The next day, after Li Mai and Zhou Quan came out of the space, they first wandered around the mountains and collected a lot of stones from the space. Only after Zhou Quan said that these stones were enough to make the foundation of a house did they call out a carriage to continue their journey.

Two days later, they arrived at Yongzhou City.

They found an inn to stay in, and Zhou Quan went to buy food and came back. Just as the two of them were about to eat, someone knocked on the door.

Zhou Quan opened it and found it contained Yan Yu.

"You saw us coming?" Zhou Quan asked in surprise.

Yan Yu smiled and came in. "I've been sitting on the second floor of the teahouse, waiting for you."

"Is Sister Yu alright? Was your journey safe?" Li Mai asked.

"I arrived safely last night. My elder sister is receiving guests at the manor today," Yan Yu said.

"Oh, it's good that she's alright. Tell me about the next steps," Li Mai asked.

"My elder sister said that we'll go look at the shop together tomorrow. After we decide what to do, the two of you can leave Yongzhou City first. There are people sent by her uncle here. We'll stay here for a few more days; we have some things to take care of," Yan Yu said.

"Is Sister Yu's situation serious? Do you need my help?" Li Mai asked.

“We don’t need that here. However, for our next stop, we might have to go directly to the capital,” Yan Yu said.

"Sister Yu is going to the capital?" Li Mai asked in surprise.

“Yes, we also have a shop in the capital. Moreover, Sister Yu has found out some things and needs to go to the capital to verify them. Sister Yu said that if you dare to watch the play, you can go to the capital. However, you can’t contact us openly, otherwise it might cause you trouble,” Yan Yu said with a smile.

“Alright, let’s go then. We’ve never been to the capital before!” Li Mai said, looking at Zhou Quan.

Zhou Quan nodded, "Okay, I'll listen to you. We just need to get home before the New Year."

Li Mai nodded. It's October now, and there are still two months until the Lunar New Year, so there's definitely enough time.

It takes eight days to get to the capital from here by carriage. They can go there first and then explore the capital properly.

After Yan Yu finished explaining, she left them three hundred-tael silver notes, saying, "These are from your eldest sister. She said that we will cover your food and lodging along the way, so you won't have to spend any money."

Li Mai chuckled and accepted. The fisherwoman was always so principled; she always kept her word.

After the meal, Zhou Quan asked the waiter for hot water, locked the door, and went into the space.

After taking a relaxing bath, Li Mai sat down at a table and began to draw jewelry.

When they left, the October drawings had already been submitted; they were now drawing the November and December drawings.

Because there's a New Year's edition, Li Mai took into account next year's zodiac animal and colors like red.

This time, she also brought color illustrations.

While they were drawing diligently, Zhou Quan was building a house for Li Mai, laying the foundation, all by himself.

He planned to build a house for Limai by himself, a little east of where they were now, by the stream.

After consulting with Li Mai, he designed a two-section house with a hall in the middle and bedrooms on both sides.

One room is for them, and the other is for Zhuzhu.

Once they settle down, Zhuzhu and her husband will naturally take them with them and raise them themselves.

These past few days, after Zhou Quan came in, he would first level the ground. Now that they have the stones, and they had gradually saved up the other necessary items, Zhou Quan went to work tonight.

Li Mai was originally going to help, but Zhou Quan sent her back to draw up the plans. He said there was no rush and he could build it by himself at his own pace.

Since it won't rain inside, Zhou Quan plans to make the roof directly from wooden planks.

Li Mai told him to do whatever he wanted, to do whatever he pleased.

When Zhou Quan felt tired, he came back and took a bath in the water that Li Mai had used earlier. Li Mai wanted him to change, but he refused.

Li Mai couldn't do anything to him, so she could only add some more spiritual spring water to his water.

The next day, after breakfast, the two strolled around the streets, looking at clothing stores, fabric shops, teahouses, and other jewelry and silver shops, before finally going to Jin Yu Ge.

Coincidentally, they ran into Jiang Wenhan at Jin Yu Ge.

Mr. Jiang was talking to Mrs. Yu on the side. When he saw the two of them come in, he smiled.

Li Mai and Boss Jiang greeted each other with smiles.

"You two have finally arrived! I've been waiting for you!" Jiang Wenhan said to Li Mai.

Li Mai raised an eyebrow.

“My people accidentally discovered that you have connections with Zhang’s Dyehouse. Girls, if you want anything dyed, you can just ask me, Brother Jiang. My family also has a dyehouse.” Jiang Wenhan said, still smiling.

Li Mai exclaimed in surprise, "Boss Jiang's family owns a dye house? I thought Boss Jiang only dealt in cloth and tea!"

Because in the previous meeting they had, he hadn't mentioned that his family also owned a dyeing workshop.

Jiang Wenhan looked at Madam Yu with surprise, "Didn't you tell her I own a dye shop?"

Madam Yu smiled and shook her head, "Because she wanted to open a dye shop, I didn't say you had one, to avoid any misunderstandings between you. You're both my friends, and I don't want to hear about any conflicts or unhappiness between you two right after I introduced you."

Jiang Wenhan covered his forehead in exasperation, "Now the misunderstanding has really happened."

Li Mai glanced at Jiang Wenhan with a faint smile.

Jiang Wenhan quickly cheered up and asked Li Mai curiously, "Since you decided to open your own dye shop, why are you cooperating with the Zhang family again?"

Li Mai raised an eyebrow. It was indeed the Jiang family. It seemed that they had people planted within the Zhang family. No wonder the Zhang family said they could only make money by following the Jiang family.

The Jiang family has great ambitions.

"Because I wanted to see what other people's dye houses looked like, but after seeing them, I felt that I might not be able to develop to that scale for the time being, so I changed my mind. Since Xiabei Town is not too far from us, I decided to cooperate temporarily to see if they could dye the colors I wanted."

Since he already knew, Li Mai didn't hide anything and spoke frankly.

"What color?" Jiang Wenhan asked hurriedly.

This is the purpose of his visit to Li Mai today. He heard that Zhang Ang treasured a prescription given to him by Li Mai and wouldn't show it to any other person except him and his father.

Li Mai raised an eyebrow. "You already know, but don't you know what color it is?"

Jiang Wenhan smiled sheepishly, "My people can't find out such private things. Besides, Zhang Ang treasured your formula like it was the most precious thing. Only he and his father could see it. Before they dyed it, no one else even knew what the color was called."

Upon hearing this, Li Mai couldn't help but laugh twice.

This Zhang Ang is quite cute. I suppose he knows that there are members of the Jiang family around him?

Suddenly I'm really looking forward to seeing if Zhang Ang can dye his hair the color I want.