Grandma smiled and kept talking about how our aunt needed to make new clothes, but Dou Zhao hugged her with tears streaming down her face.

Summer passed, and her grandmother was still alive.

Does it mean that some things can be changed as long as we work hard?

Dou Zhao wanted to go to the temple to burn incense.

Grandma smiled and said, "Then let's go to Daci Temple. The vegetarian food there is quite good."

Dou Zhao stayed at home with her for the whole summer and never went out. She thought Dou Zhao had been cooped up at home for too long and wanted to go out and play.

Daci Temple is a nunnery where my mother often went to worship Buddha when she was alive.

Dou Zhao naturally smiled and nodded in agreement.

She and her grandmother picked a date according to the almanac. She sent someone to inform the abbot of Daci Temple in advance, and took her personal maids, old women, and servants to Daci Temple.

The Daci Temple is surrounded by towering ancient cypresses and lush trees, creating a beautiful and tranquil scene. The main hall, the Buddha Incense Pavilion, houses a Thousand-armed Thousand-eyed Guanyin statue that is about a meter tall, covered in gold foil. Under the illumination of incense sticks, it shines brightly, filling the hall with brilliance.

Dou Zhao and his grandmother bowed sincerely and kowtowed three times.

After leaving the hall, the wind blew through the trees, making a refreshing sound.

The host invited Dou Zhao and his grandmother to sit in the incense room at the back of the hall. After they chatted for a while, the receptionist came and asked where the banquet table was set.

“Just put it here!” My grandmother was taught from a young age to do things on her own, so she was most afraid of troubling others.

The receptionist smiled and left.

Haitang walked in with a big smile on her face: "Aunt Cui, Fourth Miss, Eleventh Master Zheng, Twelfth Master De, Fourth Young Master, Fifth Young Master, Sixth Young Master, and Fourth Master Wu heard that you were worshipping Buddha here, so they came to greet you."

"It's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early." Grandmother laughed and happily invited them to have lunch together. "...There's no one else here, so if you don't mind, why don't we have lunch together?"

Haitang smiled and passed the message.

Dou Zhengchang and a few others came in grinning, bowed to grandmother, greeted Dou Zhao, and all thanked grandmother for the free meal. In the room, people were talking before one of them had finished speaking, and it was as lively as a market.

Dou Zhao asked Dou Qijun: "How did you know we were in Daci Temple?"

This is a nunnery.

Dou Qijun said with a smile: "We went to Dafang Temple to watch the sunrise, and thought that the vegetarian food at Daci Temple was delicious, so we planned to have a meal here. Who knew you were also here."

Daci Temple is sponsored by the Dou family. Although there is a difference between men and women, the children of the Dou family will always give a free meal to any of their children who pass by.

Dou Zhao laughed out loud: "It turns out that arriving at the right time is worse than arriving early."

Dou Qitai praised his achievement and said, "If I hadn't urged you to come back earlier, how could you have met Fourth Aunt?"

Dou Dechang winked at Wu Shan.

However, Wu Shan changed his usual noisy behavior in front of Dou Zhao and took a step back silently, as if he wanted to lose himself in the crowd.

Dou Zhao was stunned, but then he understood something.

Wu Shan was still a young man at that time, honest and kind. He was caught off guard that day and he saw through Pang Jixiu's intention without thinking, which was bad for her. He felt that he had done something unfair to her. When he saw her again, he couldn't help feeling ashamed and was a little afraid to face her.

After understanding Wu Shan's thoughts, Dou Zhao began to feel uneasy.

Seriously speaking, this matter had nothing to do with Wu Shan. She wanted to drive Pang Jixiu away and make Wu Shan give up, so she did this to kill two birds with one stone...

After that, she never saw Wu Shan again, and she didn't know how he was doing.

As soon as this thought came to his mind, Dou Zhao couldn't help but look at Wu Shanlai.

He was wearing a bamboo-leaf green silk gown, his jet-black hair was tied up with a hairpin made of Xiangfei bamboo, and a white jade pendant hung on the black palace belt around his waist. He was much taller and thinner than last year, and his originally handsome face had lost the childishness of a child and gained the sharpness of a teenager, like a sapling in early spring, which seemed to have spread its branches and leaves and grown up in the blink of an eye.

Dou Zhao couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

When Wu Shan saw Dou Zhao's eyes fell on him, he couldn't help but be surprised and happy.

What surprised him was that with so many people standing in front of Dou Zhao, she could still notice him. What made him happy was that after what he had done, Dou Zhao was still willing to pay attention to him.

Maybe things are not as serious as he imagined...

Wu Shan thought about it and wanted to go up to Dou Zhao to say a few words, but before he could open his mouth, Dou Zhao called him with a smile: "Fourth Brother Wu, it turns out that Eleventh Brother and his friends went to your house to beg for money!"

Dafang Temple is located in Xinle County.

Wu Shan was immediately excited.

When the third master of the Dou family died, he asked for a peace amulet at the Dafang Temple and gave it to Dou Zhao.

"No, no." He said incoherently, "I didn't go to beg for money. It was me who lived in Sixth Aunt's house every day. Sixth Aunt arranged the same food and clothing for me as Eleventh Brother and Twelfth Brother..."

Dou Dechang laughed loudly and whispered in his ear: "You admit that I am your twelfth brother!"

Wu Shan's face flushed red.

He is three months older than Dou Dechang.

Unless he follows Dou Zhao in the ranking, it would never be his turn to call Dou Dechang "brother".

