Xue Niang returned when she was still sitting under the lamp and playing a game of Go with Yu He. Seeing her arrival, hot water and midnight snacks were served one after another. The midnight snack was a fragrant and rich chicken soup dumpling, Xue Niang was satisfied and let out a sigh of relief, closing her eyes to savor the moment: "There are still people who treat me well, I don't have to wait to eat something delicious."

  Peony smiled and looked at her, saying: "Eat early and sleep, tomorrow we will enter the city early."

  Xue Niang stopped using her chopsticks and looked at Peony, with a face full of reluctance: "Leaving tomorrow morning?" She hasn't had enough fun yet. Although she experienced the saddest thing in her life here, overall it was more comfortable and freer than staying at home in Jingzhong.

  "Peony Way: 'I have urgent business and must return to the city tomorrow. I cannot leave you alone here, but if you still want to play, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.'"

  Xue Niang murmured in response, using her chopsticks to push around the noodles in her bowl, and said carefully: "He Jie, you mustn't forget what you promised me. Remember to come find me often to play." She was extremely afraid that Peony would, because of yesterday's events, gradually become distant from herself and eventually stop associating with her altogether.

  "Of course," Peony said with a smile, stroking her soft and shiny black hair. "After the garden is built, I'll invite you to play again, don't forget?"

  Xue Niang believed Peony's words and happily finished the whole bowl of wontons, then patted her slightly bulging belly contentedly before going to sleep.

  Just before dawn, the weather suddenly changed and a loud thunderstorm broke out. Peony was startled awake by a loud clap of thunder, her heart racing with fear. After calming down, she felt thirsty and was about to get up for a drink when she heard Rain荷's light footsteps outside, followed by Rain荷 entering with a lantern in hand.

  "Peony shouted: 'Yuhe.'"

  Yuhua lifted the curtain, took a lamp to take a closer look at Peony's expression, one hand reached into the quilt to touch her clothes whether it was dry, softly said: "Peony, are you awake? Are you scared? The clothes are a bit damp, do you want to change into another one? Do you want to drink water? Wait for me." Yuhua quickly went out and brought in a cup of warm water.

  Even after all this time, Lin Mama and Yuhe still treated themselves as the sick child who needed care. This concern was heartfelt and not at all pretentious. Looking at Yuhe's calm and gentle expression under the lamp, Mudan felt a surge of emotion and couldn't help but take Yuhe's hand, pulling her to lie down: "Come on, let's lie down together."

  Yu He smiled and said, "Just think of the peony as being afraid of thunder, take off your shoes and go to bed." Peony whispered: "This rain is really sudden. I don't know when it will stop, if it continues like this, how can we return to the city?" Yu He replied very confidently: "Don't worry, it comes quickly and goes quickly, by dawn it will be a sunny day again."

  Although the rain was heavy, it came and went quickly, just as Rain荷 had predicted. However, on the second day, the weather didn't clear up but instead became gloomy and sweltering. It made people feel like they had a sticky layer on their skin, which was very uncomfortable.

  The first thing Peony did was to go and check on the seeds she had sown the day before, but seeing that the straw was covering them well and the rainwater hadn't seeped in, she felt relieved. Then she called over Atao and her brother Ashun, instructing the two siblings to take good care of the place, and after reminding them of a few things they should pay attention to, she finally prepared to set off.

  Xuěniáng was at the age where she loved to sleep, and after playing till she was tired, and being startled by thunder, she didn't sleep well. As soon as she got on the horse's back, she was still dazed, half-closing her eyes, nodding off bit by bit, making Fù Māma's heart jump with fright. But no matter how they shouted at her, Xuěniáng just did her own thing, almost falling asleep on the horse's back, hugging its neck.

  Peony couldn't help but laugh at the same time, feeling helpless. Although she didn't want to keep Jiang Changyang waiting for too long, she could only let someone lead Snow Girl's horse and walk slowly. Anyway, it wasn't like they were in a hurry, so walking slowly was fine. After dragging their feet for a while, they finally arrived near the Jiang family village. Peony looked up and saw Jiang Changyang and Wu standing under the shade of a tree talking, while the horses were freely grazing on the grass, she didn't know how long they had been waiting.

