"You two, stop arguing." Bie Gangyi said in a dry voice, "You are all doing this for me... It's not worth it..." He said, turning his gaze to Dou Zhao, "Fourth Miss, I know this is very difficult for you, but I have no one else to trust... When their mother passed away, I promised her that I would take good care of the two children..." Tears began to flash in the corners of his eyes, "I can't push the children into the kang..."

Dou Zhao listened and couldn't help feeling sad.

"I don't ask for anything else, I just hope that these two children can live an upright life after I'm gone," Bie Gangyi said with a wheezing sound in his voice like a bellows. "I also know that the Dou family is not an ordinary family, but these two children are well-behaved and obedient, and they won't cause you any trouble..."

"I know, I know." Dou Zhao hurried over and sat where Chen Qushui had just sat, and whispered, "If you trust me, I will let them recognize my biological grandmother, that is, Aunt Cui's family from Xidou, as their godparents, and then let the two sisters move to Aunt Cui's farm. That is the Dou family's property and is under the protection of the Dou family..."

Chen Qushui was shocked.

Just now, the fourth daughter of the Dou family was reluctant to do so. How come she changed her mind in the blink of an eye?

Dou Zhao had wanted to help the two sisters of the Bie family when Chen Qushui mentioned their life stories, so as to avoid their precious talents being thrown into the dark and humiliated by people like Shan Jie. She just didn't like Chen Qushui's calculations of her as an ignorant child, so she deliberately argued with Chen Qushui.

"So you agree?" Bie Gangyi was surprised and happy, looking at Dou Zhao with eyes full of gratitude.

Dou Zhao smiled and nodded.

How many fathers in this world can be so strong for their children, especially two girls!

For this reason alone, she should help the Bie sisters.

"If you're worried, you can let them live with me in Xidou," she said. "After all, there's been no one at home these past few years, so if they go there, it'll be just right for them to keep me company..."

Bie Gangyi shook his head and said, "I know that you have good intentions, but the Dou family is a wealthy family. The fourth young lady has elders above her and brothers and sisters below her, and the two sisters just followed the family. There are many rumors that the two sisters took advantage of the Dou family, and there are probably many rumors about the fourth young lady. You saved our family, and I should repay you well. Unfortunately, I am not strong enough, not only I can't repay you, but also I have caused you so much trouble, how can I let you suffer any more grievances..." As he spoke, he called out "Uncle Chen", grinned with his dry lips, and said, "You are an educated person, and you write well, so I will ask you to write a letter of surrender to the sisters..."

"Master Bie!" Dou Zhao and Chen Qushui exclaimed in unison, and looked at each other at the same time.

"If they don't write the letter of surrender, their status will be wrong and their words will not flow smoothly." Bie Gangyi ignored their exclamations and said, "Instead of letting them follow the Fourth Young Lady like this, it is better to establish a status for them. Then they will know what they can do and what is an overstepping of authority. This will benefit both the Fourth Young Lady and them."

Dou Zhao remained silent.

What Bie Gangyi said makes sense.

Sometimes people are afraid that they can't find their place and are working in the wrong direction.

Those who signed the contract of selling their bodies could not return to the ancestral temple during life, nor could they return to their clan after death. Their marriage, life and death were all decided by their employer. Those who wrote the letter of surrender were "loyal servants". Their employer could not sell them out. They could marry and have private property, but they had to not harm or curse their employer. Even if they violated the law, they would be treated the same as ordinary people. Although there were some differences between the two, no matter what, after writing the letter of surrender, they had the status of "master and servant" with their employer, and it was ultimately a matter of serving others.

She thought of how Chen Qushui had just sent the Bie sisters out, and pondered, "Do Sulan and the others know about this?"

"I don't know yet." Bie Gangyi's answer did not surprise Dou Zhao, "But they are both down-to-earth children. As long as they can live a clean life, I think they will definitely be willing to follow the fourth lady."

Chen Qushui said: "Should we first ask the two sisters what they think?"

Dou Zhao also thought this was better.

Bie Gangyi asked Chen Qushui to call his two daughters in.

Bie Suxin and Bie Sulan were naturally extremely shocked.

They guessed that their father might be afraid that they would be left alone after his death, so he wanted to entrust them to the care of the fourth daughter of the Dou family. However, they did not expect that their father would ask them to write a letter of surrender.

Bie Sulan was still a little confused and at a loss. Thinking of the days and nights of suffering her father had endured in prison, Shan Jie's shameless face, her sister's running around, and the worry of her father dying with his eyes open, she made up her mind, knelt in front of Dou Zhao, and said to Chen Qushui: "Master Chen, please help us sisters write a letter of surrender!"

Dou Zhao reached out and held her.

However, she knelt and refused to get up. She also pulled Bie Sulan, who was standing blankly beside her, to kneel in front of Dou Zhao: "Fourth Miss, I know that the Dou family is a wealthy family. There are countless people who want to seek refuge with you. Why would they need to write a letter of surrender like we did? You took us in because you felt sorry for us sisters and had nowhere to go. We sisters are not the kind of people who don't know how to be grateful. If I can follow you into your mansion, I will serve you well in the future, be managed by the maids in your room, and get along well with all the sisters..." When she said this, tears were already streaming down her face.

Bie Sulan burst into tears. She crawled on her knees to Bie Gangyi and shouted "Daddy".

Bie Gangyi stroked his little daughter's head, and tears as big as beans slid silently from his sunken eye sockets into his temples.

Everyone in the room started crying.

