The Mid-Autumn Festival is over soon, on the 16th of August, Lin Kangping came. Ziqing checked her private house early and found that there was only about five taels of silver left, which was still accumulated by Ziqing after selling several small pieces of embroidery recently. Ziqing thought for half a day and regretted not starting to accumulate her private house earlier.

  Then Zi Qing carefully wrapped the embroidered pouch she had made, and the day before, Zi Qing had asked Shen Shi about it, and it should be worth around ten taels of silver. The two small figures in the painting were both lowering their heads, so you couldn't tell who they were. Zi Qing thought to ask Lin Kangping to take it out to sell, maybe if she sold it to a foreigner, she could get even more silver for it.

  Lin Kangping asked: "Isn't this the first time you've embroidered? Wouldn't it be better to keep it as a memento? Selling it would be such a waste, I guess you originally planned to keep it as a memento too?"

  "Huh, how did you know I wanted to keep it as a memento?" Zi Qing asked, then felt a bit rude, but seeing Lin Kangping didn't get angry, just smiled and continued:

  "Listen to me, after the goods are gone, they can still be embroidered. I'm not willing to part with them either. It's just that in a hurry, I couldn't gather enough silver coins. Here, I have less than five taels of silver, including the money from selling these embroidery pieces. You can buy some tea leaves or small embroidery items and take them to Guangzhou. Foreigners come to our country, mostly to buy these things back home. And there's also porcelain, silk... unfortunately, I don't have that much silver as capital. Or you could directly sell this embroidery piece to foreigners, see if you can get a good price for it? If you have your own silver coins, you can also bring some of these items along and do some business on the side. After all, opportunities like this are hard to come by. And when you're over there, if you find any good jade stones, pick up a few pieces for me. Or if you see those shiny little rocks, you can bring some back too. Or maybe some new and interesting seeds or items, just bring them back."

  "Did you call me over just for this? Why didn't you tell Master directly? Master's connections are vast, he can get whatever you want."

  "What a hassle, it's just a small matter, why make such a big fuss? Can't you help me with that?"

  "But it's no trouble for Young Master either. It's just a word, and I think Young Master would be delighted to have you bother him."

  Zi Qing stared at Lin Kangping for a long time, then asked: "Why are you speaking so hesitantly today? You're being vague and unclear. What do you really mean? If you don't want to say it, just pretend I didn't say anything. Why must you beat around the bush? It's not very manly." Zi Qing finished speaking and was about to turn and leave.

  Lin Kangping suddenly grabbed Zi Qing's hand and then immediately let go, asking: "Why didn't you want the butterfly that Young Master gave you?"

  "You're really acting strange today, why so many questions? Why would I take something that doesn't belong to me for free, especially something as valuable as this? Am I someone who is easily tempted?" Zi Qing asked unhappily.

  Lin Kangping listened with a smile in his eyes and took the purse from Zi Qing's hand. Only then did he ask, "How long have you been saving these few taels of silver?"

  "How did you know it was my own savings? Don't mention it, I've been saving for many years, embroidering pouches and handkerchiefs. Huh, aren't you unwilling? Why did you take it again? Repeatedly, I don't want to force you. Return my pouch."

  Lin Kongping put the purse into his own pocket and gazed at Zi Qingliang for a long time before asking, "Why do you trust me so much?"

  "Who trusted you? I'm not just blindly trusting you, am I? You're being so troublesome, asking this and that. Trust is trust, can't you even be honest with me about these few taels of silver? If luck is on our side, we'll make a profit as soon as we return, at the very least we'll have a 50% gain. Leaving it here would just be a waste. Hurry up and go, don't delay any further. When do you think you can come back?"

  "This is still not good, looking at the smoothness of things, if I can buy jade it would be great. The young master told me to redeem myself, open a household registration, and in my name, open a jade store in the capital city, separate from the Wen family. I will help him manage the business. This opportunity is really rare for me, and I should thank you too. But I don't know if this trip will be smooth or not?"

  "Take heart, it's a matter of human effort. If you can't buy it this time, head southwest, cross the mountain over there, and after crossing the border, you should be able to find the place of origin. However, it's quite dangerous there, so don't go unless absolutely necessary."

  "You can't just go around saying that, if those greedy and suspicious people find out, it'll bring you great trouble. Remember this. Have you told anyone else about this?" Lin Kangping looked at Zi Qing with a tense expression.

  Ziying was startled by his expression and hastily shook her head, saying: "No, I really haven't told anyone, I just saw you looking worried and it slipped out. You shouldn't tell others either, okay? Let's keep it to ourselves. Don't go, I've heard that it's a matter of life and death. When you're outside, remember that nothing is more precious than life."

  "Alright then, let's just keep quiet about it. I promise you, I won't go to that place. I remember what you said. Wait for me, when I come back, I'll definitely come see you."

  Lin Kangping said, "This is your first piece of work, I hope you keep it well. You can still embroider something else to sell, just remember to rest and not strain your eyes for the sake of a few silver coins. If you ruin your eyes, it's not worth it." He then wanted to reach out and stroke her hair, but ultimately restrained himself.

