As for Xu Zhi, Xu Di loved this younger sister, partly because she was indeed related to him by blood, but more importantly, Xu Di felt sorry for this little girl. At such a young age, she had to make a living in the backyard where people devoured her, and she had to find ways to overcome difficulties on her own. Xu Di remembered this little girl, no matter how much she cried or how hard she was, she always greeted him with a smile. How could he not feel sorry for such a child?

Xu Di didn't know what the girl's final fate would be, but considering the fates of the Xu family members, this girl's ending wouldn't be much better. Xu Di knew how much the original owner cared for this younger sister, so naturally he wanted to protect her and let her grow up carefree.

Xu Bai held Zhang Zhaoci's hand and said, "Mother, I know my eldest brother. He's tough on the outside but soft on the inside. Don't be fooled by his usual criticisms of me; it's all for my own good. That's what they call being strict with someone you love and then hating them for it."

Zhang Zhaoci said, "It's good that you know this. What your family is afraid of is that you don't have the ambition. If you become lazy and become a good-for-nothing playboy, you'll never be able to turn your life around. In the future, your parents, brothers and sisters won't be able to accompany you for the rest of your life. You'll have to rely on yourself to support your own life."

Xu Bai said, "Yes, yes, Mother, I understand. I just like to talk back to my brother. Brother, I'm not against you. I just think that this way we brothers can have better emotional communication."

Xu Di said, "Who are you? You're the kind of person who can cause a ruckus in other people's mansions. Didn't you make that whole family speechless?"

Xu Bai said, "Brother, it's the New Year, let's talk about something happy, okay? I was just doing that for my older sister, wasn't I? Besides, my brother-in-law really appreciates me. Didn't you see that when he gave us New Year's gifts at the end of the year, he even gave me a special gift? Let me tell you, this isn't the first time I've received something from my brother-in-law that he gave me separately."

After Xu Yao went to Liaodong with Cheng Kai, she soon wrote home saying that she was pregnant and would give birth soon after the spring. Zhang Zhaoci had already prepared a lot of pills for childbirth. In this era, you really had to give birth naturally. If there was a difficult labor, there was no cesarean section waiting for you. So, after receiving the letter, Ning Shi began to look for old women who knew how to take care of pregnant women. She found two women who were not only good at taking care of pregnant women, but were also said to be good at midwifery. Zhang Zhaoci took them over, gave them some emergency training, and gave them a list of things to pay attention to during pregnancy. With the pills, she was sent to Liaodong.

Because of this, Ning thanked Zhang Zhaoci again and again. The Zhang family's medical skills were very impressive, and few people knew that Zhang Zhaoci had inherited them. Ning knew this, of course. For her daughter's sake, Zhang Zhaoci had specially trained the old woman she had found. This was truly an immense favor.

Zhang Zhaoci had thought it through clearly. They were all girls from the same household, sharing the same surname. Only by supporting each other could they look out for one another. After this, Zhang Zhaoci actually selected some women who had given birth from the household. After asking about their wishes, she began to systematically train them, specifically in prenatal care, childbirth, and postpartum care.

Xu Di naturally knew what his mother had done. Cheng Kai had prepared a gift for Xu Bai separately, and in fact, he had also prepared a gift for his mother separately. However, this gift was given to Ning Shi and then handed over by Ning Shi. There was really no need to make everyone know about some things.

Zhang Zhaoci took Xu Bai's hand and walked towards the old lady's courtyard.

From Zhang Zhaoci's courtyard, one has to go through a road on the south side of the garden to reach the old lady's courtyard. The old lady's courtyard is located behind the main courtyard of the mansion and is the largest courtyard in the entire Marquis's mansion.

Lanterns were lit everywhere in the courtyard. When passing through the garden, they met Chen Shi from the second branch of the family and Xu Pu with their four children. After exchanging greetings, the younger generation wished their elders a Happy New Year and then walked together toward the old lady's courtyard.

Xu Pu's family has four children. The eldest daughter, Xu Mian, is the third daughter in the family. The youngest son is the third son. The youngest daughters are twins, the sixth daughter, Xu Gui, and the seventh daughter, Xu Ju.

Xu Mian was gentle and obedient. After greeting Zhang Zhaoci, Granny Lu, and Xu Di, she stood with Xu Zhi and talked. The twins Xu Gui and Xu Ju were much more lively. Xu Bai liked the twin sisters very much. He held one in each hand and chattered as they walked. Xu Di was with Xu Zong. The group of children followed behind the elders of the family and headed towards the old lady's courtyard.

It was already past dawn, and a faint glimmer of indigo was visible on the eastern horizon. The old lady's courtyard was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers. Red lanterns under the eaves were lit, and small lanterns hung on the trees in the courtyard. Some branches were wrapped with colorful ribbons. The cold wind was biting, but this decoration brought a sense of excitement for the New Year, and the cold was nothing to fear.

When Zhang Zhaoci entered, he saw that the Second Master Xu Qi and his wife Zhu were already sitting on either side of the old lady's kang table, while the old lady sat in front of the kang table with a smile on her face.

Seeing Zhang Zhaoci and Xu Puchen arrive with the children, Ning, who had arrived long ago, smiled and said, "Second sister-in-law and third sister-in-law have arrived. Grandmother has been waiting anxiously."

Zhang Zhaoci said with a smile, "I think Grandma's purse is getting impatient, isn't it? Grandma, I've brought the children to kowtow to you and wish you a Happy New Year. Will you still give me the purse?"

Madam Chen was a rather reserved person and never joked with the old lady like that. However, she stood to the side with Zhang Zhaoci with a smile on her face. Xu Pu, on the other hand, went over and sat down with the young master with some embarrassment.

The old lady smiled and said, "Of course you will receive a share of the kowtow. You will receive double. Since your third master cannot come to our house for the New Year, I will give you his share."

Not only Zhang Zhaoci, but even Ning Shi joined in the commotion, saying, "Grandmother, are you really going to give us purses? Then I'll really kneel down and kowtow to you!"

The old lady waved her hand at Granny Shen, who then brought out a tray from the inner room. On it were several small purses, though they looked rather small. Everyone knew that the lighter the purse looked, the more valuable the contents inside were.