After seeing off Zi Fu, the days flew quickly into August. Xia Yu's fetus was stable and she needed to return to her husband's home for delivery. Although there were still several months until the due date, it would be increasingly unsafe later on. Giving birth at her natal home was absolutely unacceptable, so she decided to go back home and spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with her husband.

  Shen's family found out and sent over some eggs, dried fruits, and several pieces of cloth. They also gave her two sheepskins to make a fur coat for her confinement, reminding her not to catch cold. They said they would visit again during the winter solstice to give her gifts for her new baby. Shen's family even hired a donkey cart to send Zeng Ruixiang off, which moved Liang Tian's wife to tears.

  After Xia Yu walked away, Shen thought that she might as well take advantage of the holiday to go to the city and buy some things to prepare for the festival. After thinking for a moment, Shen ordered Zi Qing to pick up a basket of eggs and asked her to see Zhou Shi.

  "Mother, since Father and Mother have treated us like this, what's the point of caring about her?"

  "Do you think Mother wants to go? It's just a matter of courtesy, and it's not worth making a fuss over nothing. Don't let them pick on her."

  Zi Qing also wants to go, Zi Qing wants to see if Master Li's jade bangle is done.

  Ziying picked up the basket of eggs, changed her clothes, and just then the doorbell rang. To her surprise, it was Lin Kangping and Wen San, two men. Wen San saw Ziying's outfit and knew she was going out.

  They had come specifically to deliver the jade bangle, which Li Shifu had spent a month making. The result was quite good, and Li Shifu was delighted, telling Wen San that this green jade was even harder than white jade, with a moist and luminous color, definitely top-grade. Wen San's mind was stirred by this, as the family business was controlled by several houses, and he himself wasn't the eldest son, so future prospects were uncertain. It would be better to seize this opportunity to do green jade business on his own, get a head start, and surely make a fortune. That's why he had come over this time to ask Zi Qing about some things.

  "Go, don't you believe me? You're in a hurry again?" Zi Qing still remembered the grudge.

  "What a fine day! I'd be blind if I didn't appreciate it." Wen San said with a smile.

  "Qing'er is also someone you can call? I just don't understand. Your family has so much money, why are you still thinking of ways to save money, aren't you tired?"

  "You don't understand our family's affairs. Anyway, this is my own personal matter and has nothing to do with the Wen family. Will you help or not?" Wen San's expression at this time was no longer that of a kind-hearted young man, but had a few hints of unconscious sharpness.

  "Help, but aren't you supposed to be studying? Where do you have the time to care about these things? Besides, doesn't your family's business do everything? Not to mention the big things, even small things like our family's watermelons, chickens, and sweet potatoes, shouldn't they be looked down upon?" Zi Qing asked, revealing her inner doubts.

  "Silly girl, your family's watermelon was on the market early and was quite rare, it was used to send some to the provinces and Beijing. Later, when your family had more watermelons, they sold a portion of them in the capital city. Your family's chicken meat is also delicious, but it was only for eating at home and giving as gifts. The sweet potatoes were just something that could be easily sold at the general store. Of course, I couldn't go out myself. Kangping will help me take care of everything, there are always two people under my command, this time they will also wait until after Mid-Autumn Festival to go out and explore." Wen San explained.

  Zi Qing listened and explained the origin of the jade. Yue City is the only open port in this country, and there are many foreign ships at the dock. As long as someone buys it for a long time, there will definitely be people who sell it for profit.

  Zi Qingzheng and Wen San were talking, when Shen Shi picked up something and led out Zi Yu, asking: "Why didn't you invite the guest in? I thought you were doing what? Not entering the house for half a day."

  "Mother, let's just take their carriage to the city, shall we? Mother, look, I'm giving you this jade bangle, isn't it beautiful?" Zi Qing held out the bangle in front of Shen Shi.

  Shen took it and held it up against the sunlight, saying: "It's really beautiful, if only it were jade."

  Ziying let Shen's mother get on the car while saying: "Mother, this is actually a type of jade called feicui. The red one is called fei and the green one is called cui. It's a green jade. You see, there are white jade, red jade, and ink jade, right? This is just a green-colored jade. Although it's not produced in our country, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. You can't deny that it's also a type of jade. How to put it... it's like raising chickens. Chicken feathers have black, red, white, and mottled colors, and there are also green ones. Just because the chicken feathers are green, you can't say they're not from a chicken." As soon as Ziying finished speaking, she heard loud laughter. Who else but Wensan was grinning? Lin Kangping was also smiling with his mouth open.

  "Alright, showing off again, aren't you? Just making a fool of yourself."

  Wen San quickly said: "Auntie Zeng, I'm not laughing at you. I just found it funny and laughed, there's no malice in my heart, you must believe me."

  A few people chatted and laughed, and soon they arrived at the entrance of the Zhou family's alley. Wen San originally wanted to come pick them up, but Zi Qing politely declined and told Lin Kangping to come over before leaving for a distant trip.

  Shen held Zi Yu, while Zi Qing carried a basket, and they entered the small courtyard where Zhou lived. Zhou was busy sorting and packing things, scolding as she worked, "You accursed short-lived thing, how can you be so muddled? Your mother said you're already so old, how could you do such a thing? If I hadn't stopped him, your father would have broken your legs for sure! My life is truly bitter, you heartless short-lived thing, aren't you stabbing your mother's heart with a needle?"

