After fleeing the famine, my older sister and I married the brother next door.

Li Dazui squatted against the wall, not uttering a sound. Granny Wang also hung her head, her old face nowhere to hide.

The crowd gradually dispersed. Su Xiaoyin heard the whole story from Er Mu's aunt, and when she got home, she told Su Xiaoqing about it. The two sisters sighed for a long time.

Su Xiaoqing sighed, "That girl is a pity. Her family values ​​money more than her reputation. Will she have a good life when she marries into her husband's family?"

Su Xiaoyin shook her head, her embroidery needle still in her hand: "That's their family matter, we can't interfere. We just need to raise our own children well. Children are debts, but we can't repay them like this."

The sky outside the window gradually darkened, and the aroma of dinner wafted from the kitchen again. The Chen family's life continued peacefully.

----

As the last stitch fell, Su Xiaoqing let out a long sigh of relief. She took the embroidery frame down from the shelf, held it up to the window, and examined it closely in the light. The tail feathers of the two phoenixes gradually changed from vermilion to orange-yellow, with distinct layers that shimmered softly in the light; the lotus scroll pattern was outlined with gold thread, magnificent yet not gaudy; the central twin lotus blossoms had full petals, their colors ranging from dark to light, as if they had just been picked from the water. She turned the embroidery over to check the loose threads on the back, finding them all neatly finished, without a single stray thread.

"Sister, it's done." Su Xiaoqing carefully laid the embroidery on the kang (a heated brick bed), her voice filled with a sense of relief. This embroidery of phoenixes and dragons had taken two months to complete, with the spring planting season interrupting the process, but it was finally finished before the Dragon Boat Festival.

Su Xiaoyin walked over, bent down to examine it, and gently ran her fingers across the embroidery, feeling the texture of the silk threads. She nodded, a satisfied smile on her lips: "Not bad, this one is even more exquisite than the last one, 'Five Blessings Surrounding Longevity.' The gold thread is used just right, neither too dense nor too sparse. Tomorrow I'll take it to the county town to ask about the price. If Manager Sun will buy it, that would be great; if not, I'll ask Madam Qian."

Su Xiaoqing rolled up the embroidery pattern, wrapped it in cloth, and put it in the cabinet. She sat back on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), unconsciously stroking the edge of the embroidery hoop with her hands, her eyes somewhat glazed over.

Su Xiaoyin noticed and sat down next to her, asking softly, "What's wrong? You should be happy to have finished embroidering, why are you spacing out?"

Su Xiaoqing sighed, put the embroidery frame aside, took Su Xiaoyin's hand, and said in a low voice, "Sister, do you think our four children's marriages will go smoothly in the future?"

Su Xiaoyin was stunned for a moment.

Su Xiaoqing continued, her voice filled with barely suppressed worry: "Ever since what happened at Li Dazui's house, I've been so anxious. I toss and turn in bed at night, thinking, what if our child's marriage doesn't go smoothly? What if they marry a troublemaker?"

She paused, then lowered her voice even further: "Look at Li Dazui's family. They spent half a year buying wine and meat, asking matchmakers to deliver gifts, all to find a wife for their son, only to be made a fool of in the end. That girl treats her like a cash cow, betrothing her to four different families. Isn't that harmful? I'm afraid we'll encounter families like that in the future."

Su Xiaoyin was silent for a moment, then reached out and patted her sister's hand, her tone calm but firm: "Then we'll inquire more and ask around. Don't rush into a marriage just because you hear that a girl is nice. Marriage is a serious matter, and you can't rush it."

She spoke slowly, as if she had gone over it in her mind several times before speaking: "To be honest, Li Dazui didn't think it through properly. That family only has one daughter, the youngest, and she's the most pampered. She's beautiful, can do embroidery, and earns more money in a month than most farmers do in a year. Would a family like that marry their daughter off to the countryside? Marry her off to their family? People usually look for families in towns or counties, at least well-off ones. Li Dazui was just blinded by the matchmaker's words and only thought about the good things."

Su Xiaoqing listened and felt that it made sense, and the knot in her heart loosened a bit.

"If only Shitou, Aji, and Afu could marry sisters from the same family," Su Xiaoqing suddenly blurted out, her eyes lighting up. "Three sisters marrying three brothers, surely there wouldn't be any conflicts between them? Harmony among the sisters-in-law would save us a lot of trouble. Besides, with three sisters living together, it would be convenient for them to visit their parents' home, instead of having to travel to three different places."

Su Xiaoyin chuckled, patted her shoulder, and said with a helpless amusement, "Where are there so many sisters who are all the right age and can all marry into our family at the same time? That's wishful thinking. When it comes to marriage, it's about virtue, not family background. As long as the girl is of good character, hardworking, and knows how to manage a household, we, as elders, will treat them fairly and divide the family property among them in the future."

Su Xiaoqing blinked, and Su Xiaoyin continued, "Once the children get married, let them move out and live separately. Moving out doesn't mean they're estranged from their parents. We can still live together then, isn't that good? The four of us—you, me, Dashan, and Xiaohe—can't we? We don't necessarily have to live with the children, right? They have their own lives, and we have ours. After they have children, we'll help them take care of them for a few years, and when the children are older, we'll come back."

Hearing this, Su Xiaoqing's eyes lit up. She tugged at Su Xiaoyin's hand and shook it a few times, her tone suddenly becoming cheerful: "Yes, sister, what you said has given me a good idea. After the three children get married, we'll divide the family property among them, and then our two families can live together." She smiled, her voice softening, "I don't want to be separated from you."

Su Xiaoyin smiled and shook her head, stood up and put away the embroidery frame on the kang (a heated brick bed), wiped the table with a rag, and her tone returned to its usual efficient manner when arranging housework: "Alright, put the embroidery pattern away first, and tomorrow we'll take it to the county town to see if we can get a good price for it. Then we need to buy the silk fabric and embroidery thread we'll need next time, as well as the scraps of cloth for the Dragon Boat Festival—sachets, five-colored ropes, and little tiger shoes. We need to make them in advance, we can't wait until the last minute to start working on them."

She counted on her fingers, listing out the things she needed to do next: "Then I'll make some summer clothes for the family. I see that Dad's and Dashan and Xiaohe's coarse linen clothes are all worn out, the sleeves are torn, and the collars are ripped. They need to be replaced with new ones."

Su Xiaoqing nodded and started planning as well: "Okay, then we'll go to the county town tomorrow to buy the things, and then hurry up and make them. The Dragon Boat Festival is coming soon, there will be more people on the streets, and business will be better. We can't just make coarse linen clothes; we also need to make a set of fine cotton clothes for Dad and Mom, the four children, my eldest brother, and Xiaohe. Mom goes to the stall every day, and she's dressed too poorly. The children are at school, so they should have a couple of decent clothes too."

Su Xiaoyin agreed, and the two sisters stood up and patted the loose threads off their clothes.

"Let's go cook. We'll soak some mung beans while we're at it, and make mung bean soup for dinner. It's getting hotter and hotter; a bowl of soup after a day's work will cool us down."