After the meal, the men gathered in the courtyard to discuss spring planting, while the women sat together gossiping. Madam He, having eaten her fill, sat to the side groaning contentedly. Seeing the state of Madam He and the others, Madam Zhao’s expression soured, but as it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, she was unwilling to say much, merely glancing at Madam He, shaking her head.

Madam Zhao recalled the sausages from dinner and asked Madam Huang, "Second sister-in-law, that thing you brought, the sausage, was exceptionally good. How do you make it? I’d like to make some myself when I have nothing better to do."

Madam Huang smiled and replied, "These sausages are mainly made with meat, nothing exotic, but the process is quite involved and time-consuming. If Mother likes them, I still have some at home; I can bring some over for you tomorrow."

Before Madam Zhao could speak, Madam He immediately chimed in, "Yes, I also thought they were delicious, Second Sister-in-law, send some to me too, please."

Madam Huang froze. In truth, they didn't have much left; the remainder was reserved for gift-giving to maintain good relations. If she gave some to Madam He as well, the good impression wouldn't be as significant, and besides, she had merely been polite in saying it was nothing special.

But it truly was something special; several jin of meat were needed to yield one jin of sausage. At home, they were reluctant to eat any themselves because they needed to save them for gifts. Now that Madam He was asking, Madam Huang didn't know how to refuse and was at a loss for words.

At this point, Lin Chen suddenly interjected, "Auntie, you like it? Why don't you buy some meat, and let my sister make some for you? I like it too. But Sister says this thing takes too much time and money, and she won't even let us eat much of it."

Lin He shot Lin Chen an appreciative look, not realizing this little girl spoke so sharply. Looking back at Lin Chen, she saw only the innocent look of a child, surely speaking the unvarnished truth of a child.

Madam He looked chagrined. She had initially intended to take advantage of the situation. Although everyone understood the principle, they were all relatives, and no one wanted to voice the awkward truth directly. To have it exposed by a child was rather embarrassing, but she managed to speak up, "I was just saying casually; never mind if you don't have any."

Lin He found Madam He's embarrassment amusing. She thought that people like Madam He needed to be handled this way; there was no need to save face for certain troublesome individuals.

Hearing Chen'er's words, Madam Zhao asked, "He'er made it?"

Madam Huang’s face beamed with smiles. Her tone carried pride mixed with a slight chiding sound, "Yes, this girl of ours always has some strange ideas. Look, after reading for a few days, she said she saw how people made sausages in a book and insisted that my husband and I help her make them. And she actually managed to do it; the taste is quite good."

Hearing this, Madam Zhao pulled Lin He in front of her. She had never truly looked closely at her granddaughter before. Now, seeing her, even at such a young age, one could tell she was a future beauty—willow-leaf eyebrows, a melon-seed face, complemented by the lovely clothes she wore. When the adults spoke, she didn't interrupt, sitting quietly, and her bearing was less like that of a common farm girl and more like a young lady from a prominent family.

She burst into laughter and said, "Madam Huang, you have indeed borne a fine daughter."

Every mother is overjoyed when her children are praised in front of others, and Madam Huang was no exception. Though she murmured, "She's just a quirky little thing," her face was splitting with happiness.

Upon hearing her grandmother praise only Lin He in front of so many people, Yu'er felt resentful. Her eyes fixed on Lin He, revealing a flash of jealousy.

Madam He also glanced sideways at Lin He, thinking inwardly, What fine daughter? She’s just a country girl who hasn’t seen the world. How can she compare to our Yu'er? On the surface, however, she smiled along with everyone else.

After chatting for a while longer, everyone prepared to return home, as tomorrow they were all due to pay respects at their wives’ maiden homes. Everyone needed to go back and prepare some things to take with them the next day.

As they were about to leave, Madam He suddenly called out, "Mother, didn't you say you were packing some things for us to take back? Where are they? I’ll go pack them myself."

Madam Zhao’s face darkened upon hearing this. When she had casually mentioned it at the beginning, it was because during the New Year, the more gifts a family prepared, the better; no one truly had too much food to finish. But now that Madam He had brought it up, it was difficult to backtrack, so she quickly packed some white flour and cured meat for Madam He.

While Madam Zhao was packing, Madam Huang and Madam Zhou came over to bid farewell, saying they already had such things at home and wouldn't take any. Madam Zhao didn't say much and let them go.

As they were leaving, Madam Zhao gave them a few final instructions, telling them to return early from their in-laws' houses, preferably in time for lunch, because she and her husband would be going to pick up their two younger sisters' families from their maiden homes.

It was only upon arriving here that Lin He learned many customs here differed greatly from her past life. For example, on the second day of the New Year, married daughters returning to their parents' homes needed to be picked up by their own brothers or fathers—this was called Jie Qin (fetching the in-law).

If no one from the wife's family came to fetch her, the married daughter would be looked down upon by her husband's family, implying that the daughter-in-law was not valued by her maternal family or that her maternal family had no one left.

Madam Huang, upon returning home, prepared an identical set of gifts as she had taken to Madam Zhao's house. Er Niu suggested bringing more things, as they didn't visit often. Madam Huang thought about it; bringing too much might displease her mother-in-law. Despite Madam Huang’s objections, Er Niu insisted on taking a few extra boxes of pastries and a bolt of cloth, saying that the children of his elder sister's husband's family always warranted extra gifts.

By the next morning, the entire family was up early. After breakfast, they waited in the courtyard for their eldest maternal uncle to come and fetch them. After a short wait, Huang Dashan arrived with Lin He’s younger maternal uncle. This was the second time Lin He had seen her younger maternal uncle; she had seen him once when the house was being built, but because everyone was so busy, they had only exchanged quick glances without a moment to speak.

Lin He’s younger maternal uncle was named Huang Hu, nicknamed Hu Zi (Tiger Cub). He truly was like a little tiger, causing quite a stir. Seeing his eldest brother that morning and learning he was going to the eldest sister’s house for Jie Qin, Hu Zi insisted on tagging along. Huang Dashan had no choice but to bring him.

Hu Zi was displeased when he saw that the children of his eldest sister only called out "Eldest Uncle." He walked up to Lin He and said, "I’m your Little Uncle, why aren't you calling me?"

Lin He found Hu Zi's cute appearance quite amusing and still called out, "Little Uncle." Hu Zi nodded in satisfaction.

Madam Huang pulled Hu Zi to her, saying, "Hu Zi, you've grown taller again. Still as mischievous as before."

Hu Zi was quite obedient in front of his elder sister. He simply said, "Big Sister, let's hurry home. Father and Mother were already muttering yesterday that you all were coming back today, wishing you'd pick them up earlier. It’s all Big Brother's dawdling that made us arrive so late," saying this, he shot a glance at his eldest brother.

Huang Dashan looked at his younger brother with amusement. He wondered who it was who complained halfway through that the road was too long and sat down on the ground refusing to walk, insisting his brother carry him for most of the way, and now accused him of dawdling.

Huang Dashan glared at Hu Zi and said, "Sister, hurry up! Let’s go quickly, or we’ll get home too late, and Mother and Father will complain again."