When Yunling and the others returned home, their family was incredibly excited. Old Man Yun hugged Old Man Yun, Yun Ruoxia hugged Yun Ruochun, and Zhang Shi and Yun Chu hugged Yunling.

"You've all gotten a tan."

Zhang's eyes were red, and she almost wanted to crush Yunling into her flesh and blood. "You heartless thing, you must not have thought about your mother at all, you were just playing around."

Yunling found a moment to catch her breath. "Of course I miss my mother. I miss her when I eat, I miss her when I sleep. And it's all thanks to the padded jacket my mother prepared that I don't get cold."

"Is that really true? Don't try to make your mother happy."

"Of course it's true, I miss my mother so much."

Yun Chu was also filled with boundless joy, "Ling Niang, did you go to see the sea?"

"Yes, the day after we went to Qimin, we went to see the sea with Uncle Zhao. I regret that I don't have the skill to paint, otherwise I would definitely be able to paint that beautiful scene back for you to see."

"Ling-jie, didn't you bring back a seashell necklace?"

Reminded by Yun Ruochun, Yun Ling quickly took out several well-preserved seashell chains from her bundle.

“Hey, Chunniang, let me tell you, I bought a lot of dried seafood in Qimin, so we can have a big New Year this year. I also left a lot for you to take back to your parents’ home.”

Old Lady Yun pulled Zhang Shi aside, and as soon as they opened the two large bundles, the salty smell of the seaside wafted out. Of course, Yun Ruoxia didn't miss the chance to inquire about the prices. Just as Yun Ling had thought, she felt that they should buy some better quality items there to resell and make a profit.

After Yun Shenghua returned, the family gathered together to talk about the customs and stories of Fujian. They all tacitly avoided mentioning any dangers and simply enjoyed the wonderful time together.

Compared to the pleasant atmosphere of the Yun family, the atmosphere in the Qin family was relatively serious.

Qin Yu was accompanied home by Chen Jie. Chen Jie kept in mind the task his great-aunt had given him. When Hu Shi showed concern, he made up a story about how dangerous things were, mentioning water snakes, water bandits, long knives, and poison needles. Hu Shi was so frightened that her heart was pounding and she almost fainted.

"Mother, it's not that serious. We just encountered some river bandits, but I'm perfectly fine now, aren't I?"

“Of course you’re just saying the less serious side,” Mrs. Hu wiped away the tears that had welled up in her eyes from fright. “You’re fine now, but back then it was extremely dangerous, and you could have easily lost your life.”

Chen Jie quickly chimed in, "Madam is absolutely right. Yu-ge'er was hit on the back at the time, and we don't know if he has fully recovered yet. Why don't we have one of the concubines help him back to his room to rest?"

Qin Yu stared blankly at Chen Jie for a moment, feeling that something was off about this guy.

Madam Hu waved her hand, "If he has concubines at home, I'll have to go to the temple to burn incense and pray to Buddha to make amends. With someone like him who's never home, it's good enough if someone is willing to be with him. But Yu-ge, you're not young anymore, it's time to settle down and find someone."

"This matter cannot be rushed; everything must be done in a natural and gradual manner."

"You're not worried, but I am! People my age are all holding their grandchildren, while I'm stuck with a baby. Let me tell you, I know someone..."

"Mother, I've already told you about this, there's no rush."

"..."

Chen Jie finally had his answer: Qin Yu was 100% virgin, as confirmed by his family. The only question was whether he'd been cheating, since he was rarely home these days; it was hard to say whether he was keeping a mistress.

After all, this is the age of youthful vigor, and it's easy to act impulsively and do impulsive things. After all, not all young men are as simple, kind, upright, brave, and celibate as he is.

So this matter still needs to be considered. However, there is another problem: if he finds out, where should he look for his great-aunt?

**

Chen Jie didn't know where Yun Ling lived, but Yun Ling knew how to find him. However, she had a more important matter to deal with first, which was the village schoolteacher.

Before Yunling went to Qimin, she asked Yun Shenghua to inquire in the city and hire a teacher at a high salary. This person was about the same age as Yun Shenghua and had always wanted to take the imperial examination to become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations). However, he always performed poorly in the examinations and was frustrated. But he did not want to become a Xiucai (a lower-level scholar) and continued to study.

Continuing to read was no easy task, not to mention the time it would take, the cost was also a major problem. He had his own pride, but he couldn't compete with the price offered by Yun Shenghua.

He went to Dongtou Village to teach, and he did not forget to study past exam questions in his spare time. Perhaps his strength met with luck, and he finally passed the imperial examination in the autumn this year.

He was so pleased with himself that he didn't care about staying in this small village. He apologized to Yun Shenghua a few times and left without looking back, taking his things to the capital to prepare for the imperial examination.

This troubled Yunling greatly. Not for any other reason than that the village chief was standing at their door with a mournful face, as if he owed her 25,800 yuan, which made things difficult.

But this was something she had promised herself, so there was no reason for her to renege. Yunling then thought that the owner of Yunxiang Bookstore often dealt with scholars and must have quite a few connections in this area.

So on the first day of the Lunar New Year, she took Yun Chu and Yun Ruoxia to the county town. Fortunately, the door of Yunxiang Bookstore was wide open, and the shopkeeper, Chen, greeted them with a handful of melon seeds. When he saw that it was them, he was even more delighted.

"Ladies, you're here to buy toilet paper again, aren't you? Since it's the New Year and your first order, I'll give you a discount: fourteen coins a bundle, how about it?"

"Fourteen doesn't sound good, shopkeeper, how about thirteen coins? Let's buy two more dollars."

Seeing that Yun Chu was going to practice calligraphy anyway, Yun Ruoxia thought, why not take advantage of the discount and buy a couple more pieces to avoid the hassle of going back and forth?

Yun Chu had no objection, but Shopkeeper Chen was in a real pain. He could treat a one-coin reduction as a mosquito bite, an itch that would subside after a while, but a two-coin reduction felt like being cut with a knife—it hurt terribly.

Yunling said happily, "Then let's buy three reams of straw paper and one ream of bamboo paper. Sister should write on better paper too."

Shopkeeper Chen was overjoyed, smiling like a Maitreya Buddha. He quickly cut the paper, afraid that if he cut it too slowly, Yunling and the others would refuse it.

After giving her the coins, Yunling got straight to the point, "Shopkeeper, we've come here with a favor to ask. Our village just lost a teacher who passed the imperial examination, and we're short of teachers. Do you have any good recommendations?"

Shopkeeper Chen's eyes lit up, and he immediately blurted out, "Why don't we choose my father-in-law to teach in the village? He's a failed scholar, after all."