Volume 1 Chapter 50: Settling Small Accounts

  "You silly girl, stop talking nonsense! The Buddha is someone to be revered and respected in one's heart!"

  The grandmother nodded and thanked Wenjing's smooth forehead.

  "Alright, alright, when we move there, I'll bring some offerings and pay respects to the Buddha at Fahua Temple!"

  Xie Wenjing smiled and hugged her grandmother's arm, answering in a pleading tone.

  The great uncle and great aunt, seeing their parents were all coaxed into agreement by their niece, could only follow along with their niece. Fortunately, they lived close to their own family, so they could often go visit them, and it wasn't as difficult for them anymore.

  "Wenjing, you bought 100 mu of land, bought soybeans, and bought rice seeds. Are you really going to farm?"

  The second aunt had an unbelievable look on her face. Wen Jing was the eldest daughter of the Yangzhou Xie family, could she do farm work?

  "Second Aunt, farming is quite good!" Xie Wenjing replied enthusiastically. This life cultivates a little land, simple and leisurely, should be very comfortable?

  "Alright, alright, it's fine, aren't you afraid of getting sunburned yourself? Aren't you also afraid of tiring yourselves out?" Second Aunt asked again.

  No worries, the villagers in that village are very kind and willing to help us with farming if we pay them a little.

  To be honest, it's not like we're really working hard in the fields, but rather just enjoying a leisurely life in the countryside.

  Xie Wenjing smiled and explained clearly, lest her grandmother worry.

  After Xie Wenjing's explanation, the Du family felt relieved.

  Third Uncle and Third Aunt were delighted, this finally solved the problem, neither bothering the Du family nor avoiding direct conflict with her stepmother. She could also spend a leisurely time in the countryside with Wenjing.

  However, I must study hard this time, and the two-year mourning period has already passed.

  I have been stuck in the imperial examination for over a decade, even my older brother who is ill is striving to make progress, how can I not strive to make progress.

  I used to think that I could rely on the Xie family, but now I realize that the Xie family is just my stepmother's Xie family and my second brother's Xie family, not mine and big brother's Xie family.

  To truly break free from the harm of Xie's stepmother, one must stand up straight and be able to hold up a sky for their family.

  Xie Wenjing did not expect that after exposing the evil heart of her paternal grandmother, her third uncle and father both had a strong desire to make progress, although Xie Wenjing's father actually liked books and paintings, but for the sake of his family having something to rely on, Xie Chengyu was willing to abandon his likes and take responsibility.

  These days, Third Uncle and Third Aunt accompanied Xie Wenjing back and forth between the Du family home and the Li family ancestral hall.

  The courtyard of Li's ancestral temple has been renovated by the villagers, and the 100 mu of paddy fields, which were originally almost barren with wheat, have long since become ashes in the fields.

  The soybean seeds were sown with the help of villagers, a total of 4,000 catties of beans, which made the villagers excited.

  This young lady's eyes exude extreme confidence, and the villagers can't help but discuss among themselves whether to follow suit.

  "The child's father, otherwise, we can also plant some soybeans. Our wheat field, I think in two months, should not harvest more than 100 kilograms of wheat."

  "Our family has twenty mu of land, if we change to plant soybeans, after two months, if the harvest is good, we can get 14,000 catties of beans, even at one cent per catty, we can earn 14 taels of silver, which is better than waiting idly."

  Li Da Shu from next door has already been moved. The key is that the wheat field will not produce much more wheat even if it is left alone, so it's better to burn it and plant soybeans like Miss Xie, and earn whatever you can.

  In the past few days, Miss Xie asked the villagers to help repair the house and plant beans, and also gave some silver. The village head gave one or two silver coins to each household that made an effort, which is not a bad investment at all!

  "It's just a pity, in two more months we could have seen some results, and now it's all gone up in flames?"

  The man said with great regret, hanging his head in despair and lacking spirit.

