Shen Jiahao and Shen Jialu hadn't seen their father for a long time, and they both pestered the eldest son, Shen, wanting to hear about what was happening in the capital.
Shen Jiahao: "Dad, is the capital city as bustling and lively as the legends say, with luxurious and wide streets?"
Shen Jialu said, "And on that street, isn't there a nobleman every three steps and a prince every ten steps?"
"Hey, you guys are so lame! Let me ask!" Shen Jialuo shoved the two men aside. "Uncle, have you ever encountered an emperor traveling incognito?"
"Go away, what are you asking? It's not that easy to meet the emperor."
Old Master Shen took a sip of water and casually ate a few bites of the rice that Liu had heated up for him: "How can we see the emperor whenever we want? Even if he goes on an incognito visit, he won't let us commoners know, right?"
"That's right, Dad, tell us, what's the capital city like?"
Lili also moved a small stool and sat down next to him, listening attentively.
The capital city must be just as bustling as the capital city, right?
"We didn't see the emperor, nor the princes or the like..." Old Master Shen glanced at the few younger ones who were staring intently at him, and then said, "We didn't see them either."
"cut."
"Dad! Why are you keeping us in suspense!"
Shen Jiahao pretended to punch Shen Laoda, who hurriedly begged for mercy: "Hey, hey, but when the brothers were resting in the city, they heard some rumors and secrets about the palace."
"Huh? What? What?"
Upon hearing that there was gossip, Lili instantly perked up, quickly moved her small stool forward, and stared at him intently.
"I heard that the eldest prince is confined to his palace and not allowed to see anyone."
"The First Prince? The First Prince who went to Xixiang County for disaster relief?"
“Yes, that’s him.” Old Master Shen nodded. “Didn’t the First Prince embezzle the grain and money allocated for disaster relief? I heard His Majesty was very angry, which is why he ordered the First Prince to be confined. Also, the situation in Xixiang County is getting worse and worse. After the First Prince’s incident, His Majesty doesn’t dare to send anyone else to provide disaster relief. That… Grand Tutor Zeng? Yes, that Grand Tutor, he volunteered to go to Xixiang County for disaster relief, but we don’t know what happened after that. We only stayed in the capital for one night and set off to return early the next morning.”
"Grand Tutor Zeng?"
Lili scratched her chin.
Could it be Pan Wei's teacher?
The Grand Tutor personally went to provide disaster relief; isn't that a bit too exaggerated? Is someone of this rank allowed to go to provide disaster relief so casually?
This is the Grand Tutor!
While Lili was still deep in thought, Shen Jialu had already started complaining that gossip was no fun and that he wanted to hear something else.
Old Shen grinned: "Everywhere in the capital are houses with blue bricks and tiles, and those buildings are so tall! And everyone in the capital is so particular, even the vegetables they sell are more expensive than here."
Old Shen made exaggerated hand gestures, which startled the children.
"And those street performances, unlike the fake ones we have here, they're real, real weapons, and they're really good to watch! And the fabric shops, the cosmetics shops for young women, and..."
After Shen Laoda had talked until his throat was dry, the whole family was still reluctant to stop.
"In short, the capital city is indeed the most prosperous of all the places I've traveled to in my life," Shen Laoda concluded.
"Wow."
The children listened with great amazement, while the adults also showed curious and longing looks.
After all, the furthest the Shen family had ever been in their lives was the prefectural city.
Lili propped her head up and imagined what the capital city would look like. Would it be similar to the one in the TV series?
I wonder if the Southern Jin Dynasty's imperial palace was in the style of the Forbidden City or the Epang Palace?
Chen clutched her money pouch, her eyes gleaming with excitement: "This sounds really exciting, it's making my heart itch."
Liu also laughed and said, "Yes, I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to go to the capital in this lifetime."
"Why wouldn't we have a chance? Our family's life is getting better now. When we get old and our children are successful, we'll take our savings for a trip to the capital for a couple of days!"
"Hey, what my second sister-in-law says is true. Who knows, we might have more and more money in the future. When that happens, we should at least go to the capital to have a bowl of wontons."
"Eat wontons? Didn't you say things are expensive in Beijing? What if we're old and gray and still have to wash dishes to pay for wontons? Hahahaha."
The whole family was overjoyed, and at the same time, they had even greater expectations for the capital city.
Old Mrs. Shen laughed and said, "I don't expect to be able to go to the capital in this lifetime. When you come back, please bring me and your father a bowl of wontons!"
