Mentioning Qin Shi immediately perked up the two children. Uncle Laoshi had warned them to keep an eye on her at all times to prevent her from causing trouble again.

The stone monkey had also rendered meritorious service when Qin Shi robbed her of vegetables and money and got beaten up. When Jiang Zhi asked him about it, he immediately told her what he had seen!

"Aunt Qin said she wanted to buy meat for Sister Lianhua, so she asked Brother Qing to get the money."

The villagers of Xujia Village are mostly outsiders now, so the way they address each other is a mess. Xu Genqing is called Brother Qing, and Lianhua is called Sister, but Jiang Zhi can understand them.

"Brother Qing wouldn't give it to her, saying he'd wait two more days before going to town to buy meat, since it's around the time of the family reunion dinner and there are knives for visiting graves. Aunt Qin wouldn't have it..."

As the two children eagerly recounted their stories, Jiang Zhi quickly learned the details.

Xu Genqing borrowed one tael of silver from Li Laoshi. Now his family has rice, sweet potatoes, and corn, and fresh vegetables in the fields. They can eat their fill, but they lack oil and meat.

This time, I plan to first buy incense, candles, and paper money for ancestor worship, buy some oil and meat, and then give Lotus a nice new outfit.

We'll save the rest of the money and wait until next year to buy piglets and chickens to raise, so that when Lotus has her babies, we'll have meat and eggs to eat.

This should have been Qin Shi's responsibility as the mother, but now Xu Genqing is making the arrangements.

Of course, Tian Gui was always there to guide them in these matters.

The two families' shacks used to be right next to each other, but Qin made them stop interacting.

Now that the houses are built separately, it's no longer convenient to come and go, but the relationship has actually become closer.

Tao'er's mother would occasionally give Lianhua advice on how to care for her during her pregnancy, and Tian Gui would also teach Xu Genqing how to manage the household.

Growth and maturity happen in an instant; it was only after establishing himself in Xujia Village that Tian Gui truly became the master of his own destiny.

Xu Genqing, after becoming pregnant with Lianhua's child, immediately grasped the concept of being a father and began to take charge of the household, no longer listening to his mother.

Therefore, when Qin wanted to immediately spend money to buy meat and chicken, Xu Genqing refused.

He only said that he would buy an egg from the Tian family every day for Lianhua to eat.

Tao'er's mother didn't finish the chicken that others gave her during her postpartum confinement period. In addition, the chickens she raised at home grew up, and she could collect one or two eggs every day.

Besides eating them ourselves, we can also sell one to Lotus to help her recover.

Since the family only bought one egg, Qin Shi naturally couldn't eat it.

Before Lianhua could even agree, Qin was already furious: Ever since Lianhua had a child, she hadn't cared much about doing chores, and now she even had to give way at mealtimes!

She spent the whole day cursing at home, and while Xu Genqing was out working in the fields, she stole the money he had placed on Lianhua and took it to the market.

Because money was readily available, Li Laoshi had only copper coins and no silver, so Qin Shi took one hundred coins from them.

Jiang Zhi didn't even know how to describe this Qin family.

She discovered that although Qin was over thirty, her mental age was only twelve or thirteen, at most fifteen, no more. She was not as sensible as Tian Tao.

In this world, some people are mature beyond their years, understanding things very well at a young age.

Some people, however, remain ignorant even in old age, with simple minds and naive thoughts, making mistakes while appearing innocent.

Because in her mind, this is how life is, and everything she does is right.

"Does your brother Qing know about this?" Jiang Zhi asked again. Qin Shi took 100 coins this time, which is neither a lot nor a little. She just didn't know how Xu Genqing would handle it.

Tian Xiaoquan said with a smile, "Brother Qing already knows. He's so angry that his face turns black. When he found out that his mother went to town, he said he wouldn't care anymore."

"Just tell Sister Lianhua to put the money away carefully and hide it well so it won't be stolen again."

Jiang Zhi sighed again. There was no furniture in that new house. How could she hide anything?

The money is hidden in an empty house; you could guess it even with your eyes closed.

