Chapter 25.2

In the courtyard, they also needed to plant high-yield vegetables like pumpkins and loofah, as well as sunflowers along the wall, for seeds to roast in the winter. Apart from the farmland, there were also fruit trees to tend to.

Pruning the trees and waiting for them to bear fruit was a common task, except for the troublesome jujube trees that required additional care.

After taking care of all these tasks, they still found themselves with free time. They would go and clear one or two mu of new wasteland.

It cost only a few silver coins per mu of wasteland, and with some effort, it could be cultivated into fertile land in three to four years. The hardworking family members would not give up on such a good opportunity.

The same went for Song Dingxiang's third brother, Song Xingren. After the family split, Song Xingren stopped clearing wasteland himself, but instead urged his two sons to do it with their wives and children.

Even if they only cleared one or one and a half mu of land and planted sweet potatoes, it would provide food security.

After dinner, Song Dingxiang was so tired that she could barely keep her eyes open, and her mother had to coax her back to her room to rest. In the middle of the night, they heard a commotion and found out that two sows in their household had given birth to piglets.

This was a big event, and the whole family rushed to the scene to assist the sows. The next day, they learned that their sow had birthed nineteen piglets.

These piglets could be sold for a good price after a year, bringing in a considerable amount of silver. Everyone was delighted by this news.

Even the children were excited and went out to gather feed for the pigs after breakfast. Song Dingxiang also began to consider raising sheep, as sheep meat was delicious and sheep milk was nutritious.

With two pregnant women in the family, she thought that sheep milk would be a good option if breastfeeding was insufficient.

"Raising sheep?"

Upon mentioning the idea to her father, he pointed out the potential challenges of sheep nibbling on tree bark.

"We won't raise many, just two or three. We can keep them in the yard during the day," Song Dingxiang pleaded. "When winter comes, we can cook a lamb meat for Grandpa."

Song Xingyi laughed heartily, "Can I not have a piece of lamb? I think you're just craving for lamb meat. With just two or three sheep, your father can help you take care of them in the yard, alongside the pigs."

However, they agreed to start by raising just a few sheep in the yard and feed them with grass.

Song Zihong nodded in agreement, "Just a couple of sheep, it's not much work. We can feed them grass and come winter, we won't have to buy meat from outside, we can just butcher a sheep ourselves."

It would be convenient to have sheep for meat in the winter.

When they returned home, Song's mother playfully poked her daughter's head, "You were so persistent about wanting to raise sheep. Fine, you can raise them, but you'll have to gather the grass to feed them yourself."

Everyone was excited about the prospect of enjoying lamb stew in the winter.

Song Dingxiang grinned and didn't shy away, "Alright, I'll raise them well and cook some radish lamb for Mom in the winter."

"I'm not that interested in your lamb meat," Mrs. Fang just chuckled.

Song Dingxiang's two younger brothers have also started learning, but they are busy with spring farming now. After finishing the farming, they will also go to school.

However, young children do not have to study all day long. They can go to school in the morning and come back for lunch, then do the homework assigned by their teacher in the afternoon, and have it checked the next day.

But her two younger brothers are only average in their reading and writing skills, not as sharp as Song Zhixuan when he was young. They probably won't be able to achieve the title of a scholar.

But at least they are being educated, so that they won't be fooled by others when they go out in the future.

In addition to spring farming, there is another big event in the spring, which is making soy sauce.

With the spring plowing and other tasks done, the women in the village were busy preparing soy sauce and fermenting soybeans. Every woman in every household has been busy cleaning the big fermentation jars these days, flipping over the blocks of soybean paste all day long.

Song Dingxiang also remembered the soybean paste on the beams of her house, asking her brother to take them down to see. After fermenting throughout the winter, the soybean paste had already started to emit a savory aroma.

After making the soy sauce, Song Dingxiang started sorting out the soybeans, preparing them for fermentation to make soy sauce.

With the local tasks all completed, everyone had become noticeably thinner and darker in complexion from the hard work.

On this day, while sorting soybeans with Song Zijin, the sound of fireworks crackled in the distance. Before long, Fang shi, with a big belly and a dark complexion, came over.

As the activities in the village were coming to an end, everyone was tired and had tanned from working outdoors. One day, while picking soybeans with Song Zijin, they heard firecrackers in the distance.

"What bad luck! That guy surnamed Xu actually passed the imperial examination!"

Xu Qiang passed the imperial examination, but his ranking was very low, said to be a 'Tong Jinshi'. Tong Jinshi scholars are actually not very popular among the other scholars, as there is a joke that goes, "Same-year scholars, like wife's relatives" – they are not considered very influential.

But for a village to produce an imperial scholar, even if he's a Tong Jinshi scholar, is still a matter of great honor!

"Mom, he passed the autumn examination last year, did you forget? Now he is an imperial scholar, much higher than an ordinary scholar." Song Dingxiang corrected with a smile.

