“Thank you, Father.”

“Thank you, Third Uncle.”

Su Chong, Su Hua, and Zhou Heng stood up and thanked him in unison.

Su Sanlang smiled warmly, nodded, and gave everyone a red packet.

Now that his family was rich, Su Sanlang placed two taels of silver in each red packet.

The heavy red packets made everyone smile.

New Year’s Eve dinner as usual.

Su Chong was 18 years old, and Su Hua was 17. Since their family was rich, there were already people who wanted to find out about their marriage. Even the 13-year-old Su Xiaoling was being asked for.

Regarding this, both Su Sanlang and Madam Zhao rejected them.

Although Su Sanlang and Madam Zhao said that children should prioritize their studies, after pushing them too many times, some still said that their standards were too high.

Therefore, there was a lot of pressure on Su Chong and Su Hua for their examination.

They needed to become Elementary Scholars and make people shut up.

If they failed, there would be a wave of mockery.

In the night.

Madam Zhao sighed softly and said, “Sanlang, if they don’t pass, will the children be able to take it?”

Would it be a crushing blow to them?

Madam Zhao was very worried about Zhou Heng. In the past few years, Madam Zhao had treated him like her own son.

The villagers also tacitly agreed that Zhou Heng was Su Sanlang’s godson.

In the past few years, the villagers had been living well. Many families would send their children to school, and many of them couldn’t even pass the child examination.

There were also those who had studied for several years before passing it.

The imperial examination was a scholar’s dream, but it was not within reach for many.

Many students had given up on the path of enlightenment.

Even Su Qing from the Su family had been given an ultimatum this year. If he could not pass after the new year, he would not be able to continue attending school.

Studying was something that so many people couldn’t afford. He had three students at home, so the village would naturally watch. Some people didn’t care, but others were naturally jealous.

There were a few families in the village who wanted to tell Su Chong and Su Hua about their relatives’ girls. After being rejected, they felt resentful and waited for them to fail the exam.

Madam Zhao felt terrible just thinking about it.

“Darling, don’t think too much. Although we don’t know what they’ve learned, every time Teacher Lin mentioned it to me, he said that they are doing well and told me to rest assured. I think it must be fine.”

Su Sanlang also pondered over Madam Zhao’s worries. He wasn’t afraid of losing face if they didn’t pass.

He didn’t care about that. He was worried that the children would be discouraged because they didn’t get in.

However, at this moment, he definitely couldn’t say that he was worried too. He had to comfort Madam Zhao.

Madam Zhao was already worried. If he was also worried, the two of them would only have an even harder time.

Su Sanlang reached out and hugged Madam Zhao tightly. He smiled and said, “Darling, let’s not worry about this. Why don’t we guess if the child in Sister-in-law’s stomach is a boy or a girl? If you guess correctly, I’ll give you a golden bracelet. How about that?”

Madam Qian was pregnant with her fourth child. It had already been three months.

When Su Sanlang said this, Madam Zhao’s attention was diverted.

She thought about how tired Madam Qian was after getting pregnant and how many spots had appeared on her face. She smiled and said, “Sister-in-law, from the looks of it, it’s a boy.”

Thinking of Madam Qian’s pregnant state, Madam Zhao felt that she had most likely guessed correctly. Thinking that Su Sanlang was going to give her a golden bracelet, Madam Zhao felt a little expectant.

But the baby had not been born. No one knew if it was a boy or a girl.

Madam Zhao couldn’t help but say, “Sanlang, what if I’m wrong?”

Su Sanlang smiled and said, “If you guessed wrong, I’ll have the golden bracelet. It’s inconvenient for me to wear it, so I’ll have to give it to you.”

Therefore, regardless of gender, Madam Zhao could obtain a golden bracelet.

Madam Zhao’s heart was filled with joy and sweetness.

“It’s late. Get some sleep.”

Su Sanlang said gently. He kissed Madam Zhao’s forehead sympathetically.

Madam Zhao did not think about anything else and soon felt sleepy.

The families rested at home on the first day of the new year.

They decided to eat together tonight.

Su Xiaozhi and Madam Cao had come over with their children in the morning.

Chen Hu and Madam Qian also came over.

Madam Qian was pregnant. Madam Zhao and Su Zhizhi told her to rest. In the kitchen, there were Madam Zhao and Su Xiaozhi, Madam Cao and Hu Shuangshuang, as well as Madam Chen, Chen Daniu and Chen Erniu.

Chen Hu, Su Sanlang and Hu Changshou went to deal with the chickens and ducks.

The younger children were learning to read from Su Hua and Zhou Heng.

Su Xiaolu and Su Chong practiced martial arts.

In the evening, the three families ate together in the courtyard. It was very lively.

There was a knock on the door.

“Su Xiaozhi, come out.”

Madam Wang came to look for Su Xiaozhi. When she heard the laughter in the courtyard, her eyes turned vicious. She raised her hand and knocked on the door.

The abrupt sound made everyone pause.

Su Xiaozhi looked guilty and did not dare to look at Su Sanlang and the others. She stood up and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, I’ll go out for a while.”

After Su Xiaozhi went out, she pulled Madam Wang towards her house and said with an embarrassed expression, “Mother, lower your voice. Why are you looking for me?”

Madam Wang pinched Su Xiaozhi’s waist angrily and said coldly, “Can’t I look for you for no reason? You’re my daughter. Do I have to schedule to look for you?”

Su Xiaozhi took a deep breath and stopped arguing with Madam Wang.

…

At Su Sanlang’s house, after Su Xiaozhi left, the atmosphere became much colder.

Chen Hu and Madam Qian frowned. They did not know when Su Xiaozhi had contacted the Su family. This feeling was terrible.

How the Su family treated Su Sanlang and Madam Zhao in the past was something that they would never forget.

The Su family and the Chen family were two families that Su Sanlang and Chen Hu would tacitly ignore.

After Su Xiaozhi joined, no one said anything. However, Chen Hu and Madam Qian felt that since Su Xiaozhi was close to them, she should not be close to the Su family.

However, when Madam Wang came to look for her today, Su Xiaozhi looked flustered. Clearly, she had contact with the Su family in private and was just hiding it from them.

No one spoke, because no one felt good.

After a long while, Su Sanlang forced a smile and said, “It’s fine. Eat more vegetables and meat.”

Even though he felt terrible, he endured it.

Su Xiaozhi had not severed ties with Old Master Su and Madam Wang. It was only right for them to contact each other.

Madam Cao looked guilty. She stood up and explained, “Sanlang, Hu. I’m really sorry. I feel guilty, but that’s Xiaozhi’s parents after all. Xiaozhi is kind. Her mother cried her heart out. She couldn’t bear it. I can’t say anything about her, but I can swear to you that our family will never do anything to harm you. Xiaozhi won’t either.”

This was a difficult situation to begin with, and she couldn’t say anything about it, so she kept quiet.

However, from the moment the two sides contacted each other, Madam Cao had already told Su Xiaozhi that it was fine if they got into contact. However, if the Su family was jealous of this business and wanted Su Xiaozhi to do something that was disadvantageous to the business, she absolutely could not do it. If Su Xiaozhi dared to do it, she would cut ties with Su Xiaozhi and bring her grandchildren back to Xiaohu Village.