After the matters at Liuyuan were handled, Su Xiaoqi generously gifted Madam Xu several gift boxes and asked Shen Yun to have Zhang Lei escort her back to the Princess Consort's mansion. After all, she was now carrying a fortune.
They, along with Ling Yu and Little Magpie, headed towards Shen Yun's western suburban residence. That was where Little Magpie and Du Yiyi had settled the homeless children who had fled during the famine. After months of care, everyone had transformed. From gaunt and undernourished, they had become plump and fair, their clothes clean and new, showing the diligent care of the estate manager and his wife.
Su Xiaoqi gave each child two articles of clothing: a down jacket and a cotton-padded coat. They also received endless amounts of delicious food and drinks. The estate manager couple and all the servants received holiday bonuses. However, due to the special nature of their work, they did not get holiday leave. Su Xiaoqi did promise to pay them double their monthly wages for the month of the New Year.
Su Xiaoqi also prepared generous gifts for the children's three teachers, granting them half a month's leave. She invited them to return after the Lantern Festival and enjoy the lantern displays before resuming their teaching. The teachers were initially delighted by this offer, but then grew worried. They pulled Shen Yun aside, frowning, to express their concerns. Shen Yun comforted them all personally, assuring them, before they accepted the four types of gifts from Su Xiaoqi and the substantial tuition fees, and were sent home by the estate manager's coachman.
Once they departed, Su Xiaoqi leaned closer to Shen Yun and asked, "Husband, what did they say? They seemed quite anxious."
Shen Yun chuckled, "My wife is kind-hearted, wishing them more rest. But they are reluctant. They fear that with more than half a month's break, the children's minds will run wild, making them difficult to manage later."
"Pfft," Su Xiaoqi couldn't help but laugh. She sighed, "Truly, different eras, yet the same teachers. Teachers everywhere worry about their students, fretting endlessly over them."
Shen Yun, hearing Su Xiaoqi's words, couldn't help but smile. He playfully flicked her nose, saying, "Look how happy you are. As a student, you are also quite remiss. You’ve given me, the teacher, quite a headache."
Su Xiaoqi pouted. Shen Yun was clearly referring to her learning painting from him, but their lessons were always interrupted by various events, preventing her from focusing.
Su Xiaoqi feigned helplessness, "Alas, life forces us. With so many businesses and so many affairs, we can't simply ignore them."
Shen Yun naturally understood this. His little wife worked very hard for the family's well-being. Although he had told her multiple times that she didn't need to work so hard, as his business was doing very well now, and she could earn over a hundred thousand taels annually without doing anything, Su Xiaoqi refused to listen. She insisted that if she had the ability to earn money, why shouldn't she? She wasn't without hands or feet. Thus, he only made the comment in passing.
Su Xiaoqi felt deeply, "So, my former teacher was right. Don't talk about love when you should be studying. When it's time to talk about love, you can't concentrate on any books."
Shen Yun heard the unfamiliar three characters, and for some reason, although it was the first time he heard them, he understood. He waved his hand and pulled Su Xiaoqi into his arms, his voice husky as he asked, "My wife, who are you... hmm, in love with?"
"Ah, I, I haven't! I really haven't. I was a well-behaved student back then. Uh, no, I only used to beg at the City God Temple. Where would I have had time to study, or to fall in love?"
Shen Yun playfully bit her lip, "Little girl, still pretending!"
Su Xiaoqi blinked. Of course, she was pretending. Being found out by Shen Yun, her face blushed slightly. To prevent Shen Yun from pursuing the answer further, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Shen Yun, of course, would not miss such an opportunity, and he held her close, kissing her repeatedly. If not for Zhang Yu's cough from outside the carriage, signaling their arrival, Su Xiaoqi's lips might have become swollen.
Su Xiaoqi, her face flushed, lifted the curtain to look at Zhang Yu, who was sitting beside Zhang Dian on the carriage shaft. "Madam, look..." Zhang Yu wasn't intentionally interrupting their affection but had genuinely seen someone that needed to be brought to Su Xiaoqi's attention. Su Xiaoqi looked up and saw that not far ahead was Zhao Xiaohua. She was wearing a bright red mink fur cape and was intimately chatting with someone in front of a teahouse. Upon closer inspection, the person opposite her was a man with a pale complexion and no beard.
Su Xiaoqi frowned. Shen Yun also looked over and whispered, "He's from the Crown Prince's mansion." Su Xiaoqi nodded, signaling Zhang Dian to drive the carriage away, and then whispered, "Let Zhang Yu follow us. Why don't you go follow him and watch the excitement?"
Zhang Dian was speechless. He wanted to say that Zhang Lei was the one who enjoyed excitement. He didn't particularly like it. However, this was a command from his mistress, meaning he should follow and find out what was going on between them. He instinctively nodded, but then remembered something and looked at Shen Yun. He then recalled that his true master was the person in front of him.
Shen Yun waved his hand and said crisciously, "My wife's word is my word." Zhang Dian understood and got off the carriage. Su Xiaoqi noticed he was wearing a thick cotton coat, making him look rather bulky. She then looked at Zhang Yu. Because she was with her, Zhang Yu was wearing the new thermal wool shirt Su Xiaoqi had prepared, with a light down jacket underneath. Over that, she wore her usual snug-fitting jacket. She appeared very neat and tidy, not at all bulky.
Following Shen Yun, especially the rarely seen Zhang Dian and Zhang Feng, she often overlooked them. In fact, even Zhang Lei was not exempt. She felt a pang of regret and instructed Zhang Yu to pick up two cotton coats and light down jackets for them from the Ni Chang workshop later. Zhang Yu smiled and agreed, thinking that her madam had finally remembered her unfortunate companions.
The group first went to "Tian Xia Liang Cang" (Heavenly Granary), where business was as booming as ever. After all, following the previous drought and locust plague, grain had always been in high demand. Su Xiaoqi's shop offered fair prices for grain and never raised them for any reason, giving people a sense of security. Therefore, most people who found it convenient chose to buy grain there.
Su Xiaoqi also introduced many grain varieties and newly unlocked seeds cultivated in her space, such as chili peppers, tomatoes, and cotton, which had been difficult to grow before. There were also many vegetable seeds, which were very popular. Fearing that people wouldn't know how to plant them and would waste seeds, Su Xiaoqi took the time to add the cultivation methods for these seeds to the "Agricultural Manual Notes" she and Shen Yun had compiled. However, Shen Yun drew fewer illustrations this time; Su Xiaoqi mostly did it herself. Although her drawings were not of the highest quality, they were presentable. Su Xiaoqi felt that Shen Yun's comment about her not being diligent was simply due to his high standards.
To Su Xiaoqi's surprise, the book's popularity far exceeded expectations. This was because the book contained many pictures, and ordinary farmers were generally illiterate. They couldn't understand previous agricultural books. But this book had no such barrier. Even if they couldn't read the text, they could look at the pictures, and the meaning was very clear. More importantly, the content was excellent. Following the methods described for planting rice and vegetables, the yield was double that of previous years.
"Tian Xia Liang Cang" was managed by a shopkeeper arranged by He Qiulei. Knowing that Su Xiaoqi was coming to inspect, He Qiulei personally came to organize the account books. From the ledger, it was evident that the shop's income was stable. Although the prices were low, the large volume of business made up for it. Thus, since the shop opened, it had made a profit of forty thousand taels. In He Qiulei's words, it was all hard-earned money. Su Xiaoqi was unfazed and gently replied, "As long as our conscience is clear, that's all that matters."