Jiang Rong brewed a pot of tea, then carried it to the entrance of the estate.
The servants from the Marquis’s Manor were loading grain onto carts. A green-canopied horse carriage was parked on the road, followed by several handcarts. This carriage was used by the manor’s stewards when they traveled. It wasn’t as fine as the carriages the young ladies rode in, but it was still something the Jiang family didn’t have.
The steward sat on the carriage shaft. He wore a dark blue robe and a futou headcloth, giving him a somewhat refined and scholarly appearance.
Jiang Rong carried the teapot over, then went back for some bowls. She placed the bowls on the ground, poured tea into them, picked one up, and walked toward the steward.
“It’s hot today. You’ve all worked hard. Steward Chen, have some tea.”
Jiang Rong’s voice was clear and pleasant. Steward Chen looked over at the sound and saw a young woman holding out a bowl of tea. The tea was pale in color, and it somehow made the girl herself seem equally fresh and youthful.
He accepted the bowl.
“Thank you.”
Jiang Rong smiled and said, “You can continue with your work. I’ll come back later to collect the teapot and bowls. If there’s anything I can help with, just let me know.”
Steward Chen took a sip. The tea was bitter and astringent, but in this weather it still helped quench thirst and cool the body.
He beckoned to Jiang Rong.
She stopped. “Is there something else?”
Steward Chen asked, “Were you the one at the stables that day?”
Jiang Rong lowered her head and smiled.
“I just added some feed for the horses that day. Our Jiang family can make a living from farming thanks to the Marquis’s Manor, so I wanted to do something to help.”
A gentle breeze stirred the loose strands of hair on her forehead.
Steward Chen couldn’t help smiling.
“The Jiang family works diligently. The Master and Madam have noticed. You’re a filial girl. Go on back. The sun is strong out here.”
Jiang Rong jogged back toward home.
Over the past two years, many stewards had come to the estate, but most were in their thirties or forties and already married. Steward Chen was the youngest one and still unmarried. He was the person Jiang Rong had chosen in her heart.
Jiang Rong knew her own place.
Trying to use the Marquis’s Manor as a stepping stone was one thing, but dreaming of one of the young masters of the manor was impossible. She was only a farmer’s daughter. How could she ever climb that high?
If she lowered her expectations, then a steward or an accountant from the manor would be suitable.
Most of those people were hired employees working for the manor. They either knew how to read or were skilled at managing accounts. They had useful talents and earned decent monthly wages. Their prospects were much better than those of ordinary servants, who were registered as slaves.
Jiang Rong had also considered the fact that there were many maids in the manor. What if a steward looked down on her? But the maids were slaves, while she was a respectable commoner. As long as she behaved generously and gracefully, the match wasn’t impossible.
Women always tried to marry upward. If she didn’t try, how would she know whether it could work?
Steward Chen was the best opportunity she could realistically grasp.
Life after marrying him wouldn’t be one of great wealth and luxury, but she certainly wouldn’t have to worry about food or clothing. If they could rise even higher afterward, that would be even better.
She wasn’t as foolish as Jiang Xing, who had gone to great lengths to become a maid serving one of the young ladies in the Marquis’s Manor. Who knew what kind of future that would lead to?
Meanwhile, after questioning Jiang Rong, Jiang Song stopped and didn’t ask the younger sister from the fourth branch of the family.
That cousin rarely left the house. She always claimed she was afraid of getting sunburned. Traveling all the way to the capital to sell things? There was no way she would agree to that, so there was no point asking.
Jiang Ran said, “Don’t worry. Nothing will happen near the capital. If I can’t sell everything, I’ll come back. If business goes well, we can buy an iron wok. Once the rice planting is finished, you can come out with me too.”
For now, that was their only option.
Jiang Song wanted to hurry and get the rice planted. As soon as he returned, he immediately bought seedlings. Jiang Ran also asked him to bring back some meat because she wanted to make minced pork.
After returning home, Jiang Ran loaded everything she would need the next day onto the cart and gave it a test push.
The load was much lighter now. She could push it, though she wasn’t sure whether she could push it all the way to the city. If she got tired, she could just rest. At least she had a cart. It was much easier than carrying everything on her back.
Then she checked the cotton batting again.
The good news was that the cabbage seeds she had started earlier had already sprouted.
She wasn’t sure whether they could be planted yet, so she decided to show them to Jiang Song when he returned.
Jiang Song looked surprised.
“They can sprout on top of this? When did you plant them?”
Jiang Ran pretended to be clueless.
“Just a couple of days ago. I always hear you all talking about raising seedlings, so I got lazy and used some old cotton batting. I sprinkled water on it and put the seeds there.”
