The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

As soon as they arrived at the entrance of the government office, they saw a row of people standing there.

Upon closer inspection, Shen Cao recognized the leader as County Magistrate Li Quan, whom she hadn't seen for over two months.

The county magistrate startled Shen Cao. It had only been a little over two months since they last met, and the once round and plump man had lost a lot of weight.

The county magistrate, who looked to be in his seventies, now appears to be only in his early fifties.

The county magistrate had been worried for the past few months, so he ate less and naturally lost weight.

He knew that Shen Cao thought he used to look over seventy, but now he looked no more than fifty. He didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

He's only forty-five!

Just as they arrived at the gate, before Shen Cao and the others could even greet them, a woman with regular features and slightly yellowish skin—in her previous life, she had a wheatish complexion—appeared.

She walked up to Shen Yu'an, wearing a pale yellow gauze brocade dress and her hair adorned with various ornaments.

With perfectly standard movements, he bowed respectfully to Shen Yu'an and Wei Siyu.

After finishing his bow, he didn't forget to give Shen Yu'an a deep look.

Seeing this, Wei Siyu immediately took a step back.

The county magistrate had initially turned a blind eye to his daughter's behavior.

But seeing that Shen Yu'an had already returned the gift to her daughter, she still stood there without moving, and immediately understood Shen Yu'an's meaning.

Not wanting his daughter to interfere in his affairs, he immediately spoke up, "Young Master Shen, this is my daughter, Li Fei. She may have been reminded of her elder brother upon seeing you. Please forgive her for any offense she may have caused."

With a single sentence, the county magistrate attributed Li Fei's loss of composure to missing her brother, thus giving his daughter a way out and making it clear that his daughter's previous outburst was merely due to sibling affection.

It has to be said, he is indeed a seasoned veteran who has been immersed in officialdom for many years, and he certainly has a knack for dealing with people.

"Madam, please take Fei'er downstairs first. Young Master Shen and I have important matters to attend to."

"Please!" After saying that, he bowed and invited Shen Yu'an and the others into the mansion.

Looking at the county magistrate's attitude, Shen Cao realized that although neither Shen Yu'an nor Wei Siyu held official positions, and both of their families had very large businesses.

However, because Shen Yu'an's family had a concubine, the county magistrate was clearly much more respectful to Shen Yu'an than to Wei Siyu.

Shen Cao's gaze was suddenly interrupted by Wei Siyu. Oh no, she'd been discovered.

Wei Siyu had a knowing look on her face, clearly indicating that this situation had occurred more than once.

He didn't feel slighted at all; on the contrary, he was willing to stand by Shen Yu'an's side and take advantage of his power.

It must be said that Wei Siyu is indeed a sunny and cheerful young man.

Upon entering the main room, Shen Cao looked around at the decorations.

It must be said that the county magistrate has indeed gained a lot over the years as an official.

The vases on the table and the chairs in the center of the main room looked quite valuable.

Perhaps noticing the scrutinizing gazes of others, the county magistrate explained, "These items were left behind by the previous county magistrate."

He absolved himself of all responsibility in a single sentence.

He really is a cunning old fox.

The meal lasted for about an hour. After it ended, Wei Siyu and Shen Cao looked at Shen Yu'an as if they were looking at their idol.

I worship it immensely.

On the way home, Wei Siyu spoke very seriously, which was uncharacteristically true, "I finally understand why my dad always tells me to learn from you."

"Brother, you are my only older brother."

"I won't call you by your name anymore, I'll call you Brother Yu'an from now on."

"You're absolutely amazing."

"Didn't you see that old fox's face turning red and then black at the dinner table?"

"Making him pay in the end is like cutting off a piece of his flesh."

"Sure enough, it feels so good to pluck feathers from a miser."

"They also said that everything in that room was left behind by the previous owner, and that all that stuff was worth at least tens of thousands of taels of silver."

"Anyone who isn't an idiot would refuse it."

Shen Cao nodded vigorously in agreement.

She finally witnessed the prestige of the eldest son of the number one royal merchant in the Great Xia Kingdom.

At the dinner table, the conversation started off very smoothly.

Li Quan, that old fox, kept coming back, saying, "A plan that both Young Master Shen and Young Master Wei approve of is sure to make money."

"I will be responsible for ensuring the smooth running of the entire project and will do my best to cooperate with you."

They never mentioned paying money.

After several rounds of discussion, Shen Yu'an began to exert his influence.

With just a few words, he lured Li Quan into his trap.

In the end, they not only paid the money, but also promised to fully cooperate with them afterwards.

If a problem arises, everyone shares the responsibility.

And they signed the agreement on the spot.

Shen Cao thoroughly enjoyed his meal today.

Shen Yu'an and Wei Siyu escorted Shen Cao back to the Shen Family Restaurant.

When they got home, Wanyue and her younger siblings had just arrived home as well.

"How was it? Did you have fun with Miss Wanyue today?"

Shen Wan said with a smile, "We had a great time. The village chief's two older brothers took us into the mountains to play."

"We also picked lots of wild berries to eat, it was so much fun."

"Look! We also picked a lot of chestnuts, and Uncle Village Chief said they're really sweet."

Shen Cao's eyes lit up when she saw the large basket of wild chestnuts.

She hadn't expected there to be chestnuts in the mountains.

Wanyue had never seen a chestnut before; she had only ever eaten chestnut cake made by the imperial chefs in the palace.

But the chestnuts in front of me looked like little hedgehogs, covered in thorns.

I really don't know what's so good about this thing.

Sister Grass smiled happily when she saw it.

She didn't even ask me if I had a good time.

Shen Cao seemed to sense that Wan Yue felt she had been ignored, so she immediately walked up to her and said, "Wan Yue, how was your day? There are so many chestnuts, could you all help pick them up?"

Sure enough, the little girl's mood immediately brightened, and she happily took Shen Cao's hand, "Sister Cao'er, you don't know, we saw so many things in the mountains today that I've never seen before."

"And those wild berries, they're sweet, but they have too many seeds, making them not very elegant to eat."

Shen Wan spent half a day with Wan Yue and learned about her personality, so she rolled her eyes at her in her heart.

So she wasn't the one who ate the most today.

They even had a competition to see who could spit the seeds the farthest.

Now I think it's indecent; trying to get my older sister's attention like this is just too much.

Hmph! My older sister still likes her the most.

"Sister Grass, look, my hands are all pricked from picking those chestnuts."

Wanyue raised her hand and pointed to a small, slightly broken skin on it. "Sister Cao'er, if you don't look quickly, my wound will be almost healed."

Hearing her words, Shen Cao knew that she must have had a lot of fun playing with her younger siblings today.

They've all learned to joke and banter.

"I'll blow on it and it won't hurt anymore." She quickly blew on Wanyue's skin twice.

The little girl was overjoyed.

"We'll eat it tonight to vent your anger."

Upon hearing Shen Cao mention food, her younger siblings immediately asked, "Sister, what are you planning to eat?"

Shen Cao smiled and said, "You've been playing all day, and you haven't eaten yet, have you? Luckily, we still have a chicken at home, so I'll make you chestnut chicken."

"As for the rest, it's perfect for making roasted chestnuts."