The Transmigrated Farm Girl's Journey to Wealth

"Oh, the imperial examination is coming up! Your fourth uncle is amazing, a rare smart man in our village! If he passes, our Zaoshu Village will be glorious too!"

Fang Xiaoning looked at her naive mother-in-law and chose to keep quiet.

Some things, and some people, are simply impossible to explain. As the saying goes, "If you don't see eye to eye, even half a sentence is too much." Mother-in-law, perhaps you should just remain simple-minded.

The meal was ready, but Song Feng still hadn't returned. Fang Xiaoning stood at the door, looking around. Why wasn't he back by now? Had something happened to him? She hadn't heard of any wild beasts on the mountain!

"Why so late? We were all so worried."

"Don't even mention it. I saw two rabbits on my way down the mountain, and I went to chase them. I didn't notice and they got far away." The most embarrassing thing was that he didn't even catch the rabbits.

Fang Xiaoning: ...

"I'm going to heat up the food. Mom and Xiao An are waiting for you; they haven't eaten yet."

"Hey, I'll put down the firewood, wash my hands, and head over."

"Fengzi, what happened? Why aren't you home yet? It's getting dark." Su Shi and Song An were waiting in the main room. Fang Xiaoning was afraid that they would get sick from the evening breeze, so she insisted that they sit inside and wait.

"It's okay, it ran too far while chasing the rabbit."

"You scared your mother to death! Don't chase rabbits anymore, it's terrifying!"

"Ai!"

Song Feng rubbed his nose. Before, when there was little meat, he relied on catching a little to eat. He'd chase after prey whenever he saw it; it was practically instinctive. These two rabbits today were really fast runners!

After running around in the mountains for half a day, he was starving. He ate the rice in his bowl and said, "Xiao An, your big brother picked some hawthorns for you. After you finish eating, I'll go pick some more." There were too many on the mountain, and they were too sour for anyone to eat. Only his brother liked sour things.

Song An's mouth watered at the thought of the taste. Before, when there was so little to eat at home, he would slowly eat even the rarest wild fruits, no matter how unpalatable they were. Now…

"Big brother, I don't like eating hawthorn berries, so please don't pick them anymore."

“You’ve eaten all the ones I picked before.”

"There's no food at home, and I don't want to waste it. That stuff is so sour it makes my teeth ache."

Song Feng: ...

He hadn't even noticed that his younger brother didn't like it; it was like a devastating blow to his heart. "If you don't like it, then don't eat it. I'll feed it to the chickens tomorrow."

Song An: Will the chicken die from the sourness?

"Hongguo'er, tomorrow your sister-in-law will make you some Hongguo'er cake. It's sweet and sour, and it's really delicious."

"Can this even taste good?"

"Yes, you'll see tomorrow when you try it. I'll also get you a few more candied hawthorn skewers."

"Candied hawthorn? I've never had it before, thank you, sister-in-law."

Fang Xiaoning looked at Song Feng, who kept showing off his food, and asked, "How many did you pick?"

"A small half-basket, about five or six pounds, is that enough? If not, there are plenty more on the mountain." It's too sour, so only a few greedy kids occasionally pick a few to eat.

"That's enough. When the tofu deliveryman comes back tomorrow, buy three catties of brown sugar."

"it is good."

That evening, she found the bamboo skewers she had used for tasting the cold noodles, washed and dried them.

"Brother Feng, we need to buy some more wooden buckets and basins. The acorn tofu restaurant needs a lot of them now, and we don't have enough basins."

I'll go find a carpenter tomorrow.

"My grandparents came to see me today."

"Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing. It's probably just rumors from the Song family that you're a kept man and are asking me for money. My fourth uncle is taking an exam next year and doesn't have much money."

"Exams are important, so we should help if we can."

Fang Xiaoning knew she should tell him.

“What help? The old family dislikes my father and separated us a long time ago. Over the years, they’ve avoided us like the plague. When I got married, my grandmother even told me not to go to them for help, no matter if I’m rich or poor, because they have no money to help us.”

Song Feng: ...

“I’m telling you this to remind you that if they come to you, don’t lend them any money, no matter what excuse you make. Don’t lend them a single penny. I told them that you and Mom are the ones in charge of our family. Mom doesn’t go out, so they can’t reach us. No matter what, they won’t come to our door asking for money.”

My fourth uncle is just not cut out for studying. Even if he gets incredibly lucky and passes the preliminary examination, what can a preliminary scholar do? Besides, I don't think he'll pass. We don't earn money easily; we shouldn't throw our hard-earned savings away.

Song Feng remained silent for a while, then said, "Your grandparents and uncles came to me, but you wouldn't lend them any?"

"No, just give me some New Year's gifts. You can just brush it off."

"father?"

"Don't worry, Dad doesn't want to lend them money even more than I do. Do you think Dad didn't resent being separated from us back then? No matter how difficult things were for us, they never lent a hand. Now they want to take advantage of us? Sorry, they don't have any."

Our separation is not much different from the Song family kicking you out. The only difference is that my father was ruthless enough that my grandfather didn't dare to leave you with nothing, but that was only on the surface.