Chapter 47 – Sister is Waiting for You in the Capital

Xia Yang was quite tempted by the idea that Xia Tian had suggested about moving to the county town.

That evening, after dinner, he shared this idea with his family.

To his surprise, no one opposed it.

It seemed that he wasn’t the only one wanting to escape from the control of Xia Laozi (Xia’s old woman)!

Xia Yue had initially wanted to go with her son-in-law to the county town, but she realized that her in-laws might not be willing to let them go that far.

After hearing that Xia Yang had bought the house in the town for them, after weighing the pros and cons, she decided to stay behind.

Coincidentally, the house in the town would no longer be rented out, and starting next month, Xia Yue’s family would be paying the rent. The two restaurants, Yunlai Restaurant and Shengshi Restaurant would also be managed by them.

Xia Tian hadn’t expected Xia Yang to move so quickly. The day after she had proposed the idea, he went to Lingxi County Town to look for a house.

In just three days, he had bought a property in Lingxi County for 350 taels of silver. The property had a shop in the front and a large courtyard in the back.

The house could serve as a residence and provide space to continue selling braised food in the backyard. The front shop could be used for sales, sparing them the trouble of setting up a street stall in all kinds of weather.

Over the past four months, selling braised food, Xia Yang had earned around 700-800 taels of silver. Spending half of it on the house didn’t make him feel distressed at all.

Xia Tian gave her brother a thumbs-up. “Big brother, you’re incredible, acting so decisively!”

Xia Yang smiled awkwardly. “I just wanted to move quickly since I know you’re leaving at the end of the month. Once I see you off, we can also move.”

In the last few days, Xia Tian gathered all the edible vegetables from the garden, dried what she could, and stored the rest in her space.

She also packed up anything at home that was useful, as even the most worn-out things in this era could sometimes come in handy.

The ten chickens the family raised were laying eggs at their best time, so Xia Tian left five in the space and took the other five to the town to be cared for by Mrs. Chen.

While setting up her stall, she called Xia Yue out and gave her some instructions.

“Sis, after big brother moves to the county town, you’ll be managing the two restaurants in the town. I’ve already spoken to the restaurant manager.”

“Remember, the recipe for the braised meat must be kept secret. Even if it’s your husband or anyone from his family, you can’t share it.”

“If you and your husband are too busy, you can hire someone to help, but the recipe must be kept under your control.”

“Only by keeping the recipe in your hands will your in-laws not dare to mistreat you.”

“Also, keep track of the money you earn. It’s best to save it for yourself, so your husband doesn’t have a lot of money in hand.”

“If your in-laws or husband really mistreat you, remember to go to the county town to find big brother, and let him make decisions for you.”

“Mm, I’ll remember it.” Xia Yue couldn’t hold back her tears as she listened to her sister’s advice.

Xia Tian also felt reluctant, holding Xia Yue for a long time without letting go.

Both knew that after this separation, they might never meet again in this lifetime.

After giving her sister the instructions, Xia Tian went to wait at the school gate for Xia Shiji.

At noon, when school finished and Xia Shiji came out carrying the coarse cloth schoolbag that Mrs. Chen had sewn for him, Xia Tian quickly waved. “Xia Shiji, over here!”

Xia Shiji happily ran over when he saw his fourth sister waiting for him. “Fourth sister, are you here to pick me up?”

“Yes, are you happy?” Xia Tian rubbed his little brother’s head.

“I’m happy.”

Xia Tian took Xia Shiji’s hand and started walking back.

“Xia Shiji, I’m going to go to the capital with your brother-in-law. I might not come back in the future.”

“What if I miss you, Fourth Sister?” Xia Shiji pouted and clung to her arm.

“You can come to the capital to find me!” Xia Tian patted his little head. “Study hard, and I’ll wait for you in the capital!”

“I will! I’ll study hard and come to find you in the capital!”

“Promise?”

“Promise!”

…

Soon, the departure came. On the morning of September 2nd, Mu Feng arrived with a carriage, and together with Xia Tian, they loaded up everything that had been packed. After taking one last look at the small courtyard where they had lived for six months, they climbed into the carriage.

A few days earlier, Xia Tian had already given away the things she couldn’t take to Sister Yao and Aunt Chun. She left the house to be handled by the village head and didn’t take any money.

When they passed through Qingquan Town, Xia Tian got off the carriage and visited Xia Yang’s family. She said her goodbyes to everyone, before finally leaving with tears in their eyes.

This parting might just be for a lifetime!

Though they had only spent a few months together, saying goodbye was still filled with so much reluctance. They had already become family.

Once back in the carriage, heading toward the capital, watching the scenery outside gradually fade away, her feelings of sorrow began to dissipate a little.

As Xia Tian started to regain her composure, Shen Nian also relaxed.

Neither of them spoke, simply sitting in silence for a long time.

The carriage traveled for two days before reaching the outskirts of Lingxi County, where Mu Lin and Mu Chen, along with a group of people, were waiting.

They didn’t enter the county, instead taking a detour along a smaller road to head toward the capital.

They traveled by day, resting in towns at night to replenish food and supplies before continuing their journey.

Sometimes, when they missed a place to rest, they would camp out in the wilderness, carefully avoiding pursuit. After more than a month of traveling, they were finally close to the capital.

Unexpectedly, everything had gone smoothly until they were just three days away from the capital when they almost encountered danger.

That night, they stopped to rest in a small town called Youhuang.

In the middle of the night, Xia Tian was awakened by a knock on her door. Still groggy, she wondered what was going on at such a late hour.

She fumbled to open the door, but Shen Nian quickly darted inside. Before she could say anything, he covered her mouth with his hand. “Don’t speak. Come with me.”

When she nodded, he let go of her and opened the window, helping her to fly out of the house.

She hadn’t even had time to scream when her feet left the ground. They flew out so suddenly. Once they were in a safe place, it took Xia Tian a while to regain her senses.

Oh my, was that really lightness skill?

She had just experienced the feeling of flying like in martial arts dramas.

She couldn’t help but look at Shen Nian with stars in her eyes. He was tall, handsome, and could fly… she felt like she had really hit the jackpot.

Even if she couldn’t eat it, just looking at it every day was a pleasure!

Shen Nian, seeing that Xia Tian was staring at him in silence, thought she was still stunned. He patted her head and asked, “Are you alright?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Xia Tian finally snapped out of her fantasy.

“Was it someone chasing us, Big Brother Shen?”

“Mm, but don’t worry, Mu Lin and the others can handle it.”

The two waited for another half hour, and then Mu Feng arrived with the carriage. Mu Lin and Mu Chen also followed closely with their people.

“Master, four guards were injured, two of them seriously,” Mu Lin reported to Shen Nian.

“Have they been treated?”

“We ran out of gold injury medicine.”

“I brought some.” Hearing that they were running low on gold injury medicine, Xia Tian immediately responded, “I have some in my bundle, I’ll go get it.”

She had bought extra bottles when Mu Feng and the others were injured last time, just in case.

She went to the carriage and took out her bundle of clothes, pretending to retrieve something, but took it from her space.

She also took out a water pouch, added some spring water, and handed it to Shen Nian.

She winked at him. “Let the injured drink some water first.”

Shen Nian nodded in understanding, taking the water pouch and the gold injury medicine to hand to Mu Lin.

“Let them drink some water first before bandaging.”

“Yes, Master.”