The young couple enjoyed some intimate time in the private room.
By the time they left, the incident with Su Jia Mo was long forgotten.
Su Xiao Qi waited by the door. After Shen Yun finalized the guarantee arrangements for the provincial examination with his four classmates, they walked down the street side by side.
Having just gone through that experience, both of them were unusually quiet.
The surroundings were filled with noise: the shouts of vendors, the sounds of children chasing each other, and the occasional gust of hot wind blowing against the banners at the street corner.
This made the young couple appear exceptionally serene.
Su Xiao Qi occasionally glanced at Shen Yun, who was a head taller than her.
He was tall and slender, with a straight and dignified posture, sharp and well-defined features.
Dressed in a clean, moon-white, fine cotton long gown, he exuded a handsome aura, a truly pleasing sight.
Every young lady and married woman who passed by couldn't help but steal glances at Shen Yun.
Those who were unmarried felt as if they could stare at him all day, trying to take in enough of his appearance.
Some bolder ones even approached Shen Yun, their purses in hand, eager to throw them...
Su Xiao Qi didn't seem to mind.
To her, this scene was akin to a popular male idol appearing in modern times, with female fans showering him with gifts and flocking around him.
After all, looking at him wouldn't diminish him in any way.
More importantly, in her heart, Shen Yun didn't truly belong to her. He had an official "in-story" partner.
It was just that the timing for their appearance hadn't arrived yet.
As Su Xiao Qi thought this, a slight pang of jealousy surfaced.
However, she deliberately stepped back, pretending not to know Shen Yun, and generously smiled at those who were sneaking glances.
Shen Yun couldn't stand it and thought to himself, "Is this little lady of mine lacking in sense?"
Others were so obviously trying to flirt with him, yet she showed no signs of jealousy.
She even deliberately put distance between them, as if afraid someone would discover they were a couple.
He furrowed his brows and deliberately stopped, allowing Su Xiao Qi to bump into him. He then smoothly put his arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace.
Su Xiao Qi's first instinct was to resist.
But the grip on her waist was surprisingly strong, not at all like the hands of a scholar accustomed to holding a brush.
Recalling how he could kill a wild boar with an ordinary bow and arrow, Su Xiao Qi began to understand what Shen Yun meant by "hiding his strength."
"If you move again, I won't mind..." Shen Yun said, suddenly lowering his head, his thin lips brushing past her cheek.
It seemed unintentional, but it was deliberate.
He was threatening her: if she didn't do as he wished, he would kiss her in front of everyone.
She couldn't bear the consequences.
Su Xiao Qi noticed that the gazes of those around them had changed.
Jealousy, envy, hatred...
Su Xiao Qi cursed inwardly, "Monster, why does a perfectly good man have to be so handsome?"
As Su Xiao Qi grumbled internally, she considered that, setting aside any future plot developments,
being with Shen Yun at this moment felt quite good.
A wave of sweetness washed over her, her face flushed, and her heart pounded erratically.
Suddenly, her ears twitched, and amidst the cacophony, she sharply caught a voice mentioning Shen Yun's name.
"Are you sure our Shen Anshou is asking Wang Tian and Li Yuanjia to vouch for him?"
"It's not that Shen Anshou asked them; they approached Shen Anshou."
"Hmph, who asked whom, I'm telling you..."
The subsequent words were as faint as a mosquito's hum, making it impossible for Su Xiao Qi to hear clearly.
However, the few snippets were enough for her to suspect that someone intended to tamper with Shen Yun's guarantee letter.
Her delicate brows knitted together, and her mind was fixed on one thought: she couldn't let anyone disrupt Shen Yun's provincial examination.
Thinking about the novel's plot, Shen Yun did encounter some setbacks during his provincial examination.
What were they?
Su Xiao Qi pursed her lips and pondered the entire way, but couldn't recall.
It was her fault for reading the novel so haphazardly.
