Chapter 13 Reunion with an Old Friend: Those Whose Paths Are Different Will Not Be Together

Li Ping'an had collected a lot of curved plow parts a few days ago, but things have been different these past few days. The market for curved plows has gradually decreased, and he has become less busy.

However, the villagers still finished making the parts and sent them to the blacksmith's shop, forcing Li Ping'an to tell everyone.

"The market for curved plows has decreased, and my shop can no longer accept so many parts. Please don't make so many in the future."

These words drew sighs from the people of Songyang County.

It doesn't require much effort or cost. All you need to do is grind some wood and do some work in your spare time to earn ten coins. If such a good job is gone, where else can you find it?

Although Songyang County was poor, its main streets were still paved with bluestone bricks.

The sound of horses' hooves clattering on the bluestone bricks drew the attention of passersby, who turned around and stopped to watch.

However, few people usually drive horse-drawn carriages.

This was a carriage, luxurious in appearance, which finally stopped in front of Li Ping'an's blacksmith shop.

The man entered the blacksmith's shop, followed by a servant carrying two curved plows.

When the man arrived, Li Ping'an was forging iron, shirtless and sweating profusely. The people of Songyang County certainly wouldn't mind, but this distinguished guest had never seen such a disheveled person since birth.

As soon as he entered the room, he covered his nose with his sleeve. Even though the two of them were three meters apart, it seemed like the smell could reach him.

"May I ask who you are looking for, sir?"

Li Pingan only noticed that there were outsiders in the room when he wiped his sweat with a towel.

"Whoever can make the curved plow, that's the person I'm here to find." His words were crisp and resolute.

"Wu Shifu..."

When Django finally saw the man, he was quite surprised.

Because the person who was insisting on seeing her knew the original owner of this body; not only did they know each other, but they were quite familiar with each other.

The original Jiang Ge and Wu Shifu lived in the same alley and were playmates when they were young. As the original Jiang Ge grew up and became aware of gender, he gradually distanced himself from these childhood playmates.

The man called Wu Shifu's eyes lit up slightly when he heard Jiang Ge's voice.

He then made a perfunctory bow and said, "This humble subject greets Magistrate Jiang."

This gesture instantly closed the distance between Jiang Ge and him, making her smile involuntarily.

"Why make such a fuss, as if I'm some high-ranking official?" Taking advantage of the fact that there was no one else around and that he had the rare opportunity to see the original owner's good friend, he spoke in a more relaxed tone.

"Who cares what rank an official is? As long as they achieve political results, they are a good official. Jiang Ge, do you know that your 'curved plow' has become famous throughout the entire Great Zhou?" Even Wu Shifu found it unbelievable when he talked about this.

How long has it been?

Jiang Ge went from being a pitiful child abandoned by his father to becoming a well-known magistrate of Songyang County. Such a beneficial thing as the curved plow would certainly be rewarded by the imperial court.

"What fame? Who else but ordinary people would know?" Jiang Ge asked with a smile.

She believed that the curved plow was famous among the common people, but it was impossible for it to be known throughout the world.

How can someone who is used to being in a high position ever look down?

Wu Shifu was taken aback.

If his family hadn't owned a lot of land, he probably wouldn't have known about the curved plow, since he didn't need to plow the land himself.

The fame of this curved plow was also thanks to Chen the carpenter who imitated Li Ping'an.

He said he would sell to distant places, and he did indeed take his whole family to distant places.

The method of making this curved plow is not difficult; an old carpenter can tell it at a glance. As a result, it was copied everywhere it went, and imitators emerged one after another, and no one could stop it.

Who can blame them when the curved plow is both convenient and useful?

Many carpenters who imitated the method of making curved plows made a fortune because there were many uncultivated wastelands and many farmers who did not have enough to eat.

They didn't blame heaven or earth for the low crop yield; they only blamed themselves for not being able to cultivate enough wasteland. If they had cultivated a few more acres, they could have enough to eat.

Jiang Ge was in Songyang County and was naturally unaware of this matter, but now that she knew, she wasn't angry.

"Those who copied you have all bought big houses with the money from the plough! Aren't you angry?" Wu Shifu asked in surprise.

