Lin Sheng froze for a moment, clearly not expecting his sister to agree so readily this time.
After recovering from his surprise, a smile spread across his face.
“Sis, then I’ll go to the fields with you tomorrow.”
The rice seedlings in the fields had already sprouted, and it was time to weed them. The family originally owned nine mu of farmland, but after Lin Wan sold one mu, eight mu remained. Weeding such a large area was a major undertaking. In previous years, the original owner had always handled it alone.
Lin Sheng was genuinely happy. At last, he could help share his sister’s burden and keep her from working so hard.
The corners of his lips lifted, and his eyes brightened. Although Lin Sheng was frail and thin, his complexion was fair and clean, and his features were remarkably handsome. When he smiled, he had an innocent, adorable charm—a perfect little puppy type. It was easy to imagine that in a few years he would grow into the sort of stunningly handsome man who could captivate hearts and cause endless trouble.
His smile did not last long.
The next moment, Lin Wan shook her head.
“Even though you’re no longer attending the village school, you still need to stay home and review your studies seriously. In a few days, when the academy in the county town starts accepting students, you’ll go take the entrance exam.”
Given their current circumstances, gaining admission to the county academy was the best option for Lin Sheng.
“But…”
Lin Sheng wanted to object.
The tuition at the village school was already expensive. Studying in the county town would cost even more. How was the family supposed to survive?
“Didn’t you say you wanted to earn an imperial honor for your sister one day? If you don’t study hard now, how are you going to do that in the future?”
Lin Wan already knew what he was about to say.
In the original novel, the body’s former owner had been the male lead’s vicious first wife and ultimately met a miserable end.
Although Lin Wan had avoided the male lead after transmigrating into the book, there was no guarantee that some unforeseen circumstance wouldn’t drag her back onto the original plotline.
Right now, she was merely a peasant girl from the countryside, while the female lead came from a prestigious noble family. If she ever found herself opposing the female lead, she stood no chance in her current state.
Therefore, before crossing paths with the protagonists, she needed to strengthen herself. She also needed connections within the imperial court.
And Lin Sheng was the perfect candidate.
He had always been intelligent and sensible. Although he started his education later than most children, he had still passed the county-level preliminary examination and become a tongsheng at a young age. Given enough time and resources, he was bound to achieve great things.
Even the original novel had expressed regret when discussing Lin Sheng. It had commented that he possessed the talent to become the top scholar in the empire. Unfortunately, his congenital frailty left him too weak, and he did not even survive long enough to make it through the provincial examinations.
Since she intended for him to pursue the imperial examinations, she naturally planned to improve his health beforehand. The tragedy described in the original story would never happen again.
“Ah Sheng, you need to understand something. The reason the Lin family has always bullied us is because we’re too weak. If you want to protect me, you must become stronger. You have to reach a position so high that the Lin family wouldn’t even dare provoke you. Only then can we truly free ourselves from them.”
“I believe you can do it.”
Although Lin Wan now possessed the document officially severing ties with the Lin family, judging from Old Madam Wu’s character and that of the rest of the family, they would certainly continue causing trouble in the future.
In truth, Lin Wan wasn’t worried. She could handle them herself. Those words were simply meant to persuade Lin Sheng to continue his studies.
Sure enough, after hearing her out, Lin Sheng fell silent for a moment before nodding solemnly.
“Don’t worry, Sis. I’ll study hard. I won’t let them bully you ever again.”
He knew very well how the Lin family had treated them over the years. Because of his weak health, his sister had always stood in front of him and protected him. Now it was his turn to grow stronger and protect her.
“As for the work at home, don’t worry about it. Your sister can handle it all herself!”
Lin Wan patted him on the shoulder.
Tomorrow, she planned to make a trip to the county town. There were many things she needed to buy, the most important being medicinal herbs.
Lin Sheng’s body needed conditioning. The poison inside Gu Zhixing also needed to be gradually removed. And then there were the weeds in the fields. If she relied solely on manual labor, it would take at least ten days to half a month to clear everything. Not only would it be exhausting, but the efficiency would be terrible.
She intended to prepare some herbicide and simply spray it over the fields. It would save both time and effort.
Although Lin Wan had never farmed in her previous life, she had cultivated medicinal herbs. Growing herbs was far more difficult than growing grain crops. Besides, she had inherited the original owner’s memories. To her, farming was practically second nature.
The siblings chatted for a while. By then, the sun was setting, and evening had arrived.
Lin Wan entered the kitchen and took out the small amount of mixed-grain flour remaining in the cupboard.
The family was running low on food. Old Madam Wu frequently came over to take advantage of them, and the original owner had truly been short of money. Otherwise, she would never have sold an entire mu of fertile farmland.
Those fields had been painstakingly accumulated by Lin Dashan after Old Madam Wu had driven him out of the family home years ago.
When Lin Dashan died in battle, Old Madam Wu had not only seized the thirty taels of compensation money but had also set her sights on those fields. Fortunately, Village Head Zhang had stepped in to uphold justice and driven her away.
Over the years, Village Head Zhang had looked after the siblings on many occasions.
Even today, he likely knew perfectly well where those thirty-plus taels of silver had come from. Yet he still chose to play along with Lin Wan’s act and helped recover the money from Old Madam Wu. Lin Wan would remember that kindness and support.
The oil jar by the stove had long since run dry.
Aside from a small pile of wild vegetables in the corner, there wasn’t a scrap of food left in the kitchen.
Lin Wan sighed, rolled up her sleeves, and poured the last of the mixed-grain flour into a basin.
She washed and finely chopped the wild vegetables, mixed them with the final bit of oil scraped from the jar, and sprinkled in some salt. Later, she would wrap the filling in dough and make wild vegetable dumplings.
After finishing the preparations, she took ten copper coins and went next door to Aunt Tian’s house to buy a few eggs.
Aunt Tian had initially refused to accept the money, but Lin Wan had insisted on forcing it into her hand.
Though Tian Guihua had a fiery personality, she was kind-hearted. Seeing how difficult life had been for the siblings over the years, she often helped them whenever she could.
In truth, the original owner had lived a fairly decent life in Qinghe Village. Aside from Old Madam Wu’s constant harassment, the neighbors were all good people, and the village head was upright and fair. Compared to the bizarre and unreasonable villagers Lin Wan had seen in many novels, these people were much better.
She exchanged the ten copper coins for five eggs.
Two would be used to make egg soup for dinner, while the remaining three would serve as breakfast the next morning. After all, there was no grain left in the house.
While Lin Wan cooked, Lin Sheng sat by the stove tending the fire, just as they always had.
Before long, the aroma of egg soup and wild vegetable dumplings drifted through the air.
Lin Sheng sniffed deeply.
“Sis, the food you made today smells amazing!”
“Then eat a little more.”
Lin Wan smiled.
The original owner’s cooking skills were actually quite good. But even the best cook couldn’t work miracles without ingredients. The original owner had always been reluctant to use seasonings, so her food naturally tasted ordinary.
As for Lin Wan, she had stuffed every last drop of oil from the jar into the dumplings. Of course they smelled wonderful.
After setting the wild vegetable dumplings and egg soup on the table, Lin Wan wiped her hands and said,
“I’m going to call your future brother-in-law over for dinner.”
Although she had bought him, Gu Zhixing was still unconscious, and they had not yet signed a marriage contract. They were not husband and wife yet.
For now, he was merely her future husband.