The chicken coop in the yard had long since been expanded. More than a dozen chickens leisurely strolled about inside the fenced enclosure, pecking at grains scattered on the ground.
As Shen Weiwan watched them, a new idea came to mind.
During dinner, as she looked at the scrambled eggs and multigrain flatbread on the table, she said,
“Father, Mother, Brother, I think we should raise a couple of piglets too.”
Liu Shi was taken aback.
“Raise pigs? Wouldn’t that require a lot of feed?”
“We have millet stalks, and we can gather wild vegetables from the fields and mix them with chaff. That should be enough to feed them,” Shen Weiwan explained.
“Pigs grow quickly. By the end of the year, we could sell them for quite a bit of money. Even if we don’t sell them, we can slaughter one for the New Year and make cured meat. Then we won’t have to worry about not having meat to eat during the winter.”
Shen Jingzhi put down his chopsticks and thought for a moment.
“Raising pigs is possible, but we’ll need to build the pigsty properly and make sure it doesn’t dirty the courtyard.”
“I’ll design the pigsty!” Shen Mingxuan immediately volunteered. “Just like the chicken coop my sister designed—easy to clean and well-ventilated.”
Shen Weiwan smiled and nodded.
“Brother is right. The pigsty should be built farther away from where we live, with mud-brick walls and an outlet at the bottom to make cleaning the manure easier. The manure can also be used as fertilizer.”
With everyone contributing ideas, the matter of raising pigs was quickly settled.
By now, the entire family trusted Shen Weiwan completely. Every suggestion she made had slowly improved their lives.
From selecting seeds in the beginning, to selling vegetables in the alley, and then raising chickens—every step had been steady, allowing their once-precarious family to gradually put down firm roots.
Shen Jingzhi remained as low-key as ever at the Hanlin Academy. Every day he copied texts and handled miscellaneous paperwork, never involving himself in disputes among his colleagues.
Occasionally, however, he applied the improved bookkeeping methods Shen Weiwan had taught him. The records became so clear and orderly that even his superiors praised him a few times.
Shen Mingxuan had not neglected his studies either. Every day, after finishing his chores, he studied diligently by the oil lamp, and his calligraphy had become increasingly elegant and vigorous.
Watching him, Shen Jingzhi often thought with satisfaction that if the boy could one day earn an official degree, he would not have failed the ancestors of the Shen family.
While reviewing his lessons one day, Shen Mingxuan discovered a millet leaf tucked inside his book. Shen Weiwan had placed it there, and on it she had written eight small characters in charcoal:
“The autumn harvest is near; you must study even more diligently.”
While morning dew still clung to the fence, Shen Weiwan was already carrying a basket of vegetables toward the alley.
Today, however, her steps were hurried. After delivering the vegetables, she headed south instead of returning home.
There stood the Qingyun Academy, a school she had spent the past few days asking about—a place where students from poor families could study.
The gatekeeper saw that she was only a half-grown child and at first refused to say much. It was only after she handed him two freshly boiled eggs that he loosened up and shared some information.
Although Qingyun Academy could not compare to the schools attended by the children of nobles, it did have several learned old scholars teaching there.
The problem was the tuition.
It was one tael of silver per month—twelve taels a year.
When she returned home, Shen Jingzhi had just come back from the Hanlin Academy as well. His expression was grave.
“I asked around through my colleagues. Qingyun Academy truly is the best place someone like us can afford to attend. But the tuition…”
He paused and took a small cloth bundle from his robes. Inside were the family’s financial records.
“After spending some of the money you brought out before and living as frugally as possible, we still have thirty-seven taels left. If we use it only for Mingxuan’s tuition, it’s enough for three years. But there are also household expenses, farming tools that need replacing, and winter clothes…”
Listening nearby, Liu Shi’s eyes turned red, and she stopped sewing.
“We can’t let Mingxuan stop studying, but this money…”
“Father, Mother, don’t worry.”
Shen Weiwan set down her basket and wiped her damp hands on her apron.
“I’ll figure out the money. Father, you just focus on your work and keep doing your duty. Brother’s education can’t wait. He must attend this academy.”
Shen Mingxuan, who was adding firewood to the stove, looked up.
“Weiwan, I can wait a little longer. I can still study at home until our circumstances improve…”
“No.”
Shen Weiwan interrupted him firmly.
“You’ve already lost more than half a year. If you wait any longer, you’ll miss next year’s county examination. Brother, you’re our family’s hope. We must make this path of studying work.”
She turned to Shen Jingzhi.
“Father, go and register Brother first. Pay the tuition for these six months. I’ll earn the rest of the money.”
Shen Jingzhi looked into his daughter’s bright eyes. There was not the slightest trace of fear in them, only calm confidence.
His throat moved slightly before he finally nodded.
“Alright. I’ll take care of it. But you…”
“I have a plan.”
Shen Weiwan smiled.
“Aunt Zhang from the alley said her daughter’s embroidered handkerchiefs never sell for a good price. I’ll see if I can improve the patterns. And Aunt Li’s sewing shop has been looking for some new and unusual decorative knots lately. I can try making some.”
Liu Shi took Shen Weiwan’s hand. Feeling the thin calluses on her palm, tears began to fall.
“It’s because I’m useless that you’ve had to worry about all this at such a young age… Whatever you need to do, just tell me. Even if I’m clumsy, I can still help.”
“Mother, taking care of the home and feeding the chickens is already a huge help.”
Shen Weiwan squeezed her mother’s hand gently.
“Once Brother enters the academy, our lives will only get better.”
At dusk, Shen Jingzhi returned with Qingyun Academy’s letter of admission in hand, a rare smile on his face.
“The steward saw that I work at the Hanlin Academy and heard that Mingxuan studies diligently. He agreed to let him enroll on the first day of next month.”
Shen Mingxuan accepted the letter, his fingertips trembling slightly.
He looked toward Shen Weiwan.
She was feeding the chickens with her head lowered, the setting sun shining softly upon her hair.
Quietly, he clenched his fists.
There was only one thought in his heart:
He would study hard, and he would never disappoint his sister’s devotion or his parents’ expectations.
As the autumn wind swept a few fallen leaves past the window lattice, Shen Weiwan held up a piece of coarse cloth before a bronze mirror, her brows slightly furrowed.
Shen Mingxuan would begin school on the first day of next month, yet he still lacked proper student clothes, not to mention brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.
She did the calculations.
Two neatly pressed blue cotton robes would cost at least three taels of silver, and a complete set of writing materials would bring the total to no less than five taels.
That evening, she watched Shen Mingxuan holding his worn copy of the Analects, his fingers gently stroking the pages whose corners had long since frayed.
Her resolve only grew stronger.
Before dawn the next day, Shen Weiwan delivered vegetables to the alley as usual. But on the way back, she did not return home.
Instead, she headed to the Zuifeng Tavern in the northern part of the city.
Though not a large establishment, the tavern stood along a busy road and had no shortage of customers.
Inside her robes were two oil-paper packages containing recipes she had stayed up late to write.
One was for roasted lamb seasoned with cumin and Sichuan pepper, ingredients common in the capital region that could remove the gamey smell and enhance the flavor.
The other was a nourishing medicinal dish made with Chinese yam and goji berries, perfect for warming the body during autumn and winter.
“Go, go! Little girl, don’t make trouble here.”
The young servant at the entrance waved his hand impatiently, annoyed that she was blocking the business.