Chapter 55

However, even if the other party was a hunter, Gu Ran had no intention of going up to get to know him.

Now she was in the miasma forest, and she was alone. She didn't know whether the other party was a good person or a bad person. It would be troublesome if he had any ill intentions when he saw that she had also entered the mountain alone.

So Gu Ran walked lightly and hid behind a big tree nearby, intending to stop exploring forward and avoid this person.

After walking back for a while, Gu Ran was thinking about the figure behind the hemlock and noticed the smell of the bundle of mugwort he was burning. He suddenly felt something was wrong.

The figure was leaning against the tree trunk and half lying on the ground. She originally thought that he might have fallen to the ground because he was tired. However, even if he sat on the ground to rest, he shouldn't be unable to smell the scent of his burning mugwort, right?

This person actually smelled it but remained indifferent?

Hunters who dared to enter the miasma forest should generally be very sensitive to any abnormalities in the forest, but the person she met now was too quiet.

An idea popped up in Gu Ran's mind. She stopped, thought for a moment, turned around and walked back.

After arriving near the man he met, Gu Ran hid behind a tree and observed for a while. After making sure that the man was almost silent and he didn't see any movement at all, he slowly walked over.

When he walked to the hemlock tree and was about to stick his head out to look at the environment, Gu Ran took a deep breath before he mustered up the courage to look over.

My guess was right. This person had indeed been dead for a long time.

Looking at the multiple bites and bloody wounds on the corpse, she quickly recalled what had happened a few days ago.

When Shen Erlang got into trouble, it is said that he saw two people following him into the mountains. Shen Erlang originally thought that they were hunters from the village, but Village Chief Wu was sure that there were no hunters in Xiaxi Village. Therefore, the identities of these two people remain a mystery to this day.

The Shen family guards speculated that the two men were separated when they encountered a group of wild boars. One was killed by a wild boar and buried somewhere in the forest, while the whereabouts of the other was unknown.

It seems that the body he found might be another person whose whereabouts are unknown.

Judging from the wounds on his body, he probably encountered a group of wild boars and fled here, but he still couldn't escape the attack of the wild boars and died after being surrounded and attacked.

Gu Ran was silent for a moment, and once again felt fortunate that she had a workshop where she could hide at any time, so she could enter the Dayu Forest many times without any harm.

After confirming that it was this person who was following him, Gu Ran searched the corpse.

Only a purse, a medicine bag, and a small knife were found.

I don’t know if the other things were lost during the escape. Otherwise, if he wanted to follow her into the miasma forest with only a medicine bag and a small knife, it would be too inexperienced.

So, these people are not hunters?

Gu Ran didn't think too much about it. The people were already dead, and there was no point in thinking too much. If they were not legitimate hunters, but wanted to follow him into the mountains to do bad things, now that they had lost two lives, it would probably be enough to teach their families or accomplices a lesson.

She became more cautious after that incident and would make sure there was no one following her every time she went into the mountains.

Gu Ran found a place in the woods that was easy to dig, dug a hole with the hoe he carried with him, and buried the man.

After covering the area with the last handful of soil, Gu Ran lost interest in wandering around in the mountains. Seeing that it was getting late, he found a cave to spend the night while there was still daylight.

When he returned to the other side of the trap the next day, he saw that there was still no movement, so he ran towards the basswood forest in disappointment.

Two days later, the number of red mushrooms appearing in the basswood forest was less than in the previous times.

Gu Ran didn't mind. After picking this batch, there would be no more red mushrooms to pick this year, so he picked all the big and small mushrooms.

After returning, he sold roasted grass jelly in the county town for two days, and then Xu Sanlang brought his servants to Yongchang Wharf.

Since he was buying red mushrooms, he naturally had some knowledge of the growth period of this mushroom. Seeing that it had rained in the past two days, he had already guessed that the red mushrooms he wanted could be harvested for the second round.

Gu Ran did not keep any for himself. Except for keeping some small red mushrooms for himself, he sold all the other red mushrooms, regardless of size, to Xu Sanlang.

Xu Sanlang was not polite and accepted all of it, and then paid Gu Ran forty taels of silver.

Touching the four ten-liang silver ingots in his hand, Gu Ran couldn't stop smiling.

