Chapter 618: Imperial Examination Family-Raising System (27)

Xie Yang was just waiting for a reply from her maiden family, but she hadn't expected her younger sister to come along as well. She enthusiastically welcomed her into the house:

"What a rare guest. Every time I asked you to visit your second sister's home in the past, you were too lazy to come. Now that you're married, you've become quite diligent."

Xie Yang looked her second sister over and said with a smile, "It seems that since Second Sister lost weight, your relationship with Second Brother-in-law has become even better."

Looking at that glowing face and full complexion, if nothing went wrong, she would likely be adding another nephew or niece for her soon.

Xie Miao's face turned red. She shot her a glare and made a gesture to pinch her: "Now that you're married, you really dare to say anything."

Xie Yang: "..."

Before you were married, didn't I often hear you and Eldest Sister chatter about these things?

Fang Shi was happy to see the good relationship between her daughter and son-in-law, but she was also afraid the two sisters would start chatting about bedroom pleasures without restraint, so she quickly changed the subject:

"Miao'er, your sister is here to buy a sheep. Take her to see it quickly. If that ewe is truly sickly, negotiate the price with the owner; don't be a sucker."

"Understood."

The family raising the sheep actually didn't want to drag it out any longer. The ewe was dying and couldn't produce milk; the three lambs had no milk to drink and were actually weaker than when they were just born. They were truly worried that the one big and three small ones would all perish in their hands.

A healthy sheep in its lactation period could normally sell for five Silver, while a dead sheep was worth at most one Silver. The price of a lamb was between one hundred and fifty and two hundred wen.

The sheep owner's original asking price was three Silver for the whole lot of one big and three small.

After the word got out that they were selling the sheep, quite a few buyers had come to look over the past two days. But once they saw the ewe's sickly appearance—looking like it didn't have much time left and might even die on the way home—they would have been throwing away one and a half Silver for nothing, so they all backed out.

Therefore, seeing Xie Yang arrive, the sheep owner took the initiative to lower the price, stating she could take them for two Silver!

Xie Yang didn't want to waste time haggling, so she readily agreed.

Xie Miao, who had wanted to help her younger sister bargain: "..."

She pulled her younger sister aside: "Why didn't you even haggle? It would have been good to save even a hundred or eighty wen!"

"Second Sister, I'm in a rush to get home. If I miss the next boat, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to go back."

In truth, she wanted to hurry home to feed the sheep the Spirit Spring Water. If she dragged it out any longer and the sheep died, that would be a real loss.

When the sheep owner carefully brought the sheep out, Xie Yang had her second sister help carry the three lambs wrapped in a tattered felt blanket, while she took the ewe herself.

Once they were out of the sheep owner's house, she took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to quietly feed the ewe a mouthful of undiluted, max-level Spirit Spring Water.

She then took out a small bamboo tube and fed the three lambs some diluted Spirit Spring Water.

By the time they returned to Xie Miao's home, the ewe, which had been listless and ready to pass away at any moment, was unexpectedly lively, and the milk it secreted was so abundant that the three lambs couldn't finish it even taking turns.

Xie Miao was greatly astonished: "Was it faking death before? Could it be that the sheep owner was abusing it daily?"

After hearing this, Fang Shi also found it incredible: "Sheep can even fake death? Are they actually this smart?"

"..."

With an extra lactating ewe in the house, after drinking the Spirit Spring Water, not only was its fur glossy, healthy, and robust, but its milk production was also far higher than that of an ordinary ewe. The three lambs couldn't finish it, so Xie Yang squeezed out the excess milk and made it into various dairy products to benefit the whole family.

Goat milk boiled directly to drink had a heavy gamey smell, so Xie Yang put some jasmine tea into it. The goat milk boiled this way not only lacked the gamey smell but also had an extra hint of fresh jasmine tea fragrance.

The family drank a bowl every morning; it was delicious and nutritious.

