Zhou Shaojin left early and returned late every day, helping Mian Grand Madam at Jiashu Hall.

However, the provincial examination was a major event, and for convenience, Cheng Xu had moved back to Duojia Studio to live. News about Cheng Xu still reached her ears through the servants’ gossip.

“Madam Yuan personally waited outside the examination hall…”

“They say when Young Master Xu came out, he’d lost a whole circle of weight, but his spirits were very good. When someone from the Cheng clan school asked Young Master Xu how he’d done, Young Master Xu smiled and said he’d have to wait until the results were posted to know…”

“Young Master Xu took his examination essays to show Fourth Master Chi, and Fourth Master Chi was very satisfied! He even told Young Master Xu to rest well at Zao Garden for two days before the results are posted…”

“Madam Yuan went to the temple yesterday to burn incense for Young Master Xu. They say she drew an extremely auspicious divination stick. Madam Yuan was overjoyed and said if her wish is fulfilled, she’ll have the Buddha statue gilded…”

Hearing this, Mian Grand Madam couldn’t help frowning slightly. She said privately to Zhou Shaojin: “It’s only the provincial examination—Madam Yuan seems rather restless. Usually she’s not this type of person!”

They’re aiming for first place!

They don’t even care about second place, so naturally her heart is anxious and unsettled!

Zhou Shaojin muttered to herself but didn’t participate in such discussions. She took out the account book Mian Grand Madam had given her yesterday and said: “Please look—is this the correct amount?”

Mian Grand Madam looked it over and smiled: “I didn’t expect our Shaojin to calculate accounts so well. This is exactly the figure the steward gave me a few days ago.”

Zhou Shaojin recalled the image of Cheng Chi working the abacus and couldn’t help feeling embarrassed.

This account book had taken her most of the day to sort out properly.

She quickly glossed over this matter, smiling and asking: “Does Grand Maternal Aunt have anything else for me to do?”

Mian Grand Madam smiled and patted her hand, saying: “You don’t need to do it yourself, do you? You just need to watch how I handle things. When your Cousin Yi marries, I can become a hands-off manager.”

The wedding date for Cheng Yi and Miss Gu Seventeen had been set for the tenth day of the third month next year.

Zhou Shaojin giggled with laughter.

Si’er ran in, and before she’d even steadied herself, said: “Grand Madam, Second Young Miss! Great joy, great joy! The eldest young miss has been diagnosed with pregnancy. The fetus is stable at three months, so only now did she send someone to report the news.”

“Really?” Zhou Shaojin jumped up immediately, tears falling uncontrollably.

How wonderful!

In her previous life, after Sister married, it took two years before she became pregnant, and then she had a miscarriage not long after.

This time Sister had only been married for two months and was already with child… She had finally changed Sister’s fate. Sister and Brother-in-law would have no regrets now.

She grasped Si’er’s hand tightly and said: “Sister is with child. How does her mother-in-law treat her? How is her pregnancy? Is there anything she particularly wants to eat? I’ll have someone buy it and send it over right away.”

Si’er, being gripped so tightly, couldn’t help but smile. She said: “Second Young Miss, this servant has attended Old Madam for such a long time, but this is the first time I’ve seen Second Young Miss so excited… I don’t know any of what you’re asking. The one who came to report was Chi Xiang from the eldest young miss’s side. She’s already put up her hair now—she must have married. Old Madam is questioning her now. She’ll surely come pay her respects to you shortly, and then you can ask her everything in detail!”

Zhou Shaojin laughed at herself.

She was too happy!

Grand Maternal Aunt hadn’t even spoken yet, but she was chattering away endlessly.

She looked somewhat embarrassedly at Mian Grand Madam, who stood to the side smiling broadly.

Mian Grand Madam then put her arm around her shoulders and laughed: “You sisters have always been close. After your sister married without any news, my heart was extremely anxious too. I wanted to send someone to inquire but was afraid the Liao family wouldn’t like it, and also afraid of touching upon your sister’s sorrow. Now it’s wonderful—your sister has been diagnosed with pregnancy. In the future, she’ll naturally have many children and grandchildren.”

