Zhulan was very happy. Zhou Shuren saw Zhulan beaming, “Why are you so happy when you think of it?”

Zhulan took Zhou Shuren’s hand, “I’m glad this is the real world.”

Zhou Shuren pulled Zhulan over and kissed Zhulan’s face. Zhulan rolled her eyes in her heart, this person took advantage whenever he got the chance! Now that he lived in a private courtyard, Zhou Shuren was the happiest person in the family, and there was no one to disturb their two-person world.

Moreover, when the courtyards were divided, it was Zhou Shuren’s decision. The children’s courtyards were not adjacent to the main courtyard, which showed Zhou Shuren’s careful thinking.

For this reason, Li Shi kept talking about this in Zhulan’s ears, she wanted to move to the courtyard next door.

An hour later, the snow stopped and Dr. Lu also arrived. Dr. Lu really thought Zhou Shuren was sick, and was afraid of being delayed by going back and forth to get medicine, so he brought pills to treat fever, which were the pills that the Zheng family bought the prescription for.

Upon realizing it wasn’t Zhou Shuren, Doctor Lu gave Zhou Shuren a stern look. “Oh, look who I’ve been thinking about! I really thought it was you. Hurry up and catch the carriage, all this running around is making my old bones feel like they’re falling apart!”

Touched by the old man’s concern, Zhou Shuren quickly apologized, “There’s a reason for everything. Let me make it up to you.” 

Dr. Lu was not a curious person, “Where is the person? I’ll go take a look.”

Zhou Shuren led the way, “Please come this way. “

Zhulan followed him to the courtyard. The servant had been waiting for him for a long time. When he saw the doctor, he said excitedly: “Doctor, please come in.” 

Doctor Lu nodded in acknowledgment. Zhu Lan didn’t follow him into the house. Shortly after, Doctor Lv came out again. After writing the prescription in the main courtyard, realizing it was getting late, he needed to rush back to the county. This time, both Zhou Eldest and Zhou Second accompanied Doctor Lu back to the county, as they were concerned for his safety traveling alone in the dark.

As for bringing Chang Lian back, they could only leave it to Li Shi’s natal zhízi¹.

Zhulan waited for Dr. Lu to leave before asking Zhou Shuren, “How is the situation?”

Zhou Shuren was also afraid that Yao Zheyu would have an accident, so he could feel at ease now, “Yao Zheyu has been ill for some time, and the most dangerous period has passed. After sweating, the old man gave him some pills and he took them.

“It’ll be fine. Is he awake?”

Zhou Shuren nodded. “He just woke up, thanked me for the medicine, and then lay back down. Prepare some millet porridge for the evening, put it in a jar, and place it on the stove in the backyard to keep warm. Yao Zheyu can have it whenever he wakes up.”

“Okay, I’ll tell Li Shi to cook the porridge.”

Zhou Eldest and Zhou Second returned after dark. The servant who was preparing the medicine had finished his task without asking for help from Zhulan’s family. The servant was particularly alert and cautious, so he refrained from accepting assistance.

Zhulan didn’t mind being guarded at all, she was happy to be free from busy work.

On the second day, Yao Zheyu was able to walk around. After all, he was trained in martial arts and his body was strong. He did not eat with Zhulan’s family and had breakfast alone.

When Chang Lian and others went to the clan school, Yao Zheyu came to the main courtyard wearing a cloak. Zhulan thought to herself that Yao Zheyu came in person instead of letting the servants come to shout. This was acknowledging the grace of saving his life and lowering his attitude. 

 Yao Zheyu coughed a little when he saw the cold air, “We master and servant thank Zhou Xiucai for rescuing us. I will repay you for your kindness when I return to the capital safely.”

He carried a purse with him, but the silver notes inside had become blurred and unusable after being soaked in the snowdrift where the purse was hidden. While the servant had some silver on him, it wasn’t much, and it was all his own. He had forgotten to bring the money box with the silver coins he had intended to give to the servant the previous night in his haste.

After seeing a doctor yesterday, the boy had very little money left after paying the medical bills. He really couldn’t come up with any money to thank him at the moment.

