Tian's face was really ugly. Originally, they were talking nicely, and Qiu Yu gave a set of silver hair accessories as a gift. Who knew that when it came to the actual purchase, she only bought one silver pin and a pair of earrings, along with a delicate silver ring. Anyone can say nice things, but when it comes to spending money, she became stingy again. It seems that these three daughters are still better than Xia Yu, who didn't bargain at all and made a whole set of silk clothes, I don't know how much effort she put in.

  Alas, if it were in the past, she would have cried and complained, and her second son would have sent over a set of jewelry. Not to mention gold, even silver would do. Just look at those expensive things that belong to her grandchildren, aren't they all valuable? Knowing this, it's better to just coax Zi Qing well. Tian Shi couldn't help but feel extremely annoyed in her heart.

  However, even at this time, Tian's heart still couldn't bear to blame her three daughters for not being filial. She was thinking that it was her second son and his family who were unkind. They knew that the conditions of several sisters' families were not good, and they definitely didn't have anything decent to bring out. But this son of hers hadn't even spared a single piece of jewelry to buy for her, obviously not wanting to give her any face, wanting everyone to laugh at her. Tian secretly resented in her heart, the handkerchief in her hand was twisted into knots.

  "Second sister, it's not that I'm saying you're wrong, but on a good day like today, why do all three daughters look so neglected? You should also wear some of the things they gave you. Every day at home, I only see you thinking about them, whatever good things you have, you immediately send to them, now it's their turn to be used, how can you still not put in some effort?" Tian Shi's sister said.

  "It can't be, it's not Third Auntie who said you, take a look at yourself, sixty years old and still so simple-minded. Fortunately, your granddaughter bought this chrysanthemum at the right time. Take a look at the shoes on your feet, they don't even match these clothes. If I had known earlier, I might as well have just talked to Zi Qing, that child is kind-hearted, who knows, she might have taken care of everything for you." said Third Auntie.

  Tian was muttering to himself about Zeng Ruixiang's wrongdoings. Just then, he heard his sister complaining, wasn't this slapping himself in the face in public? Tian was just about to erupt when Third Aunt intentionally added fuel to the fire. This left Tian speechless.

  Luckily, Yan Renda spoke up first. "What you said, Auntie and Third Aunt, sounds like we're intentionally withholding money from Mother-in-law, but we're not like some people who have piles of gold and silver at home, eat well every day, but are stingy with their own mothers. Our family has even swept clean the flour dust in the granary, if we really didn't have any, we couldn't just steal or rob it. Besides, can't we just celebrate Mother's birthday without bringing famine to our household? How would that be?" Yan Renda said with outstretched hands.

  "Did I not give you money for your mother? If I didn't give you money, how would your family's several sons be raised? Every year, Father and Mother send big and small carts to your house. But now that it's been used up by you once, you repay the kindness of Father and Mother in raising your whole family like this?" Zeng Rui Xiang asked as he stepped forward.

  "Second brother, you can't say that. My son was raised by his uncle's family for a few years, but we didn't freeload either. We also sent over quite a bit of grain every year. How much can a child eat?" Yan Renda argued back.

  "Shut up, what kind of virtue do you have that everyone doesn't know? Whether or not to give it away, you touch your own conscience, who can't talk nonsense?" Zeng Ruiqing scolded before Yan Renda finished speaking.

  "Of course, others may not know, but I do. Yan's son-in-law is not telling the truth again, even if it's difficult, can't he make a decent pair of shoes? It's easy to tell whether someone has put in effort or not with just one glance. Last time at Zi Qing's wedding, your family's Chun Yu even brought a pair of someone else's shoes to pass off as her own, ah, I didn't think she would do the same to her own mother." said San Bao Bao.

  "Alright, let's all say a little less, the guests have almost arrived. Whatever it is, we can talk about it after everything is over." The old man saw everyone's gaze sweep over and perked up his ears to listen to the argument that had just occurred, some were already whispering to each other.

  Kneeling to start, all the grandchildren who have passed the age of marriage must send gifts. Zifeng, Zilu and Ziqing had all discussed it beforehand. As the eldest grandson, Zifeng gave a white jade scepter; Zilu gave a pair of emerald earrings and an emerald ring with a gold band; Ziqing gave a crimson silk embroidered forehead decoration with six longevity characters, in the middle of which was a piece of emerald as big as a quail egg, and also a white jade bangle that Ziqing had obtained by begging. Zhiping gave a pair of ordinary shoes, while Damao and his wife gave a pair of socks.

  When they saw the relatives and friends, they said one after another: "Originally thought that Lao Er's family had a good life and didn't want their parents. It seems it's not like this. Look at them, several children are so generous when giving gifts, either gold or jade, any of these things can be enough for us to eat for a year. Which is like those people? White-eyed wolves will always be white-eyed wolves, a pair of socks can dismiss their own grandmother's birthday, and they have been raised here for many years? Is this how one should behave? The books were all read in vain."

