After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Su Tai was both amused and exasperated by Su Changxi's unfounded praise. "Uncle, please stop teasing me! Come in and have some hot tea."

Su Changxi stepped inside, sat down, and then asked, "Xiaotai, Uncle has a question for you. Do you still need strawberries?"

Su Tai nodded. "Of course it's needed."

Su Changxi breathed a sigh of relief, his tense expression easing somewhat. He happily pointed to the old man beside him, "This is Gao Zhi, the village chief of Ximen Village. You can call him Uncle Gao. I wonder if you know him?"

Su Tai didn't really have any impression of the village chief of Ximen Village, but she wouldn't embarrass Su Changxi, so she said, "I should have met him before."

"It's good that I've seen it! It's like this, in recent years, the villagers of Ximen Village have had no extra income besides farming and growing some crabapples. Your Uncle Changfu is also very troubled by this. I'd like to ask if it's possible to let them grow strawberries as well?"

Gao Zhixin, who was standing to the side, also perked up, her smile containing a hint of ingratiation, as well as a touch of timidity and humility.

His mind was racing with wild thoughts. Back then, Su Tai was considered a fool by everyone, but now she was the wife of a town official, with a marquis as her backer. Now that her sister-in-law and younger sister from her maternal family had married into the royal family, not to mention the county magistrate, even the prefect would have to treat her with great respect.

Indeed, everyone has their own destiny. If Mo Chunxiang from their village hadn't broken off the engagement...
Gao Zhi quickly shook his head. With Mo Chunxiang's personality, he was afraid she would make Shen Yi's life even worse. He himself found it laughable to expect her to share hardships with Shen Yi.

Su Tai pondered for a moment and then agreed.

"Strawberry jam is currently in oversupply, and it will definitely be in demand for at least the next two or three years. People from Ximen Village who want to grow strawberries can buy seedlings from my house, but the strawberries they grow must be sold to us first. Of course, we will offer fair prices and be honest with everyone. However, we will not buy all of them; we will keep some for you to sell yourself. If you want to sell them all to us, that's fine too."

Gao Zhi was overjoyed and nodded without hesitation, "Of course, of course."

He didn't even dare to ask about the price of the fruit seedlings in front of Su Tai. After getting her confirmation, he couldn't wait to go back and tell the villagers the good news.

Su Changxi saw him out, and after talking for a while, he came back in.

He sighed, "Back when there was a severe drought, the people of Ximen Village were incredibly arrogant. Now, they can't even hold their heads up when they go out, and they avoid our village and Zhongmen Village when they go to the market."

"Grandpa, why is this?" Shen Yuezhang brought in a snack, tilted her head, and looked at Su Changxi curiously.

Su Changxi liked her intelligence and quick wit, and carefully analyzed for her, "Because they're poor! The best-off family in the whole village is in the same condition as the poorest family in our village, or even worse. Look, are there still people in Dongmen Village wearing patched clothes now?"

Shen Yuezhang pondered and shook his head, "I hadn't seen it before, but there have been more recently."

"That's because everyone was working in the fields and didn't care about wearing tattered clothes, it's not the same thing! They didn't even have a decent set of clothes, and if they met someone on the way to the market, they would feel ashamed and embarrassed, right?"

Shen Yuezhang nodded thoughtfully.

Su Changxi sighed again and looked at Su Tai, "Everyone is counting on your family to get rich, but Ximen Village is the one that has offended your family. Your Uncle Changfu really doesn't have the face to come to you, so he can only think of a way on his own. Even when their village planted crabapples, it was only after your Uncle Changfu went over and talked until he was hoarse that everyone reluctantly planted some."

Now that the apples are bearing fruit, they regret not planting more. Sigh! They really don't know what to say. But they're poor; it's unrealistic to expect them to spend so much money planting apples. Strawberry seedlings are cheaper, so they can afford them to some extent.

Su Changxi was willing to explain so much, so Su Tai naturally understood.

As evening fell, Su Chunlin and Han returned from their farm work. Upon learning that Su Tai had agreed to let Ximen Village grow strawberries, they couldn't help but grumble and bring up old grievances.

Su Tai listened silently while sipping her chicken soup.

She stayed overnight at her parents' house, and the next day after breakfast, she took her four children back home.

The twins were clearly playing too wildly at their maternal grandparents' house, and kept making a fuss about not wanting to leave. Shen Yuezhang forced them into the carriage with a sharp look in her eyes.

The two little ones on the carriage were on the verge of crying, each clinging to Su Tai's arm.

"Mom, when can we come to Grandpa's house again?" Shen Congyu looked at Su Tai pitifully. Su Tai chuckled and pinched his nose. "So reluctant to leave?"

Shen Congrong said, "Mother, my brother did it on purpose. At my maternal grandparents' house, he would either climb trees to steal bird eggs or go to the stream to catch small fish. He would also step in cow dung to play, which made my maternal grandmother so disgusted that she didn't want him anymore and would scold him every day."

Shen Yuezhang almost fainted when she thought of Shen Congyu falling into cow dung. "Stop talking, I won't be able to eat anything later!"

Su Tai looked at her youngest son in surprise, "Does your father know how naughty you are?"

Shen Congyu clenched his little fist and sniffed, "Dad's busy, and Mom and my older brothers and sisters didn't tell, so Dad didn't know!"

“I’ll say it!” Shen Yue’an grinned mischievously, revealing eight teeth.

Shen Congyu immediately glared at her, "Mother, my sister went to the field to steal strawberries. She picked one and ate it one by one until she was stuffed before she came home. She couldn't even eat dinner."

"Hmm?" Su Tai turned her head to look at her youngest daughter.

Shen Yue'an got anxious, "You even sneaked out to play in the middle of the night instead of sleeping!"

"You secretly cut your sister's hair."

"Put loaches under your grandfather's pillow."

"you"

Su Tai's expression grew increasingly shocked as she listened. She wondered whether she should use a rattan cane or a wooden stick to beat the child when they got back. But no, a wooden stick was too thick, and it would be a waste if she hurt the child. She decided to use a rattan cane instead.

Shen Yuezhang and Shen Congrong exchanged a glance, and in their hearts lit candles for their younger siblings.

After the carriage arrived home.

Without saying a word, Su Tai rushed into the house and took out a rattan cane.

The sound of children wailing and howling came from the courtyard.

Granny Zhang led Shen Xi in with a flustered expression. Without saying a word, she snatched the rattan cane from Su Tai's hand and shielded the child behind her. "She just got back, why is she hitting him already! The child is young and doesn't know any better, don't hurt him!"

With Granny Zhang's help, Su Tai took the opportunity to stop, glaring fiercely at the two children, "I'll let you off this time, but you'll have to copy your books when you get back. If you cause trouble again, I don't know how many more beatings you'll get next time!"

The two children entered the main room while crying.

There are no secrets in the village; by evening, the whole village knew that Su Tai had beaten up the twins.

Many people urged Shen Yi to go home and persuade Su Tai.

As soon as Shen Yi arrived home, before he could even ask Su Tai a question, she began to complain, recounting the twins' "great achievements" in Dongmen Village.

Shen Yi was also at his wit's end. "They deserve to be beaten! Beat them hard! Honey, don't be angry. I'll punish them properly later."

The twins, who were writing in the main room, glanced resentfully at the courtyard before quickly burying themselves in their writing.

Shen Yi entered the room, glanced at the two children's large characters, and chuckled, "Not bad! Your handwriting has improved." (End of Chapter)