Chapter 73 The Little East Gate is Repaired

After a hearty meal, the craftsmen helped each other out of the restaurant.

"Wait a minute, you guys."

Su Jingge watched as everyone left one by one.

Seeing that someone was drunk and unconscious, she called Ying Xiaohu and Feijian to take the person back.

Just as Fei Jian was about to set off, he saw Lu Er, who was always dressed neatly, standing in front of Su Jingge with a ruler in his hand.

That pretty boy has a better job than him.

He bumped into Lu Er's shoulder as he left.

Lu Er looked at the person and cursed inwardly, "How annoying!"

Su Jingge draped her shoulder over Lu Er's: "What's wrong? Got bullied again?"

Lu Er greeted her, looking at those slender hands, her ear tips turning red, her eyelashes drooping slightly: "Sister Su, no, Brother Feijian was just joking with me."

Su Jingge smiled and said, "We're all partners, it's really good that you don't hold it against me. I'll talk to him about it later."

Xu Yuan and Su Jingge stood at the door.

Xu Yuan bowed with his hands clasped: "Thank you for your kind hospitality today, Assistant Manager Su."

"You're too kind, Mr. X. It's only right that the brothers work so hard."

Xu Yuan then said, "Then let's meet at the East Gate at Chenshi the day after tomorrow."

"Okay, see you the day after tomorrow."

She waved to the person.

-

At Chen Shi (7-9 AM), before dawn, the lights in the restaurant came on.

She stepped down, and Fei Jian followed suit. The man yawned and greeted her, "Good morning, Manager Su."

Su Jingge nodded: "Are the firecrackers ready? And what about Qingyue?"

Qingyue invited the master of ceremonies.

"Then let's go."

Xiaodongmen.

As instructed by the master of ceremonies, an incense table had been set up in the center of the open space at Xiaodongmen, with offerings of three kinds of sacrificial animals, fresh fruit, and wine cups on it. In front of the table stood a wooden plaque inscribed with the name of the Earth God.

The person in charge first washed his hands, lit three incense sticks and inserted them into the incense burner, then led everyone to bow three times to the wooden plaque.

Su Jingge was in the first row, and she recited along: "Now that we are about to start the canal construction, we pray to the Earth God for protection, that he will not disturb the spirits of the underworld, and we also wish for a smooth project, favorable weather, and abundant harvests in the future."

After the prayers were completed, two strong men carried a string of red firecrackers around the ground of the Xiaodongmen gate, which was under repair.

Su Jingge shouted: "Light it!"

Firecrackers crackled and popped.

Smoke billowed into the air, and lights came on in every house.

The children covered their ears and cheered.

The adults opened the windows and watched the exploding paper scraps, hoping the sound would ward off evil spirits and bring good luck for the upcoming project.

Su Jingge shouted a second time, "Start construction!"

The craftsmen began to pick up their tools and dig away the broken ground, revealing dark brown, damp soil.

-

On the other side, Zhao Zhou was startled awake and sat up abruptly, his forehead covered in sweat. He had dreamt that he had lost his official position.

It was all ruined by that Su Jingge.

He was stabbed to death by a sword, but he couldn't see who was holding the sword.

He touched his body; there was no blood. After calming down for a while, he realized it was a dream.

He called for help.

Fan Tong, holding a lamp, asked, "Sir, did you call me?"

Fan Tong yawned.

Zhao Zhou was restless, feeling like he had just heard firecrackers.

He asked, "Fan Tong, go check on the East Gate quickly!"

A moment later, Fan Tong returned, his face pale: "My lord, something terrible has happened! Construction has begun on the tiny East Gate!"

Zhao Zhou narrowed his eyes. He knew that being restless meant trouble.

Fan Tong said urgently, "My lord, I will send someone to stop them immediately."

"return!"

Zhao Zhou's face darkened: "Do you think you can stop this just by taking the lead?"

Setting off firecrackers is a ritual, and with the blessing of the ritual, people have even more faith in it.

Besides, what reason do you have for stopping me?

Fan Tong scratched his head: "My lord, we can't just let that little bitch run away with your den of wolves, can we?"

Zhao Zhou didn't even want to look at him.

"Did the princess agree?" Zhao Zhou frowned, pondering the matter.

That shouldn't be the case.

“Princess? No, I haven’t heard of the princess being involved in this matter. It was Xiao Yinhe who joined in, and he was the one who found the master of ceremonies,” Fan Tong said.

Oh! He suddenly remembered.

That must have been Xiao Yinhe's doing.

Fan Tong thought of this too, and he spat, "Why is Xiao Yinhe getting involved for no reason?"

"These two together are only to our disadvantage."

"What are we going to do in the future?" Fan Tong said, then shook his head. "No, sir, those two are just holding nominal positions. What use would they be even if they were put together?"

Zhao Zhou shook his head: "No, even if it's a nominal position, it's still higher than our official positions. As the saying goes, 'A higher-ranking official can crush you.' Even if it's a nominal position, it has a lot of prestige."

Fan Tong agreed with Zhao Zhou, saying, "Didn't you see how they cooperated last time? Your face looked worse than if you'd swallowed a fly."

"No, no, I mean, the adult looked even worse than if he had eaten shit."

That doesn't seem right either.

Fan Tong swallowed hard, looking at Zhao Zhou with a murderous glare.

He swallowed hard and said in a low voice, "Sir, why don't you just do something desperate? You're so short-sighted. So what if you embezzle a little bit of silver? So what if you're a beast in human clothing?"

Zhao Zhou's face grew increasingly dark: "Are you fucking doing this on purpose?"

Fan Tong waved his hand: "How could I do it on purpose, sir? With your thick skin and your fate, how could you possibly lose to those two?"

Zhao Zhou's lips twitched; he was almost so angry he could faint.

He took a sip of tea and calmed himself down: "I'll let it slide for now."

Fan Tong smiled and said, "Thank you, sir. So, sir, what shall we do next?"

"Don't worry, let's wait for the new governor. The new governor will definitely see the situation clearly. He will definitely not let the two of them continue like this. They will not be able to turn the tide."

"Right now, the land repair is all talk and no action. Besides, land repair requires tools, and making tools requires ore."

Fan Tong gave a thumbs up: "You're really wise, sir. But what if they want to mine?"

Zhao Zhou smiled sinisterly: "They're mining, and the governor has taken office. Even if I can't control them, can the governor just watch them smuggle money?"

Zhao Zhou picked up his tea, rinsed his mouth, and spat out, "Let them do what they want. I want to see just how capable they are."

-

In the blink of an eye, the ground at Xiaodongmen has been repaired.

Su Jingge looked at the smooth, clean ground, and felt that walking on it made a clicking sound, which was like music and a pleasure to listen to.

The people watched as Su Jingge successfully completed the repairs after seven days.

Overjoyed, some people asked:

"Can I step on it now?"

They couldn't even believe that just seven days ago this was a muddy field.

How did things get better in the blink of an eye?

I thought I was dreaming.

Su Jingge smiled and said, "Of course you can step on it."

Only then did the crowd, half-believing and half-doubting, step onto it.

The county suddenly became lively.

Some children, barefoot, stepped onto the smooth road surface and exclaimed, "It doesn't hurt our feet anymore!"

The woman walked over carrying a bamboo basket, looking down at the soles of her shoes, which were spotless and free of mud.

Smiling, he sighed to the person next to him, "Before, the road was full of mud puddles after it rained, but now the road is so clear and bright!"