Delighted, Jiang Song carefully held the sprouts.
“I’ll plant these first.”
Normally, scattered seeds would take eight or nine days before sprouting. These had sprouted much faster.
This time, Jiang Song bought half rice seedlings and half rice seeds. They couldn’t possibly plant all sixty mu of land at once, so they could raise seedlings while planting at the same time. Even if it didn’t rain, it wasn’t a problem. They could irrigate the fields themselves.
Now they could try Jiang Ran’s method.
Maybe it would be even faster.
The family land had already been plowed with an ox cart on the day the family split apart. Otherwise, when planting season came and everyone needed the equipment, the third branch definitely wouldn’t get a turn.
Today they would flood the fields and transplant the rice seedlings.
Tomorrow morning, Jiang Song planned to check how the cabbage seedlings were growing. If they looked good, he would use Jiang Ran’s method for the rice as well.
They worked at sunrise and rested at sunset.
The next day, Jiang Ran got up before the sun had risen.
April mornings were still chilly. She rose early to prepare the minced pork, but she soon discovered that someone had gotten up even earlier than she had.
Madam Yun was already cooking breakfast, while Jiang Chuanli and Jiang Song had finished getting ready.
So early?
In fact, Jiang Song and Jiang Chuanli had already spent some time transplanting rice seedlings. Their calves were covered in mud, and they had come back only to eat.
The cabbage seedlings looked fresh and healthy.
Jiang Song had also found some old cotton batting. Following Jiang Ran’s instructions, he sprinkled water on it, placed the rice seeds inside, covered them, and left them indoors to wait for sprouting.
After finishing all that, he packed some food for his sister and pushed the cart with her to the entrance of the estate.
Jiang Song said, “Just keep heading northwest. There’s a market district on the eastern side of the city. If you can’t sell anything, come straight back.”
He rubbed his sister’s head.
“After the autumn harvest, when we’ve sold the rice, your brother will definitely have enough money to buy you new clothes.”
The sky gradually brightened.
Jiang Ran pushed the cart onto the road. She noticed that strips of cloth had been wrapped around the handles. After holding them for a long time, they wouldn’t rub her hands raw.
She thought about Jiang Song’s words.
But it was only April. There were still several months until the autumn harvest. If they didn’t find another source of income, farming would remain the family’s main way of earning money. They might be able to sell some vegetables along the way, but the chickens and ducks were still young, and the pigs probably wouldn’t be ready for sale until the end of the year. The family had no other source of income.
Jiang Song’s thinking was simple: if she couldn’t sell everything, she could just come home.
But Jiang Ran thought differently.
Even if she failed to sell anything, she would figure out why, find ways to improve, and keep trying until she earned money.
Wearing the cloth shoes made by Madam Yun, Jiang Ran walked along the road. Her footsteps mixed with the creaking sounds of the cart wheels.
The estate gradually shrank into a tiny black dot behind her.
The morning air was cool, but walking kept her warm.
As dawn slowly painted the horizon pale white, Jiang Ran finally entered the capital together with the crowd heading into the city.
The world outside the city and the world inside felt completely different.
It was still very early. By Jiang Ran’s estimate, it was only around the Chen hour, about seven or eight in the morning. Yet the streets were already packed with people.
Ahead stood rows of buildings and towers. She couldn’t even tell which were shops and which were people’s homes.
There were plenty of people like her pushing carts loaded with pots and bowls.
Pedestrians came and went. Some women carried bamboo baskets over their arms, already having bought what they wanted.
White steam rose from certain stalls, carrying tempting aromas.
Vendors shouted. Customers bargained.
The whole place buzzed with life.
After spending so many days living on the estate, she had grown used to stepping outside and seeing only wide, open farmland. Faced with this bustling scene, she felt somewhat overwhelmed.
It was almost like returning to her previous life, when she would visit morning markets to buy black pork. There had been just as many people then.
Calling it shoulder-to-shoulder wasn’t an exaggeration.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Ran followed the crowd deeper into the market.
Stalls lined both sides of the street. There wasn’t a single empty space. The street seemed endless.
After walking for a while, she finally found a small vacant spot.
She asked a nearby older woman, “Auntie, may I ask something? How do the stalls work here? Do I have to pay for a space?”
The woman was selling flatbreads.
“At the end of the month, there’s a small ground fee. But the management here isn’t strict. Whoever comes first gets the spot. This area is pretty far back, so nobody bothers with it. People fight over the spots in front. The spaces in the back are free for anyone to take.”
Jiang Ran parked her cart and let out a breath.
Then she unloaded several bricks and used them to level the cart.
