She led the whole village to prosperity by raising koi fish.

Chapter 29 Congratulations on Moving

Su Muyang and Princess Wan'er were overjoyed to have moved into their new home. They've been focusing their time and energy on decorating and furnishing. Su Yuning was equally happy, as it was now her brother and sister-in-law's house. It would also provide her with a place to stay when she came to the city to do business.

The afternoon before, Su Yuning and Ye Beichen went to the market together, but they found that the market only sold fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, as well as some stalls selling pretty jewelry, bright fabrics, handkerchiefs and the like. These were not suitable as gifts, so they went to browse the shops together.

The city had many shops, including not only liquor stores but also tea shops, gift shops, and more. Ye Beichen took Su Yuning to ask a restaurant owner they knew.

"Mr. Liu, do you know what kind of gift you should give a friend for moving to a new house?"

The restaurant owner chuckled and replied, "You two have come to the right person, since my family just had a housewarming celebration. The housewarming gifts included firewood, grains, a ladder, persimmons, firecrackers, ornaments, carpets, scales, red envelopes, and paper-cut window decorations with the character '福' (good fortune) on them."

“Firewood is everywhere, it’s neither pretty nor valuable, what kind person would give firewood as a gift?” Su Yuning frowned and responded with some dissatisfaction.

The restaurant owner wasn't angry at all. Instead, he smiled and explained to her, "Firewood may not be worth much, but it has a good meaning. Firewood symbolizes abundant wealth. Basically, people give a bundle of firewood tied with red string as a housewarming gift."

"Boss Liu, what's the meaning behind the scale and the ladder?" Ye Beichen asked, puzzled.

The restaurant owner responded, "The ladder and the scale also have symbolic meanings. The ladder symbolizes climbing higher step by step, and the scale naturally symbolizes having everything you desire."

"Mr. Liu, where can I buy these gifts?" Su Yuning asked curiously.

The restaurant owner pointed outside the city, "The department store is just two miles outside the city. You can buy gifts there."

"Alright, thank you, Boss Liu!" Ye Beichen took Su Yuning's hand and thanked the boss together. Then, the two of them rode out of the city on a horse.

When they arrived at the department store, they ran into Young Master Zhao and Nangong Xue'er. They faced each other, but remained silent. It was Young Master Zhao who spoke first.

"Greetings, you two! Why aren't you at the Rainbow Pavilion? What are you doing here?"

Su Yuning glared at him, "You heartless man, my affairs are none of your business!"

At this moment, Nangong Xue'er took the initiative to speak up for him, "Hey, Young Master Zhao has treated you well, how could you treat him like this? You've known each other for a while, couldn't you at least greet him politely?"

This made Su Yuning even angrier. She pointed at her nose and started yelling, "You shameless person, do you just like stealing other people's boyfriends? What right do you, a mistress, have to lecture me?"

At this, Young Master Zhao quickly reprimanded, "Enough! Su Yuning, can you please stop talking nonsense? Nangong Xue'er and I are just colleagues, not what you imagine. Please don't treat her like this!"

"Wait a minute, didn't someone say that Nangong Xue'er is prettier than me and that they wanted to spend their lives with her? How come they're saying they're just colleagues now?" Su Yuning asked curiously.

Now, Young Master Zhao and Nangong Xue'er were at a loss for words, so they both looked to Ye Beichen, hoping he could help them clarify things.

So, Ye Beichen pulled Su Yuning aside and gently told her, "Yuning, Young Master Zhao pretended to be with Nangong Xue'er to make things happen for both of us. Actually, Nangong Xue'er did a very good job. To avoid you misunderstanding, she took the initiative to find a job and moved out of Ni Chang Pavilion a long time ago. So please don't blame them when you see them. They really have it tough."

Su Yuning then realized her rudeness. "Why didn't you say so sooner? You made me think they were bad people."

Ye Beichen was both amused and exasperated. "I was thinking of explaining the truth to you later, but it's such a coincidence that we've run into each other here."

Afterwards, Su Yuning sincerely apologized to Nangong Xue'er and Young Master Zhao, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood you. My attitude was bad, please forgive me."

"It's alright, things are settled once they've been explained." Nangong Xue'er and Young Master Zhao exchanged a smile and decided not to hold it against her anymore.

"We're here to buy housewarming gifts for my second brother and sister-in-law. What about you?" Su Yuning asked.

“Me too,” Nangong Xue’er replied with a smile. “The boss said he wanted to buy a lot of things, and I was helping to move them.”

"Actually, you two are a very good match. I sincerely hope you can grow old together," Su Yuning replied from the bottom of her heart.

"Thank you for your kind words. Let things take their natural course," Young Master Zhao replied with a smile.

Afterwards, Young Master Zhao bought a fruit platter, various kinds of dried fruit, and some festive window decorations. He then said goodbye to Ye Beichen and Su Yuning, and went back with Nangong Xue'er with the gifts.

"They're just friends with Su Muyang, so it's fine for them to buy simple gifts. But it's different for you. You're Su Muyang's own sister, so you should buy more gifts!" Ye Beichen kindly reminded him.

"Okay, we don't need to buy the same things they bought. Let's just buy a few big-ticket gifts instead." Su Yuning nodded in agreement.

Afterwards, Ye Beichen compared prices at several stalls and bought a high-quality scale and an exquisite ladder. Su Yuning bought persimmons, apples, tangerines, and oranges, as well as wheat and flower ornaments.

They were busy until dark before they finally caught a bus back together.

In the village, because the eldest son of the Su family had stolen business from others, the two stall owners actually came to his neighborhood to cause trouble, not only banging drums and gongs outside but also shouting loudly.

