After getting into the carriage, the two of them appeared in the space the next moment.

Zhou Quan hadn't seen his wife for several days and missed her terribly. He picked her up and carried her into the house, placed her on the couch, and kissed her for a while to ease his longing. Then he lay down beside her, gently stroking her belly, and whispered, "What good news? Tell me?"

"Excuse me, does my husband still have the mind to hear good news?" Li Mai gently poked his forehead with her finger and said helplessly.

Zhou Quan smiled shyly, shifted slightly, and coughed lightly, "Is it about Xiao Lin or Xiao Tao?"

“Yes, there are three pieces of good news,” Li Mai said.

Zhou Quan stared blankly at his wife's belly for a moment, "Three? My wife, just tell me directly, I'm too stupid to guess."

Li Mai glanced at the top of his head with a chuckle and said softly, "Madam Lu came to see me in person a few days ago, had tea with me, and told me about what happened some time ago. She said it has been resolved. It was indeed her sister who asked someone behind the scenes to try to get more information about Lu Qian from Master Lu's concubine."

"Because of this, Madam Lu went back to her parents' home and made a scene for half a month. Her sister's family has already dealt with the man in black. Moreover, they have also severed ties with her sister's family. As for Lu Qian, during this month and a half, he has only focused on managing the family business. He said that if his mother and aunt's family do not resolve this matter, he will never have anything to do with his aunt's family again and will not consider them relatives. He also said that he will never see Xiao Tao again. He feels that he has no face to see Xiao Tao and plans to never get married."

"It took more than a month, until everything was resolved, for Lu Qian to finally give them a friendly look. Madam Lu wanted to ask us what Xiao Tao thought of Lu Qian. She wanted to meet Xiao Tao in person, but she wanted our permission."

Zhou Quan paused, his hand that was stroking Li Mai's belly, and looked at Li Mai, asking, "So how did you reply to Madam Lu?"

“I suggest we wait until late October. I’ll talk to Xiao Tao first, and let Lu Qian talk to Xiao Tao himself. If Xiao Tao makes a decision and is determined to follow Lu Qian’s path for the rest of her life, then we won’t object and will arrange for Madam Lu to meet with Xiao Tao,” Li Mai said softly.

“Yes, your response is very good. I think we should say it this way: everyone in town knows that Madam Lu is not easy to deal with, so we don’t need to be too hasty in this matter. After all, Xiao Tao is still young.” Zhou Quan raised his eyebrows and nodded, feeling that his wife’s decision was correct.

"Did you tell Xiaotao?" Zhou Quan asked.

“I told Xiao Tao that very night. She agreed and said she knew. She was waiting to see when Lu Qian would come to see her and what he would say. She said that Lu Qian had been back in town for more than a month. He had come to our house once since that day and had not come to see her in person since.”

Zhou Quan's eyes were indifferent. As a man, if he can't solve the troubles around him, he doesn't deserve to start a family. Marrying him would only bring more trouble and harm to others.

He thought Lu Qian would take action against his aunt's family himself, but out of respect for his mother, he didn't deal with that family personally. He only told his mother to cut off all contact with his aunt's family. This was a reasonable solution, since it didn't come to the point of taking lives.

However, it's likely that the concubine in their household is no longer alive. But that's a matter for their household, and it's not appropriate for them to inquire about it. There's no news in town that anyone from the Lu family has been executed or sent to the authorities. I suppose it's to save face!

These wealthy families are really troublesome. They care about their reputation, but behind the scenes they always do shameless things. I don't know if the world is stupid or if they are the fools.

The thought of Xiao Tao marrying into such a family made Zhou Quan unhappy, but Lu Qian was a decent guy, so he was sometimes conflicted.

Seeing his long silence, Li Mai sighed, sat up, took his hand, and said softly, "Don't worry, we have to walk the road ahead. If we don't walk it, we won't know whether the road ahead is beautiful or full of scars."

"Yes, this is indeed a happy occasion, and their relationship has taken another step forward. However, let Lu Qian wait patiently. Xiao Tao will not get married within a year!" Lu Qian snorted softly.

Li Mai chuckled, "Can we let you have your way? When the time comes, the marriage will still happen, and we can't stop it."

"Sigh, let's talk about Xiao Lin!" Zhou Quan sighed, then thought about it and asked about Zhou Lin.

“Mr. Wang came to see me the day before yesterday and said that the Xu family has chosen three wedding dates: one is at the end of this year, on the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month; one is in March next year; and one is in August next year. The Xu family prefers the date in March next year and asked us to see what our family thinks.”

“I replied to him, ‘Then next March,’ we also like that date very much. Mr. Wang went and replied to the Xu family.” Li Mai said, looking at him.

Zhou Quan nodded, "Yes, it's about the same date as we predicted, which is good. Then we can prepare the betrothal gifts properly."

Li Mai nodded; she thought so too.

"And what's the other good news?" Zhou Quan asked.

“I bought a courtyard house, one of the few rows of courtyards across the street from our shop on the west corner. It’s a small two-courtyard house with two main rooms, two rooms on the east and west sides, one large wing room and one side room, two rooms on the south side and a main gate on the south side. A covered corridor in the front leads to the backyard, where the kitchen is located. In the backyard, there are three single main rooms and two wing rooms on the east and west sides.”

"It cost eight hundred taels. Some rooms need repairs, and others need new doors and windows, and repainting. I've already spoken to Xiao Lin, and he'll find some time to go over and clean the doors and windows for me. The rooms will be ready for you to clean when you get back," Li Mai told him.

“Okay, I’ll go take a look tomorrow. They’re going to set up a workshop there, right?” Zhou Quan asked.

“Well, when we come back from the village, let Zhou Heng move over there. We’ll also start preparing to open the workshop. The embroiderers can work there. I’ll set up the upstairs here as my resting place and a place to meet friends,” Li Mai said, explaining her plans.

“Okay, I’ll start packing tomorrow. You don’t need to work hard; just give me instructions,” Zhou Quan said, worried that she might get too tired.

“Okay!” Li Mai agreed.

"Is Xiao Lei doing alright? I thought the third piece of good news was about him!" Zhou Quan asked softly.

“Xiao Lei is only eleven this year, and twelve after the Lunar New Year. He has good news, which is that he will be participating in the children's examination. However, I haven't heard him mention it yet. Let's see if there will be any good news before the Lunar New Year!” Li Mai shook her head.

"Okay!" Zhou Quan responded.

The couple lingered for a while longer, talking about Zhuzhu, before leaving the space.

Regarding Zhuzhu, Li Mai only mentioned one thing: she discovered that since Qilin started following Zhuzhu, Zhuzhu's lucky charm seemed to have disappeared.

Zhou Quan thought about it and it seemed to make sense. However, they didn't care too much about it. They still hoped that their child could be normal and grow up happily like an ordinary child, rather than having too many shackles on her from a young age and making her unhappy.