However, seeing someone protecting her like this warmed her heart.

In the hall, Old Man Huang took a sip of tea that Wang had brought over before speaking, "I've come this time about the fruit seedlings."

"Old man," Old Mrs. Huang said unhappily, "are you also eyeing Ya Ya?"

These seemingly random words left Old Man Huang completely bewildered. "What nonsense are you talking about? When did I ever have designs on Ya Ya?"

“How can this be nonsense?” Old Mrs. Huang glanced at her son. “Just now, our eldest son asked Yaya for fruit seedlings!”

"Can't I have fruit seedlings?" Old Huang said speechlessly. "We're all family, why would Ya Ya fuss over such things?"

“If he wanted it from the family, I would have done this,” the old lady said unhappily. “My eldest son wants Yaya to share the fruit seedlings with the villagers.”

“Mother,” Village Chief Huang said with a bitter face, “I was just asking. If Ya Ya doesn’t want to, I won’t force her.”

Who did he offend? He just said one wrong thing, and my mother is holding a grudge against him.

"You shouldn't even be asking," Old Mrs. Huang said with an icy face. "How can you be such a grown-up, unable to distinguish right from wrong and siding with outsiders?"

Those people in the village are, after all, outsiders. Have they lost their minds? Making things difficult for Yaya for the sake of a bunch of outsiders?

"I didn't make things difficult for her, I was just asking."

He was thinking that if there were fruit seedlings, the village could increase its income significantly, which is why he couldn't wait to ask.

If I had known I would run into my mother, I would have kept it all inside.

"I can't even ask," Old Mrs. Huang said, very dissatisfied. "It's obvious you're making things difficult for me, so why are you even asking?"

These words left Huang Shi speechless.

Can he say that he didn't think that much at the time?

"Mother, don't get agitated," Jiang Nuan poured the old lady a full cup of tea and watched her drink it before speaking, "My brother didn't mean that."

“Exactly,” Huang Shi nodded hastily, “I really didn’t mean that.”

I would rather die than admit that I've ever thought that way.

He knew that once he met Ya Ya, he would become the one who had been picked up.

Before, I had my poor second brother to rely on, but now that he's gone, I have to face this malicious world all by myself.

Living is so hard!

“Alright,” Old Man Huang said, “the eldest brother’s approach was based on the perspective of the clan leader, so it can’t be said that he was wrong.”

“But,” Old Man Huang turned to his son, “eldest son, you are not only the clan chief, but also the head of our small family. You must grasp the balance between these two roles.”

After giving each of them equal blame, Old Man Huang continued, "Ya Ya, how many fruit seedlings do you have, and how do you plan to plant them?"

“Dad,” Jiang Nuan said, revealing her plan, “There are more than 300 fruit seedlings in total. We’ll keep some for ourselves and plant the rest along the roads in the village.”

Because they've taken over village land, the clan can take 50% of the fruit produced thereafter.

“That’s a good arrangement,” Old Man Huang nodded, then continued, “What if the villagers also want fruit seedlings? What do you plan to do?”

“Let them pay for it,” Old Mrs. Huang said. “Why should they ask for it so readily? Everyone knows how difficult it is to get fruit seedlings. Just pay the normal price, and if they’re not satisfied, let them buy it themselves.”

“That’s not right,” Old Man Huang shook his head. “We’re all from the same village, and we share the same ancestors. We can’t be so ruthless. Besides, Ya Ya doesn’t need all that money.”

“We can’t just give it away for free,” Old Mrs. Huang said firmly. “If we keep feeding their appetites, they’ll want to spend money on everything. No matter how big our family’s wealth is, it can’t withstand such squandering.”

“It wasn’t said to be a free gift,” Old Huang said with amusement. “Why are you so excited? Yaya hasn’t even said anything yet.”

“Dad, I think Mom makes a lot of sense,” Jiang Nuan said. “Things can’t be given away for free. Besides, I don’t plan to give anything away for free in the future. This time, if anyone wants the fruit seedlings, they can have them for half price. It’s impossible to get them for free.”

Free things, no matter how precious, are not cherished. It's better to make them pay a price so they know the cost and won't dare to waste them.

"This arrangement is very thoughtful," Old Huang said with great satisfaction. "It saves the villagers' face so they can't say anything, and it also prevents me from feeling too wronged."

Although the old saying goes that suffering a loss is a blessing, constantly suffering losses will diminish one's good fortune. No matter the circumstances, one must maintain a certain temper and uphold proper decorum.

"Thank you for the advice, Father," Jiang Nuan said earnestly. "I will remember it."

"If the matter of the fruit seedlings is settled, it's best to have them delivered as soon as possible," Old Huang said thoughtfully, tapping the table. "There are many people in the village, and the school can be built in about ten days, so it's best to plant them during this period. As for road construction, we can only spare some people to pave the road in the middle of the village with bricks first. The rest will have to wait for a while, until March. The work in the fields can't be delayed."

"Yaya," Sister-in-law Huang asked curiously, "when are you going to return that cow to its owner?"

“Over there,” Jiang Nuan said apologetically, “I bought it a long time ago, but I was too busy and forgot to tell you.”

Erhua had been in Huangjiakou for less than a week when she bought it.

With Manager Jin as an inside man, the silver is several taels cheaper.

She planned to use the cow at the old house; otherwise, it wouldn't have been kept there all this time.

Of course, Erhua didn't want to stay at home either. With Xiaoliu around, even though it ate better at home, it didn't dare to stay any longer.

"I bought it," Sister Huang slapped her thigh. "I knew it! Why were you so impolite? They used that cow for a whole month."

She was still wondering who was so foolish and generous as to lend such an important cow for several months, without even worrying that it might never come back.

"So you mean we have two cows?" Old Mrs. Huang said excitedly. "Then we don't have to worry this year. We don't have much land. If both cows work in the fields, we can prepare the land in six or seven days, saving us half a month."

The key point is that I no longer have to treat the men in my family like animals.

"Indeed, very good," Old Man Huang said with a face full of praise. "Yaya, you've brought our second branch of the family together."

His proudest achievement in his life was marrying such a daughter-in-law.

She was literate, intelligent, and insightful. She was deeply devoted to her son, very close to the two elders, and was especially auspicious for her husband's family.

Marrying this daughter-in-law is incredibly lucky.

Thinking about it this way, I suddenly feel a little sorry for the Jiang family.

Old Man Huang frowned, then suddenly said, "Ya Ya, go back to your parents' home more often when you have time, and bring them some things. Your parents have it tough too!"

If it were me, and my capable daughter got married, all the benefits would go to someone else, and I would be furious to see her suffer.

Thinking about it this way, Old Man Huang's goodwill towards the Jiang family elders, who had always doted on their daughter-in-law, increased greatly.

Hearing this, Jiang Nuan felt a little confused, but still smiled and replied, "I'll go take a look tomorrow, and bring Jiang Chao over to stay for a few days while I'm at it."