The Transmigrated Farm Girl's Journey to Wealth

After cleaning, Zhao left. Su looked at the new home and was very satisfied.

Song An felt the same way. With such high walls and a large gate, no one could easily barge in anymore. He and his mother felt completely safe living here.

"Mom, the furniture is coming tomorrow. Will we move into the new house?" The old house will be used as a woodshed and storage room from now on.

Looking at the new house, Madam Su liked it more and more. She heard that there was a heated wall inside, so that on snowy days, it would be warm even without sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Are we going to have a housewarming party?"

On the day of the roof-raising ceremony, we simply invited a few acquaintances for a meal.

"Let's do it. We'll go check out an auspicious date tomorrow. After all, most of the villagers helped build our house, so we should treat them to a good meal."

We didn't hold a ceremony for raising the roof beam, but we should at least hold one when we move into a new house. I just don't know how many people we need to hire.

"If we have a big celebration, what will happen to the old house..."

"Mother, if they want to come, then let them have a meal. That's all."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Song Feng thought for a moment, "We don't have many relatives, so let's invite all the villagers who come to work."

How many tables do you need?

In my memory, when people go to banquets in the countryside, it's always the whole family who comes together.

"Thirteen tables."

Really a lot.

"Brother Feng, what kind of dishes are served at the banquet?" In her memory, her father always attended banquets at home, so she really didn't know what kind of banquets were served here.

“I don’t know either. Over the years, our family hasn’t had any contact with people in the village. Even the few families we’re on good terms with, knowing about our difficulties, haven’t called on me.”

Both women were pitiful, having never even attended a village feast. The mother-in-law was even worse off than them; it was said she had a falling out with her own family long ago. Not only did her husband embezzle all her dowry when she married, but after her father-in-law died, he kicked her out when she came seeking help, and they haven't had any contact in years.

"I'll ask Aunt Zhou tomorrow. By the way, why didn't Aunt Village Chief tell anyone about our acorn harvest?"

She preferred interacting with the quiet Aunt Zhou to the village chief's wife, because the village chief's wife was a chatterbox.

"Would she tell outsiders about how she earns her own money? She's not stupid. She just loves to chat and gossip about trivial things. Have you ever heard her say anything bad about her family? Everyone praised the village chief for his generosity when I lent him money before. Auntie, you're very smart!"

Fang Xiaoning suddenly realized that this was another person who pretended to be weak to deceive others, only saying good things to gain a good reputation for their own family.

"Actually, I didn't want to have a banquet because I was afraid my grandfather would cause trouble. But Uncle Village Chief said we should have one so that people would know that our family is no longer the Song family that everyone can bully, and let them see how well we are doing now!"

Song Feng became more and more agitated as he spoke. Fang Xiaoning patted his hand, knowing full well how stifled and difficult his life had been over the years.

"It's all in the past, don't think about it anymore. A banquet in an ordinary village won't be too fancy, it won't cost much money, a dozen tables is fine, it'll only happen once."

The town's charlatan calculated that it would be auspicious to move three days later.

Upon returning, she went to the Zhou family's house. Aunt Zhou showed her the menu, giving Fang Xiaoning a deeper understanding of rural banquets. There was no alcohol involved, not even watered-down wine.

The only decent dish at the meal was braised pork belly; everything else was from their own vegetable garden.

Su was stunned by the excellent food she had been eating lately. In the past, the two sisters-in-law would fight until they were red in the face over a single meal. She thought it must be something special, but this was all?

What exactly are they arguing about?

"Mom, Aunt Zhou said the meat should be calculated per person, not too big, one piece per person. As for the other dishes, well, they'll all be boiled, just make sure the portions are large."

"Is this all?"

"Yes, we probably need to prepare more cornbread and brown rice, since they have a good appetite."

"It's time to feed them properly."

"Tomorrow we'll go to town to bring back some things, and buy a few pounds of melon seeds to eat during the feast. My mother, my daughter, Aunt Zhou, Aunt Wang, the village chief's wife, Aunt Song, and Aunt Li will all come to help. Several young wives from the village also said they'll come; their tables, chairs, bowls, and chopsticks will be moved over the day after tomorrow."

"Xiao Ning, you've made such a good arrangement."

Fang Xiaoning smiled. Her mother-in-law didn't go out, so she had to get things done. Otherwise, what would happen if they just stared at each other blankly when they arrived?

"Mother, do we still have any distant relatives we need to call?"

“As for relatives, I’ve cut ties with my maternal family, so I won’t call them anymore. I haven’t had any contact with Old Song’s relatives over the years either. You know the brothers in the family, anyway, they’ll probably come on their own even if I don’t call them. Also, he has a younger sister, who married well back then and has no contact with us either.”

Therefore, this family is indeed all alone.

Fang Xiaoning sighed, "She's even worse off than her father!"