After returning from the Jiang family's old house, Mu Yi'an and Jiang Shuyun reached a consensus: they should stay away from Jiang's sister-in-law as much as possible in the future, as she was too fond of taking advantage of others.
Soon, it was time for Jiang Shuyun to go to the prefectural city.
Mu Yi'an packed his luggage and sewed several banknotes of different denominations into the linings of his clothes.
"Yi'an, what are you doing?"
"I've already had the money I brought for you exchanged for smaller denominations and sewed them into different pieces of clothing, just in case."
Mu Yi'an quickly finished sewing the last piece of clothing, counted out some loose silver, and put it into Jiang Shuyun's money bag.
Is this really necessary?
“You haven’t experienced it. I remember in my past life, when I was a child, we mountain people would sew a pocket on our underwear every time we went out and put our money in it, just in case we encountered pickpockets.”
Jiang Shuyun had never heard of such a thing in her life; it was truly unbelievable. A pocket sewn inside underwear—that was just too much! Would the money taken out have a strange smell?
"I understand, I'll be careful. You all need to be careful at home too. Now that Uncle Li and his son are here, I feel a little more at ease. Otherwise, I really wouldn't feel at ease with two women taking care of three children."
"I'll be careful. You don't need to be too nervous. Just do your best. Although the imperial examination is a shortcut, it's not the only path."
Mu Yi'an didn't want Jiang Shuyun to be under too much pressure. He was already a little embarrassed about making money, so he thought that if Jiang Shuyun could get into Bailu Academy and pass the imperial examination two years later, it would improve their social status in ancient times.
"I know, thank you, Mu Yi'an! Thank you for coming with me, otherwise, I don't know how I would survive."
"It's not that exaggerated. There's always a way to survive. But the fact that we came together makes us a combination where one plus one is greater than two. I'm also very glad that I came with you."
Mu Yi'an and Jiang Shuyun looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.
Jiang Shuyun set off for the prefectural city with the eldest son of the Li family and Mu Yi'an full of love.
Mu Yi'an didn't know when Brother Jiang from the old house left, because a distinguished guest had come to her house.
"Big brother, second brother, why did you come together?"
"I came with a friend to check on your watermelon patch. How are the seedlings growing? Are other people growing watermelons?"
Mu Erge asked in a very formal and methodical manner. Mu Yi'an reacted quickly and understood what was going on. This was the county magistrate traveling incognito. He wondered if the magistrate had ever heard of Emperor Kangxi, who was known for his incognito travels.
"Oh, is that so? My husband has gone to the prefectural city. I'll have the steward take you to the melon field and visit the family who grows watermelons."
Brother Mu glanced at the county magistrate and saw him nod slightly, and he understood.
"Alright, have the butler lead the way, we'll go take a look ourselves."
Mu Yi'an called out to Li Hong and asked him to lead the way to the melon field to find Uncle Li.
After seeing the group off, Mu Yi'an was filled with anxiety. She wondered if her eldest and second brothers would entertain the county magistrate well and seize this opportunity to improve her social standing.
Magistrate Zhao followed Brother Mu and the others to Mu Yi'an's melon field. Looking at the thorny field, which was lush and green, he wondered if it had yielded any watermelons yet.
When Uncle Li saw his son coming over, accompanied by his wife's brother, he quickly came out to greet him.
"Father, Madam wants you to take Uncle to visit the melon field."
"I see."
Uncle Li led the group into the melon patch, where the watermelons were already the size of fists. Because of the continuous planting, Mu Yi'an was worried that the fertilizer supply would be insufficient, so he left only one or two watermelons on each vine, and more than one at that.
The county magistrate, accompanied by his trusted confidants, carefully inspected the melon field and asked many questions.
After leaving the melon patch, Uncle Li led them to the vegetable gardens where each family grew watermelons. The watermelons on the vines were also quite good, but each vine had more watermelons than Mu Yi'an's.
In the village where the Mu family lived, most of the watermelon farmers would leave several watermelons on the vines.
Without the adults even asking, the perceptive Second Brother Mu had already raised his question.
"In reply to your question, my wife has already said that a maximum of two melons should be left on each vine. Too many would affect the taste and weight of the watermelons. However, most people are reluctant to cut off the extra melon segments."
Uncle Li replied respectfully. He could tell that most of the people who came with his uncle were officials, and they had that kind of imposing presence.
They were quite comfortable living with the Jiang family. Although it was a rural household and not as prestigious as their previous employers, there were fewer people and less drama, making things much easier for them. They liked their current life and sincerely hoped their employers were doing well.
The county magistrate then led his entourage to inspect the fields surrounding Jiangjia Village. The rice was growing well, and they learned about the sandy soil that Mu Zichen had mentioned, understanding why such soil was suitable for growing watermelons.
Mu Yi'an wrote down all the details about planting watermelons in advance and gave them to her older brother, saying that she had memorized the contents of the book and written down everything she could remember. Mu's older brother treasured them.
Because he had prepared in advance, Brother Mu answered the adults' questions with ease.
The group didn't say much, and after checking everything, they left.
Mu Yi'an didn't care about these things. The reason she entrusted the watermelon planting to her elder brother without reservation was twofold. First, to repay her maternal family for their love and care for her as a married woman, both before and after her arrival, allowing her to experience the joy of being pampered. Second, there were the limitations of the era and gender. In ancient times, women faced too many restrictions and found it inconvenient to show their faces in public.
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