Chu Yaya arrived early the next morning.

Tian Guifen was taken aback and quickly asked, "Ya Ya, have you eaten?"

"I've eaten. Aunt Wanli, what do you think I should do now?" Chu Yaya rolled up her sleeves, looking quite energetic.

Tian Guifen said with a smile, "No rush, no rush. Come here, Auntie wants to talk to you for a bit."

Tian Guifen pulled Chu Yaya into the house, patted Shen Liuliu who was still fast asleep, and said with a smile, "Don't be surprised, my girl just loves to stay in bed."

Then he found yesterday's money, handed it to Chu Yaya, and told her about the mushrooms.

"...I'm so sorry, I'm going to sell the mushrooms you gave me."

“Aunt Wanli, what are you saying? These things were given to you, and it’s your business how you deal with them. If you sell them, you should keep the money. I can’t accept them.”

Chu Yaya didn't even glance at the copper coins.

Of course she knew that the money could buy her and her grandmother new cotton to make quilts, as well as food and new clothes.

But she couldn't do that.

“You silly child, if it were just a small amount of money, I wouldn’t have pushed you around, but with so much money, I can’t be greedy.”

"How about this, Auntie, I'll take one tael of silver, and the remaining four hundred coins are yours."

"Alright."

Both of them were straightforward people, and they hit it off immediately.

However, Tian Guifen still specified a time, telling Chu Yaya to come at the appointed time in the future and not to arrive too early.

Since we're already here, and seeing how determined Chu Yaya is, Tian Guifen told Chu Yaya to wait a moment.

A short while later, Shen Yishan and Shen Erming returned from buying fruit.

"Yaya, why don't you wash these fruits first? Then when your other two aunts and Mingqiu arrive, have them cut the fruit and prepare to make wine."

After you wash the fruit, just sweep the yard, air out the blankets, and do the laundry. We don't need to set specific times; just come and do these things every morning and leave.

It only needs to be done in the morning each day.

Chu Yaya said she understood, then rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

While cooking, Tian Guifen observed the girl for a while and found that she was really serious about her work.

I couldn't help but like it even more.

——

Two months have passed in the blink of an eye, and the first snow of early winter has finally arrived.

It was rare for Tian Guifen's whole family to be home together, so they split into two groups and played cards on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Shen Liuliu was also looking at the cards with a serious expression, constantly giving Shen Wanli advice: "Two of Wan, Father, play two of Wan!"

"Okay, I'll do as Liu Liu says. Twenty thousand."

"Ouch, it's burnt!"

—

"Father, give me three."

"Bang!"

—

"Seven cakes, Father will believe in Six Six one more time."

"Hey, Seven Little Team, I won!"

—

Looking at his empty money box, Shen Wanli helplessly handed over the space to his daughter: "Daughter, why don't you play by yourself?"

Stop losing your dad's money, you've lost it all!

Everyone laughed when they heard that.

Wu Tiao mocked his sister even more rudely: "Sister's bad luck, haha, she loses everything when she plays! Well then, I'm going to play too, just to win her money!"

Wu Tiao laughed heartily.

Shen Liuli grumbled unhappily, put her hands on her hips and asked him, "Do you have money? What are you going to use to play with me? Are you going to get a zero on your test?"

"Ha ha ha ha."

"Liu Liu really doesn't suffer any loss at all."

A while ago, during a school exam, his abacus test paper was covered in big X's, and Tian Guifen chased him all over the yard and gave him a good beating.

Now that Shen Liuliu has brought it up in public, Wu Tiao howled in embarrassment and anger: "I, I, I have no money, but I can gamble with my work! If I lose a round, I'll do a day's work."

"Alright!"

Tian Guifen smiled so hard her eyes narrowed into slits.

Shen Erming slapped the table, pushed his older brother aside, and said he wanted to play together.

Then there were Tian Guifen, Shen Erming, and Shen Liuliu, who formed a five-person mahjong table.

However, Wu Tiao had made it clear beforehand that he would only work if Shen Liuliu won. He wouldn't gamble on anyone else!

This kid is smart; he knows he can't beat adults at cards.

Unexpectedly, after playing three rounds, Shen Liuliu's luck seemed to turn around, and her younger sister won every single round!

After thinking for a moment, Tian Guifen played her card: "Five of Thousands".

Shen Liuliu stood up excitedly, gave a shove with her thick arm, and laughed so hard her eyes were almost invisible.

"Whoosh!"

—

Shen Erming calmly tossed out a card: "Four of a Kind".

"I swoosh again."

—

As the number of times increased, Wu Tiao also sensed something was wrong. When Shen Erming threw out another good card and his sister won, Wu Tiao immediately stretched out to look at his second brother's card.

After seeing it clearly, he immediately yelled angrily, "Second brother, you clearly had a winning hand, why did you play four of a kind? You were obviously playing a useful tile! You did this on purpose to let your sister win!"

Wu Tiao was very dissatisfied.

Shen Erming was overjoyed and deliberately provoked his younger brother by saying, "Yeah, go ahead and bite me if you dare."

His little sister is so cute, how could he bear to see her cry?

He wouldn't bother playing if he wasn't worried that his older brother wouldn't know how to feed him cards; it's not fun.

Five's cheeks puffed up in excitement, and its flushed little face clearly showed its owner's mood at that moment.

Shen Erming turned his head and whistled at his sister: "Liu Liu, your second brother's hand of cards is... ouch!"

Ouch!

Enraged, Wu Tiao suddenly bit down on Shen Erming's foot, which was placed in front of him!

With his toes being bitten hard, Shen Erming wanted nothing more than to kick Wutiao away, but he could only hold back for fear of hurting his younger brother.

"Let go of me right now!"

"Oh my son, how dirty! Aren't you afraid of being suffocated by the stench? Let go of me right now."

Tian Guifen was heartbroken and rushed to pull her youngest son away.

Shen Erming: ...

Now it's him who got bitten, isn't it?

Isn't Mother being a little unreasonable?

Wu Tiao knew to restrain himself and, after listening to Tian Guifen's advice, he let go of his words, but he still glared fiercely at his second brother.

Tian Guifen quickly pushed him, "Go rinse your mouth! It's too dirty. Why are you biting your second brother's foot? Really, don't you know it's dirty?"

Shen Erming: ...

Upon hearing this, Wu Tiao obediently went out to rinse his mouth.

Shen Yishan patted his second brother on the shoulder with great amusement and said with a smile, "When you get married and have children, your status will drop even more."

He'd already experienced that feeling firsthand!

After more than three months of adjustment, Shen Erming's mood has calmed down considerably. While he's not completely unmoved, he's at least no longer as sensitive as before, unable to bear hearing others talk about his child.

“Then for that reason alone, I’ll have to postpone my marriage,” Shen Erming joked.

Unexpectedly, Tian Guifen immediately became anxious and said impatiently, "What's so late? Your eldest brother is about to have his third child. You're already late. Why aren't you hurrying up? Do you want to fly to the sky?"

Do you really have absolutely no idea what's going on?