“So beautiful!” No girl could resist lovely ornaments. Zhou Chujin was stunned by the vibrant yet elegant red coral pieces. She looked left and right, finding each piece impossible to put down.

Zhou Shaojin smiled with pursed lips, feeling a sense of satisfaction she’d never experienced before.

She said, “Sister, you can only pick one for now. If I encounter red coral of such fine quality again in the future, I’ll definitely find a way to get you a complete set.”

“This is already wonderful.” Zhou Chujin smiled and chose the one hundred and eight bead prayer bracelet.

Zhou Shaojin was surprised.

She thought her sister would prefer the hairpin or the hair ornament, and since she’d already stated the remaining two pieces were for Grandmother and Aunt, the hairpin and hair ornament could barely be used by Aunt, but would be completely unsuitable for Grandmother.

But since her sister had already chosen, she couldn’t say more and put away the remaining ornaments.

Zhou Chujin asked her, “These pieces must have been quite expensive, right? Don’t buy such precious things in the future.” She added, “Father had someone send over two hundred taels in silver notes a while ago. I’ll give them to you later.”

“No need, no need.” Zhou Shaojin quickly said, “These ornaments didn’t cost money—Uncle Chi gave them to me.”

“Uncle Chi gave them?” Zhou Chujin’s eyes widened.

“Yes!” Zhou Shaojin leaned close to her sister and said in a low voice, “This time traveling with Old Madam Guo, I not only received things from Uncle Chi, but also from Old Madam Guo…” She took everything from her trunks to show Zhou Chujin.

Zhou Chujin was both surprised and delighted.

Earlier at Jiashu Hall, Zhou Shaojin had already told about what she’d seen and heard on the journey. Hearing that Mount Putuo was filled with temples large and small, that Ningbo had an entire street selling imported goods, and that water from Zhongling Spring had to be drawn from the river had already made her quite envious. She hadn’t expected that Uncle Chi would give Zhou Shaojin such precious gifts, and that Old Madam Guo had even lit an eternal lamp for her sister at Mount Putuo.

This not only showed that her sister had gained the favor of Old Madam Guo and Cheng Chi, but also demonstrated Old Madam Guo and Cheng Chi’s generosity.

She quickly said, “Shaojin, a tree that stands out in the forest will be blown down by the wind. You mustn’t speak carelessly about how well Uncle Chi and Old Madam Guo treat you. Be careful others don’t become jealous and harm you.” She added, “Since Old Madam Guo and Uncle Chi treat you so well, you must be properly filial to them in the future. As for Father, we should also write to let him know, so he’s aware and can return the favor if an opportunity arises in the future.”

Speaking of this, Zhou Shaojin’s expression showed hesitation.

Zhou Chujin said urgently, “What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you received even greater kindness from them?”

Zhou Shaojin said, “Old Madam Guo also gave me a diamond.”

Zhou Chujin looked at it—the size of a grain of rice, yet clear and transparent as a water droplet. She was startled and became even more determined to write to Father, saying to Zhou Shaojin, “Keep it carefully stored. Be careful someone doesn’t steal it.”

Zhou Shaojin nodded and said carefully, “There’s one more thing…”

Zhou Chujin felt her heart beating faster than usual from Zhou Shaojin pulling her left and right like this.

She covered her chest helplessly and said, “Can’t you just say everything at once instead of keeping me on edge like this? What other good thing did you get?”

“Not me!” Zhou Shaojin quickly said. “It’s Madam Liao.”

“Madam Liao?” After a moment Zhou Chujin realized who Zhou Shaojin meant. Her face reddened slightly as she said, “What about Madam Liao?”

Zhou Shaojin then told Zhou Chujin about how Fang Shi had Nanny Zhong pass along a message to her.

Zhou Chujin didn’t even think before objecting, “How could that work! It would be one thing if Old Madam Guo and Uncle Chi hadn’t given you these things, or if Madam Liao hadn’t mentioned having the two uncles from the main branch guide Master Liao in examination essays. But how can we bring this up now? Old Madam Guo and Uncle Chi will think we’re ungrateful and greedy! You absolutely cannot appear to help speak for the Liao family! That Old Madam Guo and Uncle Chi favor you is your good fortune. But you must also cherish that blessing. If you ask Old Madam Guo and Uncle Chi for help with everything for everyone, what will you do when you yourself need to ask them for something? You must know, these favors decrease with each use.”

Zhou Shaojin never dreamed that between her brother-in-law and herself, her sister would actually stand on her side.

She couldn’t help but excitedly grasp her sister’s arm and say urgently, “But this matter is very important! If I accomplish this, after you marry into the Liao family, how would they dare look down on you?” She told Zhou Chujin everything she knew about the Liao family from her previous life. “…I found all this out through Uncle Chi’s people, so it’s absolutely accurate. I can’t just watch you suffer mistreatment in the Liao family!”

“Even so, we can’t just casually use Old Madam Guo’s connections like this.” After hearing this, Zhou Chujin’s heart surged like turbulent waves, but she still tried to comfort Zhou Shaojin. “Which prominent family doesn’t have these issues when you marry into them? This is actually quite good. If it were like Master Liu—when he saw that Miss Sun’s dowry was mostly show and little substance, he borrowed two thousand taels from the Sun family, saying the family shop needed funds and he’d repay in two months. But after two months, Master Liu never mentioned repaying it. When the Sun family went to ask for the money back, Master Liu refused to return it, saying those two thousand taels could just be considered Miss Sun’s dowry. The Sun family disagreed, so the Liu family said Miss Sun had a hidden illness… Now the two families are embroiled in a lawsuit! Could the Liao family possibly be worse than the Liu family?”