Previously, Django was depressed and easily angered. For some unknown reason, she got into a fight with her stepmother, which made her so angry that she had to leave the house and cry.

The once gentle and upright young man became petty and calculating with the woman. Many people distanced themselves from Django because of this. Neighbors would sometimes speak up in a fair manner, but the fair manner naturally favored the stepmother. The more this happened, the more petty and easily angered Django became.

According to Wu Shifu's impression, if Jiang Ge encountered such a thing, he would definitely make a scene so that no one could have peace and quiet. How could he possibly let it go so easily?

Jiang Ge glanced at Wu Shifu. The original owner was truly pitiful. So many people believed in such a clumsy scheme. If the stepmother had left the original owner a way out, she wouldn't have scared a little girl to death.

He deliberately provoked the original owner of the body and even went to someone else's house to complain. How could anyone believe him?

She had a preliminary understanding of Wu Shifu; he was a fool.

“Angry? Why should I be angry? The curved plow benefits the country and the people. Everyone can use it. I’m happy about it.”

Wu Shifu circled Jiang Ge a few times, looked him up and down, and then said, "You really have impressed me."

The young man, dressed in an official robe with his hands behind his back, already exuded an air of authority despite his youthful appearance.

It makes people dare not easily offend it.

But Wu Shifu came to Songyang County with a purpose. If he couldn't take down the curved plow, then his trip would have been in vain.

To win over Qu Yuanli, it is essential to cultivate a closer relationship with Jiang Ge.

Wu Shifu's mind raced with thoughts, but he didn't show it on his face, still wearing a smiling face, like a mask.

"You've been in Songyang County for quite some time now, but you still don't know about your family situation, do you?"

What's going on at home?

If Wu Shifu hadn't mentioned it, Jiang Ge might have forgotten about the original owner's father. If it weren't for this father, the original owner wouldn't have died at such a young age. He said he donated an official position for the original owner, but in reality, he was forcing the original owner to a dead end. Thinking of this, a dark glint flashed in her eyes.

She lowered her voice and asked, "What is it?"

After going through all this trouble, seeing that Jiang Ge had finally taken the bait, a hint of smugness appeared in Wu Shifu's eyes. He knew that Jiang Ge's heartache was none other than her stepmother's younger brother.

"It's nothing much, it's just that Uncle Jiang has started taking your younger brother into the Jiang family's business." He looked at Jiang Ge with a hint of pity as he spoke.

After all, the Jiang family is a large and powerful family. Who wouldn't be envious of the fact that the Jiang family owns most of the fabric business in the city?

Originally, this huge family business was practically Jiang Ge's, but who could have imagined that things would change so suddenly? Wu Shifu felt pity for Jiang Ge, but also a few secret joys.

As a child, he particularly envied Django for having such a loving father who didn't take concubines or have children indiscriminately, and whose entire large family belonged to Django.

The Wu family's situation was different from the Jiang family's. His father took several concubines, including all sorts of dirty and smelly ones. Whenever he went on a long trip and returned, he would have a younger brother or sister. He had to fight for them since he was a child.

Django doesn't need that; whatever he wants, Uncle Jiang will give it to him.

Now look at him, Uncle Jiang is just like any other man, only he was more patient before.

"I have nothing to do with Jiang Yuanshan anymore, and the Jiang family has nothing to do with me either." Just as Jiang Yuanshan told the original owner, she had nothing to do with the Jiang family anymore. No matter how big the family business was, Jiang Yuanshan would not let Jiang Ge inherit it. His last act of kindness was to donate an official position to the original owner, but that pushed her to her death.

If the original owner of this body heard what Wu Shifu said, she would definitely feel jealous and sad, but all of this is based on the fact that the original owner still has feelings and expectations for her father, Jiang Yuanshan.

Jiang Ge had no expectations of Jiang Yuanshan. Even if she knew that he had given his entire family business to his youngest son, she wouldn't feel anything.

“How could it be unrelated? You are the eldest son!” Wu Shifu felt a sense of anger and frustration towards Jiang Ge, perhaps because he was thinking of his own situation and couldn’t help but empathize with him.

