The wind is gentle and the fun is endless

Walking out of her sister-in-law's room, Huanhuan was full of thoughts. She learned the reason why Xu Qu was poisoned. She felt that Xu Qu must be respectful to his stepmother, Madam Xie, but not really caring about her. Even Xiangyue's resistance to Madam Xie and her occasional cold words were probably related to this. In Huanhuan's opinion, she must have resentment towards her mother and would blame her for her father's death due to her momentary impulse.

Unconsciously, he walked to the door of the main hall and slowly saw his mother, Mrs. Feng, standing happily in the middle of the main hall, holding her granddaughter. She was facing the door, while Xu Qu and his brother Feng Shunqing were standing on both sides of her facing the door, looking at the chubby baby in her arms.

Mrs. Feng looked up and saw her daughter coming in, and hurriedly called her to come over. She slowly walked into the room and came to the mother, laughing and teasing the baby with them. She pulled up the chubby little Yuzhu and said, "This little hand is so cute!"

Mrs. Feng said slowly, "It's good to see. You guys should hurry up and have a baby too."

Huanhuan remained silent after hearing this. It was not appropriate for the mother-in-law to say this in front of her son-in-law, but Xu Qu, the son-in-law, was a little special—he couldn't hear. When these words came out of Mrs. Feng's mouth, without Xu Qu seeing her mouth shape, it was like a private word spoken to her daughter behind closed doors.

Although it was a private conversation from her mother's side, and Xu Qu didn't "hear" it, Huan Huan still felt a little embarrassed. In front of her brother, how could she tell her mother that she and Xu Qu had not yet consummated their marriage?

In fact, she was not in a hurry. Not to mention Xu Qu, even she herself felt that the day of the wedding was quite lively, but she was too tired and drunk that day and it just passed by in a hurry. In the days that followed, she always felt that something was missing. But what was it? Huan Huan couldn't tell.

So after thinking about it, I slowly realized that since I couldn't even figure it out, there was no point in telling my family about it, as it would only cause more trouble for them.

After lunch, Huanhuan went to her brother's room to visit her sister-in-law, and told her that she and Xu Qu planned to return to Shanghuai early the next morning. Because she had left home so early, it was inconvenient to disturb her sister-in-law, so she came today to say goodbye to her.

My sister-in-law asked in surprise, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"The family is already short of manpower to take care of my sister-in-law and Yuzhu, and we can't help much here. It's better not to bother them too much and go back as soon as possible." He explained slowly.

My sister-in-law said with a hint of anger: "Silly girl, why bother your family? Remember, this is your mother's home, a place you can come back to anytime."

Huanhuan was naturally very touched. She lowered her head and said softly, "Sister-in-law, you should also take good care of yourself and Yuzhu. I heard from my brother that the child will inevitably make a fuss at night. Sister-in-law should try to ask your brother for help as much as possible, especially during the confinement period. She must not suffer any problems."

"Your brother may not be able to help." Pei smiled gently.

Huanhuan was puzzled and asked, "Why did sister-in-law say that?"

"Last month, this group of Jinshi just took the examination of the Ministry of Personnel. According to the practice of previous years, if nothing unexpected happens, they will take up their posts soon."

Huanhuan was very surprised and said, "Oh? Really? This is a great thing, but I don't know what kind of job you can get, brother. I hope you won't be like dad, who has been wandering around as an official."

"My father is familiar with the person in charge of the Ministry of Personnel this time and has already made arrangements. He will not be assigned to a place that is too far or too remote from home. It's just that this position is naturally not too high when you first enter the officialdom. But it doesn't matter. As long as everything goes well, with your brother's ability, promotion is only a matter of time." Pei was full of confidence.

"That's great! This is really good news." Huanhuan was overjoyed.

After saying goodbye to her sister-in-law, she slowly returned to the main hall. Her brother and Xu Qu were there by chance. She said happily, "I heard that my brother has taken the examination for the Ministry of Personnel and will take up his post soon."

