Splendid peasant girl busy farming

Chapter 11908

But Dazhi's classmates and teachers were all in Yangzhou.

This achievement of passing the imperial examination was a momentous and joyous occasion for Yangzhou!

Dazhi definitely needs to go back.

"Let Nini's dad make the decision. I'll listen to him," Xiao Qiao said.

Dazhi said, "Great-grandmother, Great-grandfather, Grandpa, Grandma... To be honest, I don't really want to go back... Especially since Nini is still so young, it would be exhausting to travel back and forth with her."

"But I also have reasons why I have to go back..."

“Zhi’er, you should go back. Your mother and I understand your reasons, and the other elders in the family also understand them,” Luo Fengtang suddenly said.

"If we want to go back, we should do it as soon as possible. Otherwise, the river will freeze over, making the journey difficult and even more unfavorable, which will make us even more worried."

Yang Ruoqing nodded from the side, without interrupting Luo Fengtang.

He's right, let him say more.

"Now that you've passed the imperial examination with flying colors, you'll be returning home in glory. You'll definitely be holding a banquet to thank your teachers when you get back."

"In addition, you will definitely need to re-examine the local gentry and other relationships. These will be the foundation for your future career in officialdom."

Dazhi listened attentively, his back straight, completely focused, nodding slightly from time to time.

After Luo Fengtang finished speaking, he said, "Thank you for your teachings, Father. I will keep them in mind and will certainly handle all relationships well!"

Make friends with those you should make friends with, and keep your distance from those you should keep your distance from...

Yang Ruoqing then looked at Xiao Qiao: "I've spoken with Nini's two wet nurses, and they're both willing to go to Yangzhou with you."

"Wait until Nini is officially weaned next year, then you can send them back."

When Nini was only four months old, Xiao Qiao left the child with Yang Ruoqing in order to take care of Dazhi's daily life while he went to Changhuaizhou to take the imperial examination.

This departure lasted for several months.

During this period, in order to take better care of Nini, Yang Ruoqing carefully selected two wet nurses from Lijia Village and another village to take care of Nini.

After spending the past six months together, Nini has become very dependent on the two of them.

If weaning her now and separating her from her two wet nurses is detrimental to Nini both physically and psychologically.

In addition, they would have to take a month-long boat trip back to Yangzhou, entering a completely new environment... Under these circumstances, the weaned child might get sick.

Furthermore, if they don't bring a wet nurse, Dazhi and Xiaoqiao will be very busy taking care of Nini on the ship.

Therefore, after careful analysis and discussion, Yang Ruoqing and her daughter-in-law Xiao Qiao decided to extend the leave for the two wet nurses by six months...

Six months later, Nini will be one year old and able to eat solid food without needing milk. At that time, she will definitely be taken care of by her nanny and maid in Yangzhou. When the large group goes to the capital, the two wet nurses can take the opportunity to return to Changping Village.

However, the two wet nurses cannot leave Nini at this time.

Yang Ruoqing put in a lot of effort to persuade the two wet nurses to go to Yangzhou with her, to leave their familiar hometown and travel to Yangzhou.

The wet nurses themselves are unwilling to go, because they all have husbands and children at home, and they would be gone for half a year...

However, driven by money, they wavered.

Yang Ruoqing paid the two wet nurses 20 taels of silver a month!
It's mid-November now, and we'll be setting off in a few days. We'll pay them their full month's wages in November!
They will return in mid-March next year. In the five months between, including the month spent on the road, they will be paid for six months, which is half a year's wages.

So if the two of them are willing to go to Yangzhou to take care of Nini for half a year, they can get 120 taels of snowflake silver!

Yang Ruoqing told them to go back and discuss it carefully with their husbands and in-laws, and to listen to their opinions.

When their family heard about this wonderful opportunity, they all supported their trip to Yangzhou.

When they went there, the Luo family paid 60 taels of silver in advance. They will settle the remaining 60 taels of silver when they return from Yangzhou next year!
What can I do to earn 120 taels of silver in six months?

For farming families like theirs, 120 taels of silver could not only allow them to build a large brick house with seven or eight rooms and a yard, but also buy several acres of fertile land. With the remaining silver in hand, they wouldn't have to worry about their children getting married in the future!

The family's debts can be settled in one go.

If you don't squander the money, and you hold onto this unexpected sum of money, and diligently manage the farm work, you'll be able to live a life free from worries about food and clothing!

So the two wet nurses received the support of their whole family, and they were all happily preparing to go to Yangzhou.

Yang Ruoqing gave them two days off so they could go back and spend time with their children, and then she would call them back to the Luo family when they were ready to leave in a couple of days.

