This time entering the Wen family, the attitude of the Wen family made Zi Qing somewhat unhappy. Rich people can be high above, they can disregard others' feelings and arbitrarily arrange others' destinies. This is also the sense of security that Zi Qing lacks in her heart, so she wants to make herself rich as soon as possible.

  This silver was originally intended to be handed over to Lin Kangping. After two years of tempering, he had become quite familiar with dealing with foreigners and had successfully concluded several business deals. The profits from tea leaves and silk were still considerable, but the problem was that Ziyun's original capital was too small, and she couldn't open her mouth to ask Shen Shi for help. With this silver, Ziyun felt that she could do porcelain business, after all, it wasn't far from Jingdezhen and transportation was very convenient.

  After completing this big thing, Ziqing was at ease at home doing chores. When she had free time, she would either embroider flowers, read books and practice calligraphy, or sometimes when she felt like it, she would saw some nanmu wood blocks to prepare for making a set of nanmu mahjong tiles. However, this time Ziqing didn't rush, treating it as a pastime instead.

  The days passed slowly, and it was already March. On this day, Zeng Rui Xiang came to the house and said that several children in Anzhou City had broken out with smallpox, and he was worried that it would spread to the countryside. He had temporarily closed the school and given them a holiday, telling Shen Shi to take the children and try not to go out as much as possible. This made the whole family anxious, wondering how Zi Fu and the others were doing?

  Who would have thought that just a few days after Zeng Rui-xiang said so, someone in the village got infected, and it was one of the students who had studied at the school. This made Zeng Rui-xiang and Shen Shi extremely anxious. Coincidentally, Zi-lu and Zi-shou also returned home around this time and said that the school would be closed for half a month due to several infections in the county town. Fortunately, Zi-lu's county examination had already been completed.

  Shen's family was frightened after hearing this and said, "Qing'er was locked in the pigpen because of acne that year, and it still hurts to think about it now. Xiaosi mustn't have anything happen to her."

  Zeng Ruixiang comforted his wife, telling her not to panic and to observe carefully. That night, he cleaned up the guest room in the east wing and arranged for Zixi to move there. He also moved Zilu and Zishou to the study in the west wing, fearing that they might infect Ziyu. Shen Shi wanted to take care of them personally, but Ziqing said: "Mother, let me do it instead. I've already had acne, so I won't be infected again. You're busy taking care of the family all day and also need to take care of your sister. Don't tire yourself out anymore. Don't worry, I'll take good care of Little Four."

  "Which way to go? You're still a child. Who knows what other things might happen, your mother can't take it. I'll come instead, after all, I'm older and more resilient."

  Zeng Ruixiang listened and said, "If I must say, you won't be able to either. You're busy all day long, and Yu'er is still young and needs someone to take care of her. Why don't I just accompany him instead? You two shouldn't fight over this."

  "Dad, mom, it's written in the book that once I've had chickenpox, I won't get it again. If you don't believe me, go ask Dr. Zhou. Mom needs to take care of the whole family and dad still has to go out to find work. What if you bring back germs? It would be a hassle. I can stay at home all day, so it's best for me to take care of little four."

  Zeng Ruixiang went to ask Doctor Zhou, and finally agreed that Zi Qing would accompany Zi Xi. So Zi Qing moved into the east wing with him. That night, Zi Xi indeed developed a fever. Zi Qing remembered that she had seen in "Dae Jang Geum" that as long as the rash was brought out, the person would slowly recover, so it's best not to use medicine to suppress it. Doctor Zhou came several times and prescribed some dispersing decoctions and some herbs that Zi Qing didn't recognize. Zi Qing fed them to Zi Xi. All Zi Qing could do was accompany Zi Xi, feed him some light and nutritious food every day, and prevent him from scratching.

  But before two days, Zi Yu was also infected and the two were put together in the east wing. The burden on Zi Qing suddenly became much heavier, her spirit highly tense, she hadn't slept soundly for a long time, physically and mentally exhausted, afraid that something unexpected would happen to Zi Xi or Zi Yu. After several days, she had lost weight. Fortunately, nothing happened to Zi Lu and Zi Shou, according to Shen Shi's tone, it seemed like they had also had some kind of rash before.

  Shen's family came to visit several times a day, with worried hearts. Zeng Ruixiang went out to ask around and found that there were also several children in the town who had come down with smallpox, two of whom had already died. Now everyone outside was panicked, and hardly any children could be seen.

  Shen's family heard that and felt even more anxious. Then Tian's family came over and said they didn't know how the children of Chunyu's family and Xiayu's family were doing, asking Zeng Rui Xiang to go take a look.

  "My daughter, I also have two children infected at home, how can I leave them unattended at this time? If you are really worried, you and your father can take a horse-drawn carriage to go in person. I really can't get away from here. By the way, if you're going, take a trip to Anzhou's brother's house too, I heard that there are the most children with smallpox in Anzhou city, and there is no news of Zifeng either."

  "You don't have to go if you don't want to, but saying all this nonsense, in the past when Zi Qing had acne, wasn't it easily cured? It's not as serious as you're making it out to be."