Even though he didn't have even a single red mushroom left, it wasn't bad to be able to exchange it for such a large sum of money.

Xu Sanlang was also very satisfied with the goods he had obtained. After finding out that Gu Ran's main business, in addition to making herbal jelly, was picking mountain products and processing leather himself, he also encouraged him to send any more tanned leather to Fusheng Trading Company in the city.

After Gu Ran asked about the price of the leather, he agreed on the surface. However, considering the distance to the provincial capital, the travel expenses, and the time and manpower consumed, he preferred to sell it directly to Hefeng, which was simpler and more convenient.

Of course, I wouldn't say this directly to Xu Sanlang.

Maybe in the future when I have accumulated enough furs, I can sell them to Fusheng on the way to the provincial capital. It’s not impossible.

After Xu Sanlang exchanged greetings with Gu Ran, he left with the red mushrooms in satisfaction. For many days, Gu Ran did not go to Hefeng. Then one day, Manager Zheng became anxious and came to the dock in person to ask Gu Ran if he had gone into the mountains to pick mushrooms again.

Gu Ran told the truth.

Knowing that Gu Ran had sold the red mushrooms directly to the young master of Fusheng Trading Company, Manager Zheng was speechless. After returning to Hefeng Trading Company, he slapped his own mouth.

If he is allowed to talk too much and cannot hide the truth, and Xu Sanlang is allowed to tell the real person who picked the red mushrooms, then wouldn't that allow the other party to come to his door and steal his good business?

Gu Ran naturally had no idea how upset Manager Zheng was. She did not go out to the stall that day, but went to Donglin Township with a silver ingot to give to Master Huang.

It is the season for early rice harvest, and the paddy fields throughout the village are all yellow.

Many families have already started harvesting rice and are preparing to plant late rice in time after the harvest.

When Gu Ran saw the villagers pushing harvesters to harvest rice ears in the fields and the large threshing machines pushed out of the barn, he was no longer surprised.

The agricultural tools of the Dasheng Dynasty seemed to be superior and easier to use than those of any dynasty she knew. It was said that after the Dasheng Dynasty regained its unification a hundred years ago, it ordered agricultural officials in government offices across the country to promote them.

Rice farmers in the south benefited greatly from this. After being passed down from generation to generation, local agricultural officials also improved the technology generation after generation based on actual conditions, making agricultural tools more in line with local farming needs and greatly reducing manpower and time.

Of course, in many cases, not every household can afford to purchase these agricultural tools, but at least every village has one or several sets. Depending on the size of the village and the number of households and rice fields, the government will subsidize and distribute such agricultural tools.

Although the population of Xiaxi Village was not rich, each family had a lot of rice fields. The government subsidized a set of farming tools for harvesting rice, and all the families in the village saved money and bought another set.

When I stay in the village these days, I always see villagers busy in the rice fields.

By taking turns using two sets of farm tools, it is estimated that the rice fields in the village can be harvested soon.

Gu Ran knew that after this round of early rice harvest, when the next round of late rice was harvested, she would have to pay taxes truthfully as a villager of Xiaxi Village.

Fortunately, she has now found a job and saved a lot of money. If she fails to grow enough grain from the fields to pay the tax required by the government, she can find a way to buy it with money and hand it over.

Master Huang and his family were also rushing to harvest the rice in the fields. Gu Ran had no intention of delaying them. After meeting them, he asked about the progress. He saw that Master Huang had already chosen to use hard wood to try to make the windmill blades. After examining them and confirming that they met his set size and requirements, he confidently paid ten taels of silver and returned to Xiaxi Village.

It happened that Village Chief Wu came to see her and said that the villagers who cultivated her paddy fields had harvested the rice and had already dried and husked it. Because Gu Ran had said in advance that she wanted to buy new rice from them when there was a good harvest, he came to ask how much she wanted to buy.

Gu Ranyi went to the county town to buy rice. A stone of ordinary old rice cost eighty coins, but the new rice he bought now was naturally more expensive than the old rice, and one stone cost one hundred coins.

According to her appetite, if she ate rice as her staple food in a year, she would probably eat about two stone. Gu Ran immediately bought four stone.

Not only that, she also planned to go to the county town to sell grass jelly these days and look around more to see if there are any newly harvested rice to sell. She also planned to buy a few more stones from a few farmers to prepare early for the late rice tax payment.

