Xie Rong set out on the second day of the lunar month and returned to the capital in the late afternoon.

  On the third day of the New Year, Xie Lang also took Xie Wan to Nanyuan to pay New Year's greetings to his uncle and aunt. Although there was a mourning period, it was not customary to visit relatives during the New Year, but the Qi family obviously did not mind these things, and on the third day of the New Year, they sent someone to hurry up in a carriage to Xie's house to pick them up.

  The house is located near the east city of Nanyuan County, a small three-entry courtyard, but it's very clean. The porch is spotless, and there are green moss growing on the stone steps below. There are flowers in bloom all year round inside the yard, and now a plum blossom tree is blooming profusely.

  Two cats lay on the eaves of a house, basking in the sun with their heads together. When they heard the rumble of wheels, they immediately raised their heads and looked around. Seeing the black car rushing into the gate, they lazily lay down again.

  Qian Shuai lived in this house for a full eight years, but only stayed in the Qi family's countryside for two years. She had long etched every brick and tile of this place into her mind, and now looking at everything around her again, it was exactly the same as her impression, exuding a warm vitality that made people feel a few degrees warmer from the bottom of their hearts.

  Yu Shi and Qi Ru Xiu stood under the second gate to welcome her, waiting for Xie Wan to get off the carriage. Yu Shi stretched out his hand to receive her, but Qi Ru Xiu had already pulled her hand and rushed into the hall where fruits and pastries were arranged.

  Zi Ru Xiu was already eleven years old, her two legs were much longer than Xie Wan's, but Xie Wan knew her temperament well and could also keep up with her pace.

  Those years followed her up the mountain to pick mushrooms and down to the fields to dig for loaches, what carefree and worry-free years they were.

  After exchanging pleasantries, Qi Song naturally had to ask Xie Cang about his homework and also mentioned some matters related to the February student examination.

  After dinner, they went to the study room. Xie Wan and Qi Ruxiu huddled together at the head of Yu Shi's bed, chatting. Yu Shi had even thoughtfully prepared her favorite tofu brain from Chenji Puzi, and added a lot of honey to her bowl. Seeing how delighted she was eating, Qi Ruxiu again scooped several large spoonfuls from his own portion into her bowl.

  Yu Shi asked Xie Wan: "Can Wang and his family bully you?"

  Xie Wan naturally didn't dare let her worry, shaking his head: "No. Yesterday, Third Uncle left before entrusting Master to treat us a bit better."

  "Is that so?" Yu picked up the half-finished insoles from her needlework basket, her face full of disdain: "The Xie family, apart from your branch, doesn't have a single good person! They're all just pretending to be cultured and virtuous, seeking fame and fortune by feigning righteousness and morality." She then turned to Yu Xue, who had come in with clothes for Xie Wan, saying: "Sister is still young, you should be more careful every day, don't let the Wang family deceive you."

  Yu Xue smiled and agreed, then closed the door and left.

  "Aunt is right." Xie Wan nodded, seemingly thoughtful, and said: "A few days ago, I heard Third Uncle say that the Jing family moved to the capital to be an official. Aunt, isn't the Jing family my old aunt's husband's family? Didn't they go to Shanxi? Why did they go to the capital again?"

  "It's your aunt's family." Yu Shi said while weaving a shoe pad, "But it's been many years since we last contacted each other, and I don't know how they ended up in the capital. However, just the other day, your cousin had a classmate from Hejian Prefecture come over to play, and when talking about the scholar families of Hejian Prefecture, he casually mentioned that the heir of the Jing family is now an official at the Ducha Yuan, it seems like they've made something of themselves."

  Xie Wan lowered her head and started eating tofu brain, no longer speaking.

  Yu Shi tilted her head and asked, "What's wrong?"

  She put down the bowl and gazed at the wall opposite her: "There's nothing. I just thought that Auntie and Uncle were the best people for the second house, and you're all by my side, while the Jing family hasn't moved in years. If it wasn't for Auntie replacing Father to take back the family property, who knows how miserable Father would have ended up? It would be great if we could contact Cousin Jing."

  Yu's family was stunned, took a handkerchief to wipe her mouth and said: "Sleep for a while first, later there will be no energy."

  Mrs. Yang's maiden home was also in Qinghe, but her natal family only had two younger brothers. Auntie Jin was the eldest daughter, Mrs. Yang was the second daughter, and Old Master Jin did not have a son by his first wife, and the relationship between his wives was not very good at that time.

  So after Aunt Jing got married, she also helped Yang's wife get a decent dowry. After the old couple passed away, except for some superficial relationships that had to be maintained, the relationship between the two houses became even more distant.

  After the Jing family moved out of Hejian, if even Xie Teng lost contact with them, let alone the Yang family. Now that it is known that Jing Yong is an official in the capital, to get in touch with the Jing family, one can only follow this path through the officialdom.

  Before dinner, Xie Wan woke up and was with Qi Ru Xiu in the quilt, applying nail polish made from begonia flowers. Yu Shi came in and stroked her head, saying: "Your uncle said that he will ask his acquaintances in Beijing to find out the address of the Jing family, and when the time comes, someone will send it to you, and then you can write a letter."

  Xie Wan didn't care that her hands were still wet with flower water, and she rushed into Yu Shi's arms, hugging her neck: "Thank you, Aunt!"

  Yu's daughter dodged her demonic claws and laughed with disdain: "You monkey! This is a brand new dress I just put on!"

  Xie Wan snuggled deeper into her arms, rolling around even more in her embrace.

  Stayed for three or four days.

  Every day, Zirong and Xie Lang would study at home in the morning, and after lunch, they would take a donkey cart ride around the county town with Zirong's sister, Xiujuan, and Xie Lang's younger brother, Xiewan.

