Zi Ping and others entered the house to find Shen Shi not there, so they asked: "Zi Qing, where is Auntie? My brother-in-law came to pick me up, I want to go home, come and tell Auntie, is Little Father still at school?"

  Zi Qing originally wanted to keep her for a while, but she really didn't like the way her brother-in-law's eyes were shining as he looked at the decorations in their home, and his occasional glances at her. So she said: "Sister, what's the hurry? My mother has gone out, sister, you go back first, when my father and mother come back, I'll let them go over there."

  Zi Ping listened to Zi Qing's words and had no choice but to take her husband and children out of the house. Seeing Xu Shifu busy in the garden, she asked: "Is this the new house for Zi Fu and Zi Lu? I didn't expect that Zi Fu would get married too, and I missed it. When we were young, our ages were similar, a bit older than you two. We used to go up the mountain to gather firewood and pine needles every day. The firewood at home was all gathered by us two. It's been many years since I last saw him."

  "By the way, Ping Jie, my brother is already a scholar, didn't you know? He passed the imperial examination at the age of 17 and is now studying at the Imperial Academy in Beijing. He will be back for Chinese New Year this year, so won't you be able to see him then? I'm afraid that when my brother finds out about your situation, he'll scold you for not taking good care of yourself. Sister, if you're feeling okay, you should come home more often." Zi Qing said intentionally.

  "It's just, as your sister said, it's better to go home often, so that the family won't worry. I've also advised your sister many times, but she's always been stubborn and said that her life is too poor, afraid of being looked down upon by others, and felt embarrassed to see her family members. But little sister, what's this Guozi Jian thing, what does it do?" Hu Bai Song said.

  "What's sister saying? In a family, who has the heart to care about these things? It's normal to overlook something temporarily. What's there to dislike or not dislike? Who hasn't been poor before? How can one be like some people, always rejecting their relatives at every turn? Disowning one's own kin?"

  Zi Ping listened and remained silent, which was just as well. Shen Shi and Zi Yu each carried a basket of eggs back and asked when they saw Zi Ping: "Do you have time to come over today? Have you been doing alright these past few days? Auntie said to drop by and see you today. We brought some eggs for you to supplement your diet."

  "Auntie, I'm going home. Bai Song is coming to pick me up and told me to live a good life from now on. After I get back, I'll immediately go out to find something to do. I won't bother you anymore, Auntie. There's still a lot of work to be done at home, and the vegetable garden hasn't been tended to in days. Everyone has their own destiny, this is just my fate." Zi Ping said, crying again.

  Shen's heart felt sour after hearing that. As the old saying goes, "It's better to demolish ten temples than to destroy one family tie." So she had no choice but to hold Zi Ping's hand, reminding her of many things, and gave her a basket of eggs, two pieces of cured meat, two cured chickens, a bag of flour, and a bag of rice. She saw them off.

  The child asked Mr. Shen, "Why not give a few strings of cash or a few pieces of silver?" Mr. Shen said, "Silly child, I gave her husband money directly in front of him. In a few days, he will send your sister back home to ask for more, and this money may end up in someone else's hands, probably not reaching your sister's hands. It's better to give some food, so the adults and children won't go hungry. When I'm not around, if she comes to our house again, you remember to let her take some food away, no need for silver."

  Ziying listened and had no choice but to agree. Just as they were talking, Qiuyu came over and asked, "Have Zifen and the others left? Father and mother's intention was for Zifen to stay a few more days, but she insisted on going back to cook for that man. What kind of good person is he? He entered the house with an air of arrogance, and as soon as he saw the new clothes on Zifen and the child, his expression changed. In front of father and mother, he said many nice words and soft words, as if it didn't cost him anything, and agreed to everything, saying that he would definitely treat Zifen well. What's the use? Zifen is just too softhearted, and can't be lifted up at all."

  "Little aunt, who said that speaking nicely requires money? Are you confused?" Zi Qing asked with a smile.

  "It's not that I don't know, I saw her being both angry and hateful, feeling heartbroken is also useless, the days of suffering are still ahead. That man is not a good thing, and that son has been spoiled by her, he's also someone who doesn't care about others. These past few days have been chaotic, it's better that they left, your grandparents can finally rest for a few days. In these few days, San Mao came, that glutton. It makes me so annoyed, not one of them is considerate. Da Mao said he split the family and moved out, renting a house in the city with his wife, not caring about the younger ones at home, not as good as Er Mao who has integrity. Er Mao said, when he gets married, he'll also split the family, but this new house will be left for his parents, he himself will build another one." Autumn Jade said.

  Shen asked after listening: "What has Er Mao been doing outside all these years? Does his family know?"

  "Who knows, he said he went to some coastal city in a neighboring province, and after just a few months, he brought back thirty taels of silver. My sister is a foolish person, she's never been concerned with these things, seeing the silver she can't even think of anything else? I think, it's probably not good news. He's a cripple, what can he do? Even if he hires people, who would hire him, and what could he do? Probably still doing his old job. It's better to get married, after getting married, who knows if they'll be able to live in peace?" Autumn Jade said.

  "How can this be good? Don't stir up more trouble! These two are really muddled, how can they not ask clearly where the child's money came from? Their thoughts aren't in the right place, their family is a mess, and they haven't taken care of the child."

