A clear "Mom," as if piercing through layers of obstacles, directly entered Li Yue Shu's ears.
She felt a squeeze in her heart, her nose inexplicably stinging.
Li Yue Shu turned around, just in time to catch Shen Zhi Yu's charging body.
In her past life, she spent all her days in laboratories, never even holding a man's hand, let alone having children.
Initially, her kindness to the four children was purely for self-preservation.
But gradually, she began to love these four children from the bottom of her heart, especially A Yu, who always clung to her.
Shen Ting Wen was also startled by his fourth brother's "Mom," but looking at the two embracing, he suddenly felt a pang of envy.
Shen Zhi Yu clutched Li Yue Shu's clothes tightly, "Mom, you must come pick up A Yu..."
Li Yue Shu gently stroked his head, "Mom will definitely come."
...
After comforting Shen Zhi Yu, Li Yue Shu left.
She carried several bags of items and walked towards the branch academy where Shen Yi Min was. Shen Ting Wen followed behind her with a complicated expression.
Li Yue Shu naturally sensed his unease and had a rough idea of why, but she didn't expose it.
Seeing her carrying so many things, including precious stationery, Shen Yi Min and Mo Lian felt their hearts fill with warmth.
Li Yue Shu didn't pay attention to their expressions and instructed, "A Min, you are the eldest brother, keep an eye on A Wen at the academy. And A Lian, your mother asked me to relay a message to you before she left this morning: study hard at the academy and don't worry about her."
For some reason, Li Yue Shu felt like a nagging mother, somehow understanding the feelings of mothers sending their children to school for the first time.
Mo Lian nodded firmly, "I'll trouble Madam with my mother."
Looking at the maturity in his eyes that belied his age, Li Yue Shu thought for a moment and decided to tell him first.
"I've asked the county magistrate to help with the matter of Lung Source. As soon as someone is willing, he will notify me immediately."
Mo Lian's eyes turned red, "Thank you, Madam, thank you..."
He had read so many books and his academic performance at the academy was second only to Shen Yi Min, but at this moment, he could only utter these two words.
Li Yue Shu smiled gently and stroked his head to comfort him, saying nothing more.
...
After settling the children's affairs, Li Yue Shu devoted herself entirely to the medicinal hall.
Initially, people were hesitant to seek treatment at the medicinal hall. It was only because Doctor Chen was there that a small number of people decided to try.
These people soon discovered that the medicines at Heng De Medicinal Hall were indeed effective, and more importantly, they were more convenient than brewing their own.
These medicines were already processed from herbs. The dosage for one prescription could yield several bottles. Coupled with their rapid efficacy, convenience of administration, and similar prices, their reputation quickly spread.
The medicinal hall became increasingly busy, but Li Yue Shu still closed on time every day, as the children still needed to return to study.
Any emergency patients were mostly handled by Doctor Chen. Only when Doctor Chen couldn't resolve the issue would he involve her.
As a result, more and more people came to know that the owner of Heng De Medicinal Hall was a young and beautiful madam, whose medical skills surpassed even Doctor Chen's.
For a time, many people in town flocked to Heng De Medicinal Hall, even if they weren't sick, they wanted Li Yue Shu to examine them.
However, this news spread within the town, but people in distant villages remained unaware.
Everyone often saw Li Yue Shu taking a group of children out early and returning late from town. Afterward, the sounds of reading would emanate from the blue-tiled house.
Everyone believed that Li Yue Shu had truly gone mad.
Spending a large sum of money to build a blue-tiled house, adopting seven orphans, and then teaching them, they were sure the three hundred taels would be squandered.
To these villagers with limited insight, three hundred taels was an astronomical sum, and they had no idea that Li Yue Shu had already spent it all.
Everyone was waiting to see Li Yue Shu make a fool of herself. Especially Mother Shen, who congratulated herself every chance she got for having divided the third branch, her words full of schadenfreude.
But Mother Shen didn't expect that the moment of being proven wrong would arrive so quickly.
Yang Shi's son, Shen Cheng Cai, was also studying in town and attended the same academy as Shen Yi Min.
On the day of the break, Shen Cheng Cai rushed home and threw a tantrum at Yang Shi, "Mom, I want to buy new stationery. Buy it for me, I want the best set!"
Yang Shi could barely read, but ever since her family sent Shen Cheng Cai to the academy, she had learned the names of some study materials.
Those things were expensive, and a complete set was even more so.
Yang Shi quickly said, "Your set is still in good condition, don't waste money."
"I won't, I want to buy it!" Shen Cheng Cai wailed, his square face looking comically pathetic.
He then pestered Mother Shen, "Grandma, just buy me a set! That illegitimate child Shen Yi Min has already replaced his with the most expensive ones from the bookstore, I want the same!"
Shen Cheng Cai's writing brush, ink, and paper were all usable, so Mother Shen was naturally unwilling to spend the money unnecessarily.
But upon hearing that Shen Yi Min had replaced his with the most expensive set, her expression changed. "You say that illegitimate child replaced his with the most expensive ones? Where did he get the money?"
As soon as she heard this, Shen Cheng Cai immediately complained, "It was that vicious woman who bought it for him. Even Mo Lian, that little servant boy, has a set!"
Mother Shen looked bewildered, "Who is Mo Lian?"
"Mo Lian is someone from the academy, also an orphan bastard," Shen Cheng Cai said angrily. "He usually hangs around with Shen Yi Min. I heard that vicious woman earned money and became Shen Yi Min's book boy, shamelessly clinging to him and asking for a set of stationery."
Shen Cheng Cai was about the same age as Shen Yi Min, but he spoke with terms like "vicious woman" and "illegitimate child," like a common shrew.
Mother Shen and Yang Shi didn't find anything wrong with it, believing it to be the "pride" of scholars.
After listening to Shen Cheng Cai's words, Yang Shi vaguely felt something was amiss.
"Mom, is the three hundred taels really so easy to spend?"
Three years ago, when their youngest uncle returned, they had tried their best to extract money from him. In two years, they had only saved over a hundred taels.
They had lived frugally this past year, yet a large portion of it was used up. Money was simply not that easy to come by.
With Li Yue Shu's spending habits, the three hundred taels should have been almost depleted. How could she afford to buy such expensive items for a mere book boy?
Mother Shen also felt something was off. "You say that vicious woman goes out every day, what is she doing?"
Yang Shi hadn't really considered this. "This... could she have found some kind of job that requires children to do, and adopting those orphans is for them to work for her?"
Mother Shen looked puzzled, "What kind of work requires children?"
Yang Shi fell silent, clearly unable to think of anything.
Shen Cheng Cai's eyes lit up as he listened to their conversation. "If you want to know what it is, why not follow them tomorrow to see! Grandma, I'll accompany you to town tomorrow, and you can buy me a set of stationery. Even if they find out, we'll have a valid reason."
Although Mother Shen was reluctant, this was her precious grandson, so she gritted her teeth and agreed.
The next day, as Li Yue Shu stepped out of her home, she sensed a tail following behind her.