Each young lady had two maidservants and one nanny attending her.
Madam Lin looked left and right but could not find Jiang Xing anywhere. Unable to hold back any longer, she asked Madam Liu, “Mother, why don’t I see Xing’er?”
Every year around this time, the young ladies of the Marquis Manor would visit the estate. It had been this way for many years. For the past several days, Madam Lin had been eagerly waiting day and night for them to come so she could see her daughter.
Of course, she was also hoping Jiang Xing would bring back some nice things to help support the family. Back when they split the household, she had been afraid the Third Branch and the others would benefit from it, so she pushed for the division. After the split, the First Branch had received noticeably less wheat.
More than anything, Madam Lin wanted to show off in front of the Second, Third, and Fourth Branches. Had Jiang Xing started receiving her monthly wages? Had she received any rewards? She could not have gone to the Marquis Manor for nothing.
But among those maidservants…
Not a single one was Jiang Xing.
Madam Liu was looking too. Her eyes narrowed beneath her cloudy gaze as the fine rain fell onto her face. Many of the maids were busy with their work. When they turned their backs, she could not see them clearly.
She said to her daughter-in-law, “Don’t worry. Maybe she didn’t come this time. Perhaps Fifth Young Lady assigned her some important task.”
Madam Liu remained calm.
“Xing’er has only been at the Marquis Manor for a few days. Fifth Young Lady must still rely on the people she’s used to. If you’re worried, just ask around.”
That might have sounded reasonable, but Madam Lin did not see it that way.
In her mind, Jiang Xing was clever and quick-witted. Fifth Young Lady surely liked her.
But asking around personally would hurt her pride, so she pointed at Jiang Ran.
“You go ask. Why didn’t your second sister come?”
Jiang Ran pointed at herself.
“Eldest Aunt, me?”
Madam Lin looked at her wooden expression and worried she might say something wrong and offend the young ladies, causing trouble for Jiang Xing.
In the end, she had no choice but to go herself.
Madam Lin followed the nanny beside Fifth Young Lady. She had given this nanny gifts before.
Approaching her warmly, Madam Lin said, “Nanny Xu, I’m Xing’er’s mother. Is Jiang Xing doing well at the Marquis Manor? Why didn’t she come today?”
Nanny Xu glanced at her.
“Jiang Xing? You mean Su Xing? Su Xing is a third-class maid. How could she possibly be qualified to serve beside Fifth Young Lady?”
Madam Lin felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
“A third-class maid? What does a third-class maid do?”
Nanny Xu replied, “Third-class maids are responsible for washing clothes, cleaning, standing night watch, scrubbing chamber pots, and tending the fires in the small kitchen.”
First-class maids managed the young ladies’ money boxes and attended them personally.
Second-class maids served tea and water and organized clothing.
Third-class maids handled rough labor and normally stayed out of sight so they would not offend the young ladies’ eyes.
Each young lady in the Marquis Manor had two first-class maids, two second-class maids, and four third-class maids.
When visiting the estate, they did not bring everyone. They only brought two maids and one nanny.
Who would bring a third-class maid?
After saying that, Nanny Xu left.
Madam Lin remained standing there, unable to recover from the shock.
How had her daughter ended up doing nothing but dirty and exhausting work?
The Jiang family was not wealthy, but daughters at home never had to do such heavy labor.
Madam Lin muttered, “Couldn’t she at least serve tea and water? Then she could show her face before Fifth Young Lady. If she’s so far away all the time, no matter how clever she is, Fifth Young Lady will never notice her.”
Jiang Rong called out, “Eldest Aunt.”
Only then did Madam Lin turn around.
The people from the Marquis Manor had arrived, so everyone in the Jiang family had come to greet them.
Jiang Rong had seen Madam Lin go ask questions and get dismissed by Nanny Xu.
The rain was still falling.
Unlike the young ladies from the Marquis Manor, who carried umbrellas when they went out, the Jiang family members only wore straw rain capes.
Jiang Rong said, “Eldest Aunt wants Second Sister to serve tea and water. That’s a nice dream, but has she ever thought about how many maids surround a young lady from the Marquis Manor? How could those jobs ever fall to a third-class maid? Going to the Marquis Manor—who knows whether it’s entering a nest of blessings or becoming a beast of burden?”
Seeing the situation, Jiang Ran quickly slipped away.
She wanted no trouble and certainly did not want to get involved in the Jiang family’s mess.
If she said the wrong thing, Madam Lin would probably think she was jealous of Jiang Xing.
Better to say nothing at all.
The matter was already settled. Talking about it now was useless and would only earn Madam Lin’s resentment.
Jiang Ran quietly slipped away and hid behind the First Branch’s courtyard. Looking back, she saw Madam Lin trembling with anger as she raised a hand to hit Jiang Rong.
