Chapter 194: Bamboo Slips 2456

Yan Huaiwen agreed to postpone his younger brother’s enrollment in the county school until after the autumn harvest.

“Dad, delay it as long as you can. If it really can’t be postponed, then you just go instead.” Yan Yu laughed heartily, purely enjoying the thought of her father’s predicament.

Yan Lao’er’s eyes widened. “Me? Go? I can’t even memorize the texts, and even if I could, I wouldn’t be able to explain their meanings. Old Yan might not know my situation, but you do! Get out of here—if you can’t help, don’t cause more trouble.”

“There’s not much time left after the autumn harvest. I don’t think it’s feasible,” Yan Yu said, her expression turning serious. “But if you had a whole year to fully focus on studying and put in the effort I did during my final year of high school, it might not be impossible to give it a shot.”

Yan Lao’er looked at her in horror. “What are you saying? You really want me to take the imperial exams?”

“Dad, what are you thinking? I mean that in a year, you should be able to catch up to the original level of Yan Lao’er.”

“And what level was that?”

“Not as good as Uncle, not as good as Big Brother, not as good as Uncle Liang… About the same as Fengnian.” Yan Yu gave an honest assessment.

She genuinely believed that the previous Yan Lao’er had been at about that level.

Turning frustration into motivation!

Yan Lao’er poured bucket after bucket of water onto the fields.

Aunt Rong arrived before dawn to continue the unfinished work from the previous night—separating the fruit pulp from the seeds.

Once these seeds were planted, their replanting effort would be complete, with the quantity only increasing.

They were working on the ten acres near the village.

The task was simple: transport water using an ox cart, pour it over the soil, and let the sun and wind do the rest. By evening, the moisture level would be just right for the seeds to sprout.

Even if Sanbao couldn’t complete this step alone, having the ox cart made things much easier.

Besides the father and daughter, everyone else had gone to the land near the northern mountains.

“Daughter, where do you think we should plant our new seeds?” Yan Lao’er wanted to hear his daughter’s opinion.

“The five acres near the northern mountains,” Yan Yu answered without hesitation.

“Why?”

“That land is the most remote. Though we call it five acres, it’s actually a bit bigger—just the right size for our new seeds.”

Their so-called “new seeds” were vegetable seeds purchased from the platform.

Aunt Rong had already assessed the situation. Ten acres were too much, while five acres were more than enough.

Yan Yu didn’t know how to farm, but she could calculate.

“The northern land is a bit over five acres. We can sprinkle the rest in the area where we’re planting saplings. Aunt Rong noted that during thinning, we can transplant quite a few. We’ll prioritize our backyard vegetable garden, and if there are extras, we’ll plant them elsewhere.

“We have four plots of land. The ones near the river and village are surrounded by other families, so we should follow the crowd and plant the same crops as everyone else. But the two plots near the mountains and the forest—those are our private reserves. Whatever experiments we want to do, we’ll do them there.”

Yan Yu then added, “Dad, actually, if you think about what Uncle said, it makes a lot of sense. If you go to the county school and can’t succeed academically, at least you’d get acquainted with the officials. You’ve been practicing calligraphy, haven’t you? If you improve your handwriting, getting a clerical job at the yamen shouldn’t be too hard.

“Like this time when you went to Yongning City, you encountered a household registration check. If we want to do business there in the future, travel permits will be unavoidable. Unless…”

Yan Lao’er had been working silently, following his daughter’s train of thought. At this point, he subconsciously asked, “Unless what?”

“Unless Uncle moves to Yongning City. Then we can use family visits as an excuse to travel between Crouching Tiger City and Yongning.” Yan Yu continued, “Actually, Dad, instead of worrying about the county school in Crouching Tiger City, why not find out when the next county-level exam in Yongning is? I remember it’s held every three years, but I don’t know how many years are left until the next one or which month it’ll be in…”

Yan Lao’er’s eyes lit up as he pondered this possibility.

“If Uncle passes the imperial exam, he’ll have to prepare for the national exams in the capital, right? Hahaha, then he won’t have time to keep an eye on me!”

Yan Yu nodded excitedly. “Exactly! If Uncle goes to the capital for the exams, wouldn’t we have a reason to go too? The capital! Dad, we have to go see it!”

The capital of the nation—truly a place worth visiting.

A sightseeing trip was a must.

“But Uncle’s deadline is too tight. I’m afraid we won’t make it in time,” Yan Lao’er remained clear-headed. The most important thing right now was focusing on the present.

“We need multiple backup plans. There are less than three months until the autumn harvest. In this time, I need to expand our charcoal business to Crouching Tiger City, Yongning, and Gu Feng… I refuse to believe that, with so many responsibilities at home, Uncle can still cut off our livelihood and force me to study.”

Yan Lao’er was determined to build his business.

When the time came, he would stack up piles of silver—not throw it in Old Yan’s face, no, that would be too crude—but neatly stack it up like a fortress to show him that success wasn’t limited to academics.

“Not just charcoal—hehe!” Yan Yu waggled her eyebrows at her father. “Don’t forget we also have a bunch of bamboo slips.”

Yan Lao’er suddenly remembered. Yes!

He anxiously asked, “Did you check them? What’s written on them?”

Yan Yu deliberately cleared her throat, keeping him in suspense.

Yan Lao’er was so eager that he wanted to rush back and check them himself.

“One is about sugar-making,” Yan Yu whispered.

Yan Lao’er nodded thoughtfully. That could work—sugar was expensive.

“There’s also one about shampoo and another about tooth powder.”

Yan Lao’er: …

Well, they were daily necessities. Maybe they’d sell well?

“And the last one is about papermaking.”

Yan Lao’er immediately grinned. “This one’s great! Paper is really expensive. If we can make it ourselves, we’ll save a lot, and we’ll have enough for… well, all kinds of uses! Hahaha!”

Yan Yu’s eyes curved into crescents. “I thought so too! So Mom and I decided to start with this one.”

“We only bought these four bamboo slips, right?” Yan Lao’er asked.

“Yes. The rest are handwritten books—volumes one through ten, and volumes twenty-two through twenty-five, a total of thirteen books.”

Yan Yu clicked her tongue. “These thirteen books plus the four bamboo slips cost 28,000. Add in everything else we bought when we cleared the shelves, and we spent over 30,000.”

She continued reflecting, “Honestly, some purchases were unnecessary. Like those hemp shoes…”

The mention of this made Yan Yu wince in regret.

“Sixty-seven coins for a pair of hemp shoes! And I bought three pairs! Why?! We already had straw and cloth shoes! What was I thinking?!”

Yan Lao’er tried to console her. “Don’t be too upset. Everyone has made bad purchases before. Mistakes cost money, but that’s how we learn. Without buying them, how would we know what they’re like? Look, they actually look pretty nice.” He lifted his foot to show off the shoes.

Pfft!

Yan Yu was not comforted.

She just felt stabbed again…