Jiang Xing had gone to the Marquis Manor. Whether she had gone on her own or whether the eldest branch had slipped someone money, Jiang Ran didn’t know.
None of that had anything to do with Jiang Ran. She didn’t think much about it and instead turned her attention to the chickens, ducks, vegetables, and eggs the manor maids were carrying.
Those had all been sent over by the eldest branch.
The estate had over two hundred, nearly three hundred, mu of farmland, all neatly arranged. Before harvest, from a distance, the fields looked like they had been covered in sheets of gold.
But in reality, the estate was even larger. Beyond those fields were scattered patches of land around the edges and corners, most of them left uncultivated.
Looking at the Jiang family, her eldest uncle’s household had a bigger yard and raised more chickens and ducks. The third branch’s yard was small, with only two chickens and two ducks in total.
The ducks spent the daytime swimming in the estate’s river ditches and catching fish, so they barely needed feeding.
Now that the family had split up, they could raise more. Jiang Ran just didn’t know whether the Marquis Manor would care, or if planting things like this meant paying rent the same way they did for farmland.
Even if they had to pay, there would definitely still be leftovers.
From what Jiang Ran had learned about this era over the past few days, the capital was prosperous and commerce flourished. Just yesterday, she had overheard a maid by Fifth Young Lady’s side mention that food stalls sold snacks at night.
She wanted to go into business, but she lacked startup money. Besides, the outskirts of the capital were still some distance from the city. Going back and forth every day would be troublesome.
Capital.
With such a large area sitting unused, it would be a waste not to make use of it. Now that the family had split, every household had its own future to think about. Even if the third branch planted a lot more, no one would probably care.
It would all be hers.
The corners of Jiang Ran’s lips curled upward. Just as she turned to leave, she suddenly heard someone call out, “Third Sister!”
Following the voice, she looked over and saw Jiang Xing smiling brightly and waving at her.
Jiang Xing said a few words to the matron beside her before jogging over to Jiang Ran.
“Third Sister,” Jiang Ran greeted.
“I’m going to the Marquis Manor now,” Jiang Xing said. “From now on, I’ll be serving by Fifth Young Lady’s side. I thought Fourth Young Lady and Sixth Young Lady would bring you back too. But it’s fine—if you really want to go, I can put in a good word for you later.”
Jiang Ran had changed jobs several times in her previous life and had seen enough workplace scheming to know Jiang Xing was showing off. Pretending not to understand, she replied, “Then thank you, Second Sister.”
Jiang Xing rolled her eyes inwardly. Did Jiang Ran really think anyone could become a maid beside the young ladies? Those maids had all been carefully selected by the manor’s masters and mistresses. Someone as dull as Jiang Ran still wanted to climb the social ladder by becoming a maid?
She said, “Alright, it’s getting late. I have to go. I don’t know when I’ll be back next—probably when Fifth Young Lady comes to stay at the estate again. Then we can talk.”
By then, she would be dressed in new clothes and wearing new jewelry, completely different from a countryside girl at the estate.
Jiang Ran waved goodbye and watched Jiang Xing leave.
The manor’s things had also been packed up. Madam Liu led several daughters-in-law in walking them out for a short distance.
A whole group of people had left, but the Jiang family was so large that the estate still didn’t feel empty.
Jiang Ran walked home with light steps. When she arrived, she saw Jiang Song swinging a hoe and turning over the soil near the Jiang family house.
Casually, Jiang Ran asked, “Brother, what are you doing?”
Without stopping, Jiang Song replied, “I’m turning this patch of land over to plant vegetables. We’ll raise more chickens and ducks too. Next time people from the manor come, we can sell things to them.”
Sell things?
So they didn’t have to pay rent on this?
Jiang Song swung the hoe again, breaking up the hard dirt. He set the hoe down, bent over, and wiped the sweat off his forehead with the corner of his rough cloth shirt before glancing at Jiang Ran.
“I’m thinking of raising two more pigs too.”
Then he added, “Xiao Ran, don’t worry. Even if you don’t become a maid, life can still be good. Once we make money, your brother will buy you new clothes first.”
In Jiang Ran’s mind, Jiang Song had already passed the first test.
“I’ll help,” she said. “What are we planting?”
“You can go rest inside,” Jiang Song replied. “There’s nothing for you to do right now. We need to buy more chicks. Even if the manor people don’t buy them, we can still take them to the capital to sell. Ours are free-range and eat bugs—they’ll taste better than the ones fed rice bran and vegetable scraps.”