Zhao Liangbi lifted the curtain to take a peek, and his nose began to ache, so he wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

After a long time, the crying in the house gradually died down.

Dou Zhao said to Chen Qushui with red eyes: "Then please ask Mr. Chen to write a letter of surrender, so that the owner of the other hall can rest assured."

Chen Qushui said nothing more. Seeing that the Bie family had no pen, ink, paper or inkstone, he went home and wrote a letter of surrender from the Bie sisters and sent it over.

Dou Zhao said to Bie Gangyi, "Put this document in Suxin's hands. You should take good care of yourself. It would be best if you don't have to use this document." At the end, he suppressed the sadness in his heart and showed a hearty smile, "If anything happens, I will not abandon you."

"Thank you, Miss Fourth." Bie Gangyi knew that Miss Fourth Dou was trying to comfort him, but the fact that Miss Fourth Dou could say such words made him feel more reassured about the future of his two daughters.

Dou Zhao called Zhao Liangbi in and pointed him out to Bie Suxin to recognize him. "He will be in the grain and oil store on Doujia East Street in Zhending Prefecture these days. If you have anything to do, let him go."

Bie Suxin quickly knelt down and bowed to Zhao Liangbi.

Zhao Liangbi didn't expect that Dou Zhao would suddenly place him in the Dou family's grain and oil shop, which was Dong Dou's business. So he was stunned for a moment before he saluted Bie Suxin, and he was obviously a little flustered.

Dou Zhao said something else, asking Bie Suxin to take good care of her father, and then stood up and said goodbye.

Chen Qushui and Bie Suxin saw Dou Zhao off.

Dou Zhao walked to the front yard and stopped. She first told Haitang to give the two hundred taels of silver that she had prepared in advance to Bie Suxin: "Don't let your father worry. When the doctor comes to see him, just buy good medicine for your father. If you need ginseng, tell Zhao Liangbi and ask him to help buy it."

If Bie Gangyi could live a few more days, they and their sisters would have fewer regrets, right?

Dou Zhao thought with emotion.

Bie Suxin said nothing. With tears in her eyes, she kowtowed three times to Dou Zhao and took the banknote.

Dou Zhao looked at Chen Qushui and said, "I'm still short of a teacher. I wonder if you are interested?"

Chen Qushui was stunned.

Dou Zhao smiled and told Zhao Liangbi: "It depends on you whether Mr. Chen will be willing to teach me."

The implication was that Zhao Liangbi should find a way to invite Chen Qushui.

Zhao Liangbi was thinking about what Dou Zhao had just said - the grain and oil shop in Zhending Prefecture, and he didn't know whether the third master would agree. He had no time to think about Dou Zhao's words seriously, so he bowed and said "yes".

For Chen Qushui, it was a great humiliation for Dou Zhao to ask a servant to invite him to be a teacher, but he noticed that Dou Zhao was talking about "I", not Xidou or the Dou family.

His heart tensed, and after Dou Zhao left, he investigated the Dou family's affairs carefully.

If he didn't check, he wouldn't know. Once he checked, he was immediately covered in cold sweat.

Is the fourth daughter of the Dou family just too lucky? Or is she a genius who is smart and intelligent?

He fell into long contemplation.

Dou Zhao certainly didn't know all this, but she knew that for someone like Chen Qushui, she would definitely not agree to be anyone's teacher so easily. She threw out the temptation of "my teacher" to see if Chen Qushui would be interested.

After she returned to Zhending, she first went to see her third uncle and wanted to arrange for Zhao Liangbi to work in the grain and oil shop in Zhending Prefecture.

Zhao Liangbi was capable, and Dou Zhao didn't want Zhao Liangbi to be the manager of a grain and oil shop. There was no reason for Dou Shibang to offend a man who owned a quarter of Dou's wealth over such a small matter.

Then she went to see Cui Shisan, firstly to ask him to help investigate Chen Qushui, and secondly to ask him to pay attention to whether anyone was investigating her.

Cui Shisan thought she was acting rashly: "Why don't you first investigate the person and then ask Master Qi to bring him back for you?"

Although he was in a state of poverty, he was still neatly dressed and clean, which showed that he was a proud person.

Doing so would only result in a direct rejection from Chen Qushui.

Dou Zhao smiled but did not answer and went to see his grandmother.

Grandmother was deeply moved when she heard about other families' stories, and took the opportunity to teach Dou Zhao: "So people should learn to cherish their blessings."

Dou Zhao nodded with a smile.

My grandmother secretly asked Hong Gu to send fifty taels of silver and some food to the Bie sisters.

Dou Zhaoquan pretended not to know and sat in front of the large desk by the window, staring blankly at the paper bundle that Cui Shisan had brought him.

Chen Qushui was from Wuji County, Zhending Prefecture. He passed the imperial examination at the age of fifteen and the imperial examination at the age of twenty-two. He failed the imperial examinations again and again for the next ten years and his family became penniless. His wife and only son died of illness one after another. He sought a job as a martial arts master and withdrew money in advance so that he could bury his son. After that, there was no news of him. It is said that he was a martial arts master in Kyoto and bought two small houses next to another martial arts school on Dongxiang Street five years ago and settled down in Zhending Prefecture.

No one knows where he went or what he did during those ten years.

Dou Zhao pursed his lips and smiled.

What an interesting person.

Haitang walked in with a smile on her face, holding a letter in her hands, "Miss, Master Qi wrote to me and said that he has found a teacher for you, who will be here in the next two days."