  Seeing the crowd walking over in a strange and slow manner, Jiang Changyang found it somewhat odd. Upon closer inspection, he discovered the crux of the matter and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and smile. What a naive and inexperienced child indeed!

  "General Jiang, I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. Xue Niang didn't rest well and couldn't wake up no matter what, I was afraid something would happen to her, so I had to walk slowly like this, fearing that we wouldn't be able to hurry even if we wanted to. Why don't you all go ahead first, and I'll take her back home and then come find you?"

  Jiang Changyang said, "My place is quite far away. By the time you've gone back and forth through various alleys a few times, it'll be dark. It's better to travel together, that way it's safer." As he spoke, he couldn't help but take another glance at Xue Niang on horseback, who looked like she was about to fall off, and barely managed not to burst out laughing.

  The stepmother saw Xue Niang making a fool of herself in front of the outsider, and she was both angry and anxious. She couldn't help but walk closer and scolded in a low voice: "Xue Niang!"

  Xue Niang narrowed her eyes, staring blankly at Fu Mama without saying a word. Her eyelids were about to stick together again. Fu Mama was anxious and patted her leg, pointing to Jiang Changyang and his servant in front of them. Xue Niang took a glance, but her expression didn't change much. Fu Mama sighed helplessly and let her be.

  Peony first brought Li Wei's apology to Jiang Changyang. Jiang Changyang smiled slightly: "It's not a big deal, no need to take it to heart."

  Peony wanted to ask Li Wei what he was after, but thinking that Li Wei hadn't told him himself, it would be inappropriate for him to ask Jiang Changyang too many questions. So he changed the subject and asked about Master Fuyuan: "Does Lord Jiang know if Master Fuyuan has returned from his trip? I sent someone to check on him at Fahou Temple not long ago, but he hadn't returned yet. If we're lucky enough to buy this stone back, we'll still need his help to decide where to place it."

  "Back already," said Jiang Changyang, "I was playing chess with him just a few days ago."

  "Over the next few days, I'm afraid it will be a great trouble for him again, and I don't know if he has any free time." She couldn't let Fuyuan Monk stay in Fangyuan alone, nor could she ask Fuyuan Monk to travel back and forth between the city and Fangyuan every day. The only option was to bother one of her brothers to stay in Fangyuan for a few days to entertain Fuyuan Monk on her behalf.

  In the midst of their conversation, Jiang Changyang suddenly said: "I was thinking of inviting him to stay at my estate for a few days, having him face me every day. I'm afraid he'll find it annoying. If there's something for him to do, he'll be eager to get started. He won't need to look for him anymore, tomorrow I'll bring him over together with you, just prepare some simple vegetarian dishes, fruit and tea soup."

  "Look, I told you something good would happen when we met." After saying this, she felt a bit silly. Obviously, the other person was just making an excuse to help her out. Well, before even buying the stone, they had already returned the favor, so she had to put in extra effort to get it done properly, or else she'd be indebted to them. The old favor hadn't been repaid yet, and now a new one had been added on top of that. Thinking this way, the pressure suddenly increased.

  Jiang Changyang heard Peony say this, and originally wanted to play along with a joke. But seeing Peony suddenly turn her face away, her expression also somewhat embarrassed, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, although he didn't know what she was thinking, he knew she was uncomfortable, so he tactfully stopped talking.

  Wu, who was standing beside them, urged him to talk about his past experiences in the army. Jiang Changyang refused to speak and instead asked Peony: "I've heard that people with exceptional skills can make the same peony bloom with different colored flowers. The method is quite unbelievable, supposedly by burying silver, cinnabar, danzhu, etc. near the roots of the peony. I never believed it. Does Madam know whether this is true or not?"