  Zi Ping stood beside Zi He, seemingly angry, without responding, her eyes still red. Shen Shi saw this and asked: "Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Are you planning to move back home?"

  Zhou's eyes reddened after hearing this, and she wiped away tears, asking Shen to help her. She said they would hire a carriage and leave today, and Zeng Ruqing would leave as soon as he finished his shift.

  Shen saw the situation and didn't ask much, just helped sort and pack things. Zi Qing saw this and knew that something big must have happened, and it wasn't good. It seemed to be related to her previous guesses, but unfortunately, she couldn't ask about it. After Shen finished packing, he took the child and bid farewell.

  Back home, Shen's family deliberated for half a day, feeling very uneasy, but this matter couldn't be discussed with others, after all, the reputation of the young lady's family was quite important. Unexpectedly, two days later, Zhou's family came to visit, and Zhou cried to Shen in the house, it turned out that Zi Ping had indeed gotten into trouble. She and the man next door were alone in the house when they were discovered by his wife who had returned home, causing a commotion, only then did Zhou realize her mistake, she had always thought her daughter was next door studying needlework properly, who would have thought it was this situation, it's better to move away earlier.

  "Brother and sister, my sister-in-law regrets it now. She used to advise me, saying that as the girl grows up, I should keep a closer eye on her. How could I be so muddle-headed? Why didn't I listen to your words back then? If only I had listened to you back then, we would have moved away from that haunted place long ago."

  When Ziqing entered the house, she heard Mrs. Zhou crying and saying: "That child is like a ghost grabbing her feet, running to the neighboring wall as soon as she sees the sky. At first, I was quite happy, thinking that this child had fallen in love with embroidery. There's not much to do at home, and when we were young, we had enough bitter days at home. You know, it's either feeding pigs or going up the mountain to cut firewood, it's easy to get to the city quickly. I didn't restrain her. Later, I saw that she was really too frequent in going out, and I asked her one or two questions, but she became impatient and said that doing needlework, embroidery, looking at patterns, etc., were all deceiving me. This is also too outrageous. That man is more than ten years older than Ziqing, I couldn't have imagined it, sister-in-law, what should I do? Your brother beat her once, but it didn't work, this child is really too foolish, how could she not know that the reputation of a girl's family would be ruined, and how could she get married? For now, we can only think about quickly marrying her off to settle the matter. The Liu family you mentioned last time, I think they're okay, or else you can go run an errand again."

  Shen was getting a headache and had to advise, "Elder sister, you should take good care of yourself for the sake of the child in your womb. As for Liu Dajie's family, so much time has passed, perhaps they have already found someone else. Besides, when they first asked to marry, we didn't agree, now if we were to rush over there, it wouldn't be the same thing. If someone with good intentions were to ask around, they would know that their house is not far from yours."

  Mrs. Zhou thought for a moment and indeed it was so, then she cried and begged Mrs. Shen to go ask around who had a suitable man, Mrs. Shen was really in a difficult position, her mind had long been made up not to interfere with this matter, but at the moment it wasn't good to say it directly, so she just responded vaguely. Zi Qing saw this, went out of the door, then shouted "mother", Mrs. Zhou seeing Zi Qing come back didn't dare to stay for a long time, got up and bid farewell.

  After Zhou left, Shen thought of something and stared at Zi Qing for a long time. Zi Qing touched her own face and asked: "Mother, what's wrong with you? Why are you staring at me?"

  "Shen sighed and said, 'A girl, if she takes a wrong step, her whole life will be ruined. Mother is worried about you, don't take the wrong path. Whatever happens, tell mother, this life isn't just about having money, some families look good on the surface but inside they're not as good as we think. Marriage has always been about matching social status, it's not unreasonable. You're still young and don't understand some things yet, remember one thing, never envy other people's wealth.'"

  "Daughter, don't worry. If I want money, I'll go earn it myself. When have I ever envied other people's things? You've known since you were a child that no matter how good someone else's things are, if they're not yours, you can't have them. Didn't you already tell Mother about Ping's situation? She didn't listen, and there's nothing we can do."

  In a few days, Shen went to the old house to deliver the Mid-Autumn Festival gift and heard that Zhou had been looking for a matchmaker for Zi Ping recently. For the time being, there was no satisfactory one. Shen thought for a moment and asked: "I don't know what kind of family my sister-in-law wants to find? In my opinion, it's better to discuss with Zi Ping first, otherwise, if this side is settled but the child doesn't want to marry, it will be troublesome."

  "What you said makes sense, I'll ask her when I get back. After raising her for over ten years with great difficulty, we should at least find a family that is well-off and has an honest person. As a mother, isn't this what I'm thinking? I don't want my child to suffer. Zihe is still young, and the one in my belly, I don't even know if it's a boy or girl yet. How much can I help Zixi? Your elder brother only gives us ten taels of silver per year." Zhou Shi said, then picked up her handkerchief to wipe away tears again.

  The Shen family could only use other words to comfort her, and after a brief pause, she bid farewell and left.