Someone asked if she wanted to sell the courtyard, but Qin refused, saying it was built when her husband was still alive and she would occasionally come back to live there.

Old Mr. and Mrs. Xu and several people from the eldest wife's family will arrive later in Fifth Grandpa's car.

When the ox cart arrived at the new house on Huaihua Street, Li, Lu and Zhangzhu came out to greet them. Li came to help with cooking today.

The oxcart stopped outside the courtyard. Qin and the others carried their belongings into the main gate, while Zhao Wu walked to the left with two packages. As usual in the countryside, the door to the courtyard in the Xu family's west wing was locked, while a small door was opened outside.

There are four rooms in total, one each for the kitchen, the woodshed, the warehouse, and one which is the bedroom for Ding Gu and Lu.

There was a screen door on the west side of the outer courtyard, behind which was the mule shed and a large covered toilet bucket. After using the toilet in her room, she would empty the waste into the toilet bucket. When the manure collector came in the early morning, Lu would empty the waste into the manure cart.

The main house and the east and west wing rooms each had three rooms and two side rooms. As in the countryside, Qin and Xu Lan lived in the east and west rooms of the main house, both of which were connected to the adjacent side rooms, which served as toilets. Xu Lanzhou and his brother lived in the north and south rooms of the east wing, with the north side room serving as their toilet and the south side room as the chess master's room.

The three rooms in the west wing, including the north wing, were given to Zhao Wu. Only the south wing belonged to the Xu family, where Huazi and Mazi lived. Zhao Wu couldn't use so many rooms by himself, so he insisted on having the north wing so that he could be closer to Xu Lanyin's west room in the upper wing. No one else knew his little trick except Xu Lanyin.

There were no large, deserted woods like those in the countryside in the county town for Zhao Wu to practice martial arts, so he would practice in the front yard from then on.

Xu Lanyin and others went back to the house to tidy it up and changed into new clothes, and then the first group of guests arrived.

It was the old couple and the eldest family, Xu Lizheng and his wife, Xu Jindou, Xu Yulan, the fifth grandfather and his eldest son Xu Dahe, his grandson Xu Youfu, and his granddaughter Xu Minniang.

Upon their arrival, Xu Yulan and Xu Minniang immediately entered Xu Lanyin's room. Xu Minniang was envious, but Xu Yulan didn't mind. Xu Yulan's family owned houses in both the county town and the town, but because her grandfather was the patriarch of the Xu clan, and the family's fields and orchards were all in the countryside, the family settled in Xiaozao Village for the most part, to more easily manage clan affairs and the land.

After some chatting and laughing, the distinguished guests arrived. First came Hong Zhen, his wife and children, followed by his personal guard Liu Yong and his maid Xiao Chan. These two servants were assigned by Xijin Bo's mansion, and to show their respect for them, Hong Zhen and his wife brought them with them almost exclusively when they went out.

Next came the Minshan couple and Minnan to congratulate.

The Hu family was also invited. Mrs. Hu said that there were many guests today, so she would bring Hu Yi to play tomorrow.

When Old Man Xu, Xu Lizheng and others saw these distinguished people coming, they were both happy and nervous.

When the Hong and Min families arrived, the male and female guests were separated. The female guests stayed in the upper room, where Xu Lanyin would take care of them, while the male guests were invited to the east wing, where Xu Lanzhou, Zhao Wu, and Xu Dashi would take care of them.

Mrs. Shen, the elder Min's wife, looked down on the country folk and only spoke to Mrs. Hong and Mrs. Qin. Mrs. Hong was easygoing and would find something to talk about with Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Ma. As soon as Min Nan arrived, she played with the young ladies and was very endearing.

At lunchtime, Mr. He, Constable Jiang, Constable He, and Coroner Tang who were on duty also came to drink.

After dinner, they chatted and laughed for a while before the guests gradually left.

It began to rain that evening. Xu Lan, unable to sleep, felt happy to hear the patter of rain. Having a bathroom made bathing much more convenient, so she took a nice, flower-petal bath before bed, having Zhangqi wash her hair. She slept on a bed now, a simple bunk bed with only a few carved flowers, but it was still a bed. Having grown up in the south in her previous life, she wasn't used to sleeping on a kang (a traditional bed). Especially in winter, while the kang was warm, it was uncomfortably dry.

Suddenly, she heard a sound from the window. She stood up, put on her slippers and walked to the small window. It was pitch black outside. She could only vaguely see dense raindrops, but nothing else.

Zhao Wu whistled briefly and lightly, and Xu Lanyin tapped the window frame with her fingers in response before going to bed.

A continuous drizzle fell for several days, dispelling the late summer heat.

Even if it rained these days, Hu Yi would brave the rain every day to come to the Xu family to play for a while, and sometimes even have lunch. She was the happiest person to have the Xu family move in.

That day, Mrs. Hu came with Hu Yi. She quietly told Xu Lanyin that she and Mr. Hu had taken a fancy to a young man, a man of good looks and honest character, who worked as a cashier in one of their family's shops. They wanted to arrange a marriage for them, give Hu Yi a larger dowry, and have the young man join them in the business. He would also treat Hu Yi well, for the sake of their family and their wealth.

Xu Lanyin never believed that people who appeared honest were necessarily honest. Hu Yi was her patient and good friend, and she hoped that she would be happy in the future.

He suggested, "Although Sister Yi hasn't mentioned that incident again, she still hasn't completely forgotten it. It's best not to tell her about it for now. You should investigate that young man again. Wait until she has completely let go of the past before you speak."

Mrs. Hu was willing to listen to Xu Lanyin whenever it came to Hu Yi. Her son's praise for Xu Lanyin's intelligence made her even more willing to listen, nodding repeatedly.

By the time the rain stopped and I had put the house in order, it was already early August.

Xu Lanting had already been enrolled in a private school just down the alley, but he would have to wait a while before starting. Xu Lanyin's excuse for going to the provincial capital was quite plausible, so she took Xu Lanting there for a follow-up consultation with Dr. Fang. After nearly three months of recuperation, the little boy was noticeably better.

It was almost time for the autumn harvest, and Xu Lanzhou stayed at home to look after the crops, leaving only Zhao Wu to accompany the two siblings.

The police station was now under the supervision of Captain Jiang, who readily granted Zhao Wuti's requests and even thoughtfully sent him an errand to balance his duties. This wasn't entirely out of respect for Zhao Wu, but more so for the benefit of the Min County Magistrate. The astute Captain Jiang had already noticed that Zhao Wu and Miss Xu had a very close relationship with the Min family.

Early in the morning on the fifth day, Xu Lanyin, Xu Lanting, and Zhangqi boarded a mule cart driven by Ding Gu, while Zhao Wu rode horseback, and they set off for the provincial capital. This time, they also brought along Qin's embroidered poppy, which had just been finished and not yet mounted on the screen frame.

Ding Gu and Lu were very excited that they could go to the provincial capital this time because their son was sold in the provincial capital.

Xu Lanyin was very pleased with Ding Gu and his wife and said that if she could find their son, she would buy him and reunite the three of them. After hearing her words, Ding Gu and Lu both cried with emotion and quickly knelt down to kowtow.

They arrived in Feng County in the evening. The inn they had stayed at previously was full, so they finally found the Longxing Inn after dark. They booked two rooms, both on the second floor. Xu Lanyin shared one with Zhangqi and Xu Lanting, while Zhao Wu and Ding Gu occupied the other.