Su Li composed herself, bowed slightly, and said sincerely:

"Mrs. Lu, I never expected to see you here again. We were so grateful for your help last time that we were able to get home safely. I haven't had a chance to properly thank you."

Madam Lu smiled and waved her hand, saying kindly, "It's all just a small matter, nothing to worry about. Come in and sit down."

As she spoke, she patted the seat next to her, gesturing for Su Li to get in the car.

Su Li did not refuse and boarded the carriage gracefully, sitting down next to Madam Lu.

Madam Lu warmly invited the servants to serve tea and snacks.

Su Li didn't hesitate; when the madam offered her food, she ate it openly and generously.

As soon as she took a bite of the pastry, Su Li's eyes lit up, and she exclaimed sincerely, "Madam Lu, this pastry tastes absolutely wonderful! It's sweet, soft, and melts in your mouth. This is the first time I've ever had such a delicious pastry."

Madam Lu looked at Su Li with eyes full of affection.

She already had a deep impression of Su Li, and now, hearing that Su Li and his sister were calm and composed when faced with problems, she was even more impressed with them.

She smiled and said, "Eat as much as you like. You two siblings have been a great help to our caravan this time, we really owe you a lot."

Su Li blushed slightly and said modestly, "Madam, you flatter us. We only did what we could."

The two chatted while enjoying tea and snacks.

Under Madam Lu's care, the caravan traveled smoothly and soon arrived in Jingde County.

Upon entering the county town, one can immediately feel the strong atmosphere of pottery art; almost every household in the county is involved in pottery workshops.

Upon arrival at our destination, the tour leader offered us a great deal of assistance.

With his help, Su Li not only successfully bought the jars needed to make pickled vegetables, but also unexpectedly discovered a batch of flawed bottles that were being sold at a discount.

These bottles may have some minor flaws, but they don't affect their use, and they are much cheaper.

Su Li suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and an idea popped into her mind.

She picked up a small bottle, walked quickly to Su Xiangyang's side, her eyes filled with excitement and anticipation, and said earnestly:

"Brother, look at these bottles. Although they have some minor flaws, they're perfect for storing medicinal herbs. We can buy some and make our own medicine to store for future use."

"Besides, brother, you are so talented in medicine, these bottles will definitely come in very handy in the future."

Su Xiangyang took the bottle from Su Li's hand, examined it carefully, and nodded slightly.

"You're right, these bottles are really good. Since they're cheap and useful, let's buy a lot more!"

As they made their selections, the two discussed their future plans, preparing to go back and make a big splash.

Su Li and her older brother returned home laden with their purchases, eager to get back to their shop and get busy.

Before even entering the courtyard, they could hear a noisy argument and the sound of things being smashed from afar.

As soon as the donkey cart stopped at the door, Su Li couldn't wait to stick her head out.

But the courtyard was already in complete chaos.

The Su family members, along with some familiar faces from the village, huddled together, pushing and shoving each other, their faces red and necks bulging as they shouted insults at one another.

"Give me back my gold bracelet! Are you Su family members really this shameless? You seem so refined and polite all the time, but I never expected you to be doing such petty theft behind the scenes!"

"That's right! So you weren't there to help, you were there to steal! We were so blind to believe you were good people!"

"He always spouts righteousness and morality, yet he'd steal even a gold bracelet. He's utterly disgraced as a scholar!"

"Get Su Qingyi out here!"

Behind him, Su Xiangyang frowned, his face full of helplessness.

Is this even possible to live like this?

Why do I have to run into all these unpleasant things as soon as I get back? What happened this time...?

With a "thud," the club traced an arc through the air and landed at Su Li's feet.

Looking at the mess on the ground and then at the cart full of pottery jars, Su Li felt extremely anxious.

If they get caught up in this chaos, all these pottery jars will be ruined; it took them a full seven days to bring them back.

"Brother, let's not worry about that for now. We need to get the goods settled quickly. If these cans get damaged, we'll have wasted our trip and won't be able to do business in the future."

Su Li said anxiously, her eyes full of worry.

Su Xiangyang nodded, his expression grave, and said, "You're right, taking care of these jars is the priority. Once they're settled, we can then see what exactly happened."

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, the two carefully drove the car and quietly made their way to the backyard.

The arguing in the front yard was still deafening, and every now and then the sound of porcelain breaking could be heard, making one's heart tremble.

After parking the car, they began to move the pottery jars one by one.

The two worked busily and methodically, and soon all the pottery jars were placed in place.

Su Li wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked at the neatly arranged jars. A huge weight was finally lifted from her heart.

Just as she finished her work, Mrs. Hu rushed over.

Madam Hu looked anxious, grabbed Su Li's hand, and looked her up and down carefully. "Oh dear, you've been gone for seven whole days. We've been waiting for you to come back. Was your journey smooth?"

Su Li nodded, but frowned and looked out the window.

"Mother, what's going on at home? Why are they fighting again? My eldest cousin passed the imperial examination and became a scholar a while ago. He was getting along well with the villagers. How come they're fighting now, just a few days later?"

Mrs. Hu sighed, a look of embarrassment creeping across her face.

"Do you remember the pair of gold bracelets that went missing at the Zhao family wedding a while ago? Right now, those gold bracelets... are on your cousin Su Yao's wrist. The Zhao family somehow found out about it and are making a fuss about it."

Su Li was taken aback. She suddenly remembered that everyone in the village was talking about it, but her uncle's family, who always liked to gossip, remained very quiet.

She found it strange at the time, and she never expected that they would take the gold bracelets.

But how could the Zhao family suddenly know that the bracelet had been taken by the eldest uncle's family after so much time had passed?

Su Li looked up and happened to catch a glimpse of her second aunt, Madam Ma, standing at the back of the crowd, a faint smile playing on her lips, hinting at a touch of smugness.

Su Li immediately understood that this matter was most likely related to her second aunt.

She looked at her mother, about to speak, when she was interrupted by shouts from outside from Grandpa Su and Grandma Su: "Don't just stand there, come out and break up the fight!"

Su Li sighed, and could only put aside her doubts for the time being, and go out with her family to mediate the fight.

Judging from the Zhao family's attitude, they probably wanted nothing more than to tear the roof off the Su family's house.

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