As soon as they stepped out of the Li family’s house, Fu Rong was the first to speak, “Mother, that’s a lot of money!”

She had been holding back her words earlier, worried that speaking out might make the Li family, especially their servants, look down on her. Now that they were outside and only with their own family, she couldn’t help but express her amazement.

Mrs. Zhou was also somewhat dazed, “Yes.”

She instinctively touched the money pouch at her waist. With the addition of these ten-plus taels of silver, their family now had nearly seventy taels of savings. Apart from the fifty taels earned by her son, the rest were earned by her and her daughter.

Mrs. Zhou had never earned so much money at once before.

Even in her younger days when her eyesight was better, it would take her two to three months, or even half a year, to embroider a large screen. Not to mention later when her eyesight worsened, and she could no longer embroider fine threads.

Fu Wenyu, on the other hand, was surprised that velvet flowers were considered precious ornaments in ancient times.

It seemed that the business partnership between the two families still had potential.

As for the ten-plus taels of silver earned today, for a prolific writer like him who could write ten thousand words a day and finish a storybook in ten days, it didn’t cause much of a stir in his heart.

So he was the first to walk ahead.

“Mother, since we’ve earned so much money, let’s go and explore.”

“I’ve heard that there are many interesting places in Liuzhou City. We can go to a teahouse to listen to operas or storytellers, or we can go to the market to buy things. By the way, since we’ve decided to do business, we should prepare more tools. Especially the needle-nose pliers, which you’ve all tried and found very useful.”

“And we need to build a house at home. We don’t need to buy rice, but oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and meat are necessary. Mother, since you and my sister will be coming to the city to help, why don’t we hire someone to cook for our uncles and brothers during the construction? As for Second Aunt, forget it, but I think Sixth Aunt is good, and we can buy vegetables from her.”

Mrs. Zhou, feeling confident with the silver in her pocket, said, “I’ll talk to your Sixth Aunt later.”

She wasn’t someone who was reluctant to spend money. Previously, she didn’t spend because she had no money, but now that she had money, she naturally wanted to make life easier. Moreover, the ten-plus taels of silver and the contract in her hand gave her great confidence.

So the three of them first went to the blacksmith’s shop to order a few more sets of the tools Fu Wenyu had previously ordered, and a large box of fine copper wire needed for making velvet flowers. Then they went to the West Market near the city gate, a favorite among the common folk, where they had previously bought chickens and sheep at fair prices.

After buying what they needed, Fu Wenyu remembered the beautiful three-courtyard house of the landlord Chen. So he went to find an experienced craftsman to help draw up a blueprint and set a time for a home visit.

They had lunch at the Li family earlier, and by the time they finished all these tasks, it was almost dinner time. Since they didn’t have time for the teahouse operas or storytelling they had mentioned earlier, he simply suggested having dinner at the Fuguijiu Restaurant.

He had been eyeing the good dishes there for a long time.

Even if he couldn’t eat them, just looking would be nice.

He could order a table full of eggs and eat while smelling the meat!

…

Hearing about going to the restaurant, Fu Rong instinctively looked at Mrs. Zhou, but Mrs. Zhou didn’t agree.

She had been happy about earning money when she left the Li family, but after seeing Fu Wenyu spend without restraint—though it was his own money—she felt a bit heartbroken.

“Forget it, let’s go back.”

“We still have the tea eggs from yesterday that we haven’t eaten, and you just mentioned making some milk tea and even bought a pound of tea leaves. The old craftsman who drew the blueprint said that building a house according to your ideas would cost over fifty taels. Although we don’t need to pay it all at once, we should still save.”

Fu Wenyu regretfully said, “Alright, we’ll go after we finish the mourning period.”

He still really wanted to go to Fuguijiu Restaurant, imagining how delicious the dishes must be—those starting or ending with ‘lamb’, ‘chicken’, ‘duck’, ‘fish’, ‘goose’, etc., cooked through steaming, boiling, braising, roasting, stewing, stir-frying, and seasoned with scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, pepper, and other spices.

What a pity he couldn’t eat them.

Fu Wenyu regretfully boarded the ox-cart for the return journey.

By the time they got home, it was already dark. His cousin Chunhua had already brought back the well-fed sheep, and the house was spotlessly clean.

Fu Wenyu quickly handed her some fruits bought from the market.

“Chunhua, take these to eat.”

“Remember to come to our house tomorrow morning for some goat milk.”

After Chunhua left, Fu Wenyu and his family put away the things they had bought. Then Mrs. Zhou went to cook, while Fu Wenyu and his sister organized their purchases.

The milk tea was made the next morning.