Jiang Song clearly had plans in mind and picked the hoe back up to continue digging.
“Where are the seeds?” Jiang Ran asked.
“In the bucket. I already got them ready.”
The family saved seeds every year after harvest for growing vegetables. But the third branch only had four people and couldn’t eat much. According to Madam Yun and Jiang Chuanli, farming and harvesting were already tiring enough—why plant so much more?
The two of them had always been obedient and never once questioned why the eldest branch constantly sent goods to the Marquis Manor.
“I’ll scatter the seeds then,” Jiang Ran offered.
“Not now,” Jiang Song said. “The soil’s dry. It needs a couple of days first.”
Jiang Ran lowered her head to look at the seeds and an idea formed in her mind. She took a small handful back to her room and dug out an old lump of cotton batting from the wooden cabinet.
She spread the cotton flat, dampened it with water, then separated the seeds and laid them evenly across it before covering them with another layer.
The sooner they planted, the sooner they could make money. Then she could go into the capital to sell food.
They didn’t have to wait for manor people to come and sell vegetables to them. She would need vegetables for her rice noodles anyway.
If Jiang Song helped, she wouldn’t have to work so hard.
After a busy morning, the family sat down to eat lunch.
Jiang Song didn’t touch his chopsticks. “Mother, give me all the money we still have at home.”
Madam Yun looked alarmed. “What are you planning to do?”
“From now on, I’m managing the household,” Jiang Song said. “Food, clothes, daily expenses, social obligations—I’ll handle everything. Better than saving money only to subsidize other people. Jiang Ran and I are your children. You’ve already seen it—other people can’t be relied on. Just listen to me.”
The two had always been obedient. Madam Yun went back inside and fetched the money.
But there wasn’t much.
Including what they had received from the family split and their past savings, there were only five taels of silver in total.
No one even knew exactly how or when the money had been spent.
Jiang Song clenched the money in his hand, veins standing out on the back of it.
“Tomorrow, I’m buying chicks and ducklings, plus two piglets. Mother, stay home and feed the pigs and chickens. Father, come with me to turn over the land and plant vegetables.”
Madam Yun and Jiang Chuanli nodded.
The two of them were honest to a fault and blindly filial, but at least they listened.
Even if Madam Liu and Old Master Jiang tried to take advantage of them again in the future, the family had already split. With Jiang Song in charge, there shouldn’t be any major problems.
Jiang Ran looked at Jiang Song and decided to test him one more time later.
After lunch, the yard outside was quiet and empty. Several large dogs lay lazily on the ground.
Jiang Song didn’t rest. He headed outside under the blazing sun to continue turning over the soil.
Jiang Ran waved at him to wait a moment, then ran back inside and brought out a silver peanut.
This silver peanut weighed two qian.
She handed it to Jiang Song. “Brother, wouldn’t this let us buy another pig?”
Jiang Song couldn’t help but laugh. “You think piglets are cheap? One costs a whole guan of coins.”
But after laughing, he stared at the silver peanut for a long moment. The smile disappeared from his face.
“Where did you get this?” he asked.
This wasn’t broken silver. It had been cast in the shape of a peanut and looked like something from the Marquis Manor.
Jiang Song worried his younger sister had gone down the wrong path.
Jiang Ran lowered her voice. “The day I went out with Fourth Young Lady and Sixth Young Lady to pick wheat ears, we got to talking. They asked me to make rice noodles for them to eat. I figured it out myself and made some, and then they gave me this.”
Jiang Song let out a breath of relief.
“If they gave it to you, keep it,” he said. “Hide it well.”
Truthfully, Jiang Ran had never seriously intended to hand it over anyway. She needed startup money for business.
Obediently, she put the money away and casually added, “The young ladies all said it tasted good. Do you think we could sell it?”
Jiang Song froze at her words, frowning thoughtfully.
“I’m just joking,” Jiang Ran quickly said.
She hadn’t expected him to hear that and immediately start preparing to sell rice noodles. Nor had she expected him to invest the family savings into her casual food idea.
After all, the family had only managed to save this much over so many years. One piglet cost a guan of coins. Buying two or three pigs would already use up most of their money, and they still had to survive. How could he possibly throw money into a food business based on something Jiang Ran said casually?
