Chapter 614: Imperial Examination Promotion System (23)

It was useless to find the village head; the village head had presided over the family division back then and knew very clearly what the third son's family had received.

"Wife of Minghua, after your third son moved out, the Ear Room was occupied by your second son, which means the third son only received one mu of poor land. You are making such a scene—do you want him to return that one mu of land as well? Let me say this plainly: if the third son really returns the land, don't come looking for me when he stops providing for your old age."

Wangshi shouted unconvinced: "What do you mean he only received one mu of land? Weren't the firewood and clay pots given to him? These are all things from the family."

The village head laughed in anger: "How many Copper coins are those two things worth? If you are still thinking about them, shall I have the third son return them to you right now?"

The third son's family produced a scholar; which family in the village wouldn't come to pay their respects? Only Lao Wangshi, relying on being the third son's biological mother and Er Lang's grandmother, caused trouble every three days. If Minghua knew this in the afterlife, she would probably be so angry she couldn't keep her coffin lid down. What a foolish woman!

Yet Wangshi still felt she was in the right, and with her nostrils flared, she said: "Even if it's just one mu of land, he still has to provide for my old age."

"You also said it's for old age. How much grain for old age have your eldest and second sons provided? They haven't provided any, so why should your third son? If it is to be provided, it should be calculated based on the proportion of farmland each of the three brothers received."

"..."

This is the benefit of having a top-ranking scholar in the Imperial Examination in the family! Even the village head stood on Song Laosan's side.

Not to mention the villagers who had students in their own families; they were hoping Song Yanqing would give their children some guidance so they could also pass the Imperial Examination in the future!

Even the villagers who didn't have students thought Wangshi was very stupid.

If they had such a grandson, they wouldn't even need to worship him like an ancestor, but at the very least, they wouldn't provoke him.

Wangshi, on the other hand, instead of trying every way to win over the third son's family, was pushing them away. She had seen stupid people, but never anyone this stupid.

"I heard from the yamen runner that Er Lang passed the Imperial Examination, so the taxes on the farmland under his name can be exempted for eighty mu. If I were Wangshi, I would register all the family's farmland under Er Lang's name; think of how much tax that would save! If she's worried about things being unclear later, she could privately write a contract and ask the clan elders in the village to witness it. Given Er Lang's character, would he really embezzle the public farmland?"

"If Lao Wangshi were that smart, she wouldn't have split the third son's family off alone back then, nor would she have refused to treat Er Lang's leg."

"Indeed! How could Uncle Minghua have married such a woman back then."

"At that time, the village head hadn't changed yet, and Lao Wangshi was the niece of the old village head's wife. However, while Minghua was still alive, Lao Wangshi was quite honest and didn't act so excessively."

"When all is said and done, a woman shouldn't be the head of the household."

"That's not entirely true; it depends on the woman. I think the wife Er Lang married is generous and reasonable."

"Er Lang's wife is indeed quite good."

"The couple of the third son has finally come to the end of their suffering!"

The couple Song Zhisheng and his wife indeed felt they had come to the end of their suffering.

Recently, there had been one happy event after another in the family—

Just recently, both the Prefectural School and the County School sent letters of admission.

If Song Yanqing were willing, he could set off for Fucheng to study immediately; not only would he not have to pay tuition, but he could also receive a fixed living allowance every month.

However, the allowance for a scholar who hasn't passed the annual examination isn't much, just enough to cover food and clothing. Once he passes the annual examination and becomes a government-stipended student, then life will truly be comfortable.

By comparison, the living allowance of the County School seemed much more meager.

But Song Yanqing still decided to attend the nearby County School.

To go to Fucheng, it would take two days by water and even longer by land; the holidays wouldn't even be enough for him to travel back and forth.

But the County School was in Qingfeng City, only a short half-day by carriage; he could live in the Zhaishe during the week and come home on holidays.

Seeing that their son had made up his mind, Song Zhisheng and his wife didn't try to persuade him further.

Thinking about it, it made sense; while the living allowance of the Prefectural School was indeed temptingly high, the cost of living in Fucheng must be much higher. Furthermore, if he couldn't come back on holidays, when would they be able to hold a grandson?

Xie Yang: "..."

However, Song Yanqing had bound the Imperial Examination Promotion System, so whether he went to the Prefectural School or the County School would not affect him passing the provincial examination next year.

Therefore, Xie Yang also expressed her support for his decision.

Just as he said, the County School was close to home, and he could return every holiday. It was also convenient to have someone pass a message if anything came up.

And then... well, this guy misunderstood and thought she couldn't bear to be apart from him. That night, during their routine intimacy, he was extremely gentle and lingering, even biting her earlobe and whispering lewd words that made even Xie Yang curl her toes in embarrassment.

The next day, it went without saying that she woke up late again.

Fortunately, her mother-in-law didn't mention a word of it. Seeing her walk out after washing up, she brought out the breakfast kept warm in the pot and urged her to eat quickly so she wouldn't go hungry.

The breakfast was golden millet porridge; the millet was freshly harvested this year, making the porridge fragrant, thick, and viscous. She had added some of the brick Brown Sugar that Xie Yang had taken out earlier, and a sip was very warming to the stomach.

Her mother-in-law also left her two fluffy mixed-flour steamed buns and a boiled egg; the side dishes were pickled radish slices and salted vegetables made from radish greens.

Ever since they raised a few laying hens and ducks at the Farm, they could collect seven or eight chicken eggs and a dozen duck eggs every day.

Every time Xie Yang went, she would drip a little diluted Spirit Spring into the water the chickens and ducks drank to improve their immunity and prevent illness.

Therefore, the health of the chickens and ducks had always been very good, and they laid eggs very punctually; the ducks even often laid two eggs a day.

Duck eggs had a high yield and were consumed slowly, unlike chicken eggs, which the family consumed quickly with one boiled or steamed egg each per day.

Duck eggs had a stronger fishy smell, so they were basically stir-fried, or they would save up a batch to pickle as Salted Duck Eggs.

Thinking of Salted Duck Eggs, Xie Yang pondered that the batch pickled earlier was almost ready to eat, and there were quite a few duck eggs saved up recently, so she might as well pickle another batch. She would have the previously pickled ones boiled for Song Yanqing to take to the County School as a side dish.

He could only come back once every half month, and with his personality, he probably wouldn't be willing to buy expensive food, so she would pack whatever they had at home for him.

While Xie Yang was eating breakfast, Lin Shi sat under the eaves sewing shoe soles.

The autumn sun felt warm on her body, and Lin Shi was extremely satisfied with her current life.

So what if her daughter-in-law woke up late? Waking up late meant the young couple had a good relationship; perhaps before long, she would be holding a grandson.

Those gossiping women in the village who said things like "Er Lang married a wife, why does he still let you get up early to make breakfast? You should make Er Lang's wife get up and do it," and kept urging her to assert her authority over her daughter-in-law—bah! They just couldn't stand to see her family doing well! They were dying for her and her daughter-in-law to be at odds! She wouldn't fall for it!

"Mother, I'm going to the Farm to pick up some duck eggs. The Salted Duck Eggs I made before are almost ready to eat, so I might as well boil them for my husband to take to the County School as a side dish, and I'll make some more for the family to eat. Do you have any instructions?"

After Xie Yang finished breakfast, she washed the bowls and chopsticks, changed into old clothes for manual labor, slung a bamboo basket over her arm, and prepared to go to the Farm.

Hearing this, Lin Shi thought to herself: See! She said her daughter-in-law was good! Being good to Er Lang meant being good to her family!