Chapter 267 Compensation
After more than a month of preparations for the imperial examinations, Fang Qingzhou and Ye Yunhua booked a table at a restaurant to celebrate the success of their two junior brothers who had passed the exams. They also decided to set off for Qingzhou in three days.
Tan Zhenlin, who had been grinning foolishly with his bright white teeth, instantly lost his baby smile:
"So soon? I was planning to extend a little hospitality and invite you to visit the famous mountains and scenic spots of the capital, but you're leaving in three days?"
Xu Jinnian remained silent, but put down his chopsticks and looked at his two senior brothers across from him.
Fang Qingzhou patted his junior brother on the shoulder and gently comforted him, "We'll come again for the next imperial examination. Do your best in the capital."
Ye Yunhua wasn't good at comforting people, so he silently poured wine into Tan Zhenlin's glass: "You should also put your marriage on the agenda. Among the four of us brothers, you are the only one who hasn't started a family yet."
Tan Zhenlin's throat tightened, and tears welled up in his eyes: "If I get married, will you come to my wedding banquet?"
Seeing him like this, Fang Qingzhou felt sad, but still smiled and said, "I'm afraid I won't be able to come and congratulate you in person, but I will definitely send you a gift."
Tan Zhenlin felt even more distressed, his mind filled with images of the four brothers studying together, riding and shooting together, and being punished together since childhood.
Seeing his pitiful look, as if he was about to cry, Xu Jinnian couldn't bear to watch any longer. She picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of meat, and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Alright, your two senior brothers are about to set off. Don't look so gloomy, it's bad luck."
Tan Zhenlin: "..."
He's so good at coaxing his sister-in-law, why can't he coax him?
Is he unworthy?
After Xu Jinnian's interference, Tan Zhenlin could no longer remain sad.
He chewed the meat in his mouth a couple of times and swallowed it whole. He then raised his wine glass and declared with great bravado, "We brothers won't see each other again for three years. Today, we won't leave until we're drunk!"
Seeing that the boy wasn't crying, Xu Jinnian and the other two secretly breathed a sigh of relief and raised their glasses in unison with smiles: "We won't leave until we're drunk."
The meal lasted from noon until the afternoon. Tan Zhenlin and the other two got drunk, while only Xu Jinnian remained sober and personally helped them all onto the carriage.
Upon returning to the Jiang residence, Sheng An learned that Fang Qingzhou and Ye Yunhua would be departing in three days. He hurriedly took out paper and pen and wrote down half of the gifts he wanted to buy, asking Li Tian and the others to help him purchase them.
These gifts were bought for relatives and friends back home. They weren't anything too expensive; they were mostly cosmetics, clothing, and jewelry popular in Beijing.
The gifts had to be taken back by Fang Qingzhou and the other person, and Sheng An was too embarrassed to buy too many.
Even so, they ended up filling two boxes to the brim.
Also packed into the box were letters written by the couple.
Xu Jinnian wrote letters to the three elders and Xu Cuilian and her husband, while Sheng An wrote many more.
Besides the three elders and the letter written separately for Zhang Zhaodi, there were also letters to Baoxiu, Baolan, Shuqi, and the others, mainly instructing them to continue operating Shengyuan and Shengshi Restaurant.
After writing several letters, Sheng An's wrists ached.
Xu Jinnian sat beside her and gently massaged her.
Sheng An comfortably squinted his eyes, his voice tinged with a hint of laziness:
"Besides Shengyuan and the restaurant, there are also two estates and five shops in Qingzhou. I instructed Shuqi in the letter to manage them, but I don't know if he can handle it."
Xu Jinnian knew about Shuqi's abilities and gently comforted him, "He has never made any major mistakes in his work. There won't be any problem entrusting the rent collection to him. If all else fails, we can just sell the two estates."
Sheng An nodded: "That's what I think too. Those two estates are nice. The price of good land has risen slightly in the last two years, so they're easy to sell."
It's easy to collect rent for shops, but rent for estates is more difficult; every year there are disputes with the tenants.
Speaking of the estate, Sheng An recalled something else:
“We’re going to live in the capital for a long time, so we need to buy our own house. You happen to have three months of vacation, so go to the real estate agency and ask around. If there’s a suitable house, we’ll buy it.”
The Jiang residence is nice, but it's not her own home. Besides, her child is due in a few months, and she can't very well give birth to the baby in someone else's house.
This would offend the host's taboo and is itself a very impolite thing to do.
Sheng An calculated the amount of money he had on hand and had a clear idea of how much it would cost to buy the house:
“Prices are high in the capital. A small two-courtyard house costs eight hundred taels. We can buy a three-courtyard house, which will probably cost around fifteen hundred taels.”
A spacious house is more comfortable to live in, and since the money brought in is plentiful, buying a three-courtyard house can also buy two or three shops.
Worried about the safety of carrying too much money, Sheng An did not bring all the money he had earned over the years. Otherwise, he could have easily bought a five-courtyard house in the best location.
However, such residences are extremely rare and hard to come by; even with money, one might not be able to buy one.
Xu Jinnian also felt that buying a courtyard was the most urgent matter, and chuckled as he joked with Sheng An:
"Back in Qingzhou, I was supported by An'an, and now that we're in the capital, I'm still being supported by her. I'm probably the best person in the world at living off a woman."
Sheng An couldn't help but chuckle, deliberately adopting a flirtatious expression as she lifted the man's chin with her index finger: "Husband, does this soft rice smell good?"
She rarely called him "husband," and upon hearing this address, Xu Jinnian's eyes darkened. He gently grasped her fingertips with his long, jade-like hand, and his slightly husky voice revealed a hint of seduction: "Mmm, it smells very good."
Sheng Anxin's heart trembled, and she subconsciously rubbed her ears, somewhat unable to meet his gaze.
Realizing she had been too cowardly, she coughed lightly, her flirtatious expression deepening, and deliberately scratched the man's Adam's apple: "Really? How fragrant is it?"
Xu Jinnian's eyes grew even deeper. Before Sheng An could back down, he acted quickly, gently pulling her into his arms and kissing her lips deeply, showing her how delicious it was to be a kept man.
"Hmm—"
Sheng An's heart trembled, and even her increasingly heavy body trembled slightly, making her feel unlike herself.
Since discovering she was pregnant before the Lunar New Year, the couple has not been intimate, worried that controlling their relationship might harm the baby, and they are very restrained even when kissing.
The two of them clung to each other like an old house on fire, neither wanting to separate.
Fortunately, Xu Jinnian remained rational. Just as his desire was about to break through his defenses, he released the person in his arms in time and buried his head in her shoulder, breathing heavily.
Sheng An's eyes were hazy, her cheeks flushed. Listening to the man's panting, she shifted uncomfortably, then pulled her hands back and tightly hugged her stomach, trying to calm the burning desire within her that wanted to pin him down.
After a long while, Xu Jinnian raised his head, his eyes reddening unnaturally, but his voice remained serious:
"Please be patient, An'an. When the child is born, I will make it up to you properly."
Sheng An's anger flared even more, and she quickly reached out to cover his mouth: "Don't say it!"
She really couldn't hold back if she said that again!
Seeing his wife's self-deceiving expression, Xu Jinnian's eyes curved into a smile. He took her hand, kissed it, and said in a deep, seductive voice, "Okay, I won't say anything."
Actions speak louder than words when it comes to this kind of thing.
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