The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

"Uncle, Aunt, this is the mutton I stewed. Eat it to warm yourselves up."

The temperature inside the prison is quite different from the outside.

In the summer, the prison might feel stuffy and humid.

But it was already autumn. It might be hot outside during the day, but inside this prison, there was no sunlight all day long. It was not only not hot, but even a bit cold.

Generally speaking, family members are strictly prohibited from bringing food when visiting prisoners, in order to prevent poisoning.

But that's the general case.

Who is Zhou Chu? He is one of the jailers' and cell bosses' big clients, a lucrative client for three years.

How could such a small request not be met?

"Oh, good child, good child."

Every time Yang saw Zhou Chu, she couldn't help but wipe away her tears.

"Auntie, you're really something, always wiping away tears. I reckon it won't be long before you can leave."

Zhou Chu chuckled as he scooped mutton into a spoon.

"That's right, Mom, why are you always crying?"

Lu Wei comforted him.

“I feel sorry for Hengqi. He’s so young, yet he has to support our whole family and give the jailer so much money every month. Other kids his age are still playing around. Hengqi is so tired.”

As she spoke, Madam Yang touched Zhou Chu's face, her expression full of heartache.

Hearing this, Lu Song looked at Zhou Chu, unsure of what to say.

He was a man who wasn't good at expressing himself, and he felt that anything he said would be superfluous or pretentious.

“Three years ago, in the two months after our family’s accident, Hengqi lost a lot of weight, but this girl was chubby. Hengqi couldn’t bear to eat anything for her sake.”

As Yang spoke, she became increasingly distressed, and her tears flowed more and more uncontrollably.

Upon hearing this, Mu Yunjin felt a little embarrassed and clutched the hem of her clothes with her small hands.

"Auntie, why are you saying all this? The first month is just a bit tough, it gets better after that. Look at me now, I'm tall and strong, and I eat better than anyone else."

Zhou Chu smiled.

"Third brother, have you kept up with your studies?"

Zhou Chu changed the subject.

Over the years, the Lu family has long accepted that Zhou Chu is part of their family.

However, since they were in prison and felt they couldn't bring Zhou Chu any benefit, they never said it aloud.

However, both Mu Yunjin and Lu Wei consciously called Zhou Chu "Second Brother".

Lu Wei went from being the second oldest to the third oldest.

Lu Wei's face fell when he heard this.

He thought he was doing very well in his studies and was very diligent, but every time his second brother tested him on his studies, he could always find something he didn't know.

My younger sister told me that my second brother is busy with business and martial arts practice, so he only has time to read and practice calligraphy in the evenings.

But whether it was academics or handwriting, Lu Wei felt that he was far inferior to his second brother.

What kind of monster is Second Brother?

"Second brother, please let me off the hook today. I have never slacked off in my studies, but the things you test me on are always things I haven't read yet."

Lu Wei said in a low voice.

"Those who need to take the entrance exams should still take them. Otherwise, what's the difference between you just burying yourself in books and reinventing the wheel?"

Zhou Chu effectively blocked Lu Wei's escape route.

"Ok."

Lu Wei understood this principle: if he were to bury himself in books in prison, he wouldn't learn anything profound; he would only make himself stupid.

Soon, it was time for visiting hours.

After Zhou Chu escorted Mu Yunjin home, he went out alone, bought a sack of charcoal, and had it delivered to the house outside the city.

Besides charcoal, there are many other things.

These are all tools that Zhou Chu will need.

Soon, Zhou Chu arrived at the residence outside the capital.

The first thing to make is white sugar.

The book *Tiangong Kaiwu* records the method of making sugar using yellow clay.

The method of making sugar from yellow clay was once a research topic assigned to Zhou Chu by his mentor.

However, the research ultimately failed.

Back then, Zhou Chu tried to pour muddy water over the sugar, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't get any clear sugar water out.

We tried every possible method, such as letting it stand and settle.