Spring comes to the desperate place

On the carriage back to the city, Gu Fengyun looked at Gu Fengyue who was holding the recipe happily, and seemed to want to say something but stopped himself. Gu Fengyue was probably immersed in the joy of the food and didn't notice it at all. When he returned to the Marquis' Mansion, Gu Fengyue looked for a cup first, opened the water bag he had carried all the way, and poured half a cup of spiritual spring water for Gu Fengyun.

"Brother, drink some water." Gu Fengyun took the cup and drank it all in one gulp.

After drinking, he held the cup and asked his brother: "What is the origin of the Song family? Do you know?"

Gu Fengyue was completely stunned by the question. He frowned and thought. To be honest, he himself didn't know the origins of the Song family.

"Brother, you should have read their household registration documents. Those documents are indeed true. As for the rest, brother, let's not ask, okay?"

Since his younger brother was acting so spoiled with him, Gu Fengyun could only suppress the doubts in his heart. Anyway, as long as they remembered that the Song family was their savior, that was enough. As for whether they had other purposes behind it, Gu Fengyun didn't think it mattered. Looking at his younger brother sitting in front of him unharmed, Gu Fengyun felt that even if the Song family asked them to hand over the Marquis' Mansion, he could do so.

"Okay, brother, don't ask anymore. If you don't want to eat Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, go give the recipe to the kitchen and ask them to start preparing it today. On the 15th, you can also present a dish for His Majesty to taste."

"Okay!" Gu Fengyue cheered and went to the backyard kitchen excitedly with the precious recipe.

Only a few days after the New Year, the Song family had already had some free time. Song Dazhuang received new farm tools. The plow he ordered was not the kind of plow commonly used today, but a curved-beam plow. As the name suggests, the plow's beam is curved and the plow frame is also lighter. Song Dazhuang has already tried it and found it to be more labor-saving than the plows they usually use.

Song Dazhuang couldn't let go of the new tools and wished tomorrow was the 16th so he could go to the fields to farm.

At first, Song Chunlin asked Song Dazhuang why he didn't use an iron plow. Song Dazhuang laughed and said, "That thing is not popular. Iron is so expensive. It's easy for ordinary people like us to get into trouble with the law if we use it. It's better to use wood."

This is the blind spot in modern people's knowledge. They know that the smelting technology of this era is relatively backward, but this is the first time they have been educated that iron is a resource controlled by the government.

Song Dazhuang calculated the price of an iron plow with him and found that it could almost buy three quarters of their house.

When Song Chunlin heard the price, he took a breath. He remembered that there were some iron pots in the space. Now those were not iron at all, they were clearly money!

Fortunately, the last bit of rationality made Song Chunlin sober up. He almost wanted to sell all those iron pots. Whether he could sell them was another matter. He might be arrested as soon as he put them out for sale and be forced to tell where he got so much iron.

When Song Chunlin thought of the consequences, he couldn't help but shiver. Forget it, forget it. Life is more important.

The family has to farm in the spring. In addition to farming, there is another big thing to prepare, which is Song Chunsheng's schooling.

The Song family did not want him to be well-read, as long as he could recognize words. So they found a private school in the town, which was run by an old scholar and was specifically for the children of ordinary people. It did not teach any advanced knowledge, so the tuition was relatively cheap.

When it comes to reading, almost all members of the Song family took action. Grandpa Song bought writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone for Song Chunsheng, and also bought a piece of high-quality rice paper to give to the teacher. He did not use the one in Song Chunlin's space for fear that someone would notice the clue.

Based on the schoolbag given by Song Chunlin, Song A'mo made a backpack for Song Chunsheng by imitating the one given by Song Chunlin. Song Chunsheng couldn't let go of the schoolbag and had to hold it in his arms when he slept at night.

Song Qin made a lot of snacks and also made a big pot of braised meat with the braised meat ingredients given by Song Chunlin. These were for the old gentleman. The old gentleman received a low salary, so the parents would make some delicious food for him from time to time. The old gentleman loved meat the most. Song Qin learned this from the villagers.

Song Dazhuang was busy repairing various farm tools. Song Chunlin bought him a bottle of rice wine from the grocery store. After Song Dazhuang drank it, he washed the bottle and filled it with plum wine from his own space.

Everyone worked together to finally prepare the gift on the twelfth day of the first lunar month. Grandpa Song personally took Song Chunsheng to the old teacher, gave him the gift and tuition, and Song Chunsheng was officially enrolled in the school. He could go to class after the Lantern Festival on the 15th day.

Early in the morning of the Lantern Festival, the Gu family sent someone over to pick up the Song family and bring them into the city to celebrate the festival.

"Old man, today is the Lantern Festival. His Majesty has lifted the curfew and is celebrating with the people. At night, lanterns will be lit throughout the city, which is very beautiful. My master knows that this is your first time in the capital, so he specially asked me to pick you up and your family to celebrate the festival at the Marquis' Mansion."

Since the Marquis said so, the Song family couldn't refuse. The main reason was that they had never seen the whole city lit up with lanterns, and both adults and children were looking forward to it.

Soon, the Song family members changed into new clothes and got on the carriage of Marquis Gu's mansion.

Before entering the city, the festive atmosphere at the city gate was already at its peak. Song Chunlin lifted the curtain and saw that many stalls had been set up on the roadside. There was no charge for setting up stalls outside the city, but on weekdays they would be driven away by the yamen runners of Jingzhao Prefecture. Only during festivals could they set up their stalls here for a whole day without worrying about being driven away.

Looking at the dazzling array of stalls, Song Chunlin and Song Chunsheng's mouths opened into an O shape, and the adults were also stunned.

Grandpa Song sighed, "The capital is still more prosperous. The busiest market we've seen in the village before was not even one-tenth as lively as this one."

Song A-mo covered her mouth and smiled: "You also know that this is the capital. Our small place is nothing compared to the emperor's feet."

The group chatted and laughed as they entered the city. Lanterns had already been hung up in the city. Song Chunlin leaned over the window to look and discovered that the lanterns hung in front of every household were all different. Some were simple, some were lively, and some were complicated and gorgeous. Looking along the road, there were hardly any duplicates.

When they arrived at the street where Marquis Gu's mansion was located, the lanterns hanging in front of the doors of those wealthy families were obviously more exquisite than those on the street. They looked very beautiful during the day. Song Chunlin couldn't imagine how beautiful they would be at night.

The carriage stopped in front of the marquis's mansion. The person who came to pick them up respectfully asked them to get off. The steward was already standing at the door to greet them.

"Oh, old man, we've finally got you here. Come, come, please come in." The steward came up to them with a smile, and his hospitality and eagerness made the Song family members feel a little uncomfortable.

There were some servants from other families nearby who kept looking over here, trying to see who the person was that could make the steward of the Marquis' Mansion so enthusiastic.