The stove had already been built and secured onto the cart by Jiang Song. The stove and the wok were the heaviest items.
She hadn’t brought any water, so she asked the woman again.
“Auntie, this is my first time here. Where can I get water?”
The woman pointed not far away.
“There’s a well over there. Just get it there. This place may be farther back, but it’s convenient for fetching water.”
Jiang Ran felt that everything was going fairly smoothly.
She smiled at the woman.
“I’m here alone. Could you help keep an eye on my cart while I fetch some water? When I come back, I’ll let you try my cooking.”
The woman glanced at the cart and waved her hand casually.
“Just go. Even if nobody watches it, nothing will happen.”
She looked like an experienced veteran of the marketplace.
There were many people on the street, and city guards patrolled the area specifically to prevent troublemakers from taking advantage of the crowds.
A few years ago, theft had been common and everyone had been nervous. Several thieves had been severely punished, and since then people had become much less daring.
Among everything on the cart, the most valuable thing was probably the wok.
Who would openly walk away carrying a giant wok?
Jiang Ran nodded, though she still wasn’t entirely reassured.
As she fetched water, she kept glancing back toward her stall from a distance.
After carrying back two buckets of well water, she first rinsed the bowls and chopsticks. Then she mixed the rice batter, boiled water, and kept her promise by making a bowl of mixed rice noodles for the woman.
There were many food stalls on the street, and plenty of unfamiliar foods.
The woman accepted the bowl but didn’t eat immediately. Instead, she asked where Jiang Ran had come from.
Jiang Ran replied, “I came from a village nearby.”
The woman took a bite of the noodles.
Her eyes immediately lit up.
“This tastes really good.”
Jiang Ran smiled shyly.
“It’s just a dish my mother taught me. It’s nothing special.”
Rice noodles mixed with lard had a bold, hearty fragrance.
In her previous life, Jiang Ran had even eaten rice with lard and soy sauce mixed together. That had been delicious too.
The rice noodles she made were thin, tender, smooth, and pleasantly chewy. Once mixed thoroughly, they smelled wonderfully fragrant.
There were many people on the street and plenty of potential customers.
Unfortunately, her location wasn’t good.
It was too far back.
Most customers passed right by her stall. Only a few spared it half a glance before hurrying away.
By the time they reached her, most had already eaten elsewhere.
Jiang Ran thought that one bowl of noodles wasn’t very filling, so she started calling out.
“Rice noodles for sale! Rice noodles for sale! Delicious soup noodles and mixed noodles! Come try some delicious soup noodles and mixed noodles!”
The woman selling flatbreads had a lazy temperament.
She simply sat there. If someone bought something, she made a sale. If not, she didn’t care.
She advised Jiang Ran, “The location here is bad. By the time people reach this end, they’re already full. Who still has room in their stomach?”
Jiang Ran smiled again.
“I’m just trying. Maybe it’ll work.”
Then she continued shouting.
“Rice noodles for sale! Rice noodles for sale! Delicious mixed noodles and soup noodles!”
None of the nearby vendors were shouting.
Jiang Ran was the only one.
She stood out tremendously.
The older woman thought to herself, Just wait and see. She’s wasting her breath.
Unexpectedly, someone stopped in front of Jiang Ran’s stall.
“Noodles? What kind of noodles?”
Jiang Ran replied, “Soup noodles and mixed noodles. The soup noodles are sour and spicy, with minced pork. Five copper coins a bowl. The mixed noodles are cheaper—three copper coins a bowl.”
A flatbread already cost two copper coins, so the price of the mixed noodles wasn’t expensive.
The customer had only stopped to ask. After getting an answer, he left.
The older woman said, “See? I told you.”
Jiang Ran felt disappointed.
She had thought her first customer had arrived, but he had only asked questions.
Taking a deep breath, she continued shouting.
“Minced pork soup noodles and lard mixed noodles for sale! Come and try them! Delicious minced pork soup noodles and lard mixed noodles!”
Her voice was bright and clear.
Soon, two more people stopped at the stall.
Whatever they asked, Jiang Ran answered patiently.
One of them finally said, “Give me a bowl of mixed noodles.”
The rice batter had already been prepared.
Jiang Ran scooped a ladleful into a noodle strainer. Thin strands of noodles slipped through the holes into the boiling water, quickly setting and cooking through.
Once cooked, she scooped them out.
At the bottom of the bowl, she added a spoonful of soy sauce, a little salt, and a lump of lard.
After mixing everything together, the noodles glistened with a faint sheen of oil.
Jiang Ran handed over the bowl.
“Three copper coins, please.”
Three copper coins landed in Jiang Ran’s hand.
She had finally made her first sale.