Chapter 588: Searching the Whole Village for My Wife

While the four siblings were still exercising in the courtyard to find joy amidst hardship during the winter, their Senior Sister Yue was already sitting by the warm charcoal stove, enjoying the date cake that the Master baked for the Master Father.

"My dear, freshly baked, it’s crispy and crunchy." Liu Ji pinched a piece of freshly baked date cake with his fingertips and brought it to Qin Yao’s mouth.

Qin Yao had already eaten several pieces and was a bit tired of it, so she turned her head away to signal him to take it away and not block her from reading the letter.

"Just take one more bite." Liu Ji persisted, as if Qin Yao taking another bite could make him infinitely happy.

Qin Yao gave him a suspicious glance, Liu Ji’s eyelashes fluttered like two little brushes, looking pitiful, "I worked so hard to bake it, and it’s at its crispiest right now..."

Qin Yao took a deep breath, reluctantly lowered her head and took a small bite to appease him, then immediately pushed Liu Ji’s hand away, "No more, you eat it yourself!"

Liu Ji: "Alright."

He naturally put the piece she pushed back into his mouth, chewing happily and continued humming a little tune he didn’t know where he learned, while baking other date cakes.

Seeing that Yin Le had already finished the one she had, he generously gave her another piece, and the rest were baked first and put on a plate to give the kids at home later.

There was no choice, just a casual remark from him, Mrs. Li made so many date cakes. If he doesn’t hurry to finish them, when his wife comes to her senses, he’ll undoubtedly get another round of nagging.

Qin Yao sniffed the sweet date cake aroma throughout the house, steadied herself, and continued reading the letter from Liu Fei sent from the Capital City.

In the letter, Liu Fei said he had already completed the two tasks she assigned.

The endorsement fee had been successfully delivered to the Princess Mansion, and the location for the Lady’s Box exclusive store had been decided, leaving now only the store decoration.

To avoid delaying the store opening, he won’t be back home for the New Year, asking Qin Yao to inform everyone in the old house so that his parents and siblings won’t wait for him.

Also, the payment for the newly sent 100 Lady’s Box items to the Capital City had been sent to the Prefecture with the Fulong Trading Company’s cargo ship, and Jiang Wen the shopkeeper will personally deliver the silver coin to Qin Yao shortly.

At the end of the letter, Liu Fei mentioned he left an extra one thousand taels of silver in the Capital City in case of unexpected needs and requested the third sister-in-law not to blame him for taking the initiative.

Not knowing when, Liu Ji sneaked over and upon seeing this sentence, his eyes widened, Fourth, you kid have some guts!

Secretly raising his eyes to observe Qin Yao’s expression, surprisingly she’s smiling?

Liu Ji quietly made a dismissive sound, not expressing the imbalance in his heart!

After finishing reading the letter, Qin Yao felt deeply gratified.

Liu Fei, that kid, does have some ability. The two tasks she assigned are not easy to accomplish well.

The matter of delivering the endorsement fee to the Princess Mansion, if not handled well, not only would the money fail to be delivered, but lives might also be lost.

Just finding an aboveboard reason to send benefits to someone as important as a princess would waste countless strategists’ brain cells.

Thinking about it, Qin Yao asked Liu Ji to bring pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and she dictated for him to write a letter of encouragement and thanks to Liu Fei, telling the young man to go ahead boldly.

On the day the letter was handed over to the convoy for delivery, Jiang Wen came to deliver the silver.

Because Liu Fei had already deducted the endorsement fee to be sent to the Princess Mansion, and on top of the one thousand taels he temporarily withheld, Jiang Wen brought a total of 5,500 taels of silver notes.

After deducting costs and various dividends, Qin Yao was left with 4,000 taels.

Suddenly, Qin Yao’s hand had accumulated a total of 6,736 taels.

Overnight, she became a newly rich household in Kaiyang County.

Such a large sum of silver would have dazzled and confused another person, but Qin Yao remained largely unemotional.

It’s the year-end, with silver coins from various places still waiting for settlement, Jiang Wen didn’t have much time to stay; after delivering the money and confirming the matters related to new items in the exclusive store, he stayed only one night and left the next morning.

As soon as Jiang Wen left, Qin Yao also began to get busy, handing out bonuses to workers, distributing dividends to villagers, paying taxes at the county town, and handling leftover public affairs accumulated over the year in the village.

This family’s land needs to be exchanged with another, and she not only has to witness the exchange immediately but also take the exchanged land deeds to the village chief for registration, preparing for next year’s tax collection.

It’s the year-end, everyone is busy, and friction is inevitable. The village head still has to go over and mediate.

Or maybe that couple fought, this old lady embraced someone else’s chicken wrongly, involving emotions and property, making Qin Yao wish she could split herself into two roles, both psychiatrist and judge.

Qin Yao leaves home before the sky is light every day and only returns when it’s fully dark. Liu Ji doesn’t even know where she eats breakfast and lunch, and when it’s dinner time, he searches the whole village for his wife, which has become the biggest source of amusement for villagers during this period at year’s end.

When they see Liu Ji still wandering in the village after dark, villagers jestingly ask, "Mr. Scholar, are you going to find your village head for dinner again?"

Liu Ji keeps a cold face, pridefully hums, and can’t be bothered to respond.

If encountering someone joking excessively, he directly pulls out a shoe sole and smacks them, reminding them that even though Liu San has become a scholar, he’s still the same rascal, shutting them up instantly.

"Then let’s discuss it after the New Year, Village Head, take care on the road."

Qin Yao nodded, coming out from Liu Dafu’s house, all matters arranged, thinking she can sleep in naturally tomorrow, making her steps light.

It’s already completely dark; Qin Yao has strong night vision and refused the lantern offered by Liu Dafu’s family, using the dim moonlight from today to walk home.

A sudden orange light appeared ahead, accompanied by Liu Ji’s surprised voice, "My dear, so you were here, I searched so hard!"

Qin Yao frowned, "Didn’t I tell you not to come, why did you still come?"

"The thing is, it’s dark, and I’m afraid you won’t see your way home." Liu Ji cursed inwardly about being unappreciated, yet his body truthfully moved forward, holding the lantern to illuminate her way.

Qin Yao raised her eyebrow without saying anything further, and they silently walked side by side toward home.

Halfway through, Liu Ji couldn’t hold back and started talking about how the family would celebrate the New Year this year, what things they should buy at the market in a few days, muttering without caring if she’s listening.

Qin Yao didn’t find it annoying either; she listened if she wanted and glanced at the lights turning on in the night if she didn’t.

At the doorstep, Liu Ji asked Qin Yao, "This year, both sides celebrate the New Year together?"

"For years we’ve seemed to have celebrated separately; recently I’ve been having nightmares, suddenly thinking if my father passes away accidentally next year, and I, as his son, never let him enjoy a day of blessing, it seems a bit inhuman."

Liu Ji muttered, "In retrospect, it’s thanks to the old man’s determination against all odds back then, scraping his savings to send me to the academy. Although I didn’t learn much, if it weren’t for the old man’s initiative, I wouldn’t have what I have today..."

Qin Yao stared at him ghost-like for several seconds, confirming it’s indeed him, and mockingly said, "Suddenly being filial, it’s a bit hard for me to adjust."

Liu Ji blew out the lantern, hung it on a hook by the door, turned around with what he thought was a dashing stroke of his hair, "People, after all, do change~"