  "Are you talking about the brocade peony? I haven't tried the method you mentioned, so I don't know if it's effective. However, I do know of a technique where multiple different varieties and colors of peony buds are grafted onto a single peony plant. After they take root, they become a brocade peony, which is extremely beautiful. I want to cultivate one too."

  She had long been preparing for the cultivation of such a brocade, and as soon as the grafting season arrived, she would immediately take action. This is a ready-made golden signboard. Think about it, what's more eye-catching than coming up with a few large, extraordinary peonies that are different from the crowd?

  Jiang Changyang was taken aback by Peony's candor. He had only intended to change the subject and casually chat with her, but she unexpectedly shared with him a secret that others treasured like a precious gem, telling it to him as if it were an old legend. To share one's mastered secrets with someone else meant either that person was foolish or extremely trusted by them. Peony was clearly not foolish, so that left only one possibility - she trusted him.

  Such a carefree and defenseless woman, when encountering a decent person, can easily gain respect and get the same return; but if she encounters someone with ulterior motives, she may suffer greatly. Jiang Changyang felt somewhat moved, remained silent for a moment, and solemnly said: "I just casually mentioned it, this is your family's livelihood skill, you'd better not mention it to others easily in the future. A common man is innocent but guilty of possessing jade, let alone you're a woman, you must be more careful."

  "Thanks for reminding me, I remember now," said Peony with a smile. She spoke out because she thought it was no big secret in the industry, and at this time, Peony's propagation mainly relied on grafting. Anyone who knew about grafting could have guessed it. However, the secrets within were not something that everyone could know, such as how to choose suitable rootstocks and scions, how to select good combinations of varieties, the best time and method for grafting, and post-grafting management, etc. These were all very particular, and she wouldn't casually tell people about them.

  It's easy to change one's nature, but it's hard to move. Jiang Changyang obviously didn't believe that Peony had really listened, and even if she had, it wasn't necessarily going to lead to a serious consideration. He thought carefully and cautiously chose an example of blindly trusting others, which led to the downfall of a family, to tell Peony, intending to increase her vigilance.

  In the past, parents and elders often used this tone to teach themselves. Peony felt that Jiang Changyang was like a teacher who taught with all his heart, and she was obviously the student. Although she wanted to laugh, she sympathized with his good intentions and pretended to listen seriously, occasionally asking one or two curious questions about the plot. Seeing her listening seriously, Jiang Changyang was delighted to make the story more vivid. As a result, everyone was educated, even Xue Niang, who had been drowsy and only cared about sleeping, woke up and listened with erect ears.

  Wu Mingxian was clearly uninterested in Jiang Changyang's story, blinking his eyes and looking around. They were all listening to the story, but their expressions were different. He quickly noticed the difference on everyone's face. Peony's lips always had a hint of a smile, which seemed out of place. That expression was exactly like the one his family member had when listening to children tell stories. He looked at Jiang Changyang again, who was telling the story with great enthusiasm, and suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness. Hopefully, he was mistaken, as He's little girl had always been fond of smiling.

  Jiang Changyang finished telling the story and turned to look at Mudan, just as he was about to summarize a few sentences. He sensitively caught a familiar smile on Mudan's face, suddenly feeling embarrassed, his face turned red and he quickly turned his head away. Mudan still didn't know that she had unknowingly revealed her true self, and asked persistently: "Is that all?"

  Jiang Changyang pursed his lips and reluctantly said in a low voice: "It's over."

  Xue Niang's eyes widened: "Director Jiang is really good at telling stories, even better than my mother. The journey is still long, tell another one for me to listen."

  Jiang Changyang's face turned slightly red and he didn't speak for a while before saying: "I don't know how to tell stories, I only know this, that's all."

  Xue Niang didn't mind, turned her head to look at Fu Mama: "Mama, speak."

