Madam Zhou came out of the inner room and cast her daughter a warning glare. "Shirou, is that any way to speak to your brother? Hurry up and apologize."
"Mother, I didn't say anything wrong. I..."
Under her mother's increasingly stern gaze, Zhou Shirou could not continue. She pouted, then obediently apologized.
"I'm sorry, Brother. I was wrong. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that just because I was worried about you."
Zhou Tianyou's expression softened somewhat, but he still looked displeased. "Mother, I'm going back to my room."
Madam Zhou nodded kindly. "Go on. You're leaving for Shuntian Prefecture tomorrow. Get a good rest and be sure you're in top form."
After her son entered his room, Madam Zhou sternly warned her daughter, "Shirou, don't say such things to your brother again. If you affect his examination performance, just see how your father punishes you."
Zhou Shirou felt a little wronged.
"I know. Wasn't I only thinking of him? That Xia Xiaodie is obviously deceitful, but he just can't see it."
"Hmph, she's not even as good as Su Qiao. At least Su Qiao is pretty, literate, and knows how to keep accounts. She speaks openly and naturally, without a trace of affectation. Unlike that Xia Xiaodie—she hadn't even said two words before she was already crying buckets, as if everyone else owed her something."
Madam Zhou pictured Su Qiao sitting behind the counter, calculating accounts with a gentle bearing and a calm expression. She rather agreed with her daughter's opinion.
"If you like Miss Su, then spend more time with her. I think that girl is indeed quite good."
It was a pity that her status was a little too low.
Even though her grandfather was now the mine's chief steward, fully responsible for everything there, he