Xing’er pushed him away: “No, when will you ask your mother to go to my house to propose marriage, I, I will–” Before she finished speaking, Xing’er turned and ran.

Shanzi stood there and looked at her back, and waited until Xing’er turned the corner and could no longer be seen, then walked back listlessly.

Aunt Huang washed the dishes and split lotus seeds in the house.

Lotus seeds were abundant in Jiangnan.

After fresh lotus seeds were picked and dried, the dark blue shell was harder than anything else.

She has to use a special splitting knife to split them on a wooden block.

She can get a few coins for splitting one pound. Aunt Huang has been splitting at home every day recently and can earn dozens of coins a day.

Aunt Huang was chopping lotus seeds with great concentration when she heard Shanzi’s muffled voice: “Mom…”

Aunt Huang turned around and said: “Why did you come back early when you went to play with Sanlang?”

Shanzi sat down sullenly, lowered his head, and hugged his head: “Mom, I want to get married.”

“What?” Aunt Huang was so excited that she didn’t hold the lotus seeds firmly, and the lotus seeds almost rolled at her feet.

Shanzi raised his head and said: “I want to marry Xing’er. Mom, please ask someone to go to her house to propose marriage.”

Aunt Huang threw the knife away and said: “What marriage? How can the family afford to marry you now?”

“You don’t need a betrothal gift for marriage?”

“Can’t you see that my hands are all cut by splitting lotus seeds? How can you say that now!”

Lotus seeds were round and hard to chop. If one was not so skilled at the beginning, she could cut her hand.

Shanzi straightened his neck: “Don’t we still have more than 10 taels of silver?”

“Young Master Su is not urging us to pay back the silver now, this money is enough for the betrothal!”

Aunt Huang was very angry, she closed the door with her backhand, and said sternly: “I tell you, forget about marrying Xing’er, it’s impossible!”

“Her mother is not a good thing, and Xing’er is not a good girl either. If she is a good girl, she won’t flirt with you!”

She softened her voice again: “It’s not that mother doesn’t want to marry you a wife. If Xing’er is half as capable as Xiao Fei, I would have gritted my teeth and married you. Xing’er is stupid and lazy, she’s not even worth a little finger of Xiao Fei!”

Although Aunt Huang now dares not to dream of Gu Fei as her daughter-in-law, she unconsciously regards Gu Fei as the standard for choosing a daughter-in-law.

Shanzi’s eyes were red, staring at his mother: “Don’t mention Xiao Fei to me, I hate her! I want to marry Xing’er, give me the money, I will find someone to propose marriage to myself!”

Aunt Huang stared at her son blankly. People say that a man forgets his mother after marrying a wife. He hasn’t even married a wife yet, but her son looks like he wants to eat her!

She was a widow, and she would depend on her son for the rest of her life. She usually thinks that her family was a loving mother and a filial son, but she didn’t expect her son to be so disobedient today.

Aunt Huang was furious and pointed at Shanzi: “You, how——”

She shook twice and fell softly to the floor.

When Shanzi saw his mother fainted, he panicked and threw himself on her, shouting: “Mom, Mom——”

After shaking for a long time, there was no movement. Shanzi hurried out and ran to the opposite side to shout to Aunt Liu: “Aunt Liu, my mother fainted in the house, come and take a look.”

Xing’er was just coming out to splash water. When she heard Shanzi’s shout, she was extremely panicked and turned around and went in. When she entered the door, she tripped over the threshold and almost fell.

Aunt Liu came out after hearing the sound and hurried to Shanzi’s house.

When they went in, they saw Aunt Huang lying on the ground. Aunt Liu squatted down and pinched her philtrum hard. Aunt Huang exhaled a long breath and slowly opened her eyes.