The villagers were either busy fighting the drought and saving the seedlings, or they were sent out by Village Chief Jiang to work as agricultural technicians. Even the children were rented out for twenty or thirty coins each.

Wang Xiaoju's mosquito coil workshop suddenly lost more than half of its staff. There were no longer any time limits, and even the workbenches were empty.

When Pi arrived, he saw Wang Xiaoju brainwashing Da Xiang and Xiao Xiang: "When you grow up, Village Chief Jiang will definitely release you from your indenture and find a family in the village to marry you. With you two daughters, your mother won't have to worry about taking care of herself in her old age."

Da Xiang and Xiao Xiang kept their heads down and didn't say anything, but their faces were red, and they were still deftly coiling mosquito coil mud in their hands.

Pi called out, "Xiao Ju, are you free? Let's go see the lotus flowers!"

Lianhua is about to give birth, and her due date is in the next few days. All the women in the village are thinking about this.

The fact that Tao'er's mother couldn't expel the placenta during childbirth was quite frightening. Now that Lianhua is about to give birth, the topic of Tao'er's mother inevitably comes up.

Pi and Wang Xiaoju are sisters-in-law of Lianhua, and they visit her frequently.

Wang Xiaoju immediately stood up: "Let's go, I haven't seen her for a day either, it'll be good to let Aunt Qin get some exercise, she must be so bored."

Lianhua was about to give birth, and Qin, the mother-in-law, dared not run around anymore.

She was scolded by Jiang Zhi for not going home before, and she was still a little resentful, saying that anyone who is pregnant must have someone follow them around.

Jiang Zhi asked, "When you were about to give birth to Geng Qing, how did you get through it? Did you want someone to be with you?"

After a moment of silence, Qin said, "I was afraid every day. I gave birth in the woodshed by myself. They told me not to dirty the bed, and after I gave birth, they threw in a piece of cloth to wrap me up and carry me out."

Jiang Zhi poked her chest: "Think about it with this in mind, does your heart hurt right now? Do you want someone to be with you?"

Do you want Lotus to hate you like this in the future, so she'll spit in your food?

So now, Genqing is busy working outside, while his mother-in-law stays at home and doesn't go anywhere.

But after two days of not going out for fresh air, I only heard Genqing come back at night saying how many medicines he had sold, and who had gone to work as a technician and earned tens of coins. He even went to two Tianjia and Xiaoquan stores.

This exciting news had Qin Shi really been holding back, and when she saw Wang Xiaoju and Pi Shi arrive, she exclaimed with delight, "Quick, you two keep Lianhua company for a while, I'm going to go check on the corn in the field to see if all the corn has withered and died!"

Wang Xiaoju said, "What are you worried about, Auntie? The corn stalks that have been sprayed with pesticide are still alive. They can hold on for another five days..." Before she could finish speaking, Qin Shi had already disappeared.

Pi stood on tiptoe to watch the retreating figure: "Aunt Qin is so happy!"

Others of Aunt Qin's age are usually very composed, but Aunt Qin is even more silly and cheerful than I am.

Lotus smiled and changed the subject, saying, "It's rare for two busy people to come see me. There are melon seeds and tea on the table, please help yourselves!"

Pi came to his senses and immediately sat down to eat melon seeds. The three of them chatted about village affairs.

Pi naturally started by mentioning the words and actions of Xu Changshou's family at home: "His little treasure is almost seven years old, but he doesn't know any manners. He eats like he's fighting for food. If there's any oily or meaty dish, he wants to be held in his arms to eat. He's not as sensible as Xiaoju's Leiwa."

"Uncle Yaozu and his aunt pretended not to see anything and just ate their food."

“My in-laws are shy, and my second brother and sister-in-law are honest people. They were suppressed by the madman and couldn’t say a word. Only when Gensheng and I were around did that family know to behave themselves.”

When there were no outsiders around, Pi stopped calling his third grandfather "Third Crazy Man" and started calling him "Third Crazy Man" directly.

Lianhua said worriedly, "What if they don't leave and just stay at your house? Master Changming is smart enough to arrange for them to come to your house directly."