  "You know what? This Zeng Xiucan is a good person, if you say he's not filial, then it's really hard to find a few good ones. This Zeng Ahpo has been favoring her several daughters for a long time, when they first separated from the family, she didn't even give them a single grain of rice. Zeng Xiucan brought his children to send New Year's gifts, and he sent a whole stone of wheat, but this Zeng Ahpo's family had just slaughtered a pig, yet they didn't even give the children a bowl of pork blood to taste. Nowadays, it's always her daughters and grandsons who are on her lips, ah, now she's tasting bitterness." The old aunt from next door, Liu, said.

  "It's not that the eldest daughter and her family are worthless, but every year they would drag their whole family to live in their mother's house for over a month. In previous years, the two old folks from the Zeng family had never stopped sending things to their house, all thanks to the second son's filial piety. Only in the past one or two years, after following the eldest son and having less money, did they finally calm down. And now that the mother is turning sixty, she couldn't even bear to give a simple longevity peach buns, ah, truly heartless!" said Mrs. Zhou from next door.

  Ziying saw Mrs. Tian's smile was rather forced, and she probably also heard the whispers of others. After all, in a house as small as this one, it's not surprising that people can't help but overhear each other's conversations. Mrs. Tian glanced around, and Chunyu and her family took the envelope with six copper coins inside and went to the side to count them, laughing. Seeing the mocking smiles of their relatives, Mrs. Tian's heart felt even more like it was being cut by a knife, and the smile on her face became increasingly difficult to maintain.

  After the ceremony, relatives and neighbors' wives gathered around to take a closer look at the longevity gifts for Zifuk, Zilu, and Ziqing. One of them asked, "Auntie Zeng's family, what is this large white jade piece used for? Is it valuable? Can I touch it?"

  "This is called Ruyi, only used by wealthy families. I've seen it in opera scripts before, but that was fake. This one's real, I'd like to touch it too." someone replied.

  "Wow, is this green also jade? So beautiful, I've never seen it before! Zeng's grandma, this must be worth more than the earrings on your ears, right? And this ring, it's still gold-plated, tsk tsk, Zeng's grandma has good fortune, several grandsons and granddaughters are so filial. I heard that the flower on your head was also bought by your granddaughter from Beijing, San Bao's head also has a pair, no wonder, at first glance, I thought it was real! So beautiful."

  "Wow, look at this headband, it's made so intricately, even better than the ones worn by the landlady in town. What material is this? I don't dare touch it, afraid my rough hands will damage the fine fabric. And there's a huge piece of jade embedded in it, worth how much silver? Aunt Zeng, your granddaughter is really generous, far more so than my own daughters. And look at that jade bangle too! Put it on quickly, I can see your hand is bare. With all these things, you'll look just like a landlady!"

  "What's the point of being like that, don't you know that Zeng Xiucan's family is now a landlord? They bought a lot of paddy fields and also, Zi Qing's family bought a large piece of wasteland on the other side of the village for several hundred taels of silver. Zeng's wife has good fortune, her grandson will become a high-ranking official, and she can bask in his glory and become an official's wife in the future. This whole family has really turned things around, they're much stronger than before they split up. It has to be said, they have real ability."

  "This is also true, Xiang Er, if it weren't for the family burden, maybe he would have passed the exam long ago and become an official. But because of the family's poverty, after passing the imperial examination to become a scholar, he was pulled back home by his younger siblings. Fortunately, several children are promising, the whole family is literate, and life is also prosperous. So, as the old saying goes, 'A child who can cry will have milk to drink.' A child who is used to drinking milk won't know how to find food on their own. But a child who doesn't know how to cry, poor thing, has to learn to find food early on. It's actually a blessing in disguise, don't you think?" said San Bao.

  Everyone was chattering, but no one noticed how forced Tian's smile was, how helpless her responses were. If this thing had been brought out earlier, everyone would have only looked at it with envy and admiration. But now, every sentence was a mockery, mocking her most spoiled daughters, not giving them any face, especially Chunyu.

  In fact, the villagers are simple-minded, but they also have their own little calculations in their hearts. They have received some favors from Zeng Rui Xiang or Zi Qing on ordinary days, so they have been dissatisfied with Tian Shi's behavior for a long time. Tian Shi's laziness and envy of having a good son without knowing how to cherish him will make them happy to see Tian Shi being laughed at and embarrassed. What's more, there is also San Bao Ma pushing the waves in the background.

  Tian's sister came over to help Tian out of the awkward situation, saying: "We've seen enough good things, it's time to start the banquet. Everyone find a place to sit. Let's have a few more cups of wine later. My second sister also needs to catch her breath and tidy up."

  Mr. Oda finished speaking, and the dishes were served, so everyone sat down separately, and their attention was drawn to the food on the table. After all, most people are poor and can't afford to eat meat regularly, so when someone hosts a banquet, they can eat and drink freely, who still cares about the joke just now? Mr. Tians' face looked a bit better.

  The arrangement of the banquet was naturally decided by Zeng Ruiqing, and the dinner that Zifubao had arranged was naturally not much worse. Fortunately, everyone else was also understanding, knowing that Zeng Ruixiang was not the eldest son and had no right to speak, nor did he have too many opinions. After finishing the meal, they basically dispersed, as for what to say when returning home, it was not something that the Zeng family could control.