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The mayor finally understood the situation.

At this moment, Qiao Mai and Shopkeeper Lu had already welcomed their guests. This time, even Old Mistress Wang had come along, as it was insisted upon by her husband.

Instead of heading to the living room, they first toured the house.

Initially skeptical of the Qiao family, Old Mistress Wang was now intrigued. The house was interestingly designed, and it had many small animals. Furthermore, there was a long stretch of land behind the house, filled with thriving corn crops that looked delightful.

Lu Sanniang and Qiao Mai paid their respects to Old Mistress Wang, each assisting her on one side, followed by Ruxin and Wang Jiaru.

The men were accompanied by Yuan Jiaqi. He loved this house dearly – It was clean, elegant, and full of life.

In their leisure time, they could feed the small animals or tend to the fields in the backyard, making their days feel incredibly wonderful.

He introduced them to everything as they walked along, speaking with excitement and pride. This house felt like his home.

Wang Zihan followed behind the men, holding a pomegranate Qiao Mai gave him, ensuring he wouldn’t wander around. Someone was tasked with keeping an eye on him and offering him snacks.

There were six courtyards. Yuan Jiaqi and his son had one, the Fengyun brothers had one, and Lu Sanniang initially had one to herself, but she insisted on living with Ruxin and the others. Therefore, the Lu family occupied only one courtyard.

Old Mister Wang had a separate courtyard for themselves, and their attendants had already started tidying it up.

Wang Jiaru was quite taken with the place and requested that her grandfather arrange a room for her to stay whenever she wanted.

This idea didn’t sit well with Wang Zihan, who also insisted on staying here. Thus, the Wang family occupied one courtyard, leaving two others temporarily for guests, which were regularly maintained.

The servants had their living quarters, and two maids stayed in the main courtyard with Qiao Mai, helping her look after Ling’er. In their free time, they learned sewing from Qiao Mai.

Occasionally, she taught them embroidery skills, benefiting the two maids greatly.

The most popular area was the left corner of the backyard.

Although the twins were eight, they were still children at heart. Qiao Mai had built an amusement park for them, and the children were having a blast. Yue Hong held Ling’er and watched from the side, who was eager to join in the fun.

Unable to resist her excitement, they finally helped Ling’er up to the slides and carousel. They took turns playing on the equipment, and the amusement park echoed with the children’s laughter.

After a round of play, everyone was tired, so they returned to the living room to drink tea and rest. A servant stood by the door and reported, “Master, there are several people outside looking for you.”

“Looking for me? Do we know them?” Qiao Mai asked.

The servant shook her head. “They all look unfamiliar, and I’ve never seen them before. They haven’t bought anything from our shop either.”

“Do they mention the reason for their visit?” “They only said they are looking for you.”

“Ask them to come here.”

Qiao Mai was tired and thirsty and didn’t want to move.

Shortly after, the servant led several people into the living room. When they entered and saw so many well-dressed people, especially the elderly lady sitting at the head, they suddenly appeared quite humble.

Particularly, their eyes, which had initially held an air of arrogance, now bore a sense of submission.

Qiao Mai glanced at them. There were four people — two older ones and two younger ones. They all wore rough clothing without patches, but they didn’t look well-off.

Their eyes kept darting around, revealing their greed. They seemed like troublemakers.

“What do you want with me?”

“Are you Madam Qiao?”

“Yes. What can I help you with?” “Please return our two children to us.”

“Children? Return two of them?”

Qiao Mai immediately thought of Feng’er and Yun’er. Her face darkened. She knew about the children’s past.

“Explain clearly.”

“We are from Qingzhu Village in Tianhe Town. Our surname is Jiang. One year ago, we lost two boys, one named Jiang Yuanpeng, the other Jiang Yuanqing…”

“Hold on. You lost them a year ago, but you’re only coming now? I don’t understand. Tianhe Town is not far from Tianshui Town, and my name is well-known here. When I adopted two children, the whole town knew about it.

How could you only come now?”

“Well, the two children thought we snatched their family’s property, so they left home out of anger. We searched for a long time but couldn’t find them. We thought they might be avoiding us.”

“I see. Did you really take their property?”

“How could we, their uncles, take their property? We only helped them manage it temporarily since they were still young.”

Qiao Mai frowned. “Alright, since you’ve come here, and I’m not an unreasonable person, you can take them back. However, since you’re their relative, you’ll have to settle the expenses for their upkeep over the past year.”

“What? You want an account for that?”

“Otherwise, should I have raised them for free?”

“Well, how much is it then?”

These children were in poor health when I adopted them. I spent ten taels of silver on their medical treatment alone.”

“In addition, I’ve been giving them a monthly allowance of one hundred coins each. Last year, they started studying at the school, and I paid a thousand taels of silver for their education.’

“This translates to eighty taels per month. For half a year, it’s two hundred and forty taels. We can forget about the small change. In total, you owe me three hundred taels.”

The Jiang family members were stunned. They had come for the children, planning to sell them off later. They never expected to be asked for money. “Isn’t it supposed to be Madam Qiao compensating us?”

Mayor Qian couldn’t tolerate it any longer. “You scoundrels! Madam Qiao has been taking care of these children for over a year. How dare you demand compensation from her?”

“Did she adopt them? I think she kidnapped them.”

Mayor Qian was furious. He shouted to his guards, “Zhang, Liu, come in here and shut their mouths.”

The two guards entered with large knives and quickly intimidated the intruders. They ended up cowering on the floor.

“Please have mercy, Sir!”

No one interceded on their behalf. The two guards grabbed them by their collars and slapped them on the face.

Before long, their faces were swollen.

Mayor Qian, still angry, asked, “Do you still want compensation?”

“No-no.”

“Damn, I can’t believe my eyes. These two children used to beg for food in our town for a long time. I even helped them once. If it weren’t for Madam Qiao, they would have starved to death. You should be grateful instead of trying to take advantage of her.”

Qiao Mai chuckled, “Mayor, please calm down.”

At this moment, the twins had arrived in the front hall. Qiao Mai had sent someone to call for them earlier.

Upon entering and seeing the Jiang family, the two brothers immediately ran to Qiao Mai, their eyes red with anger, glaring at the intruders.

“Mother, it’s them. They seized our family’s property and land and even wanted to sell us, saying some rich man from a wealthy family fancied boys.”

Hearing this, Old Mister Wang’s expression darkened.

“Old Qian, send your men to Tianhe Town and bring their mayor here. Tell him it’s my invitation. Also, invite the village head of Qingzhu Village. I want to see who dares to bully my students, especially when they are being wronged by their uncles.”

“Yes, Sir!”