  Nanyuan County, being close to Qingyuan Prefecture, is slightly more prosperous than Qinghe. In the county town, there are not only Guangdong's blind public rice cakes and Guangxi's snail noodles, but also Sichuan's dan dan noodles and Liaodong's spicy white vegetables. Xie Wan was looking for Xiugu while strolling around, unfortunately, she didn't find her.

  Apart from eating, what's even more rare is that due to the New Year, a new trendy drama troupe has arrived in town and will be performing at the Flowing Clouds Theatre.

  Liuyun She is the largest and best theater troupe in Nanyuan County, and all the troupes that can perform on this stage are top-notch. Qi Ruzheng knew that Xie Liang planned to return on the seventh day of the new year, so he specially asked his relatives and friends to book a private room for the sixth evening, bought many snacks and took them to Liuyun She to watch the show.

  Qizong had already gone to the provincial government office on duty, and Yu Shi didn't come to watch these southern operas. The four of them were very comfortable in the private room.

  After listening to two plays, I don't know who thanked Xie Yuanshuai's least favorite "Green Snake", so he invited Qi Ru Xiu to get up and go to the toilet.

  The clean room was downstairs, and the two of them washed their hands and went up the stairs. A young man in a brocade robe walked past them, but suddenly ran back and said: "Third sister, it's really you!"

  Xie Wan raised her head and looked up, the person in front of her was actually Ren Yun!

  Xie Lang on the upper floor also saw them and leaned out to wave his hand: "Third Brother Ren! Come up here!"

  Ren Yun was overjoyed and hastily thanked Xie Wan with a bow: "I really didn't expect to meet you here, Third Sister please go first!"

  Xie Wan didn't expect to have such a fate with him either. Smiling, she called out "Ren San Ge" and walked ahead first.

  As if embroidered, she curiously rushed to measure him with a glance.

  Upon entering the private room, Xie Liang immediately introduced Ren Yu to them. Upon hearing that the Qi siblings were the children of Qi Song, Ren Yu clapped his hands: "So you're the precious pearls of Master Qi! I'm the third son of the Ren family from south of the city!" It turned out that their fathers had known each other for a long time, but the younger generation had never met before.

  The atmosphere is getting lively again.

  Ren Yuanti proposed going to Cuimi Mountain to enjoy the plum blossoms and eat roast goose after the play, except for Xie Wan's lack of enthusiasm, everyone seemed to applaud in agreement.

  She had a preconceived notion that Ruan was just a treasure in other people's eyes, but to her, he was nothing more than a stubborn stone. Although it wasn't worth retaliating against him, it also wasn't worthwhile to establish any relationship with him. So she could only pretend to be extremely interested in the play and immerse herself in the singing.

  In the play, Chen Shimei had her head chopped off, and the people below all cheered.

  When the sun was setting in the west, the play was over. Ren Yun and several classmates from the school came together to say goodbye after returning home, and then went to Cuimiao Mountain with Xie Qi and four others.

  Anyway, Cuimi Hill's plum forest and roast goose are still famous for a reason.

  When going down the mountain, Ren Yuanyuan saw Xie Wan and Qi Ruoxiu smiling and inserting plum blossoms into their hair. Taking advantage of getting on the carriage, she drummed up her courage and walked in front of her, saying: "I don't know if those two fish in sister's room have been naughty?"

  Cheerfully, a head popped out of the car, "What kind of fish is so extraordinary that it can even be naughty?"

  Ren Yun's face turned red, and Xie Wan also had a hint of shyness. Thinking of Yu Fang feeding the fish in the sky well every day, she said: "Wild fish are quite easy to raise."

  He ran away as if he had escaped.

  Qī Rú Xiù and Xiè Wǎn sat down properly, then said in a hasty tone: "I think this Rényǔ is quite different towards you. Isn't it that he likes you?"

  Xie Wan opened her big eyes and said, "I'm so obedient and sensible, my uncle and aunt like me so much, Luo Guan Shi and Wu Ma Ma also like me very much, why doesn't he like me?"

  He stared at her in a daze, then hugged her shoulders and said "silly girl", bursting into loud laughter.

  The next morning, Yu's family sent someone to send Xie Cang and his sister back to Qinghe. Before getting on the car, he held their hands and repeatedly exhorted them for a long time. He also reminded Xie Cang that after finishing the exam in February, bring his sister to stay for a few more days.

  The eighth day was the day when Xie's family would invite guests for the Spring Festival. After this day, the brothers would start going to school.

  Xie Lang felt a great deal of pressure, so as soon as he returned to the mansion, he took out the directions that Qi Zhong had pointed out and began to study them intensively. Even when entertaining spring guests, he only made a brief appearance at the banquet before returning to his room, causing everyone to praise Second Master Xie for his diligence in his studies. This also brought up the topic of Xie Teng's untimely death, and they couldn't help but sigh again.

  Xie Wan also felt that he was too worried, but if she didn't let him go through it once, he wouldn't be able to put his mind at ease, so she had no choice but to let him go.

  Now Lǐ Zǐ Hú Tóng has Luo Shēng personally in charge, after all, this winter's business is back on track. Shēn Tián and Luó Yì are diligent and clever, one is honest and simple-minded, although they still have a long way to go before becoming qualified partners, at least they have stepped into the threshold of the business world.

  Luo Sheng has been busy with the shop in Liu Ye Hutong, and it's expected to open in March. So, Xie Juan's most anticipated thing recently is when Yu Shi will send over the address of the Jing family in Beijing.

  Xie Rong entered the Hanlin Academy at the end of April, and the Xie family was celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival by setting up a stage to sing and perform plays. That is to say, she must have contacted Jiang Yong before April.

  She decided to wait until the Lantern Festival. If there was still no news before the Lantern Festival, she would let Luo Ju go to the capital in person.