Chapter 62

Chen Qing leaned on his shoulder, tears streaming down his face through his clothes and onto his skin. Zhou Yuan felt the tears were so hot that he was completely at a loss for what to do: "Qing, we'll always be alright."

Chen Qing nodded, then sniffed, "I know."

“I know you chose to do this, and getting hurt is inevitable. It’s just that this happened so suddenly today, I wasn’t prepared at all.” Chen Qing’s voice was very nasal, and he was crying very hard.

"It was my fault." Zhou Yuan was annoyed. If he had been more careful, these things could have been completely avoided. He blamed his arrogance.

"What about those two people's families?" Chen Qing still felt soft-hearted.

“Escort agencies all have regulations.” Zhou Yuan was also upset. “They will compensate their families.”

Zhou Yuan placed his head against his chest so that he could hear his own heartbeat.

Listening to his pounding heartbeat and hearing Zhou Yuan humming a tune, Chen Qing slowly drifted off to sleep.

Hearing his steady breathing, Zhou Yuan slowly fell asleep as well.

In the days that followed, Zhou Yuan began his recovery period.

When he woke up in the morning, the bed next to him had already cooled down. He turned his head and saw the steamed egg custard that Chen Qing had placed on the bedside table.

He finished his steamed egg custard in two bites, got dressed, and got out of bed. The yard was already very clean, and the water vat was full, but Chen Qing was nowhere to be seen.

He strolled over to his mother's house next door. Grandma Sun was feeding the chickens in the back. When she saw him, she said, "Aqing and Li Xin went up the mountain to collect firewood."

Zhou Yuan stood there, stunned, because he remembered that Chen Qing had said he wanted to go up the mountain with him to collect firewood, since Zhou Yuan was tall and could help him get a lot of dead branches from the tall trees.

Zhou Yuan left Aunt Sun's house with a sigh; it seemed she was still angry.

On the mountain, Li Xin cut down a dead tree, broke it into small sections, and put them into her basket: "It's good that he's alright. My mother said she wanted to come and see him, but I said I'd come first."

"Why is Qi Shuning back?" Chen Qing asked while raking pine needles.

“He said the headmaster said he was intelligent and had taught him almost everything he needed to, and since the New Year was approaching, he was allowed to come back,” Li Xin said.

These were the words Qi Shuning said, but Li Xin didn't quite believe them. He always felt that Qi Shuning didn't seem very smart, and that these words were more likely made up by Qi Shuning herself in order to avoid going to school.

“He managed to get third place,” Chen Qing said. “Third place is really impressive.” He had never been to school and was illiterate; he only knew that those who could become officials or pass the imperial examinations were all remarkable.

Because Qi Shuning obtained the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations), Li Xin's family's taxes were reduced. They had almost spent all their savings on Zhang Yin's medical treatment. These days, he and Li the blacksmith had earned some money by blacksmithing, so at least they could have a good New Year.

“That’s all he has to offer,” Li Xin said. “He’s a bit dim-witted.”

Chen Qing could tell that he wasn't angry when he said this; rather, he seemed a little coquettish. She recalled that they had gotten married because of that vague idea of ​​a marriage to bring good luck, and now almost a year had passed. She wondered how their relationship was now.

"What's the current situation for you guys?"

Chen Qing was the only one who knew about the marriage proposal to bring good luck, so naturally he was concerned about Li Xin's relationship status.

Li Xin fell silent for a while before saying, "Sometimes, having someone by your side seems pretty good."

Especially during this trip to Yunxi Town, Qi Shuning's actions made him realize that although Qi Shuning was sometimes unreliable, he was still capable of doing what he was supposed to do when it came to important matters.

Chen Qing smiled, then suddenly remembered something: "If Qi Shuning continues to take the exam, won't he become an official in the future? Then you'll have to go with him?"

Li Xin's smile froze on her lips: "I don't think so. How could someone as naive as him become an official? He doesn't even understand basic social etiquette."

Chen Qing was just saying it casually, and neither of them mentioned it again. They packed a full load of firewood and went down the mountain.

The two parted ways at the foot of the mountain. Chen Qing returned home, and Zhou Yuan was pacing in the yard. He saw Chen Qing carrying a full load of firewood and wanted to take it from him, but Chen Qing stopped him: "Your hand is injured, don't move."

Zhou Yuan followed behind him: "Our family can buy charcoal, so we don't have to go up the mountain to collect firewood anymore."

Chen Qing turned around: "Every little bit helps."

"Aqing, don't be angry." Zhou Yuan knew he was still angry about his injury.

Chen Qing looked at him while working and said, "I'm not angry. Go and rest. I'll make you some bone broth for lunch. Go to the butcher and buy some bones."

Zhou Yuan had no choice but to listen to him and go to the butcher to buy meat. On the way, he met Zhang Yin, who was going out. Zhang Yin looked him up and down and asked, "I heard from Xin Xin that you were injured. Are you alright?"

"It's alright, godmother," Zhou Yuan said with a smile. "It's just that Aqing is a little sad."

"Aqing has had a tough time too, so try to comfort him." Zhang Yin is in good health now and doesn't want to stay at home like before. She's been spending a lot of time playing cards with Aunt Sun in the village lately and is much more cheerful than before.

“I know, godmother, where are you going?” Zhou Yuan asked.

“Shuning is back. I’m going to visit them. Xinxin can’t cook,” Zhang Yin said with a smile.

