After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Chapter 369 Daring to Touch a Horse's Butt
When the three children saw Shen Yi leave the yard, they winked at Su Chunlin, urging him to close the gate and, preferably, to lock it properly.

Su Chunlin did as instructed.

Shen Yi had just finished untying the reins when he heard the door bolt fall, and the corner of his mouth twitched violently.

He decisively jumped into the carriage and left.

I had only gone halfway when I heard a group of people talking.

Shen Yi stopped the carriage and shouted, "Wife?"

"It's Shen Yi! It's his voice!"

"That's great, waaaaah!"

A group of people came to the carriage. Granny Zhang was helped off the carriage, her legs too weak to stand. "Shen Yi, where are the three children?"

“Don’t worry, Auntie. The children are at my father-in-law’s house. My father-in-law said they shouldn’t walk at night, so he sent me back to tell him.”

Everyone had been through similar experiences, and they immediately understood what Su Chunlin meant, leaving them speechless.

When Granny Zhang learned that the child was alright, she calmed down and angrily cursed, "He's getting more and more outrageous! He even dared to touch a horse's rump! I'm so angry! Oh dear, I can't take this anymore! I have to give him a good scolding when we get back!"

"Grandma Zhang, you always say this every time Xiaoxi gets into trouble, but when have you ever actually hit her?"

"Stop talking, let's hurry back to the village, it's freezing cold."

Su Tai was carried onto the carriage by Shen Yi. Her face was ashen and her fists were clenched. You didn't need to look at her mouth to know how angry she was.

The couple returned home.

Su Tai angrily cursed, "You troublesome brats, young and old alike! You listen to whatever my father says! You actually left them there, those little rascals are so happy!"

Shen Yi awkwardly put his arm around Su Tai's shoulder and went into the house, gesturing to the two older children to close the door. "Wife, I know you're angry. I was almost scared to death just now. You have no idea, as soon as I got to my father-in-law's house, I found a rattan cane and gave the child a few hard whacks. The third child cried his eyes out."

"Your mother's had enough. She got the whole family involved to back up the three kids. She's so protective of them, I can't bring myself to do anything about it. Your father's already given the order, what can I do? I can't exactly go against your father!"

"I'm so angry! I'm so angry!" Su Tai was furious and helpless.

As soon as they entered the backyard, Shen Yuezhang and Shen Congrong exchanged a glance and immediately slowed down to go back into their respective houses.

At times like these, they'd better avoid getting into trouble, lest they bring trouble upon themselves.

After venting her frustrations, Su Tai collapsed wearily onto the bed.

Seeing her listless appearance, Shen Yi quickly went over and carried her to bed. "I have something good to tell you. There's news about Da Hai, whom you asked about yesterday."

"Hmm?" Su Tai suddenly perked up. "What do you mean?"

Shen Yi chuckled and gently rubbed her cheek. "Qiongzi Kingdom is very small, about the size of two prefectures in our Langya Kingdom. When Master Pu was young, he went there a few times to do business. He said that Qiongzi has a long coastline and the main food source for the people there is seafood. They are not afraid of starving to death regardless of drought or flood."

However, accidents frequently occur while fishing at sea, and some people die from accidentally ingesting poisonous seafood. The number is not small. They are men, women, young and old, all hardworking fishermen, diligent and conscientious, yet they are poor.

"Huh? People who live near mountains live off the mountains, and people who live near water live off the water. Don't they sell seafood?"

Su Tai asked a question that left Shen Yi both amused and exasperated.

He sighed softly, "It's not that simple! When everyone is poor and destitute, who has the spare money to mess around? Besides, just because the people of Qiongzi can eat seafood doesn't mean that others can. The herders on the ice plains can't eat it. I heard that the people of Qiongzi wanted to trade seafood for cattle and sheep, but the herders refused."

Having been turned down by the herders, how could they dare risk traveling thousands of miles to deliver goods to us? However, some merchants are considering going to Qiongzi to buy seafood.

