"Songzi, take this to Granny Luo and tell her to add some dishes tonight." Jiang Hua picked up two silver notes from the table and handed them to Songzi behind her.

“Yes, miss.” Songzi took the silver note briskly and went to find Granny Luo.

When it was time for dinner, Lin Feng looked at the dishes on the table, some of which he had never seen before.

"Was this hundred taels of silver well spent?" Qingyue looked at Linfeng, who was devouring his food like a whirlwind. She thought it was a good thing he wasn't from the Gu Sect.

They completely forgot that they used to be like this.

"Are the four of you betrothed as children, Qingling and Linzhi, and Qingyue and Linfeng?" Jiang Hua put down her bowl and chopsticks and wiped her mouth clean.

Watching them eat so heartily makes one's appetite soar. If this were modern times, it wouldn't be out of the question to make a mukbang (eating broadcast).

For the next month, Jiang Hua shuttled between the town and the village until the barbecue stall business stabilized, at which point she could finally focus on her cosmetics business in the village.

Another month passed, and the first batch of rouge and face powder came off the factory. Only then did the villagers realize that the factory was used to make rouge.

Upon receiving the news that the first batch of rouge and face powder had been produced, Shen Qingchuan immediately ordered them to be transported to the capital.

Especially those ladies and young women in the capital who received the rouge and lipstick given to them by Shen Qingchuan were already impatient and would come every few days to urge him when his rouge would be available for sale.

"Will you come with us on the opening day of Wanhua Tower?" Shen Qingchuan asked Jiang Hua while watching the girls make rouge.

"I can't go, I can't get away. It's A-Yi's day off in a few days. I'll come to the capital to find you when I have time later." Jiang Hua politely declined Shen Qingchuan's offer.

Jiang Jingyi didn't come back last month, but he wrote this month saying he'd be back in a few days. It's been almost two months since they last saw each other, and Jiang Hua is starting to miss him.

"Okay, remember to write to me in advance if you come, and I'll treat you well."

Shen Qingchuan replied that other people's "next time" might be just polite talk, but he didn't think it was just polite talk coming from Jiang Hua.

After the rouge and face powder were sent away, Shen Qingchuan stayed in Shili Village for two days before leaving. Before leaving, he also took with him the recipe for the secret barbecue seasoning and the skill of making barbecue skewers, leaving nothing behind.

...

"Stepmother, I'm back!"

Jiang Jingyi, who hadn't been home for nearly two months, got off the carriage and ran towards Jiang Hua's courtyard. When he passed the second courtyard, he saw Lin Feng and Lin Zhi in the courtyard and couldn't help but stop and look at them.

Lin Feng and Lin Zhi also put down their black and white chess pieces and looked at Jiang Jingyi.

"Are you my stepmother's new male lovers?"

Has Bai Heng fallen out of favor?

Jiang Jingyi carefully observed Lin Feng and Lin Zhi's faces and clothes, and nodded to himself inwardly. They were quite worthy of his stepmother.

His stepmother's judgment never changed; she always forged ahead.

"Hahahahahaha..."

Upon hearing Jiang Jingyi's words and seeing the two bewildered figures in the wind, Qingyue, who was sitting on the wall, burst into laughter.

"What's going on?" Jiang Hua walked over from the third courtyard, drawn by Qing Yue's arrogant laughter.

"Stepmother!" Jiang Jingyi immediately went to greet her.

Before Jiang Hua could even ask how things were going at the academy, Jiang Jingyi spoke first.

"Has Bai Heng fallen out of favor? Where did you find these two men? Are they reliable?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Hua slapped Jiang Jingyi on the head without hesitation.

What kind of inappropriate language is this?

"Stop reading those storybooks; the other person is engaged."

"Who?" Jiang Jingyi glanced at Lin Feng and the other two, his face full of regret.

"What are you talking about? We broke off our engagement a long time ago." Qingyue used the wall as leverage to jump down and denied it outright.

Jiang Jingyi felt a little disappointed. He then shared with Jiang Hua what had happened at the academy in the past two months. When he heard that Xu Yaozu had died, he was stunned.

When did this happen?

So suddenly?

"So, is Xu Shi all that's left in their family?" Jiang Jingyi felt a bit dazed. It was just that he was expelled from Shifang Academy, and it was all his own doing, yet he was blaming his family for everything.

"Yes, it's in our village."

It took Jiang Jingyi a while to accept this fact.

In the evening, after dinner, Jiang Hua and Jiang Jingyi chatted for a while in the study. Jiang Hua also wrote a letter to Jiang Xingzhou, asking Manager Bai to deliver it the next day before leaving to tell him to get some rest.

In the village of Shili at night, every household lit candles at home. Perhaps because wolves had come down from the mountain last night, no one dared to come out after nightfall.

Jiang Hua walked along the quiet path with a lantern in her hand. It was already summer, and the wind blowing in her face was hot. She stopped in front of a thatched hut.

Candles were lit inside, indicating that the people inside were still awake. Jiang Hua pushed open the door and went in without hesitation.

Who is it?

Hearing the commotion outside the door, Xu, who was inside, hurriedly asked, her voice filled with fear. When no one responded, she cautiously went forward and opened the door.

"Why is it you? What are you doing here?" When Xu saw that it was Jiang Hua, she took a few steps back in fear.

“Of course I have something to discuss with you.” Jiang Hua walked in without saying a word.

What are you drinking?

As soon as Jiang Hua entered, she smelled a strong medicinal aroma. The smell seemed familiar, as if she had smelled it somewhere before. On the table in the inner room was a bowl of dark medicine.

"Where did you buy the medicine from the Bamboo Goddess?"

"What's it to you!"

Having been correctly guessed, Xu replied with a forced smile that she had bought this medicine from the Bamboo Goddess with her last remaining silver. She had previously said that as long as she kept taking this medicine, she would be able to have a son.

"Then you can't keep this baby," Jiang Hua kindly reminded her.

"Alright, I came to see you about something else."

Before Xu could get angry, Jiang Hua changed the subject: "I'm not your biological daughter."

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Xu had just sat down when she heard Jiang Hua's words. When she met Jiang Hua's eyes, her gaze darted away.

"Didn't you say that I'm not your biological child?" Jiang Jianghua asked again.

"You know I'm not a very patient person."

“You…” Madam Xu hesitated for a moment: “I will only tell you if you give me twenty taels of silver.”

Jiang Hua didn't haggle; she simply took out twenty taels of silver from her spatial storage and placed it on the table. Upon seeing this, Madam Xu quickly took it and put it away.

"explain."

“You are indeed not my biological child. My baby died shortly after birth, and you were brought back from outside by the midwife.” Xu then recounted the events of that year.

"When the midwife found you, the old woman next to you was seriously injured. When we went to check on her the next day, the old woman's body was gone."