Wang Xiaoju picked up a melon seed, tapped it lightly with her front teeth, and said slowly, "His house needs cleaning. If you want to keep it, it'll probably take a lot of trouble."

Pi scoffed lightly: "As long as I'm not afraid of Aunt Jiang whipping me with a yellow thorn stick."

Wang Xiaoju glared at her: "Can't you speak properly? How did you learn to be such a troll like your man?"

Ever since Jiang Zhi used the term "argumentative person," everyone in the village knows that Xu Gensheng's annoying way of speaking is what makes him an "argumentative person."

They don't care whether it's right or wrong; now anyone who says something unpleasant is labeled a "nitpicker," which has become a popular term.

In fact, among the villagers, only Wang Xiaoju and her husband, and Qin Shi, had been beaten, yet it seemed like everyone was afraid of them.

Hearing Pi expose Wang Xiaoju's shortcomings, Lianhua smiled to herself.

Pi didn't let her off the hook either: "Lotus, tell me how you and Genqing got pregnant?"

The last few times I asked you, you always dodged the question. Today you can't hide it anymore. Xiaoju and I both want a child, you have to teach us!

When Tao'er's mother gave birth, Lianhua still looked embarrassed when she talked about her pregnancy, but by the time the village was building houses, she was already more than two months pregnant.

Pi secretly asked Lianhua a few times how she got pregnant, but she always stammered and said she didn't know, just like before, only more often.

Pi believed this and went back to try it with her husband, but after more than half a year, there was still no result.

Seeing Lotus's belly, which looked like a jar, Pi was really envious. This time, he dragged Wang Xiaoju to ask again, because Wang Xiaoju also wanted to have another child.

Sure enough, as soon as she spoke, Wang Xiaoju put down her melon seeds and said seriously, "Lianhua, we are sisters-in-law. I've told you everything, so you can't keep anything from me."

Lotus's face turned bright red, and she dared not reveal that she and Xu Genqing had rolled around on sweet potato vines.

Aunt Jiang said it wouldn't be good if other people found out, especially these two people in front of her. Sister Pi is a big mouth and talks a lot, so she might just tell everyone.

Wang Xiaoju is bold and shameless, and she will make fun of herself about it later.

She stammered, "I said it many times, it's...it's one day."

"What?!" Pi exclaimed, scattering sunflower seeds in his hand. "How many times a day?"

Wang Xiaoju's eyes widened as well: "Lianhua, you need to explain this matter carefully. Scholar Xia has been talking about it day by day..."

"Wait, it seems that Scholar Xia didn't mean that!"

“Hey, Sister-in-law Pi, you can’t just drink that medicine yourself. You have to let Gengsheng go see a doctor too, just in case there’s something wrong with him!” Lianhua quickly confronted Pi.

"Yes, each of you take a sip!"

Hehehehe... Hahahaha, the three women laughed wildly, then huddled together and whispered to each other.

If Xia Xiucai knew that his lesson had been misinterpreted by the three women in this way, he would surely beat his chest and shout: "This is an insult to scholarship!"

At this moment, Xu Genbao, who was packaging the willow twig medicine, had no idea that he had a lot of hard work to do at night after working during the day.

Xu Gensheng had a tough time, not only having hard tasks but also having to drink bitter medicine.

After Pi left, he argued with his third grandfather Xu Changshou, his uncle Xu Yaozu, and his aunt.

With his talent for arguing, he could hold his own against three opponents, displaying the eloquence of a scholar debating with a group of scholars, and his arguments were thoroughly enjoyable.

"Third Grandfather, you say this is the old house and you should have a piece of land. I even peed outside the Yuzhou government office, but I didn't dare say that the government office was mine!"

Xu Changshou was so angry that he blew his beard and glared: "This is the place where I grew up. Why shouldn't I have it? I'm going to ask the Jiang family to give back the land and the foundation!"

Xu Yaozu chimed in, "Gensheng, we're family. Blood is thicker than water. If we're doing well, you'll look better too."

Xu Gensheng smirked: "I'm not related to you by blood. You're all thieves, we're poor!"

Xu Changshou turned and left in anger: "I'm going to find your parents and see what kind of children they've raised. They only know how to side with outsiders."