Chapter 628: The Imperial Examination Family-Raising System (37)

"Wow! Mother, look over there! How beautiful!"

Following the suggestion of Wealthy Philanthropist Chen, Lady Chen really did bring her young daughter to visit the Song family after the start of spring.

Before the carriage had even come to a stop, the little girl saw the purple alfalfa covering the hillside and excitedly clamored to go pick some on the mountain.

"Mother, Mother, Mother! Quickly take me to the mountain to pick flowers!"

"You child! We are here to visit Scholar Song's family!"

Lin Shi, who had come out to welcome them upon hearing the news, said with a smile, "Let Zhi Zhi accompany her to play on the mountain for a while. That mountain is my daughter-in-law's dowry; aside from a few hired hands, there are no outsiders."

Upon learning that the mountain was the one belonging to the scholar's wife's Farm, Lady Chen became curious: "Are the flowers and plants on the mountain wild or planted? Never mind the child wanting to pick them, even I find them lovely to look at."

"They were planted by people my daughter-in-law hired. Originally, this mountain was nothing but shrubs and weeds; it wasn't this beautiful and refreshing before." Lin Shi suggested, "Why don't we all go to the mountain?"

If this were a wild mountain, Lin Shi would certainly not have made such a suggestion.

Moreover, the last time her son returned during his leave, if the weather was nice, her daughter-in-law would take them to the mountain for an outing, spreading a large straw mat on the grass, placing a few cushions, bringing along several food boxes, carrying enough food and drink, and sitting on the sunny slope while blowing in the warm spring breeze and admiring the lake view of the Farm.

Although the lotus flowers had not yet bloomed, the lotus leaves had already unfurled and grown quite dense, one after another; the vegetable plots around the lake pond were cultivated into a Bagua pattern, each row neat and orderly.

If one feared the sun, one could prop up the large oil-paper umbrellas that her daughter-in-law had ordered from an umbrella maker.

Hearing Lin Shi's introduction, Lady Chen could no longer sit still: "Shall we go to the mountain for an outing now?"

Thus, without even entering the house, they changed course to the Farm, drove along the stone-paved road that could accommodate a carriage until they reached the back gate of the Farm, and took the stone-stepped trail up the mountain, arriving at the sunny southern slope in no time.

The two little girls were already walking hand-in-hand all over the hillside. When they saw pretty flowers, they would stop to pick them, and once they had picked enough, Song Jinzhi taught her newly acquainted little friend how to weave flower crowns.

"My sister-in-law taught me how to weave this. Look, it's finished. Does it look good on my head?"

"It's beautiful! I want to weave one to wear on my head, too."

"Alright! I'll teach you right now, don't be impatient."

The two mothers looked at each other and laughed in unison.

They chose a spot with the best view, spread out a straw mat, placed cushions on it, and sat down.

"Taste the goat milk tea my daughter-in-law brewed. The goat milk is produced by the nanny goats on her Farm, and the tea leaves are Wild Tea that my maiden family stir-fried themselves."

"Mm! The taste is quite good! Does it seem to have a hint of jasmine fragrance?"

"You are truly sharp, Furen! I did indeed put a few jasmine tea flowers in when boiling the goat milk so that the goat milk wouldn't have a gamey smell. Don't laugh at me, Furen, but the first time I drank it, I just thought it was delicious; as for how it was delicious, I couldn't say. My husband even teased me for 'drinking like a cow at a peony garden'."

"Oh my, it turns out we are the same! My husband also often complains that I am vulgar and lack literary knowledge, but life isn't about reading books—what is the point of being so pedantic!"

"Isn't that the truth!"

The two mothers instantly found a common topic, and one after another, they began to complain about their respective men.

This venting of frustrations brought them closer together.

Lady Chen no longer stood on ceremony and curiously pointed to a spot in the Farm, asking, "I hope you won't laugh at me, Song Furen, but I have been wondering: I heard you say earlier that the area around Lotus Lake is all vegetable plots, but I see a few patches that are so vibrant and colorful—are those really vegetable plots and not flower gardens?"

