Farming and reading family

All the prominent gentry in He County came tonight, except Chen Xiangyue.

It’s not that Chen Xiangyue didn’t give him face. After he posted the invitation, Chen Xiangyue personally came to his house and said that he could not attend. He sent his housekeeper to apologize today and said that he was willing to donate money for a bridge.

So he was a little surprised when he saw Chen Tao.

"Chen Tao." Gao E called out.

Chen Tao walked to Aunt Gao's side somewhat stiffly.

"Chen Tao has been at my house recently," Gao E explained. "Is there anything wrong, Lord He?"

He Tangchun was a little surprised. He knew Gao'e had many children. "Nothing. His father just donated money to build a bridge. I asked Master Chen to thank your father on my behalf."

Gao E pressed Chen Tao's neck and he saluted awkwardly.

"Okay, you guys just play here." He Tangchun felt that Gao E and the others were too restrained with him here, so he said goodbye to them and left.

After He Tangchun left, the children brought by Gao E felt a lot more relaxed and climbed up to the parapet to look down.

Tao Meiyun touched her slightly bulging belly and asked, "How did you bring up so many children?"

Gao E didn't know how to answer. In fact, she didn't take care of them much. "Maybe... having more children makes it easier. They have playmates, and you won't put all your expectations and worries on just one child."

Tao Meiyu thought so too, and wondered if she should have two more children.

"Mom, can we go down?" Chen Zhengchuan turned around excitedly and looked at his mother.

Several children looked over eagerly.

Gao E was a little worried, after all, there were too many children.

"Don't worry, my family has done a lot of preparation for this Lantern Festival. All kinds of people in the city have been brought out. If a child is lost, it will be their responsibility." Tao Meiyu promised.

Gao E was relieved then: "Listen to your Uncle Yu and don't run around. If there is something you particularly like, you can buy it with your pocket money."

"Okay--" Several children gathered around Yu Zhao.

Not only Yu Zhao, but Jin Ruyi and others also came and were waiting downstairs with a few people invited by Lu Hao.

In the end, only Jin Chao stayed, standing on the parapet and watching his peers go down the Drum Tower.

"Why don't you go down with them?" Gao E felt that Jin Chao was too reserved.

"The scenery here is better." Jin Chao said seriously.

Gao E followed Jin Chao's gaze and found that everyone liked different scenery.

Luo Qing'er and Chen Hanyue ran to the stall to buy small velvet lanterns and moths to wear on their heads. The two of them huddled together and gestured in front of the bronze mirror, completely unaware that someone was staring at them.

Li Quan came back this year feeling unusually depressed.

In previous years, he was the center of attention among students in He County, and he would definitely be invited to any gathering.

But this year everyone has made friends with Chen Ke, so naturally someone mentioned his previous conflict with Chen Ke, so they stopped inviting him and invited Chen Ke instead.

Later he learned that Chen Ke had somehow made friends with a scholar named Du, whose talent and learning surpassed all the scholars in He County combined, and they would go to him for advice on any questions they had.

Li Quan couldn't swallow the humiliation when he thought about how his mother and cousin from the Chen family had been exiled.

However, he had not completed the previous task well, so he did not dare to cause trouble now. If he lost this task, he might have to return to He County, and his situation would be even more embarrassing.

But when he saw the woman in front of him, he suddenly felt that a smooth road had opened up before him.

As long as he could use this woman to get close to Yishun Bo, he would have a firm foothold in Qinzhou City.

Just as he was about to go up and strike up a conversation, he saw Luo Dagang walking over. He immediately stopped and didn't dare to move forward.

He knew Luo Dagang, a ruthless man who would resort to violence at the slightest disagreement.

"Brother, which one looks better?" Luo Qing'er gestured with the lantern and the moth bun.

"I bought them all." Luo Dagang said expressionlessly.

Chen Hanyue felt a little disappointed when she saw Luo Qing'er being spoiled by someone. If she hadn't followed her second aunt, she wouldn't have been able to come to the lantern festival.

"Two pairs of the same." Luo Dagang paid.

Chen Hanyue felt even more disappointed and thought it was great to have a brother.

"Thank you, brother." Luo Qing'er immediately took out a pair and gave it to Chen Hanyue. "My brother bought them for us."

Chen Hanyue was pleasantly surprised: "I'm so sorry."

"What's there to be embarrassed about?" Luo Qing'er didn't care.

Luo Dagang paid the money and turned around to look back. He only saw people coming and going, and there was some suspicion in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Luo Qing'er asked curiously.

"Nothing." Luo Dagang wondered if he was too worried about his sister and her feelings were wrong. Why did he feel like someone was staring at them?

"I think I saw Zhengyan and the others." Luo Qing'er suddenly tiptoed and said, "Over there." Then she walked away.

Chen Hanyue also followed.

Luo Dagang confirmed it again before following.

Li Quan walked out from behind a stall. Luo Dagang’s sister was in trouble, but no matter how powerful Luo Dagang was, could he be as powerful as Yi Shunbo?

At this moment, Chen Ke was also guessing riddles with the students from He County. It wasn't that he was particularly good at it, but he had seen most of the riddles before, so he guessed the most correctly, which drew applause from the whole room.

This allowed him to slowly relax his tense body in the crowd and become less reserved than before.

They played until midnight, and Yu Zhao came back with all the children. Luo Dagang and the others were also waiting under the Drum Tower.

"It's getting late, why don't we go back tomorrow?" Tao Meiyu suggested.

"No need." Gao E wasn't without a place to live. She looked up at the moon hanging overhead. "The jade plate reflecting the snow at night is also a beautiful sight."

Tao Meiyun laughed: "From your tone, I would have thought you were a female teacher."

Since Gao E insisted on leaving, Tao Meiyu did not stay any longer and watched them leave.

At this time, there were many people leaving the city. When she arrived outside the city, Gao E counted the number of people again to make sure that no one was missing before going back.

I was worried that the children would be sleepy, but they turned out to be more excited than each other and were discussing heatedly which lantern looked better.

Their voices carried far on the quiet country road.

After the Lantern Festival, the New Year was completely over. Gao E began to build a house for Tao Meiyu. The strong laborers in the village were comparable to professional bricklayers, who had learned this skill from building houses for the villagers before.

But you have to clear the place beforehand.

The bamboo roots in the bamboo forest are tangled. If they are not cleaned properly, the bamboo will grow back and the house will be ruined.

Master Xie also knows this truth and dares not be negligent in this regard.

Although Gao E knew that there was no rush to build Tao Meiyun's house, she still planned to build it for Tao Meiyun first, and reminded Master Xie to add ground dragons and water pavilions. That woman was very particular.

Calculating it this way, the four thousand taels that Tao Meiyu gave was actually a bit tight.

She was thinking about these things when there was a hurried knock on the door in the yard. When she looked up, she saw Chen Hanyue rushing in from outside.

"Second Aunt, that Li family member is here." Chen Hanyue said hurriedly.