Feng Shunqing was very serious in his words, and said, "I haven't received the official imperial edict yet."

When Xu Qu saw this, he immediately raised his hands and congratulated Feng Shunqing, "This is really a double blessing. Congratulations, brother! Congratulations, brother!"

Feng Shunqing couldn't hide his smile, and he also cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, brother-in-law. Congratulations to you."

It was a rare trip back to Heyang, so Huanhuan couldn't forget Qiaoji's rouge. In the afternoon, Huanhuan found a reason to take Xiaoyu out, but actually went to Qiaoji to buy rouge again.

Xiaoyu asked in confusion: "Miss, you are already the young lady of a wealthy family. You don't have to save up for a dowry and you have monthly salary. Why do you still want to sell rouge in a brothel?"

He patted Xiaoyu's shoulder slowly and replied, "You don't understand this. How can you easily give up a profitable business path that has already been opened? And asking for money is not as satisfying as spending the money you earn yourself."

Xiaoyu nodded repeatedly after hearing this.

Seeing that they bought so much every time, Shopkeeper Qiao knew that they were not using the goods themselves. They had seen many merchants coming to purchase goods, but young girls like them were rare, so they chatted with them for a while longer.

"Where are you two young ladies from?" asked Shopkeeper Qiao, who was an old man in his fifties with a kind face.

"We are locals, Shopkeeper Qiao." Xiaoyu replied sweetly.

Shopkeeper Qiao was a little confused when he heard this. He had thought that the two girls were merchants from other places who bought so much rouge to sell to outsiders. But they were locals. If locals wanted to buy Qiao's rouge, they would definitely buy it directly from Qiao, not from middlemen like them. So who were they going to sell all this rouge to?

So he asked curiously: "Why do the locals buy so much rouge?"

She slowly explained to Shopkeeper Qiao, "I am getting married and moving to another place. I am going to take these rouges to sell at my husband's place."

"Oh? I wonder where the girl's husband's home is?" asked Shopkeeper Qiao.

"It's not too far, it's in Shanghuai." Huanhuan did not hide anything and told the truth.

Shopkeeper Qiao was interested when he heard this and said, "Shanghuai is a good place, where the official roads intersect, it is rich and prosperous, and there are many more people in the city than in Heyang. Earlier, some merchants tried to bring our Qiaoji rouge to Shanghuai to sell, but unfortunately the people in Shanghuai have high standards and don't like the products produced in our small place. They are chasing after tribute to the capital, so the business was not successful."

After listening to it, Huan Huan said, "The formula and quality of Qiao Ji's rouge are not bad at all, otherwise there wouldn't be so many merchants coming to buy it. It's just that we have been in business for a short time, and we can't compare to the long-standing and famous Xue Lian Tang, which was a tribute to the palace. In fact, if we can operate it for a few more years, we might even surpass Xue Lian Tang in popularity."

Hearing this, Shopkeeper Qiao sighed and said, "Alas, I'm afraid I won't be able to wait for that day."

Huanhuan was startled, looked up and down at Shopkeeper Qiao, and asked, "What do you mean, Shopkeeper Qiao?"

Shopkeeper Qiao knew that his words had caused misunderstanding, so he waved his hand and explained, "Don't misunderstand, young lady. I am fine. It's just that my daughters are all married, and I only have one son by my side. My son is very good at studying and has no interest in business. My husband and I are old and in poor health. In a few years, when my son enters the official career, we will not continue to run this rouge shop."

Huanhuan couldn't help but feel sorry when she heard this. She had just found some opportunities in Shanghuai and thought her business had great prospects, but something unexpected happened to the Rouge Shop. She said, "Actually, Shopkeeper Qiao can find someone to help run the Rouge Shop. There's no need to close it."

Shopkeeper Qiao shook his head and said, "My son doesn't want us to suffer from the business anymore. We don't want to go against his wishes. We are old too and don't want to continue the business."