Chapter 642: System for Building a Family through the Imperial Examination (51)

After conducting background checks, Xie Yang selected a few honest and reliable people and sent them to the Farm to get settled.

She did not rush them into farming; she first had them renovate the houses and stock up on furniture and farm tools.

Once they were settled, they caught the tail end of the summer planting season, transplanting rice seedlings in the Paddy Field and sowing wheat, soybeans, corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes in the ten mu of dry fields.

Rice, wheat, and soybean seeds could be bought at the Great Granary established by the imperial court, and after buying them, she replaced a portion with high-yield seeds from her stockpile; however, corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes could not be bought, but fortunately, dried corn kernels were easy to store, and the amount brought from home was enough for seeds, while sweet potatoes and potatoes had been consumed quite a bit during the New Year, leaving little, so she barely managed to plant one mu with what was left.

As for vegetables and melons, she cleared two small garden plots in the open space in front of and behind the houses, one for vegetables and one for melons. Altogether, they covered about four or five fen, and once planned out, they would not only be enough for the family to eat but would also provide a surplus to take to the city to sell.

By the time the Farm's operations were on the right track, it was already the end of the seventh month.

"So this is Jingcheng? It really is impressive!"

At Tongyun Wharf, a group of people disembarked from a large two-story passenger boat that had just docked; each person carried a large bundle on their shoulder and had both hands full of items, and after getting off the boat and onto the shore, they looked around curiously.

"Head of the house, wipe that silly look off your face; don't embarrass our daughter and son-in-law."

"Oh, oh!" Reminded by his wife, Xie Rong quickly steadied himself and put on a serious face, "Mother of our children, do I look alright now?"

Fang Shi held back a laugh: "That's about right."

Beside them, Song Zhisheng's family of three also stood up straight as ramrods.

But they didn't hold it for long before they were startled by the sound of copper gongs clanging on the street, accompanied by shouts of "Make way for the official!": "What happened?"

Song Jinzhi was even more frightened, her little face turning slightly pale.

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Yang Mu, who had gone to Qinghe Village to pick them up and bring them to Jingcheng, was the last to disembark; he carried a heavy shoulder pole and hurried to the front to lead the way, "In Jingcheng, whenever a high official travels, they ring gongs to clear the path; you'll get used to it. Laoguogong, Madam, please follow me this way!"

The two sets of in-laws looked at each other in bewilderment and hurried to keep up.

When Xie Yang got up this morning, she was still saying to Song Yanqing that, counting the time, Yang Mu should be bringing her parents and the others here, and sure enough, she had truly been looking forward to them.

"Father, Mother, Zhi Zhi, you've had a hard journey!"

"Oh, my precious girl! It's been nearly a year! Let Mother get a good look at you!"

As soon as Fang Shi entered the door and saw her daughter, all her nervousness vanished; she pulled her daughter over to look her up and down, coming to a conclusion: "You've lost weight! But you're also fairer and more delicate!"

"Mother, you're the one who has lost weight! Is it because you aren't used to traveling by boat?"

"No, no, it's just that I suffer from summer heat; the weather is too hot, and I can't eat much. The guest rooms Yang Mu booked for us were very comfortable; in the evening, we could sit on the terrace to cool off and enjoy the moon. When your three brothers and sisters-in-law sent your father and me to the boat, they were so envious they wished they could come too."

At this, Xie Yang remembered: "That's right! Why didn't my brothers and sisters-in-law come? Didn't I tell you all to come to Jingcheng for a visit?"

"Sigh! There are so many pigs at home! And we can't just close the shop we've run for so many years! Plus, there's your dowry Farm, which needs someone from the family to check on it every now and then. Don't worry, this year your father and I came to visit first; when we go back, next year we'll let your eldest brother's family come. The year after, your second brother's family... in short, everyone will have a chance to come to Jingcheng for a visit."

