316 First Meeting with Stepmother

Several people went around many places in the village, including the main courtyard, the small courtyard, and the farmer's area. The village head, Zhao Dacheng, was from the Medicine Valley, a very capable middle-aged man.

There are fifty or sixty farmers in this village alone, most of them are families. Ping An also feels that having a family is good.

These were all people who had signed a death contract. As a result, his number of people increased from twenty to seventy or eighty.

The farm given by the emperor is about the same size and is half an hour's journey farther from here. Compared to the capital, this place is already very close.

"Ping An, this farm is great. Shun Feng only had someone do a little cleaning. We got it last autumn. By the time you brought the farm deed back, it was already the end of the year. The original farmers had all left. The people were bought temporarily. Many plots of land were left barren this year, so there was no time to plant medicinal herbs. Fortunately, we planted all the grain.

These favorable junctures and favorable conditions took a lot of thought, and you should thank them in the future.”

Ping An said yes repeatedly.

Sun Sicheng felt dizzy when he saw such a large farm. "Ping An, don't worry about this. Leave it to Shunfeng and the others. Buy people if necessary and transfer some from the Medicine Valley. Just take care of the one your husband bought."

Ping An also thought so, "Master, sir, the original manor should be called Ping An Manor, and this one should be called Ping Shun Manor."

Sun Sicheng and Sun Wen both laughed. The name "Ping An" was really a bad one. It sounded unpoetic.

Sun Wen said, "Ping An and Ping Shun are both fine. How about changing the first character to Jia, Jia An Zhuang or Jia Shun Zhuang, so that people will know it's yours as soon as they hear it, which is troublesome."

"Jia'an Manor and Jiashun Manor. OK, sir, let's use these names. I'll ask Xiao Wu to make two plaques and hang them up, so that we don't have to call this manor or that manor 'Master' or 'Sir'. I plan to make Si'an Manor my base camp. Master Qin and the others will move in, and I'll come and stay here often when I have nothing to do."

Sun Sicheng said coldly, "The Imperial College has a ten-day holiday. Normally, classes start at 7:00 a.m. and end at 5:00 p.m. It's OK to have long days at this time. After school, it will be dark. Occasionally, I may have to perform some operations with my master during the holidays."

Ping An was silent.

Sun Wen smiled and said, "Ping An, except for long holidays, you probably don't have much time to come and stay here. Just leave it to Da Wu and Xiao Wu. You have very good people. Master Qin can also help you manage things. Learn to use people instead of doing everything yourself."

…

At noon, Chang Chunfeng heard the servant at home come in and say that his son and the eldest son had returned last night, would take a day off today, and would come home early tomorrow morning.

For a moment, his eyes turned red and his heart felt sour. It had been six years. The child who was only eight years old six years ago was now fourteen years old and a young boy.

Countless nights, he felt regretful that he was too soft-hearted and did not bring his son home. Even though he later had Jin'er and Yan'er, he still thought about his eldest son every day.

But he quickly overturned his thoughts. He had already been unfair to Ping An and his mother, so why should he separate them?

As soon as he took up his post in the afternoon, he asked for leave from the Minister. When Lord Li heard that Chang Chunfeng's eldest son, the eldest son's apprentice, had arrived in Beijing safely, he immediately approved the leave and asked him to stay with him for a few more days without rushing to take up his post.

This child is not ordinary. At such a young age, he has been commended twice by the emperor. It can be said that Chang Chunfeng was able to be transferred from the county to the Ministry of Personnel. In just five or six years, he was promoted from the seventh rank to the sixth rank, or from a county official to a Beijing official. What does that mean?

The master and disciple also cured the old imperial teacher's illness. Not to mention the stroke, which was Sun Sicheng's strong point, but the tumor in the old imperial teacher's abdomen was said to be as big as a bowl, and it was this child who performed the surgery to take it out.

Ten years later, even the director of the Imperial Medical Service might not be able to defeat this kid.

Chang Chunfeng rushed home as soon as he got off work.

"My lady, my Lord has given me a few days off to spend some time with Ping An. Can you please have someone clean up Ping An's room?"

Zhang Jinyu handed the son in her arms to him and said, "It's packed, but our yard is small. If he brings too many people, I'm afraid there won't be enough room. Husband, this yard is still not big enough. Why don't we move to a bigger one later?"

"Take your time."

Chang Chunfeng felt bitter. The expenses in the capital were still high. His monthly salary added up to only five or six hundred taels a year. He had no time during the day, so he stayed up late at night to secretly write storybooks. He could earn seven or eight hundred taels a year.

My wife's dowry included a shop and a small farm. She rented out the shop and leased the farm to someone else for farming. Besides, it was not easy for her to use the money for household expenses.

No matter what, a man cannot use a woman's dowry money. This is the bottom line.

So all his income added up to only about twelve or thirteen hundred taels. My wife could live well, but she could only save half of it.

There are too many social interactions in the capital. Eating and drinking don’t cost money, but this is the most expensive.

After four years of marriage, there is no need to calculate the accounts. It is not enough to buy a big house of my own. Even if I sell this place, I will not have less than four thousand taels. Besides, it is impossible to sell this small courtyard and buy a new house immediately. I can't live in my father-in-law's house in the empty space in between, right?

The next morning.

Jixiang comes to pick people up.

Ping An brought Lin Feng and Xiao Wu this time, but not Er Qiang.

He brought the house deed granted by the emperor, the green jade ornament given by Chen Xuan, and the two children, one three years old and the other just one year old. The boy got a small gold lock, and the girl got a small green jade pendant.

Jixiang drove the carriage for quite some time, while Lin Feng sat aside and took note that he would come here more often with his master in the future.

The carriage stopped.

Jixiang got off the carriage and said, "Master Ping'an, it's the yard in front. I won't go in."

Ping'an looked around and saw that his father was still not well off. With such an environment and such a small house, he probably didn't spend much money in the first place.

"Got it. Go back and tell my master that you probably can't leave today. Come and tell me if you have anything else."

The carriage stopped at the gate of the courtyard.

Ping An and Xiao Wu got out of the car.

The gate opened after just two knocks.

Chang Chunfeng looked at the young man in front of him. He was not much shorter than him and looked about 50% to 60% like him, but he was more handsome and more energetic.

For a moment, his eyes were filled with tears. The child's face still had some of that person's shadow, the person he felt most sorry for in his life.

"Dad, I'm your son's greetings." Ping'an made a move to kneel, but was immediately stopped by his father.

"It's good that my son is here. No need to kneel. Come in quickly. Your mother, brothers and sisters are waiting for you at home."

Ping An still felt uncomfortable for a moment, but it disappeared immediately.

Yes, stepmother is also a mother, no need to call her mother.

Zhang Jinyu held Chang Jin in one hand and Chang Yan in the other, standing in the yard with a smile on her face: "Ping An, come in quickly, Jin Er, go and call your brother, this is your eldest brother."

The little girl was very pretty, fair and clean, and a little bit like Ping An. After hesitating for a while, she finally performed a simple blessing: "Jin Er greets Big Brother."

Ping An smiled and said, "Jin'er, dear, big brother brought you a gift. I'll give it to you later. Is this Yan'er? Can he walk now?"

"Not yet, but you can walk a few steps with help, come in quickly."

Zhang Jinyu's heart was pounding. This child was so good-looking and was so good at reading people's expressions. She almost had the illusion that the person coming was an adult.

There was hardly any sense of incongruity in his speech, as if he had just returned home after a long journey.

No wonder my husband can't forget her. A child like this, even if raised carefully by a wealthy family, would be no more than this.