The next morning, Ziyin packed her clothes and ordered the maids to tidy up the furniture in each room and make an inventory. Lin Kangping took a servant to repair and inspect the carriage. Later, he took Wang Tieshan to Anzhou to sell all the capons over four catties and bought back some dried fruits and pastries.

  When Lin Kangping returned, Zi Qing was busy for the whole morning, tired to the point of shouting waist pain, and hastily ate something. The two went to the old house first, bid farewell to Old Master and Tian Shi, and sent some New Year's gifts. The Zhou family and the Qiu Yu family were all there. Lin Kangping gave Old Master and Tian Shi one silver ingot each, worth five coins. When Tian Shi saw the silver, the smile on his face was much more sincere. He held Lin Kangping's hand and exhorted him for a long time. Unfortunately, the smile on Lin Kangping's face did not reach his eyes.

  "Father, mother, this year's New Year's gift from Ziqing is quite generous, and the two silver coins will make your expenses more comfortable. In my opinion, these few grandchildren are all promising, each giving one or two silver coins as gifts, which is enough for father and mother's annual expenses. Why bother coming to us and making things difficult? Next year, we can just give some grain instead. Considering Ziqing's face, let's save a few coins."

  Lin Kongping immediately stood up and said: "Grandpa Grandma, we still have a lot of things to pack, so we won't sit down. We'll take our leave first."

  The old man glared at Zhou Shi and stood up. Zi Qing and the others had already walked to the door. Qiu Yu shouted: "Zi Qing, buy more beautiful hair accessories and other small things for Xiao Gu, she likes them."

  Ziying hastily responded and came out of the old house, and the two returned to Ziying's maternal home. Ziying handed over the task of raising watermelon seedlings to Shen Shi. Recently, Shen Shi had just finished busy with Ziying's big wedding and then rushed into Chen Shi's childbirth preparation, being so busy that she was dizzy. All the New Year's affairs were handed over to Liu Shi, the eldest daughter-in-law, to take care of. Now hearing that Ziying is going to leave, her eyes quickly turned red, after all, she had grown up like this. Ziying had never left her before, except for that time when Ziying accompanied Zifeng to Changzhou for the imperial examination.

  Shen's mother held Zi Qing's hand and carefully instructed her. Be careful all the way, don't overwork yourself when you arrive in the north. She was also worried that Zi Qing would not adapt to the cold and food there, and was concerned that Zi Qing would not get along with the Lin family, in short, she had endless maternal concerns.

  Zeng Ruixiang didn't nag like Shen, but Zi Qing knew he was reluctant to part with them. He walked forward and hugged the two of them, comforting them by saying: "Dad, Mom, don't worry, I'll take good care of myself. Besides, everything is still under control with Kang Ping around. After Clear Brightness Festival, it's only a couple more months before we return. When Big Brother arrives in the capital, maybe we can even meet up again."

  "We'll probably enter the capital around January 25th or 26th, you can just come to our home then. Kangping knows where we're staying." Zifeng said. It was also hard for him to part with his family, having traveled thousands of miles back home, only to have to separate again in a few days.

  Chen gave Zi Qing some pastries and said, "It's the second sister's intention, so just make do with whether it tastes good or not. We made them ourselves, don't worry."

  "Sister, now that you're gone, the house isn't lively anymore. You'd better come back soon! And brother-in-law, didn't you give out the New Year's red envelopes already? This year you two got married, it's different now, you should take the initiative." Zi Xi said, bringing laughter from everyone.

  "Xiao Si, you're reluctant to part with your sister and brother-in-law's money, aren't you?" Liu heard this and smiled, still holding little Yonglian in her arms.

  "You still want hongbao money? On our wedding night, you were the one who made a big fuss about the bridal chamber, and now you're taking it out on me? No way." Zi Qing said.

  "Brother-in-law, say something fair. If I didn't take your face into account, why would I bother with so much effort? Everything I do has a meaning behind it. I haven't even started to really trick people yet. Brother-in-law, how about that 'till death do us part' thing? I racked my brains to come up with that one. Is the tangerine sweet or not? Is sugar sweet or not? Is my sister's mouth sweet or not?"

  "Good, sweet, can't be sweet?" Lin Kangping hastily replied, and by the time he heard the last sentence clearly, it was too late to change his words. Amidst everyone's laughter, even Lin Kangping couldn't hold back, and his face turned red. Zi Qing had already caught up with him and taken away Zi Xi.

  "Hey, hey, you're already married, I don't know what's going on, brother-in-law, hurry up and take her away, teach her a lesson and bring her back, or else if she gets hurt, don't blame me." Zi Xi shouted.

  "Chou Xiao Si, you just wait, give the New Year's money to San Shuang Fen, and watch what happens." Zi Qing said on purpose without taking advantage of Zi Xi.

  "Xiao Si can rest assured, San Ge I'm still very generous, will definitely give you a share. As for how much, that's not certain." Zi Rong said.

  "This house would be really out of place without Qing'er, you see, yesterday's laughter at home wasn't as much as today's. If I were to say it, Qing'er might as well wait until after the New Year and set off with us together." Zi Fu sighed.

  "Alright, it's reasonable. Qing'er should go this time too, after all, she is a member of the Kangping family and has been supporting Kangping for many years. You must treat her with reason and sincerity, absolutely cannot be rash." Zeng Ruixiang said to Zi Qing.

