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

Looking at the determined look in Granny Lin's eyes, Madam Lin could only nod. They had endured so many days, and they couldn't afford to give up at this crucial moment.

“Good girl, just wait. When Su Congxian comes to pick you up again, we will talk to him. If he insists that you go back, then you will have to separate from the Su family like the second branch did.”

As she spoke, Granny Lin pulled Madam Lin down to sit.

"Now, this old woman Liu has completely angered the second wife's family, who have been working like slaves for her. The eldest son's family only has your sister-in-law to manage things. The fifth son is still unmarried, and the fourth son is even worse off, still studying in the county town. That's a bottomless pit."

Granny Lin sighed and continued:

“If you don’t seize this opportunity to separate from the Su family, then your third branch will definitely be the ones working like slaves for the Su family in the future. I can’t bear to let you suffer like that.”

Upon hearing this, Lin thought of Wang Guihua washing clothes in the courtyard during the dead of winter, and shuddered. She quickly nodded and said:

"Mother, you're right, I'll listen to you."

After saying that, Lin and her daughter closed the courtyard gate and went inside.

Granny Liu, seeing that she had made a wasted trip today, not even getting lunch and instead feeling quite angry, glared at Su Congxian and said:

"You really are a coward. You can't even control your own wife now. What else can you do? Didn't I just tell you to go and bring Lin Shi back to me?"

Su Congxian sighed upon hearing this:

"Mother, what are you saying? I don't think you came here to help today, but rather to cause trouble. Now that you've made such a scene, I'm even more ashamed to take Lin Shi home!"

Hearing that Su Congxian's words implied he was blaming her, Granny Liu angrily punched him several times on the back.

"How could I have given birth to such an ungrateful wretch like you? I helped you and you even went wrong. I went through all this trouble with you, didn't even get a meal, and got myself into all this mess. Now I've even ruined the clothes I just made, and you still don't appreciate my kindness!"

As she spoke, Granny Liu quickly walked up to Su Congqian and said angrily:

"From now on, I will no longer concern myself with the affairs of your third branch of the family. Whether you live or die is none of my business!"

Having said that, he left Su Congxian and Su Qingsong behind and strode forward.

Upon hearing what Granny Liu said, Su Congxian deliberately slowed his pace and muttered softly:

"That would be best. The more you interfere, the worse things will be for our third branch of the family!"

Granny Liu walked quickly ahead for a while, thinking that her son would catch up with her, apologize, and say a few kind words, and then her anger would subside.

Now that she was almost at Sujia Village and still hadn't seen Su Congxian and Su Qingsong, Granny Liu couldn't very well turn back to look, lest she lose face. Helpless, she could only endure the pain in her feet and hurry home.

Su Congxian still had the silver he had stolen from Granny Liu the day before. He had walked all morning, and now it was almost noon.

Su Congxian, who hadn't even had breakfast, was starving. So he took Su Qingsong to a steamed bun shop. The two of them ate five baskets of steamed buns before leisurely walking towards Su Family Village.

When the two arrived at Sujia Village, it was already evening. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw Granny Liu standing there, looking very unhappy, feeding the chickens.

Now that the second wife's family no longer helps with the work in the fields and yard, Granny Liu has more work to do and can no longer just eat and sleep all the time like before.

Now that even Lin, the third wife, is no longer with the Su family, Granny Liu feels that there are always chores to do around the house. Fortunately, Qin and Su Tao can help with some of the work.

As for Su Yunhe, who had been pampered since childhood, she was only focused on waiting for Sun Da to come and propose marriage, so naturally she had no interest in helping Granny Liu with the chores.

Of course, when Granny Liu thought about how Su Yunhe could earn ten taels of silver for her wife's family after the wedding, she was reluctant to let Su Yunhe do any work, fearing that if she got tanned, Sun Da would not want her to do it again, so she just let her stay in the house all day.

"So you guys finally know how to come back? You don't help with any of the housework, all you do is fool around outside!"

Granny Liu shoved the chicken feed bowl into Su Qingsong's hands, glared at him, and said:

“You’ve been in Linggezhuang for so many days now, it’s time for you to help out with some chores. After you’ve fed the chickens, hurry up and go up the mountain to cut pig feed. You’re not a kid anymore, what kind of person are you, just hanging around outside all day!”

Seeing that Granny Liu was in a bad mood, Su Qingsong reluctantly took the basin and said "Oh".

Granny Liu glared at Su Congxian, who was standing to the side, and said:

"Don't just stay idle at home all day. You should go and check on the land that has been allocated to you. Don't come crying to me again next year when there's no harvest!"

At this moment, Su Congxian had no time to worry about the harvest; all he wanted was to bring Lin Shi back as soon as possible so that he could have peace of mind.

Qin was peeking into the courtyard through the crack in the door when she saw that Lin hadn't returned with Su Congxian. She felt a strange sense of joy. Qin thought that as long as Lin didn't come back, she and Su Congxian still had a chance.

Qin hadn't experienced a man's care for her for many years. The last time Su Ye hit her, Su Congxian came to her defense. This time, seeing Su Congxian so infatuated with Lin, drinking and getting drunk for Lin's sake...

She felt that she had been blind back then. Why didn't she marry Su Congxian? If she could have married Su Congxian, she would have been willing to do without a dowry!

The more Qin looked at Su Congxian, the more pleasing he seemed. Compared to Su Ye, that heartless man, Su Congxian was simply the best man in the Su family.

Thinking this, Qin took advantage of the fact that no one in the courtyard was paying attention and quietly went to the third room. At this time, Su Congxian was lying in the room, feeling extremely distressed. When he saw Qin enter, he was so frightened that he jumped up from the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Sister-in-law, how did you get in here!"

Qin looked at Su Congxian with a worried expression and said softly:

"Don't worry about what happened before. I'll keep it to myself and never tell anyone. You and I can still be the same as before, just don't be distant."

Su Congxian felt somewhat relieved after hearing Qin's words.

"Sister-in-law, I understand what you mean. It's wonderful that you think this way."

Madam Qin nodded gently.

“I was thinking that since Lin Shi hasn’t been back for a while, you’re a grown man and you can’t take care of yourself. I haven’t seen you wash any clothes in all these days, so I came to ask if you have any clothes and brought them out so I could wash them for you.”