Knowing that her second daughter-in-law didn't want to go back, Jiang Nuan turned her gaze to the other two.

“I’m not going back either,” Jin said without hesitation. “My parents are both in the Jin family. I’m no longer a servant of the Jin family, so it would be inappropriate for me to go back.”

“That’s true,” Jiang Nuan nodded. “If you’re homesick, I’ll have someone send word to invite your father over.”

“Thank you, Mother. I don’t miss him at all,” Jin wrinkled her nose and continued, “Father always brings trouble to our family whenever he comes. He doesn’t care about his own daughter at all.”

Jiang Nuan was amused by her daughter-in-law's insincere behavior and patted her head, saying, "It's alright, Mother isn't afraid of trouble."

“Mother,” Wang said softly, “I don’t want to go back either.”

"You don't want to go back either?" Jiang Nuan asked in surprise.

As far as she knew, her eldest daughter-in-law had a good relationship with the family. Although her parents were somewhat sexist, they did not mistreat her.

“Mother,” Wang explained, “the village is building a school and repairing roads, which are all closely related to our family. As the weather gets warmer, there is more work to be done in the fields, and the family can’t do without someone.”

“It’s alright,” Jiang Nuan said cheerfully with a wave of her hand. “There are plenty of people at home, so it won’t cause any delays. You should go back to your parents’ home. Just let them know in advance so that your eldest son can come with you.”

"Thank you, Mother," Wang said, somewhat tempted. After a moment's thought, she said, "When my husband returns, we'll go visit our relatives."

“Okay!” Jiang Nuan readily agreed.

The next day, after breakfast, the family took an oxcart to visit relatives.

Jiangjia Village is less than ten miles from Huangjiakou. It is a large village with more than a hundred households, much larger than Huangjiakou.

Grandma Jiang's house is in the center of the village; it's a mud-brick house, but it's kept very clean.

The Jiang family is very small. Old Mrs. Jiang has only one son and one daughter, while Jiang Xu has only one son. The whole family consists of only five people.

A group of more than a dozen people arrived at Jiangjia Village in a grand procession. As soon as they entered the village, they were surrounded by people who stared at them like monkeys.

“Isn’t this Yaya, who married into Huangjiakou?” a woman wearing a headscarf said. “Is she bringing her child back to her parents’ home today?”

"Hmm," Jiang Nuan was unsure how to address her when she heard a surprised voice, "Ya Ya, what brings you here?"

"Mother," Jiang Nuan said happily, "what are you doing here?"

"I want to go to the field to take a look," Grandma Jiang pointed ahead. "I just finished weeding a few days ago, and I heard that the weeds have grown back. I'm going to take a look."

"You two chat," the woman said, "I'm going to the fields."

"Sister-in-law, please go ahead with your business. I'll come visit you later."

After exchanging pleasantries with a smile, Grandma Jiang happily took her daughter home.

In the courtyard, Grandpa Jiang was feeding the chickens, while Aunt Jiang sat sewing shoe soles.

"Old man, open the door, your daughter is here."

"My daughter's here," Old Huang said, putting down the basin he was holding and rushing over to open the door. "Why are you all here?"

“The corvée labor in Huangjiakou is finished,” Jiang Nuan explained. “Since I had some free time, I took them to visit relatives and brought over two laborers along the way.”

"That's great," Grandpa Jiang laughed heartily. "Our family is smaller, so we do work a bit slower than other families."

Someone had already finished their own work yesterday, and their family still needs three or four days. If they have two grandchildren, two days will be enough.

“Father,” Jiang Nuan looked up at the sky, “while it’s still early, send them to work so they don’t miss their corvée labor.”

“Mother,” Huang Lao Er said with a bitter face, “I’ve only just entered the door and haven’t even had a sip of water yet.”