Chapter 20 felt like being violently ripped apart by an invisible hand; it hurt so much.

"no."

"So the Zhao family's luck has turned around, and they don't want me and Xiao Wu to share in your family's good fortune." Zhou Mujiao turned around. "I understand. I'll leave now."

Zhao Yunjing panicked and grabbed her, saying, "Ajiao! I didn't mean to send you away! Besides, it's the Zhao family that's benefiting from your good fortune, not the other way around."

Zhou Mujiao's eyes darted around, then she lowered her head: "Then I'll stay in your family. Won't the Zhao family be even luckier? Maybe in a few months, the Zhao family will become the richest family in Peach Blossom County. Then Brother Zhao can marry Miss Guan."

She was already young, petite and slender, and looked very fragile. Now, with her head down, even though her tone was calm, Zhao Yunjing felt as if an invisible hand was tearing at his heart.

It hurts so much.

He hurriedly said, "I will not marry a daughter of an official!"

"Yeah?"

"I swear, I, Zhao Yunjing, will never marry a daughter of an official in this lifetime!"

Zhou Mujiao said softly, "Only those who can't do something in the present resort to vows and promises. Brother Zhao, from the moment you made that vow, you knew you couldn't do it. Besides, life is so long, and no one—"

"If I, Zhao Yunjing, ever marry a daughter of an official, may the heavens strike me down—"

"Alright, alright, I'm not teasing you anymore!" Zhou Mujiao laughed. "But you don't do the math right. You're the one who found the ginseng and lingzhi. I just sold them. If I had taken them all, I would have really been taking advantage of you."

"But if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to find ginseng and lingzhi, much less—"

"Didn't you say that your sincerity moved Buddha and that you were lucky to find ginseng and lingzhi? Well then, let's not keep pushing it back and forth. You found the ginseng and lingzhi, so the money is definitely yours. But I also put in a lot of effort in selling the goods, so I'll take 30% and give you 1,500 taels."

In addition, Xiao Wu and I are currently staying at your house and relying on your care. Please consider this one hundred taels as our rent and food expenses.

Zhou Mujiao tucked a few silver notes into her bosom, stuffed the rest back into her pocket, smiled at him, and turned to leave.

Zhao Yunjing stared at the silver notes in his hand, his mind seemingly blank.

He seems to have messed up.

He was settling scores with her, not because he wanted to distance himself from her!

Zhou Mujiao suddenly turned around: "Brother Zhao, isn't tomorrow market day?"

Hope ignited in his eyes: "Yes."

"I want to go to the market to buy some things, and I can sell those wild boar and rabbits. I'm short of money."

Zhao Yunjing was overjoyed. He immediately chased after her and stuffed his share into her hands. Zhou Mujiao laughed and asked, "What are you doing?"

Zhao Yunjing walked very fast, and only when he was almost in front of the Zhao family's gate did he say, "If you don't mind, you can live in the Zhao family for the rest of your life."

Zhou Mujiao touched her chin. In ancient times, men and women were reserved and shy, so could Zhao Yunjing's words be considered a confession?

Hearing that they would be selling goods tomorrow, the children were very excited and each named what they wanted to buy.

It was nothing more than candy, pastries, and other things they had never eaten before. Xiao Wu was thoughtful and thought for a long time before asking Zhou Mujiao, "Sister, can you buy Xiao Wu a knife? It has to be small so that it can be hidden in Xiao Wu's boots or clipped to her waist."

This child is probably already preparing to become a great general someday.

Zhou Mujiao patted his head: "Besides the knife, do you want a bow and arrow? A spear? A short sword? A scimitar?"

"Can we have all of them, Xiao Wu?"

"Can!"

"Then I don't want the candy anymore. I want everything you mentioned!"

"Yes, General!"

The group burst into laughter.

Aunt Zhao smiled, and Zhou Mujiao took the opportunity to ask her, "Auntie, is there anything you want to buy?"

Aunt Zhao quickly waved her hand, saying that she didn't lack anything and didn't need to buy anything. Afraid that Zhou Mujiao would ask further, she hurried back to the west wing.

