When he sat down to write the contract, Yuan nineteen held a pen and hesitated, frowning in thought. He was so tense that he swallowed his saliva, afraid that he would reveal some weakness or that he would regret it again. After thinking for a moment, he saw a half-read book on the low table, picked it up and flipped through it, muttering to himself: "It's killing me, a business worth 40 million yuan, not even a cup of tea can be had."

  Yuan nineteen irritably glared at her, snatched the book from her hand and handed it to a nearby servant to put away. He then began writing the contract with swift strokes of his brush. Peony saw him finish the last stroke, dipped the seal in cinnabar ink and stamped it, before letting out a sigh of relief. She immediately pressed her own seal on her copy, blew it dry and put it away, saying: "The money will be delivered by tomorrow at the latest."

  Yuan Shijiu was somewhat dazed, staring blankly at her with an expression that was just as dispirited as someone who had lost their love. As someone who also loved to the point of madness, Peony deeply understood Yuan Shijiu's emotions at this moment, but she didn't dare show a sympathetic face and instead called for Yu He and Feng Dainiang to prepare to leave.

  Suddenly, a gentle female voice said: "Guest, have a cup of tea before you leave." Then a young woman wearing a white short jacket with a light green long skirt, with only one silver hairpin on her head and a few white moles on her face, came out with a tray of tea, gratefully handed a cup to Peony, and anxiously glanced at Yuan Shi Jiu.

  The peony saw that the woman was white and clean, with a gentle expression. He guessed she was probably Yuan Shi's wife, didn't dare to be loud, took the tea with both hands, and retreated to one side to drink.

  Yuan Shijiu saw the woman and frowned: "What are you doing out here? Go back and rest."

  The woman was unmoved, picked up the contract of Yuan Shi Jiu and read it through, smiled at Peony and said: "I wonder where your garden is built?"

  "Peony was afraid that she knew her garden and Jiang Changyang's were in the same place, and she had to ask again, but couldn't help answering, wiping away a sweat: 'It's on the banks of Huangqu, it's called Fangyuan.'"

  The woman said: "After that day, I and Wai Ruo thought of going to take a look at these stones, can we make it convenient?"

  "Of course, but it's going to cost you."

  Yuan's face turned black again, and the woman laughed and said, "In business, it should be so. The young lady is willing to spend so much money to buy all these stones, she is also a refined person."

  Yuan nineteen disdainfully hummed a sound, didn't even bother to glance at Peony.

  Peony felt a bit overwhelmed and didn't dare sit down again, so she hastily made an excuse to leave. As soon as they walked out of Yuan's gate, Yuhua covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, Peony pulled her along, whispering "Hurry up, hurry up".

  Before walking to the place where they parted with Jiang Changyang, they couldn't find anyone. Instead, a little kid who was still holding a pastry came over and said: "Miss, are you looking for someone? The man in the brown robe asked you to go two more streets ahead, he's waiting for you at the street corner."

  The peony alley was dark, and it wasn't just her who thought that Yuan Shi Jiu was hard to deal with, Jiang Chang Yang was also on guard against him. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but turn her head and take a look at the gate of Yuan Shi Jiu's house, and saw that the small servant's dark and thin head was indeed stuck in the gap of the door, seeing off this foolish and wealthy big shot, so she pretended to be annoyed and glared at the little servant with one eye, then turned her head and left.

  They walked forward for two streets, but still didn't see Jiang Changyang and Wu. Peony was getting curious when suddenly she saw Wu pop out from a small alley beside them, quickly glancing back at their rear several times to confirm that no one was following them. Satisfied, he beckoned them over with his hand, calling them to come over. Following Wu for a short distance, they found themselves in front of a small restaurant with a sign reading "Zhang's Restaurant". Jiang Changyang was standing at the entrance, looking around, and when he saw them approaching, he smiled and said: "It just so happens that it's time for lunch. This place does a great rabbit meat dish, and their roasted pears are also delicious. Let's sit down and talk while we eat." With that, he led Peony and the others inside. The owner seemed to be an old acquaintance of his, merely smiling and nodding in greeting without getting up to welcome them. He let Jiang lead the group through twists and turns to a cozy private room at the back.

  It's called a refined seat, but it's not actually refined. The tables and chairs are all unpainted, just showing the true face of the wood material, but they're still clean. Taking advantage of Jiang Changyang reading the contract, Peony carefully observed his expression and whispered: "I provoked him severely, he wanted 50 million yuan, and I negotiated with him, and it was settled at 40 million yuan. His temper is really big."

  Jiang Changyang put down the contract and didn't say whether the money was more or less, but instead asked with interest: "I'd like to know, how did you manage to infuriate him to this extent?"

  The peony suppressed the anxiety in his heart and told the story again. Listening to it, Jiang Changyang burst out laughing: "You really grasped his weakness. He has always hated two kinds of people: one is those who doubt his true talent and pretend to understand; the other is those who rely on their power or wealth and don't put others in their eyes."

  "Anyway, I've got the best of both worlds," Peony smiled. She whispered, "That's why he hates me so much, and the price is also high. But I think my garden needs these good stones, it would be a waste of time and effort to find them elsewhere, and there would be more losses, so this money..."