But the icy plains in winter are bitterly cold, completely unsuitable for trade. Summer might be a good time, but goods spoil quickly, most of them go bad. Who would want to do business at a loss?

“That makes sense!” Su Tai said thoughtfully. Shen Yi muttered again, “Some wealthy people are willing to spend a lot of money to hire people to buy seafood in Qiongzi, but the quantity is too small and the prices are outrageously high. Almost all the seafood sent to the capital in the dead of winter comes from this.”

Su Tai's eyes lit up. "So, seafood in winter can be considered a luxury, right?"

Shen Yi nodded. "You could say that."

Su Tai's lips curled up slightly, "That way, I'll have a source for the seafood from my area."

Shen Yi raised an eyebrow, "You can't actually get a bunch of seafood, can you?!"

Su Tai nodded frantically, "It's not just a bunch, but there are too many people in the village, so it's difficult to take the things out. You'll have to help me find another courtyard."

Shen Yi stroked his chin and pondered for a while, then smiled and said, "That's easy. I'm the town official of Dahe Town now, so I can use all the unclaimed land there."

We can buy a piece of wasteland or a yard outside the town, some distance from the villa, to hide our activities.

"It's best to be near the water," Su Tai suggested.

The couple were so engrossed in discussing important matters that they forgot about their three children who had caused trouble.

The next morning, Shen Yi went out with the money.

Su Tai had just glanced at the guokui (a type of flatbread) next door when she heard Su Ming's shout.

When I came out, I saw three energetic little ones standing in a row at the door, not daring to breathe.

As soon as Su Tai took out the rattan cane, Su Ming immediately stepped forward, grabbed her hand in a fawning manner, and took the cane from her. "Sister, Dad asked me to deliver a whole roasted lamb to you. Come and lend a hand."

Su Tai: "Hmm?"

"Dad's struck it rich? Why are you sending me a whole roasted lamb all of a sudden?" Su Tai said as she followed Su Ming to the carriage to unload the things.

The three children looked at each other in confusion, while Shen Xi was pushed away by Shen Congyu.

The twins also sneaked back to their room.

Su Tai had just brought the whole roasted lamb into the kitchen and talked to Su Ming for a while when she turned around and saw that the three children were gone. She was so angry that she was about to change her expression again.

Su Ming said with a wry smile, "Sister, don't be angry. Father and Mother scolded them all night, and they know they were wrong."

Su Tai rolled her eyes so hard they almost reached the sky. "Come on! If they could really recite all night, the three of them wouldn't be in this state! Let me guess, Dad must have fed them a lot of good food! Roasted whole lamb? Stewed chicken soup? Braised pork?"

The more Su Tai spoke, the lower Su Ming's head drooped.

This infuriated her. "It's all because you spoil her!"

Feeling exhausted from being scolded like a quail, Su Ming didn't dare to argue back. Seeing that Su Tai was still going to continue berating him, he quickly made an excuse to leave.

As soon as Su Ming left, Su Tai turned and went to the backyard. As soon as she stepped into the yard, she heard the sound of four children reading aloud coming from inside the house. She paused and then silently retreated.

Forget it, it's pointless to protect them all! She'd rather wait for Shen Yi's good news; that would be more interesting to eat with.

They waited until it got dark.

Shen Yi returned home under the stars and moon, and as soon as he entered the door, he heard someone ask, "Did A-Ming bring them back?"

Su Tai gestured towards the house with her lip, "They're back. They've been unusually well-behaved for a day. They stayed in their room reading all day and even said they'd help me with chores. But seeing that it's almost time to get warm, they were afraid you'd come back and beat them up, so they went back to their room to sleep. I'll see how many days it takes for them to revert to their true colors."

Shen Yi chuckled, "Then don't give them a nice look these next few days, and scare them a little more."

(End of this chapter)