Hearing this, Lin Shi laughed out loud: "They are vegetable plots! My daughter-in-law went to the County to pick up my son before the new year and happened to catch the big market in Qingfeng City. She saw a foreigner carrying a large bag of strange and peculiar seeds—some were vegetables, some were fruits—so my daughter-in-law bought some of each. And look, she planted them right after the first lunar month. Who would have thought these vegetables would grow to be so colorful, even more vibrant and beautiful than flowers."

Lady Chen clicked her tongue in wonder: "They really are vegetable fields? Then I have truly learned something new today!"

Xie Yang was taking advantage of the opportunity to inspect the vegetable garden to secretly water the fruits and vegetables with Plant Nutrient Solution.

She had made up a story about meeting a foreigner at the big market in the County before the new year and buying a large bag of various fruit and vegetable seeds from him, and as soon as the ground thawed, she arranged for the farm manager to lead the hired laborers in planting them.

It was now the end of the fourth lunar month; after more than three months of growth, plus the "special treatment" she occasionally gave the vegetable babies, the vegetable garden by the lake was thriving.

Light green bitter melons, dark green cucumbers, deep purple round eggplants, bright red tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, red and green Chili, purple-skinned and white-skinned onions, colorful cherry tomatoes...

Some had sturdy stems, while others climbed and hung from bamboo trellises.

These were just the vegetables; the melon field next door was equally rich in variety.

It was just that melons had a longer growth period, so it was not yet the season for them to ripen, but one could already see their general outlines—

Winter melons covered in white frost, golden pumpkins symbolizing a bountiful harvest, early-maturing hybrid Watermelon with dark green stripes, Elizabeth melons with jade-white skin and a sweet, delicious taste, and honey-horn melons with a crisp, sweet flavor that surpassed first love...

Of course, there were also high-yield food crops—sweet potatoes and Potato.

Although these two were plain in appearance, when the harvest came, she believed their yields would absolutely capture everyone's attention and become the pride of the Farm!

The seeds she had brought out were planted in a semi-circle around the lake, while the other half consisted of local vegetable varieties. It could be said that, apart from flat beans and eggplants, almost everything else was green.

It was no wonder Lady Chen used the term "vibrant and colorful" to describe Xie Yang's vegetable garden; compared to ordinary vegetable plots, it was indeed much more striking.

Upon learning that Chen Yuanwai's wife and daughter were visiting, Xie Yang had the farm manager pick a little of every kind of vegetable and fill a whole basket. Aside from the cherry tomatoes, which were washed and put into a food box to be sent to the sunny slope for them to taste, the rest would be sent to the Chen Family carriage to be taken away later.

As for how to cook them, she had copied out a simple recipe, such as bitter melon with scrambled eggs, onion with scrambled eggs, cucumber salad or stir-fried with eggs, tomato with sugar or stir-fried with eggs, stir-fried Chili with pork slices, eggplant peeled and steamed until soft then sprinkled with green onions and minced garlic and drizzled with Soy Sauce and sesame oil...

She copied the recipe three times, exactly the same; the other two copies, needless to say, were sent along with a basket of fresh vegetables to her maiden family and her mother-in-law's maiden family, respectively.

As for the Lao Song family, they were never in her consideration.

After tasting the colorful cherry tomatoes, Lady Chen couldn't stop praising them: "I really didn't expect these to be vegetables? If I had encountered them on the street, I would have bought them as fruit."

Upon learning that the scholar's wife had gifted her family a basket of vegetables, she couldn't stop smiling: "My old face is truly thick today, eating and taking things at the same time."

Despite saying this, before leaving, she did not forget to pack up all the wine and spirits in the Song family's inventory along with the remaining few pounds of side dishes for drinking. This had been her purpose for coming today; the full basket of novel vegetables she had never seen or tasted before was purely an unexpected surprise.

The little girl from the Chen family was wearing a beautiful flower crown and couldn't bear to get into the carriage, pulling on Song Jinzhi's hand and saying repeatedly: "Your home is much better than mine! You have delicious food and fun things, and the Farm, the courtyard, and even the mountain are all so beautiful... I really want to live at your house..."

She was dragged into the carriage by her mother.