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

The oxcart, after a hurried and difficult journey, finally brought the group to the entrance of Old Su's courtyard.

Qin had assumed that by now the lights in the courtyard would be out and everyone would be resting, but upon returning and seeing candlelight still burning in the Su family's courtyard, she hesitated.

Qin was somewhat worried that if she brought Su Tao back so rashly, Granny Liu would definitely come and cause trouble for her. After all, with Su Tao back, there would be another mouth to feed. The family had spent a lot of money on arranging a marriage for Su Songchuan, and they were already not well-off. With another mouth to feed, Granny Liu would definitely not be happy.

But just now at Old Zhang's house, things had developed to that point, and she, as the one who had been there all along, couldn't just sit idly by and watch her daughter being wronged at Old Zhang's house. So at that time, Qin didn't think too much and impulsively brought Su Tao back. On the way back, the more Qin thought about it, the more she felt that something was wrong.

But now that everyone had returned, it wouldn't be appropriate for Qin to ask Zhang Guang to send Su Tao back again. So, Qin gritted her teeth, got off the oxcart, opened the courtyard gate, helped Su Tao into the courtyard, and then turned to Zhang Guang and instructed him:

"Just come and see Su Tao on the first day of each month and give her some money. You can rest assured that Su Tao will stay with me."

Zhang Guang was also perceptive. Fearing that Qin Shi might accidentally reveal his affair with Liu Qing'er, which could further upset Su Tao and cause her to lose her pregnancy, he gritted his teeth, took off the purse he was wearing at his waist, and handed it to Qin Shi.

"Mother, this is all the silver I have right now. You can use it for now, and I'll send you more next month when the money comes in."

As he spoke, Zhang Guang turned to Su Tao, who was standing to the side, and said:

"Wife, you stay at your parents' home. If you need anything, just ask someone to send me a message and I'll bring it to you."

Although Su Tao was also a little reluctant to part with Zhang Guang, she preferred staying at her parents' home to living in Old Zhang's courtyard, so she nodded to Zhang Guang.

"It's getting late, you should go back now. My mother is here to take care of me, so don't worry."

Seeing that Su Tao and the others had entered the courtyard, Zhang Guang felt relieved and rode back in the oxcart.

Qin first escorted Su Tao into her room, then tiptoed to Liu Pozi's door. Just as she was about to knock, she heard Su Songchuan's voice coming from inside.

"Mother, please give me some more money. I've already discussed it with Li Shuer. She said she'll go home and tell her parents about our engagement. I don't care about anything else, as long as I can win Li Shuer's heart, she'll definitely marry me. I don't want to miss such a good opportunity. If I marry her, my family won't have to spend money on my studies anymore. If it really doesn't work out, I'll even let Li Shuer spend money to buy me an official position later. As long as we become in-laws with the Li family, won't our family rise to prominence along with them?"

Upon hearing her youngest son's words, Granny Liu frowned.

“Son, it’s not that I don’t want to give you money, but you emptied our family’s coffers to win over that Li girl. You’d charge a tael of silver for just a meal or a show. How many taels of silver do we have in our family? I’ve spent so much money on you over the years, and you haven’t given me a single penny back. You’ve been trying to get money from me all this time. I’m not a hen that lays golden eggs. Where am I going to get so much money for you?”

Old Su, standing to the side, angrily banged his pipe against the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) a few times.

"If you ask me, you two should never have even dreamed of marrying into the Li family. How could we possibly be worthy of their status? They're just playing with us."

Granny Liu turned around and glared at Old Man Su.

“Shut up! Things have come to this point, it’s too late for you to back out now. We’ve already spent so much money on this. If we don’t get the marriage arranged with the Li family now, we’ll all be starving. I’ve already taken out my life savings, it’s not something we can just let go of.”

Upon hearing this, Qin Shi, who was standing outside the door, was immediately enraged. She kicked open Liu Pozi's door, looked at Liu Pozi with tears in her eyes, and said:

"Even if our parents are biased, you shouldn't be so biased. You know how hard our family is doing right now. Now that we've earned some money, we not only have to support our brother-in-law's studies, but also help him get married and keep his wife happy. We work so hard, and all that hard-earned money is just being squandered by our brother-in-law on a meal or a movie. It's all going down the drain. Don't you ever think about the rest of the family?"

As she spoke, Qin turned her head, glared at Su Songchuan sitting at the table, and scolded him:

“Brother-in-law, there should be a limit to your selfishness. You don’t have to do any chores around the house. The whole family has been supporting your studies, hoping you can make something of yourself. But in the end, you haven’t learned anything and you still want to leech off us. I don’t agree with you continuing to use money to coax that Li family girl!”

Su Songchuan was taken aback when he realized that Qin Shi was eavesdropping outside the door. He knew that he had spent a lot of money on his family over the years, but wasn't it all for the purpose of marrying Li Shuer? If he were to marry Li Shuer, could he forget the help his family had given him?

So Su Songchuan said in an annoyed tone:

“I’m not taking my parents’ money for nothing. When I become financially independent, I will naturally return the money. Do you think I don’t know about my family’s difficulties?”

Qin snorted coldly.

"I'm not trying to be mean, but if you knew how difficult things were at home, you wouldn't have forced your parents to give you money. Now you've squandered all the money in the house, what more do you want? For them to go out and rob money for you?"

Granny Liu glared at Madam Qin.

"Alright, stop babbling. When did it become your business to worry about the family's finances? Stop meddling in these things. As the eldest sister-in-law, you have no idea about your brother's difficulties. You're just spouting useless nonsense. When your brother really gets ahead, do you think he'll forget about our family? As the eldest sister-in-law, you can also get a share of the benefits, right?"

As she spoke, Granny Liu coughed a few times.

"By the way, didn't you go to Su Tao's house in the city today? Why are you back in the middle of the night?"

Upon hearing what Granny Liu said, Qin hesitated for a moment before replying:

"Well, well, my Su Tao isn't used to living in the city, so I was thinking of bringing her back to our courtyard. I'll take care of her for a few days, and that way I, as her mother, will feel more at ease."