"Mother, what nonsense are you talking about? My third brother will be taking the provincial examination next year, and in a few years he might even be going to the capital for the imperial examination! When that happens, our whole family will go with him to take the exam!"
Shen Laosan smiled and said, "Father and Mother, your son will do his best."
Old Mrs. Shen: "Good, good, good. All the children of our Shen family are promising."
“Grandma, Lili will definitely let you go to the capital,” Lili said in a clear voice.
Old Mrs. Shen was taken aback, then felt a warmth in her heart, and playfully poked Lili's nose: "Good, Grandma knew our Lili was the most capable."
Old Mrs. Shen didn't really want to go to the capital; she just felt very comforted when she heard her children and grandchildren say that.
"Oh dear!" Madam Chen exclaimed as she counted the silver notes. "How come it's one hundred and fifty taels? There are sixty taels more than that!"
Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to it.
Chen was busy listening to Shen Laoda's words when she saw the amounts on the two silver notes. One note was one hundred taels and the other fifty taels.
One hundred and fifty taels!
Old Master Shen chuckled: "Second Sister-in-law, that's right, it's one hundred and fifty taels!"
Chen looked blankly at Shen Lao Er, who also seemed confused. So Chen then looked at Li Li.
Lili didn't know either, expressing confusion +2.
Boss Shen: "Originally, it was supposed to be fifteen taels per person, a total of ninety taels, right? But after the bed arrived, the ladies took one look and exclaimed, 'Wow! They all praised how novel and beautiful it was, and immediately added ten taels of silver to each of them!'"
"Really?" Mrs. Chen was overjoyed.
Shen Lao Er was also somewhat flattered: "Really? I was worried that those important people might not have seen all sorts of novelties and might not find it appealing."
Shen Lao Da patted Shen Lao Er on the shoulder: "Second brother! Be more confident, okay? Your bed is one of a kind in the world. Besides, Miss Xia Ning's bed was in a bit of a rush and didn't have time to be glazed. When she saw that the bed we sent over had been glazed, she even joked that she would send it back for us to glaze again."
Upon hearing that the nobles of the capital were satisfied, Shen Lao Er breathed a huge sigh of relief: "That's great, that's great! Even the nobles of the capital are satisfied, so it should be able to sell in the city, right?"
"Oh, right, right, look at this letter. When Miss Xia Ning took those young ladies to get the items, a few onlookers also came along. Who knew that as soon as they saw the actual items, they all said they wanted them too. They even added twenty taels of silver each, saying they wanted some of the popular patterns in the capital to be carved, and that they wanted the most unique ones."
Shen Lao Er thought he had misheard: "Twenty taels more per person?"
If each person pays an extra twenty taels, wouldn't a bed be priced at a high sixty taels?
Upon hearing about the extra money, Lili's eyes lit up like the stars in the sky: "Wow, now a bed costs twice as much! Our family is so rich!"
Apart from the eldest son of the Shen family and Lili, who had already accepted the situation, the rest of the Shen family remained in a state of elation.
What?
Sixty taels of silver for a bed?
Is this the capital city?
Sixty taels of silver would have been enough for their family to live on for half a lifetime, but now they can easily earn that much with just one bed.
The Ganoderma lucidum that Lili found before was so big and of such good quality that it sold for 150 taels of silver. Now it doesn't seem so precious anymore!
Selling two and a half beds would be enough.
As Old Lady Shen thought to herself, she realized that once she had more money, she started to get cocky and even began to look down on the 150 taels of lingzhi.
Old Mrs. Shen took a sip of water to calm her nerves.
Shen Lao Er took the letter from Chen Shi and counted it; it listed the requests of three people.
Three may not seem like many, but everyone knew that this was only because there were only three people present at the time.
The daughters of officials are so satisfied with this, and some of them are even using it as gifts. This reputation is definitely going to be built up!
Mrs. Chen was laughing so hard her eyes almost disappeared; her husband had really made something of himself!
Chen used to think that earning sixty taels of silver in his entire life was a distant dream, but now he can earn it in just one month!
Chen pulled Shen Lao Er aside and earnestly instructed him: "This is worth sixty taels of silver, you have to do it well, you can't miss a single one of their requirements!"
Shen Lao Er: "Do you even need to tell me? I'll definitely put in ten times the effort, otherwise I'd feel guilty accepting this money!"
Chen held the two silver notes in her hands and looked at them again and again, her heart filled with joy.
The more Chen looked at Lili, the happier she became. She hugged Lili and kissed her passionately, saying, "Lili, you are truly my lucky star! No, you are my and your uncle's lucky star, and everyone's lucky star! You are my precious darling!"
