While Xu Errui went to Lihua Town to deliver medicine, Jiang Zhi checked the water in the terraced fields and tidied up the sweet potato vines planted in various ditches.

When the sun was setting in the west, the hillside was already shaded by the mountains, and the leaves began to show dew, then they went down to pick cotton.

Because of the short hours of sunshine, cotton bolls only crack open after being exposed to the sun every day, and some cotton bolls will turn white.

Every day, all these cracked cotton bolls must be picked.

Otherwise, if the cotton gets wet from the night rain, the water will seep into the cotton bolls and the cotton will turn black.

The cotton is currently in full bloom, and it needs to be picked once in the morning and again in the afternoon.

This year's cotton harvest is more experienced than last year's. From the initial topping to the daily branching, Grandpa Xiaoman worked in the cotton field every day, taking meticulous care of each cotton plant.

The cotton plants were also very productive, turning white all over the place in the morning and afternoon, which made the old man so happy that he would run back and forth several times to pick every single one he saw.

In the evening, the cotton bolls were filled with cotton and dried in winnowing baskets, and the two families sat together peeling them.

Peeling at night, drying during the day, drying during the day, and collecting at night—a single cotton boll goes through countless hands from cotton seed to pure white, fluffy cotton. Then, it takes several more days to spin, weave, cut into clothes, and finally be worn.

A fire was still lit in the courtyard for illumination, and everyone was peeling peaches with different tools.

The two children were so tired from playing that they fell asleep right there in the cotton basket.

Xu Errui returned from town and was telling everyone in detail what had happened down the mountain.

"Several families in the village bought wood in town and ordered it to make doors, windows, tables and chairs first. They said they would bring it over to install after the mud walls were built in the fall."

In Bavaria, house repairs are usually done after the autumn harvest, when wheat is planted in the fields. During this time, there is less farm work and relatively less rain, making it easier to hire help to repair the house and allowing people to celebrate the New Year in their new homes.

Xujia Village has only twenty households in total. In order to save time, some people have already started to hire carpenters to start work in advance.

After saying all this, Xu Errui looked at his mother and then at Xiaomanye, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

There are several carpenters in town. Last time, when my family was building a warehouse, we hired an old carpenter as the master carpenter.

But in terms of scale and business, it was still Wang Baye's family, which was Wang Xiaoju's maternal family.

However, the Wang family and Wang Xiaoju had once helped Xu Changshou extort good paddy fields from Xiaoman's family. Although Xu Changshou's family was expelled from the village and became outsiders, Wang Xiaoju also caused a family to separate and ran back to her parents' home in town.

Logically speaking, he had not made any enemies with Xiaoman or his own family.

But when Wang Xiaoju saw her family selling things in town, she tried to take advantage of them but was beaten by her mother. So she made up stories and got the two Wang brothers to fight her with knives. This led to a feud between them.

Fortunately, the Wang brothers haven't dared to cause any more trouble so far.

Some time ago, Xu Genbao returned to the village and asked everyone to buy wood from the Wang family, hoping to take on the house repair work. However, his older brother, Xu Genyou, kicked him out of the village.

But they came again today, blocked my way, wanted to apologize to Xiaoman's family, and even tried to reconcile with me.

Jiang Zhi was looking down, trying to find the insects that had been hiding in the peach petals in the basket. She didn't notice Er Rui's expression and casually said, "It's better for them to make the doors and windows first. It'll only cost a hundred or so coins each time. They can do as much as they can afford and add things slowly. There's no need to rush when the time comes."

Xiaoman put down the cotton basket and coughed: "Errui, is it Xu Genbao who's causing you trouble?"

The old man was observant and noticed that Errui was acting strangely.

Jiang Zhi then looked up at Er Rui: "You just said that several households in the village were looking for a carpenter, were they looking for the Wang family?"

Xu Errui nodded and shook his head at the same time: "Yes and no. Brother Genbao did come to me. He asked who was taking on the work in the village, but I didn't answer him. He also asked Uncle a few questions, but didn't cause any trouble."

Furthermore, several other families in the village who ordered timber did not contact the Wang family.

Xiaoman started peeling cotton bolls again: "Ask me? What does he have to ask me!"

Xiaoman snorted coldly and stubbornly said, "What? His family had bad intentions, so he got out of the village himself. Now he still wants to cause trouble? Brother Errui, I should have gone to town with you today and see if I don't teach him a lesson."

Xiaoman harbored resentment towards Xu Changshou for wanting to seize his family's good land, but since Xu was no longer in the village, he never mentioned it again.

But Wang Xiaoju was different; she not only got involved, but also tried to extort money from him in town.

If Aunt Jiang hadn't said that while one shouldn't be too kind, one shouldn't dwell on trivial matters, but rather have a long-term perspective and not ruin one's reputation for the sake of unimportant people...

Finally, she added, "I used to suffer and be taken advantage of, and I was even forced to become a shrew and gain a bad reputation!"

The current Aunt Jiang is not the same as the Aunt Jiang of the past. With her around and with so much to do every day, Xiaoman didn't go to town to get revenge.

As soon as Xiaoman finished speaking, she was glared at by her grandfather: "You should learn from Errui. Don't always rely on your fists. You need to be calm, listen more, observe more, and think more!"

After being criticized by her grandfather, Xiaoman stopped talking.

He was aware of his own problem: whenever he heard about those who had tried to bully his family, his anger would flare up.

Xu Errui was already obedient, and now he needs to learn to do things properly and be calm, so he won't get angry easily.

Xu Dazhu also advised his younger brother: "Even if you're going to get angry, you should let people finish speaking first!"

Jiang Zhi understood Xiao Man's feelings.

Young people are always quick to hate evil.

Having been suppressed for so long, now that I've grown up, have the strength to run, jump, and fight, I naturally won't tolerate any more grievances.

"Xiaoman, as long as Xu Genbao and the Wang family don't cause trouble in Xujia Village, let them go. But if they misbehave, teach them a lesson. Errui, what do you think Xu Genbao wants to say?"

Seeing that it was about to turn into a criticism session for Xiaoman, Jiang Zhi quickly steered the topic back on track.

Xu Errui said to Xiaomanye, "When Xu Genbao said he was recognizing the land, he didn't know that Changshouye and the others were up to something. He only found out when he was dragged to Zhang Juntou's place. He couldn't refuse, so he helped to testify. Now he wants to apologize and ask for forgiveness for his mistake as a junior."

Er Rui told Er Rui everything that Xu Genbao had said, without any embellishment or concealment.

Xiaoman put down the cotton boll: "There's no need for apologies. As long as he can control himself and doesn't run off with other people all the time, that's fine. I don't want to see him again."

There were only so many people in the village before, and everyone knew each other's personalities. It wouldn't be accurate to say that Xu Genbao was a bad person.

To put it nicely, they are easily swayed and influenced by others; to put it bluntly, they "don't have a sense of self-worth."

He has a good-looking face but no opinions of his own; he's just a hollow paulownia tree, all looks and no substance.

Before getting married, he listened to his father and older brother; after getting married, he listened to his wife and father-in-law. He would run away at the slightest suggestion from others.

The fact that he's now coming to apologize to Xu Errui is most likely because his father-in-law and brothers-in-law sent him.

Because the people of Xujia Village needed to build houses, and given Xu Genbao's connections in the village, the Wang family considered this their own business, and they couldn't bear to see the profits flow into someone else's hands.

I failed to acquire Village Chief Jiang's house before, but I can't afford to miss this opportunity again.