In Mian Grand Madam’s view, the fear for women was not being able to conceive. If one could conceive, naturally one could also give birth.

Zhou Shaojin, however, feared that Grand Madam Liao would not treat Sister well.

In her memory, although Grand Madam Liao and Yuan Shi were cousins, their personalities were completely different. Yuan Shi’s cruelty was on the surface, but Grand Madam Liao’s cruelty was in her heart.

Before Sister became pregnant, she had looked on coldly. After the pregnancy, the nanny she sent actually wanted to impose rules on Sister. Sister had managed to deal with that nanny only to lose the child.

What happened afterward need not be mentioned.

If not for Brother-in-law’s kindness to Sister, Sister probably wouldn’t have been able to give birth to nephew Liao Chengfang.

She wondered whether Sister was carrying a boy or girl this time?

If it was a boy, would they still choose the name “Chengfang”?

When she saw Chi Xiang, she inquired very thoroughly.

Chi Xiang’s clothes were neat and fresh, her complexion rosy and glowing. She smiled and said: “Grand Madam treats our eldest mistress like she’s practically enshrined her. The Liao family’s main and branch families are all crowded together—just walking around, everyone has to yield to everyone else—yet Grand Madam insisted on setting up a small kitchen just for our eldest mistress, serving only her meals each day.

“The seventh madam of the Liao family made sarcastic remarks, saying our eldest mistress doesn’t even know yet whether it’s a boy or girl she’s carrying, that Grand Madam is getting happy too early.

“Grand Madam replied unceremoniously: We’re all without fortune, which is why we give birth to sons one after another. Those truly fortunate bear flowers before fruit—perfect for being mother’s intimate little padded jacket, helping manage younger brothers.

“The seventh madam of the Liao family has given birth to four sons but no daughters!” Chi Xiang explained, then imitated Grand Madam Liao’s manner of raising her chin and looking at people sideways.

Everyone was made to laugh heartily.

Old Madam Guan even took Chi Xiang’s hand and said: “That’s good, that’s good! Serve your eldest mistress well, and there will be additional rewards from my side.” Then she rewarded her with a pair of pure gold bracelets.

Chi Xiang seized the opportunity and thanked Old Madam Guan with great joy.

Seeing this, Mian Grand Madam rewarded her with a pair of silver bracelets.

Zhou Shaojin was most generous—she rewarded Chi Xiang with the pair of pearl hairpins that Madam Yuan had given her.

Chi Xiang laughed: “When I return, this will be incredible! If our eldest mistress has any other errands, I’m afraid the entire household will compete to attend to her commands.”

This was precisely Old Madam Guan’s intention all along.

She chuckled and said: “In any case, you won’t go unrewarded.”

Chi Xiang thanked them profusely again.

Compared to her time with the Zhou family, she was much livelier, which showed that Sister’s days at the Liao family were indeed going well.

Zhou Shaojin then asked her: “Earlier Sister said she wanted to go to the capital. I’m afraid she can’t go now, can she? Will Brother-in-law go to the capital alone?”

Chi Xiang smiled: “Grand Madam’s intention is to wait until our eldest mistress gives birth before deciding. But our eldest mistress says she can’t delay the master’s prospects. She wants this servant and her husband to serve the master on his trip to the capital. When I left, it still hadn’t been decided!”

Young couples—missing each other across a thousand miles could never compare to soft fragrance in one’s embrace.

The affairs of this world truly involved gains and losses.

Zhou Shaojin felt somewhat troubled.

A little maid came in to report: “The eldest mistress of Nuo has arrived!”

The eldest mistress of Nuo referred to the wife of fifth branch Cheng Nuo—Wu Baozhang, the eldest daughter of Wu Xiu, the Prefect of Jinling.

She had entered the household on the eighteenth day of the eighth month.

Because Old Madam Guo was a widow, she hadn’t attended her wedding. The next day during the family recognition ceremony, Cheng Nuo had brought Wu Baozhang to pay respects to Old Madam Guo, but Zhou Shaojin had avoided them. Come to think of it, since Wu Baozhang married into the Cheng family, they hadn’t yet met face to face.

