An Jing first smiled, then wrapped her arms around Xiao Changyi’s neck, responding to him.
They had successfully managed to sleep in separate rooms from the four children. Although the children would still make noise once or twice during the night, Xiao Changyi felt it was much better than when the children slept in their room.
That day, in the study, An Jing and Xiao Changyi were teaching the four little ones to recognize the simplest characters.
As the teaching went on, An Jing became troubled, turned her head, and said to Xiao Changyi, "Husband, I still can’t think of a good idea."
What good idea? Of course, it was about making money.
As soon as he heard her, Xiao Changyi knew what An Jing was talking about and said indifferently, "You’ve already done enough for Xiyun."
An Jing was still quite troubled, "I just want the children of impoverished families to also learn to recognize some characters."
After a pause, An Jing added, "If all else fails, when our rice shops are set up, and if we have some spare money, we can fund a few schools ourselves."
"Hmm," Xiao Changyi had no objection.
And just then, through the wide-open window, An Jing and Xiao Changyi saw thick black smoke rising from the north side of their courtyard. It was coming from where the mansion’s main kitchen was located.
"It seems to be on fire," An Jing quickly stood up. If it was smoke from cooking, it wouldn’t be that thick. "Should we go over and have a look?"
Xiao Changyi was calm, "There are many people in the mansion; they should be able to extinguish it quickly. Whether we go or not doesn’t matter; someone will come to report to us later."
But An Jing said, "Let’s still go and see. It seems quite serious. It would be better if we went to take a look."
"Hmm." Since his wife wanted to go, he would naturally accompany her.
After instructing the maidservants to take good care of the four little ones, An Jing and Xiao Changyi went to where the thick smoke was billowing.
By the time An Jing and Xiao Changyi arrived, the fire had been extinguished, but smoke was still rising.
Several rooms had been burned down to half.
"What happened?" An Jing asked as soon as she arrived at the scene.
Meng Zhuqing quickly put down the bucket in her hand and came over to answer, "The room where charcoal was stored caught fire somehow and ignited the several rooms next to it. Fortunately, the fire is now under control."
"Charcoal?!" An Jing had a flash of inspiration, first smiled, then anxiously asked, "Were there any casualties?"
"No, just a few rooms were burned down," Meng Zhuqing answered truthfully.
An Jing said, "It’s good that no one was hurt, we can rebuild the rooms."
After looking around to confirm everyone was indeed safe, An Jing then said to Meng Zhuqing, "Leave the rest to you. The master and I will go back first."
Before leaving, An Jing also took with her a piece of blackened charcoal.
As she walked back with Xiao Changyi, An Jing proudly displayed the piece of charcoal in her hand, smiling, "Husband, do you know what I’m going to do with this?"
Xiao Changyi shook his head, indicating he did not know.
An Jing said, "I won’t tell you yet, let’s talk about it when we get back."
Xiao Changyi knew it must be something not meant for others to hear, so he didn’t ask further but waited to go back and let his wife tell him herself.
Once they returned to the main courtyard, An Jing and Xiao Changyi went to the study where the four little ones were just about to leave to play. Neither An Jing nor Xiao Changyi stopped them, letting the four little ones go out, but they had the maidservants follow the little ones to prevent any mishaps.
As soon as the four little ones left the study, An Jing instructed Qin San and Qin Si to patrol around the study to prevent eavesdropping.