I bring bad luck to my husband, you bring bad luck to your wife.

Yang Tongshan knew from a very young age that he had a childhood betrothal, and that the little girl with two buns in her hair would become his wife.

He patiently waited for Mingle to grow up so she could marry him.

Later, his wish came true.

Yang Tongshan has had an incredibly smooth life from childhood to adulthood. Whether it's his upbringing, marriage, or career, it seems like he can get whatever he wants, and everything he gets is exactly what he desires.

The only thing that caused them so much trouble was having children.

"Ming Le, he's not worth risking your life for." Yang Tongshan was willing to play the villain himself; if there was any retribution, let it fall on him.

"He deserves it, and so do you." Ming Le held her husband's hand tightly. In such a difficult time, the two of them should face it together.

"Let's take a gamble, we won't lose." Ming Le had nothing left but his own life.

Yang Tongshan wanted to persuade him further, but he gave up and compromised.

He knew that no matter what he said, Ming Le wouldn't listen.

He couldn't persuade Ming Le to give up, even though he might lose his wife as a result.

The medicine was switched back.

Ming Le began a prolonged period of bed rest to protect her pregnancy.

The atmosphere in the Yang family has been somewhat oppressive lately.

When Yanzi helped Mingle wash the bedding, she often saw small amounts of blood on it.

While taking good care of Xuebao, Xiangxi, together with Yang Tongchuan, shared more of the household chores.

It wasn't until early November, when the weather started to cool down, that charcoal braziers were lit early in the east wing.

The Yang family bought twice as much coal this year as they had in the past.

With Yang Tongchuan helping out at home, it took the group a whole day to pack everything up and put it in the backyard.

Xiangxi wasn't home at the moment because Mingle suddenly wanted to eat wontons. Since freshly made ones would take a while, Xiangxi simply grabbed a basket and went to her older brother Xiangqiang's stall, asking her sister-in-law to make a few bowls of wontons so the whole family could have some.

"Is Sister-in-law Yang feeling any better?"

My sister-in-law herself suffered several miscarriages. No one knows better than her how much suffering this involves; in fact, she eventually became numb to it all.

"I don't know either," Xiangxi replied softly.

No one in the Yang family dares to ask Yang Tongshan about Ming Le's condition now. Even Yang's mother has become taciturn, only speaking a few words when she is holding Xue Bao.

"Next month is Xuebao's first birthday. Is the Yang family still going to hold a celebration?" Xiangqiang asked about the date, as he needed to make preparations on his side if they were to hold one.

"I meant to cancel the celebration, but my husband disagreed. He said that if everything was alright at home at that time, we could just have a simple meal at a restaurant for our family." Xuebao's birthday happened to coincide with the most dangerous time of Mingle's pregnancy.

Xiangxi didn't want to distract the family.

"Okay, whatever you want. Just let me know in advance when you've ordered." Xiang Qiang packed all the food for Xiang Xi.

Xiangxi didn't dare to delay and quickly walked back to the Yang family's house, where the wontons were still steaming hot.

It was sent to the east wing immediately.

The east wing was almost completely permeated with the smell of medicine.

As soon as you open the door, a strong smell of traditional Chinese medicine hits you.

Mingle has to take the medicine twice a day; it smells bitter.

"Thank you for making the trip in this cold weather." Ming Le's complexion was okay, not particularly bad, but she had been lying in bed and felt weaker the longer she lay there.

"It's no trouble at all, I'll serve you some wontons right away." Xiangxi brought the hot wontons to the bedside.

Granny Du was making children's clothes on the side. Mingle was very good at handicrafts, but now she couldn't even make clothes for her own children, just because she was afraid that it would be too much trouble for her.

"Granny Du, come and eat with us too." Xiangxi hadn't forgotten Granny Du.

There was also a bag of candied dates placed on Mingle's bedside table. I bought them on the way back so Mingle could eat them for fun after taking her medicine.

"Where's Xuebao? Why didn't you bring her over for me to see today?" Mingle hadn't seen Xuebao in a long time and missed her, so she begged Xiangxi to bring her over so she could have a look.

