Li Qianqian looked helplessly at her brother's ambiguous attitude towards Xiaoyue, and apologized a little as she tried to smooth things over, saying, "You know, my brother really didn't mean it. He's just someone who doesn't show his emotions."

Looking at Li Qianqian's apologetic face, Xiaoyue said with a mischievous smile, "Not showing your emotions, that's what makes a master!"

Li Qianqian blushed instantly and fell silent.

Xiaoyue winked at Li Qianqian again and said in a gentle voice, "How could I not know what kind of person your brother is? I just don't want your own father to steal my money for nothing."

I don't want you to take the blame or pay off your father's debts. If there's a chance to go to the county, I'll let your brother go, or when I go out, I'll keep an eye on him and we can go to the town together."

Li Qianqian deliberately ignored Xiaoyue, turned the finished garment over, held it up to the sunlight, and carefully examined it for any flaws. She then turned it over and examined it again before handing it to Xu Fanyuan.

"This outfit is size 155, don't put the wrong size in," he instructed.

Xu Fanyuan took the clothes from Li Qianqian and inadvertently noticed the thimble in her hand and the cotton strips wrapped around her fingers. He blurted out, "Are you injured?"

Lu Xiaomei sat next to Li Qianqian, giggling involuntarily. She then placed her hand in front of Xu Fanyuan and waved it a few times, saying, "Brother Xu, do you think sewing clothes is easy?"

When you're not good at sewing, you have to prick yourself eight hundred times a day. Once you learn to sew, your knuckles will hurt from working for long periods of time." After saying that, he chuckled and went back to work.

Xiaoyue glanced at Xu Fanyuan as he packed the clothes and placed them on the cabinet, even writing a code on the packaging with a charcoal pencil. Without asking any questions, she went to the kitchen and found that Li Lei had already started stewing the chicken and stir-frying the sauerkraut, while Shuiyue was tending the fire for Li Lei.

Seeing that there wasn't a single piece of meat in the stir-fried pickled cabbage, Xiaoyue called out to Xu Fanyuan again, "When we get to the market, buy three catties of pork, both lean and fatty, and five catties of good quality lard." As she spoke, she pushed open the door between the kitchen and the storeroom and handed Xu Fanyuan two taels of silver.

After Li Lei finished cooking, he looked up and said, "I still have two taels of silver here."

Xiaoyue glanced at Li Lei sideways: "That's emergency money I gave you. If there are any expenses while I'm not home, you can use it to pay for them."

...

After finishing her meal, Xiaoyue went outside to give some instructions to the two people going to town. She saw Li Lei leading the donkey and putting the cart on its back. He was worried that the cart shaft would hurt the donkey, so he put a thin blanket under the donkey. It looked like the blanket that Lu Xiaomei didn't want anymore.

Seeing how much Li Lei cared for the little donkey, Xiaoyue couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She sighed and blurted out, "You should go with them. You can buy whatever vegetables they need, including the vegetables for the New Year."

Xiaoyue wanted to slap herself after saying that, but then she tried to make amends by saying to Li Lei, "Let Chunyue and Xu Fanyuan take the money and things. You just need to drive the donkey cart and follow them."

Li Lei's stiff face suddenly lit up with a slight smile, and he jumped onto the donkey cart. Xu Fanyuan took two bolts of cloth and loaded them into the cart. He and Chunyue then got on the cart. When Shuiyue saw Chunyue get on the cart, she ran over with her short legs, crying.

Xiaoyue thought for a moment, realizing that the three men had taken a liking to a little girl, so she smiled and carried Shuiyue into the car, saying, "Take good care of your little sister." She then gave her some more instructions.

Xiaoyue had just seen the donkey cart off and was about to close the courtyard gate when she saw a woman wearing a white rabbit fur hat and a white rabbit fur cloak draped over her shoulders walking towards her house with small, quick steps. She was also wearing a pair of rabbit fur gloves.

Xiaoyue recognized the woman walking side by side. She was wearing a dark yellow padded jacket, a dog-skin hat, and a faded green ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress). She was talking to the woman in rabbit white with her face turned to the side.

Ge Erping?

Xiaoyue couldn't help but wonder, what was the relationship between this woman and Ge Erping?

Xiaoyue closed the courtyard gate and started to walk back.

"Xiaoyue!" Ge Erping shouted so loudly that his voice could be heard from two miles away.

Xiaoyue turned around, put her hands in her sleeves, and asked impatiently, "What is it?"

"Bai Hongmei, Bai Hongmei is looking for you." Ge Erping hurriedly ran a few steps towards Xiaoyue, calling out to her.

"Looking for me? I don't know her." Xiaoyue came out without a hat, pulled her hands out of her sleeves, and covered her ears.

"I know you." The girl beside Ge Erping, who looked like a fairy, spoke in a soft, sweet voice.

After hearing those words, Xiaoyue had no choice but to stand there and wait for the two of them.

When Ge Erping arrived, he pushed the gate open again and carefully stepped aside to let Bai Hongmei behind him into the courtyard.

Xiaoyue didn't know why, but she was naturally averse to the people Ge Erping brought, so she didn't give them a friendly look and led them to the front yard where Li Lei and the others lived.

When Bai Hongmei entered the room, she covered her mouth and nose with her hand, frowned, and said, "Why does this room smell so bad?"

Xiaoyue, speaking from the front, said sarcastically, "How can a house not stink if you keep a donkey inside?"

Upon hearing Xiaoyue's words, Ge Erping bypassed Bai Hongmei, grabbed Xiaoyue, and said with a face full of surprise, "You raise donkeys? You even raise donkeys? Where did you get the money? Did Liang Qi give it to you? Or did you seduce someone with those vixen tricks?"

Xiaoyue pulled her arm away from Ge Erping's grasp, swung her arm, and slapped Ge Erping hard across the face. Ge Erping took the blow squarely, covered his face, and glared at Xiaoyue with venomous eyes.

Xiaoyue said in a cold voice, "Your brain isn't a chamber pot. Think before you speak."

Seeing Bai Hongmei staring wide-eyed and looking bewildered, Ge Erping knew that she was no good, so he went around to Bai Hongmei's back.

Upon entering the room, Xiaoyue sat down at the kang table. She glanced around the small room and noticed that Li Lei and Chunyue's room was always spotless, with a small kang table on the kang and quilts folded into the kang cabinet at night.

Bai Hongmei leaned against the doorway, looking around the dimly lit room. After a long while, she finally managed to utter a sentence: "You are not good enough for Liang Qi."

Sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed), Xiaoyue glanced at Bai Hongmei and sneered, "Speak, what brings you to my house?"

Bai Hongmei clenched her hands tightly together, her face flushed red, and took a step forward, saying, "Please leave Liang Qi. My family has arranged a marriage for us."

"They're engaged." Xiaoyue hadn't expected to hear this. Her heart clenched painfully, cold sweat broke out all over her body, and she bit her tongue to calm herself down.

He stared coldly at Bai Hongmei and said, word by word:

"White and red plum blossoms".

"Yes." Xiaoyue felt a surge of nausea at the sight of those bright, innocent eyes, like those of a young animal.

"Get out of here."