  Lin Kangping and Zi Qing hurriedly agreed, this commotion dispelled some of the sadness of parting. Lin Kangping gave each of Zi Shou, Zi Xi, Zi Yu and Yong Lian two five-cash Mei flower silver ingots. Delighted, Zi Xi quickly flattered Lin Kangping and then turned to Zi Fu and Zi Lu, saying: "Elder brothers, take note, you should also follow your sister's husband's example, don't think about just giving us a few copper coins to get rid of us."

  Before leaving, Zi Qing picked up a set of small quilts and some oranges to eat on the road from her mother's house, as well as several sets of old cotton clothes. The two stayed at the Zeng family's home for dinner, and since they were leaving early the next day, Shen Shi sent them back home early after dinner.

  On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Ziying was still in a daze when Lin Kangping had already dressed and put everything on the carriage. He then called Ziying to get up, change into casual old clothes, wash up, have breakfast, and set off with Lin Kangping leading the way. Lin An drove the carriage while Lin Fu stayed behind to guard the house. The two maidservants did not accompany Ziying, but were left behind to watch the house after being carefully instructed. Wang Tieshan's family had also moved into Qingyuan to live, and they would often go out early and return late, running back and forth between the two places. Lin Kangping arranged for them to stay in the inverted seat, while Xiaoqing and Xiaolan moved into the main house in the inner courtyard to guard the house.

  The space in the carriage was not small, but unfortunately there were a lot of luggage, and Zi Qing could sleep reclined. In addition to the fire basket, Lin Kangping had also prepared a small hand warmer for her, made of purple copper, with a diameter of only about ten centimeters, which he had bought for Zi Qing in the capital two years ago. It was very convenient to hold in his hands, but Zi Qing didn't use it often. This time, Lin Kangping was actually thinking for her.

  At first, Ziqing was still immersed in excitement, after all, she had never been to the north for two lifetimes, so she didn't think it was hard at all. However, half a day passed, and after having lunch, Ziqing started to get restless. There wasn't much good scenery outside the car either, everywhere was gray and hazy, occasionally you could see some greenery, it was really quite boring.

  Lin Kangping had no choice but to hold her, handing over a bag of dried longan, slowly peeling and feeding it to her. The two went back and forth, eating the longan and then kissing each other's lips. The temperature in the car suddenly rose, and the two were newlyweds, especially Lin Kangping, who quickly lost control. He held onto Zi Qing tightly and kissed her wildly, his other hand already inside Zi Qing's skirt, unbuttoning her pants. He sat down on his lap with Zi Qing's legs spread apart, but Zi Qing didn't have the strength to resist, nor did she dare to make a loud noise for fear of being heard by Lin An outside. So, she could only submit to his advances.

  The jolting of the carriage increased the excitement of the two people. Zi Qing, in order not to cry out loud, could only bite tightly onto Lin Kangping's shoulder. Lin Kangping held Zi Qing tightly, as if he wanted to press her into his own flesh and blood. The two were exhilarated, and Zi Qing was also exhausted. She hastily tidied up a bit, then lay down in Lin Kangping's arms and fell asleep.

  It was almost dark when they had passed Changzhou, Lin Kangping found an inn in a small town outside the city of Changzhou to stay for the night. In order to hurry up and cover more distance, Lin Kangping only looked for accommodation after leaving the city of Changzhou. Zi Qing was both tired and hungry, so he hastily ate his dinner, washed up and went to sleep.

  All the way, Lin Kangping savored the pleasure, holding Zi Qing and changing positions to his heart's content. Zi Qing was worried that Lin An outside would hear the noise, feeling ashamed and uneasy, yet she didn't dare push him away with force, fearing it would make an even bigger commotion.

  Lin Kongping whispered into Zi Qing's ear, "Qing'er, I'm doing this for your own good. You see, every time we're done, you can take a nap and when you wake up, we can have some fun together. This way, the journey won't be so tiring for you either. At night, you'll also be able to sleep soundly. Don't worry, even if he finds out, he can only pretend not to know. Besides, we didn't make any noise, look at my shoulder, it's all bruised from your biting. Good Qing'er, just go along with me, or else I'll save some energy for tonight and really take you on a wild ride."

  Ziying's face immediately turned red, delicate as a flower, her eyes shining like water. Lin Kangping couldn't hold back anymore and quickly pulled her into his arms, kissing her wildly until Ziying's entire body went limp and weak, letting him do as he pleased.

  All the way, they walked and stopped, the further north they went, the more difficult the road became, fortunately Lin Kangping had many years of experience running outside, so he was able to guide Zi Qing steadily along the way. Finally, on the afternoon of the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, they arrived at Lin Kangping's hometown, a remote village outside Beijing. Lin Kangping was nervous about returning home, and Zi Qing was anxious about meeting her new in-laws, so the two of them lingered outside the village for a while before sending Lin An back to Beijing, agreeing to come back on the 14th day of the first lunar month to pick them up.

  The two of them were still wearing their old cotton-padded jackets, and because it was cold, they had put on a sheepskin jacket over them. Along the way, Ziqing only wore her grandmother's jade bangle and a simple silver hairpin, and hadn't worn any other accessories. Ziqing thought for a moment, opened her bundle, picked out a pair of silver bangles to wear, just in case there was someone who took a liking to them, she could give them as a gift, and directly take them off from her hands, how convenient this was something Ziqing had seen on TV.

  "Do I look like a rustic farmer's wife? Am I ugly?"

  Lin Kangping smiled and walked up to help Zi Qing tidy her hair, saying: "Don't worry, my wife is always beautiful. I won't let you suffer any grievances. If they make things too difficult for us, we'll leave immediately and go back to the capital to spend New Year's."

  Ziying felt a warmth in her heart after hearing that, and she placed her hand on top of Lin Kangping's large palm, following him forward with peace of mind.