If it weren't for Lili, the Shen family would still be struggling to make ends meet!
Chen would never have had the opportunity to hold a 150-tael silver note.
Chen wanted to sleep with all that silver.
Lili blushed on both cheeks from Chen's kiss and giggled as she tried to block her.
It was previously agreed that each household would hand over 50% of the silver they received to their family.
But Chen didn't know how to divide the silver notes, so she simply gave the hundred-tael silver notes to Old Lady Shen: "Mother, I won't bother to exchange them for silver. You can just keep these hundred taels."
"That won't do. We agreed on 50%, and that's 50%." Old Mrs. Shen refused.
"Mother!" Chen grabbed Old Lady Shen's hand without giving her a chance to refuse and placed the silver notes directly into her hand. "Mother, the money for building a new house came from the family. I'm giving you this money now. Just think of it as your daughter-in-law wanting to live in a nice house, okay?"
Shen Lao Er also said, "That's right, Mother. The children have been considerate of me working lately. Jiahao and Jialu have been doing most of my work, so it's only right that I pay more. If all else fails, you can use this money to buy the children some candy and some good things to nourish their bodies."
"You two," Old Mrs. Shen sighed, "I know you're all sensible. This is good. Our hearts are together. Just like Lili said, who knows, we might really be able to go to the capital!"
"Yes, if we work hard, maybe we can really save enough money to go to the capital!"
The whole family chatted happily until dark.
The next day, Wang Hongfang knocked on Lili's door.
Shen Jiaqing, who was sitting in the courtyard reciting medical books, opened the door and called Lili out.
"Sister Hongfang?"
Today, Lili is wearing a new dress made for her by Chen Shi. It's a purple-brown ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with several bows at the hem that Lili specifically requested. It makes Lili look very delicate and cute, and also gives her a touch of nobility.
Wang Hongfang blushed. It was really strange. Lili was only three years old, even younger than her. Why did she blush as soon as she saw Lili?
It's not her fault, Lili is just too cute.
In particular, today Madam Yang styled Lili's hair into a double-loop bun, which looks like a bow from the top and complements the dress Lili is wearing today.
Wang Hongfang smiled shyly and pulled her along, saying, "Lili, my mother asked me to come and see the potatoes at our house. It looks like they're ready to be harvested."
"Really? I was just thinking of going to check it out in the next couple of days!"
Lili counted on her fingers and realized that only thirty-seven days had passed since the potatoes were planted, which was faster than she had expected.
It seems the Wang family is putting a lot of effort into planting it.
Wang Hongfang and Lili arrived at the Wang family's vegetable garden hand in hand, where Aunt Wang and Aunt Wang were already waiting with hoes in hand.
"Grandma Wang, Aunt Wang!"
"Lili, come quick! The leaves are all turning yellow. They should be ready to be harvested, right?"
The leaves on the ground turned yellow, which meant the potatoes were ready to be harvested. But Lili's potatoes turned yellow way too fast. Just as she said, they only needed a maximum of fifty days. It was amazing that even the two of them, who had been farming for half their lives, were a little unsure.
Lili squatted down to take a look. There were ten plants in total. The stems and leaves above ground had turned yellow, and some of them had even started to bloom.
Lili nodded: "Yes! We can harvest them all now!"
Aunt Wang and her husband picked up their hoes excitedly, but for a moment they hesitated to dig.
During this time, they took good care of the potatoes, following Lili's instructions step by step, and dared not make any mistakes.
I wonder if these will grow like the pear-shaped ones, with a dozen or so in one litter, each the size of a fist?
I don't need more than a dozen, just one the size of a fist will do!
Wang Hongfang asked curiously, "Grandma, Mom, why are you both holding hoes?"
Aunt Wang glared at her: "Your mother's nervous!"
Lili smiled and said, "Auntie, don't be nervous. Lili thinks it's good."
"Really?!"
After Lili said that, Aunt Wang and Aunt Wang were no longer nervous.
With a determined look, the two men shoveled their hoes into the ground, prying up the soil.
With each movement, the potatoes hidden in the soil slowly emerged.
The two became more careful, gently digging away the soil around them to uncover the potatoes.
One potato after another sprouted up, and the two people digging the ground became more and more excited.
Finally, the two of them threw their hoes aside without even noticing that they had knocked over the cabbages.
Aunt Wang and her husband stared in shock at the clusters of round potatoes in the ten holes. Good heavens, so many in one place, one next to another! These aren't potatoes, they're grapes!
It's several times bigger than a grape!
"No chapters today, only 4000 words~"
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