Jiang Rong immediately ran.
Madam Lin tried to chase after her, but Madam Liu stopped her.
Madam Liu said, “What are you making a fuss about? So what if she’s a third-class maid? Does that mean she can never become a second-class or first-class maid? Watch your mouth. If those words reach Fifth Young Lady’s ears, she’ll only think Xing’er is too ambitious…”
Jiang Ran could not hear the rest.
She let out a sigh of relief and went home to feed the pigs.
After only a few days, the pigs had already grown noticeably bigger.
The piglets Jiang Song had bought were black pigs with patches. Their coats were shiny black, and the patterns on the two pigs were different. They had already been castrated.
The chicks and ducklings at home had grown as well.
Madam Yun had taken good care of them.
The arrival of the Marquis Manor’s people only required the Jiang family to come back from the fields to greet them.
Once the guests had been welcomed and settled, everyone returned to their work.
After feeding the pigs, Jiang Ran washed the basins used for pig feed and chicken feed, then poured the dirty water into the fields.
Jiang Song said it helped fertilize the land and did not smell too bad.
After cleaning up, she went to check the vegetable seedlings.
Several days had passed, and they had grown considerably. Each had three or four leaves now.
Their roots were wrapped in a clump of soil about half the size of a fist, all planted inside eggshells.
Without soil, they lacked nutrients. The seedlings could sprout but would not grow properly.
That was why Jiang Ran had come up with this idea.
She collected used eggshells, filled them with soil, and planted the seedlings inside.
There were not enough eggshells, so she had gone to the First Branch to ask for more.
Madam Lin had happily given them to her.
The Third Branch’s nine plots of land were already fully planted.
Pumpkins and winter melons had also been planted along the fences.
The remaining seedlings were reserved for the smaller plots.
If the young ladies from the Marquis Manor did not want to plant anything, Jiang Song could put them into the ground later that evening when he had time.
Since she had not gone out to sell noodles today, Jiang Ran did not know whether the young ladies would ask her to make rice noodles again.
If they did, it would not be appropriate to serve them the same five-copper bowls she sold at her stall.
She needed to think of new flavors.
The first time she made them, they had paid her so much money that she accepted it without hesitation.
But she could not keep doing that.
If they found out later that she sold a bowl for five copper coins to everyone else but charged Sixth Young Lady fifty copper coins, Sixth Young Lady might think she had been treated like a fool.
Then there would be no future business.
Meanwhile, at the Marquis Manor’s quarters, Nanny Xu had heard some of Madam Lin’s later comments.
Fortunately, Fifth Young Lady had not heard them.
What kind of status did the Jiang family think they had?
The Madam had hired them to farm land for the Marquis Manor and provide food for their family. Instead of being grateful, they were dreaming about their daughter becoming favored by Fifth Young Lady.
What wishful thinking.
The only reason Fifth Young Lady had agreed to let Jiang Xing serve at the Marquis Manor was because Nanny Xu had personally asked for the favor.
As Fifth Young Lady’s wet nurse, Nanny Xu had some influence.
Besides, Jiang Xing would only be a low-ranking maid.
It just so happened that Fifth Young Lady’s courtyard needed another servant, so Nanny Xu had asked the Madam for permission.
In Nanny Xu’s view, Jiang Xing came from a farming family and was already older than most new servants, making her suitable for rough work.
Given her inability to read situations and adapt, Nanny Xu thought that without the money they had paid, Jiang Xing would not even qualify as a third-class maid.
Sixth Young Lady had heard the commotion outside but paid it no attention.
After the maids finished tidying her room, she looked outside and saw that the rain was not very heavy.
Immediately, she wanted to go out.
A maid stopped her.
“Young Lady, if you go out now, you’ll step into mud. If you catch a chill, that would be terrible.”
Sixth Young Lady said, “Aren’t they all outside?”
She had seen it herself.
The Jiang family members were all planting rice in the rain.
“My dear Young Lady, they work in the fields every day. They’re already used to it. Besides, they’re wearing rain capes to keep out the rain and cold. Wait until the rain lightens and the weather clears before you go planting.”
Sixth Young Lady looked disappointed.
The maid coaxed her, “It’ll be noon soon. Why don’t you think about what you’d like to eat instead?”
Resting her round face on her hands, Sixth Young Lady said, “Go ask Third Miss Jiang if she can make rice noodles for lunch. If she agrees, pay her again. Make enough for two people.”
When Sixth Young Lady came to the estate, there were two reasons.
First, to plant rice seedlings.
Second, for the rice noodles.
The maid immediately took an umbrella and headed for the Third Branch.
The rain was not heavy, but the chill seeped into the body.
Someone knocked on the door.
Jiang Ran went to open it.
The maid explained her purpose.
“If Young Lady Jiang is willing, the payment will remain two qian of silver per meal.”