  "Then burn it, the earlier the better, so as not to affect next season's rice crop and lose even more."

  Auntie Li settled it with one strike.

  Several brothers and sisters-in-law who were discussing together, looking at the eldest sister's efficiency, couldn't help but be moved, thinking that it was still worth following her lead. Those wheat could be harvested for a few hundred catties, which was quite good, even if a few hundred catties of wheat weren't worth much money, it was better to burn them.

  They did it immediately. Xie Wenjing's neighbor, Uncle Li's family of four brothers, joined forces to burn their 80 mu of wheat field in one go and replant soybeans.

  As a result, others in the village were moved, and in just a few days, nearly 1,000 mu of paddy fields near Lijia Temple were all converted to soybeans.

  The villagers from the neighboring villages all thought they were crazy. The wheat harvest season is approaching, and even if it's a disaster, at least there will be some food, can soybeans be used as food? That's fodder for horses!

  When food is really gone, grain can be more precious than gold! Can soybeans compare with grain? Foolish!

  Just as Xie Wenjing was leading people to clean up the new house, and when the new house was cleaned up, they could move in. On this day, the Zhao family of Yangzhou happened to be hosting a banquet for the ladies of Yangzhou's noble families to admire the flowers.

  The second lady was very pleased with herself, and after taking over the old lady's power to manage the household, she didn't think anyone could take it back.

  She has no shame, but the old master still wants to save face. Although that scoundrel who mistakenly recognized the old madam was forced to kneel at the entrance of the Xie family and confess his crime, people are still secretly questioning the old madam's past.

  Besides, Master said that she should rest well in the backyard and let herself take charge of the household, so naturally it's up to her to deal with these aristocratic families.

  In this way, she can carefully select a good husband's family for her daughter. Not only should the son-in-law have a good reputation and career, but also his family background should be solid and with a good social status, and he himself cannot be ugly.

  "Mother, today we're going to the Zhao's for flower viewing. Unfortunately, Wenjing isn't here. What should I say if Mistress Zhao asks about her?"

  The second lady was very well-behaved and asked for instructions when she went to pay her respects to the elderly lady in the morning.

  "Tell them the truth, that child is filial and accompanied his seriously ill father to Fajing Temple in Hangzhou to pray for blessings. When they went, they brought Ye Zhu along with them, as a companion for Wen Yu and Wen Qian, and also to let the child see the world."

  "Yes, my wife knows. My wife will definitely take good care of Ye Zhu this child. However, Wen Qian is not feeling well today after catching a cold, so I told her to rest at home and recover. Let's just bring Ye Zhu and Wen Juan together to go to the Zhao's house to admire the flowers!"

  The second lady's clever response was accompanied by a mental hum of discontent:

  Xie Wenqian, that concubine's daughter, is she worthy of following me out? She's not even a biological daughter, raised by my side. Being good to her would be like raising a white-eyed wolf.

  The old lady's heart is as clear as a mirror, and Wen Qiang just happened to catch a cold today? Humph! You're just relying on your identity as a mother to bully the concubine next to Er'er.

  Never mind, it's not a big deal, as long as Ye Zhu can go to the Zhao family, that's enough. Ye Zhu is a clever child and will naturally be able to win over Mrs. Zhao when she goes to the Zhao family.

  But as soon as she thought of it, Xie Chengyu had gone to Hangzhou with his wife, and the old lady's heart was very uncomfortable.

  Although Lao Er replied that he was already living in a village under Fahua Temple, Liu Lingling also brought a letter saying that they had arrived in Hangzhou and went directly to Fahua Temple, without inviting a doctor, but only praying for blessings and burning incense, yet somehow this heart couldn't feel at ease.

  What's even more detestable is that Jia Daifu extorted 50,000 taels of silver from himself, but since there was no cash available, he had to write him an IOU, promising to repay the debt within a month.

  At this thought, the old lady was so angry that she wanted to smash that greedy ghost with a brick.