Besides, Jiang Song might not even believe the manor’s young ladies had rewarded her solely because of the food.
But in Jiang Ran’s mind, he had passed the second test too.
At least now, the rice noodle business had an official explanation in front of Jiang Song. She no longer had to hide it.
Jiang Song genuinely cared about his younger sister. If he had taken the money today, Jiang Ran would have one plan. Since he hadn’t, she had another.
If he had accepted it, no matter the reason, Jiang Ran would have had to keep some distance and caution in the future. Since he refused it, she could be more sincere.
She went to the kitchen, found some sugar, boiled water, and made Jiang Song a cup of sugar water, leaving it in the shade before returning to her room for a nap.
When she woke up, the sugar water had already been drunk. Jiang Song and Jiang Chuanli were outside—one turning over soil, the other putting up fences. Once the land had been turned over, fences needed to be set up to mark it as belonging to the third branch.
Since they all lived on the estate, everyone in the Jiang family knew what the third branch was doing. But no one said anything. Farming and growing vegetables only made so much money. The third branch had thought of this too late. A family full of fools.
After turning over the land, fertilizer had to be added. They used farm manure, hauling it bucket by bucket. The air outside filled with a strong unpleasant smell.
Jiang Ran sprinkled more water onto the cotton batting and added more kinds of seeds.
Once rain came in a few days, there would be more work again. The wheat had been harvested, and rice seedlings would need to be raised and planted.
Part of the money earned from the wheat harvest also had to be set aside to buy rice seedlings. No matter how she looked at it, life for the third branch was still going to be tight.
By sunset, Jiang Ran went outside again and saw that Jiang Song and Jiang Chuanli had turned over a large portion of the land. One patch here, two patches there, all fenced in.
Madam Lin happened to pass by and pinched her nose.
“What have you people done to the estate? It reeks.”
Jiang Ran continued playing dumb. “But when Eldest Aunt’s family did this before, I don’t remember you saying it smelled bad. Did your nose stop working back then?”
Madam Lin frowned and walked away, secretly thinking her Xing’er was still the smart and graceful one. She wondered how Jiang Xing was doing in the Marquis Manor.
Jiang Xing had already arrived.
At first, riding in the carriage felt wonderfully new. She had never ridden in one before—only the family ox cart. A carriage really was different.
Once inside the Marquis Manor, she was so stunned by its size that she could barely close her mouth. The ground was paved with clean stone tiles instead of dirt like at the estate. It was April, and lush trees, shrubs, flowers, and plants were everywhere, dazzling her eyes.
There were maids and servants too—so many people. Just how many people lived in the manor?
She had never seen anything like this before.
This must be heaven, she thought. A celestial palace.
She wanted to look around more carefully, but the maid beside her immediately scolded, “Lower your head and watch where you’re walking. Don’t look around everywhere. Have some manners. Don’t embarrass the young lady.”
Jiang Xing nodded, though she didn’t understand how a mere maid could embarrass Fifth Young Lady.
Soon after, she was taken to the servants’ quarters.
The matron stood there with a cold face.
“Starting today, you belong to Fifth Young Lady’s courtyard,” she said. “You’ll begin as a third-rank maid. Go clean the courtyard first.”
Jiang Xing blinked. “Don’t I need to go greet the young lady?”
“The young lady likes quiet,” the matron replied. “Don’t disturb her unless necessary.”
Jiang Xing lowered her eyes. “Yes.”
The matron added, “Your old name doesn’t suit the manor. You used to be Jiang Xing. From now on, your name is Su Xing.”
Su Xing.
It sounded lovely.
Jiang Xing nodded. “Su Xing understands.”
The night sky above the Marquis Manor looked no different from the one above the estate.
In early April, the moon was slowly growing fuller.
The neighboring rooms were quiet, and Jiang Ran slept soundly that night as well.
The next day, Jiang Song assigned Madam Yun and Jiang Chuanli their tasks. Madam Yun would cut grass to feed the pigs, while Jiang Chuanli would go with him to buy piglets.
Jiang Ran sprinkled more water onto the cotton cloth and took charge of making lunch.
Near noon, Jiang Song and Jiang Chuanli finally returned.
They brought back two little piglets, a cage of chicks, and a cage of ducklings. The cart was lively with chirping and squealing.
As Jiang Song unloaded everything, he said to Jiang Ran, “I went to the market and took a look. There are plenty of food stalls there.”
“We can give it a try.”