Aunt Fan was in the kitchen while Aunt Hong added firewood.

For lunch, there were four dishes: braised chicken pieces, stir-fried loofah with eggs, stir-fried pig liver with radish soup, and pickled vegetables.

Although the variety was limited, each dish was hearty.

Yang Haiyan instructed Aunt Fan to pack a portion of the braised chicken, pig liver and radish soup, and stir-fried loofah with eggs into a thermal tea container, with white rice as the staple food, for Uncle Hong to take to Qin Fang later.

She herself had a small bowl of rice, a few pieces of chicken, some pig liver and radish, and eggs, leaving the rest for Aunt Fan and Uncle Hong’s family to enjoy.

Aunt Fan and Uncle Hong quickly finished off the remaining dishes.

Each had a bowl of rice along with sweet potatoes; while they weren’t completely full, they felt satisfied.

For them, this meal was already quite good.

After eating, Uncle Hong went to deliver lunch to Qin Fang.

Uncle Hong said, “Madam, I’ll deliver the meal to the master. I can collect some firewood on the way back from the foot of the mountain, but it’s not safe to leave the donkey cart there, so I’d like to take my wife with me. She can watch the cart while I gather the firewood. Is that alright?”

Yang Haiyan replied, “That’s fine.”

This way, they could save the thirty wen spent on firewood each month.

Having servants was quite convenient.

---

Baili Village

Qin Fang’s hometown

Qin Tieniu was 38 years old this year, in the prime of his life.

His eldest son, Qin Fang, had left for military service at the age of 16, which was supposed to be Qin Tieniu’s duty; the situation was somewhat simple.

Old Master Qin(Grandpa Qin) had three sons and two daughters.

The Qin family was one of the prominent families in Baili Village and had not yet divided its estate.

As the eldest son, Qin Tieniu should not have had to serve in the military, as the family system dictated that the eldest son would not go while the youngest grandson would also be exempt.

Those with a bit of decorum understood the difference between the eldest son and the eldest grandson.

However, there was an exception.

Uncle Qin Er, Qin Er’s son, was only five years old at the time.

There’s a saying that a child cannot grow up without a father, so naturally, Uncle Qin Er could not serve in the military.

This left only Uncle Qin Sanniu, but he was the youngest and had married late, and at that time he had no sons.

Military service could be dangerous, and if something were to happen, Qin Sanniu would have no heirs.

Thus, with neither Qin Erniu nor Qin Sanniu able to serve, it fell to Qin Tieniu, the eldest son, to go.

Concerned for his father’s safety, Qin Fang secretly registered for military service, knowing that once signed up, the quota couldn’t be changed.

Therefore, Old Master Qin had no choice but to let his grandson go.

They had originally hoped that after five years of service, their grandson would return safely, but little did they know that three years later, their grandson had become a centurion, earning taels of silver each year.

Old Master Qin decided that out of the three taels Qin Fang earned, one tael would go to the public fund, while the other two would be kept by the Eldest family.

Regardless of any thoughts the second and third branches of the family might have, they had to keep quiet, after all, this silver was earned at the cost of Qin Fang’s life.

One day, Old Master Qin was working in the fields with his sons and daughters-in-law when his young granddaughter, Qin Siyang, came running to call them.

She was Qin Fang’s eight-year-old sister.

Qin Siyang happily dashed toward the fields and shouted, “Grandpa, Dad, Mom, hurry home! My big brother sent a letter, and the official brought back a huge package!”

Although the Qin family had not divided their estate, the money earned privately by each branch did not have to be handed over, so what Qin Fang said about his mother being the head of the main household was indeed true.

Upon hearing this, Qin’s mother dropped her work and ran toward the house.

She was no pushover; Old Master Qin and Grandma Qin valued their eldest son highly, so they certainly wouldn’t have chosen a timid woman for him.

Plus, since Qin’s mother had given birth to three sons, she was considered a great contributor to the family, which gave her a lot of confidence as she stood tall.

Both Old Master Qin and Grandma Qin held her in high regard.

With Qin Fang’s success, they valued their daughter-in-law even more.

Hearing that their grandson had sent a letter, Old Master Qin felt anxious too, though he did not drop everything to run like his daughter-in-law.

He said, “Let’s finish for today. Everyone come back with me.”

In the beginning, whenever their grandson wrote home, they had to ask the local scholar to read the letter aloud.

Last year, their grandson had sent back three taels of silver to support the education of his younger brother, but he did not mention any plans for the imperial examination, only saying that it was important to learn some characters to prepare for various livelihoods in the future.

So, Qin Tieniu decided to send his two sons to study with the village scholar.

Of course, the money came from the main family, using two taels from the three taels of silver sent by Qin Fang.

The third branch didn’t have sons and didn’t mind.

The second branch had sons and felt uneasy about it, but since the main branch used their private funds to send their sons to school, they had no grounds for complaint.

The two boys were sent to study this year: the older, Qin Shouye, was 14, and the younger, Qin Shoucheng, was 11.

Interestingly, these names were given by Qin Fang after he learned to read.

The Qin family was a farming household and didn’t pay much attention to naming.

It was only when Qin Fang was born that Grandpa Qin spent six copper coins to ask the village scholar for help in naming him.

