The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 75 What medicine is sold in the gourd?
The middle-aged man wasn't stupid enough to ask why they were going to the Lu family to retrieve it; he simply assumed it was a way for the Lu family to curry favor with their superiors.

He carefully put away the contract, thinking that the ox couldn't leave, and considerately asked if he needed the ox and cart delivered to his residence.

Shang Wan thought for a moment and said, "Send them to the city gate, and I'll make arrangements after that."

The middle-aged man spontaneously interpreted this as Shang Wan's plan to transport the cattle out of the city, slaughter them, and then bring them back. He immediately smiled knowingly and instructed his assistant to call two people to transport the cattle.

The city gate.

"You two can go back now." Shang Wan waved to the two laborers from the carriage shop, and Xiao Huan stepped forward and gave them three coins as a reward.

The two happily accepted the reward money and left.

After the two had walked away, Shang Wan took out a small porcelain bottle and, under the cover of the wheelchair, poured it into the cow's mouth.

The ox tried to resist, but it was no match for Shang Wan's strength and was forced to swallow the spiritual spring water.

"Alright." Shang Wan patted the ox's head and said to Xiao Huan, "It will take a while for the medicine to take effect. Go find Shi Tou and drive the oxcart over."

In order to make her identity convincing, and not wanting to waste money renting a carriage, Shang Wan had the carriage company's employees take the oxen and the carriage frame and leave first.

They made an excuse to buy some things, and only after walking a long way did they run to the old man who kept the oxcarts, drive the oxcart to pick up Shang Wan and the others, and then get off the oxcart ahead of time and walk to the city gate.

The two laborers had been reminded by their employer to keep a low profile, and since they assumed that Shang Wan and the others were walking to keep a low profile as well, they didn't suspect anything.

Shang Wan observed the cow's condition for a while, then stood up, waving the tassel of the seal in front of Lu Chengjing, and asked, "Tell me, how come there's Lu Chengyuan's private seal in your study?"

“It’s fake,” Lu Chengjing said. “I’ve seen his personal seal before, and when I had nothing else to do, I had one carved out myself.”

Shang Wan raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're just carving it for fun."

Lu Chengjing stared at the red clay at the bottom of the seal, his long eyelashes drooping, and said in a low voice, "It was originally just something I carved for fun."

"The scholar is very capable; he can read books and carve seals."

Shang Wan put the seal away, reached out and ruffled her fox's head, making its fur stand on end before smoothing it out again.

"After we get home and have dinner, I'll ask you what's been keeping you distracted. If you're bored right now, you can think about whether you want to tell me about it."

Lu Chengjing suddenly raised his eyes and looked directly at Shang Wan.

Shang Wan shrugged. "You don't actually think you've hidden it well, do you?"

Lu Chengjing pursed his lips slightly. Shang Wan didn't say anything more, and reached out to brush all the strands of hair that had been messed up by the wind behind his head.

"Moo~" The yellow ox behind him suddenly bellowed and slowly stood up.

"Good job, ox." Shang Wan smiled and patted the ox's back, then put the cart frame next to her on the ox, turned over and sat in the driver's seat, trying to use the commands that Shi Tou had taught her, and drove it around twice with the reins.

The oxen at the carriage company are really good; they are not only docile but also quick to respond to commands. Even a novice like Shang Wan can drive the carriage without any problems.

"What a great ox!" Shang Wan praised again, then got down and fed the ox grass while nagging at it, "From now on, the job of going to the city will fall to you. Be good, or if you dare to act tough, I'll slaughter you and eat your meat."

The ox mooed, whether it understood or simply wanted to moo a few more times after recovering from its illness, it was unclear.

Shi Tou drove the oxcart over, and Shang Wan waved for them to go first.

She carried Lu Chengjing and Yuanyuan onto the oxcart, then moved the wheelchair onto it, and then drove the oxcart to follow.

Two oxcarts were traveling side by side on the dirt road. Shang Wan loosely held the reins, occasionally giving commands like "oh" and "eh" to direct the oxen to turn left and right.

Yuanyuan sat in Shang Wan's lap, her two big, dark eyes wide open, her little mouth pouting, mimicking the commands with great skill, making everyone laugh. Shi Tou said happily, "Buying an ox and a cart in the East Market would cost at least ten taels of silver, and the ox would have to be trained from scratch. It's not as good as what we have now. Sister is so clever; we just put on a show and got a great deal."

"That's because he wasn't on guard. He probably won't be so easy to fool in the future." Shang Wan reached out and patted the cow's back to slow it down, as the Zhang family's cow was about to fall behind.

Stone didn't take it seriously, saying, "We won't buy from him anymore."

Shang Wan smiled, but her mind was preoccupied with the matter of the private seal.

He just went out for a short while, and his fox actually carried Lu Chengyuan's fake private seal with him, probably because he had been planning to trick Lu Chengyuan for a long time.

However, for the Lu family, the few dollars spent on renting a car were simply not enough.

Given how much Mr. and Mrs. Lu valued their eldest son, they never interfered much with his finances. When the steward saw the contract, he probably assumed it was a debt Lu Chengyuan had incurred for social engagements and settled the money directly, without attracting Lu Chengyuan's attention at all.

If Lu Chengyuan doesn't feel upset, how can it be considered a trap?
Shang Wan turned her head and glanced at Lu Chengjing, who was resting with his eyes closed. What exactly was this guy up to?

Perhaps sensing Shang Wan's gaze, Lu Chengjing opened his eyes, tilted his head slightly to look over, and looked at her with a questioning expression in his eyes.

Shang Wan said, "We're still a while from the village. If you're sleepy, there's a cloak on the Zhang family's oxcart. You can take it and sleep under it."

Lu Chengjing shook his head. "No need."

"After we enter the village, should we go straight home or tell the villagers about the disaster relief grain first?"

Lu Chengjing pondered for a moment and said, "The villagers are definitely looking forward to the disaster relief grain. Let's go to the Wu family first, invite everyone over, tell them the situation, and then discuss it further."

Shang Wan nodded: "Okay."

Two oxcarts returned to the village one after the other. Shi Tou loaded all the things he had bought onto his own oxcart and then drove it to Zhang's house to return them.

The crack at the village entrance had been filled in, and Shang Wan saw that wooden sheds had been erected in many places, with young men carrying logs around shirtless, busy as bees.

When the villagers saw Shang Wan and her group, they all waved and greeted them.

"Scholar's wife, did you buy an oxcart?"

"Wow, this cow looks like a good one. It must have cost a lot of money."

"Yuanyuan, what are you holding?"

"Scholar's wife, how's the situation in the city? Is it chaotic?"

Shang Wan knew this was a way for the villagers to express goodwill. He answered a few of the various questions that came his way, and just smiled and let it go.

The village roads are narrow, and the oxcarts move slowly. When they pass by someone's field, the hospitable auntie will stuff two bunches of bok choy into the cart. They are freshly pulled from the ground, and the roots of the bok choy are still covered in mud.

A young woman approached Xiao Huan to talk, but Shang Wan didn't stop to wait for her, telling her to go home by herself later.

"Xu~"

The oxcart stopped in front of the Wu family's house. Shang Wan first unloaded the wheelchair, then carried Lu Chengjing down.

Yuanyuan waited obediently for her mother to hug her father before hugging her, holding the newly filled milk bottle in her little hands, taking a sip every now and then.

Aunt Yao came out to see what was going on and saw that it was Shang Wan and her family of three. She quickly invited them inside.

Shang Wan lifted the wheelchair over the threshold and asked, "Auntie, is Uncle Wu home?"

(End of this chapter)