The carriage departed from Linquan Village on a bumpy journey. The children were feeling drowsy, still full from their last meal. Thus they slept; Erniu lay on Qi Qingyao's lap, Xiaobao reclined on Si Jin and Dabao leaned against Jiang Yeqian's legs.

Qi Qingyao looked at her sleeping children. She rubbed her stomach, complaining, "I'm so hungry."

​​

Erniu heard her mother's words vaguely in the midst of her sleep. She replied, as if talking in her sleep, "Mother, why didn't you eat with us in the village chief's house?"

She was on the verge of waking up after saying that.

Qi Qingyao patted Erniu, coaxing her back to sleep, while she said softly, "I'm afraid that they wouldn't be able to stomach their food if I was there."

When the children were all fast asleep, Qi Qingyao looked at the darkening sky outside.

She thought of what had happened today and let loose a guffaw.

"Hahahahaha, I'm rich now!"

Si Jin chuckled lightly.

Jiang Yeqian remained silent.

After Qi Qingyao was done laughing, she put on a serious face. She asked the two men while thumbing her chin, "Don't the two of you think that I'm inhumanly unscrupulous?"

"Inhuman?" Si Jin murmured this word under his breath. He thought silently, 'What does it mean to be human?' Only humans can be human, was that not right? He was not human anyway, so he did not need to concern himself with that.

"I don't think so," Jiang Yeqian said.

Qi Qingyao raised her brow.

She eyed the two simple-minded men.

Jiang Yeqian took some of his clothes out from his bags and covered the children with them, before saying, "You gave Zhang Tieyuan quite a few chances. If he had stopped the gamble when you offered him 50 taels, you wouldn't have insisted, would you?"

"I wouldn't. But he wouldn't either." There were two "wouldn'ts". The first one was that she would not have forced Zhang Tieyuan to continue. The second one was that Zhang Tieyuan would not stop. This was a real and cruel world.

Jiang Yeqian said, "That's the mentality of a gambler. He thought he'd keep winning all the way." While he plotted and schemed, it was only natural that his opponent would do so as well.

Qi Qingyao smiled, her eyes the shape of half-moons. "He probably will never gamble again."

Only Si Jin was smiling innocently. "I was anticipating the cutting-his-hands-off part. It didn't happen though. I'm so disappointed!"

Qi Qingyao's heart paused. Damn it, everything this boy said came true! Now that he was disappointed, would Zhang Tieyuan come to her to have his hands cut off?

...

After arriving at the inn, Qi Qingyao gave the carriage driver two taels as compensation for occupying the carriage for the whole day.

The driver could only earn several dozen copper-cash at most a day, even if he worked hard. Now he had earned two taels in a day! He was infinitely grateful toward Qi Qingyao.

Qi Qingyao led the others into Dragon Gate Inn; the most luxurious inn in Baishui Town. It was the most expensive inn in town and also had the most patrons.

It was rumored that its name came from the tale of the koi fish leaping past the dragon's gate. Many wealthy visitors who came to pray at the Temple of the Koi Fish God would specifically stay at the Dragon Gate Inn in hopes that whatever they prayed for would come true.

It was expensive. Extremely so. The Sky Rooms cost one tael per night. It was almost illegally expensive at this point.

However, whoever came here from afar just to pray at the Temple were either wealthy or noble. They willingly spent the money to stay at the inn and those who found the fee expensive would not choose this inn anyway.

Qi Qingyao had wanted to book three rooms, but the inn was full as it was nearing Chinese New Year. There were only two Sky Rooms left and they had only been vacated this afternoon.

Qi Qingyao booked both. She and her three children shared a room while Jiang Yeqian and Si Jin shared the other.

"Sorry about that, you two," Qi Qingyao's smile was almost teasing.

Her gaze swirled meaningfully between Jiang Yeqian and Si Jin.

Noticing her expression, Jiang Yeqian refused immediately with a stern voice, "I will not share a room with a man!"

Si Jin was rejected out of the blue. He looked in disbelief at Jiang Yeqian with a hurt expression.

Qi Qingyao ruffled Si Jin's hair to comfort him.

She said to Jiang Yeqian, "Are you afraid that he'd do something to you?"

"No," he said resolutely.

"Or are you afraid that you won't be able to control yourself and perform some shameless act on the pretty Si Jin?" she asked, mimicking the tone of a person who loved to sing to a different tune than that of Jiang Yeqian's.

"I'm not interested in men," Jiang Yeqian said sternly.

"If you aren't interested, why can't you stay in the same room as him?" Qi Qingyao put up a facade of seriousness. "It's not like I'll get the wrong idea or anything…"

Jiang Yeqian was speechless.

He was defeated.

He could not win against her in a verbal argument.

He was about to go crazy.

Jiang Yeqian gritted his teeth. He said seriously, "Why can't I share one with you and have Si Jin and the kids share the other?"

Qi Qingyao's eyes flew wide. "That's definitely not fine! I'm afraid that I, who's worse than a beast, will do things to you that are more shameless than the actions of a beast! What if I sully your purity?"

Jiang Yeqian flushed. He was speechless.

Si Jin hugged Qi Qingyao's arm and said seriously, "Let's share one room while Jiang Bai and the children share the other. I'm not afraid that you'd do shameless things to me!"

Qi Qingyao was about to ruffle his hair when Si Jin was pulled away by a fuming Jiang Yeqian.

Jiang Yeqian said to Qi Qingyao curtly, "I'll share one room with him and you'll share the other with the children!"

Qi Qingyao was confused. Why did he suddenly come to his senses out of the blue?