As soon as Wen Qingwan finished speaking, she saw her previously dejected stepbrothers break into beaming smiles, the light in their eyes sparkling as brilliantly as the Milky Way.
Xiao Lichun grinned, revealing a pair of canine teeth and a playful, childlike mischief. "I actually thought we wouldn't have any dinner tonight!"
Seeing them smile, Wen Qingwan couldn't help letting out a chuckle. "Why wouldn't there be dinner?"
"You guys don't usually touch a book, so being able to recognize even a few characters is already pretty impressive."
"What the Master meant by that is: Even the shortest path cannot be reached without walking it; even the smallest task cannot be completed without doing it."
Xiao Lidong silently recited the words to himself once, then gave a respectful bow. "Thank you so much for your guidance, Eldest Sister-in-law. Lidong will keep it firmly in mind."
He then ran off to wash his hands. Watching that small figure retreat, Wen Qingwan felt quite pleased—the child had real potential.
Seeing the smile playing at the corners of the young girl's eyes and brows, Xiao Jin found his own spirits lifting as well. In all the world, his own wife was simply the best.
Having spent a long time on the battlefield, the thing he despise most are people who cry, wail, and play the victim at the drop of a hat. When they can't even save themselves, they still end up dragging others down with them.
The women in his father's inner courtyard were all like that—at the slightest hint of trouble, they would start weeping and wailing.
Unlike his own wife—when the tutor they had gone to such lengths to invite back was driven off in anger by those good-for-nothings, not only did she not blame them, but she even took the time to teach them herself.
She really is so kind-hearted!
Xiao Jin's eyes and brows were filled with hopeful anticipation, his low, husky voice carrying a hint of seductive enticement. "Wife, let's go wash our hands and have dinner too."
"Mhm." Watching a maidservant bring over a basin of water, Wen Qingwan extended her hands to wash them.
Little did she know, Xiao Jin instantly caught her hand. She looked up, her eyes asking him silently: What do you mean by this?
"You were the one who promised we’d wash our hands together, Wife. It wouldn't look very good to go back on your word right in front of the younger ones, would it?!"
"........"
Someone like him was truly a rare sight. Left completely speechless, Wen Qingwan simply let him wash her hands for her.
Third Brother and the others, who had just walked in, were completely dumbfounded. So even their eldest brother knew how to resort to shameless tricks!
The dining table was laden with three meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and a large bowl of bone-broth corn soup.
This was what Wen Qingwan had arranged before she left that morning. Most of the children in the Marquis's estate were very thin, and quite a few were nothing more than skin and bones.
So they needed proper nourishment—besides, it wasn't like she was eating into her own dowry anyway.
Those three children were still helping portion out the food for everyone. After finishing dinner, none of them immediately left.
"Eldest Sister-in-law, I'm pretty much familiar with the pig-raising manual now. Tomorrow I'll head over to the estate to start raising pigs—I'll buy ten one-hundred-jin pigs first, and then another thirty.."
At the very beginning, Xiao Libo spoke rather awkwardly, but as he went on, he became more and more fluent.
It actually sounded like it made some sense—as for that damn pig-raising manual, Wen Qingwan hadn't even looked at it at all.
"Mhm, Second Brother is truly a person of great potential. From now on, our estate's pork supply will all depend on you. Your Eldest Sister-in-law has complete faith in you."
Wen Qingwan smiled as warmly as a spring breeze; from then on, the Xiao estate's food provisions would all have to be earned by their own hands.
The more they earned, the better they’d eat—human potential is truly limitless!
She believed Xiao Libo was just that kind of person.
If he wasn't, then she'd just have to trouble him to step up and work a bit harder!
She was determined to become that kind of person.
"Rest assured, Eldest Sister-in-law! Hehe, in a month's time, our estate will be able to slaughter a whole pig every single day." Xiao Libo said with a broad grin.
He was too shy to say out loud that as long as his Eldest Sister-in-law helped him marry the girl he loved, working a bit harder to slaughter two pigs a day wouldn't be a problem at all!
"Eldest Sister-in-law, wanting to eat beef in the future won't be a problem either, and drinking milk won't be an issue at all,” Xiao Ligong said with a wide grin.
Eighth brother, Xiao Ligong, had privately switched with the seventh brother—he would raise cattle while the seventh brother raised rabbits. Each of them still had their own copy of the breeding manual.
Next, the other young lads each shared their breeding plans. Listening to them, Wen Qingwan could practically picture a sky full of delicious meat waving right at her.
Seeing their ethereal, fairy-like Eldest Sister-in-law smile continuously, the young lads felt that all their hard work studying for a whole day was completely worth it.
Even Old Madam Xiao, who had been pretending to lead a pious and vegetarian life, listened with great relish—from then on, she'd have meat with every single meal.
