It was early July when the two returned to Qizhou City, and they met an acquaintance as soon as they entered the city.
"Strong and brave"
"Sister Xi, you are back. I heard from Shopkeeper Li that Qin Zhao has passed the examination."
Due to being too excited, both Da Zhuang and Dayong blushed.
When she met an acquaintance for the first time, Cao Xi was also very happy, "Well, I passed the exam, where are you going?"
Da Zhuang: "Hey, send some charcoal to Runxiangyuan. The charcoal business has been getting better and better in the past six months. My eldest brother and I plan to expand the charcoal kiln."
"Okay, you can buy a bigger place, so you can have a better place to live," Cao Xi suggested.
"Well, that's what we think too. The place has been chosen. Once everything is arranged, we plan to get married this year." Da Zhuang said shyly when he mentioned getting married.
Cao Xi did not expect that among the people in the Tu Tu Temple, the first ones to get married would be Da Zhuang and Dayong. She hurriedly handed over her hands and said, "Congratulations, we will definitely be there for the wedding."
Da Zhuang and Dayong blushed and said naively that they would definitely be invited to participate.
"We are also going to get married," Qin Zhao slowly interjected from the side.
Da Zhuang reacted after a moment and hurriedly said congratulations, "Congratulations, I wish you a happy marriage and a son soon."
Qin Zhao felt at ease, his expressionless face was smiling, and he became more and more pleased with Da Zhuang and Dayong.
"I will deliver a letter to you when we get married."
Da Zhuang: "Okay then, we will definitely be there to congratulate you."
Cao Xi was speechless. There was a fight over this kind of thing. She pinched Qin Zhao's waist secretly. However, Qin Zhao grabbed his hand secretly and hid it behind his back, unable to pull it out.
Da Zhuang saw that Cao Xi and the others looked a little tired, and after a few brief greetings, they left.
Cao Xi hurriedly called to the two of them, took out two boxes from the carriage and handed them to them.
"This is Qin Zhao and I, specially choosing gifts for you. I don't know what you like, so I picked the one that I think is the best and bought it."
Da Zhuang and Dayong were a little embarrassed when they received a gift for the first time in their lives. They wiped their hands on their clothes and carefully took the gift. Their eyes were crooked and the corners of their mouths couldn't help but raise.
Cao Xi smiled, "I hope you like it."
"I like it," Da Zhuang smiled from ear to ear. They could also receive gifts from others, and they were specially selected gifts. How could they not be happy.
Saying goodbye to Da Zhuang and the others, we continued on our way home. We met many people we knew on the road, and everyone was very enthusiastic. I usually didn't think anything of it, but after traveling far away, I actually felt very friendly when I saw them.
When Cao Xi got home, she paid for her carriage. The courtyard was the same as when she left, except that there was a layer of dust and the jujube trees were already full of fruits.
"It feels so good to be home." Cao Xi stretched in the yard.
Seeing that Cao Xi liked this place so much, Qin Zhao suggested, "If not, let's buy this courtyard."
Qin Zhao has been writing storybooks for the past two years and has gradually saved a lot of money, enough to buy this small courtyard.
Cao Xi: "What will happen if you become an official in the future?" She wanted to buy it two years ago, but she was worried that she wouldn't be able to live there long.
"It's empty everywhere. This is our first home and it's worth keeping." Qin Zhao looked around. He wanted to keep everything related to Cao Xi.
"Then let's talk to the landlord tomorrow and see what he means."
Cao Xi was a little excited. After all, no matter what age, having your own house is a happy thing.
Qin Zhao asked Cao Xi to rest while he packed his luggage alone and took out the gifts for the buffaloes and others.
Cao Xi slept soundly. When he woke up, it was already evening, and there was a slight sound of clinking porcelain outside.
Cao Xi got dressed and came out. Qin Zhao was placing dishes and chopsticks under the jujube tree.
When Qin Zhao saw Cao Xi coming out, he called her, "You've just woken up. Come and eat."
Cao Xi swayed his neck, "I didn't feel too tired on the way, but I realized I was a little tired when I got home."
"I'll try to go by myself next time. Just stay at home and wait for me to come back." She had lost weight in more than a month, and Qin Zhao felt a little distressed.
Cao Xi: "It depends on the situation."
