The April sunshine was bright and beautiful, but after squatting in the fields for over half an hour picking up fallen wheat stalks, even the sun looked hateful.
That’s right—Jiang Ran was crouching in a field gathering wheat ears.
She looked up. Before her stretched wide, fertile fields of deep brown soil. Here and there, streaks of gold marked the wheat stalks left behind. This era already had two harvests a year. In a little while, rice would be planted.
Thinking that just a few days ago she had been sitting in an office, staying up late revising proposals, and now she was out in the fields, Jiang Ran felt dazed.
It had already been several days since Jiang Ran transmigrated here. From family conversations, she learned that her home was in the outskirts of Bianjing. The land beneath her feet totaled nearly three hundred mu.
It belonged to her family…
No, it was rented.
When she had first arrived, she had felt lucky. In ancient times, owning land meant never worrying about food or drink. Unfortunately, the Jiang family were only tenant farmers hired by the Yongning Marquis Manor. She had been born into the third branch of the Jiang family. The original owner of this body was thirteen years old, with both parents alive and an older brother.
The moment she transmigrated, she had joined the whole family in harvesting wheat. Every April, winter wheat was gathered. After one harvest, the land was turned over to plant rice.
Fortunately, girls didn’t have to do the heaviest labor. Jiang Ran and several of her sisters were responsible for cooking meals and delivering them to the family.
But cooking was hard too. The Jiang family was huge. At the top were her grandparents, and below them, five branches of the family in total—twenty-five people altogether.
There were many men too. She had eight older and younger brothers and cousins she couldn’t even keep track of. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to manage so much land.
Jiang Ran picked up another wheat stalk, her gaze falling on the two young ladies ahead of her.
One was taller, the other shorter. The taller girl wore wide-sleeved robes and a veiled hat, carrying a pretty little basket. The shorter one wore no veil. Every time she found a wheat stalk, she smiled as though she had discovered a whole new world.
Several maids dressed alike followed beside them, carrying fans, water flasks, snacks, and other things while carefully attending to them. One maid even secretly picked up wheat stalks and tossed them ahead of the girls whenever they weren’t paying attention, so they wouldn’t come up empty-handed.
These two were the young ladies of the Yongning Marquis Manor, the Jiang family’s employer—Fourth Young Lady and Sixth Young Lady.
The marquis’s wife, sons, and daughters often came here for short stays. This time, three young ladies had arrived. Fifth Young Lady disliked this sort of thing and stayed indoors reading books and drinking tea.
Since they all had maids attending to them, why did Jiang Ran still have to come out?
Well, even though the Jiang family weren’t servants of the marquis manor—only hired tenant farmers—they still worked for the estate. When the manor’s young masters and young ladies came, it was basically like the crown prince and princess of a corporation showing up for an inspection.
Naturally, they had to be treated well.
Jiang Ran actually had a lot of experience with that.
Because of this, the Jiang family had cleaned up their best rooms, reserving them for the manor’s young ladies and young masters during visits. The rooms were stocked with fine brocade quilts and regularly cleaned.
Besides, even if they had maids, what if something happened? What if they bumped into something, got hurt, or got lost around the estate?
So Jiang Ran had become a tour guide.
Since the girls already had maids with them, Jiang Ran didn’t crowd close and instead kept a polite distance.
When she saw that they had gathered enough wheat, she led them to a place where only a few stalks remained. After collecting several more, Fourth Young Lady said, “I think this is enough. Let’s go back. We can show Grandmother later and have the maids pound these. Then it turns into rice, right?”
Fourth Young Lady looked about the same age as Jiang Ran. Sixth Young Lady seemed younger.
“Rice?!” Sixth Young Lady exclaimed. “It obviously turns into flour. Rice comes from husked rice plants. Fourth Sister, how can you not even tell rice and flour apart?”
After saying that, Sixth Young Lady burst into laughter.
Fourth Young Lady looked at the wheat in her basket, her delicate face slowly turning red. Suddenly, she pointed at Jiang Ran.