Clutching her son, Madam Wang was filled with regret. Her eagerness to shed the responsibility of running the household back then had been purely to avoid having to go back to her maiden family to freeload, only to be resented by her sisters-in-law and looked down upon by her brothers.
Why on earth hadn't it occurred to her back then to make the young masters farm and raise pigs?! Instead, she'd foolishly used her own dowry to subsidize them—what a total raw deal!
The third brother, Xiao Litao, along with a few of their slightly older brothers, spent the entire day copying out the breeding manuals.
Consequently, that tutor never got to lay eyes on them, having no idea that the marquis's estate still possessed such promising young talent.
Otherwise, that tutor wouldn't have run off either.
None of that was Wen Qingwan's concern, though. As long as she could make sure everyone in the marquis's estate was well-fed every day, stayed out of trouble, and didn't spend all day long fighting crickets, she'd be content.
The marquis's estate was twice the size of the Wen estate, and the people here were actually quite endearing—unlike those at the Wen household, who would glare and scowl at her at the drop of a hat.
If Wen Mingzhu cried, it was her fault; if Wen Mingzhu didn't feel like eating, that was her fault too.
Even if she was just walking in the garden, looking at the winter jasmine by the corner of the wall and gently reaching out to touch it, she would still end up getting chewed out by her own mother.
"You good-for-nothing wretch are only fit to like cheap, lowly flowers! Unlike our Zhu'er, who has loved peonies ever since she was little—now that is a flower of peerless, regal beauty."
Now that she had completely severed ties with the Wen family, surely there wouldn't be anyone left to police what flowers she liked anymore!
No—in her past life, after she became empress, nobody dared restrict her preferences anymore, yet she still hadn't dared to act presumptuously.
Fearing that people all over the world would ridicule her, she had no choice but to deliberately pretend that she liked peonies, too!
In this lifetime, she would definitely never pander to anyone else again. Musing over this, Wen Qingwan chuckled even more merrily, "Is there anyone in the estate who knows how to cultivate flowers?"
"Answering the Madam, this servant knows how to cultivate flowers." The speaker was one of Master Xiao’s concubines, who looked to be in her early thirties.
Judging by her modest attire, this concubine must have eaten through her entire dowry long ago!
"Alright, then go draw some funds from the accounts, gather a few people, and starting tomorrow, have the entire garden of the marquis's estate planted with winter jasmine."
Before the concubine could even reply, a shrill voice rang out as Madam Xiao demanded, "Plant the entire garden of the marquis's estate? Just how much silver is that going to cost?!"
"Is Mother still hungry?" Xiao Jin asked, his face turning dark and grim.
"N—no… I’m full, I’ve eaten plenty." Madam Xiao stammered, trembling with fear. She had always been terrified of Xiao Jin.
"Since you're so full, you can go right back to managing the household from now on."
Upon hearing Xiao Jin's words, Madam Xiao’s eyes lit up. If things kept developing like this, she might actually get to manage the household after all!
"Madam Wang, you’d better not harbor any unrealistic ideas." Old Madam Xiao chimed in, issuing the first warning.
"Eldest Sister-in-law, do you still expect to keep everyone on a diet of plain congee?" Second Aunt Xiao chimed in to voice her objection.
Her husband was utterly hopeless, so almost all of her dowry had been poured into their children. When their son took a wife or their two daughters were married off, everything had to depend on her.
She certainly didn't have the spare silver to cook special meals for herself, and she had grown deathly sick of having to choke down plain congee in the estate every now and then—she never wanted to live through days like that ever again.
The third son was equally terrified of the stepmother taking charge of the household again, so he smiled and deftly changed the subject: "Eldest sister-in-law truly has refined taste, taking a fancy to winter jasmine."
"Oh, so liking winter jasmine means having good taste now? How could winter jasmine ever compare to the noble and aloof glamour of peonies?"
"Winter jasmine possesses tenacious vitality. When it blooms, it resembles a vibrant, colorful scroll painting, with golden blossoms glowing brilliantly amidst the green leaves, bringing a sense of pure joy to the heart."
🐇♡🐇♡🐇♡🐇
Runa: “Wen Qingwan, what's your secret to managing an entire marquisate?”
Wen Qingwan: “Simple. Give the young masters livestock manuals, and they'll become productive citizens.”
Xiao Libo: “I'll raise pigs! Ten first, then thirty! One pig slaughtered every day!”
Xiao Jin: “And I'll make sure my wife never has to wash her hands alone again.”
Third Brother: “Can someone please explain why we're raising livestock while our eldest brother is busy flirting?”
Runa: “And the garden?”
Wen Qingwan: “Plant winter jasmine everywhere.”
Old Madam Xiao: “WHAT ABOUT THE COST?!”
Wen Qingwan: “Don't worry. We have pigs.”
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