In the days that followed, Shen Chunming indeed shed his previous attitude and eagerly gathered around Shen Jiang and the others to guide them through their homework.
Song Xia was quite pleased with this. Seeing how well-behaved Shen Chunming had become, she generously waved a hand and told him, “A-Ming has been so good these past few days, I’ll just go to the fields by myself today!”
With that, she happily set off alone to check on the wheat germination.
Humming a tune as she walked toward her fields, Song Xia saw tender green shoots of newly sprouted wheat lining the path all the way, a delightfully refreshing sight.
When she finally reached her own plot, her smile grew even harder to suppress.
Every single one of the four plots was covered in a dense carpet of fresh, tender shoots, gently swaying in the morning breeze and looking utterly adorable.
Great! They survived!
Delighted, Song Xia hopped down the earthen ridge and walked along the rows to inspect them closely.
Now that the sprouts had emerged, all that remained was to check for any gaps or missing patches in the rows so she could get them replanted right away.
Inspecting each plot meticulously, she found that out of the four experimental sections, only plot number four—the one without any tied cloth strips—had slightly more missing patches, though it was still well within a reasonable range.
Song Xia pulled a stack of paper from her wicker basket, carefully recorded these observations, and then set to work on the replanting.
Before coming out, she had already pre-sprouted some wheat seeds using warm water, but since she only had ordinary seeds left on hand, she used them exclusively for replanting plot number four.
Humming a merry little tune, Song Xia squatted happily on the ground, planting the seeds one by one at a leisurely pace.
“Xiao Song! What are you doing with these four plots of yours?” Auntie Wang’s cheerful greeting drifted over from a neighboring field in the distance.
“Auntie Wang! How come you’re only starting to sow today?” Song Xia called back with a smile. “My seeds are different, so I’m planting them separately! I want to see which ones grow best next year and use those!”
“Oh, don’t mention it! I wasn’t feeling too well these past couple of days, and it just got delayed like that. Your Uncle finished planting the rest of the fields by himself, and this plot was the only one left.” Auntie Wang felt a bit anxious bringing it up. It was the peak of the busy farming season, yet her body had uncooperatively fallen ill for two days. Fortunately, her old man was in robust health and had rushed through the rest of the fields earlier, leaving only this patch behind.
“You were sick? Is it serious?” Song Xia asked with genuine concern. At Auntie Wang’s age, falling ill was no small matter.
“Oh, it’s nothing! It’s just my old ailment—whenever the weather changes, my legs start aching and I can’t get down to the fields. It’s no big deal!” Auntie Wang chuckled helplessly at her own legs.
Right after that, Auntie Wang added, “Your idea is great! Once those good seeds of yours grow out, you’ll have to tell me how you did it!”
Song Xia laughed. “Look at what you’re saying! If they grow well, we can always trade some with each other!”
“Hey! That would be wonderful!” Auntie Wang accepted the offer repeatedly with a beaming face. No matter how she looked at this young girl, she felt she was entirely different from the rest of the villagers—so knowledgeable and kind-hearted. Regardless of how Song Xia’s experimental plot turned out in the end, she was more than happy to grow closer to her.
At that thought, Auntie Wang grew a bit embarrassed.
“About that reading matter you brought up when you came by the house a couple of days ago…”
“Oh, it’s nothing! It was just me being too young and acting on a sudden impulse without thinking things through. Every family has their own arrangements for their children, which is completely normal.” Seeing Auntie Wang hesitate with words stuck in her throat, Song Xia quickly offered comfort.
In fact, back when the two of them were working in the fields, Auntie Wang had already hinted at wanting her grandson to learn a character or two from Song Xia, and at the time Song Xia had happily agreed with a bright smile.
Her confidence in starting the private school had largely stemmed from Auntie Wang’s expressed interest; since Auntie Wang wanted her grandson to learn something, she figured other families in the village must have similar needs.
As it turned out, not a single household in the entire village was willing.