  Jiang Changyang cut her off and said, "With this money, his problem can be solved easily. My friends and I will all be very happy about it, and it's still within our expected range. We asked for help, after all, we can't set a price for you, right? Let's just stick to the original agreement. You take these stones for 10 million, and I'll keep the rest."

  Peony always felt that he was taking advantage of him, and also made him spend more money. He couldn't bear it in his heart, so he had to give it at the price of 20 million. Jiang Changyang fell silent for a moment, then said: "If you really can't bear it in your heart, just give 15 million. I've told you before that these stones will definitely be lower than the market price. If you have to put out effort and money, then it's my fault."

  "Peony still wanted to say something, but he said resolutely: 'If you say any more, it's settled like this. The future is long, and we're not just dealing with each other this once; afterwards, we won't be in contact again, so why bother calculating human feelings so clearly?'"

  Peony was speechless, so she could only nod in agreement. The dishes were served, and Jiang Changyang warmly invited them to eat. After dinner, the owner brought out a roasted pear, which Peony honestly couldn't taste anything special about. However, seeing Fang Dainiang and Yuhe praising the pear, Jiang Changyang and Wu also had an expression of savoring delicious food, so she could only pretend to praise it for a few sentences. But in reality, she wasn't happy, took two bites, then put it aside, saying she would eat it later.

  Jiang Changyang saw that she had taken two bites of the pear and put it aside, but he didn't ask her if she didn't like eating it. He just whispered a few words to Wu, who got up and went out. Peony saw that everyone had put down their chopsticks, so she made an appointment with Jiang Changyang to deliver the money to the He family before this evening, then stood up and bid farewell.

  As soon as he came out of Zhang's house, Wu rushed over with a basket and handed it to Yuhe, saying: "This is what my father said to thank He Niang for her help today." Then he turned around and left.

  Yu He opened the basket cover and took a look, but saw four or five big pears lying inside, sparkling with water, and exclaimed excitedly: "Dan Niang, it's really Ah Jia pear."

  At this time, other pears are popular for steaming or roasting, but only the Ahn family's pears are crisp and tender, all eaten raw, yet hard to come by. Peony also likes them very much, smiling: "Take some back home and share with everyone."

  On the second day, after smoothly handing over the money, Dalang hired many mules and organized a group of strong and sturdy servants to wrap the stones in straw curtains and carry them out of the Yuan family one by one. Yuan Shi never showed up. Mudan guessed that he was probably afraid of being heartbroken by the scene, and if she were in his shoes, if one day her beloved peonies had to be sold for some reason, she wouldn't bear to watch them leave either.

  Let's not talk too much, after the stone was transported to Fangyuan and properly placed under the guidance of Master Fuyuan, more than ten days passed in a flash. During this time, Yuhe went to Liu's house nearby to block Zheng Huajun once, and as expected, since Peony left, Liu Cheng and Liu Xiangcai's minds were elsewhere. Madame Qi didn't even want to hear the word "Peony" anymore, let alone carefully cultivate it like before. Even Zheng Huajun's days were not going well, and when Yuhe put forward her conditions, she immediately agreed.

  However, after only two days of work, Zheng Huajuan resigned and quietly left Fangyuan with his family, becoming Peony's right-hand man. Peony was in the midst of grafting and transplanting various peonies, busy to the point of being delighted by his arrival. However, she only let him do some simple technical tasks and take care of the flowers and trees, without revealing key aspects to him. More often than not, she would rather have Yuhe assist her on the side, consciously teaching Yuhe some techniques, and refusing to let skilled workers help. Even so, Zheng Huajuan still helped her a great deal, allowing her to relax a lot.

  This day finally came to an end, Peony thought that it had been almost half a month since she hadn't returned home. The Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, and she should go back to help with the preparations for the festival. So she left Yuhe in the garden to take care of the flowers and trees, and packed her things to return to the city.

  Madam Xun was delighted to see Mudan return, and she pulled her hand to ask about everything. Seeing that her hands had become rough, she felt a pang of heartache and wanted to tell her not to do those things again. But seeing Mudan's ambitious description of the beautiful future scene, she just sighed and didn't say anything, only instructing Mrs. Xue to have the kitchen prepare delicious food for Mudan to nourish her body, and then hurriedly had Mudan go take a bath and change clothes.

  The peony had just been washed and was sitting on the veranda, airing its hair. But seeing it staring blankly to one side, completely unlike its usual boisterous self, she gently tapped its mouth with her finger and laughed: "Little thing, it's been so many days since we last met, do you miss me?"

  Shai Shai swaggered a few steps, pretending not to see. Xiao Er came over and smiled: "It's probably angry that you've been away for so long this time. It hasn't spoken in the past few days."

  The peony sighed, picked up a few pumpkins and fed it to the bird, letting it peck at its palm, not caring whether the bird was aware of it or not. It spoke softly to the bird, saying "Fengfeng wants to eat, but doesn't care about me." The person and the bird stood still for a long time, until Fengfeng suddenly called out in a soft voice: "Peony!"

  The peony smiled and rubbed its head, saying intimately: "Little thing, at worst I'll take you with me next time."

  Bai shouted from under the corridor: "Dan Niang, come, Li Jia's aunt has arrived."

  "Peony hesitated and said: 'What did she come for?'"

  Bai smiled and said: "I don't know, I must see you."