Chapter 615: Imperial Examination Family-Building System (24)

"I'll go with you," Lin Shi said, rising immediately. "Your father is also at the Farm watching his rabbits. Another doe is nesting, and he said he was going to make the nest warmer. I'll go see if there's anything I can help with."

"That works, let's go together. How about we slaughter a chicken today and stew a soup to nourish my husband? The autumn air is dry, and Mother and Father should have some nourishing soup to moisten their throats too."

In truth, Xie Yang herself wanted to drink wild chicken soup.

She couldn't bear to stew the hens that were laying eggs; if she wanted to eat, she would stew the captive wild chickens.

Her sister-in-law had followed the village girls to the nearby wild hills to pick plenty of mushrooms and dig up many winter bamboo shoots. Even with ordinary domestic chickens, stewing them with wild mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots would be delicious enough to make one's tongue fall off, let alone with the firm meat of a wild chicken.

Lin Shi was even happier upon hearing this: Look! Her daughter-in-law cares so much for her son, and is so filial to her parents-in-law!

She readily agreed: "Good, I'll listen to you!"

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went to the backyard; walking out the back door led straight to the Farm.

Some of the hired farmhands were harvesting the remaining radishes in the fields, some were tilling the soil, and others were building fences; in short, everyone was busy with their own work.

Xie Yang led her mother-in-law straight to the chicken coop, one responsible for catching the chicken, the other going to the storage shed next to the chicken and duck pens to get duck eggs.

They put all the available chicken and duck eggs into a basket to take back. The chicken eggs would be kept for daily eating, and the duck eggs would be made into Salted Duck Eggs. They would pickle more this time and send some to her maiden home later.

On the way back, they also packed a basket of radishes and cabbage, intending to make them into kimchi.

After arriving home, the two women busied themselves separately, one slaughtering the chicken for soup, the other pickling salted eggs and making kimchi.

There were no other houses near the new home, but there were people working in the fields who, smelling the aroma of the chicken soup, couldn't help but look toward the Song house with envy.

Life for Song Laosan's family was truly getting better! They were actually stewing chicken when it wasn't even a festival or holiday.

Even the village head's wife envied Lin Shi's good life now.

The village head shot his wife a sidelong glance: "That's because Er Lang is going to study at the County School, and the family is stewing it specifically to nourish his body!"

"Going to study at the County School? The tuition must be quite high, right?" the village head's wife said sourly. "It has to be Song Laosan; he made a good marriage connection!"

She assumed the Xie Family was providing the Silver for Song Yanqing to study at the County School.

"What would a woman like you know! Er Lang is no longer just an ordinary child student; he passed the exam to become a budding scholar, so the County School doesn't charge a cent for him to study there; on the contrary, the County School even gives Er Lang a subsidy." The village head stood in the courtyard, hands behind his back, looking toward the end of the village, his tone tinged with a hint of regret. "It's a pity they aren't the same Song as us."

The village head's wife felt even more regret than he did: "If I had known, I wouldn't have let Meiya marry so early. If she had stayed at home for a few more years, she could have been a budding scholar's wife and enjoyed a good life! Now it's all gone to waste on an outsider!"

The village head: "..."

This woman was really becoming more and more outrageous! Meiya was already twenty this year! If she stayed until now, wouldn't she be an old maid? Even if you as her mother were willing to keep her, Song Laosan wouldn't be happy about his son marrying her!

"Just say that in front of me, but don't mention it again once you step out the door." The village head pulled a long face to lecture his wife. "If it spreads, it won't be the Song family that loses face, but our family and Meiya. You don't want Meiya to have friction with her husband, do you?"

"I know, I know."

Two days before it was time to report to the County School, Song Yanqing accompanied Xie Yang back to her maiden home and also stopped by the bookstore in town to sell the books he had copied during this period.

