Sure enough, it happened just as Yang Qiu expected.

Although the children didn’t mention it to their parents after returning home, they brought it up at the breakfast table the next day.

The first to speak was Yang Liuliu, who was being carried into the room by her mother and saw the silver hairpin in her mother’s hair. She said, "Mom, this silver hairpin isn’t as pretty as Fourth Uncle’s."

As soon as she said that, everyone in the room was stunned. Did the fourth uncle have a silver hairpin? What’s going on?

Yang Shushu had completely forgotten about the silver hairpin at Fourth Uncle’s place until Yang Liuliu reminded him. So he quickly added, "Yeah, yeah, Fourth Uncle’s silver hairpin is really pretty."

Yang Guangguang, being older than Yang Shushu and Yang Liuliu, vaguely understood the situation and chose to remain silent.

Sitting there, Yang Dong felt extremely awkward. How could he have been so careless, letting the three little ones at home see the silver hairpin? Just because Yang Qiu didn’t mention it, doesn’t mean the little ones wouldn’t speak up.

Seeing everyone at the table looking at him with that peculiar expression, Yang Dong had to explain, "Xiaoqiu mentioned Yang Xiaocui’s birthday was coming up. I happened to be in town yesterday and bought a silver hairpin."

Upon hearing this, everyone was even more surprised. The fourth uncle actually bought a silver hairpin for that Yang Xiaocui. It seems he really fancies her.

But Yang Ming’s mother was beaming from ear to ear, feeling that her fourth son was becoming more sensible. "When is that child’s birthday?"

"It’s today."

Old Yang thought that since the marriage was already set and if the two kids could get along well, it wouldn’t be a bad thing. He didn’t want to see his son forced into anything, so this was just right. He said, "Then take it over in a bit, and remember to bring a couple of fish. We can’t go empty-handed for that child’s birthday."

"Got it, Dad."

The family continued eating, but then the children spoke up again. "Grandpa, grandma, let me tell you, Auntie is going to learn to read and write with us."

This immediately shifted everyone’s curiosity to Yang Qiu. Seeing her family’s eyes on her, Yang Qiu had to speak up, "I saw Fourth Brother learning and thought I’d join in too."

But once Yang Qiu started talking, everyone was even more surprised. Since when did Yang Qiu stop speaking softly and start speaking proudly?

The second daughter-in-law couldn’t hold back and asked, "Xiaoqiu, since when did you start learning from your Fourth Brother?"

"Oh, Fourth Brother said that if I go out to discuss business and only speak the local dialect, people might look down on me. I thought I might as well try to improve myself," Yang Qiu explained.

The second daughter-in-law tried to speak up again but was stopped by Old Yang. "Alright, let’s just eat."

Old Yang always felt he owed this daughter a lot since she’d had a tough life growing up. Now that she wanted to do something, the family wouldn’t stop her. Besides, learning to read and write is a good thing, and he certainly wouldn’t object.

He also hoped this daughter could live happily. The little girl was still so young, with a long road ahead. If she wanted to be out in the world, that’s fine, as long as she liked it.

Once everyone heard what Old Yang said, they stopped asking questions and continued to eat in silence, wondering what on earth had gotten into those two siblings.

Xiaoxiao thought it was a good thing that Yang Dong and Yang Qiu were so self-motivated to learn since the family would rely on them in the future.