As soon as Song Xingren received the news, he immediately gave money to his son to go to the town and buy fireworks, which were set off in front of their house.

Xu Qiang turned eighteen this year and passing the imperial examination at such a young age, even though it was at the lowest rank, already marked him as a genius. These days, gifts kept pouring in at the home of the imperial scholar Xu, even the county officials sent fifty taels of silver as a gift.

While Tong Jinshi scholars may not have the qualifications to become Hanlin scholars and enter Imperial Academy, they can still be appointed to official positions, bringing the Xu family closer to prosperity. At least now, they are considered a family with an official background.

The Third Old Song Lao San family, particularly Zhu shi, was overjoyed. Zhu shi was constantly smiling from ear to ear, thinking of coming over for a chat, but was quickly chased away by Zhang shi with a few words.

Shortly after Xu Qiang passed the imperial exams, Jin Qiao'er delivered twin daughters. As the twins reached one month old, Song Taohong also went into labor.

News of Song Taohong's childbirth raised eyebrows. Even if she conceived after the engagement, the baby would still have been due in two more months.

Could it be a premature birth?

"Pah! Your family had a premature birth!" Zhu Shi shot a sharp look at the person who dared to ask, her voice dripping with disdain. "Honestly, I think Taohong got so worked up over watching her sister-in-law's fate play out, she just couldn't take the suspense. Ended up giving birth early—and wouldn’t you know it? A big, healthy son!" She smirked, thoroughly enjoying the chaos she was about to stir.

The person blinked, clearly caught off guard. "Her sister-in-law? Wait, your daughter-in-law had another baby?" they asked, clearly trying to process the implications.

Zhu Shi’s grin only widened. She put a finger to her lips, feigning secrecy, before replying, "Oh no, not her. It was Fourth Old Song Si’s family, darling." She practically purred the words, savoring the reaction she was about to get.

The person paused, the gears turning in their head for a second, before they let out a quiet chuckle and shook their head. "You’re just full of it," they muttered, turning to head into Song Xingyi’s house, eager to escape the drama.

Inside, Fang Shi’s family wasn’t having any of it. "Talking nonsense!!" they shouted in unison, their faces flushing with fury. Even the usually composed Zhang Shi had a deep flush creeping across her cheeks, clearly rattled by Zhu Shi’s reckless words.

Fang Shi, her temper flaring like a fire, was already moving toward the door, ready to hurl insults right back at the source of all this nonsense. But Li Shi wasn’t having it. She stepped in and grabbed her, voice icy, "You’re admitting to being foolish, and you still want to make a scene? You’re just going to give the crowd a show?"

Song Dingxiang, who had been quietly observing the exchange, couldn’t help but agree with the anger rising in the room. The Third Old Song family had definitely overstepped with their careless remarks.

What did they mean by being anxious about the sister-in-law giving birth?

Blaming others for giving birth 'out of season'?

What if there were complications with their child, would it have been blamed on Jin Qiao'er's twin daughters?

This kind of bullying was unheard of!

Li Shi wore a faint smile, but her eyes remained icy, void of any humor. Her voice, soft yet laced with quiet authority, cut through the air. "You really can't seem to keep your cool, can you? Sometimes, making a scene only makes you a joke."

Song Dingxiang initially thought Li Shi was just advising them to bite their tongues, to endure whatever was coming. But things quickly escalated, and rumors began to spread like wildfire. The whispers were everywhere: Song Taohong's son, a full-term baby? Whose child is it, really?

And then the questions got sharper: If it's Xu Qiang's, does that mean Song Taohong and Xu Qiang were involved even before he called off their engagement?

Wait, hold up—this was no small matter. It was a scandal of epic proportions!

Song Dingxiang, not one to shy away from facing things head-on, couldn't help but grin at the absurdity of it all. She’d never back down when it came to tackling the real issues. But these petty, vicious little squabbles? Yeah, they weren't her battlefield. For those, she knew there was no one fiercer than Grandma.

Li Shi, with that knowing smile, shook her head slightly. "Oh, you young ones, always in a hurry. You should really take the time to learn. You'll see."

——— T/Note: 同进士出身 (tóng jìnshì chūshēng) was a title granted to those who passed the third level of the imperial examination system in China during the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. It was the lowest of the three jinshi ranks, but it still conferred a high degree of prestige and social status.

To be eligible for the 同进士出身 title, a candidate had to first pass the provincial level examination, known as the 乡试 (xiāngshì). They then had to travel to the capital city to take the metropolitan level examination, known as the 会试 (huìshì).

Only a small percentage of candidates who passed the 会试 were then allowed to take the palace level examination, known as the 殿试 (diànshì).

Those who passed the 殿试 were awarded the highest jinshi rank, 进士及第 (jìnshì jídì). Those who scored just below the 进士及第 cutoff but still performed well enough were awarded the 同进士出身 title.