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Liu Siliang was indeed an expert in farming, and with just a few words to Lin Yuan, he had clearly explained the ins and outs of growing good vegetables.

As Lin Yuan listened, she couldn’t help but feel impressed. Meanwhile, Xia Zheng suddenly interjected, "Uncle, do you know how to graft?"

Grafting? Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow, recalling the conversation about the fruit Shi Liu she had jokingly mentioned to Xia Zheng some days before. Could it be that this guy still hadn’t let go of that Shi Liu?

Liu Siliang’s somewhat tanned face froze, and he shook his head in bewilderment.

Xia Zheng quickly repeated to Liu Siliang what Lin Yuan had told him, and even detailed his own personal experiments—the failures, what materials were needed, and so on.

Lin Yuan listened in surprise, inwardly marvelling at how meticulous and serious he was.

She had mentioned it in passing, never expecting him to actually put in so much effort.

However, if grafting could be successful, then surely many different fruits could be grown, such as apricots much larger than those available now, or apple pears that tasted better than the current pears.

Easy to say, but she herself didn’t know how to graft; she only had a slight understanding of it from her previous life.

Liu Siliang, who had been farming for a lifetime, was clearly fascinated by this new technique. Father and son discussed it vigorously until, when it came time to leave in the ox cart, Liu Siliang was still assuring Xia Zheng that he would certainly make the grafting work.

Happy times are always fleeting, and it was time for Liu Siliang to drive the ox cart back to the village. But although the cart had been full on arrival, there were now two fewer passengers upon departure.

Lin Yuan had already packed plenty of leftover vegetables and meat for her grandfather to take home when he started to get ready to leave. But, to her surprise, at the last minute, her grandfather and uncle unloaded them.

"Yuanyuan, the Lin family is building a house and adding children; money is needed everywhere. What are you doing packing meat for us? Go on, keep it and let your parents have a good replenishing meal!" Aunt chattered non-stop while moving the meat and vegetables back to the kitchen.

Lin Yuan stood there, unable to get a word in, and let out a chuckle. This was what family was like. If it had been Lady Yang and her group, they probably would have wished to empty out their house if they could.

Seeing that her grandfather and others absolutely refused to take anything, Lin Yuan didn’t insist on giving more.

She had already decided that when Xia Zheng went to take her grandmother and younger aunt home, she would make sure to fill the carriage to the brim.

Now that she had money, she should make sure her own family lived well.

It wasn’t until they had sent the ox cart off beyond the village that Lin Yuan, bouncing along with her two younger sisters by the hand, started heading back.

Xia Zheng followed behind the trio, with Liuzi trailing behind Xia Zheng.

Watching the Young Master’s face brimming with a flattering smile, Liuzi rolled his eyes internally: "The Young Master really is more gluttonous than the Boss, forgetting about Fuman Building and squatting here every day to mooch food and drink.

No wonder he gets scolded by the Boss every time he goes back. "

Because Xia Zheng had become a hands-off shopkeeper, and he was fed up with Lao Fan’s constant nagging presence, he decided to dump all the responsibilities of Fuman Building onto Lao Fan.

This drove Lao Fan absolutely mad. He had agreed to take over Fuman Building from Little Tyrant merely to find a place to lay low and freeload, wearing a title without doing much work.

He never expected that one day he would actually have to run it like a real boss.

Staring at those irritating account books every day gave him more headaches than reading medical books!

Lin Wei and Xiao Linshuang ran quickly and soon left Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng far behind.

As the sisters passed by the old house’s entrance, they happened to encounter Lady Ma coming out to dump dirty water.

It was unclear whether she did it on purpose or by accident, but the basin of dirty water ended up splashed all over the two sisters.

"Ouch, I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean it, Aunt," said the two sisters who had been running quickly, and Lady Ma, with her short eyelids, hadn’t seen Lin Yuan who had just turned the corner.

She looked at the soaking wet girls with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, flicked the remaining droplets from the basin, and turned to go back inside.

Lin Yuan wasn’t about to let her off the hook.

"Aunt? I don’t recall our Lin family having such an aunt! Lady Ma, don’t flatter yourself. Seeing our family build a house and do well, you couldn’t wait to climb up and claim kinship with us?"

At the sound of Lin Yuan’s voice, Lady Ma involuntarily shuddered, but then she remembered that her daughter had just sent word back via Laosan’s house that morning, saying how well the Master Magistrate was treating her.

She felt no fear then. Who said that once you’ve entered the Master Magistrate’s doors, you have to grovel?

Her Siyu was favored by the Master Magistrate, so much so that even the pregnant little concubine wasn’t as favored as her now.

Thinking of her daughter, Lady Ma’s spine straightened immediately: "Claiming kinship? When my Siyu hadn’t yet entered the Master Magistrate’s household, I didn’t even bother to claim kinship with you. Now that my Siyu is favored, do you think I’d still cling to you? What a joke!"

Hearing Lady Ma continuously bring up Lin Siyu, what didn’t Lin Yuan understand?

It turned out Lin Siyu was much favored by the Master Magistrate indeed.

No wonder Lady Ma dared to talk back to her.

However, Lin Siyu’s gaining favor was within Lin Yuan’s expectations—not to mention Lin Siyu’s looks and ability to charm, but her soft and young persona alone was sure to be cherished by the lecherous old man.

Whether this favor lasted for just a while or a lifetime, that was another matter.

"Oh, so your daughter has been doing such a great job as a little concubine that she’s earned the Master Magistrate’s favor." Everything sounded different coming from Lin Yuan’s mouth.

Lady Ma was slow on the uptake and felt something was off about that statement, but before she could react, she heard Lin Yuan suddenly point at her shoes and burst out laughing: "Haha, Little Concubine’s mom, if your daughter has won the Master Magistrate’s heart, why is she letting you step outside in shoes that show your toes?

Haha, does your daughter still hold a grudge against you for selling her for the sake of her brothers’ futures? "

"That’s not it at all!" Lady Ma tucked in her feet, regretful. Her shoes had been fine, but Siyu might have made a mistake and brought her a size too small. She hadn’t intended to wear them, but they were so pretty that she couldn’t resist. Who would have thought that after wearing them for just a morning, her toes would bulge out.

Could it be like Little Disaster Star had suggested, that Siyu harbored resentment against her and intentionally gave her small shoes to wear?

No, that couldn’t be. That was her beloved daughter, the one she had doted on since childhood. How could she possibly hold a grudge against her own mother over something so trivial?

"You Little Disaster Star, stop trying to drive a wedge between me and my daughter! Get lost, we don’t welcome you!" Lady Ma, feeling insecure and unable to argue with Lin Yuan, began to chase her away.