I started out with seven husbands, and I worked hard to support my family while crying.

There were about ten taels of loose silver, covered in black grime, which showed that the fat cook was really slovenly.

but.

Although the silver coins were a little dirty, they were still money. So what if they were a little dirty? I could just take them home and wash them myself.

Just give me the money.

Fang Xiaoxiao immediately beamed with joy, though she still needed to maintain appearances.

She stood up, her eyes filled with a serious expression.

"Fat cook, you're giving me way too much. My master doesn't need this much money to buy medicine."

Upon hearing this, the fat cook wanted to take back some of the money.

Little did they expect that the master's hands moved with incredible speed; while talking, he had already slipped the silver into his pocket.

"However, I will accept your kindness with reluctance. But you must not do this again. Doing so will make me feel very guilty."

"..."

The fat cook remained silent, his mind swirling with complaints. For a moment, he was at a loss for how to respond to his master's words.

For a fleeting moment, he even wondered if the other party had planned to ask him for money all along.

However, none of this matters. With Master's abilities, what harm would it do if he took out even more?

After all, with the master craftsman's skills, he could open his own school and teach others how to carve tofu, and he could make a fortune.

This was taught to me by my wife. She said that capable people can easily earn a lot of money.

The fat cook always kept his wife's teachings in mind. Even the ten taels of silver he had were given to him by her, and he was offering them to his master.

Fang Xiaoxiao was unaware of his thoughts, but she was overjoyed and was planning to go to the yamen tomorrow to bring back another husband.

Yes, that's right. We'll pick one up tomorrow.

Having made up his mind, he chatted with the fat chef for a few more minutes, when he heard someone calling from outside the door.

"Where are you, my wife?"

Long Jinyan?

There's no need to guess who just called out to them.

Only Long Jinyan could produce such a resounding sound.

He is a martial artist, and his voice is full of energy.

Moreover, Long Jinyan has a unique way of speaking: although he looks like a cute puppy, his voice carries the hoarseness and vicissitudes unique to middle-aged men.

Honestly, if Fang Xiaoxiao hadn't known, it would have been easy to be fooled by her appearance.

Can you imagine what a strange sight it would be if a cute puppy and a middle-aged man were combined?

While accompanying the handsome young man beside him, Zhu Wen learned about Fang Xiaoxiao's character from him.

“Brother Jinyan, Madam Fang is taking a nap in the backyard, so you don’t need to worry.”

Long Jinyan nodded in agreement, but his throat kept calling out "wife".

After a short while, the two finally arrived at the courtyard.

Zhu Wen picked at his ear; just now, standing next to the handsome man, the man's distinctive voice had almost made him deaf.

That sound, if there hadn't been no customers left in the store, would probably have scared them so much they would have run away in all directions.

Seeing his wife leisurely lying in the rocking chair eating pastries, Long Jinyan finally felt relieved.

"Whoo~"

"It's good that you're here, my wife. I thought he was lying to me."

Fang Xiaoxiao gave a soft "hmm" and took out a piece of osmanthus cake from the pastry plate in her arms.

"Have a piece, and then we'll go home together!"

As soon as Long Jinyan heard what he said, his stomach started rumbling.

If it were Pei Yan in this situation, the other party would probably pretend to be very angry to cover up their current embarrassment.

but.

Long Jinyan didn't care at all, and scratched the back of his head. He jogged over to his wife and politely accepted the pastries she offered.

He swallowed it in one gulp, somewhat like Pigsy eating ginseng fruit.

"Forehead!"

Fang Xiaoxiao knew that this guy must have been hungry for a long time, so she had no choice but to hand all the pastries in her arms to Long Jinyan.

"These are all for you. Hurry up and finish eating so I can clock out!"

"Clock in? Time to leave?"

Zhu Wen and the fat cook looked at her blankly.

Long Jinyan didn't care at all; he was already used to his wife's strange and unusual words.

For example, just a few days ago.

He was chopping wood in the yard when his wife walked towards him and said, "It's so hot. I wish we had some Häagen-Dazs!"

He was very curious at the time, so he asked his wife what "ha sha da si" meant!

Fang Xiaoxiao replied with "ice cream!"

This completely baffled him.

And yesterday too.

The woman sat on the stone table, muttering something about her cell phone.

These things were all very strange. He himself did not understand them, and even Murong Changqing, who claimed to be very learned, did not understand them.

Pei Yan even added, "Don't pay any attention to the strange things your wife says."

Fang Xiao stood up, said something to Manager Zhu, but did not explain the matter of clocking out after get off work that she had just mentioned.

They are saying goodbye to each other.

She led Long Jinyan, who still looked like he hadn't had enough, to find some food by the roadside, like braised noodles, to fill their stomachs.

Just now, I was planning to get some food at Wenyue Pavilion.

Who would have thought that the fat chef and his gang would show no respect for their teacher and squander all the ingredients she had saved for dinner.

This guy really infuriated her.

Fortunately, Manager Zhu personally contributed one tael of silver to cover the cost of dinner.

Upon seeing the silver.

Fang Xiaoxiao was too lazy to argue with the others.

Long Jinyan turned around as he walked, feeling as if someone was following him.

"What's wrong?" Fang Xiaoxiao noticed that he seemed to have something on his mind, so she asked.

"fine!"

Long Jinyan thought to himself that he was probably overthinking things.

……

A corner of the long street.

Murong Changqing patted his chest, his eyes filled with a sense of relief.

"This Long Jinyan is like a hunting dog, always looking in my direction."

He had just met with his former subordinates to learn about matters concerning his parents, and then casually visited Fang Xiaoxiao.

Unexpectedly, just after meeting with his old subordinates, he saw the two of them coming out of Wenyue Pavilion.

Zhu Wen of Wenyue Pavilion was his former subordinate.

Since the incident in Kyoto, he resigned from his post, and many of his former subordinates also resigned and returned to their hometowns one after another.

Zhu Wen was in charge of the Ministry of Rites. After resigning, he returned to his hometown. While inquiring about his parents' affairs, he also resumed his old business of running a restaurant.

After thinking for a moment, Murong Changqing peeked out from the corner of the wall to see if Fang Niangzi and the other woman had gone far.

"?"

"What about people?"

He had just peeked out when he saw that the two figures had already disappeared from the bustling street.

She wondered if Long Jinyan had discovered something, but then she put the thought out of her mind.

Based on my understanding of him, Long Jinyan is a very easygoing person and could not possibly be the kind of person who is meticulous and thoughtful.

"Forget it, it's more important to get home first. If the two of them get home and don't find themselves, they might become suspicious of me."

He didn't want to be like Pei Yan, who was eager to get married, and besides, Madam Fang didn't seem to care much about Pei Yan.

After thinking it over, he turned and left.

……

Long Jinyan looked back and found that no one was following him, guessing that he was probably just too nervous.

Fang Xiaoxiao pulled him to a noodle stall and they sat down.

This stall was run by a small, hunched-over old man with a full head of silver hair.

Upon seeing that there were customers, the other party greeted the two with a smile.

"Please have a seat, esteemed guests!"