Anyway, the new rice you buy will remain in the new rice state if it is placed in space No. 8, and even the officials in the government will not be able to tell the difference.

After Gu Ran bought four stone of rice and Village Chief Wu sent someone to transport it back to her house, after the helpers left, Gu Ran immediately moved three stone of rice into space No. 8, poured out half of the other stone into the rice jar in the kitchen, and put the other half away.

It's rare to have new rice, so naturally you want to taste the flavor of fresh rice grains.

Gu Ran immediately decided to eat rice at night.

Rice made from new rice tastes the best, so just keep the side dishes as simple as possible.

Gu Ran then directly used the beef sauce to mix with the rice.

She usually makes beef sauce when she has time and puts it in the condiment area. In addition to beef sauce, there are other minced meat sauces, seafood sauces, scallop sauces, etc., which allow her to take them out and mix them with noodles, rice or vermicelli according to her favorite taste.

Beef sauce is made by buying fresh beef, cutting it into cubes, chopping bamboo fungus into it, adding broad bean paste and green sauce, stir-frying until cooked, and then adding sugar, salt and oyster sauce.

The beef sauce is divided into spicy and non-spicy ones.

In order not to detract from the fresh taste of the new rice, Gu Ran chose beef sauce without any chili.

After the rice is cooked, open the lid of the jar and you will smell the fragrance of rice. Even if it is just ordinary rice, each grain is distinct and crystal clear after being cooked.

Before pouring the beef sauce on it, Gu Ran took a few bites. It was indeed worthy of being new rice. It was smooth and chewy, and he could taste the sweetness of the rice without having to put in any effort. It was so delicious that it left a lingering aftertaste. No wonder people say that you can eat three big bowls of new rice without mixing it with any vegetables.

Gu Ran doesn’t have that big of an appetite, so maybe just two bowls!

It turned out that even vegetarian rice was delicious. I only scooped a spoonful of the beef sauce and put it back.

For the next period of time, Gu Ran used rice as his staple food, cooking it in its original flavor and making porridge. He also took some to the stone mill at the Donglin Township market, grinding it into rice cakes and rice flour, and used various methods to satisfy his gluttonous appetite.

It really took her eating standards to a whole new level.

Of course, they still set up the stall, and then bought the newly-released rice several times at the county dock and the market. Some of the rice was pounded and some was with the husk on. In the end, the section specially set aside for storing rice in space No. 8 was filled to the brim.

Gu Ran estimated that it was enough to pay one season's grain tax, so he gave up.

In August, when everyone in Xiaxi Village was busy planting the next season of rice, Gu Ran was also busy dividing the fairy grass in the field.

In just over a month, the randomly planted fairy grass covered half an acre of land, with an astonishing growth rate.

Gu Ran was delighted and immediately decided to use two acres of idle land to grow grass jelly. In the future, if he was too lazy to go into the woods and wanted to make burnt grass jelly, he could just walk out of his house and harvest it in the field.

Fairy grass is a wild grass that is easy to survive and does not require much fertilizer. It does require a lot of water. However, in Xiaxi Village, where typhoons pass through from time to time and bring abundant rainfall, high water demand is not a problem at all.

When picking, no roots are needed, only leaves and stems are needed. As long as the roots in the soil are not damaged, the fairy grass can be harvested many times like green onions and leeks. For Gu Ran, who likes to save trouble, it is a very friendly rural plant.

So what Gu Ran is doing now is to dig out the densely growing fairy grass and plant them one by one. As time goes by, more roots will grow and the whole field will be full of fairy grass.

For the people of Xiaxi Village, who rarely saw Gu Ran working in the fields, they saw Gu Ran busy in the fields for a few days. Although they could only see from a distance and could not see clearly what was planted in the fields, they all thought that Gu Er Niang had finally started to take care of her own crops, until Chen Erlang...

Well, Chen Erlang, after lying in the old doctor's house in Donglin Township for more than half a month, luckily saved his life and came back, but his family members warned him not to enter the forest without permission again.

After recovering, he witnessed with his own eyes the miasma wafting out of the Lantau forest in the entire Xiaxi village after the rain, and the villagers' experienced avoidance of the black fog. Shen Erlang had to believe that miasma really existed in the Lantau forest.

