She's skilled in medicine, martial arts, and even understands animal language—the abandoned dau

Shen Man looked up and saw two servants carrying a large box each, which they placed on the ground.

"Young master, this is a New Year's gift that our master specially instructed us to prepare for your family. We hope you won't find it too much," Steward Liu said with a smile.

"Manager Liu, Master Zhu bought all of our honey, which has been a great help to us. We should be the ones giving him New Year's gifts, not the other way around. How can we possibly accept this!"

"Haha, young master, you don't know this, but your honey has been a great help to my master. These are supposed to be New Year's gifts, but they are actually my master's way of thanking you."

"Oh, my family's honey helped Master Zhu a lot? What makes you say that?" Shen Man looked at Zhu Jing with curiosity, her eyes sparkling with doubt and expectation, as if she wanted to find the answer from him.

Zhu Jing's face beamed with excitement. He said impatiently, "Man'er, my father gave all the honey he bought from your family to Prefect Lu of the border town. Prefect Lu was delighted to see how good the honey was and immediately sent it to the capital as a New Year's gift to present to the Emperor. To thank my father for his gift, he agreed to let me be Prefect Lu's study companion. After the New Year, I will go to the prefectural city to study!"

Shen Man suddenly understood, nodded slightly, and smiled, saying, "Oh, I see. Then I'll accept this gift!"

She understood that in ancient society, merchants had a relatively low social status, and in order to preserve their family's wealth and honor, they had to find a strong backer.

Zhu Jing's ability to become the prefect's son's study companion is undoubtedly a huge opportunity and boost for the Zhu family's future development.

Shen Man opened one of the boxes, which was filled with various pastries and fruits, as well as some silk and cloth.

Opening another box revealed a variety of smoked meats.

These things may not be considered precious, but they are still useful during the Chinese New Year.

"We are so grateful to Master Zhu for sending us so many wonderful things," Shen Man said thankfully.

"Young master, you're too kind. My master said that from now on, we'll take care of all your honey!" Manager Liu waved his hand and said to Shen Man.

"That would be wonderful, but it's cold today, and the bees have no flowers to collect from. The next batch of honey won't be ready until March or April next year!"

"It's alright. When you have the goods, just let us know in town and we'll come and pick them up."

"No problem!" Shen Man readily agreed.

Just then, Lanxiang returned from the fields and, upon seeing the gifts, repeatedly thanked Zhu Jing and Steward Liu.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Lanxiang took out two ten-tael silver notes and gave them to Steward Liu. She also took out two wild ginseng roots and a lingzhi mushroom, which she had treasured at home, as a return gift, and asked Steward Liu to take them back to Master Zhu.

Manager Liu accepted the silver notes and gifts, and said with a smile, "Thank you very much. It's getting late, and I have to rush back to report, so I'll take my leave now." After saying that, he left Shen Man's house with his men.

Before leaving, Zhu Jing said to Shen Man, "Man'er, come visit me in town when you have time. I'll be home until the Lantern Festival!"

"Ok!"

Shen Man verbally agreed, but she had no intention of going to see him at all.

After seeing Zhu Jing and his group to the village entrance, the mother and daughter returned home.

"Man'er, I never expected that Master Zhu would send us New Year's gifts!" Lanxiang said in surprise, looking at the two large boxes full of gifts in the room.

"Mother, that's because our honey helped him a lot," Shen Man replied with a smile. Then, she briefly told her mother how Master Zhu had used honey to establish a relationship with Prefect Lu.

"Man'er, what did you say? Prefect Lu actually presented our honey to the Emperor? Oh my God!" Lanxiang's eyes widened in disbelief.

“Yes, Mother, that’s why Master Zhu is so grateful to us,” Shen Man explained.

Lanxiang was so excited that she clasped her hands together and kept saying, "It's truly a blessing from heaven! Our family has received such a great fortune!"

Seeing her mother's ecstatic expression, Shen Man felt not so happy, but rather a faint sense of worry.

"But Mother, what if the Emperor likes our honey after tasting it and then sends someone to ask for more?" Shen Man expressed her concern.

Lanxiang's smile froze. "This...this is indeed a problem. But we can't refuse to give the Emperor what he wants!"

"Sigh, I hope I'm just worrying unnecessarily. After all, the Emperor has seen plenty of good things, why would he care about a little bit of wild honey... Mother, where should we put these things?"

Seeing Lanxiang's worried expression, Shen Man regretted bringing it up and quickly changed the subject.

After hearing Shen Man's words, Lanxiang's gaze returned to the gift.

"Let's put these in the storeroom for now," Lanxiang said to Shen Man, looking at the box of various smoked meats. "As for these fabrics and pastries, I need to pick some out and send them to the village head's house. They've helped us a lot."

“Well, Mother, we don’t have any men in our family, so why don’t we send these blue and green cloths to them?” Shen Man helped Lanxiang take out two bolts of cloth suitable for men from the box.

"Alright, I'll give you these two bolts of cloth!" Lanxiang nodded, took the cloth and put it aside. Then she took out two boxes of pastries, put them together in a basket, and covered them with a cloth.

"Alright, you can take it over later." Lanxiang handed the packed basket to Shen Man. "Be careful on the road."

"Okay, Mom." Shen Man took the basket and walked towards the door.

Shen Man arrived at the village head's house, just as the village head's family was having lunch.

"Grandpa Village Head, Grandma Sun," Shen Man greeted them with a smile.

"It's Man'er! Have you eaten yet? Come and have some with us," the village head's wife greeted warmly.

"No need, Grandma Sun, I've already eaten." Shen Man put down the basket. "These are some pastries and fabrics that my mother asked me to bring to you. Thank you for taking care of our family before."

"Oh, why are you being so polite?" The village head's wife took the basket from Shen Man's hand, lifted a corner to look inside, and saw that it contained two bolts of fine cotton cloth. She smiled and said, "But the color of this cloth is really beautiful. It's perfect for making new clothes for my boys."

"That's good." Shen Man smiled. "Then I'll head back now; I have things to take care of at home."

"Man'er, wait a minute!" the village head's wife said, turning around and going back into the house.

A moment later, she carried a large bag of dried fruit and dried mushrooms and put it into Shen Man's basket.

“We don’t have anything good at home. These are all things that your Uncle Changsheng and the others picked up on the mountain a while ago. You can take them back and have a treat.”

"Thank you, Grandma Sun!" Shen Man quickly thanked Grandma Sun.

"Don't be shy, walk slowly, don't fall!" Madam Sun reached out and touched Shen Man's little tuft of hair, reminding her.