For the sake of snacking, they delayed for almost half an hour. By the time Qin Yao brought the kids back to the village, the sun was nearly setting.

The carriage stopped for a moment at the old house’s gate, dropping off the two mischievous ones, and continued carrying the remaining four who were chattering away as they headed home.

Ah Wang came out to greet them. Qin Yao got off the carriage and hurried the children into the courtyard, instructing, "Finish your homework first, we’ll eat when I get back!"

Mrs. Li responded with a "Yes," laughing all the while.

Poor siblings, their faces all fell at once.

The Dragon and Phoenix Twins lethargically dragged their book boxes into the living room, opened them to take out the books, struggling with whether to study or not.

Little Lai Fu ran in from the backyard, his hands covered in rice bran mixed with rotten vegetable leaves, "Sanlang, Si Niang, shall we go feed the chickens?"

The siblings, who looked like they had lost all hope just a second ago, suddenly perked up.

But fearing their mother’s scolding, they peeked sneakily at the gate and saw their mother hadn’t come in but had gone back to the village with something in her hand. Sharing a knowing look, their eyes sparkled with excitement as if plotting something naughty, they grabbed Little Lai Fu and dashed off.

They didn’t even mind his hands were sticky with rice bran and rotten vegetable leaves. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Second Lang remarked "Eh~" and after washing his hands clean, pushed open his father’s study room door, occupying an entire desk, and began his homework diligently.

Wanting to nibble on some snacks bought from town and take a break, Da Lang sighed helplessly when he saw this, resigned to head back to his room to study.

The carriage was handed over to Ah Wang for unloading, while Qin Yao rushed straight to Uncle Jiu’s house to deliver the scriptures collected from Ding Family School.

Uncle Jiu invited her to dinner, but Qin Yao declined, almost dashing out of Uncle Jiu’s courtyard to escape his enthusiasm.

"Third sister-in-law!"

Suddenly, a voice called out from behind her; Qin Yao stopped and looked back, a smile of surprise appearing, "Brother! The convoy returned today?"

Liu Bai nodded, quickened his pace to approach Qin Yao, and said with a smile, "You left the village shortly before we arrived."

Speaking, he took out a letter from his bosom, handing it over with a teasing smile.

Qin Yao didn’t pay much attention, assuming it was a letter from Fulong Trading Company, and while puzzled, she asked as she reached for it, "Is it a letter from Jiang Wen?"

The envelope flipped over, the front shockingly bore the words: To my beloved wife, Yao Niang.

Qin Yao’s mouth twitched, "What kind of nonsense is this!"

Liu Bai burst into hearty laughter, "This Third Brother always seems unreliable, who knew he could be so mushy."

"Sister-in-law, take your time reading it at home. I need to go back; I’ve already discussed the matters with Brother Song at the trading company. He’ll talk to you later."

With that, Liu Bai turned to head back to the old house.

Being away from home for nearly half a month, he was eager to see his family.

Qin Yao took the letter home, feeling it was burning in her hand, barely resisting the urge to throw it into the river.

Back home, after dinner with the kids, she returned to her room alone and opened the letter.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want the kids to know about their father’s letter, but just from those big words "To my beloved wife, Yao Niang" on the envelope, her intuition told her the content probably wasn’t suitable for children.

The letter was opened, several thick pages of paper.

The first page was all "Darling, how have you been? Darling, are you there? Darling, are you eating well? Darling, are you sleeping well?"

Qin Yao glanced at it, then quickly flipped this page face down to avoid mental contamination.

"Is he crazy or what...."

She couldn’t imagine the mental state he was in when he wrote such large sheets of greetings.

Thankfully, the second page’s style returned to normal. Except for the opening sentence "Darling, I miss you dearly."

Liu Ji wrote in the letter that he had managed to settle at the He Family and after a chaotic ordeal, he and Qi Xian successfully made a cake together.

However, the consequences were quite severe, Qi Xian’s hand was so numb he couldn’t hold a pen, scaring Aunt Qi enough to summon top doctors in town. Upon examination, they found it was just improper exertion while beating eggs, causing slight muscle damage.

After a few days of rest, it would recover, wouldn’t lead to impairment, nor affect the exam preparation.

Of course, smart Liu Ji from the start delegated the egg-beating task to Shi Tou and Ah Gu, perfectly avoiding this mishap.

He also assured Qin Yao not to worry, neither he nor Qi Xian would delay the exams.

In the end, he drew a big smiley face and added a "please see next page" arrow.

Qin Yao was really impressed, clearly just words, yet she could visualize Liu Ji’s mischievous face from the writing.

Following Liu Ji’s prompt, Qin Yao turned to the next page, only to find a drawing.

This scribbly casual brushwork, undoubtedly Liu Ji’s deliberate creation.

In the drawing was a building resembling a tall tower, with a plaque inscribed: Guangwen Book Hall.

Below the hall were three small figures.

The left was a youth with a stern face, arms folded.

The center was an elderly man with white hair seated in a wheelchair.

The right was a handsome man eagerly waving.

Why is it identifiable as a handsome man?

Just because on his face, clearly written were the characters "handsome"!

At the end of the painting was written: Record of a day tour at Guangwen Book Hall.

Seeing this, Qin Yao held her forehead, with a touch of curiosity, she continued to the next page.

Another drawing, depicting the handsome man and a kindly smiling elderly lady eating cake together, accompanied by a man wearing a scholarly robe, cringing and bowing, with a square hat and a big belly.

At the end of this drawing, it read: Record of the first cake tasting with the hall owner and the hall owner’s mother.

Following this, there were two more drawings, though the brushwork was scribbly, the style was peculiar, giving Qin Yao the sensation she was looking at a comic strip.

The drawings captured various amusing incidents Liu Laosan deemed worth noting. As the scroll unfolded, the vibrant life he led in the Prefecture vividly came before Qin Yao’s eyes.

Though she hadn’t been there, it felt as if she were part of his whimsical every day.

After viewing the drawings, unexpectedly, Qin Yao felt a bit unsatisfied.

The final piece of paper in the letter.

[Darling, three days from now I’ll enter the examination hall, at this moment, as I gaze upon the moon, what’s in my mind isn’t the exam questions or the teacher’s teachings, but your fierce expression when you hit me...]

[I know saying this will surely make you angry, but darling, don’t be mad just yet, I have a seventy percent chance of passing the Prefecture exam this time. When I make the list, you can get mad, but I wrote this letter just hoping you can rest assured.]

[I’m doing well in the Prefecture, no need to worry, just a bit short on silver. My lovely, charming, understanding, and gentle darling, please let big brother send some silver taels over!]

In the end, a drawing of a small kneeling figure pleading for mercy.

Qin Yao slapped the stack of letter papers on the table, as this was Liu Ji’s real intent!

Initially about to get angry, but strangely, seeing that kneeling figure, her cold demeanor crumbled a bit.

Taking a deep breath, she calmed her tangled emotions, scrutinizing the letter once more.

The letter was mailed three days before entering the exam hall, now in her hands, calculating, today is the day to enter the hall.

Who knows what Liu Ji’s so-called seventy percent chance will yield in his exam results.