Liu Yanbo from the second house took the examination for the title of Tongsheng and did very well. Although he did not get the first place, he still passed.
This made Su Qiuya extremely happy. Her husband passed the examination for Tongsheng, and would later pass the examinations for Xiucai, Juren, and Jinshi, step by step. They would be able to go to the capital in the future and would not need to rely on the first wife at all.
"This is a happy event." Su Qiuya said with a smile, "We should also tell the eldest wife."
"It doesn't matter whether we tell him or not, it's just a student." Liu Yanbo knew this was just the beginning, and being a student was nothing. If they told the people in the main house now, they wouldn't think it was a big deal. "If we have to tell them, just say we're moving to the county town."
Liu Yanbo planned to go to the county town to study. The teachers in his town weren't as good as the ones in the county academy. If he wanted to achieve a higher degree, he needed to find a better teacher. A good teacher could offer him many insights. During his time in the county, Liu Yanbo heard about the examiner's preferences, which he also needed to learn from.
Some examiners prefer ornate language, others prefer simpler ones... Every examiner writes differently. Some people simply capitalize on the examiner's preferences and turn a less impressive essay into a winner.
When the examiner reads the essay, it is inevitable that there will be subjectivity.
Apart from this, there are many students in the academies in the county town, and they can communicate with each other.
"I met some nice people on this trip to the county town," Liu Yanbo said. "I'll treat them to a meal when we get to the county town."
Liu Yanbo wanted to establish good relations with these people. Since the eldest wife was unreliable, they could only rely on themselves.
"Okay, then we'll go together later." Su Qiuya said, "We're all going to the county town, so we have to tell you, otherwise we'll be accused of not telling you."
This time, the people from the Liu family's main house let them in, and Liu's father also met Liu Yanbo and Su Qiuya.
Liu Yanbo and his wife thought that his father was willing to see them only because Liu Yanbo passed the examination for the Tongsheng degree. Su Qiuya did not like his father and thought that he was not a good father at all and that he only cared about the people in the first house.
If Liu Yanbo had not passed the examination and became a student, how could Liu's father have ever given Liu Yanbo a glance?
Father Liu didn't think highly of Liu Yanbo. He had met many people, and the title of Tongsheng wasn't considered a high honor. Some people spent their entire lives as Tongsheng, never passing the imperial examinations and never reaching the Jinshi level. A lord like Father Liu really didn't need to think highly of these people, unless they were truly geniuses.
"We may not come back often in the future," Liu Yanbo said, "and I think there shouldn't be any problems with my father either."
"Well, it's okay." Father Liu saw a hint of pride in Liu Yanbo's eyes. He wanted to say a few words, but finally chose not to say more.
One has to experience things personally to truly understand them. If one has not experienced anything, what is the point of just listening to what others say?
"..." Liu Yanbo thought that his father would say a few more words, even give him a few taels of silver so that he could go to school, which would show his father's love for his son. But his father was obviously not like that. He said a few words and then started drinking tea.
"After we go to the county town, the shop will be handed over to the third wife." Su Qiuya said, "They used to follow us in making food and learned a little bit. Now that they have a shop, things will be better in the future."
Su Qiuya didn't ask for money from the third room to run the shop. She thought that by letting the third room open the shop, she had found a way out for the third room. They couldn't always take the third room with them, and they couldn't always let the third room's people work for them. If they always let the third room's people work for them, they would probably make the third room unhappy.
It would be better to let the third wife be the boss and the boss lady herself.
Su Qiuya thought she had been very good to the people of the third house, and she had no idea about the first and fourth houses. The fourth house also helped the first house look after the houses in the village, so the first house should help the fourth house more.
"My fourth brother's wife and the others are in the village, so they have to work harder." Su Qiuya didn't ask the eldest branch to help the fourth branch, but simply explained the situation of the branches. "They used to be served by others, but now they have to serve the chickens and ducks."
"It's only right to be self-reliant." Father Liu didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
Even before the eldest wife's title was restored, she also did a lot of work. Father Liu originally wanted to go to the middle land with a hoe, but Liu Yulian thought it was too troublesome, so she hired someone else to do it.
Father Liu knew that his daughter disliked that he worked slowly and poorly.
“…” Su Qiuya didn’t say much. He was not her son, but Liu’s father’s son.
