In the end, Auntie Tian bought a lot of brown rice from Widow Wang. Although Widow Wang liked to take advantage of others, she had some standards. In her opinion, the An family was worse off compared to her own family. Their medical bills were a burden all year round.

Therefore, she did not raise the price and simply sold it to Auntie Tian at the normal market price.

Shen Yijia kept her word. While using the cart to help deliver the food, she also brought the remaining wood with her.

As soon as she entered the An family’s courtyard, she saw An Xiu’er, whom she had not seen for a long time, passing by the corridor wearing a brand new jacket and carrying a birdcage.

When An Xiu’er saw Shen Yijia, she paused for a moment before returning to the house with the birdcage.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with this girl recently. She treats that bird like a treasure every day. Ignore her.” Auntie Tian tried to smooth things over for her daughter awkwardly.

Shen Yijia did not mind. She licked her lips. It had been a long time since she had roasted bird meat. She wanted to eat it.

Shen Yijia helped An Dong unload the items. She pushed the cart home, her mind still thinking about the smell of roasted meat.

Auntie Tian sat by the fire in the central room. An Xiu’er leaned over and asked, “Mother, what did Auntie Li say?”

Actually, she had already guessed it when she saw so much food, but she still refused to give up.

Auntie Tian tapped her forehead angrily. “It’s not like we can’t stay here. Why should we go to someone else’s house?”

She had no intention of borrowing the Song family’s residence from the beginning. After all, An Dong and An Xiu’er were not young anymore. Song Jingchen and his wife lived in the Song family’s residence, so it was easy for gossip to spread.

When she went out, An Xiu’er coaxed her into mentioning it.

“You didn’t mention it?” An Xiu’er pouted in dissatisfaction.

“I did, but they didn’t agree.”

An Xiu’er fell silent.

Auntie Tian glanced at her and thought of what An Dong had said about her being weird recently.

Thinking of Song Jingchen’s face, her heart dropped for a moment. She said sternly, “You’ve been embroidering wedding dresses in your room recently. I’ll find you a good husband next spring.”

“I don’t want to get married,” An Xiu’er blurted out, her face pale.

“You’re not getting married? Do you not want to marry a husband that I’ve suggested, or do you just not want to marry at all? Are you prepared to be an unmarried woman at home for the rest of your life?” The more Auntie Tian looked at it, the more she felt that something was wrong. She was secretly angry at herself for not realizing it earlier.

“I… I don’t want to get married yet.” With that, An Xiu’er ran away with the birdcage.

“You don’t want to get married? Do you want to spend the rest of your life with that pigeon?” Auntie Tian was furious, especially because of the guess in her heart.

She couldn’t help but complain, “This child was fine in the past. How did she become like this? I don’t know where she got a pigeon from, but she refused to stew it to nourish her father’s body.”

“I want to eat roasted birds!” Shen Yijia couldn’t help but mutter when she got home.

Song Jingchen was reading at the side. When he heard this, he found it funny and couldn’t help but expose her fantasy. “Where can I catch birds for you in this weather?”

“I think Xiu’er has one. It’s fair and fat. It’ll definitely taste good when roasted.” Shen Yijia retorted indignantly.

“I’ll catch one to prove it to him tomorrow.” she thought.

Song Jingchen frowned. He put down the book in his hand and looked up at Shen Yijia. “You saw it? What breed is it?”

“How would I know what breed it is?” Thinking that Song Jingchen didn’t believe her, Shen Yijia thought hard and said, “It’s fair and chubby. Oh, right, its eyes are red.”

She caught a glimpse of the bird when An Xiu’er turned around.

Song Jingchen’s gaze darkened and he stopped talking.