Wealthy beyond measure, yet you call me a sister-supporting-brother demon?

Liang Shi wiped away his tears and took off the cloth bag from his body. "These are the small sour jujubes you like to eat. I picked them from the mountain. I was just about to come find you."

Yuan Sheng accepted the sour jujube, feeling a pang of bitterness in his heart. He was so foolish; in order to fit in and follow the crowd, he had let down his true friends who cared about him, and instead ended up hanging out with people like Wang Damao.

“Yuanbao’er, they’re saying about you…”

The onlookers under the big locust tree looked embarrassed. Talking about someone behind their back was one thing, but they had no grudge against the Yuan family, so it wasn't worth getting into arguments and causing conflicts in person over it.

Yuan Sheng waved his hand, "Liang Shi, I have something to do in the county town, so I'll stop talking now. I'll come to your house to find you when I get back."

"Okay." Liang Shi smiled and waved goodbye to Yuan Sheng, revealing a set of bright white teeth.

After Yuan Sheng and Zhu Chenxi left, Liang Shi also went home. There were too many people here; he couldn't win the argument.

The villagers of the Big Locust Tree started talking noisily again.

"I told you! This is absolutely true! Otherwise, why wouldn't Yuansheng refute it?"

"It must be true, no wonder the Yuan family rose to prominence so quickly!"

"Yuan Sheng is really shameless. He doesn't take this seriously at all. He doesn't feel embarrassed at all."

"If you were riding in a big oxcart and owning fertile land, you wouldn't care. In this world, money is the only thing that matters! Everything else is meaningless."

Many people agree with this.

Under the old locust tree were several women who still retained their charm, such as Zhao Zhihua with her large buttocks. Their minds began to wander. Thinking of Yuan Sheng's face and his magnificent figure, they couldn't help but have inappropriate thoughts.

Yuan Sheng clumsily drove the oxcart, with Zhu Chenxi sitting on it. The warm sunlight shone down, the sky was a deep, clear blue, and fluffy white clouds floated in the sky like cotton candy, with a bluish tinge in the distance. On the sunny hillside, lush green wheat grew, stretching as far as the eye could see.

The oxcart moved slowly, swaying gently with each step, creating a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere.

Yuan Sheng squinted, enjoying the warm moment with his wife. His voice was slow and pleasant, "Chenxi, do you mind what they said?"

Zhu Chenxi chuckled, her voice like a nightingale's, "If you don't mind, why should I? Anyway, what they said isn't true. Now, our family's large expenses are at least legally documented in the village."

"Hmm." Yuan Sheng thought to himself, his wife's temperament is indeed extraordinary.

"Chenxi, how come your embroidery is so beautiful? It's not only realistic but also very lifelike."

"My mother said that if you want to do embroidery well, you must first learn to draw. There are rules about composition, color matching, and the combination of content in the picture."

Yuan Sheng couldn't help but give a thumbs up, "My mother-in-law is truly amazing."

Zhu Chenxi recalled how her mother used to hold her in her arms when she was little, gently teaching her to draw, and how warm and fragrant her mother's embrace was.

When she pricked her hand with a needle for the first time while embroidering, her mother gently blew on it to warm it up.

When her mother was alive, she was her mother's darling and her father's darling. After her mother passed away and her father changed, she became a pitiful little girl who was unloved and easily bullied.

Yuan Sheng couldn't bear to see her looking so sad, so he slapped his own mouth and said, "It's my fault for talking nonsense."

Zhu Chenxi stopped crying and started laughing. Her eyes were still glistening with tears, making them look especially bright. She covered Yuan Sheng's mouth with her small hand and said, "It's not your fault. Why did you hit yourself?"

Yuan Sheng saw her smile and kissed her little hand.

Zhu Chenxi gently pinched Yuan Sheng's waist. "What if someone sees us in broad daylight?"

"Did the bee or the butterfly see it? There's no one here. I could do something even more outrageous and no one would see it." Yuan Sheng moved even closer.

After being reborn, Yuan Sheng made up for the regrets of his past life one by one, and lifted the heavy burdens that had weighed on his heart one by one. He felt that his heart had become completely young again, and he began to enjoy the most precious things at this age, such as... love.

Zhu Chenxi was afraid that he would really take advantage of her, so she pouted and turned her head to look at the scenery.

Wildflowers on the hillside swayed gracefully, pink, red, blue, and purple, displaying their most beautiful forms, just like Zhu Chenxi's joyful mood at this moment.

The oxcart moved slowly and leisurely, and the two of them enjoyed their time until they arrived in Laiyuan County.

The two strolled leisurely through the streets, passing vendors selling sugar figurines, incense powder, bamboo ware, lamp oil, clay figurines, and candied hawthorns.

"Want some candied hawthorns?" Yuan Sheng's eyes clearly showed he wanted some.

"Mmm." If it were before, Zhu Chenxi would definitely say she wouldn't eat, but now she would tell her husband her truest feelings without hiding anything.

Yuan Sheng picked out the biggest one and asked, "Hey bro, how much are these candied hawthorns?"

"Ten cents."

Zhu Chenxi said, "My lord, let's not buy it. He just sold it to the old lady for only eight coins."

"Okay." Yuan Sheng pulled the oxcart and was about to leave.

The vendor thought to himself, "That old lady haggled for almost half an hour. I saw that the young man selling candied hawthorns was well-dressed and seemed to love his wife. I thought I could make more money, but it still came down to eight coins. Young man, don't go. I'll sell it to you for eight coins too. Candy is so expensive. Look how much candy is on this. Selling it to you for eight coins is a loss."

Yuansheng knew the guy selling candied hawthorns must be making a lot of money, so he didn't argue. He took the candied hawthorns and handed them to his wife, saying, "Thanks, sir."

Zhu Chenxi took the candied hawthorn but didn't eat it. Instead, she held it to Yuan Sheng's lips, saying, "My lord, you eat the first one."

Yuansheng opened his mouth and took a bite. It was sweet and sour. And it was actually quite delicious, just like… the taste of first love.

Zhu Chenxi ate the candied hawthorn in small bites, feeling sweet inside.

The two passed by Donglaishun in the county town. The store in the county town was more impressive, with three floors. A pair of stone lions stood at the entrance, and red lanterns hung all over the outside. Well-dressed waiters greeted distinguished guests at the door. People came and went, and the business was booming.

Meishange, opposite Donglaishun, is also very upscale, but it is deserted, and the waiters at the door seem a bit listless.

Yuan Sheng and Zhu Chenxi walked through two streets before finally finding Qingfeng Study on an elegant and quiet street.

The walls of Qingfeng Study are decorated with calligraphy and paintings, and rows of bookshelves are filled with books, giving the whole shop a rather elegant feel.

Yuan Sheng flipped through the books, which were all written in traditional Chinese characters, and he could guess the general meaning of them.

The study mainly sells books related to the imperial examinations, with only a row of bookshelves against the wall displaying storybooks.

Yuan Sheng flipped through a few books, and the main characters of the stories were mostly poor scholars, poor scholars with rich young ladies, poor scholars with female ghosts, and there were very few martial arts stories, let alone stories about cultivating immortality.

"Waiter, how much is this copy of 'The Romance of the Western Chamber'?"

"Young man, you have a good eye! This storybook is very popular. Only our bookstore has it in stock right now, and it sells for five taels of silver." The waiter said with great enthusiasm, trying his best to promote it.