While hoeing the ground, Niu Da said, "The living contract is naturally higher than the living contract. In the past, when I didn't pull the cart, I worked for others and earned twenty coins a day. We would give them forty coins a day, which would be 1,200 coins a month. We would also give them some things as a reward at the New Year. Surely no one would be disloyal then!"

Shen Yu then entrusted the task of recruiting people to Xiang Jinlan. She only needed ten people, two of whom would help raise and feed the pigs. As long as the people she recruited were efficient and hardworking, she would reward them with one hundred coins per person if they worked for three months.

Every morning, Chen Yu focuses on cultivating ginseng seeds, while Niu Cuihua helps feed the chickens, pigs, geese, and the hundreds of ducks they bought two months ago.

I was busy making pickled vegetables in the afternoon.

Niu Da was also busy harvesting the vegetables that had grown in the field to make pickled vegetables for Chen Yu and the others. Apart from the rotten vegetable leaves that could not be used, the outer skin of some vegetables could be used to make sauerkraut.

Niu Meihua is already seven years old and helps the family cook. After Niu Da and Niu Yaba turned over dozens of vegetable plots, Niu Yong and Xiao Heng had already returned from the county.

As soon as she entered, Chen Yu took the cloth bags from the two children and said, "You're back. Have a good rest. I'll go cook some dishes for you!"

Seeing that the two children didn't seem happy, Shen Yu assumed they hadn't passed and said:

"It's okay if you didn't pass! You can just take the test again later!"

Niu Yong couldn't help but suppress a laugh and said, "Sister-in-law, we've already passed!"

"You've passed?" Shen Yu asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yes, we've passed the preliminary examinations! My sister-in-law, Xiao Heng, topped the list twice in a row! Although I wasn't first, I didn't fare badly either, I came in third." "We'll just have to wait until next month to take the prefectural examination!"

Chen Yu, Niu Da, and Niu Cuihua all heard the good news and came over. Niu Da laughed and said:

"It seems our family is about to produce two scholars."

Niu Yong said, "I don't know if I'll pass or not. Maybe I'll just be a junior student!"

Chen Yu said, "Pah, pah, pah! Slap my mouth! Slap my mouth!"

Little Fu Bao's two big eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled and said, "I'll win, I'll win, I'll win!"

Xiao Heng took out a packet of malt candy wrapped in oil paper from his pocket and gave it to Xiao Fubao. Xiao Fubao smiled innocently and licked the malt candy.

“My little sister must know by now! To be honest, it’s been about twenty days since I last saw her. I’ve rarely seen her since she returned to the Ten Dynasties Gate. I miss her terribly,” Chen Yu said.

Niu Yong said:

"Sister-in-law, Fourth Sister hasn't had a good appetite lately, she vomits everything she eats, and she's lost a lot of weight." "My brother-in-law took her pulse and confirmed last night that she's pregnant!" "My brother-in-law will be bringing gifts and firecrackers to share the good news soon!"

Shen Yu was slightly taken aback: "They're already pregnant? They've only been married for less than a month."

"My brother-in-law said that it was originally less than a month into the pregnancy, and my fourth sister's pregnancy was unstable, so he didn't want to make it public. But he was afraid that my brother and sister-in-law would worry, so he came today! It's just that my sister probably won't be coming for the next few months."

Chen Yu smiled as she walked towards the kitchen, saying, "This is wonderful news! This is truly double happiness!" "Meihua, go to the vegetable garden and cut a big white cabbage."

"Hey, Mom!"

Chen Yu was busy cutting meat and killing chickens and ducks for quite a while. When the meal was ready, firecrackers went off at the door.

Xue Huaimin entered and said:

"Big brother and sister-in-law!"

After the family finished their meal, Chen Yu and Niu Da planned to ride in Xue Huaimin's carriage to deliver the two newly dug ginseng roots to him.

Xue Huaimin said, "There are still two ginseng roots in the pharmacy. If you sell them to me, I'll take them. If you don't sell them, I won't take them even if you give them to me for free!"

“Didn’t you give us a ginseng before? This is a way of returning the favor!” Niu said.

Xue Huaimin said, "What is given to my elder brother and sister-in-law is given to my elder brother and sister-in-law, so how can I take the gift back?" He added, "Elder brother and sister-in-law, if you sell me these two ginseng roots, I'm willing to pay three hundred taels for each one."

"Three...three hundred taels!"

Niu Da was somewhat surprised.

"The ginseng I gave you before had fewer roots than these two ginsengs, and I bought them for two hundred taels each. These two are worth three hundred taels each! If you don't want to sell them, I won't give them to you!" "I'll also tell you the truth, elder brother and sister-in-law, if I buy these ginsengs from you, I can resell them for at least three hundred and fifty taels when they're used as medicinal herbs. They're all for wealthy families!"

"Selling it to me would be the best return gift for my brother-in-law! But I didn't bring much money with me; I'll come back to collect the ginseng tomorrow."

After hearing what he said, Niu Da and Shen Yu stopped insisting on delivering it.

Chen Yu caught two chickens and a goose, two ducks, and took several packs of chicken and goose eggs with her. She then went to town with Niu Da to visit Niu Xiaomei.

Niu Xiaomei was resting in bed because her pregnancy was not very stable. When she saw her elder brother and sister-in-law arrive, she insisted on getting up. Chen Yu said:

"Don't get up! Just stay in bed and rest! You've finally gotten pregnant again!"

"Sister-in-law, it's so kind of you to bring so many things to see me!" Niu Xiaomei said.

"What's the big deal?" Chen Yu said. "Just take good care of yourself!" The Xue family's servants brought over several cups of fine tea.

Niu Xiaomei said, "Huaimin makes me medicinal meals every day to help with pregnancy, so don't worry, sister-in-law. He's just making a fuss over nothing. I don't have any symptoms of threatened miscarriage."

"There's no real instability in the pregnancy, it's just that the pregnancy is too early," Xue Huaimin said.

Hearing him say that, Shen Yu felt much more at ease and said, "Then you must take good care of yourself!"

When Niu Ke'er and Qiao'er heard that their uncle and aunt had arrived, the two little girls ran in hand in hand and rubbed against Chen Yu and Niu Da, saying, "Uncle, Aunt, Ke'er (Qiao'er) missed you so much!"

Niu Da picked up Niu Ke'er and said, "Our Ke'er has grown taller again after just one month! Haha!"

Niu Ke'er is six years old this year.

Qiao'er is five years old.

Before even starting school, he was already learning about medicinal herbs from Xue Huaimin.

Xue Huaimin said, "The family has already started preparing the meal. Brother and sister-in-law, please have dinner before you leave!"

Dinner is still several hours away.

"We won't eat, we still have a lot of work to do at home! We're hiring, and they've arranged for someone to come this afternoon!"

Hearing Shen Yu say this, Xue Huaimin felt it was inappropriate to keep her any longer and said:

"I'll take my brother and sister-in-law home!"

Perhaps it was because he was in high spirits during a happy occasion that his luck improved, and he actually managed to cultivate the fish into ginseng powder.

The swallows in front of the door searched back and forth. Suddenly, a swallow flew down from the sky and ate all the ginseng powder that Chen Yu had painstakingly cultivated.

"Hey, you damned bird!" Shen Yu cursed as she saw it, too late to stop him.