Xia Tian pulled Xia Yue into the newlywed's room, where the bride was sitting on the edge of the kang. Seeing them enter, she quickly stood up, looking somewhat nervous as she watched them.
Xia Tian immediately nudged Xia Yue and introduced them to the bride, "Sister-in-law, we're Xia Yang's younger sisters. I'm Xia Tian, and this is my older sister Xia Yue."
The bride smiled and greeted, "Sisters."
The bride had a round face with large eyes that curved charmingly when she smiled, making her quite lovely.
Her name was Sun Mai Miao, from Xiahe Bay, which was three villages away from Xia Family Village and further into the mountains.
Xia Yang had been slow in finding a marriage match. If not for the fact that the third son of his uncle's family was about to turn sixteen and also needed to find a wife, Grandma Xia probably wouldn't have remembered to arrange one for him.
By the time the matchmaking began, Xia Yang was already eighteen. Grandma Xia didn't want to spend much on the bride price, so she looked for matches in the mountain villages.
The bride's family had many daughters and often struggled to make ends meet.
Compared to Xiahe Bay Village, Xia Family Village was relatively more prosperous. When they heard about the marriage proposal, they agreed immediately.
Fortunately, the bride's parents were good people. This could be seen from the new clothes the bride was wearing—they hadn't mistreated their daughter.
Xia Tian set down the back basket she had been carrying all this time. With so many people around, she was afraid things might get lost if left unattended in the room.
She took out the burgundy fabric she had bought from the back basket and handed it to Sun Mai Miao, saying, "Sister-in-law, this is a wedding gift for you and my brother. Please keep it safe."
Usually, when married daughters returned home to give gifts, they were recorded in the family's communal account to make it easier for reciprocal gifts later.
But Xia Tian didn't care about that. If it were recorded in the communal account, Grandma Xia would surely pocket it privately, and who knew who would end up benefiting from it.
So, Xia Tian gave it directly to her sister-in-law.
Sun Mai Miao was a clever person. Without asking any questions, she simply said, "Thank you, sister," and accepted it.
Xia Tian raised an eyebrow slightly. It seemed her sister-in-law had heard about the family situation. With this kind of temperament, she probably wouldn't be taken advantage of.
Perhaps their branch of the family could look forward to better days.
The three of them chatted and laughed in the newlywed's room for a while before Xia Shi and Xia Chen also ran in to see their new sister-in-law.
Xia Tian took out the pastries and potato pancakes she had prepared from the back basket and shared them with everyone.
She also gave the hair accessories she had bought for Xia Yue, Xia Chen, and her sister-in-law to the three of them. The girls were instantly overjoyed and repeatedly thanked Xia Tian.
They had never worn store-bought hair accessories before, having always used scraps of cloth to tie their hair.
Xia Tian handed the toy she had brought for Xia Shi to him and told him to go play outside for a while. The four girls gathered together to share secrets.
Seeing that Xia Tian had brought so many things, Xia Yue asked worriedly, "Si Ya, these things must have cost a lot of money. Will your husband say anything about it?"
"It's fine, sister. Shen Nian is a very good person."
"Even so, you should be more careful in the future. Don't spend money recklessly. Save it for yourself and stop worrying about us."
"I know, sister. I only came back because of our older brother's wedding. I won't return unless there's a reason."
Xia Yue still wasn't fully reassured and pulled Xia Tian aside to advise her a bit more. Only after Xia Tian repeatedly promised did she let her go.
Watching the sisters talk, Mai Miao felt somewhat relieved. At least Xia Yang's biological sisters were good people and didn't seem like troublemakers.
As for the other branches of the family, they didn't matter much. If they could get along well, that was fine. If not, it didn't matter.
After hearing that Xia Tian would be returning home right after the meal, Sun Mai Miao took out the gifts she had prepared for the Xia Family and handed them somewhat sheepishly to Xia Yue and the others.
"These are handmade by me, for you."
"Thank you, sister-in-law." The girls accepted the insoles happily and expressed their gratitude.
Xia Tian looked at the finely stitched insoles and felt even more impressed by this sister-in-law.
She hadn’t expected her to prepare a gift for her, a married sister-in-law.
It seemed that as long as Xia Yang could stand on his own feet, their family’s future would be promising.
They chatted for a while longer, during which Xia Yang came in once. Seeing all his sisters there, he went back outside to attend to the guests.
Soon, someone outside announced that the tables were ready.
