They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 81: Time to take the children's examination
Zhang and Bai were startled and quickly greeted them with smiles.

Liang, the village head: "What happened?"

Liang Lizheng's attitude clearly showed that he was protecting Xu Zhichun. Both of them were a little unconvinced, but dared not say anything.

Zhang said, "Village head, you be the judge. This Xu woman didn't keep her word."

After listening to Zhang's words, Liang, the village head, predictably launched into a tirade: "Now you're in a hurry? Back then, everyone in the village was eager to buy more sweet potatoes, but you ignored them. What's the rush now? Zhichun hasn't even finished planting her own land yet. Do you think she'd give you the vines first? That's not fair. Here's what we'll do: don't ask Zhichun for vines anymore. She has a lot of land and a lot to do. We've also grown quite a few seedlings. We can afford to give you ten catties. You can go to my place to get them. It's one copper coin per catty. This is for Zhichun's sake. If someone else wanted to buy them, one copper coin per catty wouldn't do. You know in your hearts whether it's expensive or cheap, right?"

Liang Lizheng launched into a rapid-fire, unquestionable speech, leaving no room for the two men to speak.

Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "Thank you, Village Head."

Bai was annoyed and glared at Xu Zhichun: "Thank you for what? What do you mean? Are you openly showing disdain for us elders?"

Liang Lizheng chuckled and waved his hand, "Zhichun, no need to be so polite. You two understand, right? In a few days, when the sweet potato vines grow back, I'll have your sister-in-law come to your house and ask you to get them. Don't worry. Is there anything else?"

Zhang and Bai stammered.

Liang, the village head, said, "By the way, I'd like to add something. It's not easy for Zhichun to raise Mingxuan alone. You, as her aunt and uncle, should pay more attention to it. They haven't even started cultivating many fields yet. Shouldn't you—"

"Would you have time to come over and help me plant one?"

Before Liang Lizheng could finish speaking about Zhang Shi, Bai Shi guessed what he was going to say and were startled.

Startled, Zhang quickly interrupted, "Village head, we have a lot of things to do at home and are busy. We don't have time to help. Mingxuan has stopped going to school, and he's not a child anymore. He can work in the fields now! I think it's enough with his help."

Bai: "Yes, yes, everyone praises Mingxuan for being smart, so he must be better at farming than others. Why would we need to help him? I still have a lot of work to do at home, so I'll be going now."

"I'm leaving now too."

The two sisters-in-law didn't give Liang Lizheng a chance to speak again before hurriedly running away.

Xu Zhichun suppressed a laugh and sincerely thanked him again: "Thank you, Village Head."

Although she could handle it, less trouble is always a good thing.

Liang Lizheng shook his head and sighed. One of them was simply stupid, and the other was too shrewd. Let them do whatever they want, as long as they don't do anything stupid. Otherwise, they will only make things worse and harm themselves, and they will have no one to blame but themselves.

They keep saying that Mingxuan has stopped studying, and they go around telling everyone in the village that he's studying at home, but they just don't understand. They arrogantly assume that this is just an excuse.

Ha ha.

Fortunately, Mingxuan is easygoing; otherwise, they would have definitely instigated him to quarrel with his sister-in-law.

"No need to thank me. Ignore their nonsense. Let Mingxuan focus on his studies and prepare for the exam. It's in seven or eight days, right?"

"Ah."

"Let Mingxuan study hard. If he needs anything, come to me. No one is allowed to disturb Mingxuan's studies at this time. That's what I said."

"Yes, thank you, Village Head!"

Xu Zhichun's thanks were heartfelt. Liang Lizheng nodded and left.

These past few days, Liang Lizheng has been wandering around the village entrance whenever he has nothing to do. The villagers who have been passing by have all seen this, and they all understand now that the village head is determined not to allow a single sweet potato vine to leave Liangjia Village.

Those who had been itching to try growing sweet potato vines, seeing how easy they were to do, have finally given up on the idea.

I dare not.

If anyone dares to cause trouble again, Liang Lizheng will not let them off easily.

This was definitely not just Liang Lizheng's idea; the village elders and clan elders must have all agreed.

Forget it, these are good things from the village anyway. Zhichun is kind-hearted and generously shared them with everyone. Don't be ungrateful. If you harm the village's interests, you'll be kicked out later, which is not worth it.

The tomatoes that Xu Zhichun had sprouted have also sprouted and grown to more than two inches tall, which is a delight to see.

One tomato seed is certainly not enough, so she specially got more from the warehouse to ensure that a considerable number would germinate and survive.

Unfortunately, there were no ready-made potted plants in the space warehouse, so the step of sowing seeds could not be skipped.

The strawberries haven't sprouted yet and are still bare, but Xu Zhichun isn't in a hurry. He's sown so many strawberry seeds; they're bound to sprout, it's just that it will probably take a little longer.

Zeng Xiaoyan and Aunt Zhu'er clearly didn't take the tomatoes and strawberries seriously, and didn't ask them a single question. However, when the three of them were together, they talked a lot about the flowers and plants they were growing.

Xu Zhichun didn't tell them for the time being.

No rush, let's wait until it's ready to transplant. I advised them to plant some, and the results were amazing.

On the day of the children's examination, Xu Zhichun and his group deliberately closed their stall for the day.

Not only was Xu Zhichun nervous, but Liang Lizheng and Aunt Zhu'er were also nervous.

Liang Lizheng had many things he wanted to say, but fearing that Liang Mingxuan would be under too much pressure, he didn't dare to say much. In the end, he only said, "Mingxuan, you're still young. Your sister-in-law is right. Just do your best, do your best. We'll have plenty of opportunities in the future. There's no rush. I don't mean anything by it. It's not that I don't believe in your abilities. It's just that we're still young. The others are all adults now. It's normal that we can't compare to them. No, no, no, that's not how it works. Some people are just tall. How can they compare to our Mingxuan? Anyway, that's the gist of it. I believe in you, I believe in you. Just keep going, keep going!"

Xu Zhichun suppressed a laugh. She was quite nervous to begin with, but this made her feel less nervous.

Liang Mingxuan nodded quietly: "Don't worry, Village Head, I understand."

"Alright, alright, the village head knows you're a smart kid! Okay, the village head won't say any more, you all go now. Zhichun, take good care of Mingxuan."

"Don't worry, Village Head."

Liang Mingliang drove the cart, accompanied by Xu Zhichun and Zeng Xiaoyan. Besides Liang Lizheng, many villagers also came to see them off, accompanying them all the way to the village entrance. They were surrounded by countless auspicious blessings. Liang Mingxuan sat quietly on the oxcart, while Xu Zhichun smiled and responded to each of them, feeling both grateful and warm.

Uncle Liang and Zhang were also on the oxcart, their smiles somewhat forced.

Yesterday, Liang Dabo went to Liang Lizheng's house to ask to rent an oxcart. The couple were going to the city today to accompany their son, Liang Mingxiang, to take the imperial examination.

Uncle Liang smiled broadly, saying he was renting a car, but he was actually waiting for the village head to say, "No need to rent, just take it and use it." After all, his youngest son was now the only one in the village who could afford to study, and wasn't that what the village head valued most? How could he possibly ask them to spend money to rent a car?

(End of this chapter)