Although Fu Wenyu had drunk milk tea many times, it was his first time making it in both his lifetimes.

As the saying goes, the more you do, the more mistakes you make, so he adopted the simplest method: adding tea leaves to goat milk and boiling them together. The goat milk was freshly squeezed, and after boiling and cooling, a thick layer of milk skin formed on the surface. After adding tea leaves and brown sugar, the color changed from milky white to light brown.

The aroma of milk, tea, and sweetness intertwined, creating a very pleasant smell.

“So fragrant…”

Having sweet milk tea to drink, not having to rush with manuscripts, and waking up naturally every day—what a wonderful life. Savoring the long-missed milk tea, for a moment, Fu Wenyu thought about selling milk tea in the city.

But it was just a thought. Whether it was cow’s milk or goat’s milk, the cost in ancient times was not low, not to mention the tea leaves. Moreover, milk tea didn’t have much technical content and could only earn a hard-earned income.

While Fu Wenyu was drinking his milk tea, the Liuzhou tabloid was once again printed and distributed to many places in the city, including the home of the wealthy merchant, Mr. Tang.

Mr. Tang didn’t have the habit of reading storybooks before.

As one of the top merchants in Liuzhou, he had many businesses under his management, most of which required his personal attention. Therefore, he was mostly busy and rarely had time to educate his young son.

His interest in storybooks was piqued a few days ago when he heard a valued guest mention it during a social engagement. Today, they were to meet again, so Mr. Tang had someone bring the tabloid to read, so he could chat more with the guest later.

Mrs. Tang, a straightforward woman, looked curiously at Mr. Tang holding the tabloid and teased, “Husband, why are you reading the tabloid? Didn’t you say that seeing words gives you a headache?”

“Does it not hurt now?”

“Not bad, not bad,” Mr. Tang shook the Liuzhou tabloid in his hand and explained the situation to Mrs. Tang.

Hearing that Mr. Tang was reading the tabloid to have a common topic with a guest, Mrs. Tang wasn’t surprised at all. She asked curiously, “What kind of story is it?”

The Tang family didn’t believe in the saying ‘ignorance is a woman’s virtue,’ and their daughters-in-law were literate. Seeing her interest, Mr. Tang explained, “It’s a story about ‘child swapping.'”

Mrs. Tang repeated in surprise, “Child swapping?”

Mr. Tang said, “Yes, the story is set in a place called ‘Ping’an County,’ where there’s a family named Wang. Their family is simple, and Mr. Wang, like me, is a businessman.”

“He leaves early and returns late, often going on long trips, very busy.”

Mrs. Tang nodded, “That does sound a bit like you.”

“Yes, and there’s more similarity.”

Mr. Tang said with amusement, “They also have a son, but their son is fake. It’s said that on the day he was born, Mr. Wang happened to be away from home, so a wet nurse took the opportunity to swap Mr. Wang’s son with her own grandson!”

“So, the Wang family has been raising someone else’s child. Isn’t that strange?!”

“Truly a bizarre story.”

Mrs. Tang couldn’t believe it, finding it unbelievable, “Swapping children, a wet nurse actually swapped the master’s child? How could such a thing happen? Was everyone in the household blind?”

“And Mrs. Wang, didn’t she notice anything? After all, it’s not her own child. Could it be that parents can’t even recognize their own child?”

“Exactly,” Mr. Tang also found it absurd, “Couldn’t recognize him when he was young, but couldn’t recognize him when he grew up? Hmm, but then again, the story says that Wang Fugui looks somewhat like Mr. Wang, probably because they are related by ancestry. And there’s probably the factor of being too close to see clearly, as who would expect such a thing to happen?”

“For example, in our family, if such a thing happened, could we discover it?”

“A wet nurse swapping the master’s child, it’s unthinkable!”

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a clattering sound of cups and saucers from the side. It turned out that a maid who had just brought in tea looked pale and panicked, as if she had heard something unbelievable.

Mrs. Tang frowned, “What are you doing?”

Mrs. Tang was somewhat displeased with the maid’s panic, but since she was one of her own, she softened her tone, “Go down. If you’re sick, have someone call a doctor. You don’t need to serve in the room today.”

Mrs. Tang was a strict housekeeper, and as soon as she spoke, two maids stepped forward to take the flustered maid away. As for what would happen after she was taken away, of course, it would be to see if she was sick and needed a doctor’s prescription, or just needed some rest.

But unexpectedly, the maid, in her state of confusion, thought the two were sent by Mrs. Tang to arrest her, so she struggled in panic.

“Madam, Madam, please spare me.”

“Master, Master, I didn’t throw him away…”

Mrs. Tang: “…?”

Mr. Tang: “…!!”