The main house of the Gu family is very long. Gu’s father and Li Guihua has one room, and the other is divided into two by a cabinet in the middle. Hu boy and Tiedan sleep together, and Yuan himself sleeps on the side with the window against the wall.

　　There is no main room, so just sit in Li Guihua’s father’s room for a while.

　　”Hutou, go to your uncle’s place and call your father back. Just tell him that your eldest brother and younger brother are back. If you see your brother, call them back as well.” Li Guihua left the house and called Hutou to run errands.

　　Since Gu Zhao and Li Zhouzhou came in, Hu Tou’s eyes have never left the things in Li Zhouzhou’s hand. Especially when he heard about maltose, he swallowed his saliva greedily. Now he couldn’t help but said, “Mother, I want to eat maltose.”

　　”Eat shit, go away.” Li Guihua likes to hide things, so she puts the candy aside first.

　　Of course, he refused to comply and whined, “No, no, I want to eat maltose.”

　　Li Guihua raised her hand to twist Hutou’s ears, but Hutou covered his ears and hid away, shouting at the top of his voice: “I want to eat maltose, I want to eat maltose.” Gu Zhao and Zhou Zhou in the room could also hear the loud sound.

　　”Eat, eat, eat, go quickly.” Li Guihua thought Hutou’s voice was too loud and could be heard in the house. Did he even ask Li Zhouzhou and Gu Zhao if they wanted to eat? She immediately took a piece of candy from the basket and gave it to Hutou, blocking his mouth.

　　Hu Tou was so happy to get the malt candy that he immediately put it into his mouth along with the rice paper.

　　”Hurry up and go.” Li Guihua scolded angrily.

　　Hu Tou ran out of the yard. Li Guihua looked at her son’s back and scolded him again, but she had a smug smile on her face. She felt that her son Hu Tou was smart and knew what was good and how to ask for things.

　　When Gu Zhao lived in the old house, he would also try to please his grandfather.

　　Li Guihua took the things into the kitchen, put the meat and eggs in place first, and put the sugar cubes in a large bowl. After Li Zhouzhou and Gu Zhao left, she put them in the cabinet and locked them up. Sugar was expensive, and Li Guihua was reluctant to buy it. She thought that she would not need to buy it during the Chinese New Year. The piece that Li Zhouzhou took was quite large, and she would share a piece to take back to her parents’ home, which would be a decent gift.

　　Now that everything is hidden, it’s time to boil water and cook.

　　There was actually still water in the water tank, but Li Guihua hesitated and used the excuse that Tiedan had not come back with the water yet, and did not do it immediately. What she was thinking was that although Gu Zhao had married into the family, Li Zhouzhou was a boy, so she was an elder after all, and now she was pregnant, so did she still need her to serve him?

　　So Li Guihua put her things away and went into the house empty-handed.

　　Gu Zhao took Zhou Zhou around the room, but there was nothing interesting to see. It was the room where he had slept for half a month, and now Hutou and Tiedan was sleeping there. The light was good over there, and there were cabinets against the wall, and half of the room was filled with food.

　　Li Zhouzhou was actually thinking about those books. The ones his husband brought home were handwritten copies, and he still remembered that the clerk in the bookstore said that the printing was good, the handwriting was clear, and it was not tiring to read.

　　”Why don’t you two sit down? Sit down.” Li Guihua came in, holding her waist.

　　The three of them returned to the inner room. Li Guihua sat on the kang, while Gu Zhao and Li Zhouzhou sat on stools. Li Zhouzhou remembered the book and asked shamelessly, “Mother-in-law, are the two younger brothers still studying?”

　　Gu Zhao knew what his wife was thinking as soon as he heard it. It was all for him. But Zhou Zhou was too straightforward, so he could hear it, not to mention his stepmother.

　　As expected, Li Guihua raised her eyebrows and said, “Of course he should study. The books at home have been put away. When spring comes, we will send Hutou to study with the village scholar. He is at the right age and is smart. He will definitely be a good student.”

　　”Speaking of this, when Zhao’er was given to your house, he also brought a box with him. I spent money to buy pens and paper. I didn’t say anything. Although Zhao’er doesn’t want to read anymore, it’s okay if he wants to take a look.”

　　Li Zhouzhou wanted to retort, his husband was still thinking about it, could it be that his mother-in-law still wanted those old papers and pens back?

　　Gu Zhao touched the back of Zhou Zhou’s hand and argued with his stepmother. Zhou Zhou couldn’t win the argument. Li Zhou Zhou felt what his husband meant and held back his words.

　　Li Guihua didn’t notice this little move, and complained repeatedly, saying: “Although Zhao’er is not my biological child, I treat him more dearly than my own. Look at the three children in the room, Tiedan and Hutou are not in school, but Zhao’er is.”

　　”It takes more than ten years to study. The tuition fee for the village scholar alone is one tael of silver every year. During the New Year and other festivals, he also has to give eggs and meat, not to mention buying paper, pens and books. It’s not worth mentioning if Zhao’er can learn anything from reading.”

　　By saying these words, Li Guihua meant that they did not ask for much when Gu Zhao married into the Li family. This person was just like that. He clearly disliked Gu Zhao and knew that Gu Zhao would be a burden if he stayed at home. Now that she had received 18 taels of silver from the Li family, she did not act nice and wanted to complain again, saying that she would get as much as she could from the Li family.