"Just like I said before, you don't have to give pension money anymore." Father Liu had told Mother Liu earlier that the money should be used by each family to buy some delicious food. "During the holidays, if you have time, you can send something. If you don't have time, you don't have to come and send it."
"My son didn't come here for this matter." Liu Yanbo felt a little uncomfortable when his father said this. He passed the examination and became a student, which was obviously a happy thing, but his father didn't show much joy and said this.
"Study hard." Father Liu had nothing to say to Liu Yanbo.
Liu's father thought that his son had something in mind, and that Su Qiuya, his daughter-in-law, could not be said to be a bad person. At least Su Qiuya knew how to open a shop to support Liu Yanbo's studies.
"My son wants to take the exam to return to Beijing." Liu Yanbo said firmly.
"Yeah." Father Liu nodded, and it all depended on Liu Yanbo's own ability.
When Su Qiuya and Liu Yanbo came out of the big room together, Su Qiuya was not in a good mood.
"I don't think they are very happy." Su Qiuya said.
"Tongsheng, you are not worthy of your father's attention." Liu Yanbo consoled Su Qiuya, "When we go to the county town, we won't have to see them too often. Everything will be fine."
"That's the only way to think about it." Su Qiuya said. After all, her family mainly relied on Liu Yanbo to study hard, and the eldest wife wanted a woman to restore the title.
When Aunt Qing saw Su Qiuya and her husband coming back, she asked them about their visit to the main house.
"He didn't say anything when he met his father," said Liu Yanbo.
"What can he say? He could at least speak more in the Marquis' Mansion before, but now he's being suppressed by those people and can't even say anything." Aunt Qing believed that it must be Mother Liu who was pressuring Father Liu, which was why Father Liu couldn't say anything. "At least he got to see you."
"Mom, we'll go to the county town in two days." Su Qiuya said, "Let's go look at the shops tomorrow and choose one."
Su Qiuya still had some money on hand, having made quite a bit over the past few months. Having just arrived in the county, they didn't necessarily need to buy a shop first; renting one would also be fine. Su Qiuya figured that as long as their craftsmanship was good, they would be able to earn that much money quickly, so there was no need to be too frugal.
"Choose carefully," Aunt Qing said. "If you have enough money, buy it. This way you won't have to move out like before. Go over and see your father. Won't he offer to pay you?"
"No." Liu Yanbo shook his head. Father Liu didn't mention giving money, and it was not easy for them to ask Father Liu to give money.
They were going to the county town, and it was not a good idea to ask for money at this time. Otherwise, the people in the first house would think that Liu Yanbo had passed the examination and use this as an excuse to ask Liu's father for money.
Liu Yanbo thought about whether Father Liu cared about them that much, so he decided to forget it. If he really needed to borrow money, it would be better to borrow from others than from the eldest wife.
"He's really hard-hearted." Aunt Qing sighed.
In the main room, Liu Yulian had people find limestone, sand, and some iron ore, hoping to make cement. Cement, however, required careful mixing, and was no simple matter.
Liu Yulian herself didn't know how to do it, nor how to perform high-temperature calcination. She thought it was too difficult and would easily make her look dirty.
"Look at you, your face is all dirty." When Liu Yulian came back, her mother noticed some dirt on her forehead. "Did you do it?"
"It didn't work." Liu Yulian said, "It's very difficult to succeed. It may take several years."
If Liu Yulian could get it done within a year or two, she would be very lucky. The main reason was that her family would be able to regain their nobility, and she would be able to hire more people. Plus, she would make some money, so she could afford it.
She finally understood the poverty of scientists... Some scientists invest their entire fortunes in research, and even after years of research, they may not achieve success. Some companies will support researchers in their research, but if the lab consistently fails to produce results, even after three to five years, some companies might withdraw.
The laboratory is a place that swallows money, constantly swallowing money.
Liu Yulian now felt that cement was more profitable than invulnerable silk thread. At least the silk thread could be produced quickly, and if it was sold, the money could be turned over quickly. Cement, on the other hand, was so difficult to research. If it took several years to develop, it would cost a lot of money.
It was impossible for Liu Yulian to do the research alone; she had to hire someone. There were so many places where she needed to spend money, and her small treasury was about to be empty again.
"If you can't make more money, then let the court study it," said Liu's father. "Whether they succeed or not is their business. They eat the emperor's salary and share his worries, which is only natural. You may not be able to figure it out quickly if you do it yourself, but you have a general direction. The court has more people, so maybe they can be faster."
