Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

After getting into the carriage, Mu Xia considered for a moment and said:

"Let's go to Jingyi's house first."

Although she had already sent someone to deliver the message, she hadn't told her about the matchmaking yet. She would talk to her about it after they met her.

If she doesn't want to, then she won't bring it up again. They'll have a meal together, and then they won't see each other again. Anyway, not many people know about this, and they figure they probably won't have any contact in the future.

When they arrived at the gate of the Jing family's residence, they saw Jingyi and her two maids, as well as a nanny waiting there, holding several gift boxes in her hands.

Mu Xia lifted the carriage curtain and let Jingyi get in.

Jingyi only brought one personal maid with her. The old nanny was someone from her mother's side. When she saw that Jingyi got into the carriage of the young mistress of the Lin family, she turned around and went inside.

"Muxia, I haven't been out for days, I'm so bored!" Jingyi complained as soon as she sat down.

"Is your mother still going around looking for husbands for you?" Mu Xia asked tentatively.

"That's right! It's so annoying, but I don't want to get married yet, what should I do?" Jingyi gets a headache whenever she talks about matchmaking, but she can't ignore her mother's advice.

"Jingyi, I'm taking you to meet potential partners today. Are you going or not?" Muxia didn't beat around the bush and directly stated the purpose of today's meeting.

"Muxia, don't joke with me like that." Jingyi pouted and said a little angrily, thinking that her friend was just joking with her.

“I’m not joking with you, it’s true. The person I want to see is my older brother’s cousin, named Wu Zihao. He’s sixteen years old this year. So, tell me whether you want to see him or not.”

"Wu Zihao, this name sounds familiar. Have I ever met him?" Jingyi felt a strange sense of familiarity and warmth upon hearing the name, but she couldn't quite place who he was.

Mu Xia thought for a moment and said, "Yes, he was there on my wedding day, so you should have met."

"No, no, no, it should be earlier than that." Jingyi blurted out, she was sure it couldn't have been that day she had seen him. She was very puzzled, so when exactly had they met?

Mu Xia was also puzzled. How did these two know each other? It seemed like they had no interaction except on the day of her wedding!

Mu Xia suddenly slapped her thigh and said:

"Oh! I see. Their family used to live in the county town. The county town is so small, you might actually know each other."

"Oh well, whatever. We'll know whether we recognize each other or not after we meet." Jingyi didn't want to dwell on it. She was already looking forward to the meeting, which seemed to be different from what her parents had arranged.

Mu Xia laughed and said, "Oh, so you've agreed to be on the dating list?"

"Muxia, what are you saying? You're already on your carriage, and you're only telling me this now. If you had told me earlier, I definitely wouldn't have gone."

"Alright, alright, you're just being stubborn!" Mu Xia laughed and poked her friend's forehead with her finger.

What a stubborn guy! He clearly wants to go, but he won't admit it.

As the two were chatting and laughing, the carriage suddenly stopped, and then a man's voice came:

“Madam Lin, my young lady has something to attend to today and cannot keep the appointment. There is no need for you to go and pick her up.”

"I understand." Mu Xia lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, and the person delivering the message was none other than Brother Lin Yu's personal servant.

Mu Xia had the carriage drive directly to the alley behind the shop, and they entered the courtyard directly through the back door.

The two had just gotten off the carriage when they ran into Wu Zihao, who was coming out of the back door.

"Zihao, where are you going?" Muxia called out to him.

"I'm going to buy seafood."

When Jingyi heard Muxia call Zihao, she walked closer and carefully examined the man in front of her, then suddenly exclaimed in surprise:

"It's you?"

"Do you know each other?" Mu Xia asked, looking at the two of them.

Wu Zihao: "I don't know him."

Jingyi: "We know each other."

The two gave two different answers at the same time.

"Do you two even know each other?" Mu Xia asked anxiously.

Wu Zihao still couldn't remember and shook his head in denial.

“I don’t know him either. Humph, Muxia, let’s go inside.” Seeing him shake his head, Jingyi became very angry and said angrily, pulling Muxia into the courtyard.

Wu Zihao scratched his head, puzzled, and walked away, wondering, "Why are you angry? I really don't know you."

"Jingyi, do you really know Wu Zihao?" Seeing Jingyi's angry expression, Muxia wanted to confirm it again, and planned to find an opportunity to remind Wu Zihao, that silly goose, later.

"We don't know each other now, and we don't need to know each other in the future." As Jingyi spoke, tears welled up in her eyes and started falling uncontrollably.

She didn't know what was wrong with her; she just felt wronged that he didn't recognize her anymore.

"What's wrong? Who doesn't know you? Oh, why are you crying?"

Hearing a commotion in the courtyard, Wang Qing'er came out of the main hall and just happened to hear Jingyi's last words. Then she saw Jingyi crying and hurriedly asked her what was wrong.

"Sister-in-law, your brother bullied me." Upon seeing Wang Qing'er, Jingyi suddenly felt even more aggrieved and threw herself into her arms, sobbing softly.

"What's wrong? Tell your sister-in-law quickly." Wang Qing'er gently patted Jingyi's back, comforting her.

She glanced at Mu Xia, who was standing beside her looking equally bewildered, as if to ask Mu Xia what had happened.

“Sister-in-law, we ran into Zihao at the door. Jingyi said she knew him, but Zihao said he didn’t. You saw the rest.” Muxia understood and explained what had just happened.

"Okay, let's stop crying. Tell your sister-in-law when you met Zihao?"

Wang Qing'er used a handkerchief to wipe away Jingyi's tears and pulled her to sit on the stone bench in the courtyard.

"Sister-in-law, Muxia, that was three years ago. I thought, I thought he would remember me." Although there were no tears on Jingyi's face, her voice was still choked with sobs.

Mu Xia said, "Three years ago? That's a long time, it's normal that he doesn't remember."

“Jingyi, a lot has happened to Zihao’s family in the past three years. His father passed away, and then my aunt became seriously ill. The family has been supported by him. He may have forgotten something because there are too many things. Maybe if you remind him, he will remember.”

"Ah! Uncle Wu is gone? How did he die?"

"You even know her father?" Mu Xia was already confused, and now she was even more bewildered.

"Three years ago, my father and mother took me, my brother, my younger brother, and my younger sister to Yunshan Temple in the suburbs to burn incense..."

Jingyi briefly explained the whole story to the two of them.

When Jingyi went to Yunshan Temple to burn incense that time, she had heard that there was a hot spring on the back mountain of the temple.

Hot water was bubbling out all day long, which piqued her curiosity, so she really wanted to go and see what was going on in the back of the mountain.

But my parents said they had to go home after burning incense, so they wouldn't go to the hot springs this time, and would go next time they came.

Jingyi wouldn't listen to any of that. While her parents were kneeling and worshipping, she secretly slipped away to the back of the mountain.

In the end, they couldn't find the hot spring and got lost while walking. As it got dark, Jingyi started to feel scared.