  Fu's mother saw Xue Niang had finally returned to normal, and there was no reason not to comply. She picked one of her favorite stories and began to tell it, but it was the tale of the flower demon repaying kindness. The crowd listened with great interest. Jiang Changyang slowly let out a breath and adjusted his somewhat disheartened mood, but when he met Wu Dong's gaze, which was like watching a fire, he felt a surge of hatred and wanted to whip Wu. Wu saw him glaring at her fiercely and knew something was amiss, so she steered the horse closer to Peony, not giving him any opportunity to secretly plot against her.

  Unconsciously, they arrived in the city. From Xikoumen, walking forward for a block was near Lanlingfang. Xue Niang knew that Mudan and Jiang Changyang still had things to do, so she didn't let Mudan see her off and led the people back home by herself.

  Jiang Changyang had already regained his composure and, with Peony leading the way, rode into the entrance of Lanling Lane. They found Yuan Shi Jiu's house and Jiang pointed to the door, saying: "He will definitely ask you if you want to buy all or part of it. If you want to buy all, he will certainly lower the price from the original one. But if he sells it to you at a low price, you should offer a higher price, which will make him angry and the deal may fall through. You need to know that this person has a strange temper, if he likes someone, he won't mind giving them a discount, but if he doesn't like someone, he will intentionally make things difficult for them."

  "Then I'll pretend to be very picky, the more he dislikes me the better, but not so much that he completely dislikes me and doesn't even want to do business with me, and ruthlessly kicks me out. When he raises the price on me, I'll stupidly buy all the stones at his high price, is that what you mean?"

  Jiang Changyang nodded and smiled: "That's exactly what I mean. It's just that I'm asking you to play the villain, which is really sorry to you. But I think about it, women are a bit picky, it's very natural, even if you can't grasp the measure, he sees that you're a woman, and doesn't dare to be too excessive, directly driving you out."

  The peony took a few steps forward and turned back with discontent, saying: "Men are more particular than women when it comes to being picky. This has nothing to do with gender, why should we differentiate between men and women?"

  Jiang Changyang awkwardly said "oh", originally wanting to say that women being picky is common, while men being picky is an exception, but in the end didn't say it out loud. He watched as Mudan, Feng Dainiang and Yuhe stepped onto the threshold of Yuan Shi Jiu's house and knocked on the door ring.

  The door was knocked for about an incense stick before a thin, worried-looking 12-year-old boy came to answer it. Seeing the woman outside, he rubbed his eyes in surprise and stuttered: "Y-you, who are you looking for?"

  Peony proudly raised her chin and didn't speak, while Rain Lotus smiled and said: "Young master, I heard that your house has some stones for sale. My mother wants to come take a look. If they're satisfactory, we'll buy them."

  That little fellow looked at everyone with suspicion, and Peony impatiently said: "Is there or isn't there?"

  That little fellow hastily nodded: "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Without inviting them in, he rushed inside and shouted loudly while running: "Boss, someone has come to buy stones!" His joyful emotions were evident.

  Before long, the emaciated Yuan Shijiu slowly walked out. He was originally pale and thin, and today he wore a yellow round-necked narrow-sleeved shirt, which made him look even more sickly. Seeing everyone, he glanced at Peony twice, but remained silent. Peony thought nervously, could it be that he still remembered her?

  Yuan Shijiu said in a low voice: "You want to buy stones?"

  Yu Heqian said: "Yes, my family's daughter built a garden and urgently needs good stone. After searching for a long time in the market, none of them were satisfactory. I heard that your house has stones to sell, so I came to take a look."

  Yuan Shijiu faintly said: "How much do you want? What kind of portrait?"

  "Think you can't stay here for long, let's take a look first. Where is the stone?"

  Yuan nineteen frowned and said in a cold voice: "This yard of mine is probably not as big as the one at the mansion, but there are indeed many rocks placed here, which is still quite impressive."

  "Peony, upon hearing his words, indeed remembered who he was. He became even more cautious not to reveal himself, and didn't dare say another word, only furrowing his brow and saying in a cold tone: 'Let's see first.'"

  Yuan Shijiu was somewhat irritated, and after a moment's thought, he restrained himself and led the way through the front courtyard to the back one, where Peony suddenly realized why he had been so annoyed.

