Steward Ding entered and said, “Fourth Master has arrived home and is already heading towards the main courtyard.”

Zhulan was genuinely surprised, “Changzhi is here?”

Steward Ding, “It’s Fourth Master.”

Zhulan stood up and went to the main hall with Zhou Shuren. Boss Zhou came in with Chang Zhi, but Changzhi had come by himself.

Zhulan looked Changzhi up and down. This boy hadn’t changed his clothes for several days, his hairpin was made of wood, and his hair was somewhat messy. “Wasn’t Xu Jìnshì with you? I remember you two were travelling together.”

Changzhi felt so good to be home; he was fed up with the smell on him. “Mother, I want to change my clothes, and I’m hungry too.”

Zhulan heard Changzhi’s stomach rumbling. “Dinner will be ready soon. You eat some pastries first and go with your elder brother to bathe and change. We’ll talk after dinner.”

Boss Zhou truly felt sorry for his younger brother. Ahem, although their parents never mentioned him. “Mother, I’ll take Changzhi out first.”

“Hmm.”

After her two sons left, Zhulan instructed Steward Ding, “Have someone prepare a courtyard. This will be Changzhi’s courtyard from now on. Send Dahan to serve as Changzhi’s servant!”

Steward Ding respectfully replied, “Yes.”

After Zhou Shuren waited for Steward Ding to leave, he said, “Xu Jinshi spoiled this boy far too much. Changzhi still doesn’t understand daily matters at all. You can tell he’s used to spending money without a care—only when he has none does he end up going hungry. It’s a wonder he even managed to find his way home.”

Zhulan worried, “This boy’s future wife will have a tough time.”

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren waited for a while until dinner was ready. Changzhi had just finished preparing. Because Changzhi was back, the kitchen had added two dishes, both of which were Changzhi’s favorites.

This boy clearly hadn’t had a proper meal in a long time. If Zhulan hadn’t stopped him for fear of indigestion, he could have eaten another bowl of rice.

After the meal, Zhou Shuren, his face cold, asked, “Speak, what happened?”

Changzhi noticed his father was more serious than before, and he was intimidated by his father’s imposing aura. He honestly replied, “My master and I were traveling for studies. My master was going back to Pingzhou City, and I thought it was close to my parents, so I didn’t go back with him. Anyway, I would have come with my second and third brothers anyway, so I separated from my master.”

Zhulan didn’t need Changzhi to say anything more and continued, “You found a caravan to come to Lizhou City on your own, but you didn’t calculate the money on the way, and later you ran out of money.”

“Is that right?”

Changzhi scratched his head awkwardly. “Mother, I didn’t expect the caravan to only go as far as Chuanzhou City. Later, I pawned my hairpin to scrape together some money to come to Lizhou City.”

Zhulan could guess without asking that it must be because Changzhi was not involved in the household affairs, and the hairpin must not have been pawned for much money. She felt a tightness in her chest when she saw Changzhi. As long as he was home, that was enough. She waved her hand, “Now that you’re home, rest well for a few days. Go back and rest first!”

Changzhi pursed his lips, knowing that his parents were still worried about him, and obediently went out.

Dahan, outside the door, quickly followed. Dahan was excited. He didn’t expect the mistress to let him follow the Fourth Master. Dongzhi and Xiaohan were very jealous. “Fourth Master, your courtyard is ready. I’ll take you there.”

Changzhi wasn’t stupid. He knew that this was the servant his parents had arranged for him. He asked, “How old are you? What’s your name?”

Dahan said, “I’m thirteen years old. My name was given to me by the mistress according to the seasons.”

Changzhi’s lips twitched. Was his servant Dahan? Thinking of the names of her servants, her mother really didn’t know how to name them. “From now on, you’ll be following me. I’ll give you a new name, Qimo.”

Dahan immediately knelt down. “Thank you, Fourth Master, for bestowing this name upon me.”

Having Qimo fetch things was simple. Chang Zhi’s chess skills were poor anyway, so this served as a good reminder for him to keep practicing.

Chang Zhi responded with a soft “mm” and, as he walked out, he was thinking to himself, Home really was the best!

Changzhi changed the servant’s name, and Zhulan, upon hearing this, said to her daughter, “You can change the name of the girl your mother gave you.”

It really didn’t sound good.

Xuehan also thought her mother’s naming style was bad, but children couldn’t easily change it. Now that her mother had brought it up, “Mother, can I really change it?”

Zhulan smiled, “Of course you can. Look at your brother, he changed his name, and I didn’t say anything.”

Xuehan’s eyes crinkled, “Dashu is insightful, I want to change it to Liuli, Jingzhe is steady and reliable, Liujin.”

Zhulan silently repeated it twice, “A good name.”

Compared to her son and daughter, she was utterly terrible at naming her servants. From now on, she was just going to decide who was getting the servant the next time she bought one!

Now that Chang Zhi was back home, Zhou Shuren was busy and had no time to test his studies, and Chang Zhi wasn’t in any hurry to read either. The boy also felt that the servant following Mingteng had an awful-sounding name, so he changed it as well. Mingteng’s servant originally had the name Dai Mo; he renamed him Yin Mo.

As for the other servant boys, Chang Zhi didn’t change them. He only replaced the ones who followed closely beside the young master. He wasn’t stupid—he understood that the ones Mother arranged to stay by the young master’s side were the ones she trusted. And the people she trusted were naturally trustworthy. Those were “his own people.”

Changzhi stayed home for a few days to recover, but he couldn’t stay idle. “Mother, I want to go for a walk around the city.”

Zhulan put down her account book. “Why?”

Changzhi’s eyes sparkled. “Mother, my master and I heard about the changes in Lizhou City while we were in Jiangnan. My master said Father is a good official and asked me to travel around Lizhou City after I get there and write down the situation for him.”

Zhulan thought for a moment. “You haven’t met Meng Jie, the youngest son of Meng Juren, have you?”

Changzhi nodded. “I’ve only heard that he’s Father’s student, but I haven’t met him yet.”

Zhulan thought of Meng Juren. His son should be living in the Zhou family mansion, but Meng Juren not only spent money to buy a house, but also bought a shop. This Meng Juren was very good at managing affairs. Now both the house and the shop had increased in value. Every time she saw Meng Juren, the smile on his face never stopped.

Zhulan looked at her youngest son, “You can’t rush around. Meng Juren is your third brother’s teacher, and Meng Jie is your father’s student. You’ve been back for a few days; you should visit him.”

Changzhi replied, “Then I’ll go to the Meng family today.”

“Mm. Meng Jie was two years older than you. Even though he had not yet passed the exam to become a xiùcái, you were not allowed to look down on him. Everyone had their own strengths. You needed to learn to use others’ strengths to make up for your own shortcomings.”

Zhou Shuren’s student was very good at math and had helped Zhou Shuren with many accounts.

Changzhi said, “Mother, don’t worry, I understand.”

Zhulan gestured for Liu Ya to prepare gifts for the visit. Once the gifts were ready, she had Boss Zhou take Changzhi to visit.

Zhulan hoped Changzhi would spend more time with Meng Jie so he could learn about money in the future. She didn’t expect him to be good at investing or managing finances, just that he could calculate how to spend money.

Unfortunately, Zhulan’s wish didn’t come true. Chang Zhi and Meng Jie were not on the same wavelength. They could only talk about academics and literature; nothing else mattered. They were far from becoming friends; their relationship was merely superficial.

Zhulan often complained to Zhou Shuren behind Changzhi’s back, truly worried about him.

(End of Chapter)

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