Transmigrated into a Prosperous Farm Wife, Pampered, Beautiful, Strong, and Tragic Prime Minister

"Who?"

"What are you doing standing at the door? Come in!"

Lin Hongzhi shouted at the top of his lungs, thinking to himself, "Why is this guy eavesdropping?"

A young man, about the same age as Lin Hongzhi but half a head shorter, came out of the door. He was wearing old clothes, with the cuffs and trouser legs half a head shorter than Lin Hongzhi's.

"Oh, it's Shi Tou. You've come to deliver apricots?" Lin Hongzhi greeted the visitor.

Lin Shuyun recognized the young man; she remembered buying fish from him before, and it was quite cheap.

"Um... I... my apricots are small, I'll ask if you want them."

The stone lowered its head, looking very awkward, and its voice was barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.

Lin Hongzhi turned around and glanced at Lin Shuyun, then nodded and said, "I need it too, please bring it in."

Stone carried two baskets, the apricots inside being half the size of those delivered by others.

"The trees in my yard are new, so the apricots aren't very big, but they're quite sweet."

As Shi Tou spoke, he glanced up at Lin Shuyun, blushed, and then lowered his head again.

Lin Shuyun was feeling hungry. "Did you go fishing today?"

The fish was quite delicious that day.

Upon hearing this, Shi Tou paused for a moment, then broke into a big smile. "I've got it! I'll go get it right now."

After saying that, he ran out.

Madam Li came over and said, "It's not easy for Shitou. He and his mother are the only ones left in the family. They depend on each other for survival. These apricots are small; they all grew on the new tree."

Lin Shuyun took one and tasted it; it was quite sweet.

Personally, I think small apricots taste better than large apricots.

Li Shi was talking to Jiang Changtian and Old Man Xu about the boy Shi Tou.

Shi Tou's real name is Zhang Shi Tou. His father died in an accident when he was six years old. The elders in his family disliked his father, disliked his mother even more, and by extension, disliked him, their grandson. Ignoring the gossip, they separated the mother and son and made them live separately.

Since her husband passed away and she fell ill, the burden of life fell on Little Stone's shoulders.

Even the apricot trees that the Zhang family had previously owned were not given to the mother and son.

The tree that Stone planted after the family split up has been carefully tended to over the years, and it has now borne apricots.

To support himself and his mother, Zhang Shitou did all sorts of odd jobs: fishing in the river, hunting in the mountains, and doing odd jobs.

After finishing two apricots, Lin Shuyun clapped her hands. "Aren't we short of people for making dried apricots? Let's hire him."

Lin Hongzhi said, "He's alright. He's a reliable worker and would never slack off."

We all grew up together in the village, so we know each other's personalities.

"This girl is so kind-hearted. I want to eat two fish."

Old Xu sat back in Lin Dahai's recliner, swaying back and forth, and comfortably raised two fingers.

The recliner was where Lin Hongzhi sat; it creaked and rocked when he sat on it.

Zhang Shitou returned quickly, covered in sweat.

He was holding a wooden basin, which contained two larger fish and the rest of the fish were small, about two or three fingers wide.

Zhang Shitou blushed and said to Lin Shuyun, "That's all we caught today. I made fish soup for my mother with the other two. ... If you don't want these smaller ones, I'll release them."

"Yes, of course I want some. It's perfect for frying small fish."

Lin Shuyun took the wooden basin. "Thank you so much. How much are these?"

Zhang Shitou's face was very red, whether from the sun or from embarrassment.

He didn't dare to look Lin Shuyun in the eye. "No need, no money. I'm already very grateful that you're willing to accept my apricots, Sister Yunniang. These are all from the river and nobody eats them. How could I possibly take your money?"

"Let my older brother tell you, I'm going to cook." Lin Shuyun carried a pot of fish into the kitchen and started working. Seeing this, Madam Li hurriedly went to help.

Lin Hongzhi came over and told Zhang Shitou about hiring him to fire the kiln.

"I'm already very grateful that you accepted my apricots. It's just a favor, I don't want any money! I really don't want any money!"

Zhang Shitou quickly refused, saying he didn't want it no matter what.

Jiang Changtian, who was sitting on a chair nearby, spoke up, "There's a lot of work to be done, it won't be a matter of just one or two days, so we still need to pay the wages."

Zhang Shitou looked at Jiang Changtian with a puzzled expression.

"This is……?"

Lin Hongzhi grinned as he introduced, "This is my brother-in-law, Jiang Changtian. You should have heard of him. He's a scholar, and he's very good at accounting."

"Hello."

Jiang Changtian nodded in greeting.

Zhang Shitou's eyes momentarily dimmed. "Alright, Brother Lin, I'll go back first to make sure my mother takes her medicine. I'll come back to work this afternoon."

"Okay, I'll see you out."

Seeing Zhang Shitou leave the courtyard, Old Man Xu went over to him.

"This young man has a thing for Yun. Look, when he heard the words 'brother-in-law,' the light in his eyes went out like a flame."

Jiang Changtian paused, his hand holding the pen still. "Uncle Xu, don't talk nonsense."

"I'm talking nonsense? This old man has sharp eyes. Yun girl is very popular. If you don't keep an eye on her, you might get poached and have nowhere to cry then."

Old Xu was somewhat gloating.

Seeing that Jiang Changtian didn't speak, Old Xu muttered that it was boring and got up to pick apricot pits.

Even when you get old, you can't just eat and do nothing; that will make you disliked.

Jiang Changtian glanced at the figure in water-red in the kitchen, his thoughts drifting elsewhere.

For lunch, I fried a bowl of dough fish, made a fish soup, cooked two vegetarian dishes, and boiled a pot of porridge.

Old Xu ate a fried fish and exclaimed that it was delicious.

"It's a pity there's no rice wine, otherwise this life would be heavenly!"

After dinner, the apricots arrived again, and everyone got busy once more.

After working through the night, the first batch of dried apricots was ready.

Lin Shuyun took Lin Hongzhi to the county to deliver the goods.

Lin Hongzhi is going to his master's place today; he'll be accompanying Lin Shuyun and won't be coming back.

"Uncle Xu, is there anything you want to buy?"

Lin Shuyun asked everyone in turn, and finally asked Uncle Xu.

"No, but I heard a while ago that a dean was recruiting. You can ask around for that kid." Uncle Xu leaned over and pointed to Jiang Changtian in Lin Hongwen's room.

Now that he had some free time, Lin Hongwen pestered Jiang Changtian to start reading again.

"What academy? Luming Academy?"

Lin Shuyun only remembered one place: Luming Academy.

"What are you thinking? Luming Academy is in the capital. Mishan Academy is a place you can get in by passing an exam. I heard that the dean is also very learned and talented. Getting in is much better than following any teacher."

When Old Xu saw Jiang Changtian looking over, he lowered his voice.

Jiang Changtian had been studying under Master Li in the county and was about to take the imperial examination to become a scholar when the accident happened. It's unknown how well he has done in his studies.

"I'll go and find out today, and if it's suitable, I'll let him take the exam."

Lin Shuyun didn't know anything about these things and planned to inquire about them today. She figured Jiang Changtian would definitely continue his studies once his leg was healed.

Old Xu pulled Lin Shuyun a few steps outside the courtyard before instructing her, "Go and find out what conditions are required. If all else fails, try to pull some strings. There's always a way to overcome difficulties."

The old man described using connections in a rather refined and elegant way.

Lin Shuyun chuckled and drove the donkey cart out the door.

Old Xu went back to work with his hands behind his back. What a fulfilling life!

……

……