Father Liu knew that some of the things Liu Yulian was researching couldn't make them much money. Those things were basically just for showing off in front of the emperor.
If that’s the case, why must Liu Yulian figure it out herself? It would be the same if other people did the research.
"I know a little bit, but not much," Liu Yulian said. "It's about how to make tofu from beans. No one knew it at first, so you have to learn it step by step."
"That's fine." Father Liu said, "This kind of thing has its pros and cons."
Father Liu understood Liu Yulian's concern, which was that they were worried about wasting a lot of money without producing anything. However, the imperial court had plenty of money, and Father Liu believed that the emperor would be willing to have someone do some research. After all, the Liu family was not a spy for another country, so it was impossible for them to harm the imperial court.
If the research really failed, the emperor would order the research to be stopped. However, since Liu Yulian had developed the culture medium, the emperor would not blame her too much, and at most he would think that those people were not capable enough.
"The weather has been getting a lot cooler lately." Father Liu said. Time flies so fast, and it's almost Mid-Autumn Festival. "Your brother should be able to come back during Mid-Autumn Festival."
"If he doesn't come back, Xiaojia will forget what he looks like." Liu Yulian chuckled, "We have to make a few more gloves and add more cotton. They can wear them if they get cold."
Liu Yulian didn’t know how the soldiers in the ancient military camps worked or how they stood guard, but she knew that these people must have had a very hard time.
The weather in the northwest is not so good. There is a lot of yellow sand, and strong winds blow from time to time, burying some places. This is why some people are reluctant to cultivate land near areas with a lot of yellow sand, for fear that their fields will be buried by the yellow sand.
Liu Yulian planned to buy some trees like Haloxylon ammodendron. She had seen some of the tree names in Ant Forest when she was playing there in her later life. She thought that she didn't need to wait for people in the future to plant trees. Since she came to this world and knew some things, she could plant trees first.
She doesn't always consider financial benefits; she should also consider environmental benefits.
"There's a lot of yellow sand here. We need to plant some trees on the land we bought earlier," Liu Yulian said. "That will help block some of the yellow sand and make the land easier to cultivate."
However, it is unlikely that the imperial court would have spent a large amount of money to plant Haloxylon ammodendron. In ancient times, forest coverage was high and the people had little to eat. The imperial court was more concerned about the people's food supply than the desertification problem.
"Okay." Father Liu didn't understand much about this. Since his daughter said she wanted to hit the tree, then she did.
Father Liu didn't mention Liu Yanbo's success in the exam to Mother Liu and Liu Yulian. It wasn't a big deal. Father Liu had some private money, but he still didn't think of giving money to the second wife. He didn't think that the second wife would be good to the first wife if she became rich. There was no need to give money to the second wife. The second wife liked to be self-reliant, so they should support her.
"The second wife's son passed the exam and became a Tongsheng. Do you want to send some gifts over?" Father Liu didn't say anything. Mother Liu knew about the second wife's affairs. She didn't play dumb and said directly, "There are still some things at home."
Mother Liu wanted to be a little more malicious, thinking that if they went to deliver something to the Second House, the Second House would think they were trying to curry favor with her and were worried about her future success. But Mother Liu couldn't say that. She was used to being the mistress of the house, so how could she be so stupid?
"No need to send them off. It's not something that requires much effort." Father Liu said, "They are going to the county town soon. They should have quite a bit of money."
They didn't need to give money to the second wife, as she was quite capable. The food shop hadn't been open for very long, and other people's food shops hadn't made that much money all at once, so some people continued to set up stalls.
The second wife first bought a shop in the town and is now going to the county town, which shows that she has a lot of money.
When Mr. Liu thought about this, he felt that he was very stupid.
"If you really want to give them gifts, tell them when they have a banquet one day." Father Liu said, "How can we always give them so many things?"
"That depends on whether they have prepared a banquet." Mother Liu thought it would be better to wait until the second house prepared a banquet.
Liu Yanbo and his wife had no plans to hold a banquet. They both knew that Tongsheng's academic achievements were not very high, so there was no need to act too high-profile all of a sudden, so as not to make a fool of himself.
