The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 830 - 178: Hold Head High_2

Chapter 830: Chapter 178: Hold Head High_2

Li Baoxiang also felt refreshed as he changed into a new silk robe and invited the Fang family and the Yu family, before coming to invite Mo Heng and Pei Qin.

These days were the prime time for spring planting. Since the Fang family village had set up a sweet potato flour workshop, the cultivation of sweet potatoes had increased as everyone wanted to plant more. With higher demand, the prices were likely to rise.

The one hundred and sixty acres of the sweet potato base were allotted, with sixty acres for spring soybeans, and the remainder all for sweet potatoes. There were also sunflowers on Taiping Mountain.

Pei Qin, heavily pregnant, was still overseeing the work in the fields and lands.

Last year, when Fang Fang got married, relatives from each family had said that this year they would buy mountain land to cultivate sunflowers. They provided the sunflower seeds and taught them how to plant. With Pei Qin pregnant, Pei Qian and Pei Wendong took on this responsibility.

Several of the earthen hills in Taiping Town had been properly laid out. Some families bought an entire hill, divided it into sections, and planted sunflowers on all of them.

The spacing between the rows and the width of the rows, how many plants per acre, and how to care for them after planting—those who had never grown sunflowers were not well versed in these matters.

Every year during farming season, Pei Qin sent Pei Wendong and the others off the land, so they knew how to plant. Wherever they went, villagers saw them as wealthy young masters, yet they were better at farming than the villagers. Once they were done teaching one family, they moved on to the next.

Unaffected by his exam failure, Chang Yonglin was still upbeat. Xiaoyong had been taught by famous teachers since childhood. Wendong learned alongside him, watching, more diligent than him. His different upbringing gave him unique insights. Though he might not match him in business, his academic intuition was very sharp. So when Chang Yonglin failed the exams, he just cursed the neighbor who knocked over the chamber pot a few times and merrily went off to teach people how to plant sunflowers.

Li Baoxiang came over but found no one, only Pei Qin and Jiujiu at the end of the field.

Pei Qin told Li Baoxiang to go back with Huang Qiu, giving him a pair of lake pens as a gift, "It’s a busy time with spring farming. We won’t be coming, just enjoy the celebration."

Seeing everyone busily planting sweet potatoes in the fields, Li Baoxiang inquired and learned that Mo Heng had been called to the Runing Yamen. Not giving up, he insisted that Pei Wendong and the others should find time to come celebrate too.

"They’ll go if they can find the time," Pei Qin replied.

The response seemed perfunctory, and Li Baoxiang felt a bit displeased. Now that he had become a scholar and a man of status, who won’t kneel when seeing an official in court, how could they still look down on him?

Grandma Li became annoyed upon hearing Mo Heng and Pei Qin wouldn’t come, and even Pei Wendong was not coming. Her face darkened, "They are clearly looking down on us! We haven’t been stingy with gifts or effort. We’ve spent so much on them. Just because Jiang Xiao was insulted as ’wild child’, we have shown respect to them, and they dare to snub us!"

Yu Qingxiu was initially delighted. As a stepmother who had married into the family, the very first year she came, Li Baoxiang had passed the exam. Such good fortune also brought her a reputation for bringing luck and prosperity to her husband. Listening to Grandma Li in the house cursing ’wild child’ Jian Xiao, which referred to Pei Qin and the others, her smile faded somewhat.

Remembering that Li Baoxiang’s academic success also owed credit to Mo Heng and Pei Qin, she came over saying, "Grandma! Cousin Pei is an ennobled lady of third rank, and now she’s pregnant. When visiting relatives, everyone just goes to see her mother. Our husband’s academic success was also supported by them, and they even gave congratulatory gifts. Maybe they are truly busy, which is why they haven’t come."

Thinking about how they might still need Mo Heng and Pei Qin’s help for future exams, keeping a good relationship was important. If they complained now and word got out, it wouldn’t be good.

But these words offended Grandma Li, who looked at her with a critical and furious gaze, "What do you know, always taking their side! So what if she is a third rank enjoin? She’s not from an official family. She’s showing off to others, and now to us! Just because she became a third rank enjoin, she feels proud enough to snub others? Haven’t we been respectful enough to them?"

Yu Qingxiu’s face reddened as she was scolded, and she responded softly, "We’ll still need to stay in touch, still need their support."

"Hmph! We’ve asked for years, and only got a couple of days of teaching. Relying on them? You wish! Baoxiang could pass the exam thanks to his own ability. If his arm hadn’t been broken, he would have succeeded long ago, and maybe he’d at least be a graduate by now," Grandma Li snorted furiously.

Yu Qingxiu was illiterate, recognizing only a few simple characters. She didn’t understand scholarly pursuits. Grandma Li had married her into the family begrudgingly after making inquiries, and now regretted not waiting a few more months until her son had achieved success, as they could have then chosen a bride from any prestigious family.