So Liu Rufeng suppressed his restless heart, attending classes and teaching during the day and studying diligently by lamplight at night, hoping to pass the imperial examination as soon as possible so that he could go to the Tang family to propose marriage.

Because of Sun Haotian's words, Sun Zhiyuan began to reflect on himself. After that, he rarely went out to fool around. Instead, he stayed at home obediently to accompany Sun Haotian to read and play. He also started to manage some of the family business, which made his life quite fulfilling.

The eldest wife and the third concubine in the family always found ways to find him, so Sun Zhiyuan occasionally stayed overnight in the eldest wife's courtyard.

The third wife was a glutton, always eating and gossiping about others. Sun Zhiyuan had never liked her, but since she had invited him so many times, he had no choice but to go and sit for a while. But that was all he could do.

However, the second wife, who is Sun Haotian's mother, was originally a concubine, but was elevated to the position of second wife because she gave birth to Sun Haotian.

She never came to pay her respects to Sun Zhiyuan, which made Sun Zhiyuan somewhat disappointed. However, he maintained his composure and refused to go to Jiang's courtyard in person, so he waited for Jiang's reaction.

Later, still feeling uneasy, he went to see Sun Haotian under the pretext of checking on him. Only then did he realize that Jiang Shi was no longer the woman who only had him, Sun Zhiyuan, in her heart and eyes.

□□

For some reason, Sun Zhiyuan felt particularly uneasy. He used to hate it when Jiang Shi clung to him.

Now, she is polite yet distant to me, as if saying even one more word would be a hassle, and she can't wait for me to leave.

Sun Zhiyuan grew angrier the more he thought about it and refused to leave, but Jiang Shi remained cold towards him, seemingly disdainful.

That guy is just despicable. He used to be disgusted by Jiang's eagerness to get close to him, but now that she's ignoring him, he's feeling lost.

Later, he started going to the Jiang family's courtyard every day, and eventually he just stayed there.

Everyone marveled, wondering what method Jiang had used to bewitch Sun Zhiyuan.

Even Madam Sun couldn't understand why her son had suddenly changed his personality, and she was also wondering how Jiang had managed to do it.

Zhang Ma saw things more clearly. She said, "No matter what methods the Second Madam uses, as long as she can keep the young master and have a son or daughter, you can rest assured." Old Madam Sun agreed wholeheartedly.

As for why Jiang suddenly changed her personality, it was because she had an extraordinary master who taught her a trick called "playing hard to get," and unexpectedly, it really worked.

At this time, the Tang family was extremely busy.

This book is first published on TaDu & Novel app — Free, ad-free, and pop-up-free, allowing you to interact with other readers.

The sheep ranch at the foot of Dayanshan Mountain in Tangjiagou was almost ready. Jiedi kept asking for sheep, so Tang Qiqi took advantage of her going home and moved the sheep to the sheepfold.

Xu Lanzhi naturally didn't let Jiedi have her way and just haphazardly put up a row of fences. Tang Qiqi had repeatedly said that although sheep are cold-resistant, prolonged low temperatures are still not good for their growth, so she arranged for a sheepfold that would allow the sheep to survive the winter.

When Jiedi saw the soft, white sheep, she was overjoyed and took meticulous care of them every day. She even wished she could move to the sheep pen to live. So no matter what Xu Lanzhi said, she insisted on herding sheep on Dayan Mountain.

Baogen and Jiedi had developed a deep friendship since they started raising rabbits, and he always said that he would stand by Jiedi through thick and thin.

Baogen is an honest boy and a good worker, but they are still children, and now they are at that awkward age. Xu Lanzhi's idea is to separate them to prevent them from causing any trouble.

Baogen was unwilling to accept several offers, and Jiedi made it clear that she wanted to work with Baogen.

But how could the mother be at ease? She thought about finding another adult to keep an eye on them, but while it was easy to find a shepherd, it was not so easy to find someone to supervise the two children.

After much deliberation, Xu Lanzhi still felt that Cuixi was the most suitable person for this matter. She was Baogen's mother, and although the two had had some unpleasantness before, they had reconciled.

Moreover, Cui Xi is the strictest person in this regard. With him watching over them, the two children should be fine.

So Xu Lanzhi went to her door and told her her thoughts.

QQ: 563743675

She felt somewhat guilty, because once they arrived at the ranch, they would only be able to keep company with the sheep, and life would be hard. It was understandable that Cuixi was unhappy about being sent there with her son.

Unexpectedly, Cuixi readily agreed. She could see that the two children had a good relationship, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were childhood sweethearts. But the children were still young, and now that Xu Lanzhi's family had become successful, it was another matter whether they would even look at Baogen.

Cui Xi naturally understood Xu Lanzhi's meaning; she was asking her to keep a close eye on her son.

Cui Xi said, "I also told Bao Gen that he and Jie Di are both grown up and should avoid suspicion. But this silly boy doesn't understand what I'm saying at all."

To be honest, I'm also having this problem. Since you're comfortable leaving Jiedi in my care, I'll go live with them on Dayan Mountain.

Xu Lanzhi said gratefully, "Cuixi, thank you. But Dayanshan is not like home, the conditions are much harsher, and I'm sorry to trouble you and your son."

Cui Xi smiled: "Lan Zhi, if we're talking about hardship, we really suffered before. We never dared to dream of living such a good life now. The women in our village are very grateful to you. You keep having Er Zhu assign work to the wives and mothers in our village. Now that the women have some money, they finally don't have to look at the men's faces every day."

Xu Lanzhi laughed: "Isn't this what we should do? Why should women make things difficult for each other!"

Cuixi hesitated for a moment and said, "There's something I've always wanted to ask you: has there been any news about your Dongsheng? Four years ago, they said he brought something back, and I figured he'd be back soon."

But four years have passed, and there's still no news. Could it be that he's become successful and forgotten about your family? Do you want to know where he is? Shouldn't you go look for him?

口口伍陆彡74彡陆7伍

If Cui Xi didn't mention it, Xu Lanzhi would have almost forgotten that Dong Sheng existed. When they first parted, she thought about him day and night, missing him and hoping he would come back soon, since so many children at home were waiting for him to take care of them.

But after so long without any news, Xu Lanzhi seemed to have given up hope. With so many things to worry about at home, she was too busy to even think about Dongsheng.

Xu Lanzhi smiled calmly and said, "Where can we find him? If he wants to come back, he will come back sooner or later. If he doesn't want to come back, it's no use looking for him. Right now, I just want to raise my children and live a good life. Let everything else take its course!"

Cui Xi sighed and said, "That's true. There aren't many men you can rely on. Aren't we women all living off our children?"

Xu Lanzhi wholeheartedly agreed. She squeezed Cuixi's hand and said, "That's right. That's why we sisters help each other raise the children. The conditions at the ranch are tough, so I'm sorry to trouble you."

Thousands of thousands of people