Of course Jiang Ran was willing.
“I’ll deliver it at noon.”
There was still an hour before lunchtime, more than enough time to prepare everything.
The maid nodded and handed over the silver.
A little later, she returned with a solid wooden food box.
Carved patterns decorated the surface, and the redwood handle gave it an elegant, antique appearance.
The maid said, “Just pack everything in here.”
At first, Jiang Ran thought it was because of the rain. The food box could keep the food warm and protect it from getting wet.
But when she opened it, she found bowls and plates inside.
They were beautiful sky-blue porcelain pieces.
Jiang Ran looked at her own bowls and immediately thought of a swan standing beside an ugly duckling.
Shaking her head, she began cooking.
Jiang Song had gone to buy the meat. Before he left, Jiang Ran had asked Madam Yun to prepare the dough.
She planned to make sweet cakes, but not only sweet cakes.
Jiang Ran found some black sesame seeds in the house and ground them into powder with the millstone.
She intended to make sweet cakes filled with black sesame.
However, dough in this era was fermented with old starter dough, something Jiang Ran did not know how to handle properly, so she had to leave it to Madam Yun.
As for the noodles, Jiang Ran still planned to make one bowl of soup noodles and one bowl of mixed noodles.
She already thought her sour and spicy soup noodles were delicious.
Of course, they could be improved further.
For example, instead of vinegar, she could use pickled vegetables to provide the sour flavor. That would definitely make the taste even better.
She could also add more toppings.
A fried egg or a tea egg would be good.
There was no time to make tea eggs today, but a fried egg soaked in broth would be delicious too.
And then there were braised pork ribs.
Slurping noodles should be accompanied by big bites of meat.
Jiang Ran already had an idea for the mixed noodles.
She could make mashed taro mixed noodles or chili-pepper preserved egg mixed noodles.
There were no preserved eggs at home, but there was taro.
So today she chose the first option.
Sixth Young Lady was not making her final visit.
If today’s food was good, there would be future opportunities.
The taro was first steamed until soft.
Then it was cut into pieces and mashed into a paste.
Jiang Song returned quickly with the meat.
Instead of going all the way to Kyoto, he had bought it from a nearby estate.
Once the meat arrived, Jiang Ran immediately started braising the ribs.
She had made mashed potato mixed noodles before in her previous life.
Since potatoes did not exist in this era, she substituted taro.
The result was a thick, sticky texture that could become a little rich, so it needed strong seasoning and the aroma of meat.
Spiciness was the key.
With the chili oil made from zhuyu peppers, plus a little water mixed into the taro paste, along with lard and minced pork, the originally dry taro became smooth and creamy.
When scooped up with a spoon and poured over the noodles, it flowed down like a waterfall.
The first bowl was for Jiang Ran herself.
After mixing it, every strand of noodle was coated in taro paste and minced meat.
The noodles were chewy.
The taro was soft.
The texture was grainy and delicate as it melted in the mouth.
Savory, fragrant, and pleasantly spicy.
Jiang Ran thought this dish could absolutely be added to her stall’s menu.
But not now.
First, her stall was too small, and she was working alone. She could not handle more dishes.
Second, the timing was not right.
She had observed the market.
Every food item usually had at least two or three sellers, and sometimes four or five.
She was still new and did not know who had come first.
Soup noodles and mixed noodles were simple to make.
As she cooked and sold them, others would inevitably copy them.
If that happened, introducing new dishes later would keep her ahead.
She prepared two bowls of soup noodles, two bowls of mixed noodles, and two black sesame sweet cakes.
The cakes were sweet, but not overly sweet.
Jiang Ran felt that sugar was hardly a luxury for the young ladies of the Marquis Manor. They probably ate sweet foods regularly.
So she intentionally reduced the sugar and oil, aiming for novelty instead.
Because the bowls provided were not large, the portions were smaller.
But there was a greater variety of dishes.
Looking at the meal, Jiang Ran felt it had everything—spicy, numbing, savory, fresh, sour, and sweet.
By the time she finished cooking, it was already noon.
The rain had lightened.
A fine mist drifted down from the sky, cool against the skin.
After the rainfall, the world looked as though it had been washed clean.
The mountains were lush green.
The rice seedlings were vibrant and emerald.
Drops of water clung to the grass, trees, and flowers, making everything look fresh and ethereal.
Jiang Ran took a deep breath.
Carrying the food box, she headed toward the young ladies’ residence.
After handing it to a maid, she casually asked,
“Miss Su Yu, now that the weather has cleared, would the young ladies like to go out and plant something? My brother prepared a few plots of land and some vegetable seedlings—cucumbers, yardlong beans, and eggplants.”
Her voice was light and cheerful.
“If the young ladies would like to plant them, just come find me at the Third Branch.”