Zhou Shuren is very pleased with the current male protagonist. The current male protagonist no longer had a condescending attitude, and he looked comfortable, “Young Master, you’re welcome. I didn’t save the Young Master for the sake of gratitude. It was fate that I met the Young Master. Young Master, don’t Keep it in mind, if you have any difficulties, just tell me, and I will do my best to help. “

It was very easy to see the male lead’s intention to use silver to send him away. Don’t even dream about it. Although according to the male lead’s down-to-earth nature, he would definitely give more silver, it would also bring trouble. If Yao Zheyu gave them silver in return, wouldn’t it be telling the person who wanted to kill Yao Zheyu that he was saved by the Zhou family? Wasn’t this bringing disaster to the Zhou family? The male lead was truly dangerous. One careless move and they could easily become cannon fodder.

He was thinking of settling the favor with just silver coins, but don’t expect any good outcome. Even though the male lead’s life had been saved by them, his heart wasn’t much kinder. Gratitude for saving one’s life must be kept!

 Yao Zheyu frowned slightly. He was indeed grateful to the Zhou family for saving him, but the Zhou family had also received a lot of money from him before. He really didn’t take the life-saving grace too seriously. Now, he couldn’t accept Zhou Xiucai’s words. It must be that they really didn’t want the reward, or they wanted to get more benefits in the future.

Yao Zheyu coughed and said, “Yao Mou admires Zhou Xiucai’s character, but I must repay you in return. When I return to the Capital, I will give you ten thousand taels of silver.”

After saying that, he looked at Zhou Xiucai’s expression without blinking. Ten thousand taels of silver. For a scholar who came from a peasant family, he would never see so much money in his life. He wanted to carefully see the scholar’s reaction!

Without batting an eye, Zhou Shuren thought to himself, “The male lead was indeed generous, offering ten thousand taels of silver without hesitation.” He said: “Young Master admires Zhou’s character, but Zhou would never have accepted ten thousand taels of silver, not even ten thousand taels of gold. Please, Young Master, do not mention thanks again.”

Heh, now he didn’t even care about ten thousand taels of gold. If you’re capable, then show your gratitude with something even more valuable than ten thousand taels of gold!

Yao Zheyu gritted his teeth, wondering if Zhou Xiucai was doing it on purpose, mentioning ten thousand taels of gold. He thought his life was quite valuable, but without becoming the heir apparent, his life wasn’t worth ten thousand taels of gold. Even if the Marquis’s mansion was wealthy, they wouldn’t dare to casually offer ten thousand taels of gold in gratitude.

How dare you spend ten thousand taels of gold? Oh, the Emperor had always disliked the Hou Mansion, so if he saw this opportunity, he could even want to destroy the Hou Mansion and charge the treasury!

Moreover, since his grandfather was dead, his father would not spend any money on him, his former legitimate son. The ten thousand taels of silver he mentioned was to be given from the money that his grandfather secretly gave him.

Yao Zheyu thought of his grandfather and no longer worried about repaying the life-saving grace. No matter whether the Zhou family really didn’t want him to repay the favor or it was a lie, the Zhou family wouldn’t dare to speak loudly. After all, there was a life-saving kindness, and he had a lot of love for the Zhou family. It felt good, so he remembered this kindness first. Now he urgently needed to return to the capital, “Zhou Xiucai said this, but I will insult the scholar again with money.”

After a pause, he continued: “I am in a hurry to return to the capital, but the capital is a long journey. So I request Xiucai to help me find a carriage to take me back to Pingzhou.”

Zhou Shuren stroked his beard. “The carriage is heading to the county to find a caravan. I don’t know what trouble the Young Master encountered, and I won’t pry. However, it’s certain that the county isn’t peaceful. How about this? My in-laws have a donkey cart. Although it’s not as fast as a horse-drawn carriage, it can still reach Pingzhou without any issues. I’ll take charge and give both the donkey and the cart to the Young Master, but I apologize for any inconvenience.”

Yao Zheyu had never ridden in a donkey-drawn cart, but as Zhou Xiucai said, there were likely many people trying to obstruct him in the county, and it would be impossible to rent a carriage. “Then I’ll trouble Zhou Xiucai,” he replied.

As for repayment, let’s consider it all together. He didn’t mind having an extra donkey cart added to the list.

(End of chapter)

---

Footnote

1. Brother’s son