He then recalled that the reason why he fell ill and was on the verge of death was that he encountered miasma while traveling in the island forest. However, he was stupid and mistook the poisonous miasma for spiritual energy.

There is no doubt that there is miasma in Dayu Forest, but people are more impressed and curious about Gu Er Niang who was able to walk out of the miasma forest safely and even entered and exited the forest several times without any harm.

As everyone knows, the four acres of land allocated to Gu Er Niang is next to the Dayu Forest. Fearing the miasma, no one dares to approach that side casually. Gu Er Niang has been abandoning those acres of land, and the villagers have become accustomed to it.

But now, seeing Gu Erniang suddenly fiddling with the fields, everyone was suspicious, but no one asked any questions. Only Shen Erlang looked again and again, and finally couldn't help it. He left his almost completed house, walked past Gu's small house, and walked to the edge of the field in front of Dayu Lin.

"Mrs. Gu, you are planting..."

Shen Erlang did not ask any further questions, because he saw with his own eyes that Gu Erniang was clearly not planting rice, corn or other crops, but grass.

Grass?

Shen Erlang rubbed his eyes and looked again. Yes, it was grass.

Gu Er Niang was actually planting grass in a good field?

It’s more than one acre. Judging from the situation, it’s probably two acres?

What kind of grass is this?

Shen Erlang couldn't help but squat down and reached out to touch the leaves of the fairy grass, "Gu Erniang, what kind of grass are you growing?"

Gu Ran had noticed Shen Erlang as early as when he came over. Although she didn't want to attract the attention of the villagers, she knew that with such a large area of ​​grass planted in the field, sooner or later someone would come and ask about it, so she calmly replied: "Of course, the grass I planted is for eating!"

"eat?"

Eat grass?

Are these grasses edible?

Shen Erlang was even more confused.

"Yes, I like eating this kind of grass!"

"How do you eat it?"

"My ancestral secret method cannot be passed on to others."

Shen Erlang laughed twice, stood up, and watched Gu Ran continue to plant some grass in the field. Feeling bored, he turned and walked away muttering to himself.

It is true that Gu Er Niang has some abilities, and it is probably also true that she has some problems with her brain.

Otherwise, knowing that this house is so close to the miasma forest and that it is most dangerous when the miasma comes, why would you still spend money to buy that house?

At this moment, Chen Erlang completely forgot the indignation he felt when he first came to Xiaxi Village and learned that such a nice little house was sold to a mere single woman. Instead, he began to dislike the little house.

The Shen family's house has been basically completed and is almost the largest one in Xiaxi Village.

Within two days, all the villagers in Xiaxi Village were invited to have a warm-house meal, and Gu Ran was also invited.

Adhering to the friendly relationship between neighbors, Gu Ran happily accepted the invitation.

This time, the Shen family's banquet probably invited all ten households in Xiaxi Village, no, all eleven households. It was also at this banquet that Gu Ran got to know all the households in Xiaxi Village.

Of course, the focus during the meal was on the Shen family.

Mr. Shen moved to Xiaxi Village with his family. It is said that he originally just wanted to find a quiet village to live in seclusion, but he chose a small village with miasma without finding out the enemy situation clearly.

But now that things have come to this, after experiencing several miasma refuges, Mr. Shen has accepted it and is in a good mood.

At the banquet that day, he and Mrs. Shen received the villagers together, and they were in high spirits.

In addition to Shen Dalang and Shen Erlang, the Shen family also has Shen Dalang's wife, who is said to be four months pregnant. So after arriving in Xiaxi Village and staying at the home of Village Chief Wu, Mrs. Shen was busy taking care of her daughter-in-law and rarely showed up.

Gu Er Niang and Shen Jiajun were both new arrivals, but because they were alone, the table they were assigned to happened to be the same table as Xiao Lan and Liu Er Sao.

Naturally, she had no objection. After exchanging some polite words, she focused on eating.

It was obvious that the Shen family was quite wealthy. In addition to the unlimited supply of rice cooked with new rice, the banquet also had eight dishes, one soup and one dessert, which were said to have been made by the chef brought along by Mr. Shen.

Looking at the well-known local specialties such as squirrel mandarin fish, lion's head, and braised pork, Gu Ran guessed that the Shen family was originally from the Suzhou and Hangzhou area.