……

The next day, the Luo family had already sent out the invitations to their relatives and friends in several groups.

Another day passed.

Although the sky was overcast and a northerly wind was blowing, it wasn't raining or snowing; it was just an ordinary overcast winter day.

It didn't affect the festive atmosphere at all in the Luo family.

After breakfast, relatives and friends began to arrive in droves to offer their congratulations at the open gate of the Luo family's courtyard.

The first relatives to arrive were Xiang Shengnan and Xiao Duo.

Well, this time Xiaoduo finally listened to advice. The cattle dealer and Xiang Shengnan drove an oxcart with a cloak attached to the back. Inside sat Xiaoduo, Lingling, Jiaojiao, and Rourou, the four of them.

When they came down from the cloak, the three little girls were dressed up like butterflies. Lingling, true to her name, was very pretty. At twelve years old, she was in the period of rapid growth in height, and standing there, she was almost as tall as Xiaoduo.

Xiao Duo is quite tall; she's about two centimeters taller than Yang Ruoqing, at 167 cm.
It's easy to imagine how slender and tall Lingling is, with a good complexion, radiant skin, and a healthy glow. Even though her features aren't particularly outstanding, she's not ugly.

Moreover, there's a saying that goes, "fair skin covers up three flaws." Her already well-proportioned features, enhanced by her fair skin, rosy lips, and pearly white teeth, give her an immediate impression of beauty!

"Lingling has grown so tall?" Dazhi and Xiaoqiao greeted their relatives and friends at the door. They were amazed to see their cousin, whom they hadn't seen for more than half a year, grow so tall all of a sudden.

Lingling blushed, called out "Cousin" and "Cousin's wife," and then lowered her head to help her aunt Xiaoduo help her two younger sisters down from the back of the truck.

Jiaojiao, who is seven or eight years old, is just as her name suggests. She is a girl with a very slender frame and her facial features combine the advantages of Xiaoduo and Xiang Shengnan, making her very beautiful.

Given time, she will surely grow into a striking and beautiful young woman.

She was only seven or eight years old and hadn't started growing yet, so she still looked like a big girl, but the beginnings of her beauty were already showing.

"Jiaojiao looks so beautiful today, and that whip looks so sharp!" Xiao Qiao complimented Jiaojiao.

Jiaojiao smiled shyly and stammered, "Hello, cousin-in-law."

Then he lowered his head and retreated behind Xiaoduo.

Finally, there's Rou Rou.

In everyone's "official" understanding, Rou Rou seems to be two months older than the two little brothers from Tuan Yuan.

But in reality, only Yang Ruoqing knew that Rou Rou was actually a few months younger than the two little brothers from the reunion... But the truth didn't matter anymore; the consensus now was that Rou Rou was also a little over three years old.

However, when Rou Rou emerged from the truck bed, it once again shattered Da Zhi's understanding.

"My little cousin...my little cousin is so beautiful!"

She really doesn't look like a three-year-old girl; she looks like she's five or six. Standing next to seven- or eight-year-old Jiaojiao, she's only slightly shorter than Jiaojiao by about half a head...

"This is way better than a family reunion!" Dazhi exclaimed. "Auntie, you guys are amazing at raising children! I'm truly impressed!"

Xiao Duo covered her mouth and laughed, saying, "Don't flatter me. If I really knew how to raise a child, Jiao Jiao wouldn't be so thin and weak!"

"Is that the reason why the meat is itself?"

"That's probably right. What Rou Rou eats in one meal, Jiao Jiao would need to eat for a whole day!"

Dazhi suddenly realized, "No wonder! She's growing so well. I think Rou Rou could be a female general someday! She has such great potential!"

At this rate of growth, my aunt's little cousin will grow taller and stronger than 70-80% of the boys...

"Haha, Dazhi, you've hit the nail on the head!" Xiaoduo patted Rou Rou's big head, her face full of pride and joy: "That's exactly what I told your uncle. I said we should raise Rou Rou as a boy and send her to her uncle's place to join the army!"

"Right, Rou Rou's dad?"

Xiang Shengnan, who was unloading congratulatory gifts from the oxcart, stiffened slightly when she heard Xiao Duo's question.

But he quickly turned around, forced a smile, nodded, and echoed Xiaoduo's words, "She's your daughter, you decide what happens to her!"

"Look at what you're saying, as if she's not your daughter? She's our daughter!"

"Yes...yes, yes!"

"Duo'er!"

Yang Ruoqing's joyful voice came from the Luo family courtyard behind everyone. Xiao Duo turned around and said, "Sister, our whole family has come to celebrate the wedding!"

"Great, very good, you're very welcome!"

