Su Qingluan had never expected that her casual words would cause such a big reaction from Su Guangfu, and she was stunned for a moment.

It was Yang who came to her senses first. She tugged at the sleeve of Su Guangfu's jacket and tried to smooth things over, saying, "Why are you so fierce? Daya was just saying it casually..."

Su Guangfu had never been as amiable and smiling as Yang, but he was also a gentle person. However, this time, he was uncharacteristically stern: "Is that something you can just say casually?! She's not a lady from a wealthy family anymore. We're farmers. If she speaks so freely, we can't protect her!"

Although his tone was stern, he still kept his voice low and glanced outside from time to time, afraid that someone might have heard him.

Yang also lowered her voice and said to Su Qingluan, "Daya, please don't say this to anyone else. You could get beaten and lose your head!"

Su Xuanhe and Su Xueyan were still young, so naturally they didn't understand what their parents meant. But Su Qingluan had the soul of an adult with normal thinking ability, and she immediately understood their hidden meaning.

Su Qingluan had learned before that in the "Sheng Dynasty" where she traveled, the government strictly controlled the mining and sale of salt, so it was absolutely not allowed to privately refine crude salt and resell it as she said just now.

What's more, if she once told others the method of preparing refined salt, it would inevitably cause everyone to buy cheap coarse salt, while the expensive refined salt would be unsalable.

She was just an ordinary citizen, so how could she have any good results if she had affected the interests of the salt merchants?

After figuring out the key, Su Qingluan suddenly came to her senses. A thin layer of cold sweat appeared on her back, and the evening breeze made her feel chilled.

Su Qingluan put down her bowl and chopsticks and said softly to Su Guangfu and Yang: "Dad and Mom are scolding me for speaking out of turn."

Seeing that Su Qingluan knew she was wrong, Su Guangfu raised his hand and touched the top of her head and said, "Dad and Mom just hope you can be safe."

Seeing the atmosphere was a bit dull, Yang said in a hurry, "Hey, Daddy, it seems our Daya has a talent for cooking. She can even make a simple dish better than me! Eat more!"

Su Guangfu nodded, picked up another piece of food with chopsticks, and whispered: "As long as we don't sell this salt, it's fine to use it privately." He also reminded the other two children not to talk too much in public before leaving it alone.

The Su family has no elderly elders, and Su Guangfu and his wife are straightforward, so there are no red tape at the dinner table such as "don't talk while eating and don't talk while sleeping".

The family chatted and laughed for a while, and after a while, the atmosphere became lively again. Yang took a sip of her soup and said, "Today, Aunt Zhou from the east end of the village told me that her cousin has a good chance of passing the autumn exam this year."

Su Guangfu nodded: "That child is good at studying."

Yang took a look at her eldest daughter's bright and beautiful profile and sighed, "It's a pity that Daya only just recognized him. Otherwise, she could have gone to Aunt Zhou to mediate. It would have been a good match."

Su Qingluan nearly spit out a mouthful of bean rice when she heard this: "Are you kidding me? She's only thirteen years old now, and she's already rushing to get married?!"

Seeing her eldest daughter dumbfounded, Yang smiled and said, "Is this child shy?"

She wasn't shy at all, she was terrified, okay?! Su Qingluan was speechless.

"Mom..." She really didn't know how to tell an ancient person that thirteen was not the right age to get married.

In this era, it was common for girls to be engaged at 13 or 14, and to marry and have children at 15 or 16. If they were still unmarried by the age of 20, they would be laughed at by their neighbors and called an "old maid."

Yang patted the back of Su Qingluan's hand gently: "It's okay, when there's a chance, mother will definitely arrange it for you."

"Mother, I'm not in a hurry." Thank you, but don't worry.

"How can we not be anxious?" Yang Shi obviously disagreed. "You will be fourteen next year. Although your parents want to keep you for a few more years, it is always better to settle down early. My daughter cannot marry a rough country boy. She must marry a well-educated husband so that we can enjoy a happy life together in the future."

Yang's idea was simple. Her daughter was as beautiful as a flower and had been pampered for more than ten years. She couldn't bear to see her daughter suffer.

Compared to Yang's enthusiasm, Su Guangfu was much calmer: "There's no chance of that happening. What if that child passes the imperial examination? Will he be interested in our eldest daughter?"

Yang was always protective of her own shortcomings, and she was a little unhappy about what Su Guangfu said. Just as she was about to retort, Xueyan, who was sitting next to her, asked in a daze, "Mother, is that person more learned than Mr. Mu?"

"Tsk, how is that possible!" Su Xuanhe said with disdain, "Mr. Mu is even more learned than Master Zhou!"

Su Qingluan knew Master Zhou, a teacher who lived in the village. It was said that Master Zhou had achieved success at a young age, passing the imperial examination and becoming an official.

However, a few years ago, for unknown reasons, he was dismissed from office and returned to this small Huaxi Village to work as a teacher, living on a meager salary.

Yang had previously told Su Guangfu that if she could collect enough tuition the following year, she would send Su Xuanhe to Master Zhou to start his studies.

Su Qingluan pinched her brother's cheek and said with a smile, "You can't even write your own name, but you know whether other people are educated or not?"

Su Xuanhe desperately dodged to the side, trying to escape his elder sister's devilish claws: "Everyone in the village says so, even Master Zhou says so! If you don't believe me, ask my parents!"

"That's true. I heard Master Zhou was determined to challenge Mr. Mu to a duel," Yang said with a smile. "That incident was one of the most exciting in the area back then. I heard even the county magistrate was alarmed."

Su Guangfu also nodded in affirmation: "We are unsophisticated people and don't understand what they are competing for. We just competed for many days at the largest restaurant in town, 'Hongfulou'."

"In those days, not only was Hongfulou packed, the whole town was bustling with activity. Master Zhou was the first successful candidate in the entire area! And Mr. Mu, at such a young age, managed to beat him to the punch!"

Yang recounted the lively scene of the crowds gathered to watch the spectacle, as if she were telling a story. Then she sighed, "It's a pity that Mr. Mu is in poor health... Otherwise, someone with such profound knowledge would surely have a prosperous future!"

After saying this, he sighed heavily, with infinite regret.

Because of this family conversation, Su Qingluan couldn't help but feel a little curious about "Mr. Mu" - a learned man admired by the whole family, even surpassing Master Zhou who once passed the imperial examination and became an official, but he was frail and sickly and his talent was not recognized.

In an instant, the image of a down-and-out scholar with a skinny body, a sad look, loose clothes and gray hair appeared in her mind.

But she didn't expect that when she actually met this person, he was completely different from what she had imagined.