Liu Ji drove the fully-loaded ox cart slowly into the village.

After a few days away, he had completed all the tasks his wife had assigned him, and now he was the proud owner of three thousand acres of land, known as Mr. Scholar Liu!

Of course, the land still belonged to someone else; he was just carrying the title.

However, the thirty acres full of pear trees on the hillside, the small courtyard in the county outskirts that rented for ten taels of silver per year, and the small shop in the city with an annual rent of thirty taels belonged truly to him.

Oh no, they belonged to his majestic and mighty wife.

Turning back to look at the cart load of pears, Liu Ji gently patted their cute yellow heads and smiled contentedly.

These baskets of pears were all picked by him from the mountain, choosing the largest and roundest ones. Coupled with the rent money in his pocket, Liu Ji could already imagine the bright smile on his wife’s face.

When his wife was happy, he was happy, and the whole family lived well, all neat and together.

As for the little mistake he made earlier, his wife was too busy with various affairs to remember.

Liu Ji felt delighted in his heart; from time to time, he urged the ox to walk faster, not to delay his dinner with his wife.

He occasionally turned to touch the pear basket, feeling the mountain scenery before him as extraordinarily beautiful.

Although autumn had passed, the mountains were adorned with golden leaves, reflecting layers of warm light under the sunset, fluttering in the breeze as if it had rained gold.

The ox, knowing the way, carried him into the village, couldn’t help but moo at the familiar sights.

Drowsy under the setting sun, Liu Ji jerked awake immediately.

Sitting upright, he realized he had reached the Liu Family Village.

The ox cart rolled past the entrance of the stationery factory, and Liu Ji was surprised to see, at this hour when villagers should be preparing dinner, they had instead gathered in a long line at the factory door.

Each one with a happy face, eagerly looking forward, not knowing what joyful event had drawn them there with such anticipation.

When some saw Liu Ji driving over, they nodded and greeted him, "Mr. Scholar is back!"

Whether it was his imagination or not, Liu Ji felt the villagers’ eyes on him were exceedingly warm.

He stopped the cart and curiously asked, "What are you all doing here?"

Sister-in-law Zhou chuckled as she replied, "Doesn’t Mr. Scholar know? The Lady’s Box business in the Capital City has taken off, and the village head is distributing dividends to everyone!"

Speaking of that, Sister-in-law Zhou was thrilled, shaking her hands excitedly, "Didn’t expect to get the dividends so soon, glad I listened to the village head and bought shares back then, otherwise we’d miss out on this good fortune, sitting at home doing nothing and getting paid dividends."

Just then, someone inside called for the Zhou Family name, and Sister-in-law Zhou quickly responded loudly, "Here, here!"

"Oh dear, Mr. Scholar, I can’t stay and chat with you, I have to go in now." Sister-in-law Zhou didn’t even have time to smile at Liu Ji before she picked up her skirt and raced past the lined-up villagers into the factory.

Others were envious, but knowing they had their share awaiting, they held back and waited to be called.

No sooner had Sister-in-law Zhou joyfully returned than the villagers asked, "How much did you get?"

"Five taels exactly!" Sister-in-law Zhou’s voice resounded clearly, reaching every corner of the line, even into Liu Ji’s ears, making his whole body tremble.

"Five taels? Just enough to recoup my investment!" The villagers couldn’t believe it, but when they saw the five taels of broken silver in her hand, their eyes filled with light.

Someone patted Liu Gong’s shoulder, asking if his family invested multiple shares.

Liu Gong modestly nodded, "Not much, just invested in ten shares."

Sister-in-law Zhou exaggeratedly exclaimed, "Oh my, that’s fifty taels of silver at once!"

Liu Gong chuckled lightly, "It was all my dad’s doing; we tried to stop him back then."

"Da Fu is impressive." The elders admired and envied him, regretting not having bought more shares themselves.

But even now, it’s good enough, since this is just the first wave of dividends. The village head mentioned just now that there will be another distribution at the end of the year, ensuring the village celebrates New Year joyfully.

Liu Ji watched wide-eyed as the villagers collected their silver, almost crying from envy.

"Hello, Mr. Scholar!"

A shadow suddenly appeared beside the ox cart, nearly startling Liu Ji.

Turning his head, he saw a decently dressed young man, about the same age as himself, accompanied by a skinny-faced boy.

Liu Ji frowned, "Who are you?"

Did the Liu Family Village have such a person?

The young man sheepishly replied, "I’m Liu Fendan, Mr. Scholar. Don’t you remember me? We used to collect cow dung together as kids."

Liu Ji was silently surprised; the well-dressed, decent-looking young man before him turned out to be the poorest family, Liu Fendan?

Feeling Liu Ji’s astonishment, Liu Fendan was slightly embarrassed, "Well, it’s because Aunt Zhou is matchmaking me with a girl, so I tidied up to leave a good impression."

The boy reminded his dad not to just chat away, to which Liu Fendan promptly remembered he was there to deliver eggs to the village head.

"We keep some hens at home; these eggs are from them. I heard the village head loves cakes made with eggs; please, Mr. Scholar, help make more for the village head."

With that, he placed a basket of eggs in the empty spot on the ox cart himself and smiled at Liu Ji before leading the boy away.

Liu Ji’s mouth hung open, staring at the egg basket for a good half minute before it finally closed stiffly.

Looking up at the sky, then at the bustling stationery factory entrance, then at the departing father-son duo, Liu Ji couldn’t help but gently slap his own face.

Did he just leave the village for five days?

Why did it feel like he had been gone for five years?

The poorest Liu Fendan not only looked presentable but even had someone arranging a marriage for him?

And the villagers, sitting at home with silver delivered right to them, each getting at least five taels? What kind of heavenly life was this?

Looking at the small village before him, Liu Ji felt a sense of unfamiliarity; was this still the Liu Family Village he knew?

Yes and no.

The village was still the village, the people were still the people; it was just that the village head had become Qin Yao.

Liu Ji stopped at the stationery factory entrance, watching as villagers left happily with silver, until the sun set and twilight fell, a girl revered and appreciated by the villagers stretched and appeared.

"You’re back." She smiled at him, obviously in good spirits, despite a hint of weariness in her eyes.

Liu Ji nodded, gestured to the empty seat beside him, waited for her to sit, and drove back home together.

"You’re really impressive," he suddenly murmured.

A bit envious, and a little humbled.