A strong farm girl is busy getting rich

In Shen Qingqian's opinion, Zhou Susu has a good background, a good family background, and a good relationship with Yang Zhi, but even so, she cannot be with her husband for the rest of her life.

What's more, it's her? The gap between her and Zhao Yichen is even bigger than the gap between Yingzi and Chen Shijun! The ending is predictable.

Shen Qingqian knew that she liked Zhao Yichen a little, but could liking him be a meal? Earning money steadily was the bottom line.

On the way back to the inn from Yang's house, Shen Qingqian had already thought it through clearly.

She and Zhao Yichen only created a little spark, and as long as they didn't meet often, that spark would slowly die out and eventually return to dullness.

So she decided not to go look for Zhao Yichen in the afternoon and went home after lunch.

But she seemed to have forgotten that Zhiqing and Zhizhu were Zhao Yichen's men. The news of her coming to the capital was passed back to the Fifth Prince's Mansion by them last night.

Unfortunately, Zhao Yichen was not in the capital these two days. He was out on errands. Otherwise, if he knew Shen Qingqian was here, he would have come to find her a long time ago!

Shen Qingqian also thought about Zhiqing and Zhizhu. Since she had come to Beijing, should she return them to Zhao Yichen?

Before, she accepted Zhao Yichen's kindness to her because she was ready to accept Zhao Yichen as a person. But now, she didn't plan to continue the relationship with Zhao Yichen, could she still accept this kindness with peace of mind?

But on second thought, it didn't seem appropriate to send the person back without saying anything.

I have to say that women always think too much when facing emotional problems.

Shen Qingqian sighed and said, forget it, let’s leave it like this for now!

On the way back, Zhiqing and Zhizhu took the initiative to take on the job of driving the carriage, while Yingzi and Shen Qingqian sat in the carriage.

They stopped at Huanggang Town again at night. The next day, less than an hour after they set out from Huanggang Town, it started to rain.

It is chilly in spring and the rainy weather is still relatively cold.

Although the rain is not heavy, it doesn't seem to be stopping and it seems like it will continue to rain for the whole day!

Gradually, the road became muddy and the carriage's progress slowed down.

Shen Qingqian instructed: "Zhiqing Zhizhu, if you come across a place to rest, take shelter from the rain first and leave after the rain stops."

"Yes, ma'am."

The educated youth Zhizhu agreed.

After walking for about another half an hour, the educated youth said, "Miss, there is a dilapidated temple ahead. Should we go in?"

Shen Qingqian lifted the curtain and took a look. This dilapidated temple was quite large and had not collapsed, so he said, "Let's go in!"

"Okay, miss."

The educated youth whipped the horse whip and the carriage headed towards the dilapidated temple.

Soon, the carriage stopped at the gate of the dilapidated temple. Zhizhu went in first to take a look. There was no one inside and nothing unusual, so he let the others go in together.

The dilapidated temple can only block the rain but not the wind. The rain hitting the window frames did not make much noise, but the cold air kept drilling in.

There was a basket of coal in Shen Qingqian's carriage, which was a sample she showed to others, and it would come in handy now.

Yingzi found some dry firewood in the dilapidated temple and lit it. When it burned vigorously, she put a few pieces of coal on it, and the temple soon became warm.

At this time, sparse footsteps were heard outside again, as if someone else had come, and there were quite a few people.

In this kind of weather, it was normal for pedestrians to come in to take shelter from the rain, and the four girls didn't pay much attention to it.

But what they didn't expect was that there were seven or eight soldiers and a dozen women with shackles on their hands. The women were of different ages, some were in their thirties, and some were little girls of eleven or twelve years old.

The dilapidated temple that was empty just now suddenly seemed crowded.

The officers and soldiers glanced at Shen Qingqian and the others, put the dripping umbrellas at the door, and then sat on the other side to rest.

The women were soaked, their messy hair stuck to their cheeks, and water was still dripping from the ends of their hair.

They all had dull looks in their eyes and sat huddled together.

The atmosphere was a bit depressing. Shen Qingqian looked outside. It was still raining. The raindrops were not big, but dense, like countless silk threads hanging down to the ground. The sky was gray, making people feel inexplicably depressed.

Yingzi whispered in Shen Qingqian's ear: "Miss, their clothes are all wet, can we let them come over here and warm themselves by the fire?"

Shen Qingqian turned around to look and said, "Probably not. Let's not create any complications."

"Oh!"

Just when Yingzi was disappointed, Shen Qingqian said, "But you can build another fire next to them. The ruined temple doesn't belong to anyone, and no one can tell us where we build a fire."

Yingzi's eyes lit up and she said, "This is a good idea. The girl is really smart!"

Soon, Yingzi lit another fire in front of the women.

As expected, the officers and soldiers did not say anything, because they would also benefit from the fire being close to them.

The women didn't say anything, but they looked at Yingzi with deep gratitude. The two young girls moved to the side, making room for a woman to sit in the front.

After an unknown amount of time, Shen Qingqian felt a little hungry and guessed that it was time for lunch.

An officer stood up, opened the shackles on the women's hands, and said, "I'll give you a quarter of an hour to eat, and then I'll put them back on after a quarter of an hour."

The women first rubbed their red and numb wrists, then took out a few cakes from their bags.

But the cake was wet from the rain and became sticky, so most of it was inedible.

However, they still shared the food among themselves to ensure that everyone could have a bite.

The officers and soldiers also took out their dry food and started eating. They ate meat buns, which were well preserved and not wet by the rain.

A short soldier suggested to the leading soldier: "Brother, we don't know when the rain will stop. We probably won't be able to leave in the afternoon. How about we have something to drink?"

The leading officer said, "Okay, drink some to warm yourself up!"

So the short soldier took out some wine, and several people sat in a circle and started eating and drinking.

Shen Qingqian was already hungry, and when she saw others eating, she became even hungrier, so she asked Yingzi to get food from the carriage.

Yingzi came back with the braised beef and snacks and said, "Girl, next time we go out, we should bring a small pot and some millet so that we can make porridge."

Shen Qingqian agreed: "You are right!"

The officers and soldiers smelled the aroma of beef and sniffed.

The short soldier murmured, "It would be nice if we could have a plate of braised beef in soy sauce. It would be really delicious with some wine!"

The other officers and soldiers followed suit, obviously thinking the same thing.

The officer and soldier leader glanced at Shen Qingqian and the others, took out a handful of copper coins, and told the short officer and soldier, "Go over and ask them if they can sell us some."

Although the officers and soldiers spoke quietly, Shen Qingqian and the others heard it all.

Shen Qingqian thought that these officers and soldiers were of good character. If they wanted to eat, they just took out money to buy it. They didn't just rob them directly or use their status as officials to force them to hand over the food.