Yang Ruoqing rushed to the oxcart, greeted the cattle dealer and Xiang Shengnan, and then focused her attention on the three smartly dressed girls, her face lighting up with joy.

"Not bad, not bad, you brought all the little girls with you."

"Come on, everyone, come to your auntie's! Look what delicious food, drinks, and fun things your auntie has prepared for you!"

Yang Ruoqing led the children into the Luo family's courtyard and headed straight for the backyard.

Soon, Luo Fengtang and Wang Cuilian also came over after hearing the noise, and the group exchanged pleasantries.

"Auntie, where are my brothers?"

In the backyard, in Yang Ruoqing's bedroom, Jiaojiao and the other children ate some of the snacks that Yang Ruoqing had brought out, but they were still thinking about finding Tuantuan and Yuanyuan to play with.

"They probably haven't gotten up yet. Come on, Auntie will take you to their room to wake them up!"

Rou Rou climbed onto the soft couch next to her, then pulled out the feather duster from the bottle and held it in her hand.

"Rou Rou, what are you doing with that feather duster?" Xiao Duo came to the dormitory later and saw what Rou Rou was holding in her hand.

Rou Rou said in a serious tone, "Go spank your two older brothers' little bottoms."

"Why? Why are you hitting your brothers?"

"The sun's shining on your bottom, and you're still sleeping, you lazybones!"

"Pfft!"

Yang Ruoqing laughed and said, "Yes, yes, Rou Rou is right, they should be beaten. You go beat them up later!"

Upon hearing this, Rou Rou straightened her back even more, now that she had a legitimate reason to speak.

Xiao Duo stopped laughing and quickly chased after Rou Rou to snatch the feather duster from her hand. "You can't hit your brothers. There's a reason why they woke up late. It's a special circumstance. They didn't do anything wrong."

"What's going on?" Rou Rou asked with her hands on her hips and a serious expression.

Xiao Duo's eyes lit up, and she squatted down in front of Rou Rou and started making up excuses...

Yang Ruoqing ignored Xiao Duo's fabricated reasons; her gaze remained fixed on Rou Rou.

Rou Rou's appearance is very similar to Xiang Shengnan's, even more so than Jiao Jiao's.

Her graceful figure is clearly a replica of that of a female general.

This little guy has an amazing appetite. Xiaoduo said that he ate two big bowls of fried rice with eggs this morning before going out.

She was supposed to have a third bowl, but Xiaoduo was afraid that if she ate too much while visiting relatives, she would get a stomachache from the wind, so she didn't dare to give her more.

Moreover, Rou Rou is already learning martial arts to strengthen her body from her real aunt. The "female national advisor" is the "female general's" younger sister, and she will teach Rou Rou everything the two sisters have learned in their lives.

Looking at the deep bond between Xiaoduo and Rourou, Yang Ruoqing was filled with emotion.

Although Rou Rou is not Xiao Duo's biological child, neither of the parties involved knows this. Some well-intentioned lies can never be exposed.

Moreover, things are very good now. Xiaoduo feels that her life is perfect. Rourou also has maternal love. Lingling and Jiaojiao are both relatively weak girls. Xiaoduo's body is damaged, and it may be difficult for her to conceive in the future.

For a family without boys, it is a blessing for Xiaoduo to have a strong woman like Rou Rou to support the family.

……

When everyone arrived at Tuan Tuan Yuan Yuan's house, they found that the two of them were not sleeping in their own room.

"What's going on? Where did you go to sleep?" Yang Ruoqing was completely confused.

A voice came from Luo Wuyou's room across the street: "Mother, my brothers are sleeping here!"

Yang Ruoqing understood and said to Xiaoduo, "The two brothers are very attached to their sister. Every time their sister comes back, they hug their pillows and go to their sister's room to sleep."

Xiao Duo smiled and said, "I understand, just like how Xiao An used to cling to you, sister."

……

Xiao Duo and her family were the first group of relatives to arrive, followed closely by Zhou's relatives.

The Zhou family's relatives were personally picked up by Luo the blacksmith. At the crack of dawn, Luo the blacksmith and Ping An drove a horse-drawn carriage to Zhoujia Village to pick up his sister Luo Da'e's family to come and have a wedding feast.

Wang Cuilian secretly told Yang Ruoqing that Luo the blacksmith had a heart-to-heart talk with her before going to bed last night, saying that he was going to pick up someone from Zhoujia Village today and would persuade Luo Da'e to bring a couple more changes of clothes.

The older brother was trying to persuade his younger sister to stay at his parents' home for a few more days to watch a traditional opera and acrobatics show.

However, Luo the blacksmith had some concerns, fearing that Yang Ruoqing might not be too happy about it.