Seeing Song Xia comfort her instead, Auntie Wang felt even more sheepish.
“They’re just too short-sighted!” Auntie Wang grew angry whenever she thought about her daughter-in-law and son’s attitude. It was such a good opportunity, yet that couple simply refused to budge.
“It’s fine. Whenever Little Stone wants to come, he’s welcome. As long as there are students willing to learn, Shen Huaijing will teach them,” Song Xia smiled.
Auntie Wang chattered along for a while longer, and Song Xia kept up the banter while she finished replanting. Bidding Auntie Wang farewell, Song Xia headed back home first.
On the walk back, Song Xia calculated things in her head.
The wheat was sown, its early growth looked promising, and her deep-tilling inspection today revealed that the soil moisture was still decent—meaning no watering was required just yet, and she only needed to wait until the wheat reached the three-leaf stage before thinning out the seedlings.
So for the next few days, she still needed to make a trip to the county town.
Coincidentally, their household salt was running low, and she had just finished a fresh batch of sour pastries, so she wanted to check with Shopkeeper Li at Ganwei Pavilion to see if he needed any more. At the same time, she wanted to buy some meat; she had promised A-Ming a hearty meal long ago, but due to being constantly tied up with farming duties, she hadn’t found the time to go to town, dragging the matter out until now.
Thinking of meat made Song Xia’s mouth water—she was craving it badly.
However, none of those things were the most important. The most critical issue was that Shen Huaijing’s medicine had run out several days ago.
She was the one who had raided Shen Huaijing’s medicinal stash, and she had been carrying the guilt of needing to replace it for him ever since.
Thinking of his medicine, Song Xia suddenly narrowed her eyes in puzzlement.
Last time, to gather medicine for A-Li, she had taken apart a large portion of Shen Huaijing’s prescription. At the time, she had a vague sense that a couple of the herbs looked different from what she remembered, but being in a rush to save A-Li, she hadn’t dwelled on it. Upon returning home, she took a closer look at the remaining herbs, but having only learned to identify plants alongside the villagers, the herbs were chopped up so finely that she didn’t dare to be certain.
Once back home, she had casually probed Shen Huaijing about it.
“Your illness—who was the one who prescribed this for you?” Song Xia asked casually while sipping her porridge at the table.
“It was an old physician invited from the prefectural city,” Shen Huaijing didn’t suspect her motives, assuming she was just curious.
“Who found him? Your uncle and them? Is the doctor they found reliable?”
Placing a piece of salted vegetable onto his bowl, Shen Huaijing glanced at Song Xia indifferently. “It wasn’t my uncle and them; it was my grandmother.”
Song Xia was genuinely surprised then: “Your grandmother?”
She recalled that during the wedding ceremony, she hadn’t seen any grandmother present.
“Yes. My grandmother specially invited a highly skilled physician from the prefectural city back then; he and my grandmother were old acquaintances.”
That finally explained to Song Xia why Shen Huaijing could comfortably take those herbs for so long.
Hearing him say that, Song Xia felt somewhat reassured. Since it was someone Shen Huaijing trusted, she must have simply misremembered.
“Why the sudden interest in asking about this?” Shen Huaijing asked with a hint of a smile at the corner of his lips.
“Oh, I’m planning to make a trip to the county town tomorrow. Your medicine has all run out, and I was originally wondering if I should find another apothecary to examine you. Since the prescription came from the physician my grandmother found, that won’t be necessary—I’ll just get it refilled using the same formula.” Song Xia paused, keeping her lingering trace of doubt to herself.
“It’s fine, I’ve been taking it for several years; missing a few days won’t hurt.” Shen Huaijing didn’t doubt her explanation, feeling a warmth ripple through his heart at her care for him.
“You shouldn’t work yourself too hard either. I’ve noticed you’ve grown thinner from all your busyness these past few days.”
Song Xia froze at those words and instinctively reached up to touch her cheek.
Her cheeks really did seem a bit sunken in again.
