Ziying and Lin Kangping didn't know about the subsequent events in Beijing, they rushed along the road without stopping, trying to stay overnight in cities. The three of them encountered continuous light rain as soon as they entered Luzhou territory. Lin Kangping looked at Ziying who was tired from traveling by boat and carriage all day, thinking of resting for a day or two, but Ziying knew that if he didn't return home immediately, his heart wouldn't be at peace. Moreover, seeing that they were almost at the doorstep of their hometown, Ziying himself was also eager to return home quickly. The spring in southern China is like this - once it starts raining, it doesn't stop easily, so they gave up on the idea of resting and continued on their way, which coincided with Kangping's intentions.

  The original journey of less than two days, the three people rushed for four days on a muddy road in the rain and finally returned to Qingyuan. Zi Qing was already exhausted physically and mentally, relying solely on her willpower to support herself along the way. Unfortunately, she had just started her period and as soon as they entered the door, she collapsed from illness, with a high fever and unaware of what was happening around her, she fainted.

  Lin Kangping sent someone to fetch the doctor while also sending for Zeng Ruixiang and Shen Shi. The two were shocked and rushed to Qingyuan, where Shen Shi saw Zi Qing unconscious and fell on her body, tears streaming down her face. In her heart, she couldn't help but feel a little resentful towards Lin Kangping - a child who had left the house full of energy just over a month ago was now lying ill and unresponsive.

  Lin Kongping invited Zeng Ruixiang into the study, and told him the whole story. Zeng Ruixiang was shocked after listening, his face full of incredulity, this was too coincidental, too unbelievable. After a moment's thought, he instructed: "Since we can't figure out who the other party is, but one thing is certain, we can't afford to provoke them. Fortunately, you all returned safely, remember, this matter must not be mentioned again to anyone, and it's best if Ziying doesn't go out for a year or two. You should also be more careful in your actions, and try not to go to the capital city for the next three to five years." The two of them then discussed opening up a doorway between their two houses, making it convenient for Ziying to come and go.

  Zhou came to take his pulse and said it was just overwork and a cold, and he would be fine after taking some medicine. After the fever subsided, he just needed to rest well for a while, and Shen and Zeng Ruixiang finally breathed a sigh of relief. Lin Kangping also felt at ease and went to wash up.

  Ziying was dazed and confused, dozing off and waking up. She kept having dreams of being chased, muttering to herself nonstop. Lin Kangping held her in his arms, comforting her, and Ziying could only sleep soundly when she was in his embrace. As a result, Lin Kangping didn't leave the place for several days, not even to eat, relying on Xiaqing and others to bring him food. After several days, he had lost weight.

  The Shens almost came over every day, seeing Lin Kangping taking care of Zi Qing with all his heart and soul, the grievances in his heart disappeared. On the contrary, he came to persuade Lin Kangping to pay attention to rest and not to be exhausted again.

  When Zi Qing was fully recovered and able to get out of bed, it had already been half a month. During this time, Liu Shi and Chen Shi also came to visit her. Only then did Zi Qing learn that Liu Shi hadn't gone to the capital because she was pregnant, and Chen Shi had given birth to a boy on the 16th day of the last lunar month, just a couple of days after Zi Qing's group left. The household was so busy that they couldn't cope. Shen Shi bought each of them a twelve-year-old little maid to serve them. This way, Shen Shi was much more relaxed and didn't have to do any washing or cleaning work herself.

  On this day, Zi Qing wanted to go back to her mother's house. She was going to distribute the gifts she brought from Beijing to everyone, but when she looked outside, it was still drizzling. Lin Kangping worried that she would get wet and catch a cold again, so Zi Qing had no choice but to give up. Lin Kangping said that for more than half a month, the rain hadn't stopped, and it had been drizzling all along.

  Ziying's body has recovered, and Lin Kongping finally breathed a sigh of relief. He also had the mood to joke with Ziying, saying that he had been guarding her every step of the way, feeding her, giving her medicine, wiping her clean, and even changing her sanitary napkins. "Now that you're better, shouldn't I be rewarded as your husband? It's a rainy day anyway, and we can't just idle around. Why don't we do something meaningful to pass the time?"

  Ziying was completely bewildered and didn't know what to do. When she heard that Lin Kangping had helped her with everything, her face turned bright red. Ziying hadn't expected Lin Kangping to go to such great lengths for her, and she felt both moved and ashamed. Lin Kangping had been a monk for over a month, but when he saw Ziying's charming and flirtatious expression, he couldn't hold back any longer. One of them was overcome with emotion, the other passionately reciprocated, and the couple entwined themselves together until they were exhausted.

  The next day, Lin Kangping returned from the city after collecting rent for his shops and handed over the silver bills to Zi Qing. Zi Qing held a small box, leaned against Lin Kangping's body counting the silver bills, and suddenly asked about the income of Lin Kangping's shops in Beijing.

  Lin Kongping said: "The annual income for this year is around 500 taels, Wang Cai and Wang Xi each have an annual salary of 20 taels, and there are two small accountants, with a monthly salary of 800 big coins. The rent of the shop is not included, because it was bought by us."