The second wife's family was going to the county town and even went to the village. Chai Yi Niang thought that the second wife's shop was really profitable and it would be better to buy it than to rent it. Chai Yi Niang also had money on hand, so she bought the second wife's shop.
Su Qiuya didn't raise the price of the shop. They sold it to the third wife at the same price as they had originally bought it. They also kept some of the tables and chairs bought by the second wife, which was also considered a profit for the third wife.
Chai Yi Niang originally wanted to say that Su Qiuya and the others had used the shop for a while, so why did they still want the original price? The second wife left something for the third wife, and Chai Yi Niang thought the second wife was not bad.
Su Qiuya went to the fourth room with a basket of eggs and told Lin Xiaowan that Liu Yanbo had passed the examination and they had to go to the county town.
"The shop was sold to the third wife." Su Qiuya said, "We had asked the third wife to do some work before, and they made some money. As for you, you have been raising chickens and ducks in the village. I thought I would give you something to nourish your bodies and not get tired. If you need anything, come to the county town to find us."
Su Qiuya seemed to have forgotten what Lin Xiaowan had said to her before, and was able to talk to Lin Xiaowan nicely again.
"We're a family, even if we break bones, we're still connected." Su Qiuya said, "There's no need to feel embarrassed."
Lin Xiaowan looked at the basket of eggs. Since Su Qiuya had given it to them, they would put it away.
"People like us won't be able to get anywhere, and staying in the village forever isn't a long-term solution..."
"Well, I'll be back in Beijing in two years and go and cling to my natal family." Lin Xiaowan looked at Su Qiuya with a half-smile. If she couldn't cling to her husband's family, she would cling to her natal family. But she couldn't cling to her natal family. She was just a concubine's daughter. How could her natal mother-in-law let her cling to her natal family? "It's just very difficult. I'm a concubine's daughter, but my second sister-in-law is different. She's a legitimate daughter."
The legitimate daughter of a merchant family is not necessarily better than the illegitimate daughter of an official family.
Lin Xiaowan thought that if the Su family had not rescued the people of the Marquis' Mansion, the Su family's daughter would never have married the Marquis's illegitimate son.
"My second sister-in-law's family must be very rich." Lin Xiaowan said.
"It's okay." The conversation was about to fizzle out, but Su Qiuya still smiled and said, "That money has nothing to do with me. Although I'm the legitimate daughter, my biological mother died young, and I don't have any biological brothers. Everything in the house went to the second wife, and they originally arranged a marriage for the daughter who was the concubine. I don't know how they knew something was going to happen at the Jingning Marquis' Mansion, so they asked me to marry over."
Those people are not good people at all. Su Qiuya wants to go back to Beijing and go back in style. She wants to let those people in the Su family know that she, Su Qiuya, is not someone to be bullied. She wants to make those people regret it for the rest of their lives.
"Come to think of it, you married into the Marquis' Mansion before me." Su Qiuya said. Aunt Qing didn't like merchant girls very much at first, and she said that Liu Yanbo was going to take the imperial examination, so she delayed it.
No matter how Liu Yanbo tried to delay, Liu's mother let the others get married first. She told others that a fortune teller had told Liu Yanbo that he was not suitable for early marriage, so she let Liu Yanbo's two younger brothers get married first.
People in ancient times believed in fate and had to match horoscopes before getting engaged. So since the Liu family said that the fortune teller had done the fortune for Liu Yanbo, it was unlikely that other people would say anything more.
"There is no order of priority when it comes to picking things up," said Lin Xiaowan.
“…” Su Qiuya thought Lin Xiaowan was sick.
"Live a good life." Lin Xiaowan did not continue to say anything bad about Su Qiuya, "Good days are yet to come."
If the people in the second house continued to work so hard, then the second house would definitely live better than the third and fourth houses. Lin Xiaowan did not envy the second house, nor did she think of sticking close to it.
"Fourth sister-in-law, today, I still have to say something to you." Su Qiuya couldn't stand Lin Xiaowan, "I came to deliver eggs, not to cause trouble. You can't eat anything you want, and you can't say anything you want."
"Then you're not here to cause trouble." Lin Xiaowan said.
"You live in this village, why should I cause trouble?" Su Qiuya said, "We're all going to the county town, so there's nothing to cause trouble. It's not your fault. Fourth brother is a gambler, and you support the family alone. Oh, and I heard that Fourth brother ran away to a widow. What's going on?"
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