Yang Haiyan smiled and said, “Don’t be nervous, take this. Also, my snack shop is lacking someone; would you like to work there? The monthly salary isn’t high, two hundred wen a month, plus a monthly allowance of twenty pounds of grain, twenty pounds of vegetables, two pounds of meat, and ten eggs.”

That amounts to about one hundred wen, which is half of what the private guards earn.

However, once the harvest comes in, that money can be saved.

Kun Zhang felt a bit overwhelmed today.

First, she was regretful that she couldn’t go sell snacks in the county town, but then she was stunned by the ten taels of reward, and now the lady had offered her a job.

As Kun Zhang walked out of the main courtyard, she still felt a bit dazed.

Granny Lian remarked, “It seems like the captain’s wife is quite honest.”

Yang Haiyan smiled, “Granny, you think everyone is honest.”

Granny Lian chuckled; she didn’t guess the lady’s intentions.

The lady didn’t feel like a mere girl in her teens to her.

Yang Haiyan thought to herself, now that there’s Kun Zhang in the snack shop, Aunt Fan wouldn’t have to run around anymore.

In the past, she would wake up early every day to make snacks, then take Aunt Yu to buy vegetables, and run between the main house and the snack shop, which was indeed very busy.

But now she wouldn’t need to do that; she could just focus on the kitchen.

With the business of the shopkeeper Ping, there would be an extra twenty pounds of snacks every day.

Aunt Hong clearly couldn’t handle it alone, so adding Kun Zhang would be just right.

Of course, regarding the method of making the snacks, only Aunt Fan and Aunt Hong knew it.

Kun Zhang would only be doing the basics, like kneading the dough.

She would prepare the dough and hand it to Aunt Hong to mix with goat’s milk and butter.

They worked in different rooms, one doing the front processes and the other doing the back, ensuring that the recipe wouldn’t leak.

When Kun Zhang returned to the servants’ quarters, she had already regained her senses.

The joy on her face and the curve of her smile couldn’t be hidden.

However, at this moment, everyone else in the servants’ quarters was having lunch, and no one noticed her.

Kun Shi and Kun Daying, who had just returned from school, had already served the meals.

The old hen from yesterday had been made into soup for lunch, and the rich aroma of the soup made everyone’s mouth water.

For Kun Shi, though, meat wasn’t as appealing anymore; after staying here for four months, he had meat every day.

Seeing Kun Zhang’s delighted expression, Kun Shi curiously asked, “Why are you so happy? Did today’s snacks sell particularly well?”

Kun Zhang mysteriously replied, “The lady rewarded me with ten taels of silver today and offered me a job in her snack shop for two hundred wen a month, along with food subsidies.”

Kun Shi was taken aback: “Why did the lady reward you with ten taels of silver?”

Honestly, he wasn’t surprised but rather shocked. “While two hundred wen a month isn’t as much as selling snacks in the county town, it does save you from running back and forth, which is good. But why didn’t you go sell snacks in the county town? Did the lady stop providing you with the snacks?”

Kun Zhang explained the situation with Shopkeeper Ping: “This was a reward from the lady.”

Kun Shi finally understood: “The lady has always been generous; as long as I am loyal to the master, you should be loyal to the lady.”

Kun Zhang replied, “I know.”

Before they knew it, the day of the three-day test had arrived.

Today, Qin Siya was particularly nervous.

Early in the morning, after finishing breakfast, she stood ready in the study.

She usually studied in the east wing, a previously unused room that had been converted into a study for her to learn characters, and it also served as Qin Shoucheng’s study.

Hearing sounds at the study door, she looked outside and saw not only her sister-in-law but also her elder brother.

Her heart raced even faster, feeling more anxious.

Qin Siya awkwardly asked, “Why did you come, Brother?”

Qin Fang glanced at her: “I’m here to test you.”

Qin Siya felt like crying.

Although it was just a test of characters and both her brother and sister-in-law were testing her on thirty characters, seeing her brother made her mind go blank.

She looked at Qin Fang and cautiously asked, “Can my sister-in-law test me instead?”

Qin Fang said, “No. Life has many situations; you can’t always choose how you want things to be. You must learn to face them.”

Yang Haiyan comforted her, saying, “Siya, don’t be nervous. Show your true abilities to your brother. Don’t worry; your sister-in-law will be right here watching.”

Qin Siya clenched her fists: “Okay.”

Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan sat down, and Qin Fang opened the book on the table, which was Qin Siya’s “Hundred Family Surnames.”

Since it had only been purchased a few days ago, the book was still brand new.

Qin Fang wasted no time and first asked, “Has Granny Lian taught you how to write your own name?”

Qin Siya nodded, “Yes.”

Qin Fang spread out some paper and handed her a pen: “Can you write your own name?”

Granny Lian and Yang Haiyan had taught Qin Siya not just to recognize characters but also to write them.

So, Qin Siya took the pen and awkwardly scribbled the three characters for “Qin Siya” on the paper.

Although her writing looked like worms crawling, Qin Fang didn’t mind.

To him, it was already a great achievement that his sister could recognize and write characters.

As for the quality of her handwriting, that could come later.

Qin Fang praised her, saying, “Not bad.”