But there was still milk left over, so she processed the remainder into goat milk cakes.

She built a simple baking kiln in the backyard. Using goat milk instead of water to knead the dough, she rolled the kneaded dough into thin sheets, cut them into squares, and put them into the kiln. Once baked, they became long-lasting goat milk cakes. They tasted milky, filling, and nutritious.

She also tried baking a few batches of egg yolk cookies using egg yolks and goat milk, and the taste was surprisingly good.

She sent some to her maiden family and saved some for Song Yanqing; the rest, of course, were enjoyed while fresh.

Song Jinzhi, who ran to the hills every day with her little friends to dig for winter bamboo shoots, had a few fragrant goat milk cakes and egg yolk cookies in her little snack pouch.

When she was tired from digging for winter bamboo shoots, she would find a place to sit and rest, taking out the cookies and biscuits made from goat milk to share with her little friends.

"My sister-in-law said that if you drink goat milk and eat goat milk cakes every day, you will grow taller and your skin will turn fair."

"Really! Zhi Zhi, you have indeed become much fairer lately!"

"Of course!" The little girl proudly puffed out her chest, which hadn't developed yet, "I want to become as fair as my sister-in-law."

"Your sister-in-law is so pretty!"

"Of course! My sister-in-law is the prettiest in the world!"

"Nonsense!" The three Song Jinyun sisters, who hadn't received any cookies, curled their lips, "Your sister-in-law used to be a big fatty. She was so fat that no one in town would marry her, which is why she married into the countryside."

"You're the ones no one will marry!" Song Jinzhi glared at the three of them, "My sister-in-law married into our family because she likes my brother. I heard this with my own ears!"

"..."

Not many days later, a rumor spread through the village that the reason Xie Tuhu's daughter married Er Lang was because she had taken a fancy to his face.

When Lin Shi found out that this talk had spread from her own daughter's mouth, she was so angry she scolded the girl severely. If Xie Yang hadn't stopped her, she would have grabbed a fire poker to beat her.

Xie Yang didn't really care; after all, she was the only one who knew the truth.

Besides, Song Yanqing's face was indeed the direct reason she initiated Plan B.

However, her sister-in-law running to the mountains all day was indeed not a proper thing.

This matter also had her own responsibility; just because she said "winter bamboo shoots are fresh, sweet, and delicious," the little girl had been carrying a basket to the mountains to dig for them every single day.

Now, there were so many winter bamboo shoots at home that they couldn't finish them.

She sliced a batch to dry into bamboo shoot strips, pickled a batch of salted bamboo shoots to stew with old duck later, and even traded goat milk for some peanuts to make a few jars of bamboo shoot and peanut snacks, but they still couldn't finish them! Because every day, there were fresh winter bamboo shoots being carried back by her sister-in-law.

"Zhi Zhi, there are so many winter bamboo shoots at home that we can't finish them. You don't need to go dig for them anymore. Shall Sister-in-law teach you how to read account books?"

She didn't need to teach her literacy; there was a scholar in the family, and the characters her sister-in-law knew were no fewer than the original owner's.

She didn't need to teach her cooking or needlework either; she had her mother-in-law.

The only thing she could openly teach her sister-in-law was how to manage accounts.

She used her dowry Farm as an example and began teaching her sister-in-law how to keep accounts, read accounts, and audit accounts.

Lin Shi was initially puzzled as to why a young lady would learn these things, until she heard her daughter-in-law say: "Given my husband's talent, he will surely pass the imperial examinations with high honors in the future. Zhi Zhi is my husband's only sister; the family she marries into in the future will either be an official's family or a wealthy one. She will have to learn sooner or later, so it is better to start learning early."

Lin Shi: "..."

Does the daughter-in-law actually have such confidence in her son's imperial examination?

Even she, as his mother, felt guilty hearing this; if her son failed to place high, wouldn't that just disappoint her daughter-in-law?