Li Xin and Qi Shuning have moved into their new home. Zhang Yin is a little worried about them, so she often goes to visit them.

"Then I'll go home first, godmother."

The days of recuperation were peaceful and leisurely, except for one thing: Chen Qing wouldn't let him touch it.

Although Zhou Yuan repeatedly stated that his hand was fine and that the injury would not affect anything else, Chen Qing refused to listen.

Zhou Yuan couldn't force him, so he could only hug and kiss Chen Qing every day to quench his thirst.

As the year draws to a close, the escort agency's business has picked up. Previously, Meng Qi and Meng Shuanzi had been accompanying the agency's veteran escort leader on escort missions, but now they are able to go out on their own.

With the end of the year approaching, no one wants to travel far, so the orders are mostly for short-distance escort missions, transporting New Year's goods and the like. Zhou Yuan doesn't have to go out, so he's fine.

But the escort agency also had other matters to attend to, such as managing relationships with various parties during the holidays, settling accounts, and many other things that Zhou Yuan had to decide on.

Zhenwei Escort Agency was already well-known, and its internal accounts were previously handled by the original staff. Zhou Yuan knew that he wouldn't be able to convince everyone when he first took over, and he was also worried that there might be problems with the accounts that he wouldn't understand. So he called Qi Shuning and took Chen Qing to the county town.

Qi Shuning, still somewhat excited, sat on the oxcart: "Brother, how did you know I learned accounting when I was in Yunxi Town?"

Zhou Yuan was taken aback: "I didn't know you had studied it. I just thought that since you can read, you should be able to figure something out."

Qi Shuning then said with great interest: "When I finished my studies, Dean Fu said that optics was not very useful. He asked me what skills I wanted to learn, but I didn't know any. Then I met Manager Tian, ​​who told me to go to Tian's shop to learn accounting, so I learned it."

Zhou Yuan paused for a moment, feeling that the Tian family was truly their lucky star.

"Hehe, I can help you." Qi Shuning was very happy. "I can also find some work in town or county, so that Xin Xin won't have to work so hard."

In fact, Qi Shuning has been in Luohe Village for so long. At first, he spent the Li family's money, but later he started copying books at bookstores and helping his classmates copy notes at school. Although he earned little, it was still money.

Upon arriving in the county town, Zhou Yuan was summoned by the escort agency. Chen Qing, somewhat reserved, was the wife of a bodyguard surnamed Hu, whom everyone in the agency called Tiger. She led Chen Qing to the backyard. This lady used to accompany her husband on escort missions, and she possessed a cheerful and forthright personality.

"You'll stay here for the next few days. Everything you need is provided." Madam Hu patted Chen Qing on the shoulder. "If you want to buy groceries, just go outside. Walk to the end of the alley on the left, then turn right and you'll find a market. They have everything there."

"Thank you." Chen Qing wrung his hands tightly around his clothes and thanked Madam Hu.

Madam Hu looked at him and thought he was quite a good match for Zhou Yuan.

When rumors spread that Zhenwei Escort Agency might be going to collapse, everyone was worried. Unexpectedly, someone was able to take on the challenge. Her husband, Tiger, also went on this escort mission. After returning, he said that if it weren't for Zhou Yuan, he would have lost his life. Tiger was the one who was most dissatisfied with Zhou Yuan. Even though Zhou Yuan challenged the escort agency's guards one by one, he was still not convinced.

It was only after encountering the robbers this time that he truly admired Zhou Yuan.

Madam Hu added, "Actually, the business of the escort agency is not limited to escorting goods. It also includes providing security for wealthy families in the county town, and some pawnshops also hire escorts to sit in their shops. Therefore, a row of bedrooms was built behind the escort agency, many of which were for taking care of the families."

According to Madam Hu, some of the families of bodyguards would also find work in the county town to earn some extra money for their families.

Chen Qing nodded. He had never really known what a security escort agency did until today.

Zhou Yuan was really busy; he was almost always gone by the time he woke up early. Chen Qing got up early and stood behind the door of this house. Only after the noise in the yard disappeared did he tiptoe out the door. But as soon as he stepped out the door, someone called out to him.

"Oh, I thought you went out. The vegetables are fresh today, so I bought a lot to increase the weight. We can't finish them all, so I'll give some to your family."

Before Chen Qing could react, he had already received a bunch of vegetables. All Chen Qing could do was keep saying thank you.

Before he could put the groceries back inside, Madam Hu came in again, also carrying groceries. Seeing Chen Qing standing there, she said, "You're only now going to buy groceries? The market's already closed."

She rummaged through her shopping basket, gave Chen Qing a bunch of vegetables, and then said, "You need to come early tomorrow. I'll come and wake you up in the morning."

"Thank you so much, how much is it?" Chen Qing was a little flustered by their enthusiasm. "I, I..."

"Master Zhou said before that you were shy, and now it seems that's true," Madam Hu said with a smile. "Don't be afraid, everyone in our courtyard is very easy to get along with."

Chen Qing smiled shyly: "I'm sorry, I do have a little..."

"It's alright, everyone is different, there's nothing to apologize for," Mrs. Hu said. "You just don't travel much. In the future, travel all over the country, broaden your horizons, and your mind will become more open."

Chen Qing nodded. This was the second time he had heard someone say this. After his previous trip to Xixin Prefecture, Chen Qing felt a strange sense of anticipation.