Jiang Sheng was born poor. She was begging as soon as she was conscious. She was used to wandering and was happy fighting dogs for bones. She had never seen better, so she didn't feel her life was that bad.
But Fang Heng was different. He had once stood atop the clouds. He rode in carriages worth hundreds of taels of silver and lived in houses worth thousands of taels. His clothes might be worth tens of taels of silver on a whim. He was so dazzling, his life so abundant, yet he had to eat mush and mushroom soup, endure the cold and starve, wandering the streets.
The difference was harder and more bitter for him than for Jiang Sheng.
What's more, he bore bloody vengeance and the expectations and hopes of his parents.
"Third brother, do you feel sad when you see Brother Fufeng like this?" Jiang Sheng looked up carefully and asked.
Fang Heng was startled, then quickly smiled.
Before meeting everyone, he probably would have felt sad. As fellow young masters of prestigious families, equally arrogant and unapproachable, yet he had fallen from the clouds, battered and bruised.
But after meeting Jiang Sheng, the spiritual fulfillment and self-reliance brought him to gradually understand.
"Life is not just brocade clothes and jade food, nor carriages of hundreds of taels and clothes of tens of taels. Little Jiang Sheng, being with you, I discovered life has so much more, and that growing up can be so happy."
A family of three could spend a month on just a couple of cents.
Over 70% of commoners could only live off the money from selling grain.
Over 90% of wandering children would not end well.
The most suffering people hadn't complained yet. What right did those who had tasted sugar have to wail to the heavens?
What happened to the Fang family's main branch was not what Fang Heng wanted to see, but since it had happened, he would face it calmly.
Since there was vengeance, then grow stronger for revenge.
Since he had already fallen from the clouds, then strive even harder to climb back.
Only this time, he would take his younger siblings with him to climb back up.
Life itself was cultivation; birth was only the starting point. But how one walked the path was in one's own hands.
That night, the night was thick.
But the stars in the sky were bright, so bright.
Those departed, it was as if they had opened their eyes wide, greedily gazing at their children, taking advantage of the night.
In a half-dreaming, half-awake state, someone turned over, mumbling, "Mother."
The next day.
Zheng Ruqian packed his bags, preparing to go buy land.
Thanks to having a master brother, he already understood which town in Xieyang County had the cheapest land, which town had the most fertile soil, and which town had the most harmonious people.
That's right, Shili Town.
If not for the kind people in the town, little Jiang Sheng might not have survived until now.
There were cruel people to her, but also many who lent a helping hand.
Now being able to return to Shili Town and benefit the common people, Jiang Sheng was extremely happy. She sat in the carriage early in the morning, waiting to go back and take a look.
Zheng Ruqian wore blue robes and drove the carriage.
Xu Mo had gone to the county government offices early in the morning. Wen Zhiyun took Wang Fufeng to the medicine hall. Fang Heng took Chang Yan to practice martial arts.
And so the siblings waited for Zhang Qiquan and his wife and Zhang Auntie to finish packing, then set off by carriage.
The scenery along the way was familiar, the bumpy ride familiar, and the gentle wind familiar.
A town they might not have reached even running desperately for a whole day in the past, now only took a couple hours by carriage.
It was still that familiar marketplace where the young siblings had carried baskets on their backs and worked hard to come sell mushrooms back then.
Now their place was taken by another pair of siblings. The older brother was twelve or thirteen, leading his sister who looked about ten years old. They were hawking loudly.
Jiang Sheng took a closer look - what a coincidence, mountain mushrooms too.
"Selling mushrooms, selling mushrooms!" the older brother called out. "Five cents a jin."
This price seemed a bit high, so there were not many customers for the mushrooms.
Occasionally two older women would pass by, touch the mushrooms, then drop them back in disdain.
Jiang Sheng's heart softened. She had Zheng Ruqian stop the carriage and went up to the siblings herself, pointing at the basket. "I'll take them all, how much?"
The brother glanced at her, then swiftly took out a small scale and weights. After weighing, he said, "Ten jin, nice and plump. They're all yours."
Jiang Sheng took out fifty cents from her jacket and placed it in his hand.
The brother's eyes reddened. He looked at Jiang Sheng gratefully, then turned and pulled his sister's hand. "Little Zhu, we have money now. Hurry and go buy medicine for Mother. Let's go."
The two figures staggered out of the marketplace, extremely impatient.
Jiang Sheng watched them leave, lost in thought.
Zheng Ruqian had come over at some point. He lamented, "Fortunately I brought Pang Mountain under control, otherwise this pair of siblings might have suffered misfortune again."
Just like they had in the past, ambushed and robbed on the roads.
But there was only one Fang Heng in this world. Being lucky enough to be saved only happened that one time.
"I hope their mother recovers soon." Jiang Sheng smiled sweetly.
The siblings turned back and found the village chief of Shili Town, explaining their intentions.
Buying land was no simple matter. First you needed local household registration. Second the town needed ample wasteland, or people willing to sell land. Otherwise even if you had money, you couldn't buy even half an acre.
Shili Town's village chief was a man in his forties with a small mustache and rather wrinkled face. Seeing Zheng Ruqian and Jiang Sheng arrive empty-handed, his eyes seemed to flash disappointment for a moment.
So when Zheng Ruqian said he wanted to buy land, the chief just grunted ambiguously.
Zheng Ruqian's expression darkened and he gave two coughs.
Zhang Qiquan had been waiting outside. He came in holding gifts of sugar and wine, calling out as he walked, "Young master, you walk so fast I nearly couldn't keep up with these old legs of mine."
Seeing the village chief, his tone changed to warm familiarity. "So it's Chief Chen. I'm Zhang Qiquan from Shili Village. I saw you when I was small. Haven't seen you in so many years but you're still so young..."
It was at this time that Zheng Ruqian realized - the smaller the place, the more useful relationships were.
The gifts were just an icebreaker. Zhang Qiquan's ensuing small talk was key.
After about a teacup's time of back and forth...
Zheng Ruqian tuned back in to hear Zhang Qiquan addressing Chief Chen as "Uncle Chen".
"Uncle Chen, these are my employer's family, also grew up in our Shili Town. Now they're doing a little business out there and want to come back to benefit our townspeople." Zhang Qiquan was all smiles. "As soon as this land is bought, won't it be our townspeople doing the farming and harvesting in the future?"
Different times, the Dayu Dynasty's commoners were more attached to their hometowns, and transport wasn't convenient. Sometimes after finishing the farmwork, they'd rather take a nap at home than go out to work.
This led to quite a lot of poor families in town who had difficulty even eating.
If someone hired helpers in town, they didn't need to go far, just work near home. This was a huge boon.
Chief Chen's expression shifted several times, settling on benevolence. "This really would be great. Our town does have two acres of wasteland I can authorize a discounted sale for. But..."
He seemed to have other intentions.
