Chapter 68 Chapter 68 Token

The rapeseed field was not far from their home, but Miao Ying was worried that Fu Lingzhi was at home at the moment, and if they went there, they would run into him.

If Fu Lingyou really ran into him, Miao Ying would have no choice. It was just their destiny. Who knew that Young Master Fu would have the leisure to come to their mountain to see a rapeseed field.

Just when Miao Ying was worried, a figure walked out of his house. He could see from a distance that it was Fu Lingzhi. When they walked into the house, Fu Lingzhi's figure had already disappeared on the ridge of the field.

Fu Lingyou didn’t notice, Miao Ying thought.

After all, his family was poor and the food was not good. Fu Lingzhi had been feeling depressed these days and had lost a lot of weight. Even when he wore Miao Ying's clothes, he looked shabby and no longer looked like he used to.

When they arrived at Miao Ying's house, Mei Sanlang was a casual person. As soon as he entered the door, he said he wanted to write a poem. Li Hongying was a little dizzy, and finally she laid out the things that Huo Xiaobao usually used for writing.

Mei Saburo's words were a bit rough, but he still sat upright and began to create, with his followers standing beside him.

Fu Lingyou, who wanted to drink water, did not move, but just looked around the small courtyard.

Miao Ying knew why he didn't drink water, because their family didn't have a decent teacup, nor did they have hot tea at all times. What they gave Fu Lingyou was a large bowl filled with well water they fetched from the well.

Fu Lingyou looked at the yard in front of him and felt uneasy.

After Mei Sanlang finished writing his poem, Fu Lingyou could no longer sit still and stood up to leave. He came here only because this man was strange. After investigating, he did not find anything unusual. He was just an ordinary countryman, so there was no need to take it to heart.

Miao Ying thought about it again and again, and before he left, he stood beside him and said, "Could you please leave a token for me, Master Fu? I have a business matter that I would like to discuss with you someday."

Fu Lingyou had not really looked at the guy in front of him at first, after all, it was impolite. But the fact that he asked for a token of trust in front of him and wanted to do business with him proved that this person was not an ordinary person, which was very strange.

Fu Lingyou thought about it and realized that he had left in a hurry today and did not have any token with him, so he used the paper and pen on the table to write the document and stamped it with his private seal. He also took a token representing his identity from his servant and gave it to Miao Ying.

Miao Ying breathed a sigh of relief and took the paper and the token: "Thank you, Master Fu."

After finishing the poem, Mei Sanlang was inspired and began to recite it in the yard. Miao Ying felt that it was not well written. After all, he had learned the poems of the immortal poets and the sage poets. His grandmother and Li Hongying did not understand it, but they still applauded enthusiastically.

Mei Sanlang had a great time today. He wrote three poems, looked at the flowers again, and was ready to go home in high spirits. Before leaving, he remembered something, took out a silver ingot from his purse, and put all the snacks in his followers' hands on the table.

Li Hongying quickly said that it was not possible, but Mei Sanlang was unhappy: "Do you think my inspiration is not worth this much money?"

"Uh..." Li Hongying was left speechless by what he said. When she came to her senses, several people had already left.

Miao Ying looked at the silver and snacks on the table and scratched his head. Did he meet the boy who gave away money?

However, they did not take the money for granted after all. Miao Ying remembered something and left two pieces of the cakes for Xiao Mu and Huo Xiaobao, and packed the rest and sent them to Fu Lingzhi.

Fu Lingzhi looked at the familiar snacks and looked at Miao Ying with some confusion.

Miao Ying told him what happened today, and saw Fu Lingzhi's face change. He wanted to find a place to hide. Miao Ying quickly grabbed him and said that the person had already left.

Fu Lingzhi finally breathed a sigh of relief, but Miao Ying could see that he was actually a little disappointed.

"I was thinking about how beautiful those flowers are, and I wondered if there was any way to make some money from them." Fu Lingzhi's smile was a bit forced. "Didn't you say you were short of money? It's really great now."

"I'll give you some," Miao Ying said. "You can take a break. Stop embroidering every day. Your eyes will get damaged."

"I'm not in a hurry to use the money now." Fu Lingzhi said, "You can use it. This is what they gave you."

Miao Ying didn't hesitate: "Then I'll use it first."

Fu Lingzhi smiled: "Okay, I'll go to your house for dinner then."

Miao Ying took the money and prepared to go to the blacksmith's shop to see if the blacksmith could make the cake he wanted, but he didn't know how much it would cost.

There was no blacksmith in their village, or even nearby, so they had to go to the county town to find one. Fu Lingzhi said he knew where there was a blacksmith and asked them to go with him.

Wotou was with them as well. The two dogs were grown up now and could no longer be controlled. Mantou liked to go up the mountain and would go up the mountain by himself when no one was with him. Wotou was more friendly and would take Huo Xiaobao and Xiaomutou to school every morning. He would only come back after seeing them go in and would stay at home afterwards.

The road to the county town was not short, and the two of them didn't feel tired as they talked and laughed together. Fu Lingzhi also brought some dry food with him. It was the cakes he had made himself in the morning. Although they were a bit hard, they were still eatable. The two of them shared some and were satisfied with their stomachs.

Because the blacksmith shop was too noisy, it was not located in the county town, but in a secluded courtyard. Outside the courtyard was a flag with the words "Hong's Blacksmith Shop" written on it.

When they walked outside the yard, they heard the sound of blacksmithing coming from inside. They stood outside for a long time before Miao Ying pushed open the yard door.

