As soon as Zilu entered the door, he said to Ziqing who opened the door: "This devilish weather, it's not even May yet, how can it be so hot? It hasn't rained a drop for such a long time."

  Ziying was shocked, but it wasn't the case. Since they started building their house, it had always been sunny, she just hadn't paid much attention to it. The watermelon field had even been watered several times. Thinking of this, Ziying quickly found Shen Shi and told her about it.

  The Shen family thought that since they were going to have a happy event at home this year, it would be better to stock up on more food in advance. Who knows, maybe when the time comes, the crops won't be harvestable and the rent will increase, causing grain prices to skyrocket, which would be troublesome. Fortunately, out of the wheat harvested two days ago, except for the one dan given to the old master, they still had less than three dan left at home.

  After dinner, Shen told Zeng Rui-xiang about his worries. Zeng said: "Since we're buying grain, let's buy more and set aside a year's worth. There have been examples of this before. It's always better to prepare for the future."

  Shen's wife didn't understand what "preparing for a rainy day" meant, so Zeng Ruixiang explained it to her in detail. At the same time, he thought to himself that from now on, he should take some time every day to teach his wife to read and write, which would bring new joy.

  The next morning, April 30th, coincided with the grand fair, Shen brought Zi Lu to the fair and bought more than 200 kilograms of fine rice, and also bought over a thousand kilograms of paddy, after all, it was still more convenient to store paddy.

  On the Dragon Boat Festival, Shen's family bought over a thousand kilograms of rice and more than 200 kilograms of fine rice. This should be enough. During dinner, Zeng Rui Xiang expressed his concerns to the old master, who looked up at the sky and said: "I've been farming for my whole life, but I've only seen two big floods. Those were truly disastrous, with no harvest, people selling their children, and wherever the floodwaters reached, villages with low-lying terrain could only be seen with a bit of rooftop exposed. Our place has plenty of rainfall, and flooding is common. Droughts are relatively rare. In previous years, spring rains would fall non-stop, but this year is different. It's still good to prepare early, after all, you have a wedding to hold this year."

  Tian's family was anxious after hearing this. "What about Chunyu? How can his whole family make a living? Damao also wants to get married."

  Zeng Ruixiang and Shen Shi did not respond after hearing this.

  "You're here again. I've told you before, one's children and grandchildren have their own blessings. You just can't let go. Since that's the case, then go take a look for yourself." The old man said, glared at Tian Shi, and left.

  But in just two days, Shen met her former neighbor Liu Auntie on the street. Liu Auntie pulled Shen and said: "The day before yesterday, I saw your husband's parents going to see their eldest daughter. They had a whole cart full of things - wheat, rice, eggs, and so many vegetables! Your sister's husband has really found a good wife. Every year, not only does she raise his son for him, but also sends goods back home. It's all thanks to you people not being petty."

  Shen listened and forced a smile, saying: "What can be done? We're all family, we can't just watch the children go hungry."

  "That's also too biased, to be honest, your mother-in-law is a bit too much, and your daughter doesn't have it easy either. If the wife isn't spoiled, that's fine, but how many mothers-in-law spoil their daughters-in-law? Who says women are unlucky, but sons aren't born from their bellies either? I remember that year when your husband came over to deliver wheat, your mother-in-law had just slaughtered a pig on this side, and I thought it was an invitation for you all to come eat pork. But your daughter Qing said she didn't know anything about it at all, and even asked her father why grandma wouldn't give them meat to eat. What's the point of this?"

  Aunt Liu saw that Shen's face didn't look good, and she suddenly realized she had talked too much. She quickly changed the subject and asked: "Oh, by the way, why haven't your older brother and sister-in-law come back home? It's been several years since we've seen them. I heard they moved to the city, and Zi Ping got married early, right? And they didn't even hold a wedding banquet, it seems like they're afraid that us old neighbors won't be able to afford the gifts?" Aunt Liu said this with some anger.

  "This is really ridiculous, you two have been together for so many years, and now because of this you're going to turn against each other? She's also very busy nowadays, her son is still young, and after the incident with Zi He, she became even more devoted to her son. Once the child grows up a bit more in two years' time, I'm afraid she won't come back."

  "That's also true, the child you've been longing for has finally arrived. Your wife said so at the time, and I didn't quite believe it. Now you're doing well, the child is growing up, and you have money too. I heard that your big courtyard is planted with watermelons? Many people are planting watermelons now, but none of them are as prosperous as your family. Don't tell me you have some secret trick?" asked Liu's aunt.

  "See what you're saying, is there any ultimate trick or not? I'm just taking care of my own courtyard, being more careful, and adding that there are no thieves, isn't it better than others who have collected a few more taels of silver?" Madam Shen said, then hurriedly added: "I still have other things to attend to, I'll leave first."

  Shen returned home, put things in order, and asked Zi Qing: "That year when your uncle's family slaughtered pigs, you and your father went to deliver wheat. Your uncle's family didn't keep you for dinner, why didn't you say a word when you came back? Was it because your father didn't let you speak? Are you two conspiring together to deceive me?"

  "It's been many years since it happened, who can still remember? Besides, Father didn't want you to know, and he also didn't want you to worry, Mother. Look at how good Father is to you, don't disappoint his intentions."