Dou Qitai didn't understand what was going on, so he came over and asked anxiously, "Why is Fourth Uncle Wu blushing? What's the story behind this?"

Wu Shan was not afraid of being laughed at by others, but he was afraid that Dou Ming would find out and despise him for being frivolous.

He was so anxious that he kept jumping up and down, and he shouted without thinking: "Dou Twelve, if you dare to talk nonsense, don't blame me for being rude and telling you about your affairs..."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Now it was Dou Dechang's turn to be anxious, "The villain is always worried, the gentleman is open and honest..."

"What does this have to do with gentlemen and villains?" Dou Zhengchang looked at his brother blankly, wondering, "What are you hiding from us?"

"No, no!" Wu Shan and Dou Dechang said in unison, "I'm not hiding anything from you."

Dou Zhengchang didn't believe it.

Grandma laughed out loud.

These children are like the rising sun in the morning, full of vitality, making people feel energetic just by looking at them.

Dou Dechang and Wu Shan only made her feel interesting.

"Okay, okay," she smiled and told Hong Gu to put away the chopsticks, "It's getting late. If you don't sit down, the food will get cold."

Dou Dechang and Wu Shan sat side by side with their eyes wide open, causing everyone to laugh again.

Don’t talk while eating and don’t talk while sleeping.

The children of the Dou and Wu families received family education at an early age, and their lunch ended with the sound of light knocking on porcelain.

Hong Gu brought in some crabapples and okra and brewed some homemade tea from Daci Temple to freshen everyone's mouths.

The grandmother asked about Dou Qijun's homework: "...Is it difficult? Do you understand what the teacher explains? Will you have to do it again next year?" It was completely different from the examinations from the elders in the family. Although the questions were simple, they were full of warmth.

Dou Qijun responded politely at first, but gradually his expression became serious and his tone was full of respect, as if he was answering the Second Lady.

Dou Zhao smiled.

Wu Shan's voice, as light as the wind, came to my ears: "I didn't mean to do what happened that day..." He murmured in a hurried tone.

"What are you talking about?" Dou Zhao replied in a low voice, pretending to be ignorant.

"It's about Pang Jixiu..." Wu Shan hesitated for a moment, his voice a little heavy, "I have always been apologizing to my sister..."

"You are talking about that incident!" Dou Zhao said with a smile, "Why should I blame you? If it weren't for you, I wouldn't know how to tell my family about it. In fact, I should thank you..."

Wu Shan opened his mouth wide.

Dou Zhao smiled and nodded at him.

Wu Shan couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth, revealing his snow-white teeth, looking silly.

Dou Zhao forced himself to suppress his smile and turned away.

Wu Shan laughed even more happily.

Dou Dechang, who was sitting opposite them, stared at them.

Dou Zhao asked Wu Shan, "What did my twelfth brother do that you used as evidence against him?"

Wu Shan looked at Dou Dechang and laughed, "He fought with someone and won one thousand taels of silver from the sixth son of the Chen family."

Dou Zhao was shocked.

Wu Shan said hurriedly, "Don't worry, I didn't gamble with him. I just lent 100 taels of silver to Twelve as capital."

This really needs some color to open a dyeing room.

She just thought that since Wu Shan hadn't made his attitude clear, there was no need for her to pretend that she would never have anything to do with him, and that she should just keep doing what she did on a daily basis. But Wu Shan immediately jumped to the point of "don't worry".

Dou Zhao suddenly felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.

If I had known this, I shouldn't have said a word to him.

Dou Zhao smiled at him, then sat upright and listened to what his grandmother and Dou Qijun talked.

However, Wu Shan misunderstood that she was angry and felt very regretful. He thought about the conversation between them again and again and felt that no matter how he explained, he could not escape suspicion. He could only stare at Dou Zhao without blinking, hoping that Dou Zhao would turn around so that he could apologize to Dou Zhao again.

When Wu Shan looked at Dou Zhao like this, every movement he made was as if he was under the scorching summer sun. He felt extremely uncomfortable.

She couldn't help but think of her experiences in her past life.

How come no one has ever treated me like this in my previous life?

If I had met such a person in my previous life, would I still marry Wei Tingyu?

My heart suddenly started to race like a wild horse that had broken free from its reins.

The grandmother listened to Dou Qijun's words, clapped her hands and praised him: "Your future is limitless. Everyone says that studying is good, but without a good body, how can you remember what is written in the books? How can you survive the three days and three nights of the imperial examination? When you are young, you should travel around and see everywhere, so that you can learn about the economy and farming. When you are older, you can calm down and study, and the articles you write will be meaningful, and you will know how to serve the people when you are an official..."

"That's right, that's right." Dou Qijun was very excited, as if he had found a confidant, and he talked to his grandmother nonstop, "Every time I see those county magistrates who don't know what the harvest will be this year after leaving the grain master, I find it incredible - isn't that giving others a handle? Where is the authority of the officials? So I decided to spend a year traveling around Zhending to find out how much land there is in Zhending? How many farmers are there? What is the annual harvest? How much is the tax?"

Grandmother said to Dou Zhao, "Shougu, what is Gousheng doing now? He grew up in the fields, he is familiar with these things, and he is smart. Why not let him follow Boyan for the time being..."

Dou Zhao couldn't help but mutter in his heart.

Gousheng is now called Zhao Liangbi. He has worked hard to climb up from a handyman in the accounting office to a second-class manager, and became the youngest and most promising manager in the Dou family. He is about to be released to become a shopkeeper, but you actually let him be an attendant to Boyan. Who will help me run my shops in the future?