"He's with Grandma. I'll bring him over to you in a bit." Xiangxi would occasionally bring Xuebao over for a stroll, but wouldn't stay long. After all, Xuebao was quite mischievous and heavy, and always wanted Minglebao. If Minglebao couldn't hold him, Xuebao would throw a tantrum.

"My pregnancy has turned the house into a complete mess." Mingle knew she had caused trouble for everyone lately.

"Please don't say that. We're all family, and we all hope that you and the child are doing well."

"Granny Du, bring me the box I prepared."

Granny Du took out a delicate little red cloth bag from Ming Le's cabinet.

"Take this. I can't go to Xuebao's first birthday party, so please keep it for the child as a souvenir."

"Sister-in-law, what are you doing?" Xiangxi felt strange upon hearing this.

"Don't be nervous, I really like Olaf, I just wanted to give this to the child."

Xiangxi opened the red cloth bag, inside which was a very translucent jadeite safety buckle with floating flowers.

It is slightly larger than a copper coin and looks round and full.

Holding it in your hand, it doesn't feel like a thin, uncomfortable piece; it feels quite substantial, with a solid and warm sensation.

This item looks quite old, but the red string has been recently replaced.

"Sister-in-law, is this something you keep for yourself?"

"It was a gift from my elders when I was born, and I put it away when I grew up." Ming Le had worn this peace buckle close to his body for many years.

"Sister-in-law, this is too precious. You should save it for your own child."

"Don't be so polite with me, this is for Xuebao, please keep it safe." Mingle genuinely cherished Xuebao.

After Mingle finished eating the wontons, he got tired, so Xiangxi took the dishes away and went to the kitchen.

The remaining work was left to Yanzi. Xiangxi went to Yang's mother's place to pick up Xuebao. Yang's mother told him that Xuebao had just been taken back to the west wing by Yang Tongchuan.

When Xiangxi returned to her room, she saw Yang Tongchuan and Xuebao sitting on the bed, having a great time.

"Look at this, my sister-in-law gave it to me."

Xiangxi handed the peace buckle to Yang Tongchuan.

"Is this something your sister-in-law had when she was little?"

"Do you know him?"

"My sister-in-law used to take this with her every day when she was little, so I definitely recognize it. Why did she give it to you?"

"It wasn't for me, it was for Olaf."

Yang Tongchuan remained silent for a moment after hearing this.

"Keep it safe." Yang Tongchuan didn't say anything more.

Yang Tongchuan was also exceptionally busy at the end of this year because their county magistrate had finally completed his performance evaluation and was confirmed for promotion with excellent results.

Once he leaves, the registrar will assume the duties of the acting magistrate until a formal magistrate is appointed from above.

Of course, if the clerk puts in some effort during this period, he can also complete the promotion from "assistant officer" to "commander-in-chief".

The only unexpected thing was that Yang Tongchuan's superior, the county magistrate, did not follow the rules and take the next step, but instead took a detour and went directly to the judicial officer position.

I never imagined the county magistrate had such connections. Appearances can be deceiving!

Yang Tongchuan is currently busy inquiring about who the next county magistrate is.

Hopefully, he'll be an easy master to serve.

Finally, December arrived.

Once the twelfth lunar month arrives, ordinary families begin preparing for the Lunar New Year.

Yang Tongshan, who was guarding the Treasure Pavilion, was always restless and wanted to ask his master for leave so he could go back to Mingle as soon as possible.

The employer did not agree, only telling him to keep an eye on the shop in the morning and that he could go home in the afternoon if nothing major happened.

Fortunately, Niu Sanli was there. He was like Yang Tongshan's eyes. He could remember clearly what happened in the shop when Yang Tongshan was not there in the afternoon, and he would come to the Yang family to report to Yang Tongshan after closing the shop at night.

If a major client came to the store in the afternoon, Niu Sanli would run over and tell Yang Tongshan to hurry back so as not to offend the major client.