  Zi Qing thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you give them half of the shop's shares? If things go well, the shop's profits will increase, and they'll get more accordingly. They'll be more motivated to do things well. This way, every year is a fixed example, whether it's good or bad, it's all up to them, and there's not much enthusiasm for them."

  Lin Kongping thought for a moment, then hugged Zi Qing and said: "My wife is still smart, in this way, they want to make more money, they will think of ways to do business well, and I won't have to worry about it. In the future, let them come over at the end of each year to report their accounts, and collect the rent for another shop. This capital city, I don't plan to go there in ten years."

  "Why call her daughter-in-law, it's better to just call her wife. What if we have kids in the future and you can't change your mouth, others will hear that you're so familiar with her and it'll be troublesome. This is called adapting to local customs." Zi Qing said.

  "Alright, wife is always right." Then he hugged Zi Qing tightly.

  Ziying pulled him and said, "Don't make trouble, I still have something important to discuss with you. Not counting the small change, our family currently has 6,500 taels of silver. Not counting the orange garden, in a normal year, we get around 900 taels of rent from various places. Adding your shop and the income from raising chickens in the orange garden, our annual income is less than 2,000 taels. Are you still doing business in Guangzhou?

  "It's been so many years, I'm used to it. That one trip a year is just a fixed routine, I've already made arrangements with David, don't worry, nothing will happen. In that case, each time I bring 3,000 taels of silver out the door, and after deducting travel expenses for the two trips, there should be over 2,000 taels of silver in profit. You can keep the remaining few thousand taels for your own use, what else do you want to do?"

  I want to buy that piece of wasteland across from the official road. Actually, I considered it when I bought the orange garden last time, but at that time, I thought it was too close to the official road and too eye-catching. When the fruit garden didn't work out, not only did I lose money, but also let people remember it every day. Now I want to buy it to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes, which doesn't matter where they are planted. Of course, if this land is well-cared for a few years, it can also be used to plant wheat. I can first plant some beans and corn, which don't require very fertile soil. Actually, buying paddy fields would be the most convenient, but there are too few of them, they're expensive, and not easy to deal with. This wasteland is cheap, and if I hire a few people to take care of it, I definitely won't lose money.

  Finally, I can be my own master. Zi Qing thought about doing something big with the abundant start-up capital, lying at home every day like a rice worm, which really isn't a good thing. How could I waste this title of "crossing female"?!

  "I don't want to stay at home all day, I'll get moldy. Let me do something I like." Zi Qing added hastily when she saw Lin Kangping's brow furrowed.

  "Alright, no matter what you want to do, just go ahead and do it. Just one thing, you can't go out by yourself. If there's something specific that needs to be done, I'll take care of it. And if all else fails, I'm not home, but Lin An and Lin Fu are here. I really can't take any more scares, nowadays I feel like I've lost you even for a moment, only when I hold you in my arms can I feel that I haven't really lost you." Lin Kangping said, hugging Zi Qing and resting his head on her shoulder.

  "I know, don't worry, I won't go out unless absolutely necessary. Even if I have to go out, I'll dress myself up so that no one will recognize me, and they'll ask, 'Where did this little country girl come from?'" Zi Qing said with a smile while stroking Lin Kangping's face.

  "You don't know, Qing'er, on this journey, my heart has been so frightened, but I didn't dare to let you know, afraid that you would be worried like me. That day in Luzhou, you said you wanted to rush back home in the rain, actually I was thinking the same thing, who knew that when you got home, you still fell ill, and were unconscious, even your dreams were not peaceful, my heart felt extremely distressed, hating myself for being useless, unable to even protect you? And also hating myself for bringing you out on this journey, why didn't we stay in Luzhou to rest for a while, wishing I could have taken that suffering for you." Lin Kangping still feels a wave of fear when thinking about those days.

  "It's okay, Kangping, you mustn't think like that. You should know that even as the third young master of the Wen family, there are still many things that can't be helped, and some things are just out of reach. What about us? How many people in this world can live life to their heart's content? I think that even if one were an emperor, they would still have many troubles and couldn't do whatever they want. You've lived in the Wen family for so many years, haven't you figured this out yet? Don't get stuck on trivial matters, I hope we can live happily and cherish the opportunity given to us by heaven to be together." Zi Qing advised, she didn't want Lin Kangping to carry the burden of self-blame and regret, which would make it impossible for him to enjoy life.

  "It's also, such a simple truth, I didn't think it through, it seems that I'm still confused. I'm too concerned about your reason. So, Qing Er, can you promise me, for the next year or two, try not to go out, especially don't go to the city. If you want to buy something, I can buy it for you. I'll hire a few more people, including two who know how to plant flowers, and make our home look like a garden. You can stroll around at home whenever you're free. By the way, the wall between our courtyard and your mother's has been opened up, so you can go back to your mother's through the small door whenever you want. I'll come back immediately after finishing my business outside, without any delay."

  Ziying listened and tears slowly flowed out, Lin Kangping's pain she felt deeply, she herself had been worried and panicked all along, Ziying hugged Lin Kangping and actively offered her own lips, at this time, language was pale, actions spoke louder than words.