The villagers listened to Second Aunt Qin’s words, unable to refute her.

There was no way; comparing people could make one furious.

After all, the Qin family had prospered, and even Second Aunt Qin’s foul words could be praised as fragrant.

“Isn’t that right? Your nephew Qin Fang is the best; he became a general and has brought honor to your family. But Aunt Er, that’s not fair. You can’t prioritize nephew son and forget about your daughter. Look at how Third Aunt Qin has taken his daughter with him. How can you keep your daughter by your side? Wouldn’t it be better for her to follow Qin Fang and the others and have a better future?” A woman provocatively interjected, almost accusing Second Aunt Qin of neglecting her daughter.

Second Aunt Qin smiled, not at all bothered by the harsh truth: “What kind of truth is that? Here in our village, who doesn’t value their sons? Which family values their daughters more than their sons?”

Well, that was… indeed true.

The woman was momentarily speechless and felt unhappy. “But that’s because everyone had no means before. Now that conditions have improved, can’t we educate our daughters? If you keep this up, be careful that Er Ya will hate you in the future.”

Second Aunt Qin cracked some sunflower seeds and put the shells in her pocket.

Now that she was the general’s aunt, she wouldn’t just throw sunflower seed shells around; she couldn’t do anything to embarrass the general.

The Qin family was the only one in the village that had achieved success, so she had to establish a good image for the Qin family.

With a smile, Second Aunt Qin said, “You don’t need to worry about that. Our Er Ya may not know anything, but there are plenty of matchmakers coming to propose.

However, Er Ya is still young, and I don’t want her to marry so early. As for not caring about my daughter, that’s not true. Even if I value my son, my daughter also came from my womb. I’ve already prepared a dowry for her. Besides, our Qin family has official status; we definitely value our daughters.”

Upon hearing that Second Aunt Qin had prepared a dowry for Qin Erya, everyone became curious and asked, “What kind of dowry is that?”

“Aunt Fang, why don’t you tell us how much dowry you prepared for your daughter?”

“Yeah, Erya is the general’s sister; the dowry can’t be small, right?”

“It should be more than the girls in town, right?”

Second Aunt Qin, who had previously been called “Er Niu’s wife” or “Niu Dan’s mother,” was now being referred to as “the general’s aunt” or “Aunt Fang.”

She preferred these new titles, especially “the general’s aunt.”

Seeing the group of women eager to pry, Second Aunt Qin thought, why not let them listen?

By sharing the details of Erya’s dowry, she could deter those with no capabilities from proposing.

She turned the idea in her mind and said, “I’ve prepared two mu of land and twenty taels of silver as a dowry for Erya.”

Traditionally, in rural areas, it was unheard of for a girl’s dowry to include land.

So when Second Aunt Qin announced that she was giving two mu of land as part of Er Ya’s dowry, everyone was taken aback.

Second Aunt Qin remembered what her mother-in-law had said before she left.

She had mentioned that for their daughters’ marriages, they would prepare a dowry of two mu of land and twenty taels of silver, all from her salary.

After her mother-in-law’s passing, that salary wouldn’t be divided among the sons and their wives but would go to the grandchildren, so they wouldn’t covet her earnings.

Second Aunt Qin didn’t mind this.

While she was greedy for her mother-in-law’s salary, she realized that what she got would still go to Niu Dan.

Since her mother-in-law intended to provide for her grandchildren, what was there to be greedy about?

However, she felt that giving her daughter two mu of land and twenty taels of silver was too much.

But since it was given by her mother-in-law, she had no objections, especially since it wasn’t her own money.

“Aunt Fang, you’re saying you’re giving your daughter two mu of land? And twenty taels of silver?”

“Are you joking? A girl needs two mu of land?”

“Exactly! Isn’t that wasting land? It should be reserved for sons.”

Listening to their comments, Second Aunt Qin snorted, “Weren’t you the ones saying we can’t just value our sons and ignore our daughters? Now that our family is giving two mu of land and twenty taels of silver as a dowry, why are you saying it’s wrong?”

“This… this isn’t the same. Giving silver is fine, but land… Does Niu Dan know you’re giving the land to Er Ya?”

“Exactly! What will Niu Dan’s future wife think? Wouldn’t that cause trouble?”

“If the daughter-in-law causes trouble, the family won’t be harmonious.”

Second Aunt Qin scoffed, “Am I afraid of her causing trouble? Even if I give Erya two mu of land, Niu Dan still has over ten mu of land. If his future wife gets angry, she doesn’t have to step foot in our house.

I wouldn’t care about her mother! Besides, Niu Dan is following his older brother. His future wife will definitely be arranged by his sister-in-law, and the girl chosen won’t be like those rural women here. Would she care about these two mu of land?” Of course, this was Second Aunt Qin boasting.

She had no idea whether Yang Haiyan would introduce a wife for Niu Dan, but since they were far away, what did it matter if she bragged a little here?

