After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

Li Mo was catching up on sleep, while Lin Yueniang took Fuling to find Madam Cui to play a game of "Happy Two Against One".

After breakfast, Jiang Xiaoqi decided to go out for a walk by herself.

Since Li Haisheng passed the imperial examination with top honors, the Jiang family has gradually started to refer to their card games as "Happy Two Against One".

Lin Yueniang also felt that "competing with the top scholar" sounded bad. Her family already had a son-in-law who was a top scholar, so how could they compete with another top scholar?

Two-on-one fun, everyone gets hooked!

Fu Ling was also a novice; she only learned how to play on the road. While Li Mo was driving the carriage, the three of them played cards inside.

When Fuling was driving the carriage, Li Mo took over the game, and Lin Yueniang's card skills improved dramatically along the way.

Now that the rules have been explained, Madam Cui has been taught to recognize each card.

Madam Cui instructed her two trusted maids to learn the game as well, so that she wouldn't be without mahjong partners in the future.

Lin Yueniang brought two decks of cards this time, one new and one old. The new one was a gift for Madam Cui, and the old one was the one the three of them were currently playing with.

"Three belts and one!"

Madam Cui gradually got the hang of it, going from repeated defeats at the beginning to persistent efforts despite setbacks—in any case, she was extremely determined. Moderate entertainment, gambling prohibited…

"fry!"

"Three Qs and two Aces!"

"I can't afford it!"

"Pass!"

"A 3! I'm off!"

While the Cui family's backyard was bustling with activity, Jiang Xiaoqi appeared lonely and isolated as she went out alone.

I strolled around the various shops in Chunyi County, and didn't miss the roadside stalls either, where many locals were selling freshly picked fruits on the street.

The price of these fruits is worlds apart from that in the capital.

In Chunyi, ten coins can buy a basket of melons and cucumbers.

For the same price, you could probably only buy one or two pounds in Beijing.

There are more varieties of green vegetables here, and it seems that spring is approaching in Beijing now.

However, in Beijing, springtime is still chilly, and everything is slowly reviving, so it's not easy to find so many kinds of green vegetables.

Unless it's grown on the private hot spring estates of high-ranking officials and nobles, it's still very difficult for ordinary people to get fresh vegetables.

Most Beijing residents could only get through the early spring by relying on stored dried and pickled vegetables.

The significance of study tours lies in understanding the local climate, geography, customs, and people's lives in each place you visit, rather than simply sightseeing.

Only by going among the people can we know how the people of the Great Zhou are living now.

Knowing whether people's lives are difficult and what their demands are will be of great guiding significance for future officials.

Jiang Xiaoqi believed that officials worked for the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but they should also be in charge of the welfare of the people.

If one can simultaneously possess both "loyalty to the army and love for the country" and "serving the people," then the meaning of being an official is complete.

If you have this opportunity, why not give it a try?

Jiang Xiaoqi couldn't help but sigh. It was astonishing that someone who had failed the civil service exam three times in his previous life and ended up returning to his old profession of foreign trade would one day be dreaming about his future career path.

—Truly, life is unpredictable!

As Jiang Xiaoqi was thinking, she suddenly heard a commotion.

Turning around to look at the sound, I saw that an old farmer selling fruits and vegetables was arguing with a rich young man.

Generally speaking, this kind of situation is where rich young men abuse their power and bully the honest, hardworking masses who do business.

However, Jiang Xiaoqi decided to see the whole story before trying to figure it out.

The scene before me was that the vegetable basket had been knocked over and the vegetables and radishes had been trampled on, some of them were damaged, and they certainly wouldn't sell well.

"Oh dear, isn't this bullying? They're just honestly selling vegetables to supplement their income, and they're being bullied like this by rich people!"

"Yes, yes, such behavior is extremely domineering and rude!"

The surrounding people pointed and whispered about the elegantly dressed young man, and his entourage had to step forward to drive away the onlookers so that their carriage could pass normally.

Little did they know that the old man selling vegetables had already secretly moved in front of the carriage, looking like he was saying, "If you don't pay me, you'll have to run me over!"

Jiang Xiaoqi didn't follow the crowd to the carriage; instead, she looked at the vegetables on the ground while everyone else was busy watching the spectacle.

After watching for a while, he looked at the carriage tracks, dusted himself off, stood up, and squeezed into the crowd.

At this moment, the old man selling vegetables was still blocking the carriage, sitting on the ground, as still as a pine tree.

Seeing that the wealthy young man gave an order to his servants and then climbed back into his carriage.

The attendant was about to pay up to avoid trouble, and just as he was about to take out some silver from his pocket, a hand stopped him.

"Cousin, what are you doing here? Aunt is waiting for you to come back and asked me to urge you."

Jiang Xiaoqi's tone was calm but tinged with anxiety and complaint, making Song Cheng wonder if the other person was his cousin, but he had forgotten because of his poor memory.

Ugh! How bad is his memory? He can forget his own cousin! Besides, he's an orphan, where would he get a cousin from?

Before Song Cheng could react, Jiang Xiaoqi pulled him out of the group and whispered a few words in a corner.

"Who are you? I'm busy settling things down, so please wait a minute!"

"Hey brother, I called you out here because of this matter you want to settle! Let me tell you..."

That's the gist of it, so the decision of what to do is up to you. I just happened to be wandering around and stumbled upon this, so I had to get it off my chest.

"Are you serious?! That bastard! He's trying to scam us adults! He deserves to die! You wait here, brother, I'll go settle this first, and I'll treat you to drinks later!"

After the man left, a few yamen runners arrived shortly afterward. After inspecting the scene, they determined that the vegetable seller had been extorting money.

The old man's face turned bright red upon hearing this, and he protested, "You, you, you! Don't talk nonsense! I'm the victim here!"

After hearing the explanation from the officials, the onlookers realized that something was wrong with the old man.

Everyone else is setting up stalls by the roadside, so why did the carriage only come into contact with his vegetable stall? Something's strange!

"We've already made the truth quite clear. Why do you insist on going to the yamen (government office) before you're satisfied?"

"No! No, I won't go, I won't go! Fine, I guess I'm just unlucky. I can't afford to offend high-ranking officials or government officials!"

"Disperse! Disperse! Don't block the main street, what kind of order is this!"

The officials cleared the road, and the crowd finally dispersed. The young nobleman's carriage bypassed the vegetables scattered all over the ground.

"Young man! Young man, thank goodness you didn't leave! Come on, let's go to a restaurant!"

"It was nothing, brother, you don't need to spend any money."

Song Cheng could also tell that although the person in front of him was dressed very modestly, his identity was definitely not that of an ordinary person.

If his father, who has just arrived in this place to take up his post, can establish connections with the local prominent families, it will be beneficial for his future career in Chunyi.

Song Cheng wouldn't let this opportunity slip by!

"Oh, come on, come on! My master praised me for being clever. It's all thanks to you, little brother. I won't feel at ease if you don't accept my thanks!"

Jiang Xiaoqi could tell that the other party had ulterior motives, but no ill intentions. Since she was free anyway, and would be alone at the Cui residence, she might as well try Chunyi Restaurant.

"In that case, I'll gladly accept your offer. Thank you for your hospitality, elder brother!"

Song Cheng narrowed his eyes to slits. He thought to himself, "As expected of me, I'm incredibly good at judging people. Just listen to this conversation, look at this demeanor—there must be at least two or three relatives who are officials."