Gu Ran tasted it and found it delicious. He couldn't help but envy the Shen family who could commandeer a cook.

I wonder if there is a chance to ask the chef of the Shen family to make a few more dishes for me, and then save them for later consumption?

While drinking and chatting, someone asked about Gu Er Niang's entry into the miasma forest.

"Gu Erniang, you're the only one in our village who dares to go into this miasma forest!"

"That's right. It seems that everyone who went in had an accident. Even Shen Erlang almost got killed... How come you were the only one who could go in and come out again?"

"Do you have a secret method to deal with the miasma in the forest? Can you tell us?"

Some people are also curious about the miasma forest.

"Sister Gu, what does it look like in there?"

"Is there dark fog everywhere?"

"Second Brother Shen said that the wild boars in there are very vicious and can bite people to death if they encounter them. Is that true?"

"You've never been to the miasma forest?" Gu Ran asked while eating.

Everyone shook their heads.

"There was indeed miasma coming out of that forest. There were not only wild boars in the forest, but also wolves, black bears and other large beasts. It was very dangerous." Gu Ran said truthfully, "But, I had no choice but to go into the forest."

"Why is it so necessary?"

"Well, I just came to Xiaxi Village after divorcing my ex-husband. Apart from buying that house, I'm penniless. Luckily, when I was at home, I also learned some hunting skills from my father, so I went into the woods to find some mountain products and buy some money. Isn't it for living!" Gu Ran said seriously, "But I don't dare to go too deep into the woods. I just walk around outside. Valuable things are not everywhere. Sometimes I can wander around for several days and still not find anything worth selling."

"Well, you are quite capable, you survived."

"That's because I'm lucky. I also know not to go to dangerous places. Otherwise, I would become the second Shen Erlang at any time!"

Everyone looked at Shen Erlang with a smile. Some believed it, some didn't, but they all knew that they couldn't hear the truth from Gu Erniang, so they didn't ask any more questions and started chatting with Master Shen instead.

Gu Ran was concentrating on eating the lion's head meat in his bowl when Xiaolan came over and asked, "Auntie Gu, are there any delicious mice in the forest?"

"It's not a mouse, it's a bamboo rat." Gu Ran corrected.

"Bamboo-bamboo rat, is it also difficult to catch?"

“It’s generally difficult!”

Gu Ran would never tell her that there were many bamboo rat nests in the bamboo forest. Otherwise, if she heard her say that there were many bamboo rats and they were easy to catch, and if she was tempted and went into the forest to catch bamboo rats and something went wrong, the blame would be on him.

"Well, when Aunt Gu catches it, can you sell it to me?"

"Sell?" Gu Ran was stunned. "Xiao Lan, do you have money to buy it?"

Xiaolan shook her head, then nodded, "I don't have it, but my mother does. I'll ask her to pay for it when the time comes."

Gu Ran smiled and nodded, "Okay."

"Ever since she ate bamboo rat meat last time, my sister-in-law has been thinking about it." Sister-in-law Lin laughed and laughed at the side. "She keeps telling mother-in-law that she wants to follow you to the woods to catch bamboo rats!"

"Don't just go into the woods. If you're not careful, you might run into a snake or a wild boar, which would be really dangerous." Gu Ran shook his head at Xiao Lan. "You'd be trapped in the woods then. Not only would you not be able to catch bamboo rats, you wouldn't even be able to get back to the village. Are you afraid?"

"Afraid!" Xiaolan nodded obediently.

"Be good, don't go if you're afraid. I promise to sell you bamboo rats when I have them later."

"Second Mother, is your father a hunter?" asked Second Sister-in-law Lin curiously.

"My father..."

Before Gu Ran could come up with an excuse, the eldest son of the Shen family came over to their table and said, "Second Madam Gu, there seem to be officials outside. Are they here to see you?"

"Officials? Looking for me?"

Gu Ran was stunned. After settling in Xiaxi Village, she hadn't dealt with officials for a long time. Why would an official come to see her?

"Are you the second lady Gu from the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion in the capital?" Shen Dalang was also puzzled.

There is not a trace of nobility about Gu Er Niang. How could the officials think that she is the daughter of a marquis?

