Ten days or so passed like this, and Yu Bo and Yu Yuan returned from Jiangxi.

Yu Wen was painting. Hearing the news, he asked in surprise, "Why did they come back so soon? Didn't things go well?"

It takes more than two months to take a boat from here to Nanchang Prefecture in Jiangxi.

Yu Tang thought the opposite of Yu Wen.

If things are not going well, it will take longer. If things are going well, they will come back earlier.

"My great uncle's house is next door," Yu Tang smiled and said, "How about I go over and ask for you?"

Chen was doing needlework with Yu Tang. She laughed and scolded her daughter: "I see you don't want to go and ask for the letter for your father, you want to be lazy, right?"

In her previous life, Yu Tang missed her family and cried so much that her pillow was wet many nights. Now that she can go back in time and live with her parents, she wants to give the Buddha a golden body. How can she be like the ignorant self she was before, worrying her mother and embarrassing her father?

During the past ten days, she had been doing embroidery at home honestly and had also drawn some patterns that were popular in later generations. Chen felt that her daughter had learned a lesson and had changed for the better, and she was very pleased.

"Mum knows me best." She dressed up and rubbed against Chen's shoulder, saying, "Mum, please let me go out for some fresh air! I haven't been out for several days."

Chen was most concerned about her daughter. In addition, after taking Yang Douxing's medicine for the past few days, she felt much more relaxed and energetic. She thought that even if her daughter got into trouble, Yu Wen would not have to clean up the mess alone. So she smiled and said, "Okay! You and your father go to your uncle's house to take a look."

Yu Tang cheered.

Yu Bo and Yu Yuan came over together.

Everyone met each other and sat down under the tree canopy in the courtyard. Shuangtao served tea.

Yu Bo talked about his trip to Jiangxi: "We were very lucky! As soon as we entered Jiangxi, we met a merchant from Guangzhou. He was going to Ningbo to try his luck after selling lacquerware. I saw that he had made a lot of money, so I talked to him for a long time and he gave us half of the goods. It happened that the shopkeeper Huang who placed the order with us didn't care what the goods were, as long as they could be shipped on the fleet. The deal was done. However, my family always broke our promise. I promised to pay Huang fifty taels of silver..."

"Of course, of course." Yu Wen said hurriedly, "Brother Yinzi can make the decision."

Yu's lacquerware shops were connected together, business was done together, money and goods were invested together, and dividends were only distributed when the accounts were settled at the end of the year.

The Yu Tang family was very happy that they didn't have to pay so much money.

Yu Wen invited Yu Bo and Yu Yuan to have dinner.

Yu Bo refused and said, "I have to go to Pei's house as soon as possible. I heard that Pei's family is going to rebuild Changxing Street, I have to go and ask around."

Yu Wen was quite surprised and asked, "Is this news reliable? I didn't hear about it when I was in Lin'an City. How did you know about it when you just came back?"

Yu Bo laughed and said, "You only care about reading books of sages. You wouldn't pay attention to these business matters even if someone told you about them. How can you compare to me? I have been running our lacquerware shop with my father since I was a child."

Yu Wen asked, "Why did the Pei family suddenly think of rebuilding Changxing Street?"

Yu Bo said: "It seems that it was the intention of the prefect. He specially invited the second elder of the Pei family to discuss it. This matter was spread out."

Yu Tang listened to it and felt that it was the same as in his previous life. The Pei family agreed to rebuild Changxing Street, but also proposed that if the shops that did not belong to the Pei family could not afford the money, the Pei family could buy their foundations.

In her previous life, when she didn't know the mystery, she thought the Pei family was doing good deeds. Later, when she figured it out, she secretly scolded the Pei family. In this life, she knows the mystery, but she has already received a great favor from the Pei family...

Yu Tang sighed in his heart.

She simply decided to out of sight and out of mind, and went back to her room to do needlework.

The Yu brothers discussed this matter in the study.

Yu Wen proposed that the two families each sell one of their land to the Pei family, and the Pei family would help them rebuild the pavement. In this way, although the Yu family lost half of their assets, they at least kept the other half.

Yu Bo was worried that the Pei family would not agree, and said, "Most of the shops on Changxing Street are owned by the Pei family. They can just leave us alone, and we will have to sell all the land to them."

Yu Wen was eager to try: "Brother, watch me!"

Ever since he realized that the painting Lu Xin sold him was a fake and he didn't see it, he began to have a new respect for Tong the Shopkeeper's ability to appreciate antiques. He invited Tong the Shopkeeper to dinner several times with wine and food, and from time to time asked him for advice on some techniques in appraising antiques. He boasted that he and Tong the Shopkeeper were half-close friends.

Yu Wen thought he could follow Tong's path.

Everyone in Lin'an City knew that Tong's family had been helping the Pei family run the pawnshop for generations, and now it had been seven or eight generations. They were respectable and influential elders in the Pei family.

Yu Bo is not as optimistic as Yu Wen.

If that shopkeeper Tong was a person who was easy to talk to and always referred everything to the Pei family, how could this day have come to this?

