The setting sun streamed through the doorway, falling upon her small figure and wrapping her in a soft golden glow.
Her delicate features were calm and composed. There was none of a child’s innocence or panic about her. Instead, she resembled a seasoned strategist, someone who had long since taken the helm and firmly held her family’s future in her hands.
“Wan’er…” Shen Mingxuan called softly, staring at her in a daze. “Can you really…”
“I can.” Shen Weiwan cut him off, her voice firm and without the slightest hesitation. “As long as our family stands together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish. Father should secure his official post, Brother should focus on his studies, Mother should manage the household, and I will earn money, pave the way, and make the plans.”
Her words were brief yet powerful, like a pill of reassurance that settled firmly into the hearts of father and son.
Looking at his daughter, the confusion and timidity in Shen Jingzhi’s heart gradually faded away.
Suddenly, he felt that with those words from her, he had courage and direction. No matter how difficult the road ahead might be, he now dared to take a step forward.
Shen Mingxuan’s eyes shone even brighter. For the first time, the ambitions in the young man’s heart seemed capable of becoming reality.
He knew that his sister never boasted. If she said she could do something, then she certainly would.
In the kitchen, the aroma of wild vegetable porridge grew richer and richer, and the warmth of everyday life filled the entire courtyard.
Liu Shi carried the pot of porridge into the main room. Seeing the expressions of determination gradually appearing on the faces of her husband and children, she, too, revealed a faint, long-lost smile.
A gentle mother, a timid father, and an elder brother with lofty ambitions but no means to realize them.
To outsiders, such a family looked like duckweed floating on water, easily crushed by the slightest storm.
But only Shen Weiwan knew that as long as she was there, this seemingly fragile family could be twisted into a single rope and grow into a great tree that no wind or rain could topple.
The gentle could become resilient.
The timid could become steadfast.
Those with only dreams could gain a real path forward.
And she was the one who would make all of it possible.
As night gradually fell, a dim oil lamp lit up in the cold little manor.
The family of four sat around a battered wooden table, drinking simple bowls of wild vegetable porridge. There was no meat and no side dishes, only coarse grains and the bitter taste of wild greens.
But this time, no one cried.
No one despaired.
The porridge was plain, yet their hearts were warm.
The road ahead was long, yet their resolve was firm.
As Shen Weiwan drank from her bowl, the plans in her mind became increasingly clear.
First, ensure they had enough food and clothing. Then improve the rice seeds. Then start a business, accumulate silver, build connections, help her father gain promotion, and pave the way for her brother…
Step by step.
No rushing, no impatience.
Steady and sure.
Morning light filtered dimly through the paper windows.
Shen Weiwan quietly climbed out of bed and first went to check the seeds spread out in the bamboo trays.
The golden grains glistened softly beneath the morning dew. Before the sun rose higher, they needed to be moved beneath the corridor to dry and air out.
As she planned this, she touched another pile of shriveled grains that had been sifted out. Those would be kept to feed chickens and ducks in the future.
“Wan’er? You’re awake?” Shen Mingxuan’s voice came from outside the room, carrying the hoarseness of someone who had just risen.
“Morning, Brother,” Shen Weiwan replied. She had already neatly folded her thin quilt. “I’m going to move the seeds to the corridor. You wash up first. After breakfast, we’ll head to the fields.”
In the kitchen, Su Shi had already lit the firewood. A pot of mixed-grain porridge simmered on the stove, giving off a faint fragrance of rice.
Seeing the two children awake, she hurriedly wiped her hands.
“Wait a little longer, the porridge is almost ready. Your father went to the yamen before dawn. Before leaving, he said not to let yourselves get too tired.”
“Don’t worry, Mother. We know our limits.” Shen Mingxuan accepted the rough cloth towel she handed him. “You can rest at home. My sister and I can handle the work in the fields.”
But Su Shi’s eyes reddened.
