Wang Yan was quite listless for several days because of this matter, and a few days later, she was transferred to another spring.

She was very methodical in her dealings with people and seemed quite proper, never causing any annoyance. Gradually, people forgot about Chun Cui.

Wang Yan remained silent, her heart filled with indescribable emotions. It was only when news came from home that Wang Ying had been redeemed from her servitude that her mood improved somewhat.

Finally, one of them got out. In the eyes of others, Wang Ying's foot injury had never been good.

In front of many people, Fatty Wang pleaded with Steward Rong, saying that the old lady's birthday was coming up soon.

"In order to bring good fortune to the old lady, I will report your daughter's contract to the authorities and see if it can be released."

After finishing speaking, Steward Rong clasped his hands in a fist salute towards the old lady's courtyard.

Then, at a suitable moment, he casually mentioned it to his wife as a trivial matter.

At the time, Madam Gao was busy listening to reports from the various managers about the shops' profits and the business dealings on the estate; she had no time for such trivial matters.

"Since we're going to see Doctor Xue to set the bones, let's just let it go. Consider it a blessing for the old lady's birthday."

Give her parents a two-week leave as well, otherwise how can a young girl travel alone to a neighboring city?

After paying the ransom, Fatty Wang kowtowed on behalf of Wang Ying from afar outside the Gao family's courtyard.

Then, under the pretext of seeking medical treatment, he took Wang Ying to a neighboring city. With perfect timing, location, and circumstances, when they arrived, Doctor Xue happened to be away.

So they randomly found a doctor outside, who examined Wang Ying's ankle and found that it was recovering well.

The family pretended to stay for a few days, and then took Wang Ying back to the capital.

I bought a small house in a relatively safe neighborhood near Ma Xing Street in the outer city. It has only two rooms and a kitchen, but fortunately there is a small yard with a well.

This small house has exhausted the family's savings. The money they had saved over the past year and a half, plus some previous savings, has almost all been spent. Three hundred and fifty taels of silver.

They registered Wang Ying's household registration here and hired a seemingly honest old woman to stay with Wang Ying for a while.

After all, the excuse given at the time was that they were going to a nearby city for bone setting, which would take a long time.

Although she had hired an honest and reliable old woman, Aunt Wang was still worried and would go to check on her every day before or after her shift.

Wang Ying is now a free person with nothing to do, so she spends her days at home embroidering flowers, grass, purses, handkerchiefs, and the like, earning some money each month.

My younger sister finally got out safely, although she couldn't find another job in the household.

This way, however, would not incur the jealousy of the Third Young Master and Aunt Yang, which relieved Wang Xing.

Wang Yan felt much better. She had completed 1/5 of the main quest, which gave her hope that she could live freely.

He changed his recent state of lethargy and became energetic again, studying diligently to earn rewards and save up money so that he could have a better life when he went out into the world.

"Auntie, I'd like to ask for a bowl of red bean and jujube porridge."

Aunt Sun smiled and said, "I've been waiting for you. The clay pot is keeping it warm for you, not too hot and not too cold. Go and drink it."

With Old Madam Hou's birthday approaching, Wang Yan was thinking of putting some effort into it.

In the past, we would simply steam a large longevity peach bun and serve it. Could we try a different approach to pastries?

She vaguely remembered seeing a longevity bun with pine and crane motifs in her past life, so she immediately went to find a charcoal pencil and drew the design on oil paper.

"Auntie, do you think it's possible to steam a longevity bun and then make one of these steamed buns?"

Using vegetables like spinach and beets for coloring is both attractive and creative.

Grandma Sun tried making a small one in the kitchen herself, and it turned out to be quite colorful and well-matched, much prettier than a longevity peach.

If it can be served at the birthday banquet, it will surely bring good luck.

However, there is one problem: her pastry-making skills, as mentioned before, are not that good.

So Aunt Sun had an idea: to cooperate with Aunt Su from the main kitchen.

She glanced at Wang Yan, her face showing some hesitation.

"Auntie, if you have something to say, just say it," Wang Yan said softly with a smile.

Seeing Wang Yan's kind attitude, Aunt Sun rubbed her apron with embarrassment and then expressed her thoughts.

"Yan, you know that my pastry-making skills are not that good."

Wang Yan hesitated slightly. The reason he hadn't stepped forward was because he was afraid the people in the main kitchen would find out that his family had this recipe.

If he finds out and misunderstands that his father is hiding something, he might even harbor resentment and think that his father is trying to take his place.

"Can you not say that this is my method? Auntie, you know my father is in the main kitchen, he only manages the water table."

Grandma Sun nodded repeatedly, "Don't you trust me to handle things? I absolutely won't let anyone know. It's been over a year now, and you see, we haven't given ourselves away once."

Why wouldn't you make money? Wouldn't you be a fool? Wang Yan didn't hesitate much and went for it!

Upon hearing this idea, Aunt Su happily grasped Aunt Sun's hand; she had already anticipated that this would be a huge success.

"Old Sun, I knew you were a good person!"

Grandma Sun waved her hand, "Don't try that on us. When we get the reward money, we'll split it equally."

Aunt Su clapped her hands and stomped her foot, "Do you need to explain this? Of course it's done perfectly."

The red "longevity" character, the green pine and cypress trees, and the large red flowers arranged in a circle on a round steamed pastry, the pine and crane with blue tails and a red dot on their heads, the whole thing is predominantly white.

The first item was a picture of auspicious and celebratory birthday pastries. This had already been delivered to the banquet in the front yard, and people came over to look at it, constantly saying auspicious words. Some even wrote poems.

Madam Hou really stole the show this time, laughing heartily and saying "reward" several times in a row.

Aunt Su was also called to the front hall to give a reply. She was quite quick-witted and knelt down to say auspicious words, "May the old lady enjoy good fortune, longevity, and health."

"Good, good, good." After saying "good" three times in a row, the old nanny beside her immediately handed over a purse filled with more than a dozen one-tael gold ingots.

Aunt Su took it with trembling hands (she was so excited to be called to the front to express her gratitude), knelt down and kowtowed, and was then led out.

She's in charge of pastry making, and everything was ready early on. Her apprentice can keep an eye on it for a while.

Wang Yan jogged all the way to Grandma Sun's small kitchen, where she was eating with everyone since she didn't have to wash the fruit and vegetables this year.

Grandma Sun specially brought back a bowl of Jade Cicada Soup for them to drink.

Today she also went to the front to make Jade Cicada Soup. Wang Yan thought to herself that she should drink two more bowls this year to make up for the portion she didn't get to drink last year.

Just as I looked up, ready to scoop out another bowl, I saw that Aunt Su's face was flushed red; she was clearly excited and couldn't even speak.

Upon arriving here, seeing the courtyard full of people made me realize what was happening, and a gust of cold wind helped me sober up a bit.

"It's nothing, just asking if the First Madam has distributed the longevity buns yet? We can't miss any courtyard."

Chunye held up the small steamed bun in her hand, "Don't worry, Aunt Su, I'll take it. The red bean paste filling inside is really delicious."

Aunt Su smiled at her, "You wait here, I'll have mung beans bring you another basket later."