Song Ning held the mushroom in her hand, feeling incredulous, then gently pressed it, and "whoosh," it was out of the space.

What?!

Is this thing really that intelligent? She glanced at the mushroom in her hand, and this thing followed her out.

Then with a gentle press, it went in again in a flash.

Now I understand, there are two ways to get in: either call out politely, or press this mushroom button.

so what?

What does this have to do with her rabbits and chickens? Why were they confiscated?

Did they confiscate the rabbits and chickens just to exchange them for this mushroom?

It's such a tiny thing, only a fool would take it out, right? What if it gets lost?

After going in and out of the space dozens of times, I finally confirmed that things are now stable.

I took out the seeds I bought in Jiangning County, planted one seed in each of the four plots of land, and saw what would grow.

While Song Ning was busy farming in the space, Liu Yuelan came in. Seeing that no one was in the room, she was puzzled. Didn't her daughter just go back to her room?

They went out to find Song Dahai, who was in the shed tending to the mules and giving them water.

"Master, have you seen Er Ya?"

"Didn't you go back inside?"

Liu Yuelan was even more puzzled. When she went in again, she saw Song Ning lying on the table on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Liu Yuelan was stunned for a moment. Was she seeing things?

"Er Ya, where did you just go?"

"I didn't go anywhere. I was just lying on the kang (heated brick bed)."

"I came in just now, but you weren't here."

"Mother must be mistaken, I've been here all along," Song Ning said with a smile.

"Is that so?" Liu Yuelan muttered to herself, then turned and left without asking any further questions.

As soon as the person left, Song Ning breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, she came back quickly.

A moment later, voices could be heard from next door; it must be Aunt Zhao and Mrs. Sun coming over for a visit.

They lived close by, right next to each other.

Since the weather is cold and they don't have warm clothes, Song Ning plans to ask Sun to make them more clothes, even if the quality isn't great, quantity will make up for it.

Song Ning took two more down jackets that she used to wear in winter from her house, one for each of them, to put on the blankets when they went to sleep at night, which would keep them much warmer.

She heard a man's voice coming from next door, and soon after, someone came to her room.

"Is Er Ya here?" It was Village Chief Luo.

"I'm here."

Village Chief Luo and Village Chief Zhou came in together and saw Song Ning slumped over the table, seemingly fiddling with something. They laughed and said, "Er Ya, busy with something?"

"I wasn't busy, I just doodled whenever I had nothing else to do."

The two of them came today to talk to Song Ning about how to split the money from selling vegetables in the future.

Although everyone had agreed to split it equally, the two of them discussed it and decided it wasn't fair.

Throughout their journey, including right now, their biggest concern has always been Er Ya.

If it weren't for Er Ya, they wouldn't know what to do, so Er Ya had to take more of the money from selling the vegetables.

Song Ning didn't care about the money, because she never intended to get rich by farming alone.

In those days, those who toiled in the fields for a living suffered the most.

Although the social hierarchy is scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant, the farmers suffer the most.

If you compare wealth, you can't compete with businessmen; if you compare ability, you can't compete with government officials. You work yourself to the bone all year round growing crops, but you still don't earn as much as someone who works for a rich family for half a year.

Since neither becoming an official nor working as a laborer worked for her, she chose to go into business.

Of course, the land still needs to be cultivated. If we hadn't started farming back then, we could be growing her in the land now.

"Let's see how much silver we can get first. If it's not much, I can't take more. If each family can get one or two taels of silver, I'll keep the extra after the distribution. Is that alright?"

The two of them had no better solution; they just felt they couldn't let Er Ya suffer a loss.

"Alright then, whatever you say, you have to keep it."

"OK."

After finishing the business, Village Chief Zhou casually mentioned, "Er Ya, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Please speak."

"We've now arrived in Tianxiang County, and from now on we'll all be citizens of Tianxiang County. We only have a county magistrate above us, so let's think we should drop the title of village chief from now on."

And then there's... the matter of Ling'an studying.

Jiangning County has an academy that charges five taels of silver per month for tuition. Zhou Ling'an is already a student, so getting into the academy shouldn't be a problem.

However, Zhou Ling'an was unwilling. Not to mention that his family didn't have the money to pay his monthly tuition, even if they did, Zhou Ling'an would still disagree.

The county magistrate offered Zhou Ling'an another option: to first work as a clerk in the Tianxiang County government office.

I'll buy some books and study on my own first, and then we'll talk about it when I've saved enough money.

Zhou Ling'an wanted to work in the yamen (government office), but Madam Yu was vehemently opposed. However, this time Zhou Ling'an was determined to work in the yamen and earn money.

No matter how much Yu cried or made a scene, Zhou Ling'an refused to budge.

That's why Village Chief Zhou wanted to discuss this with Song Ning.

Song Ning couldn't do anything about this, but Zhou Ling'an's thinking was right. Where would they get the money to go to school now?

Everything they have now is thanks to Song Ning. Of the two taels of silver they received, one tael was spent just on garlic.

If they borrowed money from others, to put it bluntly, Zhou Ling'an wouldn't die even if he didn't go to school, but they wouldn't survive the winter without money.

She could understand Yu's feelings. After being delayed for so long on the road, they had finally settled down, and Zhou Ling'an's studies were their top priority.

However, reality doesn't allow it. Zhou Ling'an's choice was right. I just hope that Yu can understand.

She just wouldn't say those words.

"Uncle Zhou, I don't understand this either."

Luo Wenxin glanced at Zhou Cheng but didn't say anything.

Er Ya is a smart person, why would she bother with his family's messy affairs?

How did Zhou Cheng's wife and Er Ya have such a falling out back then? If Er Ya gets involved in this matter again, she'll be a fool.

Back then, there wasn't anything serious between the two families, but it was Yu's interference that caused the sordid conflict.

Zhou Cheng knew that coming to Er Ya about this matter would not yield any results, but he just felt at ease discussing it with Er Ya.

That evening, I heard that the Zhou family had a fight, and it was still about Zhou Ling'an.

While Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan were back in the house, Song Ning took some grass and corncobs from his spatial storage to feed the mule.

Although they have now divided the yard into sections, there are no walls around it, and she could see a figure walking towards her from a great distance.

Only when they got closer could they see clearly that it was Zhou Ling'an.

Song Ning ignored him and continued feeding the mule, since it was too dark for him to see clearly anyway.

Zhou Ling'an stopped in front of her. Seeing that Song Ning didn't look up, he said to himself, "Er Ya, I have something to say to you."

The first thing Song Ning did when she looked up was to look behind him and ask, "Your mother didn't come along, did she?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ling'an quickly glanced behind him, his face slightly flushed: "Don't worry, she didn't come, it's just me."