  His backyard is a paradise, much larger than the previous courtyard, with strange rocks standing everywhere, varied and uniquely shaped, with fine texture, white as jade, without holes, like Lingbi stone; There are also angular, steep and majestic, peak upon peak, winding and twisting English rock artificial hills; More numerous caves, colorful Lake stones; As well as airy, translucent, elegant and beautiful white Kunshan stone; Also agate, rhodochrosite, and celestial stone. Piled up in the courtyard, like the Five Great Mountains, with a thousand gorges unfolding before one's eyes.

  So many good stones, I don't know how much effort he put in to collect them? Unless it's absolutely necessary, I'm afraid he won't easily buy them. At this moment, Yuan Shi Jiu must be feeling like a knife is twisting in his heart. Peony tried her best to suppress the color of shock on her face, looked up at Yuan Shi Jiu who was secretly pleased with himself and waiting for reality to crush him, and said nonchalantly: "Not bad, so-so." As expected, a hint of annoyance flashed across Yuan Shi Jiu's face, and his eyes also became sharper.

  The peony secretly wiped a cold sweat, deliberately picked up a small stone from the ground, and roughly but actually lightly tapped it on the largest and most beautiful piece of Lingbi stone several times. The Lingbi stone emitted a clear and melodious sound, with a lingering echo.

  Yuan Shijiu saw her rough movements and was heartbroken, secretly scolding her dozens of times in his heart. However, after hearing the Lingbi Stone emit a sound, he thought to himself that it would be sold anyway, so he suppressed his anger once again. Just as he was about to explain the origin and benefits of the stone to Peony, he saw Peony disdainfully toss away the small stone in her hand, saying: "This isn't a real Lingbi Stone, is it? The sound doesn't seem right."

  "You're just an ignorant and coarse person, Yuan 19 was so angry that he almost spat out a mouthful of blood, barely holding back the urge to kick him out. He sneered: 'If you don't understand, then don't pretend to! If it's fake, I'll let you cut off my head and take it away!'"

  Peony saw him with a fiery temper, his lips trembling with anger, but he was still holding back, thinking to himself that he couldn't go too far. He stopped attacking his precious stone and said calmly: "Really, what's wrong with you? Why do you have such a deadpan face? Can't do business like this?" Her words earned her a big disdainful glance from Yuan Shi Jiu.

  The peony pretended to be busy, walking back and forth in the courtyard a few times, knocking here and there, until he saw that Yuan Shi's forehead was covered with bulging veins. He said: "Name your price, I'll take them all." Then he added another sentence, "I suppose you wouldn't dare sell fake goods."

  Yuan Shijiu hated her to death, thinking of ways to take advantage of her. He even had the idea of not selling it, and with a flicker of his white eyes, he said: "500 million yuan! Take it or leave it!"

  The peony was startled, and this old brother actually dared to speak up. He really hated her. Previously, Jiang Changyang and she estimated that the normal price would be around 20 million yuan. If it were a normal situation, Yuan Shiying would have sold it for about 10 million yuan. Now, it has increased by several times. She didn't care, but what about the foolish man outside? Did he know if he could take out so much money? Forget it, if he couldn't afford it, she would add a bit more. These stones placed in the garden were also a great view. However, not returning the price was impossible, as it did not match her identity as a businesswoman and a woman.

  She was thinking there, Yuan Shi Jiu also coldly smiled as he looked at her expression. This fifty million yuan, for the only daughter of a jewelry and spice merchant, although not a lot, but absolutely not a small amount either. He just waited to see what this woman wanted to do next, did she think that having some dirty money made her superior?

  But Peony suddenly changed his expression and looked at him with a smile: "A little less? Expensive! It's going to kill people."

  Yuan was taken aback for a moment, but still looked at her with disapproval. After a while, he said, "40 million, if you can't take it out, then leave." Then he turned around and left.

  "Who says I can't take it out? It's settled then! Write the deed at once!"