Everyone knows that women can’t participate in the imperial examinations, Lady He is making a mockery of the two of them.

"Second Aunt, are you looking for my mom for something? My mom is busy working in the workshop," Lian Manman pretended not to detect the taunting tone in Lady He’s voice. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"No need to bother your mom." Lady He walked over, plopped herself down on the kang bed, "Zhizhi, isn’t your family growing bean sprouts? Give me some to add a dish for lunch."

As the days turned colder, the only vegetable available was cabbage. Lian Manman had grumbled about it in private once and Lady Zhang overheard it. While at her maiden home, she learned how to cultivate bean sprouts from Lady Li. She took some soybeans and grew several jins of bean sprouts at home. Delighted by how neatly Lady Zhang had grown the bean sprouts, Lian Manman found joy beyond expectation. A dish of bean sprouts, whether stir-fried or served cold, were both excellent dishes. The family enjoyed them for several meals until they were gone, and Lady Zhang continued to sprout several more jins.

Lady He caught wind of it and would frequently come asking for some, claiming it was to add a dish for Old Master Lian, but privately, she snuck the bean sprouts over to West Village several times.

"Second Aunt, my mom already gave some sprouts to grandma this morning, at least enough for several meals; why are you asking for more?" Lian Manman questioned.

"You’re such a stingy girl; even your sister hasn’t said anything. It’s just some lousy bean sprouts, what’s it worth that you can’t part with them? I am your elder," Lady He shot Lian Manman an irritated look. "Stingy" was the local lingo for being petty.

"Second Aunt, if you’re talking about Manman, you’re talking about me," Lian Zhizhi interjected.

"You..." Lady He was left speechless, rolling her eyes.

"Second Aunt, if you call our bean sprouts ’just a little’ and ’lousy’, then why do you keep asking for them? Second Aunt is an elder, not stingy, but we’ve never seen you give away anything; it’s always you taking ours. It turns out this is how elders act. So it’s called not being stingy when you always hold out your hand like this?" Lian Manman countered with a smile.

Lady He had nothing to say in response to Lian Manman’s retort.

"Oh, Second Sister-in-law, what brings you here?" Lady Zhang walked in from the outside and greeted Lady He.

"Oh, you’re back. You should listen to how sharp your daughter’s tongue is; she nearly devoured me with her words," Lady He complained to Lady Zhang.

Seeing the Chinese basket in Lady He’s hands, Lady Zhang exchanged a glance with Lian Manman, who subtly gestured towards the corner where the jar for sprouting bean sprouts was; Lady Zhang understood what was going on.

"The children are just playing with you," Lady Zhang said. "Zhizhi, stop what you’re doing and soak some beans. We gave all our sprouts to your grandma this morning and now we have none left. You soak some beans, and I will grow some more for us to eat."

But there were still several jins of bean sprouts in the jar, how could they be out? It seemed Lady Zhang had also learned to cleverly resist under Lady He’s incessant asking.

"Alright." Lian Zhizhi briskly agreed and stepped down from the kang, heading out to another room.

"Mom, have a cup of water to warm up," Lian Manman offered, taking the warm kettle from the kang and pouring Lady Zhang a bowl of ginger brown sugar water.

Lady Zhang took the bowl, warming her hands on it while sipping slowly.

"Second Sister-in-law, you didn’t go out visiting today?" Lady Zhang casually struck up a conversation with Lady He.

Even with thick skin, Lady He couldn’t help but feel embarrassed at this point. She had come to ask for bean sprouts, was scolded by Lian Manman, and now faced Lady Zhang’s subtle move, making it impossible for her to voice her request for bean sprouts. She didn’t believe the sprouts were gone, but she didn’t dare rummage through the jar herself.

Lady He’s face went through several changes as she forced out a chuckle.

"Well, I was just about to head out. I was going to visit Old Uncle He’s family in West Village, thought about bringing some bean sprouts over since you have them here," said Lady He.

Even so, Lady He managed to bring up the bean sprouts again. She wasn’t embarrassed, but Lady Zhang felt somewhat uneasy. It wasn’t that she was unwilling to part with the bean sprouts; it was just that Lady He asked for them too frequently. The family had a private discussion and agreed they couldn’t let Lady He get her way all the time.

"What’s the occasion at Old Uncle He’s house?" Lady Zhang inquired. Families with circumstances like He Laoliu’s often didn’t afford to eat bean sprouts regularly, hence her question.

"It’s not really a big occasion, but since Old Uncle He’s family couldn’t sell those few hundred jins of grape wine, they decided to make a few more dishes and invite me and his brother-in-law over for a meal," Lady He said with some pride.

Lian Shouyi had said it was best kept a secret, but Lady He, feeling slighted today, wanted to gain some ground. So, you didn’t help us sell our grape wine? Well, we don’t need you, we managed to sell it anyway. That was her thought.

"That’s really a good thing," Lian Manman pointed out with a laugh, "Second Aunt, who did Old Uncle He sell the wine to, and for how much? It must have been quite the sum."

Not being the scheming type, Lady He was beaming at Lian Manman when she heard that He Laoliu’s wine was sold, and she became even more triumphant. With pride, she completely forgot the warning of Lian Shouyi.

"It was to Old Master Xu from Prefecture City, he runs several large businesses, and the silver he earns... well, my brother is a straightforward man. He said, Old Master Xu, name your price. The gentleman offered three coins per jin, three coins per jin, you hear. My brother isn’t greedy for money. He said three coins were too much. Old Master Xu is a good friend, and my brother wanted to make friends. So, he settled for one coin and five parts silver..." Lady He rambled on, spitting as she spoke.

Lian Manman shifted back a bit. How much truth was there in Lady He’s words?

I************

Second installment, requesting a share of the profits.

******...*******

Ruoyan’s highly recommended completed farming novel:

Title: "Rebirth: When Flowers Bloom and the Moon is Full" (Includes the main story and extras, completed) (Direct access below, click to visit)

Description: Transmigrated as a wrongly accused abandoned wife, carrying a little bun, sweet life hand in hand with a thrifty man.

******.........********(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com) with a recommendation ticket or a monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)