Ever since she arrived in the village, although she stayed busy every day, at least she had three square meals a day, and no one was docking her rations anymore.
From her initial yellow-faced, malnourished refugee appearance, Song Xia had actually put on quite a bit of flesh and even grown a bit taller, looking full of vitality overall.
Yet with the rush of sowing and the private school over the past couple of days, she had worn away all the weight she had so painstakingly gained.
“I really hadn’t noticed.” Song Xia hadn’t expected Shen Huaijing to be so observant that he would notice such a minor change in her.
“There’s still some money left at home; you don’t need to be so stingy.”
Seeing Song Xia looking like a gust of wind could blow her away, Shen Huaijing couldn’t help urging her, “Buy some more meat and white flour; you need to properly nourish yourself.”
“Stop worrying about that and just focus on teaching your little pupils,” Song Xia swallowed the last gulp of her bean porridge. “There isn’t much money left at home either, so I need to figure something out.”
Song Xia muttered inwardly: As expected of Master Shen, truly clueless about the cost of living! Not only do I want to eat meat, but I want white rice too!
Taken aback by her tart reply, Shen Huaijing was momentarily stunned.
“Is there no money left at home?”
“There’s a little, but not much. When I go into town this time, I’ll check with Shopkeeper Li to see if he still needs sour pastries. Let’s hope he’s still willing to buy them, otherwise…” Song Xia trailed off halfway through, switching her tone to reassure him: “Don’t worry too much though, I certainly won’t let you and A-Ming starve.”
“I know.” Shen Huaijing lowered his head to drink his porridge, his long eyelashes veering down to conceal the emotions in his eyes.
Originally, Song Xia had only wanted to check on the prescription, but the conversation had gone off the rails, leaving her genuinely worried about finances now.
Just how on earth is one supposed to make money?
Consequently, Song Xia had a restless night and set off early the next morning with two faint dark circles under her eyes.
Auntie Xing’er came along for this trip into town.
Having skipped the past few trips because she had no specific errands, Auntie Xing’er slapped her thigh when she heard Song Xia was heading to the county town to buy supplies, announcing that she had saved up a batch of eggs and would tag along.
The weather was growing colder and the days shorter. While the sky was still shrouded in pre-dawn gloom, Song Xia and Auntie Xing’er set off down the road toward the county town.
“Xiaoxia, what are you planning to sell this time?” Auntie Xing’er asked curiously, noticing the large basket slung over Song Xia’s arm.
“Nothing much, just some little homemade trinkets,” Song Xia smiled, dodging details.
Noticing Song Xia’s reluctance to elaborate, Auntie Xing’er tactfully dropped the subject and cheerfully changed the topic, praising Shen Huaijing for being such a wonderful teacher—all three of her children could already write their own names!
“Oh my! I’m so glad I let the three of them go back then! Look at that—in just a few days, all three of them can write their names!” Auntie Xing’er beamed with pride, feeling entirely vindicated by her past decision.
“That’s because Shen Jiang and the others are smart.” Song Xia chuckled inwardly. Among her three kids, Shen Jiang had practically driven Shen Chunming to distraction. Shen Yun and Xiaohua were fine; Shen Yun picked things up after a few repetitions, while Xiaohua was too young for anyone to expect much. Only Shen Jiang, who required endless repetition, had barely managed to learn how to write his own name after all these days.
He had nearly driven Shen Chunming—who desperately wanted to act as their “little master”—to a state of utter exasperation.
Still, watching Auntie Xing’er’s radiant expression, Song Xia politely chimed in with praises for the children.
“Since they can write their names now, they’ll learn math next, and who knows, maybe they’ll even take the imperial examinations and study further down the road!”
“Oh my, oh my! I wouldn’t dare dream of such a thing!” Auntie Xing’er laughed from ear to ear, waving her hands dismissively. “If the three of them can just learn a bit and one day someone manages to become a village chief, it’ll mean our ancestors are smoking lucky smoke!”