarrassment.

"You...you...I,I!" Xia Xiucai tried hard to say something, but his mind was a mess and he couldn't recall the words he wanted.

"Ah! Don't worry, scholar, we will all do our work diligently!"

"Yes, scholar, write my name down!"

After a dozen or so people noisily registered their names in the employment book, Xia Xiucai's eyes were already glazed over, and he was rubbing his temples.

He felt like his head was about to explode.

Beside him, Jiang Zhi and Li Laoshi, who were prepared, looked at him with concern.

If Xia Xiucai did anything wrong, he would be immediately sent back to be quiet for a while.

Surprisingly, Xia Xiucai's brain didn't break down. He just frowned and stood up unsteadily: "There are thirteen people in total. Three people grind the powder, and ten people cut down trees!"