Reborn in Dunhuang, I am farming and doing business in the desert

Chapter 34 What a coincidence
The next day, Xue Lingyao's father Xue Song returned home after taking a day off.

As soon as he got off the ox cart, Xue Yi came running over and shouted in surprise, "Dad, you're back!"

Xue Song held the bag in one hand and touched his son's head with the other, and asked softly, "How is your family these days?"

"Okay! Everything is fine." Xue Yi carefully took his father's sleeve and went into the house with him.

Wang and her daughter also came out upon hearing the noise. Seeing her husband at the door, they hurriedly asked with a smile, "Why are you back so early this month?"

"September was not busy in previous years, but after October, you can no longer take a vacation at will." Xue Song said as he walked into the house and sat down beside the couch.

Xue Yi rushed to his father, knelt on the ground and took off his boots for him. He smiled and asked, "Dad, are your feet tired? Let me boil some hot water for you to soak your feet."

Xue Song nodded and said lovingly, "Don't be in a hurry. I bought boots for you and your brother. You can try them on for size."

As he spoke, he untied the bundle at hand and took out the boots and a piece of cloth inside.

Wang quickly took the things and said angrily, "Just leave these to me. Are you hungry? I'll go make you a bowl of soup noodles."

Xue Song smiled and said, "Don't worry, I've already had dinner at the residence."

"In that case, let Yi'er boil some water to wash off the dust for you." Wang said as she looked towards her son.

Xue Yi was startled and immediately stood up, bowed to his father, turned around and ran to the kitchen.

Xue Lingyao also sat down at her father's feet and said coquettishly, "Dad, I just want to discuss something with you."

"What's the matter? Tell me about it." Xue Song was about to reach out and touch his daughter's head, but suddenly he remembered that his daughter was already grown up, so he retracted his hand.

Xue Lingyao thought about it and said, "It's about Hu Shang."

"What happened to Hu Shang?" Xue Song was confused: "Lingyao, please speak carefully. Your father is listening."

"That's right." Xue Lingyao twisted her fingers and said, "Recently, Chief Shen got a lot of winter clothes from the Hu merchants and sold them at the market. The business is very good. My daughter thought that if we also do this business, maybe it will work."

Xue Song's eyebrows gradually knitted together: "Why does Lingyao have such thoughts? Are you blaming Daddy for not making money?"

"No, no!" Xue Lingyao grabbed her father's sleeve and said with a sad face, "Dad, how can you wrongly accuse your daughter like this? I, I just want to reduce the burden on my parents."

Wang also defended her daughter: "My dear, Lingyao meant well. How could she blame us?"

"Besides, the Shen family has also started a business with foreign merchants. If you have a way to get the source of goods, why don't we do some small business as well? In case of amnesty in the future, we will have money for the trip back to Beijing."

Xue Song's brows relaxed slightly, and he said softly, "I rarely receive Hu merchants in Quanzhi, unless they are envoys from the Western Regions."

"Is that so?"

Xue Lingyao was very disappointed when she heard this, but she still asked, "But why did Chief Shen meet Hu Shang?"

Xue Song sighed: "Mr. Shen Ting's duty is to protect the safety of passing merchants. It is reasonable for him to be acquainted with the Hu merchants."

"Why?" Xue Lingyao pouted and complained, "Why is it that only her family can have good things happen to them? Maybe that Chief Shen used his power to bully the Hu merchants and force them to trade with him?"

Xue Song's face darkened when he heard his daughter say this: "Lingyao, you must not say such slanderous words! Your uncle was executed for the crime of slander in Feishu, and he also caused our family to be exiled here."

Xue Lingyao choked, tears welling up in her eyes.

Wang Shi saw this and said quickly, "Lingyao is still young, she doesn't know these things, don't scare her."

Xue Lingyao immediately threw herself into her mother's arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. Xue Song shook his head, put on the clogs his wife handed him, and stood up: "I'll go check on Yi'er, he's only fourteen years old, it would be terrible if he got burned by the fire."

Wang ignored her husband and kept coaxing her daughter: "Don't cry, your father is also worried that you will say something you don't want to say. If someone catches you, our family will be finished."

Xue Lingyao puffed her lips and stood up angrily: "Yesterday I made an agreement with Qin Yi that if Daddy can buy the goods from Hu Shang, he will help us sell them at the market. Now that this is hopeless, I will go and tell him right away."

Wang frowned and said unhappily, "Lingyao, you are grown up now, don't always walk with Qin Yi. I don't know how others will frame you if they see you."

"What's there to make up? We didn't do anything bad in secret, and I always brought Ayi with me when I went to the Qin family. What can others say?" Xue Lingyao said indifferently.

Wang stared at her daughter and asked seriously, "Lingyao, tell me the truth, do you have any feelings for Qin Yi?"

Xue Lingyao was startled, frowning and pursing her lips.

Wang continued, "If you really like him, and I am not the kind of person who doesn't understand things, I will naturally take care of it for you."

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Xue Lingyao blushed and retorted softly, "How could I like him?"

Wang's face darkened: "Since you don't have that idea, don't go to the Qin family so often in the future. Qin Yi just broke off the engagement with the Shen family. If you don't know how to avoid it, how will the neighbors view you, an unmarried sister-in-law?"

"Why should I care what they think?" Xue Lingyao's heart suddenly tightened when she thought that she would never meet Qin Yi again.

But if she were to marry Qin Yi, Xue Lingyao would feel that he was not worthy of her.

What future can a family like the Qin family, with orphans and widows, have? Moreover, his family is very poor, even worse than the Shen family, and his uncle is a disabled person. How can he marry into such a family?
"Lingyao! Don't be willful!" Wang's tone also became stern: "Mother is doing this for your own good. Since you don't want to marry into the Qin family, you are not allowed to have any private contact with Qin Yi in the future!"

Seeing that her mother looked unhappy, Xue Lingyao could no longer hold back her tears. She sobbed and agreed, then turned and ran to her room.

A few days passed in a flash, and it was time for the gathering again.

Shen Zhao packed up and went to the market with his second brother to set up a stall.

Because I brought a lot of cotton-padded clothes this time, about thirty or forty pieces, and also a load of tofu.

The second brother Shen Heng called Ah Zhu and his cousin Shen De to come and help.

There is strength in numbers, so others who want to rob you have to think twice.

As soon as I arrived at the market, I saw several garrison soldiers standing in the old place. When they saw the wheelbarrow coming, they swarmed over.

"Hey! You brought a lot of winter clothes today, kid?" A garrison soldier patted Shen Heng on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Our Captain Gao is here too this time, so you better be careful and don't make him unhappy."

Shen Zhao was startled when he heard this, and looked up at the people in front of him.

Shen Heng also smiled and said, "My eyesight is very good, thank you for your reminder."

Then he bowed to a mustache officer and said, "Captain Gao, I am honored to meet you."

Captain Gao smiled crookedly and waved his hand: "You are the son of Captain Shen, right? As it happens, I once met your father."

Shen Heng gradually stopped smiling, raised his eyebrows and said, "Really? That's such a coincidence."

The person my eldest brother’s ex-fiancee is marrying now seems to also have the surname Gao.

(End of this chapter)