A northern wind came overnight, and the temperature dropped another notch.

In the morning, Yin Le got up to chop wood and found a thick layer of frost covering the woodpile.

Looking up at the sky, the clouds hung low, the day was gray and overcast, and it was uncertain whether it would rain or snow.

November had arrived, and judging by previous years, the chance of snow was greater.

Yin Le shivered. Ordinary families feared snow most. Without sufficient charcoal, thick clothing, bedding, and winter food, winter could be a disaster for them.

She was grateful that this year she could spend the winter in a warm house wearing thick clothes.

Thinking of this, Yin Le felt even more thankful to her master and chopped wood more vigorously, wishing she could finish chopping all the firewood Ah Wang brought from the mountain in one day.

Right after breakfast, Qin Yao received the annual gift list compiled by Song Yu.

In previous years, there was no such process, at most just preparing a gift for the Ding Family and Aunt Qi from the He Family in the Prefecture.

But this year Liu Ji had become a scholar, and the family had more social obligations to maintain.

Accounting for the time required for procurement and travel, the gift list had to be prepared by November.

For some distant places, fearing heavy snow might make travel difficult, they set off at the beginning of the month.

Song Yu’s gift list consisted of two parts.

One part was for business partners related to the stationery factory.

Funds were allocated from the factory for centralized procurement, buying some nourishing medicines and local specialties.

For the Fulong Trading Company, an extra new Lady’s Box was included.

The other part was specifically instructed by Qin Yao, for the Qi Family, Gongliang Liao, the Ding Family, and the families of Qian, Shen, and Deng who had just formed a brotherly bond with Liu Ji.

For the Qi Family and Gongliang Liao, in addition to last year’s fabric, wine, meat, and tea, two sets of writing materials worth twenty taels were added, totaling seventy taels of silver.

For the Qian, Shen, and Deng families, each would receive a pig, two tins of high-quality tea, two pieces of cotton cloth, and two jars of wine, totaling fifty taels of silver.

For the Ding Family, the children’s teachers received a share each, even if it was just some meat and vegetables, it would cost two taels per person.

Ding Xiang’s family was far in the Capital, and Qin Yao initially hesitated about sending gifts, but since Liu Fei was still in the Capital, and their specialty shop would open soon, they definitely needed to maintain contact, hence preparing an annual gift was essential.

Local specialties serve as a special memory for those far away from home, carrying great weight.

Thus, the annual gift sent to the Capital was meticulously prepared by Qin Yao, gathering all kinds of easily stored foods from Kaiyang County into one portion.

The expenditure wasn’t much, seven to eight taels were enough, but to ensure the freshness of the food, the travel expenses cost another twenty taels of silver, making it a light gift but with deep sentiments.

For Mrs. Ding at the Ding Family Manor, the gift preparation was less thorough, six articles of presents sufficed, with a budget of ten taels of silver.

Qin Yao called Liu Ji over, asking him when he would be available to personally take the four children to settle the matter of Sanlang and Si Niang attending the tribe academy of the Ding Family next year.

Now that Liu Ji had the status of a scholar, discussing the children’s enrollment was a sure deal.

"The old lady doesn’t like me, so I won’t be going." Qin Yao laughed self-deprecatingly.

Liu Ji didn’t know how to respond, he could only agree, secretly glancing at the gift list in front of Qin Yao.

His arithmetic had been deeply influenced by Gongliang Liao, and his mental abacus quickly calculated a specific number.

One hundred seventy taels!

Liu Ji gasped, pointing at the list in disbelief, "Lady, this can’t all be our family’s annual gifts for this year, right?"

Qin Yao nodded as she continued to calculate expenses.

She knew Liu Ji pained to spend money, and truthfully, she did too. One hundred seventy taels could comfortably support a regular family of four for seven or eight years.

However, compared to other scholars in Kaiyang County, their family’s spending on annual gifts was merely equivalent to others’ regular holiday expenses.

For those who also had official duties, mutual gifting among colleagues would only inflate the expenses.

Liu Ji had no idea Qin Yao felt the pain in her liver, he only saw her calculating expenses without any emotional fluctuation, admiring her even more.

"Lady, may I softly inquire how much silver our family earned this year?"

With the annual gift expenses as they were, he was worried about the family going bankrupt!

Qin Yao looked up at him, smiling slightly, "Inconvenient to disclose."

This response didn’t disappoint Liu Ji at all; it was just as he had expected.

If the ’wicked wife’ (referring to Qin Yao) had honestly told him how much silver was in the family, that would’ve been unusual.

It seemed the family wasn’t going bankrupt anytime soon, the wicked wife had plenty of silver.

However, he had to tell her that this year he had also made significant contributions to the family.

Liu Ji simply pulled up a chair opposite Qin Yao and sat down, proudly saying:

"Then of these one hundred seventy taels, over one hundred fifty taels were earned by me, right? And considering the fields and real estate we now own, next year’s income shouldn’t be small either."

Qin Yao replied, "Yes, I know, noted it down for you."

Liu Ji was delighted, quickly asking, "Does that mean I’ve settled my debts to you, lady?"

Qin Yao lifted her eyes to look at him, seriously asking, "Do you want to settle it? It’s not impossible."

Liu Ji nearly burst out laughing, but a voice abruptly echoed in his head, grimly reminding him: be cautious, she can’t be this kind, there must be a big trap waiting for you to fall into!

Liu Ji shivered, his mind becoming extraordinarily clear, he swiftly shook his head, saying, "No, no, we are one as husband and wife, what’s the point of settling accounts, it’s quite meaningless."

Qin Yao frowned, impatiently asking, "Then what do you want?"

"I don’t want anything..."

Qin Yao: "I’ll ask you one more time, what do you want?!"

In quick speech, Liu Ji said, "Could you give me some silver every month, lady? Not too much, ten taels would suffice!"

After speaking, he widened his charming eyes, looking at her pitifully, "Other scholars have servants accompanying them, if nothing else, at least a fine horse. I’m just all alone..."

Qin Yao: "Are you wearing air on your body?" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Liu Ji, feeling guilty, coughed lightly, smoothing the new satin coat he wore, continuing in a small voice:

"The Qian, Shen, and Deng families give me plenty of benefits annually, all kinds of income combined could add two or three hundred taels of silver to the household, I just want ten taels to buy some ink and books, it’s not too much, right?"

To make the horse run fast, you need to feed it grass, that’s Qin Yao’s principle for managing subordinates, it worked well and never failed before.

Liu Ji’s poor demeanor didn’t move her one bit, but the destitute air between his eyes did sting her eyes.

Qin Yao relented, "Five taels, no more than that."

"Okay!" Liu Ji immediately agreed, suppressing his lips hard to refrain from laughing.

Haha, now he too was a person with silver!

As for bargaining, that was nonexistent with Qin Yao. This was a principle Liu Ji learned through many a beating.