Winter.
Kan'er Village.
Jiang Mianmian now knows the na of her village, Kan'er Village.
Kan ans steps, a village with many stairs?
It seems to be a slightly inauspicious na for a village, kan'er, like an obstacle.
But hearing the villagers say kan'er kan'er with their accent, it sounds pleasant.
Night has fallen.
The wind outside sounds like the cry of an infant.
Whimpering ceaselessly.
The Jiang family is gathered around the table having dinner.
Since it's cold in winter, Jiang Mianmian rarely goes out of the village for a stroll, so she doesn't know much about the village these days.
But at dinnerti, she would hear her family chatting, as if there have been great changes.
Of course, the most direct change is in her own ho.
Elder Sister and Elder Brother now sleep in separate rooms.
Elder Sister has her own independent room.
There's a small cabinet for storing things.
Those beautiful embroidered shoes with beads are no longer kept at the bedside, but in a drawer of the cabinet, which Jiang Mianmian cannot open at will. If she opens it, Elder Sister would get upset with her.
But Elder Sister is just all talk, at most she would shout at her.
Jiang Mianmian would stand there looking pitiful, her big eyes blinking rapidly until they turned moist, and Elder Sister would imdiately regret raising her voice and apologize to her.
Jiang Mianmian doesn't know why, but she has this strange talent of eliciting sympathy without any training.
Elder Brother also has his own room.
With a desk, wooden window, and bed.
Two rooms have been added to their ho.
Now their ho has front, back, left and right courtyards.
Father, Mom and Jiang Mianmian share one room, and Jiang Mianmian has a small bed of her own.
Elder Sister has her own room, Elder Brother has his own room, there's a storage room, and a guest room.
When villagers co to see Father, if there's wind and rain, they will be received in the guest room.
Facing the large tree at the entrance, the view is excellent.
The room is quite simple.
Just a few mats, a table.
No cabinets, but there's a shelf with a few books on it.
Every villager who cos in and sees the books treats them with great reverence.
In this era, books are extrely precious, often kept as closely guarded secrets by major clans and not shared outside.
Common people cannot read them, as they have never had the opportunity to learn.
Each family treats them as invaluable heirlooms.
So the two noblen who gifted books to the Jiang family were truly great benefactors.
Who knows how they are doing now.
In ancient tis, travel was slow by horse carriage and the journey was far. Jiang Mianmian has grown up, but they haven't sent a single letter. Alas, they were so young, they couldn't have died, could they?
The few books displayed in the guest room were recopied by Elder Brother.
Apart from the improvent in living conditions, the most noticeable change for the family is in terms of food.
Now they have a proper al every day.
Jiang Mianmian is a little worried that Elder Sister might eat too much and beco too round and plump to get married.
It seems she worried unnecessarily, as a plump girl is highly sought after for marriage these days.
Much more so than those frail, willowy girls.
Quite a few people have already co to inquire about marrying Elder Sister.
Father and Mom are not in a hurry.
Elder Sister is not in a hurry either.
Jiang Mianmian greatly admires Father, feeling that he alone could sell the whole village, and everyone would still have to pay him.
After Lord Liu's family died, the biggest beneficiary was her own family.
Their family's status in the village seems to have changed, but they did not move into Lord Liu's residence, despite the villagers' sincere invitation.
Father only asked the villagers to help renovate their house.
As for Lord Liu's grand compound, it has beco a place for the villagers to gather and practice martial arts.
Father took charge of inspecting the other buildings, and those families whose houses were too dilapidated to make it through winter were moved into Lord Liu's residence.
The grand mansion was quickly divided up.
It beca like a large mixed courtyard.
Everyone is very grateful to Father, feeling that he is different from others. If it were soone else in power, they would surely not be willing to give up Lord Liu's grand mansion. But Mr. Jiang is kindhearted and thinks of the entire village, leaving the good places for the villagers.
Father also kept so areas, saying that based on everyone's performance, those who do well can be rewarded.
Apparently, after spring arrives, there will also be a distribution of farmland. Everyone is working like crazy, taking on any jobs to put in a good performance and get a better reward.
In fact, Jiang Mianmian overheard Father explaining to Mom: "That place had too many deaths, it's inauspicious, and the vantage point is not good either, too easy to be attacked. Let's not rush into living there."
In any case, all the villagers are now praising her Father in every way.
It feels like her Father is the reincarnation of a great virtuous being from nine lifetis ago.
