After Yue'e left, Qiu Ge returned to work, and he swam around the yard several times with his tail swinging, not because he loved working, but because he got meat for his work. Tian used him as a living example to scold Ma Xiaomai and Ma Xiaodou.
It was because at noon after school, the two of them came back together with Da Niu. Da Niu was carrying her schoolbag properly, while their schoolbags were hanging on their foreheads. Ma Xiaodou was still shaking her head from side to side when she entered the yard. Tian, who was already pregnant, chased after them and scolded them, "Brother Qiu, even a snake knows how to make a living. You two just don't study hard. When Dabao and Xiaomi become officials in the future, you two will honestly carry their shoes."
"The two people who carry shoes may not want you two!"
Ma Xiaomai was unconvinced. "Mother is the only one in the family who can't read. We are all scholars. The teacher said that all things are inferior except for reading. Mother, you can't read, so why do you insult us scholars?"
Tian was so angry that smoke came out of her nostrils. "You are my son, why can't I scold you? Not only can I scold you, I can also beat you!"
She picked up a fire poker and was about to hit Ma Xiaomai. Before Ma Xiaomai could run a few steps, Qiu Ge raised his head, jumped over, picked up the screaming Ma Xiaomai, and put him in front of Tian.
Tian was delighted, threw away the stick and hugged Qiu Ge. Ma Xiaomai was so angry that he swung his schoolbag and hit Qiu Ge, which caused his mother to scold him again.
"Master." Ma Xiaomai ran to the kitchen and said to Jian Ning, "Please talk to my father. I can recognize quite a few words now. Let me help my mother. My mother is pregnant. Let her go home and rest, okay?"
"Don't even think about it. If your mother doesn't work anymore, someone will take her place. It's all agreed. You should just focus on your studies. Your father wants you to study until you're eighteen, and you'll be fifteen soon. It'll only be a little over two years, and it will all be over in the blink of an eye."
"It's been two years and it's not even finished in one day. When will it end?"
Seeing his bitter face, Qiaofeng chuckled and said, "Isn't it better to study? If you don't study, you will only be able to farm in the future."
"My family has no land."
"If you don't have land, you have money. If you have money, you can buy land."
“Why don’t you just buy food with your money instead of using it to buy land to grow food?”
Qiao Feng was stunned for a moment, then continued, "Look, you can even stump me with your question. It shows that studying is the best way. How could you have such knowledge without studying? Also, don't you want to be a great general? If you don't study hard and can't even recognize all the characters, how will you understand military books in the future? If you can't understand military books, you can't be a great general. You can only be a general who loses battles."
"I won't just lose battles. I have counselors. My eldest brother is my counselor. He is better educated than me. He just needs to study more."
"Go away! I don't want to talk to you."
"If you don't want to tell me, then don't tell me, humph!"
It's like this every time. When I can't convince him, I just tell him to go away. Then he goes away. Ma Xiaomai is furious.
Jian Ning listened to her advising Ma Xiaomai and thought she wanted to study, so she said, "Feng'er, if you want to study, go to the clan school with Shu'er in the future."
"No, just one of us can do the reading. Sister Shu'er will teach me the characters she has learned in the evening. She will teach me how to recognize words, and I will teach her how to recognize herbs."
Of the four children, only the eldest has shown an interest in medicine. Dabao is determined to study. His father's inability to study made him determined to study hard, to bring honor to his father and earn a good reputation for his mother. Now, he's becoming more and more interested in learning on his own. The eldest also enjoys studying, but the two younger ones don't seem to like it, perhaps because they're still young and are only interested in eating, drinking, and practicing martial arts.
Jian Ning had given up practicing the magic in the booklet, mainly because she didn't have the free time. She had to go to the town's Puren Hall for a day each week to see patients, teach Yang Jinyu, and take care of the vegetable patch and pond on the hillside behind. Although Master Ding San helped her look after them, she also had to pay attention to them herself. In addition to visiting the pond every few days and quietly sprinkling some spiritual spring water, she also went to the neighboring county with Master Ding San to seek advice on pond fish farming.
Ding Youtian built the pond for her. At first, some villagers thought the same as Ding Youtian, thinking he was too rich to waste and was using the good farmland for such things instead of farming. Little did they know that Jian Ning not only raised fish in the pond, but also loaches and crabs.
The villagers in Dingxian Village and other nearby villages hardly eat crabs. Firstly, there is not much meat on them, and secondly, crabs look weird and are not popular. It was when Jian Ning went up the mountain to collect herbs that he accidentally discovered that the mountain streams were full of crabs. He spent several days catching a lot of them and raising them in the pond.
She also asked Carpenter Xu to build a small boat and two oars, and Ding Youtian made her several fish baskets with bamboo strips. The fish, loaches and crabs she raised with the spiritual spring water grew very fast, and even the lotus fields grew very well. In mid-May, the lotus leaves covered the entire pond like umbrellas, and it was lush and green.
In June, Ding Youtian was passing by a pond after work when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a red dot amidst the green. When he looked closely, he saw a small lotus with its pointed tip showing.
He went back excitedly and called Jian Ning. The two of them went boating on the pond and shuttled through the lotus fields. Small fish jumped out of the water from time to time when the boat passed by. After a circle, the two found several small lotus plants with pointed corners. At first, Jian Ning was still enthusiastically telling Ding Youtian about the medicinal value and efficacy of lotus pods, but as she spoke, she suddenly became quiet and frowned slightly.
"Why are you suddenly unhappy?" Ding Youtian guessed the reason as soon as he asked, but he teased her deliberately, "Could it be that you are so anxious to eat the lotus pods right away, and you are unhappy because you can't eat them for the time being?"
"Eat your head!"
"No problem."
A smile appeared on Ding Youtian's lips. Jian Ning was about to glare at him when her eyes blurred. Then there was a "bang" sound, and a fish jumped up and landed on the boat.
"Oh, it's a carp. It's a good sign. The carp jumps over the dragon gate. You will definitely pass the exam this time." Jian Ning shouted.
"My destiny is in my own hands, how can it be controlled by this little fish?" Ding Youtian picked up the fish's tail and threw it into the pond.
"actually......"
"Actually what?"
"Never mind, it's nothing. The lotus flowers are about to bloom, and you should prepare to leave for the capital."
Jian Ning originally wanted to say that she felt her current life was pretty good, and she was a little reluctant for him to take the imperial examination, but she knew that he was eager to make a difference. When he helped Qin Yifan handle official business in Zhuling County, she saw that he had lofty ambitions in his heart!
It’s better not to hold him back.
If he really passed the imperial examination and became an official in Beijing, she could open her clinic in the capital and treat more people. Moreover, she couldn't just think about the two of them. For the sake of her four daughters' future, she couldn't stay in this small country for the rest of her life.
"No rush. It's only June now. It won't be too late to go in August. Then you can come with me and visit the capital and visit little Ah Man."
"How can we leave in August? It will take a month or so to get there. Do you think you can fly..." Jane Ning slapped her forehead. How could she forget about that idiot Brother Qiu?
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