Xia Tian pulled Xia Yue and Xia Chen along to find seats and wait for the dishes to be served.
Xia Yue had wanted to help, but Xia Tian held her back. With many neighbors assisting, there was little need for family members to serve the food.
Before the dishes arrived, Grandma Xia, who had been absent for some time, suddenly started picking a fight.
"Si Ya, you wretched girl! Your own brother is getting married, and you show up empty-handed? How dare you sit at the table!"
Xia Tian wasn’t the least bit angry and replied with a smile, "Why shouldn’t I sit at the table? I already gave such a generous gift."
"How shameless! Where is this gift of yours? Your third uncle didn’t even see you give anything."
Xia Tian’s third uncle had been keeping an eye on the gift registration at the entrance. He had seen her come in but hadn’t noticed her approach the registration table, so he reported it to Grandma Xia.
"I sold myself to give thirty taels—how can you say I didn’t give a gift?" Xia Tian replied calmly.
"You ill-omened star! You… you…" Grandma Xia trembled with rage, unable to form a complete sentence.
Xia Zheng Nian, Xia Tian’s fourth uncle, stood up and scolded her sharply, "Si Ya, how dare you speak to your grandmother like that? Is that any way for a junior to behave?"
"Sorry, Grandma. You know I have a bad temper. As an elder, please don’t hold it against a junior like me." Xia Tian offered a half-hearted apology.
With the food starting to arrive and so many people watching, Xia Tian decided not to argue further. She didn’t want to push Grandma Xia to the brink and be accused of disrespect again.
Besides, her brother’s in-laws were still present, and she didn’t want them to think poorly of Xia Yang.
Seeing that Xia Tian had fallen silent, the Xia Family reluctantly sat down and didn’t cause any more trouble.
After the meal, Xia Tian didn’t linger. She said goodbye to her mother, Xia Yang, Xia Yue, and the others before heading home.
By the time she arrived, it was probably past three in the afternoon.
The courtyard was quiet.
Xia Tian went to the main room and lifted the door curtain to look inside. Shen Nian wasn’t there, and she had no idea where he had gone.
She checked the kitchen and found that the food in the pot had been eaten.
Xia Tian thought Shen Nian might have gone out for a walk, feeling cooped up indoors.
Since she had left early that morning, she still had laundry to do. After resting briefly, she took a basin to the riverbank to wash clothes.
When she returned from washing, she saw Shen Nian sitting under the large tree in the courtyard, slowly flipping through a book.
"Brother Shen, did you go out earlier?" Xia Tian asked as she hung the laundry.
"Yes, I took a walk behind the house. You’re back?" Shen Nian looked up, his voice slightly lifted.
Xia Tian glanced over and, seeing that Shen Nian seemed to be in a good mood, smiled and said, "Yes, I just got back a little while ago. This is good—you should get out more often. It lifts your spirits."
"Mm." Shen Nian nodded, a faint smile on his face.
As his health gradually improved, his internal strength had now recovered by about ten percent.
Feeling pleased, he went to Mu Yang's grave to talk for a while.
Ever since his poisoning episode, Mu Yang had never lived a peaceful day while following him.
If it weren't for taking him out to seek a divine doctor, they wouldn't have encountered the assassination attempt, and Mu Yang might not have died.
That kid had always worried about him the most. Now that he was getting better, he wanted to tell him so he could rest assured.
He would definitely live well and avenge Mu Yang in the future!
Though these thoughts ran through Shen Nian's mind, none showed on his face.
Seeing Shen Nian lost in thought, Xia Tian didn't disturb him further. After hanging the clothes to dry, she went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
In the evening, Xia Tian cooked plain rice porridge, soaked some dried bamboo shoots to make a cold salad, and stir-fried shredded potatoes before serving the meal.
After dinner, Xia Tian remembered her plan to set up a stall selling braised dishes and mentioned it to Shen Nian, "Brother Shen, I plan to go to town tomorrow to buy some pork intestines, dried tofu, and such. I want to try setting up a stall at the market the day after."
"Mm, you can give it a try if you want. Do you still have enough money?" Shen Nian nodded, agreeing with Xia Tian's suggestion.
"I still have enough money!"
Seeing that Shen Nian didn't object, Xia Tian felt happy and pulled him aside to discuss the preparations needed for the stall.
With a faint smile at the corner of his lips, Shen Nian listened while nodding, occasionally offering suggestions that secretly surprised Xia Tian.