Before the two of them had eaten a few mouthfuls of food, there was a knock on the courtyard door.
"Who is this? The information is quite good." Cao Xi looked at Qin Zhao with a puzzled look.
Qin Zhao: "You eat it first and I'll take a look."
Qin Zhao stood up and opened the door. Before he could see who was coming, he heard a loud voice.
"Master Juren, you are back. I have been here several times."
Qin Zhao took a step back slightly, and after seeing the person clearly, he led him in with a smile.
"The landlord has something to do with us?"
"What's your name, landlord? If you're weird, just call me Uncle Han." After saying that, he continued to walk in, his stomach trembling.
Qin Zhao: "I wonder if Uncle Han has anything to do with me?"
"Hahaha, it's not a big deal. Isn't there a celebrant in my courtyard? I came here to congratulate you." As he said this, he handed the gift in his hand to Qin Zhao.
"Uncle Han is so polite. It just so happens that we have something to do with you today."
Qin Zhao took the gift and handed it to Cao Xi. He also arranged the chair that Cao Xi brought and asked the landlord to take a seat.
"What's the matter?" The landlord sat down with a smile on his face, as if to say, I promise you no matter what.
Qin Zhao: "We want to buy this small courtyard, but I don't know if you can give it up."
The landlord waved his hand and said, "What's the matter? Since the Juren Master likes it, I'll just give it to you."
"This is impossible. Please tell Uncle Han how much it will cost."
Qin Zhao didn't want to be notorious for occupying the blind date properties before the interview.
"It doesn't matter what money it is. This small courtyard can be lived in by the Juren Master. It is also its good fortune."
Cao Xi put away the gifts and came out. He happened to hear this and said, "Uncle Han, you have to collect the money. Qin Zhao just took the exam and took your house. This is not good for his reputation."
When the landlord heard this, he quickly waved his hands and said, "Hey, this is what happened. If you want to buy it, just give me two hundred taels of silver."
When Cao Xi heard that the price was right, it seemed that the landlord didn't charge a high price. "Okay, if you have time that day, let's go to the Yamen to go through the formalities."
"Then let's do it tomorrow. I'll come find you tomorrow."
The landlord came here to congratulate him, but he didn't expect that they would actually fall in love with his house. Since he had been renting it for many years, he simply sold it to them as a favor.
At night, Cao Xi wanted to take out two hundred taels of silver from the wooden box, but Qin Zhao stopped him.
"Let me buy the house. The money I have saved over the years is enough to buy this house."
Cao Xi: “It doesn’t matter who buys it, we both live together.”
Qin Zhao took Cao Xi's hand and looked into her eyes, "How can a man marry a wife and let the woman buy a house? What's more, I can afford to buy a house for you now."
Cao Xi looked at the big boy in front of her. He had become able to protect her from the wind and rain.
Cao Xi put the wooden box back into place and said with a smile, "Then buy it with your money."
After dinner the next day, the landlord came as promised. Both parties packed up and went to the Yamen together. The Yamen servant was standing listlessly at the door and dozing off.
The landlord took the lead and asked softly: "Hello, businessman, we would like to register the property deed."
The yamen servant was a little impatient when he was disturbed. He raised his eyelids and said casually: "I haven't gotten up yet. You go and wait next to me." After that, he closed his eyes again.
It's almost noon, and I haven't gotten up yet. You lied to me. In response to the obvious prevarication, the landlord very skillfully took out a handful of money and stuffed it into the hand of the yamen servant.
The yamen servant lowered his head, shook the money in his hand, put it in his arms, stood up lazily, and said, "Waiting."
"Hey! Thank you for your hard work." The landlord's groveling look pleased the government servant.
Out of the corner of his eye, the yamen servant noticed Qin Zhao standing not far away. He immediately became energetic and ran up to Qin Zhao with a flattering smile on his face.
"Master Juren, what kind of wind has brought you here? What do you need to do? I will inform you right now."
Looking at the different faces of the yamen servants, the landlord's mouth couldn't stop twitching.
Qin Zhao pointed at the landlord and said, "We came here together to go through the house deed procedures."
"I know you, see what happened."
The yamen servant turned around and ran to the landlord, took out the money he had just received from his arms, returned it to the landlord in full, and then grabbed the landlord's hand and walked into the yamen in a good manner.
