This day, Wang Youliang had settled on his explanation, returning home intending to inform his family that he needed to travel to the county seat. Unexpectedly, before he could even begin to speak, the Old Man cut him off.

“You’ve been awfully busy in town lately, haven’t you? You hardly ever come back on weekdays. No matter how busy you are, you cannot neglect the family!” the Old Man stated.

“Uh, I’ve been preoccupied finding a cook these past few days! And once the cook was found, there were some dishes he didn’t know how to make, so I’ve been busy teaching him!” Wang Youliang replied with a guilty conscience.

“What kind of cook did you find then, that there are dishes he doesn’t know, requiring you to teach him?” the Old Lady inquired.

“Some of the food items in my shop are unique in Qingshan Town, so many cooks wouldn’t know how to prepare them,” Wang Youliang explained.

“Oh, is that so? But even so, you shouldn’t be absent so frequently, should you? With you constantly away, only your wife remains here to show filial piety to your mother and me. It simply doesn’t look right. From now on, you shouldn’t stay overnight in town; come back and sleep at home every night!” the Old Man instructed.

Upon hearing this, Wang Youliang agreed in a rather indifferent manner. After all, as long as he could still go to town, this specific condition had little impact on him.

Seeing Wang Youliang agree, the Old Man pressed his advantage: “Then you should return tonight and sleep here, not go back to town, alright?”

Wang Youliang naturally nodded in agreement. “Fine, but Father, there’s something else I need to discuss with you today—I want to make a trip to the county seat.”

The Old Man feigned confusion. “The county seat? Why on earth would you go to the county seat?”

“It’s like this: I feel the variety of food items in the shop is still too limited. If I could visit the county seat and see what kinds of dishes the food shops there are selling, I could learn those methods upon my return and sell several more types of food, couldn’t I?” Wang Youliang recited the reason he had prepared.

The Old Man looked at Wang Youliang without expression and asked, “Is that truly the case? A trip to the county seat, just to see what dishes the shops there sell?”

Being questioned so directly by the Old Man made Wang Youliang feel slightly nervous again, wondering if his father had discovered something. But then he reconsidered, perhaps the Old Man thought it wasn't worth a trip just to look at food stalls, which is why he asked. Thinking this, Wang Youliang relaxed again. “Yes, the trip is quite worthwhile. After all, I’ll know more recipes when I return, won't I? And the shop's profits can increase too.”

After hearing this, the Old Man neither agreed nor disagreed. “Let me think about this matter. You sleep at home tonight. We can discuss it with your mother tonight and I will give you an answer tomorrow morning. How does that sound?”

Although Wang Youliang was anxious to have his father agree immediately, waiting just one night was acceptable. Moreover, if the result of their discussion tomorrow morning was a refusal, he would simply sneak off. In any case, he was determined to find Huang Shi.

Thus, that day, Wang Youliang did not stay overnight in town but remained at the old family residence. Tian Shi, however, felt little joy. Previously, when Wang Youliang returned to sleep at home, Tian Shi would have been quite pleased. But ever since the incident involving Huang Shi, Tian Shi had become utterly disheartened with Wang Youliang, no longer holding any expectations of him. What Tian Shi valued most now was money; as long as she held control over the silver, what cause for dissatisfaction could there be?

Wang Youliang naturally sensed the shift in Tian Shi’s attitude towards him. While he felt a tinge of guilt toward her, he quickly rationalized that women ought to live according to their husband’s will; as he intended to take a co-wife, Tian Shi, as his wife, should not obstruct him, and thus, that sliver of guilt vanished. The husband and wife lay silently on the heated brick bed, neither speaking, until they eventually drifted off to sleep.

Compared to the quiet of Wang Youliang and Tian Shi, the Old Man and Old Lady were far more animated. The elderly couple hadn't settled on a foolproof plan earlier; for now, all they had achieved was delaying their son for one night. If they still couldn't devise a solution by morning, they would have to resort to their previous idea: locking their son up. However, this measure was highly unreliable; with just a bit of carelessness, their son could escape.

“Old Man, in my opinion, we should just lock up the eldest. What other way is there?” the Old Lady suggested.

“It’s not that I don’t want to lock him up, but we simply cannot keep him confined. The last time, the only reason he accepted the punishment was because he wanted us to agree to him marrying that widow. This time, he’s set on going to the county seat; how can we hold him?” the Old Man sighed.

