"Take these things with you. You'll have to spend money to buy everything in the city. Life isn't easy."

The village head had his grandson take two jars of homemade pickled radishes and stuff them into Liu Junlan's hands. At the same time, he instructed Lin Zhongyuan: "You are a smart child. When you get to the city, you must study hard and not bring shame to our Ning'an Village."

"Yes!" Lin Zhongyuan nodded seriously: "Grandpa Village Head, don't worry, I will study hard. When I pass the imperial examination and become a Juren, I will definitely come back to tell you the good news."

"Good, good, good! I'm waiting for you to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, so that our village can hold its head high!" The village head was overjoyed and took out a small red envelope from his pocket, trying to force it into Lin Zhongyuan's hand.

Lin Zhongyuan refused to accept it, but the old man insisted on giving it to him.

Left with no other choice, Liu Junlan had to accept the gift on behalf of his eldest grandson. He said to the village head, "Grandpa, the house we bought in the county town is too small, and we can't take this ox with us. I thought about it a few days ago, and I'm entrusting this ox and the house to you from now on."

"This, this won't do!" The village headman waved his hand hurriedly, refusing to accept it.

The red envelope he gave Lin Zhongyuan contained only two hundred copper coins, but if this ox were taken to the market, it could fetch at least six or seven taels of silver!

How could he accept something so valuable?

“Grandpa, this isn’t all for you. I just want you to keep an eye on it. Besides, this cow was originally taken from the bandits by our whole village. You helped out too. Now that my family is having trouble raising it, I wanted to ask for your help. It’s also helping the whole village. Please don’t refuse.” Liu Junlan said.

The cattle are kept in the village, and villagers can borrow them anytime they need to plow the fields.

Even if you hitch a ride on an oxcart, it's still convenient to transport things.

Many villagers looked on with envy, but none of them dared to ask.

After all, none of us are that shameless. Last year, we were able to drive away the bandits and save the whole village, all thanks to the Lin family. In particular, Lin Wanyue's foresight allowed everyone to avoid the bandits.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to eat and dress well like they do now, and they might even have two more children this spring. They would probably be no different from the other villagers whose graves are high up.

Thinking of this, the villagers couldn't help but worry. What would happen if Lin Wanyue left and encountered any trouble in the future?

The village head couldn't argue with Liu Junlan, so he could only nod and say, "Then I'll keep an eye on it for your family. Whenever you come back, the ox will still be yours. Anyone in the village who needs it can just come to my house and take it!"

"I knew you were the most capable old man! With you in charge of our village, everything will be fine." Liu Junlan smiled.

“Sister Liu, our old man is of course our guardian angel, but now that Wanwan has gone to the county town with you, we villagers are all worried. We’re afraid that if something happens, we won’t know who to turn to.” The Zhou family’s daughter-in-law spoke for everyone, and everyone nodded in agreement, looking at Lin Wanyue with reluctance.

Everyone was reluctant to part with the Lin family, especially Lin Wanyue.

Lin Wanyue is like a little fairy in their village; with her around, everyone can feel at ease.

But they couldn't stop the Lin family from taking Lin Wanyue to the county town; they could only try to persuade them with their eyes.

"No ghosts will dare to come as long as the formation remains intact!" Lin Wanyue's voice was soft, but it was like a reassuring pill to everyone in the village.

"Don't worry, we definitely won't damage the formation. And as for the watchtower, we'll send people up to keep an eye on it every day," everyone assured them.

“My son usually likes to hang out up there. Having him watch over things will definitely prevent bad guys from getting in,” everyone chimed in.

In the end, they all said with reluctance, "When you go to the city, be sure to come back and visit often!"

The old ox and oxcart of the family were left to be taken care of by the village head, and all other odds and ends were tied to the Liu family's horse-drawn cart.

They even packed up and brought along the four ancestral tablets from their home.

Laifu was the laziest. He spotted the top of the carriage right away and sat there effortlessly.

Little Pink Butterfly, carrying her axe, left first; she already knew the location when she last went to look at the houses in the county town.

Only Master Cui followed behind, slowly smoking, afraid of bothering others with the smell of smoke.

The village children didn't think as much as the adults. When they saw the three Lin family friends getting into the carriage to leave, Big Snotty immediately let out a loud "whoop" and started crying.

"Waaaaah, goodbye Wanwan..."

"Have a safe journey, Wanwan! I'll come visit you when I go to the city!"

Many of Lin Wanyue's close friends were around her, and they all cried as they said goodbye to her.

His crying made the already grieving Lin family members wipe their eyes with their sleeves.

Holding the much-grown Lin Diaodiao in her arms, Lin Wanyue lifted the curtain and waved frantically to her friends, shouting, "I'll be back!"

The villagers who stayed at the Lin family's house also began to wipe away tears.

Zhao Chunniang cried the loudest, even drowning out her son Wang Hu's cries.

As the person walked away, her crying didn't stop; in fact, it seemed to be getting louder.

"No..." Old Lady Du asked curiously, "When they lived in the village before, you two weren't this close. Why are you crying so hard? And it's not like they're never coming back. They'll definitely come back for holidays. Why are you wailing like this?"

"Waaah..." Zhao Chunniang's tears streamed down her face as she sniffled, "What do you know? He only comes back for holidays. How could my son possibly catch up with that girl Wanwan? He definitely has no chance..."

She had originally thought that as long as her son and Lin Wanyue grew up together, they would eventually become a couple.

But now...

Her wishful thinking completely failed.

Lin Wanyue went to the county town and could only come back once a year during holidays.

Her son's childhood sweetheart was gone just like that!

How could Zhao Chunniang not be heartbroken?

She was heartbroken!

Everyone: "..."

The villagers remained silent, all moving away from Zhao Chunniang's family.

Those who had daughters in their families, in particular, looked at Zhao Chunniang with some wariness.

...

The family rode in a horse-drawn carriage and arrived at their house in Zhujiao in less than an hour.

The twin brothers were brave enough to jump off the carriage and then exclaim "Wow!" as they looked at the big house.

Lin Wanyue had seen this house before; it wasn't bad, but it was just big enough.

But now, after Young Master Liu spent money to renovate it, it has become completely different.

With its white walls and gray tiles, the courtyard features a large water tank filled with flowers and plants. Two small fish dart among the flowers and plants, their tails swirling, bringing the whole courtyard to life.

The room was furnished with the finest rosewood, simply coated with clear varnish; its beautiful grain and color were simply delightful. The carvings Lin Weiming had mentioned were indeed plentiful; even the table legs had delicate petal patterns, exquisitely beautiful.

The children got off the carriage and quickly looked around the whole house. Once they found a room they liked, they wanted to claim it as their own.