“Mother, this is my first time riding in an ox cart!” said Zhang Feixuan, the sixth child, excitedly inside the cart.

“Me too, me too!” Zhang Feiyi, the seventh child, chimed in, unwilling to be left out.

“You’ll have plenty of chances to ride this ox cart in the future,” Jian Xiu said calmly.

That was true—if the two of them got into the Academy of Literary Studies, they would have to take the ox cart back and forth regularly.

“Hold on tight, we’re about to depart,” Zhang Zhiyong said with a cheerful smile.

“Uncle Zhiyong, we’re all ready!” everyone replied in unison.

However, Zhang Zhiyong suddenly frowned and hurried back toward the house.

“I need to take care of something. You all wait here for a moment!” he shouted back before leaving.

Since they rarely went to the county town, Jian Xiu made sure to bring along the dried bamboo shoots she had prepared.

She also packed some plantain herbs.

Once everything was loaded, the front half of the cart was almost completely filled.

Luckily, the items weren’t too heavy, so they could be stacked together.

Inside the ox cart, when Madam Li saw Jian Xiu, she couldn’t help but feel envious and spoke in a sarcastic tone:

“Jian Xiu, where are you and your whole family heading?”

“Aunt Li, what kind of question is that? We’re already sitting in the ox cart, and you’re still asking where we’re going? Isn’t that obvious?” Jian Xiu replied expressionlessly.

In Zhangjia Village, there was only one ox cart, and it belonged to Zhang Zhiyong.

Everyone in the village knew that he took it to the county town once every morning.

So, anyone riding the cart was most likely going to Quanyong County.

“Jian Xiu, what do you mean by that? I was just asking casually! Ever since your family split from the main household, you’ve changed—you act so high and mighty now. Look at all the things you’ve brought! You’re taking up half the cart! Don’t you feel ashamed?”

At first, Jian Xiu didn’t want to argue with her. But she knew that if she didn’t respond, Madam Li would only become more aggressive.

Back in the main household, Jian Xiu had been closest to Chen Sixi from the second branch.

Among their relatives, Wang Xiuying from the third branch wasn’t too troublesome.

Fang Miaojun from the first branch was a socially adept woman without much malice in her heart. Judging by how she raised her two children, it was clear that she was kind-hearted.

But the worst of them all was Chen Shi.

Because she came from a well-off family, she often bullied the original Jian Xiu. She was notorious for her manipulative and underhanded ways—always scheming but rarely lifting a finger to do any real work.

And now, standing before her was Madam Li, one of Chen Sixi’s close friends. That spoke volumes about her character.

With this in mind, Jian Xiu glanced at Madam Li and said:

“Aunt Li, your words have me stumped. Just now, I gave Brother Zhiyong two extra copper coins—everyone here saw it.”

She then lowered her gaze and glanced at Madam Li’s large baskets before continuing:

“But you, Aunt Li, are the real problem. Your baskets are huge, and you have one on each side. That space could fit another passenger. You should pay an extra copper coin to Brother Zhiyong. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of us. We all agreed that if a person carries their own basket without bothering others, there’s no extra charge. But if you place them down like that, technically, you should be paying for two extra spots.”

As soon as she said this, the other women in the cart turned to look at Madam Li.

“You… You’re talking nonsense! I’ve always ridden the ox cart like this, and I’ve never had to pay extra! That’s not… That’s not true… You’re making things up… You…”

She started to stammer, unable to finish her sentence.

When Zhang Zhiyong returned, the first thing he saw was Madam Li’s red face and Jian Xiu’s calm demeanor.

He was puzzled. He had only stepped away for a moment—how had things escalated so quickly?

Looking at the awkward atmosphere in the ox cart, he quickly guessed that some argument had taken place.

It was likely just some trivial dispute between the women.

Zhang Zhiyong decided to ignore it, but someone else did not.

Aunt Zhao, sitting nearby, spoke up:

“Zhiyong, your ox works hard making this trip every day. Just look at all these baskets in the cart—have you collected payment for them?”

As soon as she said this, Madam Li’s eyes widened in fury, glaring at Aunt Zhao.

But Aunt Zhao acted as if she didn’t notice. She had long disliked Madam Li, and now that she had the chance, she wasn’t going to let it slip by.

Hearing this, Zhang Zhiyong finally understood what had happened.

Seeing Jian Xiu’s half-smiling expression, he stretched out his hand toward Madam Li and said:

“Aunt Li, your baskets are large enough to fit two more people. You see, this…”

“Zhang Zhiyong, what do you mean? Are you trying to bully me? This is just… just…”

She trailed off, unable to come up with an argument, her face flushed with anger.

She wanted to claim that Jian Xiu also had two baskets.

But Jian Xiu had already mentioned that she paid two extra copper coins.

That meant that if Madam Li followed the same rule, she would have to pay two extra copper coins as well.

And counting herself, that would be three copper coins in total.

Her family wasn’t well-off, and like everyone else, she lived frugally. Losing three copper coins at once was painful.

In the end, she could only pick up her baskets and grudgingly get off the ox cart.

Seeing this, Aunt Zhao felt pleased and moved closer to Jian Xiu.

Her daughter and Jian Xiu had always gotten along well, so Aunt Zhao naturally felt closer to her, too.

“Jian Xiu, tell me honestly—what’s been going on? Why have you been going to the county town so often lately?” she asked with concern.

Jian Xiu replied casually:

“It’s nothing serious, Aunt Zhao. If you have time, why don’t you visit Jianjia Village and check on Xue Mei?”

“Xue Mei? What’s wrong with her? The last time she came back, she seemed fine.”

Now Aunt Zhao was genuinely worried.

She had only two children—her eldest daughter, Zhang Xuemei, who was married to someone in Jianjia Village, and her younger son, Zhang Xueshi, who was fourteen years old and well-behaved.

Even though they weren’t wealthy, Aunt Zhao had always doted on Zhang Xuemei, ensuring that she had whatever others had.