In just over ten days, it will be Xu Zhi's wedding day. The dowry has been prepared well in advance, and all the necessary items for the wedding in the mansion have also been prepared. Zhang Zhaoci felt that she still had a lot to do, but after thinking about it carefully, she didn't know what to do. Granny Lu said that this was because she was too nervous. This is how it is for families about to get married. Before the wedding, they always feel that there are still many things to do, but when they actually do them, they find that everything has already been done.

There were many children in the household. The girls were alright, but the teenage boys were at the age where they were growing and eating a lot, so the kitchen had to prepare a lot of food every day to meet everyone's needs.

When Li Yuexi arrived, the kitchen duties naturally fell to her. At first, Li Yuexi was very nervous, afraid that she might do something wrong. With something on her mind, she tossed and turned all night and couldn't sleep, which displeased Xu Di.

Xu Di was very satisfied with his little wife. Putting aside her good looks, her gentle yet opinionated personality alone was enough to fascinate him.

Li Yuexi is a woman with strong opinions, but when her ideas differ from Xu Di's, she doesn't argue vehemently. Instead, she patiently explains her point of view to Xu Di, analyzes the differences between them, and points out the similarities and differences. Sometimes she even writes everything down on paper and shows it to Xu Di step by step until she convinces him or is convinced by him.

This is what Xu Di greatly admires about Li Yuexi: she doesn't blindly follow others, but she pays close attention to her own methods. She treats herself this way not only with him but also with others. Being with her is truly like basking in a spring breeze.

Xu Di felt very sorry for his wife, who was so tired from taking care of the household chores that she had dark circles under her eyes and couldn't sleep well at night.

Xu Di went to see Zhang Zhaoci. She had recently been researching several ancient prescriptions, wanting to turn the medicinal herbs into pills so that the children at home could take them with them. Regardless of whether it was for treating colds, reducing inflammation, or clearing heat, as long as it could be made into pills, Zhang Zhaoci would carefully study it and then make it into pills, so that the children could have the right medicine if they had any problems while they were out.

At that time, medical care was very backward, and sometimes even a minor cold could be fatal, so Zhang Zhaoci couldn't ignore it.

Seeing Xu Di enter, Zhang Zhaoci, holding a small scale for weighing medicinal herbs, said, "Xu Di, you're here. What can I do for you?"

Xu Di said, "Mother, haven't you noticed that Yuexi's complexion has been getting worse these past few days since she came back?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhaoci quickly put down what he was holding and asked, "What's wrong? Is someone trying to cause trouble or disobey?"

Xu Di said, "No, she's been busy with all sorts of things since she came back, she's exhausted."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhaoci laughed and said, "You've come here to stand up for your wife, haven't you?"

Xu Di said, "That's right, I'm here to stand up for my wife. There are so many people to take care of, we can't let her be the only one burdened, can we?"

Zhang Zhaoci said, "But this family will eventually be handed over to her, so it's good for her to experience it beforehand. Hey, Xu Di, I've always wanted to ask, when are you planning to have children?"

Xu Di said, "Let's wait a bit longer about the baby. She's still young, and having a baby can be harmful to her health. Also, I'm not settled yet, so let's wait a little longer."

Zhang Zhaoci said, "In that case, you'd better take precautions to avoid any accidents. I have a prescription here for men, do you want it?"

Xu Di said, "I don't want it. I came to you not to ask for medicine, but to ask you to make some arrangements so that Yuexi won't be too tired."

Zhang Zhaoci said, "As you can see, there are a lot of things going on at home right now, and I don't know how to arrange them. Most importantly, I'm not good at this."

Xu Di sighed after hearing his mother's words and said, "I shouldn't have come to find you. I'll go find Granny Lu."

Zhang Zhaoci quickly picked up the small scale for weighing the medicinal herbs and said, "You shouldn't have come to find me in the first place."

Xu Di shook his head and went to Granny Lu's courtyard.

Granny Lu has been busy lately taking stock of Xu Zhi's dowry. The dowry for Xu Zhi isn't just silver notes and goods; it also includes some farmland and shops. These past few days, Granny Lu has been holding those land deeds, flipping through the booklets that record these estates and shops, thinking about how to arrange manpower. These booklets were all prepared by Xu Di. A few years ago, Xu Di sorted out all the family's farmland and shops, recording the size of each estate, its location, the surrounding terrain, the soil type, what crops are suitable for growing, who the estate manager is, their age, what they used to do, and how many people are in their family. The shops were recorded in the same way.

If the estate and shops come with Xu Zhi as part of her dowry, then shouldn't these people also be part of Xu Zhi's dowry? You know, some of the people working in these estates and shops are hired from outside.

Seeing Xu Di arrive, Granny Lu took off her tortoiseshell reading glasses and said, "Brother Di, you've come at the right time. I have something to discuss with you."

Xu Di sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and asked, "Granny, please speak freely."

Granny Lu said, "These are the dowry that Third Master and Madam prepared for Ninth Miss. I'm wondering what to do with some of these estates and shops that aren't owned by our family."

Xu Di took the few pages of paper handed to him by Granny Lu and looked at them. They were all shops in the suburbs of Beijing and in the capital. None of the shops that Xu Di had bought in Hexi and Ganzhou were on the list.

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