Old Madam could no longer contain herself after hearing Zhou Xun’s words and began to cry loudly. As she cried, Zhou Xun’s heart also ached, and he couldn’t help but feel the urge to cry too. The old master, with red-rimmed eyes, supported Zhou Xun: "It’s good that you have this intention, but things can’t be done this way." Old Madam wiped her tears after a while and waved her hand: "Our Eldest treated you like a true brother, it was only right for him to save you under such circumstances, you... don’t think too much about it in the future, don’t always feel sorry for us." The more understanding and reasonable the Xu family was, the worse Zhou Xun felt, and the more he felt indebted to the Xu family. He owed not only Xu Zhiwen’s life-saving grace but also Anning’s helping hand. Had it not been for Xu Zhiwen saving his life, he might have died long ago, and had Anning not given him fifty taels of silver back then, he wouldn’t have been able to move into a better inn, nor could he have rested well or eaten well, and he probably wouldn’t have passed as a scholar this time. The kindness and goodwill of Xu Zhiwen and his wife were something he could never forget in this lifetime. Seeing that the old master and Old Madam bore no grudges against him, but instead comforted him not to be sad, he thought even more of Xu Zhiwen, felt even more how good the Xu family people were, and became even more determined to take care of the Xu family. Seeing how well the village chief and clan elders perceive Mr. Scholar’s favorable treatment towards the Xu family, they began to weigh in on it. Having a Mr. Scholar as a backer for the Xu family, and not just an ordinary backer, since the Xu family had saved Mr. Scholar’s life, with such a life-saving grace, it might never be fully repaid in this lifetime; hence, if the Xu family ever had issues in the future, Mr. Zhou would certainly step in. After all, he is a Mr. Scholar, and still so young, he is definitely going to take the Imperial Examination in the future, once he becomes an Advanced Scholar, then he would be an official, and just a tiny bit of favor from an official could benefit the Xu family immensely. Especially the village chief started thinking that he must maintain a good relationship with the Xu family in the future, and not offend the people of the Xu home. Xu Zhiqin now had some regrets. He regretted dividing the family property too soon. After Xu Zhiwen died, Xu Zhiqin saw that Zhou Xun, who had been saved by Xu Zhiwen, had never come by or even said a kind word, so he thought Zhou Xun was ungrateful; as time passed, Xu Zhiqin stopped thinking about Zhou Xun. But who knew that it hadn’t been long after splitting the family when Zhou Xun showed up. Not only did he show up, but he also came in glory having just become a scholar. Xu Zhiqin then thought that if they hadn’t split the family, he could have basked in the glory of a Mr. Scholar. Thinking so, Xu Zhiqin became even more attentive to the old master. He approached with a smile: "Dad, why not let Mr. Zhou sit down and talk, isn’t it mealtime now? Mr. Zhou might not have eaten yet, how about having some food at our home." Read complete version only at novèlfire.net The old master thought it made sense, quickly asked Zhou Xun to sit down, and asked Anning to prepare several more good dishes. After treating the village chief and clan elders well and sending them off properly, the old master could finally talk well with Zhou Xun. He spoke with Zhou Xun for the whole afternoon, and when it was time to leave, Zhou Xun was somewhat reluctant to go. Old Madam then told Zhou Xun: "Now that you know our home, come by more often in the future, we have nothing else at home, but making a few good meals for you is still doable." With these words, Zhou Xun felt warm in his heart. His parents had passed away, he had not yet married, and he was alone at home, it had been years since he felt the warmth of family. This time, he felt the long-missed kinship at the Xu family again. In his heart, he marveled at how good Xu Zhiwen was as a person, and how wonderful his family was; being able to meet the Xu family was indeed Zhou Xun’s good fortune. After seeing Zhou Xun off, Anning and Liu Bao’s family cleaned up everything inside and outside the house. Things that were damaged by wolves were either thrown away or sorted out, and they continued working until late into the night to finish. When they had finished sorting things around the house, Anning noticed that Xu Minruo looked utterly dejected, clearly very upset. She knew that the matter with Xu Er Ya had hit Xu Minruo hard, and if no one comforted her, the child might dwell too deeply on it. Without caring about her own tiredness, Anning called Xu Minruo into her room. Once Xu Minruo came in, Anning had her sit down and brought out some dried fruits for her to eat. "I see you’ve been downcast all along, what exactly is bothering you?" Xu Minruo lowered her head, tears dripping down one by one. After a long time, she said, "Aunt, I just feel like I have let you all down. I—I never imagined Er Ya could do such a thing. How could she... There are more than ten of us in this family, she was thinking of endangering the lives of so many." Anning reached out and hugged Xu Minruo: "Don’t be sad, and don’t feel you’ve let anyone down. You haven’t done wrong by anyone. Xu Er Ya is Xu Er Ya, you are you. We will not take out her actions on you." "But I still feel so sad." Xu Minruo buried herself in Anning’s arms, crying profoundly. "Father has never looked down on us because we are girls; when he buys food from work, he always brings it home especially for us, saving portions for me and Er Ya. He even said he wants to work hard to save up for our dowries. Every time he sees us, father is always so cheerful; he truly has been very good to us." Xu Minruo cried, her face full of tears: "Why would Er Ya want to harm father? How could she do this? No matter how much I think about it, I just can’t understand why." Anning gently patted Xu Minruo’s back and said softly, "It’s all because she’s selfish. She isn’t actually hating your uncle; she did what she did just because she wanted to split the household." Xu Minruo, crying so hard she hiccupped several times, looked up at Anning, "Aunt, I still don’t understand." Just as Anning was about to explain, they heard a knock on the door. She quickly opened the door, only to see the Old Madam standing at the doorway holding two bowls of soup. "Have you not gone to bed yet?" The Old Madam entered the room and set the soup down: "I guessed Min Ruo might be here. Neither of you have eaten much tonight, quickly drink some soup." Anning smiled, thanked her, and watched Xu Minruo drink the soup; she also drank some herself. Seeing Xu Minruo with red, distressed eyes, the Old Madam felt a pang of pity: "Big girl, don’t overthink it, Grandma doesn’t blame you, neither will Grandpa." Xu Minruo forced back her tears and said, "I just can’t understand." The Old Madam took Xu Minruo’s hand and sat down, "I couldn’t understand at first either, but after some thought, I figured out why. Xu Er Ya found some gold, and probably some other valuable things too. Having money, she didn’t want others to benefit, especially seeing as she dislikes your aunt. She didn’t want the main family to spend her money, so she plotted to split the household." Anning nodded, "That’s what I thought too." Upon hearing this, Xu Minruo began to understand a bit as well. If it had been the old Xu Daya, she certainly wouldn’t have thought of this. But Xu Minruo has been studying and learning characters with Anning, and often listened to stories from Anning; she has completely changed, not only becoming smarter but also understanding a lot more about life. Naturally, now with just a little prompting from the Old Madam, Xu Minruo was able to thoroughly understand the whole cause and effect.