“You tell us. You say it—what does it become after grinding?”
Jiang Ran blinked in surprise.
What did their argument have to do with her?
Did they think asking the maids would seem biased? Or perhaps they assumed she would know because she was from the estate?
Well, Jiang Ran actually did know.
Life in the future had been fast-paced and exhausting, and she loved rewarding herself by making all kinds of food.
She smiled and said, “What Fourth Young Lady means is eating it as cracked wheat, perhaps. If the wheat is still a little green, steamed wheat grains taste very good. Of course, rice can also be ground into flour and made into rice noodles. Rice noodles and wheat noodles look quite similar.”
Fourth Young Lady didn’t fully understand, but she gracefully climbed down from embarrassment. Lifting her chin, she nodded.
“Exactly. That’s what I meant.”
Sixth Young Lady neither agreed nor disagreed. After thinking for a moment, she asked Jiang Ran, “You can turn rice into noodles?”
Jiang Ran wasn’t sure what Sixth Young Lady meant by the question. Was she just curious? Or…
Still, Jiang Ran hadn’t lied, so she nodded.
Sixth Young Lady’s eyes lit up.
“Then can you make some for me to eat?”
The Jiang family were only tenant farmers hired by the manor, and everyone in the marquis household knew they couldn’t treat them like servants.
Smiling, Sixth Young Lady said, “I won’t let you make it for free. If you can make it, I’ll pay you.”
Jiang Ran was instantly tempted.
She desperately needed money.
The Jiang family farmed the manor’s land, and each year they had to hand over half the harvest as rent—a rather heavy burden.
She had done the math. Each mu produced around three shi of grain per year. After rent and family food expenses, less than half remained. Selling the leftovers only brought in around one hundred and twenty strings of coins.
It sounded like a lot—over a hundred strings a year—but once divided among so many people, how much was really left per person?
The family still hadn’t split households, and fairness was impossible.
Old Master Jiang and Jiang Ran’s grandmother, Madam Liu, favored the eldest branch. The old couple lived in three spacious brick rooms, and the five neighboring rooms belonged to Jiang Ran’s eldest uncle’s family. Several rooms in the back housed her second uncle and fourth uncle.
There was also a fifth uncle who hadn’t married yet. He studied at a private academy in Bianjing with the eldest son of the first branch. Every year, part of the harvest had to be set aside to support their studies.
Madam Liu always said they were the family’s hope. Once they rose to prominence, everyone would enjoy endless wealth and honor.
After that, the money was divided by headcount.
No matter who worked more or less, everyone received the same share per person. Two extra portions were also set aside to honor the elders.
The eldest branch had the most people—eight in total—so naturally they got the largest share.
The second and fourth branches also had many people.
When all was said and done, Jiang Ran’s family ended up with the least.
The original owner’s father and mother were honest to a fault and blindly filial. The third branch had only four people, and only three of them could work in the fields.
In short: they worked the hardest and received the least.
Her family got the short end of the stick.
At the end of each year, only a few strings of coins remained, and after clothing expenses, even less was left.
Big fish ate little fish; little fish ate shrimp.
Jiang Ran sat at the very bottom of the food chain.
By the time money reached her hands, it was only a few copper coins.
Jiang Ran’s eyes slowly brightened.
By chance, Sixth Young Lady noticed that although Jiang Ran’s skin was tanned from the sun, she was actually quite pretty. Big eyes, long lashes, a pointed chin, a straight, delicate nose, and a small mouth.
She was only darker-skinned.
Her posture was good, though. The tan didn’t make her unattractive.
Beside them, Fourth Young Lady huffed and came over to take Jiang Ran’s hand.
“I enjoy talking to you. Suye, reward her.”
If Sixth Sister gave something and she didn’t, it would make her seem stingy.
Jiang Ran nodded.
“Thank you, Fourth Young Lady. I also accept Sixth Young Lady’s request. When are you leaving?”
Sixth Young Lady’s voice rang clear and crisp.
“We’re returning to the manor tomorrow afternoon.”
The estate was only about half an hour away from the marquis manor by carriage.