However, now both Qin Shouye and Qin Shoucheng had learned quite a few characters and could read letters.

When Grandpa Qin returned home with others, Qin Shouye and Qin Shoucheng had already come back from the scholar’s house.

Grandma Qin was delighted to see everyone and said, “This is what Ah Fang sent. Before it was just a letter, but this time it’s a big package.”

Qin Shoucheng exclaimed, “I wonder what big brother sent, Grandma. Let’s open the package and see!”

Qin Shouye was more stable in character.

After his older brother went off to serve in the military, he, as the second son of the main branch, felt a heavy responsibility.

If anything happened to his older brother, the family would have to rely on him.

Thus, he was raised to be very composed, while Qin Shoucheng was a bit livelier.

It’s always the case that the eldest bears the heavy burden while the younger ones are carefree.

The package was packed in a wooden box.

When they opened it, everyone was stunned by what they saw inside.

This was the first time Qin Fang had sent anything other than letters, and even the silver was only sent once at the end of last year.

Why were there so many things this time?

There was even cloth—this was truly…

Second Aunt Qin exclaimed, “Oh my, did Ah Fang strike it rich? It seems that military service is really good!”

Qin Mother replied, “Military service is every five years. If you think it’s so good, then next time, let second brother go.”

Her son was working hard; even if there was no fighting now, who knew what might happen?

Second Aunt Qin said, “Elder sister, aren’t you pressuring our head of the family? My Niu Dan is only nine. What if something happens to the head of the family?”

“Shut up,” Grandma Qin warned.

Did she think it was fine if her eldest grandson had an accident?

Yet she didn’t want anything to happen to either her second son or her grandson.

Grandpa Qin said, “Shouye, read the letter.”

“Yes, Grandpa.” Qin Shouye opened the letter, took out three taels of silver to give to Grandpa Qin, then began to read.

When he finished, the Qin family was astonished.

Qin Shouye continued, “…There’s also a letter here for our main branch; sister-in-law said we should read it privately.”

Qin Mother’s eyes turned red. “Did Ah Fang get married? Did the court find him a wife? Someone who has read and can recognize characters—this is wonderful.”

She had been worried that her eldest son would be twenty next year, and by the time he returned from military service, he would be twenty-one.

How would he find a wife?

She hadn’t expected the court to find him one, and she felt relieved.

Hearing that the daughter-in-law could read and teach her son to recognize characters made her very happy.

Knowing a girl who could read was quite remarkable, and on top of that, she was so virtuous.

Qin Shouye added, “This letter was written by sister-in-law, and her handwriting is really good.”

Grandma Qin shared Qin Mother’s thoughts; now she didn’t need to worry about her eldest grandson’s marriage, especially with such a good daughter-in-law.

She was thrilled. “Old man, according to what Ah Fang’s wife wrote, we need to share these things.”

Second Aunt Qin said, “Elder sister, Niu Dan is already this age and doesn’t even have a decent piece of clothing. Let’s take a piece of this fine blue cloth to make him a garment.”

Qin Mother replied, “This is a gift for younger siblings from Ah Fang’s wife. She comes from a wealthy family. If you take this, wouldn’t it make Ah Fang’s wife look foolish?”

Second Aunt Qin retorted, “But she’s not here now and doesn’t know.”

It was frustrating that her sister-in-law had not only given birth but had also found such a good daughter-in-law.

Qin Mother ignored her.

Since this was a gift from the daughter-in-law, there was no reason for anyone to take it.

She directly told Qin Shouye, “Second son, distribute these things according to what your sister-in-law wrote.”

Second Aunt Qin looked at Grandma Qin. “Mother, can’t you be kinder to Niu Dan? He is also your grandson.”

Qin Mother responded, “If you want Niu Dan to have a good life, it depends on you as his mother and his father’s efforts, not on taking other people’s things.”

Second Aunt Qin replied, “Mother…”

Grandma Qin interrupted, “Alright, eldest daughter-in-law, you can distribute the things.”

Qin Mother said, “Yes. Father, Mother, these two pieces of cloth are for you, just like the cloth for me and the head of the family. These two are for Shouye and Shoucheng, and these two are for Da Ya and Si Ya.”

Da Ya is the daughter of the second branch, while San Ya and Wu Ya are the daughters of the third branch.

This year, Da Ya was 16 years old, just engaged, and preparing to marry at the end of the year.

Although the cloth wasn’t bright red, it could still be made into a new dress for her.

The cloth was also suitable for Si Ya.

Yang Haiyan had made a good choice.

Qin Mother added, “These handkerchiefs are for the second sister-in-law, the third sister-in-law, and Da Ya, San Ya, and Wu Ya.”

No matter whose daughter-in-law came into the family, it was always better to treat the direct siblings of her husband well. “This pouch is for Niu Dan.”

As for Second Uncle Qin and Third Uncle Qin, they received nothing.

The wife of a nephew should avoid contact with uncles.

Moreover, Yang Haiyan didn’t know what to give them.

She had already sent gifts to Second Aunt Qin, Third Aunt Qin, and the cousins, which was sufficient.

After distributing the items, Qin Mother took the things for the main branch back to their room and called everyone from the main branch back: “Head of the family, Shouye, Shoucheng, Da Ya, Si Ya, come back in.”

They needed to continue reading the letter.