Lin Xuan Qi glanced at her while she told him what she had done for the day.

She had tied her hair up into a bundle making her look more mature, but her youthfulness was still there.

Making her look like a young woman trying to look much older than she was.

He took a cup of tea and relaxed himself in the autumn afternoon.

"There’s also the firewood for winter...." Xue Cong stopped when she realized that he wasn’t paying much attention to what she was saying but had his eyes on her instead.

She gave him a look of grievance and said, "It’s afternoon, there are people around."

"Wait, what? What are you thinking about.

"I’m just here having some tea and enjoying my time here with my lovely wife."

Lin Xuan Qi took a sip from his teacup, shrugged and replied.

"You..." Xue Cong blushed and she turned her head away from him, not letting him see her flustered face.

She wasn’t pleased and yet she was also feeling happy that he teased her at the same time.

It had been a while since he spent time with her in the day to do so.

Lin Xuan Qi shook his head and pulled her closer to him.

She didn’t struggle and let him be.

Xiu who was back after informing Auntie Sue stopped herself, quickly stepped back out of the room and closed the doors behind her.

She got a distance away and shooed off anyone who got near the room. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

If there was anything she could do to let Xue Cong be with Lin Xuan Qi for a longer period of time, she would do it.

But it didn’t take too long for Xue Cong to break out of Lin Xuan Qi’s embrace.

She was worried about Lin Xuan Qi getting hungry as he only had a few buns for breakfast before he left for the factories.

"Let me check on Xiu, she is usually quick to finish her work." Xue Cong opened the doors and she was surprised to see Xiu standing away at a distance.

"What are you doing over there?"

"Oh, I just came back from the kitchen to inform you and Master Lin that lunch is ready." Xiu said while scratching the back of her hand.

Xue Cong saw it and shook her head.

After working with her for so long, she knew that Xiu was up to something whenever Xiu scratched the back of her hand.

Xue Cong decided not to expose Xiu since she was doing it to let her have some time alone with Lin Xuan Qi.

"What happened?" Lin Xuan Qi came out and asked when he saw Xue Cong talking to someone outside.

"Nothing, lunch is ready."

Xue Cong said and she held his hand to head straight to the dining hall.

And when she passed by Xiu, she gave Xiu a frown.

Xiu lowered her head, stuck out her tongue and quickly followed behind Xue Cong.

Lunch was sumptuous with lots of dishes with meat, seafood and vegetables.

Which was a luxury that many couldn’t afford with the food price going up because of the autumn and also because of paying the autumn tax.

Many families were struggling to feed themselves.

Lin Xuan Qi knew of it and the best he could do was to guarantee that the Lin Clan would not suffer such a fate in the future.

And to achieve that, there were still so many things he needed to do.

...

After he finished lunch, he glanced at Yue Jie and said, "I have something to discuss with you later."

Yue Jie nodded her head and he left with Yue Jie to her room.

When he got there, Yue Jie poured him a cup of tea and asked, "What do you want to discuss with me?"

"How are the retail shop and factories doing? I might need some funds to purchase the retail shops in Gui Feng City soon." He replied and Yue Jie took out the account books for him.

Yue Jie had heard him talk about expansion earlier but she didn’t expect him to move so fast.

"There are about four hundred and thirty taels of gold left, after the twenty taels of gold you spent for the sword.

"The next batch of soap has just been made for the retail shop here and the batch for Bian Jing had been taken by Master Huo Fei Li to be delivered to Bian Jing.

"As for the rice and Lin Clan Taste Transcendent Essence, it’s growing steadily."

Lin Xuan Qi nodded his head and said, "I will be buying some horses and carts for the factories too, so set aside a budget for them."

"It shall be done." Yue Jie nodded her head and took note of it.

Lin Xuan Qi took another sip of the tea and asked, "How is father-in-law doing so far?"

"He is doing well so far.

"Ah Di is hardworking and smart.

"Improvement has been enormous after he helped Ah Di, from what he had mentioned to me.

"Oh and by the way, the permanent room for him would be ready soon."

Yue Jie updated Lin Xuan Qi on what had happened so far and he was glad that everything was going on fine.

"However..." Yue Jie glanced at him and stopped before she finished her sentence.

"However, what?" Lin Xuan Qi put down the teacup and asked.

"Maybe you should spend some time with Yue Xin and Liu Shi Shi too.

"I know that the bride and groom shouldn’t see each other before the wedding but it’s still too early for that." Yue Jie said and lowered her head.

She was thinking for the others as usual.

Lin Xuan Qi sighed and thought that she was right.

Being too popular has its downside, he thought.

"I will make sure to spend some time with them." Lin Xuan Qi replied and said, "I should have more time for all of you now that I’ve appointed someone to help with expanding to Gui Feng City."

It was the right choice for him to delegate more of his responsibilities to those that he trusted.

That is at least until he has kids to entrust the responsibilities with.