With the oxcart, they slept an hour longer than last time, entering the city just as dawn broke. They headed straight for the Good Fortune Restaurant, where they saw Manager Su directing the helpers from afar. Zhou Mujiao called out in a clear voice, "Manager Su!"

Steward Su turned around abruptly and smiled when he saw Zhou Mujiao: "Miss Zhou! Young Master Zhao! You've come at the perfect time! Is this another wild boar you've brought?"

"Yes, it's still wild boar, and there are also a few pheasants and rabbits. If Manager Su needs them, I'll sell them to you cheaply."

"No problem, no problem."

The transaction went smoothly, and as the two were leaving, Manager Su chased after them, calling out, "Miss Zhou! Young Master Zhao!"

"Manager Su?"

“The wild boar meat you’ve been sending over the past few days has really made our boss proud.” He paused, then lowered his voice. “The owner of Hongyun Restaurant is a bit unreasonable. He can’t beat our boss, so he’ll probably come after you. I’m afraid they already know about it as soon as you two entered the city. Be careful later.”

"Thank you, Steward Su."

After buying things for the children, Zhou Mujiao pulled Zhao Yunjing into the same clothing store they had visited before.

The shopkeeper was surrounded by several simply dressed women. When Zhou Mujiao entered, the shopkeeper saw her at a glance and recognized them. The shopkeeper was very happy: "I have been running this shop in Taohua County for ten years and I have never seen a young man accompany his wife shopping every time. They are so loving."

In ancient times, married and unmarried women could be distinguished by their hairstyles. However, Zhou Mujiao did not know how to style her hair and only tied it into a bun on both occasions, which looked like a hair bun. The shopkeeper could not tell the difference, and seeing that she and Zhao Yunjing acted naturally, they directly assumed that they were a young couple.

Zhao Yunjing's face turned bright red, and he stammered, "We're not married!"

"You're not married yet, so why are you blushing?" the shopkeeper joked, changing his form of address. "Miss, how many outfits would you like to buy today?"

And they proactively lowered the price themselves.

"Sister, I'm not buying clothes today," Zhou Mujiao said with a smile.

The shopkeeper, around forty years old, had been gazing at herself in the mirror every day, lamenting the passing of her youth. Zhou Mujiao's address of "sister" instantly healed her, and she was overjoyed. She stepped forward and pulled Zhou Mujiao, saying, "Since we have nothing else to do, why don't we chat for a bit with you, sister?"

"That would be great!"

After chatting for a while, a few more women came in. This time, Zhou Mujiao understood that these women were making clothes for a tailor shop. The wages were quite good by local standards. After the shopkeeper inspected the clothes, they were paid, received their fabric, and left happily.

Two women who looked like a mother and daughter-in-law came over to sell embroidery. They kept pleading with the shopkeeper to give them two more coins: "Sister Liu, we are really struggling to make ends meet. Please, have mercy and give us two more coins per piece!"

There were twenty handkerchiefs in total. The shopkeeper examined them one by one and said indifferently, "Aunt Li, don't think I'm being rude, but I'm the only place that would accept your handkerchiefs. Your embroidery is too poor. Even if I offered five coins for each one, I might not be able to sell them."

"Sister Liu, we really have no other choice. Old Li broke his leg, and Ah Hai needs to take medicine every day. We just can't do anything..."

"I can't raise the price. It's three coins a piece. Sell it or don't, you can try other shops." Sister Liu's face was expressionless. "If you can sell it for more than five coins, I'll buy all the embroidery you bring next time, no matter how good or bad it is, for eight coins a piece."

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law seemed genuinely short of money. They took back their handkerchiefs, wiped away their tears, and left the shop.

After the two left, the shopkeeper curled her lip, turned her head and found Zhou Mujiao looking at her with a scrutinizing expression. Her expression turned slightly colder: "What does Miss Zhou want to say?"

Zhou Mujiao put on an innocent face: "They look so pitiful. I thought you would agree to help them, Sister Liu."