If Lianhua wanted to hide money, she could only dig a hole under the bed, stuff it into a grain bag, or put it in the sweet potato pile in the cellar. Qin Shi could find it without much effort if she put her mind to it.

But Qin herself went to town...

"Qin went to town alone. Does your brother Qing really not want to go look for her?" Jiang Zhi now felt like a parent, and when she heard that Qin had gone out alone, she was worried about her safety.

It wasn't that she was being paranoid, but the road construction workers hadn't left yet, and if Qin Shi took the official road, she would run into them.

Normally, if you travel with companions, it's fine to walk on the official road; at most, you'll be teased and laughed at by strangers.

But now those migrant workers have been working hard outside for more than a month. They are tired, hungry, and have a bad temper. Who knows what might happen?

If you go over the mountain and take a back path, it's even worse. Encountering someone while walking alone in the wilderness is more terrifying than encountering a ghost.

The village was a little nervous before because someone was coming to perform corvée labor, so they had someone stop them at the intersection.

The unity of Xujia Village afterwards was astonishing, and with the patrol battalion nearby, no migrant workers dared to cause trouble.

Things had been peaceful for over a month, but some people started to get careless!

Just because nothing's happening in the village doesn't mean nothing's happening on the road. Jiang Zhi wasn't worried that she was overthinking things, and directly instructed Xiao Quan to notify someone: "Xiao Quan, tell your brother Qing to go pick up his mother right away. She can't go alone."

When that idiot Qin got into trouble, it was Lianhua and Xu Genqing who ultimately suffered.

Tian Xiaoquan and Shi Houzi laughed as soon as they heard they were being picked up, waving their hands repeatedly: "No need, no need, Brother Qing, there's no need for you to go. Uncle Laoshi is going to town today, and he said he can see what Qin Shi is up to on the way!"

"Oh! Since Li Laoshi is going, then so be it!"

When Jiang Zhi heard that Li Laoshi had ridden his old mule to town again, she remembered that Li Laoshi had indeed said before that he was going to buy some firecrackers and red paper and ask Xia Xiucai to write couplets for the whole village... but he said he would go tomorrow, and he went today!

Since Li Laoshi was going that way, Jiang Zhi didn't say anything more. She told the two boys not to stay outside for too long, as they would get their sleeves and pants wet from pulling grass and catch a cold. She suggested they go home and warm themselves by the fire.

Shi Houzi and Tian Xiaoquan agreed to slowly return to the village, while Jiang Zhi also went to the scholar's house, but she slowly felt that something was wrong.

Was Li Laoshi keeping too close a watch on the Qin family?

They kept a close watch on the woman in the village to prevent her from making a mistake, and now they even follow her to town...

The man is alone and the woman is widowed; could there be some hidden meaning?

No, I need to find out for myself when Li Laoshi comes back whether he has feelings for someone else!

Jiang Zhi pondered this for a moment, and soon arrived at Xia Xiucai's new home.

This house is a small courtyard with a "three main sections and one small side section" structure, all made of wood, and it is probably the house that cost the most money in the whole village.

The scholar's wife had previously sold two round fans for six taels of silver. Later, when Jiang Zhi went to the city to see Miss Huo, she asked Xiao Man to help her sell another round fan.

In addition, Jiang Zhi used his grain money to buy cheap timber and offset the wages of the craftsmen, spending a total of nine taels of silver, not including the work points of Tian Gui and Xu Gensheng.

Although he owed Jiang Zhi money, it would be easy to pay it back.

Paying money makes all the difference. Other rammed earth houses are heavy and clumsy, but this courtyard feels truly light and ethereal, and even the people living there seem to possess a spiritual aura.

When Jiang Zhi arrived, the bamboo window of the side room was open, and Xia Xiucai was checking Xia Yuan's recitation from inside the window.

Inside the room, a wooden frame was set up, and the scholar's wife sat upright, embroidering with flying needles while listening to her son's clear and melodious reading.

The atmosphere was peaceful and serene, and Jiang Zhi stood at the door, not wanting to go in and disturb them.

Just as she was hesitating, someone suddenly whispered from behind, "Jiang, is there anything you need? Come sit in my main room."

Jiang Zhi was startled and turned around to see Xia's mother carrying a basket of vegetables.