The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

After Ji Fu left, Ji Lingfeng stood there looking at the spot where she had just stood.

When did his sister become so close to Ma Liangcai?

He remembered that his sister disliked those seemingly frail young masters from wealthy families.

Ma Liangcai looked frail and weak. He couldn't lift anything, and he was no good at archery, horseback riding, or martial arts. He was even less skilled than his sister.

He remembered that Ma Liangcai was very weak when he was a child and needed to take medicine almost every day. He was practically a walking medicine cabinet. Therefore, General Ma did not force him to learn martial arts.

It seems I need to have a good talk with that kid before leaving the capital.

After returning from the village chief's house, Shen Chen went to the bookstore and bought a lot of books related to agriculture.

Previously, he only read the books of sages and only studied the ways of governing the world.

After chatting with the village chief, he realized how little he knew about matters concerning people's livelihoods.

Especially those related to agronomy.

That day, Shen Cao went to the study to call Shen Chen for dinner, only to find that her older brother had several books related to agriculture on his desk.

She flipped through it casually and found several obvious errors.

"Brother, why are you suddenly reading agricultural books?"

Shen Chen smiled and said, "Last time I went to the village chief's house, we talked about growing chili peppers. I didn't understand a lot of what he said."

"I only understood half of what was being explained by my father."

"If I become an official in the future, and I can't understand what my subordinates are saying, how can I serve the people?"

Shen Cao gave her older brother a thumbs up, "Big brother, you'll definitely be a good official in the future."

"But have you ever thought about why our dad and the village chief both understand this, but you don't?"

"Of course, they are all very skilled at farming."

He looked at his hands and said, "I've been studying all my life and don't know anything about farming. At most, I used to help my family grow some rice."

Shen Cao pointed to obvious errors in the book, "These are all wrong, these are all wrong."

"I reckon the author of this book knows about the same things as you do."

Shen Chen was at a loss when he heard Shen Cao's words. He hadn't expected there to be so many errors in the book.

Shen Cao smiled and said, "Brother, think about it, how many educated people know how to farm?"

"How many farmers have read this book? Most farmers are illiterate. Their farming skills are passed down orally, and their common sense about farming is accumulated over a long period of time."

"I think you should let your dad read it, correct it for you, and then you can read it."

“I think that since you want to be a good official, you can go down to the people and work with them for a year or two, and you will understand everything.”

Upon hearing Shen Cao's words, Shen Chen felt as if he had been enlightened.

But then he glanced at the books on agronomy on his desk, and an idea popped into his head.

At the dinner table, he looked at Shen's father and said, "Dad, there's something I'd like to ask you for help with."

Mr. Shen asked, somewhat puzzled, "Chen'er, what's wrong?"

“I have a few books on agronomy here. My younger sister just flipped through a few pages and found a lot of errors in them.”

"I would like you to take a look at this for me in the next few days and correct any mistakes so that I can study this subject more thoroughly."

Although Mr. Shen did not know what his eldest son's purpose was in studying these books, he was still willing to help.

He was one of the few people who had both farmed and been literate.

He nodded, agreeing to his son's request. "Chen'er, when will you be going to the capital?"

He was worried that his eldest son would leave before he finished, which would delay his schedule, so he asked.

Shen Chen thought for a moment and then replied, "My master told me to stay at home for a while longer and that I can go back before the end of the month."

"It will take almost half a month to get back, so I should leave after the Lantern Festival."

Today is the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, there are still ten days left.

Mr. Shen nodded. "Okay, I'll go to the study after I finish eating."

Shen Cao didn't expect that her older brother would be leaving again in ten days. It's so inconvenient that he's so far away. Just the round trip will take a month.

Although he stayed at home for less than twenty days, he had actually been away from Beijing for more than a month. In addition, it would take another half month to get back, so it would take this older brother two months to come back for the New Year.

It must be said that ancient horse-drawn carriages were indeed quite slow.

In my past life, the distance would only take half a day to reach.

Thinking of the stack of books on her older brother's desk, she said, "Brother, I'll go too in a bit. I reckon Father might not be able to finish correcting them all in ten days by himself."

Fortunately, nowadays the Lunar New Year isn't considered over until after the Lantern Festival, and only then will business resume and shops reopen.

Shen's restaurant also plans to open after the Lantern Festival, so they can spend some quality time with their elder brother during this period.

The children in Shenwan won't be back from their holiday until after the Lantern Festival.

During this time, they invited their friends over to play cards every day, and Shen Cao also taught them other card games.

They play different games every day.

In the study, Shen's father and Shen Cao were reading and revising agricultural books.

Since Shen Chen had no books to read for the time being, he went to look at Shen Cao's handwriting. He then noticed that his younger sister's handwriting was rather ugly.

He hadn't noticed it when he was writing the character "福" (fortune) before.

"Tsk!"

"Tsk!!"

Hearing the voice beside her, Shen Cao looked up and saw her older brother frowning as he looked at the words he had written in the book.

It's really not her fault; she's not used to using this calligraphy brush, especially since the characters in the book are written so small. It's already quite good that she can write them at all.

She looked at him with a slightly embarrassed smile, "Brother, I've done my best."

"Sister, your handwriting is so different from your personality."

Shen Cao stuck out her tongue. Actually, her handwriting was very good, but the brush pen affected her performance.

Shen Chen took a calligraphy practice book from the bookshelf and handed it to her, saying, "Little sister, you can practice your calligraphy when you have time."

Shen Qing had previously said that his younger sister's handwriting wasn't as good as his, and he hadn't believed it. Now he did, because his younger sister's handwriting was truly... indescribable.

Shen Cao took the calligraphy copybook, somewhat unhappy, as she didn't want to practice calligraphy.

In my previous life, I was forced to practice calligraphy by my family when I was a child, and now that I'm in ancient times, I'm still forced to practice calligraphy.

Tired.

"No slacking off, I'll have Shen Qing keep an eye on you."

As if knowing Shen Cao's little thoughts, Shen Chen deliberately reminded her.

"One's handwriting reflects one's personality..."

"I understand, brother, I understand."