Zhou Shaojin listened in stunned silence, unable to speak.

Zhou Chujin said, “Just don’t worry about this matter. If anyone from the Liao family asks you about it, tell them I wouldn’t agree. Let them come find me.”

“How can that work!” Zhou Shaojin refused to agree. “Brother-in-law’s studies are also very important!”

If Liao Shaotang could pass the examinations earlier, Sister would be able to hold her head up sooner.

More importantly, Zhou Shaojin had already told the Liao family she had this capability.

Zhou Chujin thought for a moment and said, “Then let them go find Father. Isn’t Father also a two-examination advanced scholar?”

“That’s different.” Zhou Shaojin gently persuaded her sister. “Why did Madam Liao specifically mention having the two uncles from the main branch guide Master Liao’s examination essays during the spring examinations? Most likely she wants the two uncles to help learn about the preferences of the chief examiner presiding over that year’s spring examinations. Otherwise, why would she insist on having the main branch uncles involved?”

Zhou Chujin was astonished. After a long while she laughed and said, “I didn’t expect one trip out would truly broaden your knowledge—you even know about this.”

It was good she made this trip.

Otherwise many things would be hard to make Sister believe, and even harder to explain.

Zhou Shaojin smiled with pursed lips and said, “I traveled several thousand li with the families of two Grand Secretaries. I should have made some progress, right?”

Zhou Chujin couldn’t help but sigh. “Shaojin, you must conduct yourself properly in the future and not disappoint Old Madam Guo’s kindness toward you.”

“I know.” Zhou Shaojin said, “But what about Brother-in-law’s matter?”

Zhou Chujin’s face flushed slightly as she said, “I still feel it’s somewhat improper… Even if we must mention it, we can’t bring it up now. You just returned from Zhenjiang…”

Zhou Shaojin’s heart stirred as she listened. She said, “Sister, what if we do this—next time the Liao family asks, we’ll say we’ve already written to Father. Father’s intention is for you and Brother-in-law to marry first, then have Brother-in-law write several examination essays for Father to review. Even if the two uncles from the main branch agree to guide Brother-in-law’s essays, they can’t guide him for every examination, right? The opportunity will be at most once, and whether he can seize it depends on whether Brother-in-law has the foundation. This way we’ve postponed the matter! After you marry into the family, the Cheng and Liao families will be proper relatives. If we increase our visits during festivals and holidays, given Uncle Jing’s nature, if Brother-in-law takes the examinations, he’ll definitely guide him on his own initiative.”

“Really!” Zhou Chujin was tempted and said, “Would Uncle Jing really guide your brother-in-law?”

Zhou Shaojin said very confidently, “I heard from people around Uncle Chi that Uncle Jing is very willing to mentor younger generations.”

Most importantly, in her previous life with no one’s help, Brother-in-law still passed the advanced scholar examination.

Her reason for wanting to add this extra advantage was simply to help Sister gain status in front of her mother-in-law.

Zhou Chujin nodded repeatedly and couldn’t help praising Zhou Shaojin, “That’s an excellent idea! I’ll write to Father right away and tell him about both matters.”

“Sister, wait a moment.” Zhou Shaojin said, searching through the pile of gifts to find one large and one small box. “The large one contains a pair of glass hairpins, the small one a necklace. The hairpins are for Madam, the necklace for Little Sister. Mention it to Father too, so they can be sent along with your letter.”

Zhou Chujin smiled and agreed.

The sisters worked together, one grinding ink while the other wrote the letter, and quickly finished handling these matters.

Zhou Shaojin then asked hesitantly, “Sister, who will preside over your wedding?”

In her previous life, their relationship with Li Shi wasn’t good, so Aunt had presided. She still remembered how some women from the Liao family who came for the betrothal ceremony privately gossiped that she and Sister were disliked by their stepmother, which was why their parents didn’t attend such an important event.

She’d been furious but didn’t know how to defend against it.

Her poor attitude toward Li Shi later was partly related to this.

She felt that she and Sister were young and didn’t understand the implications, but Li Shi was a woman and should have known better.

Who knew Zhou Chujin would say bashfully, “Father already wrote to me some time ago, saying that after New Year, Madam will bring Little Sister back. We’ll probably move back to the Zhou residence for a while then.”

That would be wonderful!

Zhou Shaojin’s mood soared.

But Zhou Chujin’s expression darkened slightly as she said, “Shaojin, there’s something I think I should tell you.”

Zhou Shaojin listened attentively.

Zhou Chujin hesitated for quite a while before saying, “Ma Fushan said that Lan Ting and Xin Lan’s deaths were indeed related to that Cheng Lu. In the future, you must stay far away from him.”

Though she’d vaguely suspected it, having the news confirmed still made Zhou Shaojin’s heart sink.

Cheng Lu really was a wolf in sheep’s clothing!

Zhou Shaojin said gravely, “Sister, look—we want to let him be, but he won’t let us be. I’m afraid if we keep letting this person stay, he’ll become a great disaster.”

Zhou Chujin breathed a sigh of relief.

She’d been afraid her sister would be soft-hearted.

“So what do you think we should do?” she asked Zhou Shaojin.