“That’s true. It’s strange he’s so determined to go to the county seat this time. He’s never traveled that far in his life. And now, for a widow, he wants to go so far away without giving us a thought,” the Old Lady lamented sadly.

“Alas, that’s right, the eldest has never traveled so far… Ah, speaking of which, it just occurred to me. Since the eldest has never been to the county seat, he certainly doesn't know the way there. Perhaps we can devise a plan around that,” the Old Man said suddenly.

“What sort of plan can you devise from that? You can’t just make our son get lost halfway, can you? That would be terrible. What if he wanders too far astray, how would he ever find his way back?” the Old Lady argued, clearly unimpressed with the idea.

“It’s not what you think. Listen to what I just thought up…” And so, the Old Man whispered his newly conceived plan to the Old Lady.

When the Old Lady heard it, she looked doubtful. “I say, do you think this plan can actually work?”

“Whether it works or not, this is the plan we have. Can you think of any other way?” the Old Man challenged.

The Old Lady shook her head; she truly couldn't come up with anything else. Once the elderly couple had settled on their idea, they slept soundly.

The very next morning, Wang Youliang was up early, waiting anxiously for the result of the Old Man and Old Lady’s discussion! Wang Youliang paced back and forth for a long time before the elderly couple finally rose. Fortunately, the Old Man had agreed to let Wang Youliang go to the county seat, so his waiting wasn't entirely in vain.

However, the Old Man had a condition: since Wang Youliang had never traveled to such a distant place in his life, the elderly couple was uneasy. Therefore, they insisted on finding a carriage driver with some connection to their family; only then would they feel at ease, otherwise, they forbade it.

Wang Youliang considered that he truly had never ventured far from home his entire life. It was reasonable that the elderly couple was worried about this trip to the county seat. Therefore, he did not suspect their demand to specify the carriage driver.

Seeing their son agree to their terms, the elderly couple breathed a sigh of relief. As long as their son agreed, half of their plan was accomplished.

So, the Old Man sought help to find a carriage driver with some familial tie. Then, the Old Man explained that although his son claimed he was going to the county seat to observe how others ran their food shops, the county seat was too far, and they were worried. Thus, they thought it best to find a closer location for their son to inspect. The Old Man then designated a place in the exact opposite direction of the county seat and instructed the driver to take his son to that specified location to look at food shops. After designating the place, the Old Man added that if his son realized he was going to the wrong location upon arrival, the driver should take him in circles, just so long as he didn’t go to the county seat.

The carriage driver understood what was required, yet he remained quite puzzled. The Old Man had clearly stated he wanted to find a closer place for his son, yet the location he specified was clearly farther away than the county seat. Furthermore, the Old Man had instructed him to make his son go in circles if he realized the route was wrong. Was the Old Man senile? Despite these thoughts, the driver didn't voice them. After all, a longer journey meant more earnings for him, didn't it?

Thus, the carriage driver, understanding his instructions, arranged his route. He then took two other passengers in town and instructed them not to mention their destination, claiming that a guest below had suffered a trauma and his mind was unsettled, making him unable to bear hearing the names of their destination. The two passengers found the excuse rather flimsy and were somewhat suspicious, but they said nothing, as they were strangers to each other and had little conversation to exchange on the road anyway.

Afterward, the carriage driver departed Qingshan Town with Wang Youliang, who was blissfully delighted, believing he was heading for the county seat.

However, the carriage driver later discovered that all the contingency plans he had devised were useless. Wang Youliang suffered from motion sickness and, upon reaching their destination, fell ill. This terrified the driver into rushing him back immediately. Consequently, Wang Youliang’s trip to the county seat ended before it truly began—though that, as they say, is a story for later.

Meanwhile, back in town at Wang Youfu's residence, after his son Wang Qingchen departed once more for the county seat to take his examination, Yang Shi became anxious again, spending her days listless and lacking energy. Fortunately, the family was less worried this time since Yang Shi had behaved similarly after Wang Qingchen’s previous trip to the county.

And Wang Qingchen was once again embarking on the road to the county seat. His heart held both confidence in the knowledge he had accumulated over this long period and worry about whether he could pass as a Xiucai scholar. However, all these feelings were channeled into the motivation to study further. Wang Qingchen’s constant handling of a book in the carriage, flipping pages from time to time, prompted some playful teasing from others sharing the ride. “Look at you, you’ve learned completely from Zhao Cheng. Zhao Cheng never put his book down in the carriage before, and now you’re the same.”