Shen Shanyan was just talking casually, but seeing that Yu Wen took his words to heart, he couldn't help but feel a sense of responsibility. After a little thought, he said to Yu Wen: "Show me the painting again, and I'll think about whether there are other places with this kind of tree."

Compared with Yu Wen, his relatives and friends are one level higher. Many of them like to grow flowers and trees, and some of them even specialize in growing strange varieties to show that they are different.

"The sea buckthorn trees in Xiaguang's house were planted by Zijin to amuse Xiaguang. Xiaguang was too lazy to even look at them, and the maids who took care of the flowers and trees certainly didn't care about them. They just grew like a bunch of weeds." Shen Shanyan continued, "When I was in the northwest, I saw this tree grow as tall as a house, but the sea buckthorn trees in their house are not even as tall as waists. Even if we borrowed the seeds from their house, I don't think they would survive. It's better to look for other families to see if there are any other families who have grown this kind of trees."

Since he cared so much, Yu Wen naturally thanked him again and again.

The two of them pondered in the study for a long time but could not think of anyone else who had planted such a tree. Shen Shanyan simply put away the painting and said, "I will be going back home after spending the Little New Year with Xiaguang. I will take this opportunity to ask for your daughter."

During the Chinese New Year, the Shen family's house is always crowded with people, and many relatives and friends come to pay New Year's greetings.

"That's great!" Yu Wen was overjoyed, and when Shen Shanyan returned to Hangzhou, he put the half-cut Chengxin paper hidden in his home into a box and gave it to Shen Shanyan as a ceremony.

Shen Shanyan really liked her, so he didn't refuse. He asked Yu Wen to wait for his news and went back to Hangzhou to celebrate the New Year.

The Yu family is also very lively.

After the Little New Year, people start replacing peach charms, pasting up spring couplets, hanging red lanterns, and preparing offerings for the ancestor worship and dishes for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Yu Tang accompanied his father in planting daffodils and tangerines, and instructed Shuang Tao and others to clean up the dust.

She also took the time to give Ma Xiuniang some rice cakes and maltose made by Chen and some hair flowers she made herself.

Ma Xiuniang was very happy. She put down her work, took her into her inner room, and took out some persimmon cakes from the cupboard to treat her: "They are from Fujian, very sweet. Bring some back for Auntie to try."

Yu Tang thanked her with a smile, looked Ma Xiuniang up and down with his eyes, and smiled.

Ma Xiuniang's face immediately turned red, and she pushed her away shyly: "What are you looking at? You are a young girl who has never married, don't let your imagination run wild."

Yu Tang laughed heartily.

She had just received a letter from Chen that Ma Xiuniang was pregnant, so she came to see her.

Ma Xiuniang couldn't help laughing when she saw this, but after laughing, she had a bit of sadness on her face, and whispered to Yu Tang: "Before I got married, I knew that the Zhang family's financial situation was average, but I didn't expect it to be so bad. My husband was afraid of wronging me, so he kept copying books day and night. I was afraid that he would be in trouble, but no matter how I persuaded him, he wouldn't listen. He said that the family's expenses would be greater after the child was born, so we should prepare as much as possible." At this point, she pulled Yu Tang's hand, "If you don't come to find me, I'm going to find you - I want to secretly pawn my pair of silver bracelets, can you help me go to the pawnshop?"

She was in charge of all the family's income and only she knew how much money was spent. Although the family was short of money, Zhang Hui would never use her dowry. Lin'an City was not small, but not big either. As the eldest daughter of Mr. Ma, many people knew her. She didn't dare to go to the Pei family's pawnshop to pawn things, for fear of being recognized and ruining her reputation.

Yu Tang had encountered this kind of thing more than once before. A penny can really make even a hero fall.

She immediately shook Ma Xiuniang's hand and said, "Don't worry, I'll help you make this trip. I'll just treat it as a pawn for you. When your brother-in-law makes money in the future, you can redeem it."

If you live 50% of your life, you are already good enough; but if you die, you can be 70% or even 80% of your life.

Ma Xiuniang gritted her teeth and said, "Please treat it as a pawn for me. When your brother-in-law becomes rich in the future, I will play another pair with him."

Yu Tang thought about it.

In her previous life, when she got married, Ma Xiuniang gave her a five-liang silver bracelet as a gift, which showed that she was living a good life. The difficulties she was facing now were only temporary and she would be fine as long as she got over them.

"Sister, please give me the things!" she said. "New Year is the time when we have to spend the most. I will go there quietly and come back quietly."

Ma Xiuniang nodded, tears about to fall, and took her hand and said, "Atang, thank you so much."

She was embarrassed to say more, but the gratitude in her heart was undiminished.

Yu Tang felt a little guilty.

In her previous life, she actually missed such a good friend.

Thinking of this, she thought of the Li family and the letter she had sent to the Gu family in Hangzhou City.

I wonder what the reaction will be from the Gu family?

Gu Xi was extremely angry now.

She knew that someone was plotting against her, but the problem was that what they said was true and they did not wrongly accuse the Li family at all.

But why would the Li family do such a thing?

Is it just to save face after failing to get married?

