”My mother-in-law favors my husband and wanted to find him a virtuous girl like my eldest sister-in-law. Unexpectedly, my husband fell in love with me. Ever since I came into the family, she has been disliking me because I am a boy. She always complains when I cook or light the fire. If it weren’t for my eldest sister-in-law’s kind nature, our life would be miserable. Your family is better. You are the one who makes the decisions. Your father doesn’t say anything, and your husband doesn’t dare to say anything when he marries into the family…”

　　Li Zhouzhou had been listening without saying anything, and then he said, “My husband has a good temper and treats me well, so don’t say anything about him.”

　　”Are you really angry? I didn’t say anything.” Seeing that Zhou Zhou was really angry, Xing Ge’er quickly said, “Okay, let’s not talk about it anymore. It’s not me who said that. The villagers said it behind your back because you didn’t come to wash clothes.” He let the cat out of the bag when he said this.

　　Li Zhouzhou frowned, “Who said that? What did they say?”

　　Xing’er tried to please people but he couldn’t handle it this time so he had to confess honestly: “It’s nothing actually. They said your husband is in poor health and thin, so I said he is a scholar and different from us.” Then Xing’er couldn’t learn anymore.

　　Li Zhouzhou could also guess that it was just a joke behind his husband’s back that he was not a serious scholar, would never pass the imperial examinations in the future, and would not even be qualified to recruit students as a teacher in the village.

　　Because I have no achievements.

　　”Zhou Zhou, are you unhappy?”

　　”No.” Li Zhouzhou said calmly, “If my husband wants to study, I will support him. I dare not say anything about the future. I just hope he is healthy.”

　　Xing Ge’er: “Ah? Your hopes for your husband are not as high as my hopes for Yuan Yuan.”

　　Just for health?

　　”Don’t you have any hope that your husband can pass the imperial examination and get a good reputation so that you can get some revenge?”

　　He almost got mad just by listening to those people learning to talk. If it were his Yuanyuan, Xing’er would definitely nag in front of his son every day about wanting to bring honor to his father and must learn to talk like him.

　　”It’s best to have it, but it’s okay if you don’t,” said Li Zhouzhou.

　　Xing’er was secretly shocked. Could it be that what those people in the village said was true, that Gu Zhao couldn’t continue studying, so he said this to save face.

　　Forget it, it’s none of his family’s business.

　　After talking for a while, Li Zhouzhou got up and left, and agreed to set off before dawn the next day. Xing Ge’er saw Li Zhouzhou off, and when he came back, he found that Li Zhouzhou had not touched any of the melon seeds he had grabbed, and he ate all of them, now he knew why his mouth was so dry.

　　Eating melon seeds and talking at the same time, how can I not do anything?

　　On the way back, Li Zhouzhou was still thinking about what Xing Ge’er said. He knew about her husband’s hanging of a plaque on the school platform last year. In his heart, his husband was naturally the most powerful one. He couldn’t stop what outsiders said, except for the matter of studying…

　　When he got home, Li Zhouzhou saw his husband still reading. He touched the teapot and found it was cold. He thought of boiling some hot water, as sitting at the table for an entire afternoon would make his hands and feet cold.

　　”No, I always want to go to the toilet after drinking.” Gu Zhao noticed Zhou Zhou coming in. He took his wife’s hand holding the teapot, touched it, and immediately said coquettishly, “Zhou Zhou’s hands are so warm.”

　　Li Zhouzhou put down the teapot and warmed his husband’s hands.

　　After playing for a while, it was time to cook, but I didn’t boil another pot of water.

　　he went to bed early that night, and woke up at the first crow of the rooster before dawn the next day, and started to clean up. He went to the kitchen to cook multi-grain porridge and heated up a steamed bun for himself. Hearing Xing Ge’er’s voice outside the yard, he quickly took out half of the firewood under the stove so that his husband and father could have some hot porridge when they woke up, and the fire would not burn the pot dry.

　　He carried a bamboo basket on his back and opened the gate.

　　”Let’s go.”

　　Xing Ge’er covered himself tightly and dared not open his mouth. If he spoke, a mouthful of wind would go into his stomach.

　　The two walked quickly; they were used to it, so they didn’t talk or chat on the way. When they arrived in the town, their hair was frozen and the sun was just rising in the morning.

　　Xing Ge’er stamped his feet and said, “I can’t do it anymore. I want to go drink some hot soup to warm myself up first. Zhou Zhou, do you want to go?”

　　”Then go ahead. I want to go to the bookstore and take a look.”

　　Xing Ge’er: “It’s so early in the morning and I don’t know if it’s open yet. Come with me to have some hot soup first. We’ll go to the bookstore together later so I can take a look. When my Yuanyuan gets older, I want to send him to school.”

　　His Yuanyuan is different from other kids in the village who roll around on the ground.