A blessed wife leads her husband to wealth and prosperity!

The next day, everyone slept in late. After the prefectural exam, no one needed to be constantly on edge, so they all stayed in bed.

By the time I got up and finished my first breakfast, it was already past noon.

Wen Yuning told her friend that she was going to take a boat back today, and Lu Ran also said that she didn't want to stay in the prefectural city any longer.

The two of them didn't plan to take the exam again this time, and it didn't matter whether they saw the results or not.

Once we return to the county, the county school teachers will take care of the results. Waiting here now is just a waste of rent money.

Since no one wanted to wait in the prefectural city for the results to be announced, they naturally decided to take a boat back together.

Lin He'er had already packed her luggage, and the Lu family acted quickly as well. After saying goodbye to Madam Qiao, they caught the last passenger ship in the prefectural city and embarked on their journey home.

On the way back, Lin He'er still got a good spot and hid in the cabin to sleep soundly, only this time she paid for the fare herself.

After a day's journey by boat, they finally arrived at the dock just before dinnertime.

It was too late to travel at night, so the group stayed at an inn in the town for the night, planning to return to the county town the next morning.

The next morning, everyone took a carriage to the county town. Just as they were about to reach the town, Wen Yuning said goodbye to his friend, because Lin He'er was going to change routes to Cui Family Village.

Seeing that she had already delayed fulfilling her promise to the princess for two days, Lin He'er couldn't afford to rest and still wanted to quickly deliver the items to Cui the blacksmith.

The carriage arrived at Cui the blacksmith's house.

Meanwhile, Cui the blacksmith was not idle either. He was teaching his son how to forge iron in the blacksmith's shed in the backyard.

Yulang, you have strength but no skill in using it. If you keep hitting like that, your arm won't be able to take it in a long time...

Cui the blacksmith was determined to raise his son well, so he taught him all his skills.

Uncle Cui, are you home?

Meng Xing arrived at Cui Tiezhu's house first and knocked on the door.

When Cui Tiezhu heard someone calling at his courtyard gate, he came from the backyard to the front of the gate and opened it to find it was the shop's young apprentice.

Brother Meng, what brings you here? Come in quickly into the yard, Cui Tiezhu invites you into his home.

Uncle Cui, not only me, but Madam is here too!

Meng Xing stood at the door and answered!

"The lady has arrived too?" Cui the blacksmith looked towards the carriage in front of the door.

Lin He'er got off the carriage only after Meng Xing opened the door.

Uncle Cui, how have you been lately?

Alright, alright, what brings you here, Madam? Please come in and let's talk.

Cui Tiezhu noticed that more than one person got off the carriage, and there was a man following closely behind the lady, who must be a member of his husband's family.

Uncle Cui, I've come today to discuss something with you. Let's talk in the courtyard.

Alright, madam, please!

After the group entered the courtyard, Cui Yulang brought out chairs, and after everyone sat down, Lin He'er directly explained their purpose.

Uncle Cui, the work to be done in the shop this time is also a delicate task. I need you to use silver as the main material, mixed with copper, to make some silver wire.

The silver thread was slightly thicker than the thickest embroidery needle.

Can you make it?

Madam, I need to give it a try. To be honest, the tasks you assigned me are all things I've never done before.

Cui Tiezhu felt that his boss always made things that were quite difficult, and often quite ingenious.

Okay, try doing it again later.

In addition to making the silver thread, a zipper also needs to be made, using the same materials as mentioned above, mainly silver.

The zipper needs to be even smaller than the ones we made before, which may make it more difficult.

The shop needs it urgently, so you should make the zipper first, and the silver thread later.

Okay, Cui Tiezhu heard that the things were needed urgently, and said that he would start working on them as soon as possible.

After Lin He'er finished explaining the important matters, she asked Cui Tiezhu to pack the things and go directly to the shop to find her. Then, the group prepared to return to the county town.

