What’s the point of pretending to be crazy and foolish when you’re perfectly fine?
Xiao Jinheng smiled faintly, "Your Highness, I'm merely speculating. Besides, even if Miss Fang isn't mad, she poses no threat to the Yun family!"
As long as no one harmed the little village child, he would be at ease.
Emperor Cheng: "..."
It’s always about the Yun family, as if they were your own parents.
The next day, at the Yun family's home.
"Is everything packed? Look at the sky, it seems like it’s going to snow. Get those thicker quilts, and bring more charcoal. Keep the brazier burning hot..."
Gu Shi busied herself, giving instructions.
She tucked in Shangguan Fang'er's clothes and comforted her, "If you feel cold on the road and want to come back, tell Sanman to bring you back. Don't freeze yourself, understand?"
This girl was so thoughtful. Although a bit mad and foolish, Gu Shi knew she had a good heart...
"Mom, you're so kind. When I come back, I'll buy you big meat buns, hehe!" Shangguan Fang'er giggled.
Gu Shi felt touched. "You haven't even married Sanman yet, you should call me Auntie!"
"No, I want to call you Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" Shangguan Fang'er shouted loudly.
Little Xi Tian heard this and smiled, "Mom, if she likes to call you that, let her..."
Seeing how things were developing, Shangguan Fang'er would eventually become the Yun family's daughter-in-law.
Gu Shi smiled, saying nothing.
Old Man Yun, holding his pipe, helped Yun Daman load various dried provisions and pickled vegetable jars into the carriage. "Daman, take good care of Sanman and the others on the road. You're the elder brother, so don't shy away from anything. Step up when you need to!"
"Understood, Father!" Yun Daman replied with a憨憨 smile.
The village chief, carrying a sack of dry grass, walked over curiously. "Oh, where are you all going?"
The village chief raised over a dozen rabbits, and the dry grass was for feeding them...
Rabbits, belonging to the rodent family, reproduce quite rapidly.
Back in the spring, Kong Xingzhuo had caught a pair of young rabbits and gifted them to the village chief, a male and a female.
By winter, the rabbits had grown, giving birth to litters almost every month, and they were kept free-range in the yard.
"Village Chief, welcome!" Old Man Yun smiled, his lips pursed. "Well, Sanman and the others plan to go out and do some business, collect some furs, and they're leaving today..."
"Oh my!" The village chief put down his sack. "When will they be back? I heard the outside world isn't very peaceful. Don't run into any trouble!"
"No, no!" Old Man Yun shook his head.
Their family was blessed by their youngest daughter, so they could overcome any difficulty and turn misfortune into good fortune. Thus, he wasn't worried...
With everything prepared, Yun Daman drove the carriage, carrying Yun Sanman and Shangguan Fang'er, and set off.
Old Man Yun and Gu Shi stood at the village entrance for a long time before sighing and returning home.
Jin Xiaolou had already finished delivering milk and was now playing with the dog with Yun Xiaobao...
Seeing Little Xi Tian enter, Jin Xiaolou quickly took out a pile of loose copper coins and handed them over. "The money for the milk!"
Little Xi Tian carefully counted them and found there were forty extra copper coins. "Huh? Why is there extra?"
Jin Xiaolou scratched his head. "I contacted a few more households, and they also wanted milk, so they paid in advance..."
Little Xi Tian was surprised. "Wow, Brother Xiaolou, you're developing clients now, that's great!"
Even though he was usually quiet and didn't say much, he was surprisingly quick-witted.
"Hehe, it's nothing much. I just knocked on doors and asked if they wanted milk. Over time, more people started drinking milk!" Jin Xiaolou said.
Little Xi Tian patted his shoulder and took out twenty copper coins. "Here, keep this to buy candy..."
This was his reward; one couldn't let someone work for free!
"I, I don't want it!" Jin Xiaolou pushed the copper coins back. "I'm already very grateful to be eating and drinking here for free, so I can't accept money!"
It wasn't that he thought twenty copper coins was a small amount. When he was in his own country, he had plenty of gold, silver, jewelry, and fine silks.
The main reason was that he didn't want Sister Xi Tian to work too hard; saving money wasn't easy...
"Oh, just take it. I'm going back inside!" Little Xi Tian said with a sweet smile and turned to run into the inner room.
Old Man Yun and Gu Shi looked at the copper coins and碎银子 on the table, both shocked.
"Daughter, did you save all this money?" Old Man Yun asked.
Altogether, it was about seven or eight taels. If they relied on farming, this was almost a year and a half of their income...
Little Xi Tian nodded. "Yes, besides selling milk, Young Master Xiao also gave me five taels of silver before. This money is to be kept for my eldest nephew's tuition!"
Yun Jinhe's expenses in the county seat were not small. Although Xiao Jinheng paid for his lodging this year, they couldn't let Xiao Jinheng cover his tuition and next year's rent, could they?
Wouldn't that make them vampires?
Gu Shi took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
Her daughter was so sensible; she didn't know what to say...
"Mommy, why are you crying?" Little Xi Tian crawled into Gu Shi's arms like a kitten and wiped her tears.
Gu Shi smiled and said, "Mom is happy. Keep this money for yourself. Your father and I can afford Jinhe's tuition, so you don't need to worry, daughter!"
If they couldn't afford Yun Jinhe's education, they wouldn't have sent him to Boxian Academy in the first place...
"Yes, daughter!" Old Man Yun also grinned. "We still have a lot of corn and wheat in our granary. If we sell them, we can get this much!"
He held up four fingers, then realizing it was too much, he quickly pressed one down. "This much isn't enough for Jinhe's schooling?"
Seeing this, Little Xi Tian let out a chuckle.
With so many people in the family, they couldn't just sell all that grain. If they sold it all, they'd have to eat the wind...
Helplessly, Little Xi Tian had to put the money into her space and take it out when the family urgently needed money.
Anyway, she delivered milk every day, and her income was relatively stable, so she wouldn't be so poor as to have nothing to eat.
In the east wing room, Du Tieshan folded the washed clothes and asked Yun Erman, "Erman, I heard Sister Suzhen say yesterday that there's a war in the northern border.大哥 and Sanman didn't go towards the northern border this time, did they?"
What if they were conscripted by the soldiers...
Yun Erman shook his head. "The further north you go, the better the fox pelts. I suspect Third Brother definitely went that way!"
"Ah?" Du Tieshan's face paled. "What should we do? Hurry and ride back to call them!"
"Oh my!" Yun Erman picked up the watering can and watered the potted plants on the windowsill. "How unlucky would they have to be to run into soldiers and bandits the moment they leave home?"
That would be incredibly unlucky!
Du Tieshan's heart pounded. Why were her eyelids twitching so much?