Lin Lizheng and the other clan leaders were overjoyed when they learned that Song Anxin wanted to give Yun'er (a type of wild mushroom) to the Lin Family Village workshop to grow. These old men knew a little about Yun'er themselves. It was a treasure! Who knew it could be grown! Fengnian's mother was truly capable.
The village launched another round of fundraising in a flurry, and this time many villagers invested heavily because they knew that Aunt Lin's idea was always right and they couldn't miss this opportunity again.
Black fungus grows deep in the mountains, where wild animals roam and villagers generally don't venture. However, this time, to collect black fungus for spawn, the Lin family village workshop gathers a group of men every day, and then hires one of the three—Qingshan, Qingfeng, and Qingyu—to provide protection.
All of them had practiced martial arts since childhood, enabling them to detect danger immediately and allow the villagers to take cover. The harvested wood ear mushrooms would be cultivated into spawn the following day, a process led by Lin Fengnian.
These past few days, Lin Fengnian has been extremely busy, running around doing several things at once. He needs to continue cultivating the mushrooms, keep an eye on the fields, get new tremella spawn, and also visit the Lin family workshop. Fortunately, he has a large family, including Anfu, Anshou, and Qingshan... all of them are going to become true-blue farmers with him.
Instead of expanding next to the original mushroom house, Lin Fengnian bought three acres of land behind Dafeng Factory to build mushroom houses and side rooms. He then broke through the high wall separating them and opened a door, thus connecting them to Dafeng Factory. Dafeng Factory thus expanded its area without him even realizing it.
Several days passed in this way. Today was the day Lin Fengyao was to return from the academy for a day off, but because Old Madam Song had to prepare some matters for the marriage with the Sun family, she would not be returning with Lin Fengyao today.
As Song Anxin led Granny Wei to the front yard, a cannonball flew straight into her arms. Lin Fengyao looked up from her arms, revealing a row of big white teeth:
"Hehe, Mom, have you missed me since I haven't seen you for half a month? I've missed you so much."
Song Anxin patted his head and smiled helplessly, "Of course I miss it. I think you miss the food at home more."
Lin Fengyao quickly replied, "Of course not, of course I miss my mother the most."
Granny Wei chuckled and said, "Granny Zheng had already planned out the day the young master would return, and she's been busy in the kitchen since early this morning."
"Really? Grandma Zheng is so kind to me. Do you have my favorite sweet and sour pork ribs?" Lin Fengyao asked quickly.
Song Anxin tapped his head with her finger: "See, you still want to eat it."
Lin Fengyao scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
At this moment, Song Mei walked in from the gate of the house, holding a letter in her hand and looking delighted. She said, "Mother, my third brother sent a letter back."
Song Anxin quickly opened the letter and checked it. A moment later, her face lit up with joy: "Feng He said he passed the prefectural examination and ranked very high!"
“Then my third brother is a true scholar who has passed the imperial examination. My third brother is really amazing,” Lin Fengyao said.
Granny Wei and Granny Sun congratulated her repeatedly: "Congratulations, Madam, the Third Young Master is on the list."
Song Mei was also very happy and asked, "Did Third Brother say when he'll be back? Has Uncle finished his exams too?"
Seeing that the person behind her was gradually calming down, Song Anxin shook her head and said:
“The provincial examination will be held two days after the prefectural examination, and Fenghe said he wants to continue to participate in the provincial examination with Anbang.”
The imperial examination was to be held over three consecutive days, with two sessions. Song Anxin was worried that Lin Fenghe's body might not be able to handle it.
Seeing her mother's worried expression, Song Mei comforted her, "Mother, don't worry. Third brother is a man of his own mind. He must have thought this through carefully before making this decision."
“Yes, Mother, we’ve come all this way, we should go and see what it’s like. Don’t worry, Third Brother won’t just be sleeping in there, that way he won’t get tired,” Lin Fengyao said.
Song Anxin was amused by him again: "You, you, do you think your third brother would be eating and sleeping in there like you?"
At this moment, Sister-in-law Lin was overjoyed... and the others also came in. Upon hearing the news, Sister-in-law Lin clapped her hands with delight:
"Wow! Fenghe is really amazing. He's going to take the provincial examination. If he passes it, he'll become a scholar."
Lin Erxi chimed in, "Grandpa Zheng must be overjoyed. Last time, Feng He only achieved half a degree in the imperial examination and Grandpa Zheng was so happy he almost couldn't walk straight. The scholar must be jumping for joy."
After Lin Erxi said that, Song Anxin and Sister-in-law Song Meilin in the courtyard... thought about it and realized that the village head would probably jump for joy. Everyone laughed at the thought.
"Oh my! What's making you so happy? Tell us so we can have a laugh too." At this moment, Aunt Zhao, Aunt Tietou, Granny Han, and a group of women carrying baskets walked into the front yard.
Villagers usually don't stop Anfu from coming to her front yard. They are grateful and often bring her wild vegetables and fruits picked from the mountains in the spring. If someone wants to see Anfu's family, Anfu will go in to inform them or let them in. Of course, this doesn't apply to her own elder brother and sister-in-law's family, as the two families are very close.
The group was overjoyed to learn that Lin Fenghe had passed the prefectural examination.
"Then congratulations to you, Aunt Fengnian! These are fresh bamboo shoots I dug up from the mountain today, just in time to celebrate your family's happy occasion," said Aunt Zhao.
Grandma Han said, "I also dug up some bamboo shoots this morning, and I have some chrysanthemum greens for you, Fengnian's mother."
Aunt Tietou also said, "I also have bamboo shoots and some toon leaves here."
"I also have many bamboo shoots here, Second Sister-in-law, you shouldn't go digging them up in the mountains anymore," said Widow Zhu.
"......"
In no time, the women took out the things from their baskets and gave them to Song Anxin. Almost all of them were bamboo shoots. Song Anxin was both grateful and speechless. Ever since she took Da Xiaocao to dig bamboo shoots and Da Xiaocao got lost, the villagers had been bringing her bamboo shoots the most.
At this moment, Sister-in-law Lin asked, "Hey, Stone's mother, how's it going with Stone and Big Red? Will it work out?"
Da Hong was the girl who came to Aunt Zhao's duck egg shop at the beginning. Because she looked a bit masculine, it was difficult for her to find a husband. Sister-in-law Lin saw that she was hardworking and honest, so she introduced her to the duck egg shop so that she could find a husband.
But things are different now. Lin Dahong is now a worker at Dafeng Factory and the team leader at the duck egg workshop. He has many suitors now, and Sangen's wife is overjoyed. But Lin Dahong hasn't taken a liking to any of them, which has driven Sangen's wife crazy, but there's nothing she can do.
Shi Tou and Xiao He often went to the duck egg workshop to buy goods, and before they knew it, Shi Tou and Lin Da Hong had taken a liking to each other.
This was originally a good thing. Shi Tou was an honest, hardworking, and ambitious person. But who was Shi Tou's father? He was the village's notorious drunkard, Lin Dahong. It was one thing before, but now that so many people were coming to propose to Lin Dahong, she absolutely refused.
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