But Yu Wen was in high spirits, and he didn't want to discourage him, so he encouraged his brother a few words and then took Yu Yuan to take care of the things in the shop.

Yu Wen had lunch, changed his clothes and went out.

When he came back in the evening, he happily told his wife and daughter: "Tong the shopkeeper is really a good person. He agreed to ask for our family."

Chen was overjoyed.

Yu Tang was a little dazed.

Yu Wen took out the painting "Fishing in Songxi" and opened it under the lamp. While looking at it, he said to Yu Tang with emotion: "So, we should not be too concerned about gains and losses. You see, I bought a fake, but it also helped me make a friend."

Yu Tang curled his lips.

If she hadn't tried to prove the authenticity of the painting, how could their family have had any dealings with Tong the shopkeeper? However, as his father said, Tong the shopkeeper was really a good person.

Yu Tang thought about his past life again.

According to Tong, the shopkeeper, this painting was taken from the original painting exactly as it was, which means that there is no problem with the seals of inheritance. So where did the painting that fell into her hands in her previous life come from? Is it real or fake?

Yu Tang wanted to find an opportunity to consult with Tong the shopkeeper, but before she found the chance, Yu Wen excitedly told Chen and Yu Tang: "Our shop is saved!"

"What's going on?" Chen put down her needle and thread and poured a cup of tea for Yu Wen herself.

Yu Wen drank his tea in two or three gulps, and said with a smile on his face, "Tong, the shopkeeper, wrote me a letter saying that the chief steward of the Pei family originally refused to agree because he felt that the two foundations were not enough to rebuild two shops. Tong, the shopkeeper, thought that our family had been cheated of money a few days ago, and wanted to plead for our family and let us add some more money. But the chief steward said that this precedent should not be set. Otherwise, what should we do if the families whose shops were burned down follow suit? Who knew that the third elder of the Pei family passed by and heard them while the two were talking about this matter, and he agreed to this matter. He also spread the word that the Pei family could help all the families whose shops were burned down to rebuild their shops first, and the money spent would be paid by the Pei family in advance, and the loan would be repaid in installments of five or ten years without interest."

"Ah!" Yu Tang was stunned.

In this way, all the families whose shops were burned down would be able to get through this difficult time smoothly.

"The Pei family is truly the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva who saves people from suffering!" Chen put her hands together and bowed repeatedly in the direction of the Pei family's residence.

This is completely different from the previous life.

Is it because of her rebirth?

Then when the Li family came to propose marriage, didn't she just have to do nothing and their family would reject the marriage?

Does that mean she will never have to deal with the Li family again?

It turned out that their family was planning to bribe her!

Yu Tang felt happy whenever he thought about this.

Chen said happily: "Then do we not have to sell the land?"

"That's probably not possible!" Yu Wen touched his head awkwardly and said, "We have already proposed to the Pei family to sell the foundation. The Pei family is kind and willing to lend money to everyone. How can we break our promise to the Pei family!"

Chen's expression darkened and she sighed in disappointment.

Yu Wen comforted Chen: "This is already very good. Think about it this way. If we hadn't asked Tong the shopkeeper to speak up, how could the Third Elder of the Pei family know about this? If the Third Elder of the Pei family didn't say anything, how could the Pei family lend money to those who burned down their shops without paying? In a sense, our family also indirectly did a good thing."

Chen smiled and said coquettishly, "You are the only one who is generous."

Yu Wen chuckled.

Yu Bo, who got the news, thought that the foundation of his shop would not be sold. He came to discuss with Yu Wen and found out the whole story. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He thought the same as Yu Wen and said generously, "Let's just assume that our family is not destined to have this."

The two Yu brothers have made their decision, so it is hard for others to say anything.

A few days later, when the Pei family was discussing with those families whose shops were burned down how to rebuild them, the old lady of the Pei family suddenly passed away.

"This is impossible!" Yu Wen, who got the news in the middle of the night, stood in the courtyard with his clothes on, listening to the insects chirping louder and louder. He held Chen's hand and was shocked. "When I went to Pei's house yesterday, I asked about the old lady. They said she was fine. How could she just pass away like this?"

Chen was filled with sorrow and asked, "Could he have contracted some kind of acute illness? The old lady of the Pei family has passed the age of 50, right?"

"But this is too sudden." Yu Wen still couldn't believe it, and ordered Ah Tiao, "Go check again, is there a mistake?"

Ah Tiao wiped away tears and choked up as he said, "I've already asked around. The Pei family has knocked on the cloud board and has begun to report the death to each family. Both Zhaoming Temple and Qingxu Monastery have received the news, and the abbots of both families have already rushed over. The news cannot be wrong!"

Yu Tang leaned against the door, feeling the heavy night dew that chilled his heart and lungs.

She has been very concerned about the health of the old lady of the Pei family. Everyone said that the old lady of the Pei family was in good health, so why did the old lady of the Pei family die?

Yu Tang felt very regretful.

She shouldn't just listen to what others say, she should go and see it in person.

The Pei family helped their family so much, but she did not actively help the Pei family.

Yu Tang walked over and took his mother's arm, saying, "Mom, are you going to burn incense for the old lady of the Pei family? Can you take me with you?"