Because of the blacksmithing, this yard was much warmer than outside. There was only one blacksmith working inside. On this early spring day, the blacksmith was shirtless and his hands were moving non-stop.

"What's the matter?" Blacksmith Hong also saw them, stopped his work and looked at them.

"I wonder if this thing can be made?" Miao Yingshi brought the blueprint he drew and unfolded it for blacksmith Hong to see.

Blacksmith Hong looked at the drawing on the paper and recognized it at a glance: "Something for pressing oil?"

Miao Ying opened his eyes wide: "You know this?"

Blacksmith Hong, who is about thirty years old, has a gruff voice and is a rather stocky fellow. "I've never done it myself, but I watched my master do it when I was an apprentice, so I have some impression of it."

When blacksmith Hong was young, he went to school with his family and eventually became a disciple of a blacksmith shop called Li's. His grandfather had his own unique craftsmanship, and his master was even more extraordinary. He was obviously a boy and there were officials in his family, but he just liked blacksmithing and his skills were superb.

That would be great! Miao Ying thought, if someone knew this, he wouldn't have to clink half a can of water to command others.

"Can that be done?" Miao Ying asked.

"Of course you can," said Hong the blacksmith, "but before you can do that, you have to go to the government office and get the paperwork."

After all, ironware can be made into weapons, and the imperial court has strict control over it. Anyone who exceeds the quantity must go to the government office for approval.

Miao Ying scratched his head: "Ah? There's such a saying?"

Fu Lingzhi nodded on the side: "Yes, it is necessary. This is easy to get. You just need to specify the dosage and what it is used for."

Blacksmith Hong asked him how many he wanted to make so that he could estimate the amount of iron needed and told them to go directly to the government office to discuss it.

Miao Ying was not well off, so he asked about the price. Hong the blacksmith had never done this before. The current price of iron was one tael of silver. Including the labor cost, it would cost at least one tael of silver to make a cake.

Miao Ying felt a pang of pain, but there was nothing he could do. These were all necessary. Miao Ying thought about it and said, "I'll make five or six."

I can only do this much for now, and do more when I make money.

Blacksmith Hong converted some of the iron needed and wrote down the amount of iron they needed. He would start working after they brought back the documents.

Miao Ying thought it was better to do it today than to wait for another day, so he decided to get the paperwork done since it was still early.

However, it was not convenient for Fu Lingzhi to go to the county town, but it didn't seem like a good idea to leave him with the blacksmith, so he was a little hesitant for a while.

Fu Lingzhi seemed to understand his concerns: "It's okay." He comforted Miao Ying, "I've come to terms with it now, and I'm living my own life now."

After he said that, Miao Ying no longer felt any burden, but when he reached the city gate, Fu Lingzhi still wrapped his head with a headscarf.

When interrogated at the city gate, Fu Lingzhi said that he had a sore on his face and was afraid of scaring people. The officer seemed frightened and quickly let them into the city.

Miao Ying had never dealt with government officials before, so when he saw the drum in front of the county government gate, he asked Fu Lingzhi if he wanted to go and beat it.

Fu Lingzhi laughed: "That's the drum for reporting grievances. It's only beaten when there's a grievance. We're here to get some work done, so we can just go from the side."

Miao Ying said "oh" and thought to himself that it was a good thing that Fu Lingzhi came with him, otherwise it would have been a big joke and he might even get a beating.

Fu Lingzhi took him to the side door, but he did not accompany Miao Ying in because the chief clerk in the yamen was familiar with him and was afraid of trouble, so he reminded Miao Ying to remember to give him some money for the service.

You should know this. It costs little money and is convenient.

Fortunately, the process went quite smoothly. There were procedures for each level of the work, and the documents were soon written. When Miao Ying saw the yamen runner was about to stamp the document, he grabbed a handful of copper coins and gave them to the runner.

The bailiff nodded, stamped the document with the official seal, and handed it to him.

Miao Ying walked out of the yamen holding the documents. He didn't see Fu Lingzhi at the door. He looked around for a while and saw Fu Lingzhi hiding in an alley.

"What's wrong?" Miao Ying leaned forward and asked.

"I just saw the people around my eldest brother. I hid because I was afraid of being recognized. Are you done?" Fu Lingzhi asked him.

"Everything is done. Let's eat something and then go to the blacksmith." Miao Ying was also anxious. The sooner he could let the blacksmith do the work, the sooner he would feel at ease.

The two of them hadn't eaten since they had a few bites of bread in the morning, and they were already hungry. Miao Ying spent money to buy a few buns and put them in his arms, and hurried out of the city gate while there was still time.

The two people were eating buns while walking. There was no water at hand, so they choked on the buns. They looked at each other stretching their necks to swallow the buns, and laughed at the same time.

I went to Blacksmith Hong, gave him the paperwork and paid a deposit. He said it would take about half a month to complete and asked them to come pick it up after half a month.

On the way home, Fu Lingzhi was in a low mood again, probably because he saw the people from the Fu family and thought of the past.

Miao Ying remembered the token he had asked Fu Lingyou for, took it out of his purse and handed it to Fu Lingzhi.

Fu Lingzhi recognized it at a glance as his eldest brother's thing, but it was taken out from Miao Ying's purse. He opened his eyes wide and asked, "How did you get my eldest brother's things?"

"This is a token I got from your brother. I'm going to do business with him in the future. I saw you were in pain, so I'm giving it to you. When I need it, I'll just ask you for it."