Jiang Ge glanced at Wu Shifu sideways, his tone full of impatience. After all this back and forth, they still hadn't gotten to the point.

"So what if he's the eldest son? He's not just my child. You haven't even told me what your Songyang County is all about yet."

What eldest son?

If they knew she wasn't a man at all, they'd probably change their tune.

In fact, she probably knew Wu Shifu's purpose in coming. Besides the curved plow, what else was there in this poor Songyang County that made her want to visit?

However, the previous buyers all approached Li Ping'an, but Li Ping'an couldn't make any decisions. Besides, the people of Songyang County all wanted to make money from this, so how could he possibly sell it at a fixed price?

Wu Shifu scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed: "The purpose of my trip here is to discuss cooperation with you, specifically regarding the curved plow."

If it weren't for the fact that the curved plow was priced so cheaply, Wu Shifu probably wouldn't have asked Jiang Ge. Besides discussing cooperation on the curved plow, a large part of his trip to Songyang County was to see Jiang Ge make a fool of himself.

He was so poor that he could only make a living by making farm tools. He also heard that Django was recently using human and animal excrement to make fertilizer. How pitiful.

Django picked up his cup and took a sip of tea: "How do we cooperate?"

If Wu Shifu had proposed a good cooperation plan, she wouldn't have turned down the money she had already received.

"I want to raise the price of the curved plow and sell it to the gentry and wealthy people all over the Great Zhou, so that they can clear more land with just a few people. You have no idea how much effort this curved plow can save the gentry and landlords in a day. I'm afraid two strong tenant farmers can't even do it."

Speaking of his idea, Wu Shifu was quite proud of himself. His solution was a win-win situation for both Jiang Ge and himself.

The price of a curved plow is only three hundred coins now. If others make imitations, it will be even cheaper, and some even cost two hundred and twenty coins. If you ask him, how can such a good thing be so cheap? Even ordinary people can afford it.

He claimed to be buying the method of making the curved plow, but in reality, he was buying out the entire production line. He would then take care of any other carpenters who imitated the curved plow when he had free time.

Wu Shifu had seen his father deal with those people who were unwilling to hand over the recipe by bribing officials with some money and throwing them into jail for a few days, which guaranteed that the family would obediently hand over the secret recipe.

“The price for selling it to local gentry and wealthy people should be different from what it is now. In my opinion, we should set it at three taels of silver. If we want to set it higher, we will inevitably have to carve some pictures on the plow to show that this thing is extraordinary.” Wu Shifu was quite proud when he talked about his plan.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely give you a good price. How about three hundred taels of silver?"

How many gentry and wealthy people were there in the three major provinces and nine prefectures of the Great Zhou Dynasty? They were countless. The market for the curved plow was like a gold mine.

Django understood, but she was unwilling to do so.

"We have different paths, so we cannot work together."

Wu Shifu narrowed his eyes slightly, carefully examining Jiang Ge. He had studied business since childhood and traveled all over the country, so he thought he had some ability to judge people, but now he couldn't see through the man in front of him.

The person in front of him was neither surprised nor afraid, and stared directly at Wu Shifu with eyes like a tiger emerging from the mountains, exuding an indescribable sharpness. She was nothing like the Jiang Ge from before. It was hard to tell whether she was deliberately hiding her abilities or if her personality had changed drastically.

Unaware of the situation, and with Jiang Ge now serving as the magistrate of Songyang County, even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. After considering the matter several times, Wu thought, "Since Magistrate Jiang is unwilling to cooperate, then I, Wu, will not force him."

He casually bowed and turned to leave.

Jiang Ge was unwilling to cooperate, but he wasn't without other options. The method of making the curved plow wasn't known only to her; if it weren't for giving her face...

As soon as the man left, Django lay back on the chair, completely disregarding his image.

It's true what they say, it's not the theft itself that's scary, but the thief's eye on it. Just one curved plow has caused unrest in Songyang County. If the world finds out about the fertilizer and the wheat seeds that can yield a thousand catties per mu, how will she protect this small Songyang County?

A note from the author:

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Strive hard, and work ten thousand times harder tomorrow!!