I'm dressed up as the timid eldest daughter, and the whole family has to listen to me!

Su Songchuan nodded in agreement.

"Yes, yes, Uncle Li is right."

Seeing her son treat the Li family with such respect, Granny Liu felt a mix of emotions, but she forced herself to speak, saying:

"That's right. Our Songchuan has always been a sensible and obedient person. If he really marries Shuer in the future, he will definitely not make Shuer angry."

Upon hearing this, Master Li lowered his head and took a sip of tea.

"It's too early to say that. Now that you've agreed to let Songchuan become your son-in-law, our Li family will naturally not treat your Su family unfairly. But whether this marriage will go through depends on whether the two children are destined to be together."

As he spoke, Master Li glanced at Su Songchuan, then at Shu'er.

"We're having a literary gathering at home in a few days. You should come and attend too. I'll have someone send the invitation to your academy."

Su Songchuan, due to his impoverished family background and lack of talent and academic excellence, had never attended such banquets before.

Hearing Master Li say this, he was incredibly excited. He had always wanted to attend such a literary banquet, and now he finally had the chance. So he quickly said:

"Alright, thank you very much, Uncle Li."

Master Li nodded, stood up, and instructed the servant beside him:

"Put this meal on my tab."

Upon hearing this, Granny Liu happily stood up and said;

"Oh dear, I can't possibly let you spend so much money."

Master Li smiled at Granny Liu.

"This is just a small amount of money. Don't worry, if the two children's marriage is indeed arranged in the future, our Li family will not treat the Su family unfairly. Since we are the sons-in-law who have moved in with us, this is what we should do. Even if the wedding is held, you don't need to spend any money."

After saying this, Master Li looked at Aunt Cai and said:

"Thank you for today. If this marriage really goes through, you will certainly receive your share of the benefits. Now we'll be going now."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Cai immediately beamed and got up to see Master Li and his party downstairs.

Su Songchuan wanted to go downstairs to see her off, but Granny Liu had so much to say to him, so she grabbed his arm, tears welling in her eyes.

"Son, today I've helped you secure a good future. From now on, just live your life well and don't worry about your parents' well-being."

Upon hearing this, Su Songchuan frowned deeply.

“Mother, what are you saying? Do you really think I’m the kind of unfilial person? Didn’t you hear me just now? If I could become a son-in-law of the Li family, I would get at least half of the Li family’s assets.”

As he spoke, Su Songchuan took Liu Pozi's hand.

"You and my father have worked hard all our lives, toiling in the fields from dawn till dusk, and we probably can't even earn as much as the silver of a single mansion."

Su Songchuan looked at Granny Liu with increasing excitement as he spoke.

"Now that I have such a good opportunity, I must seize it and climb up the ladder. Otherwise, I will live a miserable life with the title of a poor student that no one looks down on."

Upon hearing this, Granny Liu nodded repeatedly.

"Mother knows it's because your father and I are incompetent and can't give you a good life."

"Now my parents can give me a good life. As long as I marry Li Shuer, the Li family's property will belong to me. Why would we have to worry about the Su family not rising up?"

After hearing Su Songchuan's words, Granny Liu felt more at ease. It seemed that her son was not unfilial. He was only willing to become a son-in-law of the Li family for the sake of the Li family's wealth. If her son became successful in the future, she, as his mother, would naturally benefit as well.

Thinking this way, Granny Liu felt much more at ease.

"Good son, I knew you would amount to something in the future."

As he spoke, he patted Su Songchuan on the shoulder.

"Alright, I've taken up a lot of your time today. You should hurry back to the academy to study. Don't you have to attend some literary banquet at the Li family in a few days?"

Su Songchuan smiled.

"Mother, it's a literary gathering banquet. Don't worry, your son won't embarrass you. Let me see you downstairs."

Granny Liu patted Su Songchuan on the shoulder.

"Hey, you should hurry up and leave. Don't worry about me. I still need to pack all this food to take with me. I've only eaten a few bites. It's such a waste. I can eat it for several more meals if I take it back."

Seeing his mother like this, Su Songchuan could only sigh helplessly and leave silently.

Su Mo and Su Congxian entered the city and began selecting the items they needed from each shop. They had everything else ready, except for the white sugar, which was too expensive.

If she sold them for eight coins a string and gave two coins to Lin, after deducting the cost of the hawthorns and sugar, Su Mo would only have two coins left.

Su Mo initially considered raising the price, but then she remembered that Su Banxia had come to the city to sell candied hawthorns first. If she wanted to steal Su Banxia's customers, she would have to have a price advantage to attract Su Banxia's customers to buy her candied hawthorns.

Thinking this through, Su Mo gritted her teeth and decided to buy eight coins' worth first. Once the customer base stabilized, she would gradually increase the price. Even if she couldn't defeat Su Banxia, ​​she could still annoy her.

After Su Mo and Su Congxian finished shopping, they rode back to the village in Uncle Niu's oxcart. Su Mo left all the materials in Old Su's courtyard for Lin Shi to look after.

Su Mo was thinking that since she had already bought the ingredients, she might as well try making a few skewers now. If it was successful, she would get up early tomorrow to make more and take them to the city to sell.

With that in mind, Su Mo moved all her belongings to the small room where the second wife used to live in the old Su family's house. She set up a stove in the room and asked Lin to help her string candied hawthorns.

Su Mo tried to adjust the sugar ratio like Wang Guihua, but the first batch turned out burnt. The second batch, whether due to insufficient heat or something else, didn't stick to the hawthorns and instead dripped everywhere.

Su Mo was heartbroken. After trying four or five batches, she finally got the ratio of sugar to water right. After finally making a batch of successful candy, she immediately started dipping the candied hawthorns in the sugar.

Before long, they had made many skewers. Lin and Su Congxian came in, drawn by the aroma of the sugar.

"Su Mo, did you succeed?"

Lin stared wide-eyed at the candied hawthorn in Su Mo's hand.

"Oh, it looks delicious. Here, Uncle San, have a skewer to try."

As he spoke, Su Congxian reached out to take the candied hawthorn from Su Mo's hand, and before Su Mo could react, he snatched it away.

"Wife, you eat this skewer, save this one for our son, I'll eat this one."

They assigned it a place as soon as they received it. Seeing this, Su Mo didn't say anything more, and could only silently pick up another skewer and try it.

The taste was similar to what Su Banxia had served to everyone at her housewarming party that day, so Su Mo was relieved. Although the previous batches of sugar had been wasted, she had finally managed to make something. Tomorrow she could make more to sell at the market.