When the other villagers heard the words "capital" and "marquis' mansion", the originally noisy banquet suddenly became quiet, and even Village Chief Wu was quite surprised.

Gu Ran was embarrassed!

"Don't disturb your feast, I'll be back soon."

Official?

It doesn't seem like the officials from the county town come to inspect her every month, otherwise Village Chief Wu would not be unaware of it.

So where did the official come from and expose the original owner's past?

When Gu Ran walked out of the yard where the Shen family had set up the banquet, he felt puzzled.

"Are you Gu Erniang?"

"It's me."

"It's really hard for me to find it in this corner!"

The official in black robes appeared before Gu Ran. He looked dusty and exhausted. He asked directly with a haughty attitude, "Do you remember Mrs. Dou from Lianzhou Qingyi?"

Mrs. Dou!

This was the first local she met since she came to Dasheng Dynasty. How could she not remember him?

However, when the official mentioned Mrs. Dou, Gu Ran immediately realized why he came to Xiaxi Village to find him.

Are you here to collect debts for Mrs. Dou?

"Just remember. As for me, I was escorting the prisoner here. When I passed by the post station, Mrs. Dou asked me to do something for her. For this matter, I traveled thousands of miles to find this poor and desolate village. I don't care what happened between you and Mrs. Dou. As long as you give me what I want, I won't bother you. But if you don't..."

While threatening, the officer took out a deed, unfolded it, and handed it to Gu Ran.

really!

Gu Ran looked at the IOU in his hand that he had written to Mrs. Dou a few months ago. The debtor and the official seal were clearly visible, which showed that Mrs. Dou had kept the IOU very well. As for his own, it seemed that he had thrown it into the brazier and burned it along with his prison uniform on the first day he arrived in Xiaxi Village.

At that time, I thought I had written a bad check, but I didn't expect that debt collectors would be sent from far away to come to Xiaxi Village to collect debts.

Yes, it has been more than half a year since she left Qingyi. Mrs. Dou hasn't seen anyone from the Ningyuan Marquis' Mansion come to deliver rewards for such a long time. She must be getting impatient.

This old lady Dou is really powerful as she can send the officials away. I don’t know how many benefits she gave them!

"What? Don't you recognize what this is?" the officer asked impatiently, pointing at the IOU with his finger.

"Sir, I recognize you, I recognize you."

Gu Ran felt many gazes scanning his head from behind.

These were the looks of the villagers who came to the Shen family for the banquet.

She forced a smile and left the Shen family's new house with the official. "Well, I was just thinking about when to ask someone to send it to Mrs. Dou, but I didn't expect you to come."

"Oh, so you have money to pay off your debts?"

"Yes, even if I have to borrow it, I have to borrow the silver first and pay the money the official wants in advance. I can't let the official make a trip in vain, right?" Gu Ran said, and invited the debt collector to the other end of the cottage, and entertained the debt collector on the small square outside.

This is also one of the inconveniences of being a single girl living alone.

Although the people of the Dasheng Dynasty were open-minded and not bound by old customs, and women and men could get along and meet each other openly, some propriety still had to be maintained in one's own home.

So she made full use of the small square in front of the yard: she placed a stone table and stone benches under the osmanthus tree, just to entertain outsiders like officials who were not suitable to be welcomed into the small house.

It was August, the season when the golden osmanthus was fragrant, and the golden petals on the tree were in full bloom. She was also planning when to pick the osmanthus flowers, make some osmanthus cakes and osmanthus jam, and dry the osmanthus flowers!

"Is this where you live? It looks pretty good!"

The officer stood outside the yard, took a look, and said this sourly.

"No, no, sir, you don't know. This house was sold to me by our village chief at a very cheap price. Do you know why?"

Gu Ran explained with a wry smile as he asked the officers to sit under the osmanthus tree and wait for a while.

The officer glanced at the cottage again and shook his head.

"Since you came from the county, you probably know that Xiaxi Village is not a good place, right? If you don't know, you can ask around when you pass by the county on your way back."

Gu Ran introduced the miasma forest in Xiaxi Village and pointed to the large island forest in front of the house. Seeing that there were indeed no other villagers' residences in front of the house, the official's envy disappeared and his expression turned uneasy. "This miasma is so strong? Then I'll be fine if I sit here?"