Mian Grand Madam said curiously: “What is she here for?”

The little maid smiled: “She says she made some rice cakes that are a specialty from her hometown. They’re very easy to digest, so she brought some to show filial respect to Old Madam and Grand Madam.”

This was something she had often done in her previous life as well.

Always promoting how virtuous and gentle she was.

And in her previous life, Wu Baozhang had gained many people’s favor through her skill at making various delicacies.

Zhou Shaojin pursed her lips, then had a thought.

After the maid brought Wu Baozhang in and everyone had exchanged greetings and pleasantries, she smiled and asked Wu Baozhang: “Cousin-in-law Nuo hasn’t even been married for a month yet. How did you think to make rice cakes and specially send them for Maternal Grandmother and Grand Maternal Aunt to taste? I truly feel unworthy of such kindness!”

Aside from putting up her hair, the married Wu Baozhang had no particularly obvious differences from before.

She smiled slightly, the cinnabar mole between her brows making her face appear even more dignified and proper: “Mother-in-law is a tolerant person. She treats me like a daughter and hasn’t imposed any rules on me. So I thought, I can’t just do nothing. By coincidence, tomorrow someone from my hometown is coming to Jinling. Knowing I’d married, they sent some rice from home. Looking at this rice, it was very fresh. I remembered how my grandmother loved rice cakes made from this type of rice when I was small, so I tried making some and invited everyone to taste them to see if they suit your palates.”

Zhou Shaojin, along with Old Madam Guan and Mian Grand Madam, all tasted a bite and praised: “These rice cakes are really delicious! How do you make them? Please tell me the method too. Then I can also make some for everyone to taste.”

As in her previous life, Wu Baozhang was unwilling to share her little skill with others.

She smiled: “If Second Cousin wishes to learn, I shall naturally teach you everything. It’s just that making these pastries is extremely troublesome. Never mind other things—to extract the liquid from this rice cake, one must get up in the middle of the night to grind the rice. It’s too arduous. Why don’t you just tell me when Second Cousin wants to eat some, and I’ll make them for you?”

Zhou Shaojin didn’t believe for a moment that she would get up in the middle of the night to personally grind rice!

However, since she said so, Zhou Shaojin expressed surprise: “I didn’t realize these rice cakes were so difficult to make! How could I be so greedy?”

Wu Baozhang was just worrying about how to establish herself in the Cheng family. Hearing this, she naturally assured her repeatedly that it was no trouble—even if Zhou Shaojin didn’t want them, she would make them and send them to others anyway.

Zhou Shaojin then smiled: “Then please make some from ten pounds of rice for me! I’ll send some to my sister.”

Ten pounds of rice—just grinding the rice would take a full day’s work.

Wu Baozhang felt slightly displeased in her heart, but she’d already spoken those words earlier, and besides, she didn’t really need to grind the rice herself, so she agreed with a smile.

Seeing that Zhou Shaojin intended to send them to the pregnant Zhou Chujin, Old Madam Guan and Mian Grand Madam said nothing against it.

Zhou Shaojin then instructed Chun Wan: “You follow along with the eldest mistress of Nuo shortly and watch how she grinds the rice and extracts the liquid. Remember to learn it well, so we won’t always have to trouble the eldest mistress of Nuo in the future.”

Wu Baozhang’s smile immediately became somewhat stiff.

Zhou Shaojin didn’t care about that.

She put on an innocent and naive appearance and said to Wu Baozhang: “I’ve heard that Cousin-in-law Nuo is also very skilled at making ribbon noodles, cold jelly noodles, and wontons—I’ve never tasted any of these. Since Cousin-in-law Nuo makes rice cakes so well, those delicacies must also be exceptionally good. Chun Wan, you must properly flatter the eldest mistress of Nuo. Even if you can’t learn everything, you should at least learn two or three dishes. If you succeed in learning, I’ll also reward you with a pair of hairpin flowers.”