"That Su guy is shameless! Stealing business! That's not fair! Everyone come and take a look!"

At this moment, the baby, who was not yet a month old, was frightened by the noise outside and started crying loudly. The eldest son's wife could only hold the baby in her arms and comfort him to stop crying.

The woman and the eldest son of the Su family were furious and went out to argue with those people. However, they refused to leave and insisted that the eldest son of the Su family bow his head and admit his mistake. They also told him to get out of the market and never come back to set up a stall again!

"You have your sunny path, I'll walk my narrow bridge. Can't we just focus on doing our own business? Why do we have to argue endlessly?" The old man of the Su family was so angry that tears were about to fall.

"No way! The town market is either you or me, it's either you or me!" one of them shouted fiercely.

At this point, the woman hurriedly ran to the village chief for help. The village chief, being an elderly man, calmly instructed his wife to notify his nephew to report the incident to the authorities. Then, he and several other villagers came to mediate the fight.

"Who are you? Who gave you permission to cause trouble in my village?" the village chief asked sternly.

The two men were brothers. Shi Da, the elder brother, sized up the old man before him and then tentatively asked,

"Are you the village chief of Xinghua Village?"

The village chief nodded in response, "Exactly. The eldest son of the Su family is conscientious in his work and sincere in his dealings with others. Why would you make things difficult for a gentleman?"

Shi Qi huffed and puffed, “It’s all his fault. As soon as he set up his stall at the market, everyone bought his braised pork. Our two families’ braised pork couldn’t be sold and ended up spoiling. I came here this time to scare him and make him leave our territory.”

The village chief chuckled, "The market belongs to everyone. When did it become your territory?"

The man patted his chest and shouted, "I'm from town! My home is in town! Which of the surrounding business owners doesn't bow and scrape before me? What right does this outsider have to set up a stall in my area? This is my territory, and I call the shots!"

At this point, the woman came over and accused, "People like you are unreasonable, and you'll be punished by heaven sooner or later!"

"I don't think you're any better. You're siding with someone who's stealing my business, without distinguishing right from wrong!" the person opposite angrily accused.

At this moment, the village chief's nephew arrived with government officials.

"It was them who barged into our village and made a scene, disturbing the peace and even threatening the eldest son of the Su family in our village, forbidding him from setting up a stall at the market."

"Understood," the constables replied, then took the two troublemaking brothers away.

The village finally returned to peace, and the eldest son of the Su family and his mother repeatedly thanked the village chief and the villagers.

"Thank you, village chief, and thank you, fellow villagers!"

"Don't mention it. We're all from the same village. Since there's nothing else, go home and rest early," the village chief replied casually.

"Okay, village chief, you should also go back and rest early," the eldest son of the Su family replied politely.

When the mother and daughter returned home, they found that the baby was already asleep, but Yang Yuyan was sitting on the edge of the bed with red eyes. She was not only frightened this time, but also extremely worried about what happened to the eldest son of the Su family.

"Alright, it's all over now, the problem has been solved," the eldest son of the Su family said with a smile, comforting his wife.

At this moment, Yang Yuyan responded warmly, "It was all my fault before. I was only focused on urging you to make money and didn't consider your safety. From now on, we won't do the braised pork business anymore. We'll just stay in the village and do some herbal medicine gathering peacefully."

At this moment, the woman also hurried over to comfort her, "Don't worry, daughter-in-law, those bad guys have been taken away by the yamen runners. From now on, even if the eldest son sets up his stall, he won't be troubled. You can just stay home and take care of the children in peace."

Yang Yuyan responded, "Mother, husband, thank you for your comfort. I'm not scared anymore, but I think it's enough for our family to be safe and healthy. There's no need for us to be rich and powerful. I was wrong before. I always let Su Laoda make money and never asked him if he had any difficulties. I will never make things difficult for him again."

The woman smiled with relief, placed their hands together, and replied with a cheerful laugh, "As long as you two live in harmony, I, as your mother, can rest assured. It's getting late, you should get some rest. I'm going back to my hometown tonight."

The eldest son of the Su family responded with concern, "Mother, it's getting dark. Aren't you afraid to go home alone?"

The woman chuckled, "It's not like we're going on a long trip, and the moon is very bright tonight, what's there to be afraid of? I'm leaving now, you two should go to sleep early."

"Alright then, take care," the eldest son's wife replied with a smile.

In fact, the woman had been focusing all her attention on taking care of her beloved grandson during this time, and hadn't cooked or prepared medicine for Old Su at all. As a young couple growing old together, she was quite worried about her husband.

When the woman returned home, she found that Old Su was already asleep. She couldn't help but sigh, "He's sleeping so soundly; he wasn't even woken up by the noise outside." Afterward, the woman tucked Old Su in, then went to the other bed, covered herself with the blanket, and went to sleep.

Time flies! It feels like just yesterday, and it's already the next day. Yesterday's events are still vivid in my mind, and today new stories will unfold. That's life—full of surprises and challenges every day, making us look forward to it all.

Su Muyang and Princess Wan'er had prepared fruit platters and drinks at the mansion well in advance, and then laid out a red carpet at the entrance and prepared firecrackers.

After all the guests arrived,

Su Muyang and the steward lit the firecrackers at the door, and the house immediately became lively with their crackling sounds.

"Congratulations on moving to your new home!" Young Master Zhao and Nangong Xue'er offered their congratulations together.

"Thank you very much!"

At this moment, the observant Princess Wan'er looked at Nangong Xue'er and couldn't help but ask,

"Are you Ye Beichen's first love?"