It's really hard to just farm peacefully.

While raising livestock is inconvenient in the county, it poses no obstacle in Dongshan Village.

Jiang Yan pinned down two squealing, wriggling piglets with one hand each, gazing excitedly at the village entrance that was becoming clearer. It had been five months since she last returned.

Tian Jiu stopped the donkey cart and saw Jiang Yan jump down quickly, give him a hasty greeting, and then rush home. Tian Jiu's heart tightened, and he hurriedly reminded her loudly, "Slow down! Those are piglets I carefully selected; they can't withstand a fall."

"I know—" Jiang Yan hugged the pig's right arm and struggled to lift it up and shake it. Tian Jiu panicked and turned away to avoid seeing it.

He comforted himself, telling himself not to worry about the process, as long as he could get his share of the meat on the day the pig was slaughtered.

Jiang Yan deliberately took the road that led through the center of the village. With the sun shining brightly and no biting wind, everyone would surely gather there to bask in the sun on such a beautiful day.

Sure enough, as soon as she appeared, the sharp-eyed Grandma Gao Hua exclaimed, "Look, Jiang Yan is back!"

"Hey, Jiang Yan's back! She's carrying something in both arms and jumping around like crazy!"

……

After Jiang Yan finished greeting each of the elders, the two little pigs were already nestled in Jiang Yu and Jiang Ning's arms, receiving everyone's playful poke and prodding.

"Jiang Yan, have you been scammed? Both of these pigs are male." Generally speaking, people who plan to raise pigs raise them in pairs so that they can produce piglets the following year.

"I wasn't fooled. I specifically chose this to raise meat for consumption." At this point, Jiang Yan took the opportunity to share the method she had already begun to try with everyone, which made the eyes of those present light up.

Even more extreme, some urged Jiang Yan to make the cut on the spot so that everyone could watch.

When the event ended, the two piglets were already being kept in a pen that had been urgently cleared out in Dongshan Village, and only a small handful of the red root vegetable seeds they had brought back remained.

Jiang Yan's home is regularly cleaned by someone, and even after five months of absence, there is no cobwebs or dust.

She sat in the room with her knees drawn up to her chest, her mood heavy with melancholy.

Just now, when she passed by Jiang Ying's house, she saw the hemp rope tied to the door knocker.

Grandma Gao Hua said that Grandpa Jiang Fa passed away three months ago, and Grandma Li Hao's health also deteriorated shortly afterward. In order to take care of her more easily, Jiang Ying took her husband to her husband's home.

My husband's family... I mentioned last time we met that I hadn't met anyone I liked...

Jiang Yun gently knocked on the door, rousing Jiang Yan from her reverie, before speaking, "Sister Yingying guessed that you would overthink things when you came back, and be unhappy hiding at home alone. She asked me to tell you that she wouldn't wrong herself, and her grandparents wouldn't want her to suffer either, so—"

Jiang Yun mimicked Jiang Ying's tone from back then: "Yan Yan, we promised that when I got married, you would cook me a huge pot of one-of-a-kind braised mutton. Now I'm just waiting to keep your promise~"

Jiang Yan could no longer maintain the position of hugging her knees, and instead pressed her forehead against them.

"Sister Yan Yan~" Jiang Yun put her hands on her hips, but looked at Jiang Yan shyly, "What does the unique braised mutton taste like? Will I be able to taste it on my wedding day?"

"Of course." Jiang Yan replied and looked at her for a long time, feeling that time was flying by. She wondered how long it would be before there were fewer familiar faces in Dongshan Village.

……

After Jiang Yun left, Jiang Ning and Jiang Li came next. They came to deliver the proceeds from the autumn cliff fruit oil and the money from the grain sales.

With the help of the villagers of Dongshan, the three farmhands hired by Jiang Yan worked very hard in the fields, and with favorable weather, they had a bountiful harvest.

After settling the promised portion of the new grain with the farmhands, Jiang Ning, following Jiang Yan's wishes, kept only a small amount of grain for her unforeseen needs. The remainder was divided into two parts: one part was sent to the village granary to help the elderly and weak, and the other part was traded to the people of Tiankeng Mountain to reduce their transportation burden.

Jiang Yan casually weighed the cloth bag in her hand and asked with concern, "Did the people from the Hao family give you any trouble?"

After she went to the city to work for Chunying, the job of delivering wild vegetables and delicacies to the Hao family to earn some pocket money was handed over to Jiang Ning and the others. But she hadn't returned for several months, and no one knew if anything had happened to her.

Jiang Ning shook his head: "Aside from asking if we could supply more cliff fruit oil, there was nothing else."

“However…” Jiang Ning frowned as he remembered something, “It seems that the Hao family has found the cliff fruit forest and started pressing oil themselves. Whether they buy from us or lower the price is up to them.”

"Did they try to lower the price this time?"

"Not yet, but there have been hints."

Jiang Yan thought for a while, "It's not surprising that they know the raw materials. We said it was cliff fruit when we sold it. I didn't expect them to wait until now to start producing it themselves. Does this mean that there aren't many cliff fruit forests that can be found in the wild?"

"The two plants I planted in my backyard only started bearing fruit this year, and there are only five or six in total. Jiang Ning, did they grow up after that?"

“No, they’re all empty shells,” Jiang Ning added. “The cliff fruit trees planted by other families are in a similar situation this year.”

“Currently, the production of cliff fruit oil is low, and there is a huge shortage. The amount produced by the Hao family itself is not enough to meet the demand. If they want to hoard the goods and drive down the price for us, we don’t need to worry. At worst, we can just sell it directly to the Fu family.”

Jiang Yan pointed in the direction of Tiankeng Mountain as she spoke, "They would definitely be happy to buy such high-quality lamp oil."

……

After staying in Dongshan Village for five days, Jiang Yan carried a large rattan box to the county town, and once again asked Tian Jiu to pick her up.

An hour and a half later, the donkey cart stopped outside the side gate of the Fu residence. Jiang Yan took out two bamboo tubes from the rattan box and handed them to Tian Jiu. "We didn't have any stock at the beginning of the year. This is a newly made, top-quality lamp oil. There isn't much of it, so you two should use it sparingly."

……

Stepping into the Fu residence once again, Jiang Yan was much more composed.

Last time, she declined the invitation from the Fu lady because she lived too far away, but at the same time, she secured an opportunity to work in the Fu mansion.

Her hope was to be able to enter the Fu family's farm in Rongcheng County to help "develop" the fresh seeds they had collected and "research" new agricultural techniques. After nearly a year of learning through dreams, she had gained several more theoretical insights that were ready to be put into practice.

With Lady Fu intervening, things should get what they want... Jiang Yan followed the servant leading the way toward Steward Fu's courtyard, still feeling a little nervous and uneasy.

……

"Huh?" Jiang Yan was incredulous after hearing the account from Manager Fu's assistant, codenamed Fourteen, the Smiling Gentleman.

"You do not want it?"

The man's seemingly gentle tone, yet uncompromising question sent a chill down Jiang Yan's spine. She quickly explained, "It's not that I'm unwilling, it's just that I'm too surprised, and I'm worried I don't have the ability to handle it, and might delay important matters..."

"Don't worry, he'll remember after being punished a few times." Fourteenth still smiled. "Besides, the master and the stewards all think you have the talent, you can do it."

"I'll have someone take you to your lodgings. You'll officially start your shift tomorrow."