  Shen scolded Zi Qing's head and said, "You're just a ghost." She let go of the matter. Because the next day, she and Zi Lu were going to rush to the provincial city, originally Zi Lu said that this time he had already made an appointment with his classmates, so Shen didn't need to accompany him.

  Shen said: "It's okay if we don't make an appointment, we can rent a house together. Last time your brother and his friends didn't they rent a house together? This time I went to Changzhou, one reason is to buy some things for your older brother's wedding, after all, the things in the provincial city are newer than those in Anzhou City. The second reason is that I can cook and do laundry for you, which is more convenient."

  After dinner that evening, Madam Shen again instructed Zi Qing on some household chores and took Zi Yu away with her. Fortunately, He Shi was there, so Madam Shen felt a bit more at ease.

  Shen's family just left, and Zeng Ruyu came over, saying that the courtyard wall and house were already completed. The workers were anxious to return home to save their rice seedlings from flooding, so they didn't take a break for two days in the middle of the day, only returning home after dark. "This is the account for buying stones, Kangping left me twenty taels of silver at the time, which wasn't used up, and less than six taels of silver were left."

  After finishing, Zeng Ruiyu handed over a simple account book and said that his son Ziwen helped to do it. Zi Qing listened and quickly praised two sentences, took the account book and silver, and asked: "How many days did they work in total? There are ten people, I will count the accounts and settle with them."

  "The construction period started on April 6th, and they took a day off for the Dragon Boat Festival. During this time, they also took turns going home to change clothes, so each person worked for about 25 days. Also, the brick factory's account should be settled now, I'll accompany you there. Kangping had deposited 50 taels of silver at that time, but I'm afraid you'll still need to take some more."

  Ziying listened, went back to the house and took out two 50-tael silver notes, also took two 5-tael silver ingots, thought for a moment and took another string of cash. These were all prepared by Kangping before he left, leaving a total of 200 taels of silver, including silver notes, silver ingots, and five strings of cash, with some loose change, convenient for Ziying to spend.

  Ziying changed into a peasant's clothes, and Zeng Ruyu accompanied Ziying to the construction site first. The workers were either counting tools or clearing garbage. When they saw Ziying, they all gathered around. Luo Shifu looked at everyone with a smile and said: "It's always more pleasant to work for your family, you never owe us wages. However, I'll be thick-skinned and say one more thing, my dear niece. Look at how we've been working late every day for the past two days, it's really tiring. Can't you give us a raise? No way out, this year's economy is probably not good, our lives won't be easy."

  "Just now, my third uncle told me that these days have been hard on everyone. Each of your wages is one or two silver coins. In addition, I will give each of you an extra string of coins. This silver and money I will give to you now, but since there is no money exchange in town, would you please help me exchange it, Master Luo?" Zi Qing saw the happy smiles on everyone's faces and smiled herself.

  Because of the diligence of several uncles, they searched for stone blocks everywhere. As a result, more stone blocks were used and fewer green bricks were needed. A total of 123 taels and 230 coins were spent on brick money. After settling the account at the brick factory and returning home, Zi Qing gave Zeng Ruiyu 10 taels of silver and said: "This is the niece's drinking money for the five uncles. In principle, I should personally host a banquet to invite the five uncles, but now there are many things going on at home, the uncles are also busy, and my mother is not at home. Next time when Kangping returns, I will let him invite the five uncles to have a good drink."

  Zeng Ruiyu heard Zi Qing say this, and didn't pretend to be polite, happily accepting the offer. "We'll all wait for our nephew's wine then," she said. "If there's anything that needs to be done, just let us know. We'll come help you water the melon field in the evening, and salvage as much as we can. Don't waste it."

  Ziying listened and didn't refuse. These days, Zeng Ruixiang and she started carrying water to irrigate the land every morning and evening. Although there was a bamboo pipe for transportation, it still required one person to fetch water from the well and another person to receive water from the other end of the bamboo pipe. After all, Ziying was just an underage girl who didn't have much strength, and Zeng Ruixiang was also someone who rarely did anything physically demanding. This period of time had exhausted both of them. The wastewater from washing vegetables and rice every day wasn't wasted either. Fortunately, a well had been dug in the melon field on the back mountain a few years ago, which made it convenient to irrigate.

  If Lin Kangping knew that Ziyin was so busy at home, he would probably be heartbroken again. Not to mention, since the engagement, Shen Shi had also accepted Lin Kangping, and the two got along like family members. Ziyin even developed some affection for him, but now she didn't know where he was or what he was doing.

  In the afternoon, at a little past four o'clock, the five paternal uncles really came over. After thanking Zi Qing for the wine money, they quickly started working, filling the toilet with water and pouring it onto the ground one trip after another, saying that this way they could save some days. The several people worked until nightfall, still busy, and Zeng Rui Xiang also joined them after returning from school. He Shi saw him and hurriedly cooked dinner, fortunately there were enough things at home, plus Xu Shifu and his apprentice, the number of dishes was not many, but the quantity was enough. The several people worked until almost ten o'clock before finishing watering the ground, saying that it was just pouring water into the ground, with moonlight, it wasn't dark, they finished in one breath. They still had a lot of work waiting for them tomorrow.

  Ziying helped them heat up their meal. Seeing that it was already late, they hastily ate a few mouthfuls and then rushed back home.