He quickly lowered his head and followed the little girl up the mountain.

After walking for a few breaths, I heard the chanting of rituals again.

"The Second Young Mistress's family sent two live chickens, twenty eggs, and a gift of one hundred cash."

"Zhao Heshan's family gave fifty cash as a gift."

"Two taels of silver as a gift from Zhao Jinzhou's family."

"Liu Qingcai's family gave fifty cash as a gift."

Well, the Liu family was even more ashamed now.

Zhang Cuicui's family was also very uneasy, worried that their gift was too meager and would embarrass their daughter.

The young girl who led the way was very patient.

After walking for a while, they handed the group over to a little girl further up.

The main reason the Zhao family made this arrangement was that Qingshan Xiaozhu was too big, and there were many different kinds of things planted inside.

On such a joyous occasion, losing a person is not a good thing, and having someone ruin the crops in your yard is even worse.

Overall, things are good. Basically, guided by the Zhao family, no one can go astray. To put it more bluntly, no one dares to go astray.

When they arrived at the main courtyard of the Zhao family, the open space outside was already filled with tables.

Except for the main house where the elderly Zhao couple lived, which had its door wide open, all the other wooden buildings had their doors locked.

When Granny Liu arrived at the main house, she looked at the exquisitely built wooden houses of the Zhao family and felt a pang of sadness.

I never imagined the Zhao family would become so wealthy.

If I had known it would turn out this way, I should have been nicer to my daughter. She would have definitely given me more of her secret stash of money then.

Now look what's happened. We haven't been burning incense regularly, so who knows if this last-minute prayer will work.

Just as Granny Liu was regretting her stinginess in coming to the banquet without money, her daughter-in-law spoke up again.

"Mom, look, my aunt's family is living a really grand life."

"Do you think his family used all their money to buy this hilltop, and since they didn't have the money to build a brick house, they built these wooden houses to make up the numbers and show off their wealth?"

Granny Liu glared fiercely at her daughter-in-law.

"Shut up already! What did I teach you? You dare to blurt out anything."

Xiuzhi was very unconvinced. In her mind, a wooden house was indeed not as valuable as a brick house.

There are differences between different pieces of wood, and the same goes for houses. If the front door were opened, Xiuzhi probably wouldn't think that way.

After glaring at her daughter-in-law, Liu's mother began searching for her daughter in the crowd.

I didn't see my daughter, but I did see Zhao Qingyi arranging seats in the crowd.

Two maid-like girls followed behind him, and Zhao Qingyi arranged for each of them to sit at a different table.

Although Granny Liu didn't know Zhao Qingyi very well, she guessed that Zhao Qingyi must be one of the Zhao family's daughters because of how efficiently she arranged things.

Seeing Zhao Qingyi again, with her rosy cheeks and smiling almond eyes, she was definitely a beauty in the making. Thinking of her second son, she began to have designs on him.

Hurry up and walk over there.

"Are you the eldest or second daughter of the Zhao family? I am your sister-in-law, Liu Xiaohua's mother."

These are my family's eldest brother, second brother..." He paused, especially on the second brother.

Zhao Qingyi knew Liu Xiaohua's family. She couldn't say whether she liked or disliked them; they were just like that—a family that favored sons over daughters, not worth her attention.

She smiled and said, "Oh, it's my aunt-in-law! Welcome, welcome! Please come and sit here. The magistrate is here today, and the ladies are receiving guests in the main house."

Once my sisters-in-law are finished with their work, I'll let them know so they can come visit their in-laws, okay?

Zhao Qingyi's arrangement showed no sign of negligence.

The main thing is that she knows the true character of the Liu family members, and she doesn't want to offend the county magistrate.

When the Liu family heard that the county magistrate had arrived, and that their own daughter was receiving him, for some reason, they immediately craned their necks as if they had cervical spondylosis.

Actually, it was because the county magistrate brought his female relatives, and Wang Xiucai's wife also came with her children. It is said that Wang Xiucai and his nephew had not yet returned from the provincial examination.

When Liu Xiaohua was receiving female relatives, her main function was to serve tea and water, and then stand behind her mother-in-law with a smile.

If the Liu family saw this scene, I wonder if their necks would soften a bit. Aren't they tired?

Only Zhang Cuicui's parents came; her younger siblings didn't come.

Zhang's parents were honest people, so Zhao Qingyi didn't dare to seat them at the same table as the Liu family. Instead, she specially arranged for them to sit at the table with the spicy flowers.

He even made a point of greeting the chili pepper and asking for her help.

Spicy Flower readily agreed. She was feisty, but also reasonable, and very kind to Zhang Cuicui's parents.

On the table, there would be a plate of peanuts and melon seeds, and another plate of fried dough sticks.

As soon as Liu Jiaren sat down, he reached out and scooped everything out of the two plates, stuffing it into his pockets, not caring about getting his clothes dirty.

After the other guests sat down, they found that there was nothing left. They asked Zhao Qingyi to bring them something to sweeten their mouths, and Zhao Qingyi quickly arranged for the young man to bring them another serving.

Xiuzhi wanted to sweep it all up again, but the new customer stopped her.

The people seated at this table are all notoriously feisty locals.

Today, the Zhao family didn't invite any local young men to serve the food; instead, they hired the group of beggar children who had been hired by the Huang family to deliver takeout.

After more than a year of being well cared for and fed, these boys have not only grown taller, but they have also become quite eloquent.

The Zhao family is holding a banquet today, so some unmarried girls from the village have also come along.

Seeing the row of spirited young men from the Zhao family, some were so shy that they didn't even dare to lift their heads.

The elders at the table saw this and burst into laughter, jokingly saying that another happy event was about to take place in Zhao Family Village.

While people were happily cracking sunflower seeds and waiting for their food, over there a child was crying and howling. It was all because the grandson of Aunt Wang Caixia's family was fighting over candy.

They're all subservient, and neither of them wants to say a harsh word. They're all like living ancestors; if they can't get what they want, so be it.

My aunt's sister-in-law then asked people to quickly take more, acting as if she were the master of the house.

Because of Magistrate Qiu's arrival, two tables were set up in the Zhao family's main house, one for the men and one for the women.

The two sides were separated by a screen. The person in the main seat was naturally Magistrate Qiu, followed by Manager Han Sifang from Wufang Town and Han Santong from Wangyue Tower in Qing'an County.

The remaining guests included Zhao Qianci, Zhao Jinfeng, his second uncle, third uncle, Zhao Changgeng, and others.

On the women's side were the county magistrate's wife with her two children, Madam Wang with her two children, Huang Shi, Wang Caixia, Tian Xiaolan, Liu Xiaohua, Zhang Cuicui, and others.

In addition to Wang Yishao, a renowned chef who specializes in cooking in the countryside, Han Sifang specially transferred two chefs from his own restaurant to cook today's meal, along with several cooks already employed by the Zhao family.

Today's dishes are quite plentiful.