Mando's child was born at just the right time; the full moon celebration coincided with New Year's Eve. It was the same people as last year, nothing different, except for a few more children.

The noise of adults and the laughter of babies filled the building; this was Lan Tingche's first time spending the New Year at Fengyue Tower.

He also received a lot of red envelopes, and more importantly, his grandfather was there too, which was really nice.

"Long'er told me that you like fireworks." Huo Xiaocheng can finally openly hold Chunying to celebrate the New Year this year. He specially bought half of the fireworks in Biancheng from Prefect Wang, just to win a smile from his beauty on New Year's Eve.

"Didn't you say you'd give me all the rewards from now on?" the girl teased.

"We'll show you fireworks! If you like, we'll watch."

"It's very expensive."

"My wife is worthy."

However, he was out of money. The little bit of New Year's reward Xiao Lanyi gave him had all been used up. In the border town, it was customary for the women in the family to manage the money.

Whether it was Huo Xiaocheng, Huo Shuwen, or Erhei, they all habitually handed over their monthly allowance to the women in their families. When they first got married, the young general still wanted to take money from He Yi, but his mother righteously refused.

“Cheng’er, you’re a married man now. Tomorrow, let Chunying manage this money for you.”

"Okay, that works too."

The young man did not refuse. His mother was never short of money, and she might not even look at his meager savings.

"My mother said she wants you to manage my money."

Chunying didn't react when she heard this. She? Manages the money?

The courtesan earns at least thirty taels of silver a month, and usually more. But what about Chunying? In modern terms, she's a spendthrift; she can never hold onto her money. She looked at Huo Xiaocheng seriously and said...

"Why don't you talk to your mother again and let her manage my money too?"

"..."

The young man was somewhat speechless, but then patiently asked...

"What's wrong? Are you unhappy? Are you upset that I didn't give you the money directly?" He was a little afraid that Chunying was in a bad mood, so he asked her to be considerate of her feelings.

"No."

The courtesan, with her bright eyes and white teeth, and a playful glint in her eyes, was playing with the rattan ball she had just made for Huo Xiaolong, tossing and catching it back and forth, which made Huo Xiaocheng lose his composure.

"Then why did you say you wanted Mom to manage our money?"

Chunying put down the ball, took the apple her husband had peeled for her with her mouth, and said...

"Because I don't know how to manage it. Haven't you noticed that I never handle the money in the building? Liu Xu and Ru Yi make the most money. I can't save any money; I spend as much as I have."

“Look, my monthly allowance is at least thirty taels. Ping’er made me stipulate that I must save ten taels of silver every month. Half of it was used as my own dowry, half of it was given to Long’er later, and the rest was all spent.”

Then the beautiful woman stood up, took out an indigo-colored dress from the wardrobe, and held it up against herself. She looked up and asked...

"Does this outfit look good on you, my husband? I just bought it today."

It's fortunate that the plum blossom ointment in the building is free; otherwise, Chunying wouldn't have been able to save her last ten taels of silver a month.

“It’s alright, spend it if you want. A man should go out and earn money to build his career. I’ll give you my money later.”

The girl looked a little embarrassed upon hearing this, but not wanting to embarrass her man, she rolled her eyes, swallowed the apple in her mouth, and said...

"Relying on your fifteen taels of silver a month?"

Fifteen taels is actually quite a lot, but the women in the family are so good at earning money that the three men in the Huo family are exceptionally useless.

It wasn't just the three of them.

It seems that all the men in brothels are like that.

Zhao Tanhua receives his wages from Cen Ang every month, as does Miao Cuifang. The few coins she has in her pocket aren't even enough to support her family. She has to save up for months to buy something for Liu Xu. On the other hand, since Liu Huan found her, Liu Xu's life has been no different from that of a pampered young lady.

As for Lu Wangji, there's no need to mention him. Unless he settles down to study something, he won't earn as much as Mantuo. The main problem is that he doesn't have the mind to study now. He's devoted to his wife and children, spending all his time holding and rocking the child around, which makes Master Zhan, the head of Mantuo, look at him with disdain.

"When is the martial arts tournament again? Let's hurry up and send Lu Wangji over to embarrass the Mo family."

The same goes for Zhihua. It was thought that Zhou Ning'an would earn more than Zhihua, but who knew that ever since the eldest young master married Zhihua, the young mistress had made a fortune by using her connections at the brothel to invest in the business.

At first, Zhou Ning'an wanted to struggle a bit. After all, he was a man, and he had to try his best for this useless pride.

Later, he discovered that all the hard work he had put into leading the team back to Pingyang from the grasslands hadn't earned him as much as Zhihua had in just a few days, so the young master gave up.

Earn as much as you can, within your means. You'd be better off spending more time with your wife.

The only ones who are evenly matched are Erhei and Erya, both of them flaunt the money they earn!

The young man remained silent for a moment, then stammered...

"I...I'll give you all my rewards from now on. I gave you two thousand taels to marry you last time, and this will be the next time!"

The beauty under the lamplight smiled, put her clothes back in their place, and rushed into his arms, whispering in Huo Xiaocheng's ear.

"I can support you if you stay at home."

"The battlefield is too dangerous; we won't earn money that comes from risking our lives."

"You can just stay home with me every day, okay?"

General Huo really wanted to agree. A beauty in his arms, and a stunningly beautiful one at that, breathing softly in his ear, her right hand on his shoulder, her left hand stroking his face and ear—who could resist that? Who could resist that!

Huo Xiaocheng swallowed, wanting to say something, but Chunying pressed her index finger down, and then she continued.

"Just stay home and keep me company. Clean the house when you have time. I can even open a shop for you if you like anything. In a few years, I'll have a baby for you. Then you can stay home and take care of the child while I go out to earn money, okay, my love?"

"No...no."

The young general felt that he would no longer care about any seduction schemes involving beautiful women. He was quite impressive to be able to say no under such circumstances.

"I want you to wear official robes; I'll earn you an imperial title," Huo Xiaocheng said earnestly, looking into the girl's eyes.

These words infuriated Chunying. The girl pushed her husband away, angrily rolled over, and lay down, saying...

"Don't you know anything about romance, you blockhead? Go to sleep!"

"Oh, okay."

The young general embraced his wife's slender waist, his slightly bent body revealing a muscular physique. He still remembered how soft and yielding she felt when he held her before, with some parts that felt like they were poking him.

It's better now, hehe.

"Don't turn your back to me, turn around," Huo Xiaocheng whispered.

Chunying sighed and turned around.

"It's none of your business. Go to sleep."