Having been away from home for several days, Lin He'er still missed her family very much. Now that they were almost home, she felt excited as she sat in the carriage.

Brother Wen, after you finish the exam, do you need to rest at home for a few days before going to the county school?

I'll rest at home for a day before going to the county school.

It took Wen Yuning six days to go to the prefectural city for the exam, and she felt that she had wasted a considerable amount of time. So now that she was back, she should go to the county school to resume her studies as soon as possible.

Through this exam, Wen Yuning gained a better understanding of her own knowledge.

The carriage entered the county town and arrived at the shop. Lin He'er was the first to get off the carriage and ran straight into the shop.

Grass, I'm back!

Lin He'er shouted into the shop, but there was no one there. Cao'er was tidying up the items on the shelves when she heard someone calling her from behind. She then saw the lady enter the shop.

Madam, you're back?

Cao'er was pleasantly surprised to see Lin He'er's family. Although the lady of the house didn't come to the shop often, she felt at ease working as long as she knew she was there.

These past few days, with Madam away from home, Cao'er has felt quite uneasy. Now that Madam is back, she immediately feels much more at ease!

Well, thank you for your hard work, Cao'er. Have there been any major problems at the shop these past few days?

No, everything is fine in the shop, except for one thing, but Granny Li has helped resolve it.

Oh? What is it?

Lin He'er didn't expect that something would actually happen at the shop while she was away from home for a few days.

This isn't a good thing. You should go back to the backyard and ask Granny Li. I can't really explain it clearly either.

Okay, I'll go back to the backyard first. Let's go to the Lin family's house for a get-together tonight.

Lin He'er couldn't explain it clearly to Cao'er, so she had to go back to the backyard and ask Granny Li again.

At this moment, Granny Li seemed to hear the lady's voice coming from the shop in front.

Just as he stood up, he saw that the lady had indeed returned.

Is the lady back?

Unlike the maid Cao'er, who couldn't handle things, Granny Li didn't immediately tell Lin He'er what had happened in the shop these past few days when she saw Lin He'er return.

After everyone had put their things down and sat down to drink a cup of tea, Granny Li told Lin He'er about the shop's recent affairs.

Madam, everything at the shop has been normal during your absence these past few days, except for one thing that I will take care of myself first.

I just heard Cao'er say that, but she didn't say exactly what happened.

This matter can be considered a big deal or a small deal. It's just that some people came to our shop, saying they were collecting protection money from this street!

Collecting protection money?

Wen Yuning was about to return to her room when she heard what Li Mama said, so she stopped and waited for what was to come.

Yes, the day before yesterday, Cao'er opened her shop as usual. Around noon, a few people suddenly came into the shop. At first, Cao'er thought they were there to buy something, but before she could say anything, one of them stepped forward and said that he had come to get to know the shop.

Cao'er had never experienced anything like this before, and immediately called the maid out. Only then did I realize that those men had come to collect protection money.

At that time, I didn't know which way these people were from, so I gave them some money, saying it was for tea, and sent them away temporarily.

Because Granny Li didn't give them much money, only saying that the master had gone out and wouldn't be back for a few days, and that she and her husband were just servants watching the shop and couldn't make decisions, she sent them away temporarily.

I imagine they'll come back again.

After hearing what Granny Li said, Lin He'er was at a loss for what to do!

Because of his modern mindset, he never imagined that opening a shop would require paying protection money. After all, protection money is no longer a thing in modern times!

So much so that when I arrived in ancient times, I never imagined that before opening a shop and doing business, I would still need to find out which mountain I was on!

Upon hearing what Granny Li said, Wen Yuning secretly realized that she had been negligent. Since ancient times, business people have always had to manage relationships with those above and below them, so it was only natural that her family had encountered such a situation.

However, we still need to find a way to resolve this matter properly.

Granny Li, you did the right thing. We don't know who they are yet, so we really can't confront them head-on.

I'll try to find out more later, and then we can discuss it further!