Hearing her brother’s praise, Qin Siyu felt somewhat relaxed.

Next, Qin Fang began to test her on the characters from the “Hundred Family Surnames.”

Although Qin Siyu hadn’t memorized all thirty characters from the past three days of study, she had been reviewing diligently for today’s test.

Whenever she forgot something, she would ask Qin Shoucheng.

Feeling the pressure during her first test, she didn’t dare to slack off even for a moment.

Because of this pressure, the test went quite well today.

Although she hadn’t memorized all thirty characters, she had remembered twenty-three.

Qin Siya felt a bit dissatisfied, wondering why she could only remember twenty-three.

Yang Haiyan took out two wen and said, “Siyu, this is your reward. Although you didn’t memorize all thirty characters, you just started learning, and remembering twenty-three is already quite good. Try to remember more next time.”

Qin Siya accepted the two wen, saying, “Thank you, sister-in-law.” She happily touched the coins, thrilled as it was her first time holding copper coins, and she didn’t want to hide them away.

Yang Haiyan watched her and shook her head with a smile: “Today, I’ll give you a day off; you don’t have to study or learn any needlework. You can have eleven pieces of snacks as a reward for recognizing twenty-three characters, and I’ll have Aunt Fan bring them to you later.”

Qin Siya eagerly asked, “Are they the little cakes and cookies we had before?”

When they arrived the day after, Aunt Fan had treated them to some, but they hadn’t had any since, so Qin Siya missed the little cakes and cookies very much.

However, she was obedient and didn’t bring it up with Yang Haiyan.

Yang Haiyan replied, “Yes. Your sister-in-law promised you that for every two characters you recognize, you’d get a piece of cake.” The reason she hadn’t given the two children any recently was to keep it as a reward; if they got to eat them every day, they wouldn’t be considered special treats anymore.

It’s only when you can’t have something that you cherish it.

Yang Haiyan didn’t often eat such small cakes and cookies, so they weren’t stocked in the house.

If she wanted to give some to Qin Siya, she would have to go to the shop.

Thinking of this, Yang Haiyan said to Qin Fang, “Dear, there’s a market in the town today; shall we go take a look?”

Qin Fang replied, “Sure.”

He would be heading to the military camp in two days, so he had less time to accompany her; it was a good opportunity to stroll together.

Thus, the couple set out without taking any servants.

Before leaving, Yang Haiyan went back into the house to get the pearls she had bought earlier.

Because of the market, there were many traveling merchants, and the town was twice as crowded as usual.

However, many people were just browsing, enjoying the lively atmosphere.

Qin Fang remarked, “In the past, when there was a market, we would also join in if we weren’t on duty at the camp.”

Yang Haiyan asked curiously, “Did you come before? Did you buy anything?”

Qin Fang shook his head, “I didn’t have money to buy things a few years ago, and after I started getting a salary, I didn’t want to spend it.”

Saying this, he suddenly realized he had never given her anything.

So, he began scanning the market stalls, looking for something he could afford that would suit her.

Calculating the money in his hands, he thought that after becoming a captain, his monthly allowance had increased from one hundred wen to one tael of silver, and he now had saved over five taels.

What could he buy for his wife?

A bracelet?

Hair accessories?

A hairpin?

Clothes?

He thought from one thing to another as he looked at the various stalls.

When he saw one particular stall, he suddenly had an idea.

With a thought in mind, Qin Fang stopped looking at the other items.

Shopping didn’t always mean they had to buy something, and they strolled to Yongji.

The shopkeeper, seeing the couple, warmly welcomed them: “Lord Qin, Lady Qin, what brings you here today?”

Yongji mainly sold women’s products, including soap, rouge, powder, and accessories.

However, because it was in the town, the prices were generally reasonable, with a few expensive items considered treasures of the shop.

If they were any more expensive, the townsfolk couldn’t afford them, and even if they could, they wouldn’t be willing to buy.

Yang Haiyan smiled and said, “You flatter us, shopkeeper. We came today to ask if your shop processes accessories, as I see you only sell finished products.”

The shopkeeper replied, “It depends on what kind of accessory.”

Yang Haiyan took out the pearls: “These pearls I bought don’t have holes in them. Can you drill them for me?”

The shopkeeper looked and said, “I’m sorry, Lady Qin, but we can’t do that; it needs to be taken to the county town for processing.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Haiyan wasn’t too hopeful to begin with.

It seemed she would have to buy a drilling tool from the platform herself and do it herself.

Although she couldn’t drill them, she still needed to buy string for the pearls, as the string on the platform was different from the ancient kind.

After buying the string, the couple left.

Once outside Yongji, Qin Fang asked, “Shall we go to the county town?”

Yang Haiyan shook her head, “No rush. The market in the county town is in early April; we can go then.”

After strolling around, they returned to the family quarters.

Behind them, several women followed, not in a stalking manner but simply coincidentally walking behind them.

Upon seeing the couple, the women whispered, “This Lord Qin is really nice; he even accompanies his wife to the market.”

“Indeed! By the way, Lord Qin has been married for over half a year now, and Lady Qin hasn’t shown signs of pregnancy yet… could it be that she won’t conceive?”