"It's okay, it'll just be a while, nothing will happen."

"Why don't you return the silver to me as soon as possible?" The officer could no longer sit still and started shouting.

"Of course, sir, please enjoy your tea first. I'll go borrow it right away."

After making a pot of tea for the official, Gu Ran closed the door and pretended to go to another house in the village to borrow money. After explaining to the official, he hurriedly left the house.

In fact, Gu Ran stored all his valuables in the workshop, and carried all the fifty taels of silver and his family assets with him.

If possible, Gu Ran naturally didn't want to give away the twenty taels for nothing, but the IOU had the official seal of Qingyi, and she couldn't deny it. Besides, even the officials were persuaded to come to her to ask for the twenty taels. If she didn't give it this time, who knows who Mrs. Dou would call to cause trouble next time.

Things that can be solved with money are not a big deal.

The official had a bad look and a bad attitude, so she acted cautiously. She couldn't let the official think that she was wealthy and could easily take out twenty taels of silver, so she pretended to be short of silver and had to scrape together money from the villagers. It was with great difficulty that she borrowed twenty taels and finally paid off Mrs. Dou's debt, so that the official wouldn't think of any other intentions.

In short, single ladies, you have to be careful about everything and it’s always better to be more cautious.

After strolling around the village slowly, I returned to the cottage and saw the official still sitting under the osmanthus tree enjoying the food, obviously he was very comfortable.

Gu Ran walked forward with a smile, wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead, handed a purse to the officer, and then stepped back.

The officer saw the purse and was about to take it with a smile, but when he saw Gu Ran take it back, his face darkened: "Gu Er Niang, what do you mean by this?"

"Sir, this is the silver I borrowed with great difficulty. It's not a small amount. You came to me with Mrs. Dou's IOU to repay me. If I repay it, I need a proof, right?"

"What credentials do you want?"

"Look, I've called the village chief to come over and act as a witness. On this IOU, please state who you are, where you came from, and how you helped Mrs. Dou collect the twenty taels owed. Sign your name with your fingerprint to prove the money is yours. Then give me the IOU," Gu Ran explained. "Otherwise, if the next official comes to collect on Mrs. Dou's behalf, what should I do then?"

The officer laughed dryly, "It's not that I can't, but I can't read or write. What should I do?"

"Never mind, I can write."

"Can you write?"

"Yes, the words on this IOU were written by me." Gu Ran nodded.

The officer was speechless for a moment, paused, and nodded: "Okay, you write it, and I'll sign it with my fingerprint."

Gu Ran immediately took out a pen and ink and quickly wrote a statement on the blank space of the IOU that the official returned to him, stating that the debt had been paid off. He also wrote down the name and household registration of the debt collector. Only then did Gu Ran realize that the official was the bailout officer of Jinzhou Prefecture.

When the police had finished writing and were about to take fingerprints, Village Chief Wu also arrived.

Well, when pretending to borrow money, Gu Ran actually went to the nearest Shen family, invited Village Chief Wu out, told her the whole story, and asked her to notarize it.

It was only at this time that Village Chief Wu learned that Gu Ran still owed a huge amount of silver. Thinking about the fact that Gu Ran had to go into the miasma forest to look for mountain products, he looked at Gu Ran with much more pity, and then agreed to help Gu Ran be a witness.

Gu Ran breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Village Chief Wu write the word "true" on the IOU and sign it as Xiaxi Village Chief Wu Xiuhong.

After sending the official away and folding the IOU neatly into a square and putting it away, Village Chief Wu asked, "Are you the wife of a marquis from the capital?"

"It's fake. I'm a fake girl adopted by someone in the Marquis's Mansion by mistake. Otherwise, why would I be exiled to this place?" Gu Ran waved his hands and denied it flatly.

"You seem to take it lightly." Village Chief Wu sighed softly.

"If you don't take it easy, how can you live?" Gu Ran glanced at Village Chief Wu and asked.

"Since you have paid off your debt, you can at least not go into the forest, right?" Village Chief Wu was still worried about Gu Ran's repeated behavior of going into the mountains.

"It's hard to say." Gu Ran shook his head.

This island forest is a very dangerous place for others, but not for her!

She also plans to continue to live off the land!