The crowd was infuriated by Second Aunt Qin’s boasting tone, yet there was nothing they could do.

After all, what she said seemed to be the truth.

Just then, the cart passed by them and then stopped.

A head popped out from the cart: “Wife, I’m back!” Second Uncle Qin’s voice was loud and filled with excitement.

Though life at the General’s Mansion was good, and following them to the military fields was quite comfortable, it couldn’t compare to the ease of being back home.

Here, he could see familiar faces as soon as he stepped outside, which made his heart feel at ease.

Second Aunt Qin stopped bragging and looked at the head sticking out of the cart.

Then she shouted, “Ah…”

Next, she quickly tucked the sunflower seeds into her pocket and ran over, “Er Niu, you’re back! You deadbeat, why did it take you so long to come back?”

After being away from home for a month and a half, Second Uncle Qin had finally returned.

To be honest, while Second Aunt Qin seemed carefree and unconcerned about Second Uncle Qin and Niu Dan, she was actually anxious when it was just her and Erya in the evening.

It wasn’t that she worried about any trouble happening to them; she was more concerned about the men and her son.

Now that she saw her husband had returned, her heart finally relaxed.

Once her heart was at ease, her eyes turned red: “Er Niu, why did it take you so long to come back?”

That man should have rushed back after dropping off the child.

Didn’t he know that the family was worried about him?

Second Uncle Qin smiled foolishly, “I wanted to come back sooner, but Ah Fang’s wife said Niu Dan just arrived and wouldn’t be able to adapt alone, so she asked me to stay with him for a while and see how things were over there. Oh, right! Ah Fang’s wife made two new outfits for each of us. Since you and Erya weren’t there, she didn’t know your sizes, so she asked me to bring back the fabric for you to make your own clothes.”

As soon as Second Aunt Qin heard this, all her worries vanished; she didn’t care about her son and husband anymore.

At that moment, her mind was only on the fabric.

But she still praised Yang Haiyan, saying, “Wow, Ah Fang’s wife is so generous! She still brought us fabric even though we didn’t go! Er Niu, next time you go, you should take some food and such for them!” She was not just flattering; her loud voice could be heard by half the village.

Everyone knew her thoughts, but there was nothing they could do; the Qin family was thriving now.

“Isn’t it? Ah Fang’s wife is truly filial.”

“You are fortunate to have such a good niece-in-law.”

“Aunt Er, you are really blessed.”

Second Uncle Qin was dumbfounded, listening to these people praise his wife.

He even remembered a few who hadn’t gotten along with her; they had quarreled over laundry before he left Baili Village.

Second Aunt Qin, pleased with the compliments, said to Second Uncle Qin, “Come on, let’s hurry home. By the way, who is the driver?”

She asked while jumping onto the cart.

Second Uncle Qin pulled her onto the cart, saying, “This is the driver from the escort team who came from Yunxiang County. He’s going to another place but passed by here. Ah Fang worried about my safety traveling alone, so he found an escort team to accompany me.”

Second Aunt Qin exclaimed, “Ah Fang is really considerate.”

When they arrived home, the cart driver unloaded the goods and then left.

Qin Erya was at home, making embroidery handkerchiefs.

She came out and, seeing all the items, exclaimed, “Father, did Brother and Sister-in-law ask you to bring all this back?”

Second Uncle Qin replied, “Yes, and there’s your clothing and fabric! Come and see; you have a lot of clothes!”

Qin Erya happily stepped forward to look.

Second Aunt Qin had already taken out a big bundle: “Wow, these clothes are really beautiful! The colors are perfect for young ladies.”

Seeing a few brightly colored items, Second Uncle Qin explained, “These are clothes worn by Ah Fang’s wife. The other day, she said she would buy fabric for you and Erya. My mother said we could also bring back her worn clothes for Erya. The fabric is good quality, and since she is tall, these clothes are a bit small for her, but they fit Erya just right. This isn’t meant to imply that Ah Fang’s wife is giving you her leftovers; she also had me bring back fabric for new clothes.”

Second Aunt Qin said, “Am I that kind of person? Even if there weren’t any new fabric for clothes, I’d still want these!” She genuinely didn’t mind.

In the countryside, who hadn’t worn hand-me-downs from their older siblings?

And these clothes were made of such fine fabric; they looked almost new.

If it weren’t for the fact that she couldn’t fit into them, she would have wanted to try a few on.

However, glancing at her daughter, she felt that Erya was a bit dark and wouldn’t do justice to the clothes given by Ah Fang’s wife.

After thinking for a moment, she said, “Erya, starting today, you don’t have to go out to the fields or sunbathe; keep your face covered to lighten it. Otherwise, wearing those clothes from your sister-in-law won’t look good on you.”

Qin Erya was more than willing; she happily agreed and then took a pile of Yang Haiyan’s clothes into the house.

Inside, she examined each piece, filled with joy.