The two sides remained locked in a stalemate. Xu Bai forbade anyone to move, but the enemy seemed to be in a hurry, and soon another volley of arrows rained down. Xu Bai kept checking the situation behind him with his small mirror. When he saw Chen Yuyuan, he made a gesture to her. Chen Yuyuan nodded and helped keep an eye on the situation directly in front of them. Chen Yuqiao and Chen Yukang saw Xu Bai and Chen Yuyuan's gesture and immediately understood what they meant. One looked to the left and the other to the right. Soon, arrows began to fly in from the side.

After Xu Bai and his men left, Xu Zhi went to the kitchen to help prepare lunch. She kneaded the dough vigorously a few times, but her right eyelid kept twitching, making her restless. She pressed it hard with her hand, but it didn't help, so she simply put down what she was doing and went to her room to wash her face.

Miao'er picked a cucumber from her own vegetable trellis, but she couldn't bear to eat it herself. She brought it over to Xu Zhi and insisted that Xu Zhi give her half. So Xu Zhi and Miao'er sat together on the stone bench in the yard and ate the washed cucumber.

While eating, Miao'er whispered to Xu Zhi, "Auntie, after my mother finished taking care of things at home these past few days, she started asking around to find a suitable young man to marry my sister."

Xu Zhi, feeling a bit mischievous, laughed and said, "What about your sister? Is she as anxious as your mother?"

Miao'er sighed and said, "My sister doesn't want to. She has always been unwilling to find a husband, but Mother is anxious. My sister secretly told me that she doesn't want to find a husband. If you marry into a husband's family, you have to take care of their every need. If the husband's family is like ours, that's fine. But if you encounter a bad one, you'll get angry. It's not worth it."

After Miao'er finished speaking, she covered her mouth and said to Xu Zhi, "Oh dear, these words are very disrespectful. Auntie, just listen to them, but please don't tell my mother."