This time, the books he copied were rarely found in the town's bookstore. He copied ten in total, three of which even the bookstore manager had only heard of by name and never read. Suspecting they had come from bookstores in Jingcheng, the manager immediately offered a high price of one tael of Silver per book.

For ten books, he earned a total of three and a half taels.

After returning home, he gave Lin Shi half a tael and gave the remaining three taels to Xie Yang.

Xie Yang looked at him with a half-smile: "Aren't you afraid Mother will scold you if she finds out?"

They hadn't separated the family yet, so according to the rules, all income other than her dowry had to be handed over to the family treasury.

A flush rose to Song Yanqing's jade-like handsome face, and he cleared his throat, saying, "Mother knows the general amount I earn from copying books; giving her too much would only make her worry for no reason."

"Then aren't you afraid I'll worry?"

"My wife didn't even change color when dealing with three hundred taels, let alone a mere three taels."

"..."

That sounded very reasonable.

Fine then!

Xie Yang let him off.

In any case, she wasn't taking his money for nothing; she had prepared plenty of food and supplies for him.

"The academy will issue you a scholar's robe, so I didn't prepare many extra clothes for you. One set is the lined jacket you're wearing now, and one is the cotton robe for when the weather gets cold."

"Two bars of scented soap, one for bathing, one for washing your hands. I've replaced your face towel with a new one; take this old one to wipe your feet."

"Four pairs of socks, two old pairs and two new ones... and four pairs of shoes, two pairs of lined boots and two pairs of cotton boots. The thing I fear most when it gets cold is your feet getting frostbitten. I don't know if the academy's lecture hall provides a brazier for warmth..."

"I assume you've already prepared your own brush, ink, paper, and inkstone; just keep this new set in the Zhaishe as a backup."

Xie Yang explained as she organized his luggage into the trunks.

One trunk held clothes and daily necessities, while the other trunk was filled with things related to food—

"In this small wooden box is backup medicine. The names and functions are written on the bottles. If you feel unwell, find the medicine to take in time; don't drag it out until it's too late."

"In the jar are Salted Duck Eggs. I've boiled and dried them. In this weather, they won't spoil for ten days or half a month. Don't be reluctant to eat them; we have more duck eggs at home than we can eat, and I'll boil more for you next time you come back."

"The pickled radishes and salted vegetables can be eaten as soon as you take them out, but the kimchi needs another five days. These are all to help you adjust your palate; don't eat too much at once."

"This jar is meat floss stir-fried with Pork; it can be kept for quite a while. It's very fragrant when you scoop two spoonfuls into your porridge. This package is also made of Pork, called meat jerky, for you to snack on when you're hungry."

"And there are the braised pig trotters and braised pork belly your mother-in-law specially made for you, though they are a bit salty, perfect for eating with rice."

"These are the pancakes and dried vegetables our mother prepared for you. There are eggs in the pancakes. The Shantang has a Steamer, right? Put them in the Steamer to heat, and they'll be soft and fluffy immediately. The dried vegetables can be eaten after soaking in boiling water. Don't look down on these dried vegetables; it's easy to get sick from the change of water and soil in a new place. If you feel unwell, drink some dried vegetable soup, and you'll be fine immediately."

"Oh right! Take this small red clay stove too. Although the academy has a Shantang, if you get delayed by something and miss the Shantang's opening hours, you can boil some rice porridge in the Zhaishe. I've prepared half a month's worth of charcoal for you; you'll know how much to bring each time after your next break home."

Although the County was not far from home in terms of straight-line distance—thirty-eight li, less than twenty kilometers—in the Modern Plane, it would be a ten-minute drive with a press of the gas pedal.

But in an era where carriages and horses were slow, twenty kilometers meant the carriage would run for half a day.

In the government schools of this dynasty, there were two breaks a month, each lasting two days. Unless there were special circumstances, one would not ask for leave to return in between.

So Xie Yang packed everything she could think of for him.

?? Happy New Year, everyone!

? In the new year, I wish us all good health and that all our wishes come true! (*^▽^*)