I served as Li Bai's page.

"Husband, the pomegranate you bought is really good, it tastes delicious." Liu took the pomegranate and spoon from Li Bai and sat down on the chair on the balcony to eat it heartily.

"I didn't buy it; it was a gift from a friend," Li Bai replied casually.

Liu jumped up from her chair and said:

"You're away from home for ten days or half a month, and you still won't spend money to buy anything for the three of us. What you bring back are gifts from friends. If your friends didn't give you anything, it's as if you came back empty-handed."

"Madam, you are mistaken. My love for you cannot be measured by any material thing. With this love, what difference does it make whether I bring you gifts or not?" Li Bai replied with a grin.

"My husband, you're really good at making excuses."

"Madam, I'm just telling the truth."

Liu stuffed the pomegranate and spoon into Li Bai's hands and angrily walked towards the bedroom. Li Bai looked at me helplessly.

"Young master, why are you telling the truth? Hurry up and go and coax him," I said.

Li Bai followed them inside, carrying a pomegranate and a spoon.

Pingyang and Boqin ran to my side, clutching their chests, and said, "We were so scared! We were afraid they'd start arguing again."

"Don't be afraid, your uncle is here. Come on, let your uncle peel some pomegranates for you." I comforted the two children, and we went to the pavilion to peel three pomegranates. The three of us happily ate them.

For the first two days after Li Bai returned home, things were relatively peaceful. However, it felt like the wife was in complete agreement with the husband; whatever Liu said, Li Bai would agree to, and the whole family took great care of Liu's feelings. Liu also thoroughly enjoyed being pampered.

"My husband, I want to go back to my parents' home tomorrow to visit them. Will you come with me?" Liu said to Li Bai that day.

"Great! Our whole family will go. It's a good time since school is closed, so Boqin can go too."

"Alright, tell Yuehua to prepare several more gifts, one for each of my brothers' families," Liu said.

As Liu instructed, I took Pingyang and Boqin in a horse-drawn carriage to the market to buy gifts. We wandered around the market for a while, but we still didn't know what to buy.

Pingyang said to me, "Uncle, this gift is hard to buy. We can't afford the expensive ones, and we're afraid Auntie won't like the cheaper ones. What should we do?"

"Yes, Uncle is in a dilemma and doesn't know what to do," I said.

"Uncle, let's buy a few pounds of sugar. They don't want it, so we'll take it back and eat it ourselves," Boqin said.

"That's a good idea. Let's do it your way. We can even buy better quality candy," I praised Boqin.

We bought several packets of sugar at the market and put them on the carriage. Then we went to the wine shop and bought two jugs of wine for Li Bai. We then drove the carriage home. When we arrived home, Li Bai was washing his brush by the fountain, while Liu was sitting on a chair on the balcony. Seeing the carriage enter the courtyard, Liu stood up from the chair and said:

"Pingyang, Boqin, quickly tell your aunt what gifts you bought?"

"Auntie, we bought a lot of candy. It's soft and chewy. Grandpa and Grandma will definitely like it," Boqin said before Pingyang could speak.

Liu said, "Boqin, you must have secretly eaten two, otherwise your mouth wouldn't be so sweet today."

"No, the uncle who sells candy let us have a taste," Boqin said.

I carried the wrapped packets of sugar to the living room and put them down, then went to the carriage and brought out two jugs of wine.

"Yuehua, why don't you buy a few more jugs? It would look nice if each family gave a jug of wine and a packet of sugar. Let's not drink these two jugs of wine; we'll take them over with the rest of the family's wine tomorrow," Liu said.

"Yes, madam," I replied.

After washing his brushes, Li Bai stood up and, having overheard our conversation, said to me:

"We can just go out of our way to buy it tomorrow, why bother carrying it back and forth, it's so inconvenient. Yuehua, make two snacks tonight, I want to have a good drink."

"Yes, young master." I replied and walked towards the kitchen.

Liu yelled behind me, "All you do is drink all day! You never talk about going out to earn some money. Tomorrow, when you go to my parents' house, give me some money to support them."

"Don't you have money? Just give it to them. I don't have much money left, and I need to plan my life," Li Bai said.

"Just tell Yuehua to go to Anlu and collect the rent from the fields, then we'll have it. Don't expect me to give you any money for living expenses."

"Who told you to take money for living expenses? I'll find a way if I run out of money. Back in the day, I spent 300,000 taels of gold in Yangzhou. How generous I was! I wouldn't be troubled by a few taels of silver. Don't worry, madam," Li Bai said passionately.

Standing in the kitchen, listening to Li Bai's grand pronouncements and thinking about the meager amount of money left in my pocket, I was truly worried for him. If they really ran out of food, I wondered how Li Bai would explain himself.

The next day, after breakfast, urged by Liu, we drove the carriage to Liu's maternal home, Liu Village, not far outside Rencheng. Since it wasn't our first time there, we arrived at the gate of Liu's maternal home very quickly.

As soon as I stopped the carriage, Master Liu and his wife came out. I jumped down from the carriage, helped Madam Liu out, and Li Bai also got out, carrying the two children down. Li Bai and Madam Liu led the children towards Master Liu and his wife. I took out the gifts from the carriage one by one and, with the help of the Liu family's servants, carried them into the house. After taking everything, I went to the living room.

"Yuehua greets Master and Madam." I knelt down on both knees before Liu's parents and kowtowed three times.

"Get up, there's no need for such formalities," said Master Liu.

"Thank you, sir." I stood up and stood behind Li Bai.

"My dear son-in-law, my daughter wrote to me a while ago saying that you went to Yanzhou to seek your fortune. Is it going well?" Master Liu asked.

"Father-in-law, there is no suitable position yet. My Emperor has promised to keep an eye out for one and fill it as soon as a suitable vacancy becomes available," Li Bai replied.

"Not only in Yanzhou, but also in Rencheng, Wenshang County, and Shanxian County, you can ask your brothers to keep an eye out for you. You have a family to support, and your whole family depends on you. Without an official position, where will your income come from, and how will you support your family?" Old Madam Liu said earnestly.

"My mother-in-law is right. Please rest assured, I will work hard to earn a position, and I will never let my wife and children suffer because of me."

While Li Bai was having a serious conversation with his parents-in-law, several of Liu's brothers walked in, and they all greeted each other.

"Brother-in-law, what is your official position now? We brothers would like to work under you." Liu's eldest brother asked Li Bai.

"Brother, to be honest, I don't hold any official position and am still waiting for news."

"If even the Governor of Yanzhou can't find you a job, it's clear he's not genuinely helping you. You shouldn't have too high hopes," the second brother said.

"My sister has been with you for almost a year now. You're always traveling around without any income, leaving my sister at home to take care of your two children. Do you expect my sister to pay for your entire family's livelihood?" Liu's third brother's words were extremely harsh, and I saw Li Bai's face instantly turn angry.

I gently tugged at Li Bai's clothes, stepped forward, knelt before the young masters of the Liu family, and said:

"Young Master, I know you're all saying this for my mistress's sake. Although my young master isn't an official, he doesn't need my mistress to support the family. I..." Before I could finish speaking, I heard the fourth young master of the Liu family roar:

"You're just a lackey, you have no right to speak here, get out!"