Jiang Ran said, “Then I’ll make it tomorrow afternoon and bring it to you once it’s ready. Would that be alright?”
“Alright! I love noodles. I’ve never tried rice noodles before. How will you make them?”
Jiang Ran thought for a moment.
“Cook one bowl and make one mixed bowl?”
Sixth Young Lady smiled, dimples appearing on her cheeks.
“Okay!”
Fourth Young Lady stiffened her face.
“Make me two bowls too.”
Jiang Ran nodded and led the two girls back.
After collecting wheat for so long, the estate buildings had shrunk into tiny dots in the distance.
The two girls were carefree, laughing and playing after every few steps. Sometimes they chased butterflies, other times they got startled by crickets in the fields.
Now and then, they would point to some fresh green weed growing beside the ridges and ask Jiang Ran whether it was a wild vegetable and if it was edible.
Jiang Ran honestly had no idea.
The city she came from in her previous life had been all steel and concrete. She couldn’t recognize wild greens.
“I’ll ask my mother after we get back,” Jiang Ran said.
Sixth Young Lady replied, “If it is, then tomorrow morning we should dig up wild vegetables.”
Fourth Young Lady said, “You still want to come out again? Why can’t you learn from Fifth Sister? Drink tea and admire the scenery. You’re the only one insisting on running around outside.”
Sixth Young Lady skipped through the fields.
“You can drink tea anywhere! Since we’re already out here, of course we should play! Wild vegetable dumplings must be delicious. And those Chinese toon shoots we ate last time—weren’t they amazing?”
The two chatted excitedly.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ran touched the pouch the maid beside Fourth Young Lady had given her.
There should be silver inside.
It felt like a silver peanut charm.
How much would it weigh?
Before she could think more about it, the people ahead had already walked far away. Jiang Ran hurried to catch up.
After another half an hour, they finally returned to the estate.
Jiang Ran’s only responsibility was taking the girls out and bringing them back safely. Everything else had nothing to do with her.
The wheat harvest had just finished, so the family had some free time and didn’t need her to cook for now.
Still, there was plenty to do.
The wheat had to be dried, threshed, weighed, and the rent paid first. Only what remained belonged to them.
At noon, the women cooked inside while the men spread wheat across the large open space in front of the estate to dry. Every so often, they had to turn it over and keep an eye on the weather. If dark clouds appeared, all the wheat on the ground had to be gathered immediately.
There was a lot of wheat from over two hundred mu of land.
Jiang Ran hurried home but didn’t mention the silver at all.
The family hadn’t split households yet, meaning all property was controlled by the elders. If she handed it over, her mother might turn around and give it to them anyway.
Entering the house, Jiang Ran asked, “Where are Father and Brother? Not back yet?”
Her mother, Madam Yun, replied, “They’re at the estate entrance drying wheat. Eat first. I’m bringing lunch to them.”
After two days of drying wheat, they always stayed through noon so others could go home and eat.
Jiang Ran pressed her lips together but didn’t say much.
Instead, she said to Madam Yun, “Sixth Young Lady wants to try something new to eat. This afternoon, I’ll make something with rice. I’ll need to use the millstone.”
Rice noodles meant grinding rice into flour first.
Luckily, there was a millstone at home. She could handle it herself.
Madam Yun nodded.
“Mm.”
Their family had rice and flour. Compared to people who couldn’t even eat their fill, life wasn’t terrible.
But above them were layer after layer of pressure, stacked like mountains, making it hard to breathe.
Madam Yun packed the food and prepared to leave, but before stepping out, she turned back.
“Ran’er, your grandmother said that if the young ladies go out again, your Second Sister should accompany them instead. You’re too honest and not good with words. She’s worried you won’t serve them well and bring trouble to our family.”
Jiang Ran froze.
She didn’t want to serve people either, but…
She pointed something out.
“But Second Sister has been staying with Fifth Young Lady these past few days. That’s exactly why Fourth Young Lady and Sixth Young Lady asked me to accompany them when they went out.”