"By the way, village chief, I have to build a...tower outside the house later?" Gu Ran looked for words that could describe the house that would be built to house the windmill in the future, and finally chose the word "tower".

"Tower? Why are you building a tower for no reason?" Village chief Wu was speechless.

Didn't she just pay off her debt? What is this Gu Er Niang planning to do by packing up again?

"Well, I have an idea. The tower was built to dispel the miasma that spreads from the island forest to the village."

"Can it dispel the miasma?" Village Chief Wu was stunned for a moment, then surprised, "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm not kidding." Gu Ran said, "But I don't know if it will work. After I try it out, you can build a few more in the village, Village Chief Wu."

"Is that what you asked Master Huang to make recently?"

Whenever there was anything in the village that needed to be repaired or made, people would go to Donglin Township to find Master Huang. Besides, before Gu Er Niang went to find Master Huang, she also asked Village Chief Wu about Master Huang, so she vaguely knew that Gu Er Niang had entrusted Master Huang with a big project.

Gu Ran nodded.

"Village Chief, is there a height limit for houses in this village?"

As far as she knew, in the provincial capital and the capital, if one wanted to build a building higher than three stories, they had to go to the government for approval and only after obtaining permission could construction begin. Otherwise, high-rise buildings and towers were not allowed to be built. She didn't know if this rule applied in Xiaxi Village.

“How high do you plan to build it?”

"About, sixty feet high?" That's only about twenty meters!

"Sixty feet!" Village Chief Wu gasped. "Does it have to be that high?"

"Of course. When the miasma overflows the forest, it's almost ten meters high, right? If I don't build higher, I won't be able to dispel the miasma!"

And it also needs to be high enough to take advantage of the wind blowing from the river.

"Does anyone live in such a tall tower?"

"I just want to stay here. It's just one thing." Gu Ran looked at Village Chief Wu pleadingly, "Village Chief, can you do this?"

"If it can really dispel the miasma, then of course it can."

Therefore, Gu Ran felt relieved now that the matter of building the windmill had been approved by the village chief.

As August arrives, Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching.

Although in the capital, people probably have to wear autumn clothes at this time of year, but in Xiaxi Village and the county town, people still wear thin summer clothes, and very few wear thick autumn clothes.

But the weather did not get colder, and the festive atmosphere was very hot.

Gu Ran still went out to sell grass jelly as usual. After closing the stall, he also started buying things for the festival: lanterns, moon cakes, carp cakes, etc.

Oh, and crabs too.

The autumn wind blows and the crab roe smells fragrant.

Living in Fujian, a land with many rivers and seas, how can we celebrate the festival without crabs?

Gu Ran did not forget to add a lot of fresh river crabs and sea crabs to his space No. 8, preparing to have a delicious meal when the time comes.

I heard that there is a lantern exhibition in the county town every Mid-Autumn Festival. Unfortunately, Xiaxi Village where she lives is too far away, so if she wants to enjoy the lanterns, she has to stay in an inn in the city.

Festivals are always the time when the city is most crowded, the most chaotic, and the government is the worst, so Gu Ran decided not to join in the fun and stay in his lovely little house to eat and drink and spend the Mid-Autumn Festival safely.

A few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Gu Ran stopped going to the county town to set up a stall and focused on making festive food and cakes at home. He also picked all the osmanthus flowers from the osmanthus tree outside the yard.

Fresh food is stored in space No. 8. After the dried food is cleaned, it is hung on a bamboo dustpan and placed in the corner of the patio to dry in the shade.

While turning over the osmanthus flowers on the bamboo winnowing basket, Gu Ran heard a meow coming from outside the yard.

Is that the orange cat?

It seems like it has been a long time since I last saw her come to visit. I don’t know where she went crazy!

But usually I jump down directly from the eaves, so why did I hear the meow outside the door this time?

Gu Ran stood up, walked to the gate of the yard, pushed it open, and saw a dirty cat with unrecognizable fur lying under the osmanthus tree. If the cat had not meowed several times after seeing her, she would not have dared to recognize that this was the cat she had known before.

"Meow?" Gu Ran imitated the cat's meow, walked to the front of the orange cat and squatted. He soon found that the orange cat was meowing sadly while stretching out its long hind legs to lick. He saw the bloody wound on the hind legs at a glance.

Where did this cat fight, lose, and get injured?