  "Indeed," replied Qiu Yu. The two of them chatted for a while longer before Qiu Yu took her leave.

  Two days later, Lin Kangping was supposed to return home, but he didn't see anyone for a long time. Zi Qing was very anxious and feared that something unexpected had happened, so she couldn't sleep well all night. The next afternoon, Lin Kangping finally limped into the house, and when Zi Qing saw him, she jumped in fright and quickly went forward to touch him all over, checking his entire body.

  Lin Kongping saw that he was busy and grabbed Zi Qing's hand, saying: "Qing'er, don't worry, it's nothing big, just sprained my foot. I was trying to save a hunter, but ended up falling myself. Who knew I'd be lucky? The hunter thanked me by giving me some good fur, so I bought all the fur from his family. When we transport it to Beijing, it'll be winter and we can sell it for a good price. I've kept some of the best ones for you."

  Although Lin Kangping's foot didn't have any major problems, Zeng Ruixiang was still worried and had Doctor Zhou come to massage it. Two days later, although it wasn't completely healed, it improved a bit. Lin Kangping stayed for another day before Ziying let him leave.

  It's already late April, and the wheat is ready to be harvested. Luo Shifu and his group will take a three-day break. Mr. Tong suggested going out for a few days to explore the nearby mountains, rivers, and streams, and see if they can find any rare flowers or plants to bring back to decorate the garden. Zi Qing agreed, but only if Zeng Rui Xiang could find someone familiar with the terrain to accompany them. Unexpectedly, Xu Shifu was very interested in joining them, as he goes into the mountains every year and is extremely familiar with this area. Madam Shen had no choice but to prepare enough dry rations for them before sending them off.

  Shen and Ziying had just sent the person away, when Sanmao came over to ask for wages. These past few days, Ziying had been busy and almost forgot about him, nor did he know how things were going at the construction site. After thinking for a moment, Ziying said: "Sanmao, I recall that you've only been working here for less than a month, right? Besides, we usually pay wages after the project is completed. What's with you wanting wages halfway through? I won't break the rules just because of you. Moreover, your contract is still in Kangping's hands. It was agreed upon from the start that if you don't complete the stipulated work, there will be no wages."

  "Sister, just pay me the wages, you're not short of that money. The work at your house is too tiring, I really can't do it, it's both bitter and dirty. Otherwise, find me some lighter work?" San Mao asked.

  "That's not possible, I don't have anything else to do, you don't want to do it, you can just quit, it was your grandma who insisted that I keep you, not me who invited you to come." Zi Qing said impatiently, and from her tone, one could tell that she wasn't someone who could endure hardship.

  Sanmao was about to say something, but Shen said on the side: "Sanmao, it's not that your aunt is picking on you, but Ziying really can't let you break the rules again. Besides, since you signed the contract, we'll follow the contract. We can't just give you the original salary for doing nothing and just making a show of things. If we do that, how can the workers outside do their jobs well? We can't lose big because of small things."

  San Mao saw that Lian Shen's family had all spoken up, and the wages for this job would definitely not be paid today. He snorted, turned around angrily and walked away.

  Shen said with some worry: "He will definitely go find your grandma and the others, to be honest, I think we should have just directly refused him at first, why bother with this?"

  "I was going to reject him directly at first, but Auntie and the others would keep coming to pester us. It's better to let him do it for a while, and then they'll think we're plotting against them? Can't we plot against them too? We didn't go looking for trouble, he came knocking on our door, thinking we're easy to bully? Let them scheme all they want!"

  "You'd better be prepared, your grandparents won't be so easily dealt with."

  Sure, here is the translation:

  "Sure enough, on the second day after San Mao left, Tian Shi and Old Master came to the door, specifically choosing a time when Zeng Rui Xiang was at home. As soon as Tian Shi saw Zi Qing, he asked: "Zi Qing, why didn't you calculate the wages for San Mao yesterday?"

  "Grandpa, grandma, I already told San Mao yesterday. He signed a contract in the first place, but he didn't finish the job, so where does he get off asking for wages? Besides, he said our family's work is dirty and tiring, and he doesn't want to do it anymore. Yesterday, I asked others, and they said San Mao hasn't been putting in any effort at the construction site these days. He only did half of what was assigned to him, and I haven't even settled accounts with him yet. This has caused Master Luo and the others to be dissatisfied. You tell me, how can I hire people to do things in the future? It's better if he just goes home early, there won't be any wages." Zi Qing said.

  "Lao Er, take a look, is this how Zi Qing usually talks to us? She even wants to save the wages of her own relatives' workers, who does things like that?" Tian Shi asked Zeng Rui Xiang.

  Zeng Ruixiang looked up at Zi Qing and said, "Mother, you should do what you agreed with Zi Qing from the beginning. Without rules, how can things be done properly? In the future, how will Zi Qing manage others?"

  "Is that so, grandma and grandpa? Did you plan to deceive me from the very beginning when you agreed to sign the contract? Did you already calculate everything about me beforehand? Were all those promises you made to my parents about living separate lives just lies? Am I supposed to be bullied and still give them silver? Grandfather, grandmother, if you don't like me, that's fine. You can favor whoever you want, but from the start, you never treated me as your granddaughter. I only ask that you stop scheming against me." Zi Qing said, then stormed back into her room.