frustration. If it weren't for the increased cost of goods, they wouldn't raise prices at all. They don't want to be called unscrupulous by their customers either.When they passed a general store, Yul..."No way, if Zongbai actually gets in, our whole family will be honored. I'll even be able to stand tall at my mother's house and be a respected person. Our family won't have to worry about being looked down upon anymore."

Moreover, even if he doesn't pass the exam, there is a literate and well-educated cousin at home who will never be deceived in whatever he does.

"Besides, after we had a child, there was no need to look for a tutor anymore. We had a free one at home! Reading is so useful, how could I possibly feel like I'm losing out"

Mu Shi, upon hearing these words, was beyond excited. "Jinxiu, you truly think this way"

She nodded.

Even Zongyu's usually composed face showed a hint of emotion.

And as for Zong Bai, he was overwhelmed with emotion, tears welling up in his eyes.

The second branch of the Zong family has good genes. Don't look at Zong Bai, he's only fifteen years old, but he is already about one meter eight tall, but teenagers are always a bit thinner and don't have the broad frame of Zong Yu.

He was so tall, twisting and turning to wipe his tears, which caused Fang Jinshu to smile involuntarily. She walked over and patted him on the back.

"Alright, you're all grown-ups now, and still crying A real man doesn't shed tears easily, do you understand"

Fang Jinxiu only remembered that when she first arrived at the Zong family, this silly boy, Zong Bo, hardly gave her any trouble. He just followed behind her calling her "sister-in-law" all the time.

Fan Jinshui knows that people's hearts are hidden behind their bellies, and today's good fortune may not be there tomorrow.

People all change, perhaps Zong Bai won't remember her words and actions today when he grows up.

But what does that matter

She now just doesn't want to hurt a child who truly called her sister-in-law, even if he becomes ungrateful in the future, she will just stay away.

She wasn't going to live with Zong Bai for her whole life, either.

But right now, all she wanted was to get through the difficult times for her clan, to weather the drought, and to cure Mu Shi's illness.

"By the way, Zong Bai, how long has it been since you last went to the library"

Zong Bai wiped away the tears from his eyes and turned away, blushing slightly. "It's been a while," he replied.

He had always been a sporadic reader. His family owned no land and could only rely on his elder brother's hunting to cover their expenses, as well as the silver needed for his mother's medicine.

In winter, heavy snow would cover the mountains for four or five months. My elder brother couldn't hunt anything during that time, which meant there was no income for our family.

Whenever a few people from the old house came to visit, they would always come asking for things and being lazy. Even if my eldest brother had a good income from hunting, it was hard to resist their demands.

For an ordinary household, if they could earn twenty to thirty taels of silver a year, their life would be very comfortable and they wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing.

But living in their home, every winter they still struggled to make ends meet.

Jade Lotus' dowry, accumulated over these years, amounted to only a few taels of silver. Zong Bai could only attend school intermittently.

In winter, if you don't have money, don't go to the academy. If you have money, continue paying to study.

The academy wasn't supposed to be like this, but Liu Fuzi had a kind heart and knew his family was struggling financially. So he turned a blind eye and let him study this way.

Whenever he couldn't pay his tuition, Master Liu would give him a few books to read at home so that he wouldn't have to come again and again. As a result, he fell behind on his homework and couldn't keep up with the class.

Zong Bai was also quite diligent. When he wasn't at the academy, he diligently studied the books given to him by his teacher at home, and his learning didn't fall behind too much.

Fang Jinshi was thinking, children's studies should not be interrupted. Perhaps the cost of Zongbo's schooling could be obtained from Su Yusheng.

She went up the mountain today to gather medicine, but it was all for that Su surname.

"It's okay if you fall behind on your studies, sister-in-law will definitely make sure you get back to the academy to study as soon as possible."

Zone Bai smiled, hearing Fang Jinxiu say this, his heart was already very happy.

If another woman had married into their family, she might not have been as magnanimous and kind-hearted as her sister-in-law.

Anyway, he thought no woman in the village could compare to his sister-in-law.

After Zong Ping and Kang ran away, Mu asked them to go back and eat breakfast. After breakfast, Zong Yu took Fang Jinxiu to the foot of the mountain to gather people from the village.w!"Seeing Jinxiu's imposing and solemn expression, Jiang Chuang was taken aback. The mouth that resembled a machine gun finally fell silent."Since you've already inquired about the Zong family before...