  After seeing Lin Kangping off, Ziying started embroidering flowers. She thought it was still necessary to have some silver money in her own hands, just in case something unexpected happened in the future and she had the means to cope with it. This opportunity to hitch a ride on the wind was too rare, but unfortunately, the capital was really too little. So Ziying asked Zeng Ruixiang to draw a picture of lotus flowers after the rain for her, Shen Shi taught her to draw fine lines and color, Ziying wanted to finish embroidering before the new year, so she worked hard, often leaning on the embroidery frame. Even Shen Shi felt a little surprised, whispering to Zeng Ruixiang, "Our family is not short of silver, what does this child want to do with so much effort?"

  Zeng Ruixiang took a look at Zi Qing, who was diligently working with her head down, and said: "Maybe she wants to buy something new and interesting. Last time she bought that stone, didn't you scold her for it? I think she wants to save up some private money so that next time she sees something she likes, she won't have to ask you for it. Who made you always distrust the child? How about this: from now on, I'll give her some pocket money every month. A girl growing up needs some spending money of her own, and having a little extra cash is convenient. Besides, this kid has ideas and vision, she won't waste it."

  "That's also true, now that you mention it, I think of Zi Ping, that child doesn't know what she's thinking in her heart, if this gets out, it'll ruin her reputation, who knows if she can even get married peacefully in the future. Your older brother and sister-in-law are really worried sick about this now. But there's no way to advise on this matter, things haven't blown up yet, we're still covering it up as fast as we can, we can't go looking for trouble. So, Zi Qing, we have to take good care of her, don't let her go out if nothing's going on, after all, she's getting older year by year, from what I know, she should have a few taels of loose silver in her hands, it's enough for kids like her to spend, what is she thinking?"

  "Don't worry, this child has a good sense of value. A piece of stone costs five taels of silver, what can she do with that little bit of loose silver? Not to mention, the things made from this stone are actually quite nice, and when you wear it on your hand, I think it looks even better than white jade. You shouldn't be too hard on the child either, just pay more attention to her and put in some thought. Zǐ Píng, let's just observe for now, where can we find a suitable person at this time?"

  Shen also nodded in agreement, thinking that she would find an opportunity to ask Zi Qing more questions. Zi Qing, however, was unaware of the doubts her parents had and was eagerly waiting for Lin Kangping's return, wondering how much profit this business could bring and whether it was worth investing a lot of effort into it.

  The days passed quickly and it was already October, the oranges on the tree had turned red early, Ziqing picked some several times, feeling that the taste was okay, there were one or two trees that didn't taste very good, Ziqing also made a note, picked them to eat herself or give away, waiting for leisure time to study grafting techniques.

  The tangerines and oranges that were given to Zhou Zhanggui last time, this time the orange peel is not willing to take out early, and after consulting with Zeng Rui Xiang, it was learned from books that in the north, people generally dig cellars to store food for winter. If these oranges are also stored in the cellar, can they be kept for a longer period of time?

  Zeng Ruixiang remembered that when he traveled north in the past, he had indeed seen northerners digging cellars to store Chinese cabbage and radishes. So he invited Zeng Ruiyu, and the two of them worked together on the mountain for several days, using wooden boards to prevent collapse, and then covered it with straw to prevent moisture. Only then did they put the oranges inside and seal the entrance. Since it was their first time doing this, Ziqing only used half of the oranges, fortunately, this year's orange harvest was not large, just right for experimentation.

  After getting everything ready, winter arrived. This year's winter seems to be particularly cold. The charcoal fire was lit early at home and moved to the first room on the east side of the main house, which is next to Shen Shi's bedroom, where no one lives now. Zi Shou and Zi Xi had already moved to the west wing, only when Zi Fu and Zi Lu returned, did Zi Qing and Zi Yu move back.

  The first snow fell at the end of November, and Ziqing accidentally caught a cold again and had another bout of whooping cough. In the past two years, the family's diet had improved, and they had also drunk some goat's milk, so Ziqing's whooping cough was not as frequent as it was when she was younger. However, every time she started coughing, it seemed to go on forever, leaving her face bright red from holding her breath, as if she were going to cough up her heart and lungs. Ziqing was in a lot of pain, and without modern anti-inflammatory medication, this process dragged on for quite some time.

  Madam Shen watched with a mix of heartache and distress, having worried about this all year round, searching everywhere for remedies. Zi Qing didn't want Madam Shen to be upset, so each time she would cooperate and drink the medicine, feeling utterly miserable.

  On this day, Shen brought out another folk remedy from who-knows-where, saying that this time it would definitely work, and several people had already recovered after taking it. The medicine itself was quite ordinary, and Shen had already prepared the ingredients. However, it required a special ingredient - the root of a broad bean plant that only grew in winter, which made it difficult to find during this cold season. Shen could only search for it everywhere in the village.

  Leaving Zi Qing and Zi Yu to watch the house, the two were just joking around when the doorbell rang. Old Master and Tian came storming over, their faces filled with anger.