Xu Dongsheng nodded. "I know you're 16, you've reached the age of marriage, and you're old enough to get married."

If Yan'er doesn't want to have a baby too early, we can postpone our marriage for two years.

I don't want to live like the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl forever.

Zhao Qingyan felt like she was struck by lightning. What was going on? Were people at this age all so precocious?

This kid is so young, yet he's already thinking about getting married.

Zhao Qingyan was getting a little frustrated. She couldn't take her anger out on things, nor could she hit Xu Dongsheng, so she just kept spinning around in circles.

Xu Dongsheng stood there, looking at Zhao Qingyan with a pitiful expression.

"Yan'er, stop spinning me, it's making me dizzy."

If you don't agree, we can get married later.

Zhao Qingyan was very upset and didn't know how to express herself. She hadn't even thought about Xu Dongsheng's pitiful words.

"Who said I disagreed?"

A look of surprise flashed in Xu Dongsheng's eyes. "Yan'er, you agree? You agree to get married?"

Zhao Qingyan's train of thought was interrupted, and she stopped spinning around. "What did you say? Who agreed?"

Xu Dongsheng was completely confused by Zhao Qingyan.

"Didn't Yan'er just say she agreed?" Xu Dongsheng's voice trailed off.

Zhao Qingyan stopped wandering around and plopped down in a chair.

"You need to let me think about this. It's a bit hard for me to accept that we're getting married so suddenly."

I still feel like a child.

How can a child get married? So I'm a little confused.

Whether we get married early or late, I'm certain I'll marry you in this lifetime; it's just a matter of time.

Now there's another problem: what will happen to my grandparents if we get married? They've said they absolutely have to live with me.

If I take them away, what will happen to my dad? He's so lonely.

And my two younger brothers, I can't bear to leave them either.

After hearing what he said, Xu Dongsheng was left speechless, both amused and exasperated.

"So, Yan'er doesn't want to be with me because of her grandparents, father, and brothers?"

Zhao Qingyan was so charmed by Xu Dongsheng's sweet words that she almost wanted to slap him.

“Speak properly. I don’t want to be separated from my family, at least not too far away. I want to be able to visit them anytime I miss them.”

I'm afraid that after we get married, your uncle might transfer us both to some other place.

Especially my father, your uncle must know he's both scholarly and martial, I guess that's why he was placed in Dawar.

The result is good; now there is no longer Northern Inner Mongolia, only Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

We don't know what to do next.

Xu Dongsheng lowered his head in deep thought.

"Yan'er, how about this? I'll write a letter to my uncle, and no matter where my father-in-law is transferred to, I'll go to the city next to his for the new post. What do you think?"

Zhao Qingyan pulled up the flesh on Xu Dongsheng's face, and even tugged it outwards.

"Are you stupid? Only now that you two are both county magistrates is it possible for you to be neighbors next door."

"You can't be an official for your entire life, only holding the seventh rank, can you? Once you're promoted, the possibility of being neighbors with someone like that disappears."

Xu Dongsheng was naturally aware of this problem. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he said with a smile,

“There is another way, but Yan’er may not be willing to do it.”

"Oh, tell me about it." Zhao Qingyan became interested.

"I will resign from my post. Wherever Yan'er is, that's where I will be," Xu Dongsheng said with such ease and naturalness.

Zhao Qingyan was frightened. She just didn't want to be separated from her family so soon, not to ruin Xu Dongsheng's future.

"My God, I strongly suspect you're playing hard to get."

Aren't you making me a negative example for the whole world?

You gave up a promising future to marry me.

To put it simply, I reckon your uncle would rather have my father dismissed from his official post than let you resign.

Don't say such foolish things again.

Let me think about this carefully. This is a serious matter, and I can't agree to it right away.

"Let me think about it, okay?"

Xu Dongsheng nodded, "Yan'er must consider this carefully."

Zhao Qingyan sighed, then saw Xu Dongsheng out of the yamen.

Back in the inner quarters, she went straight to her room and fell into a deep sleep.

What happened today had a huge impact on her.

She needs to get some sleep first, and then she can think things through properly after she wakes up, otherwise she'll feel like her brain isn't working properly.

Huang and the others sat in the living room for a long time without seeing Zhao Qingyan come over, so they sent someone out to look for her.

As a result, Zhao Qingyan went back to her room to sleep.

Huang realized something was wrong; Zhao Qingyan must be having some kind of confusion.

She didn't go directly to find anyone; instead, she sat in the living room chatting with her eldest granddaughter.

Zhao Minggeng, as the county magistrate, was currently presiding over a case in the front office.

In the west of the city lived a family surnamed Zhang. The old man raised three sons throughout his life.

The two older sons were both hardworking and diligent, but the youngest son was addicted to gambling.

He doesn't usually bring money home, and his two older brothers are already praying for him, fearing he'll come home asking for money.

It was Chinese New Year, and on New Year's Eve, Zhang San'er gambled with his cronies for three days before finally returning home on the morning of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.

Unlike usual, when he got home, he didn't either ask his father for money or complain to his mother about being poor. Instead, he quietly went back to his room to sleep.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, after the firecrackers for sending off the gods went off in the morning, people came to our house.

The person who came was An Wu, who had been gambling with Zhang San'er these past few days.

An Wu did not come alone; he brought a group of thugs with him.

As soon as he entered, he slammed the IOU that Zhang San'er had signed onto the table.

Zhang San'er borrowed fifty taels of silver for gambling these past few days, and with interest, the other party is demanding that he return 55 taels.

The Zhang family has been making a living by doing odd jobs over the years; they simply don't have that much money.

Only one house is worth some money.

If you were to sell it, it would probably be worth several dozen taels of silver.

“It is only right to pay back debts. Considering our good relationship in the past, I, Anwu, did not ask Zhang San for more money.”

It's written in black and white, his fingerprint is on it: either pay back the money immediately, or your house will be used to settle the debt. The choice is yours.”

Old Man Zhang was so angry that he picked up a broom from the yard and started hitting people.

Zhang San'er is really a piece of trash. When your father beats you, you either endure it or run away to another place.

Instead of hiding elsewhere, he deliberately hid behind An Wu.

The old man was beating his son so badly that he accidentally drew Anwu's name.

An Wu had been involved in the underworld for years, and he had never been treated like this before. He kicked Old Man Zhang in the leg.

In that instant, Old Man Zhang fell to the ground with a thud. To make matters worse, his neck was sliced ​​off by the blade of one of the thugs.

Blood splattered everywhere. Old Zhang collapsed to the ground, convulsed a few times, and then died.