  "Mother, that's good luck for Qing'er, she's still at home taking care of the two little ones. I can't just abandon them, you think it's not dangerous, why go to your sister's house then?" Zeng Rui Xiang felt a chill in his heart for the first time towards Tian Shi's bias. Last time, he had been disappointed by her meddling when trying to arrange for Da Mao to marry Qing'er, but that was at least for the sake of the Chun Yu family's well-being. This time, however, it was a matter of life and death, with the child's fate uncertain, and Tian Shi actually told him to leave his own children behind and go visit his two sisters' homes. Zeng Rui Xiang felt a chill run down his spine.

  "You, then you'd better stay and take good care of Zi Xi and the others. If anything happens, send us a message." Tian Shi said as she turned to leave, but she couldn't help feeling puzzled - in the past, no matter what she said, her son would always comply, so why was he becoming increasingly disobedient now?

  After Tian left, Shen asked: "You're not going this time, is that okay? I think your mother is a bit angry. Just now you mentioned Zi Fu, and I don't know how he's doing either, it's really worrying. You said other schools all know to give holidays, why are they the only ones still stubbornly holding on, it's really too inhumane."

  "You know what, they don't have holidays, which means their school hasn't been infected, that's a good thing. The management of Bai He Academy is strict in this regard, basically students who go in can't come out until the holiday is over. As for your mother's side, you don't need to worry too much, everything will be fine with me here. It's those few kids who are really worrying."

  Shen listened and finally let out a sigh of relief. In fact, deep down she didn't want Zeng Ruixiang to leave, but it wasn't easy to say that at the moment. She said: "What can you do? You said there weren't any large-scale outbreaks, so why did all our children get infected? Fortunately, there weren't any large-scale outbreaks, or who knows how many more people would have died. Luckily, Doctor Zhou has some special treatments, and out of ten patients, he can cure seven or eight, which is a blessing in disguise."

  After seven or eight days, the acne on Zixi and Ziyu's bodies had mostly healed, leaving many small pockmarks on their faces. Zixi and Ziyu would often say pitifully: "Sister, I'm so itchy."

  Zi Qing had no choice but to put something on their hands and said, "The itchiness must be endured, if you scratch it, it will leave a big scar. Xiao Si, as the older brother and a man, not only do you have to endure it yourself, but also remind your sister to be careful." Zi Qing felt that they were no longer feverish, Zeng Rui Xiang asked Dr. Zhou to take another look and said everything was fine. Shen Shi heard this and hurriedly lit incense in the main hall.

  The sun was plentiful that day, and the weather was very good. Shen said to move Zi Xi and Zi Yu back to the west room of the main house. They were airing bedding in the courtyard, washing sheets and pillowcases. Zi Qing was burning things used by Zi Xi and clothes in the outer courtyard.

  The doorbell rang, and it was Lin Kangping who had arrived. Seeing that it was Zi Qing who opened the door, he looked her up and down and asked, "I heard that there's been an outbreak of smallpox in Anzhou and several children have died. Are you all right? You seem to have lost a lot of weight."

  Ziying said that she had already gotten acne at the age of five, and Lin Kangping heard that it was good. Ziying led Lin Kangping into the house, only to know that Lin Kangping would stay in Anzhou for a month before going to Guangcheng. The foreigner he dealt with was called David, who came to Guangcheng twice a year, once during Dragon Boat Festival and once during Mid-Autumn Festival.

  Zi Qing listened and said: "My little aunt usually does some embroidery when she has nothing to do, but what she often makes is a purse. I've already booked it for you, and when the time comes, you can take one with you. I'll pay nine cents per piece on your behalf, and I think you should make some profit. You won't blame me for being too busy, will you? I just thought this was a win-win situation, so I took the liberty of doing it for you. Do you need anything else? I can find someone in the village to help you collect some?"

  "No need, you've had a long day and look tired. I'll just buy it from the store, unless it's made by relatives, of course." Lin Kangping then handed Zi Qing the bill from last Mid-Autumn Festival.

  Ziying already had 108 taels of silver. Looking at the account, Ziying estimated that each time it was almost a profit of nearly fifty percent, which was quite impressive. Just thinking of telling him that he had a private house with 1,000 taels of silver, but Shen Shi was busy on the side and didn't dare to say anything. Coincidentally, Zeng Rui Xiang came back from the back mountain, carrying a basket of eggs, and saw Lin Kangping looking somewhat surprised.

  Zeng Ruixiang had Shen Shi and Zi Qing prepare dinner, then took Lin Kangping into the study. Both Shen Shi and Zi Qing found it somewhat strange, but neither asked why.

  In the study, Zeng Rui Xiang first politely asked Lin Kang Ping what he had been busy with recently. Then he said: "I heard that your young master is going to be engaged, but he himself is unwilling. You've always been by his side, you should know why."

  "I know, because of Zi Qing, but also Young Master said that he doesn't want to wrong Zi Qing. This is his own one-sided intention, Zi Qing didn't have this thought."

  "I'm well aware of this, but Zhou Zhuangjia has already sent me a message. He's worried that in the future, Old Lady won't be able to control her grandson, and he wants to marry Ziying as a concubine. I absolutely cannot agree to this, so I told Zhou Zhuangjia that we will arrange a marriage for Ziying soon. You can tell Wen Jiajun about it when we find a suitable family, just casually mention it in conversation, you understand what I mean?"

  Lin Kangping suddenly knelt down in front of Zeng Ruixiang, startling him.