The Li family is not only narrow-minded, but can also be said to be vindictive.

Does she want to marry into such a family?

A woman's world is confined to the inner house. In the future, she will eat from the same pot and live in the same yard with Lin. When their upper lip touches their lower lip, it will be easy for Lin to make trouble for her if she feels unhappy. Is she going to spend her life fighting with such a woman?

And Li Duan, his stepmother praised him to the sky, but he was actually a useless thing. The eldest son of the Li family, he actually wore mourning for others and couldn't even handle such a small matter. If he entered the officialdom, eight or nine out of ten would only be able to struggle at the fourth-rank official level. Otherwise, why do they say that three generations look at food, and five generations look at clothes? People from small families are from small families, and they are not celebrities even if they wear brocade clothes!

Gu Xi's pretty face was as cold as if covered with frost and snow.

No, she couldn't just accept her fate.

She has to tell her elder brother, her father... and her stepmother about this, so don't even think about getting away with it.

Gu Xi tightened the royal blue grey squirrel cape that he was wearing and said to the nurse in a cold voice, "Let's go and see the eldest uncle of the eldest house!"

The nurse had always known that she looked weak but was actually strong. She was shocked when she heard that. She hurriedly pulled her hand and said in a hurry: "Miss, you can't go! After all, this is the Second House's matter. If you make a big fuss, the old master won't help you for the sake of face. You should wait for the eldest master to come back!"

Their eldest son wrote to say two months ago that he would come back to visit after the New Year with the Zhejiang Dao Yu Shi.

The nurse advised Gu Xi earnestly: "Wait one more month at most. As long as the eldest master comes back, everything will be solved."

Gu Xi sneered and said, "Of course I have to wait for my eldest brother to come back, but I can't just sit there and wait for death. If they make me unhappy, I won't let them have an easy time either."

The nurse said, "Young lady, you should think twice before you act. The Yu brothers and sisters clearly want to irritate you and make sure you don't have a peaceful New Year."

"Even if that's the case, I can't just let it go." Gu Xi raised her eyebrows, her long willow-shaped eyebrows like a sharp knife, she said coldly, "Anyway, no one should stay out of this matter, let's start with my good mother. Don't think I don't know about the dirty things she has done over the years. I didn't say anything before because I thought it would make people laugh if I told others about it, and it would be our second house that would be talked about, and I would be ashamed. I didn't expect that I would be so tolerant and give in, but I would tolerate such an ungrateful person. It's okay for him to interfere in my marriage, but he even wants to plot against me!"

She shook off the wet nurse and strode towards the house next to the main house.

The wet nurse stamped her feet in anxiety.

When the marriage proposal was first made, the eldest lady and she had both seen the young lady in person. They saw that the young lady was handsome and well-mannered. Although the eldest young master was not very happy, it was rare for a scholar to look like this, so he acquiesced.

But there is nothing perfect in this world.

She has to be good-looking, well-educated, and have a good temperament...

The wet nurse watched Gu Xi's figure disappear around the corner and quickly chased after him.

Not to mention that the Gu family did not have a good year because of this incident, the Yu family in Lin'an City was very happy. Early in the morning on New Year's Eve, Yu Wen's family went to his uncle's house. The women helped with cooking, and the men sat in the living room chatting.

After a simple lunch at noon, the New Year’s Eve dinner in the afternoon seems particularly grand.

The table was full of cold dishes, hot dishes, seafood, seasonal vegetables, desserts, and snacks. Yu Bo opened a pot of Jinhua wine. Not only did the women in the family fill their glasses, they also toasted the eldest aunt, thanking her for her hard work at home after the shop accident. The eldest aunt stood there with a red face, a little at a loss, not knowing whether to drink or not. But Yu Tang was still there to make a fuss: "Dad, look at how good the eldest uncle is! No wonder the eldest aunt works so hard but never complains. You should also toast my mother. My mother has worked hard this year. The rice cakes were made by my mother, right? The maltose was boiled by my mother, right? And the quilt cover for my brother's wedding was also embroidered by my mother!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Wang felt as if she had found a soulmate. She turned around and pulled Chen up, saying to Yu Wen, "Not only should you toast your sister-in-law, but we should also toast her. If it weren't for you, our Ayuan's marriage wouldn't have been so smooth."

Chen was already so embarrassed when Yu Tang praised her that blood was dripping from her face. When Wang pulled her up, she was speechless: "No, no, no, no..." She even pretended to scold Yu Tang, "You are the one who talks too much. How can you be so ignorant!"

Fortunately, Yu Wen was thick-skinned. He stood up with a smile and said, "Otherwise, why do you say that the elder brother goes first? I have to learn from my elder brother. The child's mother, our daughter is right. I toast to you. You have worked hard this year."

Chen was both embarrassed and happy, not knowing what to do. She patted the culprit Yu Tang lightly, glared at her, and then embarrassedly raised her glass to drink a glass of wine.

Yu Yuan laughed.

Shuangtao, A Tiao, Mrs. Chen and others also had smiles on their faces.

Yu Tang thought about the misery of this time in his previous life, then looked at the bustle in front of him, and his eyes became moist.