I traveled back to ancient times, but I was able to lie down and relax.

“I’ve actually told you before that you shouldn’t stand out too much in the village. Otherwise, if only your family becomes rich while everyone else remains poor, it will inevitably make people envious. You don’t have your parents to support you, and you don’t have a good relationship with the elders of the eldest son’s family. It would be good enough if they didn’t cause you trouble.”

Liu Nanjia was somewhat unconvinced. "We have a good relationship with the village head, and with Aunt Wang's family and Aunt Zhao's family too. The eldest son's family are also considered elders, right? Respect is mutual protection. They're all doing inhuman things, there's no way I can make peace with them!"

"Yes, yes, I didn't ask you to beg for peace." Song Chen said helplessly, but still explained carefully, "If you just plan to make some money and move to town to live on your own, that's fine. But your brother, Yan Xi, is planning to take the imperial examination, right? He won't be content to stop at being a Xiucai (a lower-level scholar), will he? Then his reputation is very important."

"If someone with ulterior motives targets him in the future and finds out that he has a bad relationship with his elders and that no one in his hometown village speaks up for him, it would be easy to label him as 'unfilial,' which would have a huge impact on his official career. Even if there is a village head, he can't silence so many other villagers."

Liu Nanjia still felt something was wrong. "If my brother could really reach that level, wouldn't that bring honor to the village? It's a good thing that someone from our village can become an official. Why would they try to tarnish my brother's reputation?"

"The premise is that your brother is willing to help them, but are you guys willing to do that?"

"Of course not, I would never allow anyone to use my brother's name to do shady things."

“That’s it.” Song Chen shrugged. “If they don’t get any tangible benefits, why would they be willing to protect you? It’s just a title. If someone with ulterior motives stirs things up and gives them a little money, it’s easy for them to do it. Even if becoming an official is too far-fetched, there are only four of us in our family, including me. If we stand out, we’ll attract jealousy.”

Liu Nanjia fell silent. She didn't think the world was full of naive and innocent people. On the contrary, she had read a lot of social news and crime stories before, and she knew a lot about the dark side of human nature.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Liu Nanjia felt somewhat discouraged as she thought about the various troubles she might face in the future.

She also found Song Chen, who was sitting in the rocking chair, displeasing to her. She had been standing next to him and talking to him to keep him in check, and her legs were aching from standing.

Seeing that he was now trying to comfort her, she figured he must be alright. She patted him on the shoulder with a "smack" and said, "I've been talking to you for so long, I'm tired of standing. Get up and let me sit for a while."

It was only then that Song Chen realized that he had been sitting while Liu Nanjia had been standing and talking to him for so long. Feeling a little embarrassed, he quickly got up.

But after Liu Nanjia sat down, she realized that when Song Chen was sitting and she was standing, the height difference wasn't very noticeable, and it was quite convenient for them to talk. Now that the positions were reversed, given their height difference, she had to look up to talk to Song Chen.

Liu Nanjia was even angrier. When would she grow taller?

Song Chen, oblivious to what was happening, continued, "It's good that Yan Xi is teaching the village children to read. Any reasonable family won't give up this opportunity for their child to study, and they'll show some respect to our family as a result. But that's not enough, after all, there are still some families without children of school age, or those who are short-sighted and only care about money..."

As they were talking, Song Chen suddenly felt that Liu Nanjia's gaze was somewhat unfriendly. He looked over in confusion and saw that Liu Nanjia had already stood up again. He was even more puzzled: "Weren't you tired? Why aren't you sitting down?"

Liu Nanjia said irritably, "If I listen to you for a little longer, not only will my legs ache, but my neck will too. I understand what you mean, you just want to lead the whole village to prosperity, right? I know, I know, let's discuss the details in a couple of days. I've been talking to you for so long in the middle of the night, and I have to go do business tomorrow!"

As he talked, he actually got sleepy and yawned.

Song Chen hadn't been sleeping well lately, and he didn't realize something was wrong until he saw Liu Nanjia was sleepy.

"It's my fault, I didn't pay attention to the time. There's really no rush. Go to sleep."

Liu Nanjia nodded, "Then on the day of our break, let's discuss it again with my brother and figure out the specifics." With that, she turned and prepared to go back to her room to sleep.

Song Chen watched her go back, but then saw Liu Nanjia turn around again. "You should go to sleep too. Look at your dark circles. You don't even need to wear makeup when you go to town. You haven't been sleeping well lately. Okay, I know it's impossible to make you stop thinking about those things, but you can't neglect your health. You can talk to me like this again in the future."

She smiled at him again and said, "Or, help me with more chores during the day, so you're too tired to think about anything else and won't have trouble sleeping."

Song Chen paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay."

After saying that, he and Liu Nanjia went back to their rooms one after the other.

He originally thought he would have trouble sleeping again today, just like before, but to his surprise, he fell asleep soon after and slept soundly, which was rare for him.