Back at the Zhou residence, Li Mai first examined Xu Yue. Fortunately, she had just gone into labor, and the Xu family had already arrived.

The Xu family lived much closer to the Zhou residence than the Lu residence, so they came over as soon as they received the news.

When Zhou Lin and Li Mai returned, Xu Chong asked Zhou Lin how Zhou Tao was doing, and Zhou Lin told him about the situation.

Xu Chong breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. "That was terrifying. Giving birth is truly a brush with death."

The thought of his younger sister also giving birth made his face turn sour.

Zhou Lin quickly reassured him, "Brother, don't worry. My sister-in-law said that Yueyue is pregnant with her second child, so there won't be any dangers, and things will go much more smoothly."

Xu Chong trusted Li Mai completely. Since Li Mai said so, then everything must be alright.

Xu Yue went into labor at 7 PM and gave birth to a boy at midnight. This boy was Zhou Lin's eldest son, Zhou Mengrong.

Zhou Lin's two children are named Mengying and Mengrong; their names clearly indicate they are siblings.

Although Xu Yue gave birth easily, her mother-in-law was not there, so the people who stayed with her that night were Li Mai and Xu's eldest sister-in-law. It was impossible to ask Xu's old lady to stay with her daughter at her age.

As for Yanbao and Yubao, they could only go home with their father to sleep.

Zhuzhu stayed at the Zhou residence that night to help her mother. Limai was worried that she wouldn't be able to stay up, so she let her go to sleep in the middle of the night.

Zhou Tao only regained some energy after the third-day bath and was considered out of danger.

Only then did she have the energy to look at her child. Seeing the little one lying beside her, pink and tender, she smiled gently. Her child's name was Nianbao.

She went through all that trouble to give birth to him, and she didn't regret it at all. The feeling of seeing her own child was quite magical, and she inexplicably felt a strong urge to cheer herself up and take good care of the child.

Lu Qian was relieved to see that Zhou Tao was in better spirits today, and his face regained some color. For the past three days, he hadn't been able to smile at all when others congratulated him.

He would never forget the feeling of that day, and he dared not let Tao'er have any more children. Anyway, he had a son, the Lu family had an heir, and he had given his parents an explanation. He did not want to let Tao'er take any more risks in the future.

Zhou Tao was convalescent for three months and could not leave the house. Even after she was a month old, Lu Qian did not let her manage the business. He only let her rest in the mansion to recover and take good care of their child.

He took care of all the business matters, and with the help of the Zhou brothers, he handled everything with ease.

Mr. Lu and Mrs. Lu have now handed over the family business to him. They only need to spend time with their grandson so that Zhou Tao can have some free time and take care of her health.

For Mr. Lu now, the title of "richest man" is irrelevant. He has his grandson, and the Lu family's current wealth is enough for his grandson to live comfortably for the rest of his life, even if he doesn't earn any money. So he doesn't worry about anything and lets Lu Qian do whatever he wants. He just needs to spend time with his grandson.

The two elders spent all their time visiting and accompanying their grandson, so Zhou Tao had no choice but to read more books and practice calligraphy to improve her knowledge and cultivation.

Zhou Lei registered for this year's academy examination, which was also in August, in Xiangzhou City. In early July, Zhou Quan took them there to settle down.

Li Mai still has two shops and a courtyard there, which were given to her by the Chu family.

Chu Yan, this disciple, is truly willing to give her master good things. The Chu family head also knows that Li Mai is good to his son, so as long as it's for Li Mai, Chu Yan will give him whatever he wants.

Li Mai asked Zhou Quan to go over and arrange accommodation for Zhou Lei, and also to check on their own shops there. If they could take one back, they would open Ruyi Incense Shop first.

Li Mai said that in Xiangzhou, she would open the incense shop first. She couldn't open the pomegranate shop for the time being. She wanted to wait until next year, when Yanbao and Yubao were a little older, so it would be more convenient for her to go out. She could take them with her or not.

If they open a perfume shop, Zhou Quan can handle it. But if they open a clothing shop, she'll have to go there often to keep up with the latest fashion trends.

This time, Yue Ze was with Zhou Lei again. The two are now very good friends, so it's natural for them to study together and have company when they talk.

Yue Xiu also secretly gave his cousin another sum of money, telling him to buy whatever he needed, and also instructing him that since he had chosen to be friends with Zhou Lei, he must never do anything to betray his friend.

Yue Ze remained indifferent and said nothing in front of him, but in his heart he told himself that he would never betray Zhou Lei. If anyone in this world was truly good to him, he would say it was Zhou Lei.

This person is truly wonderful; kind-hearted, gentle, loyal to friends, and generous.

Moreover, he is Zhuzhu's third uncle. For that reason alone, he would never betray Zhou Lei and allow the Zhou family to despise him.

He just wanted to be on good terms with the Zhou family. He didn't know why, but whenever he felt sad or lonely, just a glance at Zhuzhu's smiling face from afar made him feel that there were still beautiful things in this world, and that at least some people cared about him.

Although his father couldn't take him back to the mansion, he would visit him privately and give him nice things and money. His half-brother, though he never called him "brother," was genuinely good to him.

He was used to being indifferent to people, but only in front of Zhou Lei and Zhuzhu could he curl the corners of his lips and show a slight smile.

When he was in town, he would always go to Dr. Niu's clinic for a check-up whenever he had a day off.

At the first meeting, Dr. Niu took his pulse and said he was fine. He advised him to keep a cheerful mood. From his indifferent expression, Dr. Niu felt that the child was probably a rather withdrawn and gloomy person.

However, after learning that he knew Zhuzhu, Doctor Niu stopped seeing him. Every time he came, he would ask Zhuzhu to take his pulse and prescribe medicine.

This gave him even more reason to go, and each time he obediently took the medicine that Zhuzhu prescribed for him back home, brewed it, and drank it.

Look, the little girl he's taken a liking to is truly a fairy. She's only seven years old, but she already knows how to diagnose and prescribe medicine. She can even cure herself with medicine.

On their way to Xiangzhou, one morning, Yue Ze got up early to study and saw Zhou Quan practicing his martial arts. He was stunned by what he saw.

On the rest of the journey, he was always deep in thought.

After arriving in Xiangzhou City, Zhou Quan settled them in and then went to attend to his own business.

One morning, Zhou Quan was resting and drinking tea at a teahouse when Yue Ze came and knelt down in front of him.

Zhou Quan was surprised and asked him what difficulties he was facing.

Yue Ze said, "Brother Zhou, do you take on apprentices? Can I learn martial arts from you?"

Zhou Quan asked in surprise, "Didn't you plan to become an official through the civil service examination?"

Yue Ze shook his head. "No, I just don't know what the meaning of my life is. Grandma Hu said to study more and pass the imperial examinations, so I study hard."

"Now I understand. Taking the imperial examination and becoming an official is not the path I want to take. I study to gain more knowledge and to make myself more reasonable. I want to learn martial arts from you so that I can learn how to protect myself and others. No matter where I go in the future, I will be someone who can take charge of my own life."

“If you don’t trust me, I can sell myself to you and become your servant, or I can protect the young masters.” Yue Ze’s words were sincere, and Zhou Quan gradually understood his meaning.