People also praise Mom, saying she is hardworking and virtuous.
They praise Elder Brother, saying he is young and accomplished, upright in his dealings, and commands great respect as he leads the entire village in sword practice.
They also praise Elder Sister, saying she has an auspiciously round face...
Of course, they also praise Jiang Mianmian, saying she is beautiful, resembling her Father.
Jiang Mianmian feels like her family has beco the new Lord Liu, more like Lord Jiang.
She has experienced a small leap in social class.
Jiang Mianmian feels like she has beco the daughter of a small landowner, with a slightly more comfortable life.
When your status is high, you are surrounded by kind and benevolent people.
At least, that's how it is in the village.
Dinnerti.
The family eats very attentively.
Father picks at the vegetables as he eats.
Jiang Mianmian has an extra serving of at and egg porridge with vegetable bits.
She also drank the vegetable and at broth cooked by Mom.
Elder Sister eats very seriously, not talking much while eating.
Elder Brother also eats seriously, his appetite has increased, and with his increased physical activity, he eats a lot.
In fact, he could eat a lot before too, but back then he never seed to get full at each al, his face was not thin like Mom's, but his body was very thin.
It's only in the past half year that he has gradually beco stronger.
Now that the whole family can eat their fill, life feels very good and content.
After the al.
This is Jiang Mianmian's favorite ti.
At this ti, the family would sit together and chat.
This habit feels wonderful.
She can also learn about things happening outside.
Elder Brother Jiang Feng spoke first: "Father, I heard that the bandits from Jǐ Mountain County have attacked and taken a second county, and are now very close to the Provincial Capital. People in the county town are panicked. Can my friends move their families to our village?"
Jiang Changtian nodded: "Yes, let them bring their families over. Pick out so clever ones to scout for information outside. Once they're in our village, we'll follow the new village rules. See if there are any clever young n you can also bring back."
Jiang Yu spoke up: "Dad, Qin Luoxia said she's getting married, can you go and officiate the ceremony?"
Jiang Changtian nodded.
But after looking at his round-faced daughter Yu, he said: "Wait until spring, Father will invite a female teacher for you to study so things."
Jiang Yu: ...
Qin Luoxia echoed, "Yes, there's sothing to study."
Jiang Mianmian gloated from the side, laughing loudly, she didn't need to, she was still young.
Then Father said, "Your younger sister needs to start her education too."
Jiang Mianmian: ...
Jiang Mianmian was pulled into Elder Brother's embrace.
"Father, will the Provincial Capital be captured?" Jiang Feng asked worriedly, stroking his younger sister's head.
Jiang Mianmian was also curious, looking up with wide round eyes.
Father said, "It will be, it should be soon."
Jiang Yu's eyes sparkled, Father was so impressive, knowing about things so far away from ho. She wondered if Father knew about the taverns in the Provincial Capital. She heard there was a tavern called "One Bowl You Can't Finish," where the at was so fragrant it could kill you.
"Husband, what should we do?" Qin Luoxia asked in a panic, she had a natural fear and dread of war.
Jiang Changtian held his wife's hand and rubbed it, saying, "It doesn't matter who cos, we'll listen to whoever is in charge."
Jiang Mianmian nodded, yes yes, Father was right, the matters of the Provincial Capital were too far from their village, it had nothing to do with them.
Jiang Feng changed the position of his hand rubbing Jiang Mianmian's head, moving his fingers to rub upwards from the back of her head.
"Father, why don't we take n to attack the County Town? We can cooperate from the inside and outside. My buddies and I have gathered intelligence. If we capture the County Yan, even the rich households won't dare to do anything, they'll just try to save themselves. When the rebels capture the Provincial Capital, they'll definitely need new subordinates." Jiang Feng said excitedly.
Jiang Changtian tapped his son's head, "We don't do anything against righteous principles. We're just trying to live a good life, don't talk about fighting and killing. Rember, we raided the bandits' lair not to get weapons or loot - those were just bonuses. Our main purpose was to benefit the villagers and passing rchants, we have to act with honor."
Jiang Feng understood and nodded, "Then if the County Town is in chaos, can we go help maintain stability, Father?"
Jiang Changtian nodded, "Yes."
Jiang Mianmian: ...
Suddenly she felt that after being a landlord's daughter for just a short while, she might soon beco a rebel's daughter. Her family background was changing too quickly...
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