The siblings spent half a day on the back mountain. Seeing that it was getting late, they headed down the mountain together.
Along the way, Er Lang kept gesturing with his hands, humming and hawing incessantly.
By the time they reached home, their parents had already returned.
After dinner, the whole family squeezed into Er Lang and San Lang's room to learn to read. San Lang taught very diligently, managing to teach several characters in one evening.
To teach his family well, San Lang also studied very seriously at school and was praised by his teacher twice.
Jiang Wan learned the fastest. No matter what character it was, she could remember it after San Lang taught it once. Although her writing wasn't beautiful, she never made a mistake.
Er Lang was the slowest learner. He often forgot everything he learned the night before. Every day when reviewing the previous day's lessons, he would be scolded by Jiang Pan Xiong. Therefore, the evening literacy sessions were what Er Lang resisted the most.
Finally, when the session ended, Jiang Pan called the family together. "The house is almost ready, and the furniture the county carpenter is making should be done soon. So, I've decided we'll move into the new house on the fifteenth of this month. We'll also hold your mother's apprenticeship banquet at the same time."
Jiang Wan's eyes lit up. "Today is the tenth, so we'll be living in the new house in five days?"
Jiang Pan smiled and nodded. "Yes, you'll soon have a room all to yourself."
Jiang Wan had been looking forward to this day for a long time.
Squeezing onto the same bed with her parents every night was really inconvenient. Having her own room meant she could sleep however she pleased.
Seeing her so delighted, Chen Yuezhi pretended to be angry and tapped her nose. "You ungrateful child, are you that eager to separate from your parents?"
Jiang Pan chuckled and whispered into Chen Yuezhi's ear, "Mom, since I won't be sleeping with you anymore, you two have to work hard and have another baby for me."
Although Chen Yuezhi was a bit older, she had her abilities! Not to mention Chen Yuezhi was only forty now, even if she were fifty, she could still help her conceive.
Chen Yuezhi's face immediately flushed red. Both embarrassed and annoyed, she slapped Jiang Wan's backside. "What nonsense are you talking about! You must never say such things again, and you certainly can't say them outside, understand?"
Jiang Wan didn't reply, only grinning mischievously, which made Chen Yuezhi even more embarrassed. She simply grabbed Jiang Wan and ran back to their room, preparing for a little mother-daughter bonding time.
Jiang Wan cried out, "Dad, save me, save me!"
Jiang Pan quickly stood up and said with a smile, "Don't be afraid, Wan Wan, Dad is coming too!"
Some of the family members, watching the three of them laugh and play as they left, couldn't help but smile.
Time flew by, and it was the day before they moved into their new home.
The county carpenters had finished making the furniture and sent someone to deliver the news. Jiang Pan called Da Lang and Er Lang to go to the carpenter's house to carry the furniture. When the villagers heard that the Jiang family was moving furniture, someone immediately came forward to help.
The Jiang family had a lot of furniture made this time. Each person had a spacious bed, a large wardrobe, several chests, and a table with two chairs in their room.
In addition, the female members of the family each had a dressing table made. Mrs. Su's room had an additional embroidery table placed by the window, and Jiang Wan's room had a desk. In addition to the table and chairs in the living room and the dining table and chairs, there were dozens of pieces of furniture in total.
Nearly a hundred men from the small mountain village came. Each person carried one or two pieces, and all the items were moved in one trip. The long procession attracted the attention of passersby.
"Which wealthy family is this? Not only did they have so much furniture made, but they also invited so many people to help move it?"
"It looks like the family that just settled in the small mountain village. Their entire village is united."
"So much furniture must have cost a lot of silver. This family has a substantial foundation."
The villagers who came to help move the furniture also had similar thoughts. When did the Jiang Pan family become so rich? Clearly, before, their family lived worse than most people in the village. How was it that after a famine, when everyone was barely hanging on to life, their family bought a carriage, built a new house, and now had so much furniture made?
Although this furniture was made of ordinary wood, and all the furniture combined only cost about ten taels of silver, it was still a considerable sum for these villagers who hadn't yet established themselves.
They had all gone through the famine together. Where did this family's silver come from?
Could it be from Madam Cheng?
Almost everyone thought so.
However, they had two different attitudes. Some felt that since Madam Cheng and her son's lives were saved by Jiang Wan and her siblings, it was only natural for Madam Cheng to give them silver as thanks. While they were envious, it was only envy.
But some people felt unbalanced. Everyone had fled the famine together, and they had looked after Madam Cheng and her son along the way. Why should the Jiang family receive so many benefits while they could only watch?
People are never content with scarcity, but they are often unhappy with inequality.
Before, when they were fleeing the famine together, they were all in the same boat, and they relied on Jiang Pan to lead them. Even though the Jiang Pan family's conditions had always been better than theirs, no one was dissatisfied.
But now that life had stabilized, the gap between the rich and the poor was widening. Moreover, Jiang Pan had joined the yamen, Chen Yuezhi had become a disciple of a divine doctor, and they were still toiling in the fields, not even knowing what the next season's harvest would be. Therefore, their thoughts had slowly begun to change.
The men might have been alright, at least they could pretend, but some of the women openly displayed their jealousy.
When the Jiang family's new furniture was being moved into the new house, many villagers came to watch.
After watching, some women said to Chen Yuezhi with sourness, "Your family is truly generous. Building a house and having furniture made, how much silver did that cost?"
"Yuezhi, I never realized before that you two were so cunning. While everyone was fleeing together, you secretly saved so much silver. Tell us, where did this silver come from? Was it from Madam Cheng?"
"Yuezhi, what you're doing isn't right. Madam Cheng gave you silver, so why did you keep it all to yourselves?"
Chen Yuezhi was displeased and was about to reply when Jiang Wan suddenly interjected.
"Our family just built a farmhouse and bought some cheap furniture. Why does that bother you so much? Those rich people in the city, they live in such big houses with servants everywhere. If you saw them, wouldn't you want to gouge your eyes out?"
"Where our family's silver comes from has nothing to do with you. Even if it blew in on the wind, it just happened to land at my parents' feet. There's no point in you being envious because you don't have that luck!"
"Also, whether Auntie Cheng gave us silver or not, does that concern you? Don't forget, the silver Madam Cheng gave to the village was used to buy wasteland, and our family didn't take a single cent. Even if Madam Cheng gave us additional silver, that was for the Jiang! family! Do you understand?"