Yang Wanwan and her siblings smiled, which could be considered a response and a sign of humility.

Cao Xinchun walked several steps ahead of Tu Xiu. After Tu Xiu finished talking with Yang Wanwan and her brother, she suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "Why didn't you greet your aunt when you saw her?"

Yang Wanwan just smiled and didn't answer.

Tu Xiu frowned and said, "We're all family, how can there be any grudges that last overnight? After all, she's your aunt. Just call her that and give her a way out. We'll still be family from now on, Wanwan, don't you think?"

Yang Wanwan did not directly reject her suggestion, but said, "Aunt Tuxiu, I need to lay the bait now, I have to get busy."

After saying that, without waiting for Tu Xiu to continue talking to him, he squatted down and began to knead the rice ball bait.

Tu Xiu sighed and muttered to herself, "Wanwan, you're too stubborn. You're going to study hard and do great things in the future, and this kind of personality isn't good for you."

Yang Wanwan ignored him and focused solely on making rice balls.

Seeing that Yang Wanwan was no longer paying attention to her, Tu Xiu turned to Er Ye and Shang Tao, who were busy at work, and said, "Er Ye, Shang Tao, you two should also try to persuade your eldest sister. Your aunt is doing this for your own good, and you'll understand later. You're both girls. When you get married, what will you say when your husband's family asks about your family? If anything happens in your husband's family, who will stand up for you?"

Er Ye maintained a polite and courteous smile throughout, but Shang Tao grew increasingly displeased as he listened. He said, "Aunt Tu Xiu, aren't you going to pick vegetables? Your vegetable garden is over there, isn't it?"

Tu Xiu was stunned for a moment, then said, "Shang Tao, you still don't want to listen to your aunt?"

"Auntie, I'm just worried that if you arrive late, there won't be any food left at home. I'm doing this for your own good."

"It's only three o'clock, there's still plenty of time to eat vegetables, why is it so late?"

"We're only thirteen or fourteen, it's still too early for us to get married. We can talk about these things later. Don't you think so?"

Tu Xiu: ...

"Sigh, really."

Tu Xiu shook her head and walked away.

Er Ye chuckled, "Shang Tao, you're getting better and better at talking!"

"Sigh, there's nothing I can do. Aunt Tuxiu just loves to nag, but she doesn't mean any harm. I can't be as direct as I am with my aunt. You know, it's really difficult to dissuade her from her idea while also making my point reasonable."

Yang Wanwan felt very gratified.

Er Ye and Shang Tao will be living in the village for several more years, and their relationship with the villagers cannot be as sharp as their relationship with Yang Dali.

Therefore, speaking and acting are truly a great way to train a person.

It's good that Shang Tao can recognize these things.

The afternoon was busy but fruitful, yielding a full bucket of fish and shrimp, weighing a good three or four pounds.

Shang Tao was overjoyed after having a delicious meal of wild fish and shrimp that evening.

After dinner, the three siblings went to the village committee for a meeting.

From afar, Yang Wanwan could see Cao Xinchun staring at the siblings, but she ignored him and sat down in a corner.

Maodouhua also arrived, and was taken aback when she saw Yang Wanwan.

Yang Youneng didn't come.

A village committee member is registering something, supposedly to go home and calculate the number of days to come, which differs from the previously announced registration.

Yang Wanwan recorded the number of days she had calculated.

Before long, most of the villagers had arrived, and Yang Dali began the meeting.

Yang Dali read out the different numbers of days and households registered, totaling seventeen households.

Then, in front of everyone, he recalculated the number of days.

Some households calculated correctly themselves, but the village committee calculated incorrectly, and these were corrected. Other households calculated incorrectly themselves, but the village committee calculated correctly, and the original figures were retained.

Yang Wanwan's family is still under a 70-day quarantine.

Yang Wanwan had anticipated this outcome and was not surprised.

Yang Dali said, "We've already calculated the number of working days four or five times. Our village committee has decided to use this number as the final figure and stop calculating it. Now, let's vote on it. If the vote passes, it'll be final and won't be changed again. Does anyone have any objections?"

Everyone expressed that they had no objections.

Only Yang Wanwan and a few other households did not raise their hands in agreement.

Yang Dali said, "Through everyone's vote, the minority obeys the majority, so the final number of working days is now announced. Once this is announced, it cannot be changed."

So, a member of the village committee went to transcribe the numbers.

The numbers for Yang Wanwan's family remained unchanged, as did the numbers for Yang Xinqiao's and Yang Tianbao's families.

Yang Wanwan did not stand up and speak.

Yang Dali, that old fox!

He must be so proud of himself!

Their methods have become much more sophisticated!

Shang Tao whispered in Yang Wanwan's ear, "Big sister, Auntie is smiling so smugly!"

Yes, Yang Wanwan suffered a loss but couldn't bring herself to say anything, how could Cao Xinchun not be happy?

Yang Wanwan smiled and said, "Don't worry, they won't be laughing for long!"

Play dirty tricks with me!

I'll make you all pay!

I told you long ago, don't mess with me again.

Since you won't listen, then you'll have to bear the consequences.

The villagers were chatting noisily when Cao Xinchun deliberately walked up to a villager next to Yang Wanwan and said loudly and happily, "Your family has 70 days? That seems like a lot, but it's not that much. Your family has a lot of laborers, and if everyone works together, you can finish the job a month early."

Shang Tao couldn't help but feel furious, but she knew her older sister had a backup plan, so she turned to talk to Er Ye, pretending not to understand Cao Xinchun's implied meaning.

Once Cao Xinchun got smug, he couldn't stop talking, "Oh dear, speaking of which, my family is also pitiful. We don't have enough manpower, so we have no choice but to pay money..."

Yang Wanwan stood up and said to Er Ye and Shang Tao, "Let's go home and make a call from the house phone."

Cao Xinchun felt he had won, laughed heartily, and continued to speak loudly to the villagers, his laughter never ceasing.

Back home, Yang Wanwan picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, is this Yang Qingqiu's school?... Yes, I have something to report to your school... It's about Yang Qingqiu..."

After hanging up the phone, Yang Wanwan noticed that Er Ye and Shang Tao were both looking at her in surprise.

Er Ye asked, "Big sister, are you saying it's true that Yang Qingqiu stole things at school?"

"Not entirely true."

"Not entirely? What does that mean?"

Yang Wanwan said, "Was his tuition money stolen? You have to remember, Yang Dali owes us not just 13,000 yuan, but at least 23,000 yuan. They only paid back 13,000 yuan, so they still owe 10,000 yuan. Doesn't that 10,000 yuan count as theft?"

Both Er Ye and Shang Tao nodded, "Yes!"

"Yang Qingqiu wouldn't have been able to go to university without that 10,000 yuan. So, was I wrong to say he stole something?"

Uh, that's probably right.

Of course, even without the 10,000 yuan, Yang Dali would still find a way to get Yang Qingqiu into school.