“How can I let you two children suffer while I sit idle? I can’t stay still at home anyway. Once I finish tidying up, I’ll come help.”
Shen Weiwan understood her mother’s nature. Though gentle and seemingly frail, she always wanted to share the family’s burdens.
She smiled and nodded.
“That’s perfect. You can bring us water when you come.”
After a simple breakfast, the siblings carried their hoes and headed to the fields.
The farmland of Han Village lay at the eastern end of the settlement, an open stretch of sloping ground. The soil was grayish and looked utterly lacking in fertility.
Shen Weiwan swung her hoe, only to feel her arms as heavy as lead. Gritting her teeth, she brought it down, but the blade left only a shallow mark in the ground.
“Sister, let me.” Seeing the sweat forming on her forehead, Shen Mingxuan quickly took the hoe from her. “You’re not strong enough. Pick out the stones first.”
Shen Weiwan nodded and crouched down, sorting through the clumps of dirt for gravel.
This land was truly barren.
There were more stones than soil.
No wonder the old madam had driven them here.
As she picked up stones, she mentally reviewed the plans she had made the day before.
First, dig drainage ditches. Otherwise, the rainy season would certainly bring flooding.
Then turn the soil several more times and break up the hardened ground.
Most importantly, they needed fertilizer.
Without fertility, even the best seeds could not grow good crops.
As the sun climbed higher, Su Shi arrived carrying a bucket and a bamboo basket.
She had brought two mixed-grain cakes and a jug of cooled herbal tea.
“Take a break and eat something.”
She handed the cakes to the children and picked up a hoe herself, imitating Shen Mingxuan’s movements.
“Mother, slowly.” Shen Weiwan watched her mother’s awkward motions. Sweat soon appeared on her forehead. “When turning the soil, you have to follow the slope of the land. Look, like this…”
She picked up a smaller hoe and demonstrated.
“Turn over the topsoil first, then dig deeper and bring up the soil underneath so it can dry in the sun. It’ll kill insects.”
Su Shi learned earnestly. Though her movements were slow, she refused to stop.
Watching his mother and sister, the lingering disappointment Shen Mingxuan had felt after leaving the marquis’s estate was washed away by the solid reality before him.
During a rest, Shen Weiwan took out a small cloth pouch from the basket. Inside were wild chrysanthemums she had gathered from the nearby hills a few days earlier.
“Mother, brew these in water when you get home. They’ll help reduce internal heat.”
Then she turned to Shen Mingxuan.
“Brother, this afternoon let’s go to the western end of the village. I heard there’s an abandoned pigsty there. We can bring back the old manure and use it as base fertilizer.”
Shen Mingxuan’s eyes lit up.
“Great idea! I also heard there’s a pile of dead branches near the old well in the eastern part of the village. We can collect them and burn them into wood ash. That’s good fertilizer too.”
“Exactly. Mixing wood ash into the soil helps strengthen seedlings.” Shen Weiwan nodded and remembered something else.
“Once we finish preparing that small plot near the house, let’s plant some vegetables first. They grow quickly and can be harvested in about twenty days. If we can’t eat them all, we’ll pickle them into preserved vegetables like we talked about.”
Listening to the children discussing their plans back and forth, the worry on Su Shi’s face gradually faded, and a smile appeared at the corners of her lips.
“I know how to make pickled vegetables. Your grandmother taught me. When the time comes, we’ll add plenty of chili and Sichuan peppercorns. They’ll be delicious.”
“Then let’s divide the work,” Shen Weiwan said, clapping her hands. “Brother and I will turn the soil and gather fertilizer. When Father has time, he can help dig the drainage ditches. Mother, you’ll take care of the house and the pickling.”
By the time the sun stood overhead, they had already turned over a small patch of land.
Sweat beaded on the foreheads of the siblings and Su Shi. Their palms had been rubbed red by the hoes, yet no one complained of being tired.
Shen Weiwan looked at the newly turned earth.
Though it was still barren, it seemed to hold limitless hope.