She had skipped directly from his provincial examination to him passing the Jinshi exam.
Su Xiao Qi sighed inwardly, "Never mind, no matter what, I must help him!"
This was a prime opportunity to prove herself!
Before she could think further, Shen Yun led her to the entrance of the supermarket.
Zhao Da You was already waiting by the door, eagerly anticipating their arrival.
After Su Xiao Qi had left him alone at Officer He's residence, he had conveyed Su Xiao Qi's message to Officer He and had even brought the man back to be settled in the back courtyard.
Seeing the young couple approaching from a distance, Zhao Da You hesitated and then cast a pleading look at Su Xiao Qi.
He still remembered Su Xiao Qi's instruction not to reveal that she owned the supermarket.
Not even to her husband.
But now the owner himself had brought someone over; what should he do?
Moreover, Officer He was waiting for her in the back courtyard, sipping tea.
Su Xiao Qi stood at the supermarket entrance, unsure of what to do.
She recalled that she hadn't told Shen Yun where she was going, so how did he know to come here?
She subtly turned her head to look at Shen Yun, and he was also looking at her.
In his deep, dark eyes, there was understanding.
Su Xiao Qi's heart skipped a beat. She strongly suspected that Shen Yun knew everything about her.
All these days, she thought she had kept him in the dark, but she hadn't.
"Uh, you, you knew?"
"Knew what?" Shen Yun raised an eyebrow.
As for her affairs, was there anything he didn't know?
No, there was; her origins.
"Alright, forget I asked." Su Xiao Qi spread her hands and, with a nonchalant air, walked into the shop. Pushing open the back door, she saw Officer He.
Upon seeing her, Officer He hurried forward from a distance, intending to kneel.
Su Xiao Qi quickly supported him, preventing him from kneeling.
However, Officer He still poured out a cascade of thanks.
Finally, it was Su Xiao Qi who suggested they visit the manor together, which stopped his incessant chatter.
It was a mere fifteen-minute carriage ride from the south gate.
The manor was vast, featuring a three-courtyard compound, two hills, and a hundred mu of fields and a hundred mu of land, located on the road from Zhao Family Village to the county town.
It was only five li from the county town.
The manor had horse-drawn carts and ox carts, making transportation very cheap.
Su Xiao Qi was very satisfied and immediately handed over the silver notes worth sixteen hundred taels to Officer He.
His eyes welled up with tears.
The sale of the manor had been a bumpy road; he had initially thought he would be exploited by Su Xiao Fu.
But fortunately, he had met a reasonable scholar's wife.
After the payment was verified, both parties signed the deeds. They returned to the city and registered the transaction at the government office.
The matter was thus settled.
Su Xiao Qi inquired and learned that the manor was currently planted with crops, with no vacant land available at the moment.
Considering her promise to Shen Yun to accompany him to the prefecture city, she couldn't immediately take possession. So, she decided to let it be for now.
Furthermore, she had to spend the next few days compiling a book on planting corn and potatoes with Shen Yun.
Su Xiao Qi was so busy she barely had time to rest.
In addition, people from neighboring villages, seeing the new innovations from Zhao Family Village, came flocking to buy grain seeds.
Previously, they had learned from the Zhao Family Village residents to plant their village's grain seeds, which resulted in a bumper harvest, yielding an extra shi compared to before.
Therefore, upon hearing that Zhao Family Village had new innovations, they came directly to purchase them.
For Su Xiao Qi, this was a huge business opportunity, which she naturally wouldn't miss.
She immediately stocked potato and corn seeds at the supermarket and Chen Jin Ji.
She also appointed Xiao Yi to take charge and open a new shop.
The grain seeds inside were already arranged by Su Xiao Qi; he only needed to receive customers and sell them.
In an instant, the entire Mianzhou City was abuzz.
Everyone learned about the two new grain varieties: potatoes and corn.
They were easier to plant than rice and flour, and their yields were even higher. Not planting them would be foolish.