"Oh, that must be the son of that wealthy family from town. He’s quite handsome, isn't he? You can tell immediately he wasn't raised in a place like ours. Why is it that children from rich families always seem so different from us, just by looking at them?" said Old Madam Zhao.

"Heh, yes," Old Madam Huang replied dismissively.

"Has the elder young master married yet? Why has he come to visit your home all of a sudden?" Old Madam Zhao inquired further.

"He's just a year older than Dabao. He hasn't married. They all know Dabao and He'er, and that younger young master visits our home a few times a year, so he came along to see things," Old Madam Huang repeated herself.

"Oh, is that so. We country folk long to get into the city, and the wealthy are eager to come out to our humble countryside. Heh heh," Old Madam Zhao chuckled.

"Yes," Old Madam Huang echoed the laugh, glancing over at Lin He, who sat nearby embroidering.

Lin He smiled along but remained silent. Old Madam Zhao and Hongyun sat for a while before heading home. On their way out, they didn't mention visiting the long-term hired hands, and since Er Niu wasn't home, Old Madam Huang didn't bring it up either.

After that, Old Madam Huang's family didn't inquire much further into Hongxia's affairs. They assumed Hongxia had made her own choices and would come to them if she needed assistance. However, days passed without any news, and Old Madam Huang and the others let the matter slip from their minds.

It was already the seventh month, and August was fast approaching. August meant the Mid-Autumn Festival, an occasion held in reverence second only to the New Year celebrations. Everyone needed to prepare special foods for the holiday. At this time of year, food choices weren't vast; aside from buying fresh ingredients, festivals usually meant specific types of pastries.

Dabao's pastry shop was already thriving under normal circumstances, but with the festival drawing near, they couldn't keep up with the volume of orders. Many people were placing advance orders for pastries. Thus, just a few days after Old Madam Zhao had visited about Hongxia, Lin He took Ziyu to the town. The pastry shop was overwhelmed, and Lin He needed to help supervise, plus she wanted to introduce some new varieties of pastries before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

When Lin He arrived at the shop, Dabao showed her the stack of reserved orders. There were indeed many, and they were mostly for the more expensive, limited-edition pastries they sold daily. These were clearly pre-ordered for gift-giving during the festival.

Lin He examined the orders. Dabao had already staggered the pick-up dates so they wouldn't all be required on the same day—these weren't urgent; they could be rushed out in the few days leading up to the festival. However, Lin He had a different idea, which she brought up to Dabao: "Big Brother, I was thinking that for the Mid-Autumn Festival gifts, we should create a special pastry made specifically to be sold in boxed sets. That way, if a customer buys it as a gift, it will look more presentable, and the packaging will be attractive. Furthermore, if we want our shop to grow, we need to expand our variety. What do you think?"

"I think that could work, but if we're doing boxed sets, what should we put in them? We can't have beautiful boxes containing mediocre items; that wouldn't do. He'er, do you have any specific ideas?" Dabao asked.

Lin He already had a plan in mind. In her previous life, people celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival by eating mooncakes. They didn't have mooncakes here, so she would introduce them. This required no brainstorming, as she had experience making them before; she just needed to devise a few new flavors. As for the gift boxes, they were ubiquitous in her past life; none of this was particularly difficult.

Lin He explained her concept to Dabao in detail. Dabao thought it was an excellent idea, predicting that orders would increase even further. However, he stressed that before the festival arrived, they needed to quickly produce a few samples for customers to see. After all, without seeing something, customers wouldn't buy it based on imagination alone.

They agreed to act immediately. The main hurdle was the wooden boxes. The boxes needed custom carving and subsequent finishing treatments, which required time. The mooncakes themselves weren't the major issue; frankly, the main appeal of these gift boxes was the packaging—people buying gifts primarily wanted something grand and high-class that conferred prestige.

However, Lin He worried that intricate carving might be too time-consuming to complete. Perhaps painting simple designs directly onto the box surface would be feasible. That evening, Lin He racked her brain and produced a few sketches intended for the boxes. But her artistic skill only extended to basic lines; she knew nothing of true painting. She came up with many designs overnight but couldn't execute them. When she suggested Dabao draw them, he was utterly confused. After a night of fruitless effort where nothing recognizable emerged, as dawn approached, Lin He sent Dabao and Ziyu, who was grinding ink nearby, off to sleep, saying they would figure something out tomorrow since they couldn't draw anything tonight.

With Ziyu and Dabao asleep, Lin He tried to quiet her mind and see if she could produce one decent drawing, but she finally gave up. She simply wasn't cut out for it and couldn't draw a thing. Finally, she went to bed herself.

The next day, Lin He slept until nearly noon. When she woke, Ziyu was not in the room, and the drawings from the previous night were gone. Lin He got up, dressed, and was about to call for Ziyu when Ziyu entered, saying, "Miss, you're awake. Why didn't you sleep in longer after staying up so late?"

"I still haven't figured out a solution for those drawings last night. I need to get up and keep thinking. We need to get these done quickly, the faster the better, or we won't make the deadline," Lin He said anxiously, thinking of the designs.

"Miss, there's no need to rush. Young Master Dabao has already invited help. He said as soon as you wake up, you just need to tell him what you envisioned, and the helper will draw it," Ziyu replied.

"Big Brother invited a painter?" Lin He asked.

"Something like that. He's in the outer courtyard. Why don't you freshen up and go see for yourself?" Ziyu said mysteriously.

Lin He gave Ziyu a sidelong glance. The girl was full of tricks, and Lin He wasn't sure what she was up to, but she didn't press the issue. After washing up in her room, she stepped out. When she reached the courtyard, she was genuinely surprised. The sketches she had made the night before—the ones she couldn't even recognize—had been redrawn. They resembled her original vision by about seventy percent. The rest must have been the painter's own contribution. They were excellent, with superb brushwork and evocative atmosphere.

Lin He sat on a stool admiring the drawings when a voice suddenly came from behind her: "Are these usable?"