Xie Yang smiled and said: "Father and Mother have arranged it all so thoughtfully."

"Of course, now that you're living in Jingcheng long-term, we will definitely come often."

As Fang Shi spoke, she turned her head and looked around: "Where is your husband? Is he not at home?"

"He's at work. But he'll be back at noon; his workplace isn't far from home, and it only takes ten minutes by carriage, so he always comes home for meals at noon. Only in heavy wind and rain does he make do with a meal at the... well, at the Hanlin Academy Shantang."

Fang Shi nodded as she listened: "It's certainly better to eat at home if it's close; it's more comfortable, after all."

"Exactly."

It was more than just comfortable; that guy would insist on pulling her to rest with him after lunch, and occasionally things would get out of hand...

Now that her parents-in-law and her own parents were here, she couldn't let him be so reckless.

Xie Yang hurried to take everyone to their rooms to get settled.

"You must be exhausted from the long journey; the rooms are all tidied up, and there are new clothes for you to change into on the beds. First, take an mugwort bath to relieve your fatigue; I'll go to the kitchen and tell Chun Niang to make some of your favorite dishes. Eat something in a while and then go to sleep; once you've rested, there will be plenty of time to talk."

"Very well."

For the next few days, Xie Yang's daily routine was to accompany her family to visit the famous scenic spots and streets of Jingcheng, treating them to authentic Jingcheng cuisine at restaurants at noon, and eating the hometown dishes everyone missed when they returned home in the evening.

When they first arrived in Jingcheng, Xie Rong and his wife didn't show it on their faces, but they were actually very uneasy inside. Their son-in-law was a high official; would he look down on their daughter?

After observing for a few days, they found that their son-in-law was no different than before; on the contrary, he was even more attached to their daughter. When he was home on his days off, he didn't hole up in the study to read like before, but followed their daughter wherever she went, even for boring and tedious shopping trips.

Fang Shi: Boring and tedious?

Xie Rong:... I let that slip!

In short, their daughter and son-in-law were still as loving as ever, so they were relieved!

If it weren't for missing their daughter, the couple might not have made this trip.

Not to mention the two months spent traveling back and forth, the expenses were huge!

They wanted to pay for it themselves, but their son-in-law wouldn't allow it, saying how could he invite his father-in-law and mother-in-law to be guests in his home and still let them pay out of their own pockets?

Xie "Father-in-law" Rong, upon hearing this, had his eyes crinkle into slits; his son-in-law, a high official who had achieved the Three Successive Firsts, called him, a town butcher, "father-in-law"—it sounded so pleasant to his ears! Once he returned to Guixiang Town, he would have enough to brag about for the rest of his life.

Fang Shi, however, remembered another reason she had agreed to come to Jingcheng: to deliver the dividends to her daughter.

"There are three hundred Silver in total here; I've exchanged it all into banknotes for you, keep them safe."

"Why is there so much this time? Mother, you didn't secretly add your own money, did you?"

"How could I! It's all in the account books; one hundred and twenty Silver is the dividend from the braised food over these ten months, and one hundred and eighty Silver is the money from buying the pigs and sheep from your Farm before the New Year. Business was good before the New Year, and the pigs and sheep raised on your Farm were plump and strong; Chen Yuanwai and the others bought them by the whole carcass, so there was no worry about selling them at all."

Oh, right!

Xie Yang remembered; before she left, she had instructed the farm manager that those piglets and lambs born in early spring should be slaughtered by the New Year, with one pig and one sheep kept for the family for the New Year, and the rest sent to her parents' meat shop to be sold on consignment.

The three lambs born to the ewe were to be kept and not sold. Those three sheep, like the big black horse, had ingested quite a bit of Spirit Spring Water and felt somewhat like they had gained sentience, acting like absolute bosses among the flock. The sheep raised in the future would still need them to help herd them.

Honestly, if Jingcheng weren't so far from Guixiang Town, she would have wanted to bring them here.