Jiang Ling looked at Magistrate Duan with great gratitude. Magistrate Duan appeared very calm at this moment. He looked at Jiang Ling and said, "Then let's sit down and talk about this matter again?"

Jiang Ling nodded and sat down again with Magistrate Duan. After some discussion, Jiang Ling decided to start with small-batch production, with the government as the guarantor, and then sign a contract with the yamen. If any problems arose later, a refund could be issued.

With the fertilizer matter settled, Jiang Ling took out some silver from her pocket and placed it in front of Magistrate Duan, saying, "I estimate that my focus will shift to fertilizer production from now on. Yaojie is also getting married to Congxin, and I'm afraid I don't have enough experience. I've already handed over the shop in the county to my neighbors. Here's the rent for the past few months!"

To Jiang Ling's surprise, Magistrate Duan did not refuse this time and nodded, accepting the silver into his pocket. The two then chatted for a few more minutes before Jiang Ling left the county office.

Sitting on Uncle Lu's oxcart, Jiang Ling kept pondering Magistrate Duan's words.

She was in a state of confusion at that moment, and didn't even know how to handle her relationship with Magistrate Duan.

Back home, Jiang Ling's family had just finished eating when Zhao Erleng and his family of three appeared at the front door of Jiang Ling's house.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Ling quickly smiled and welcomed the family of three inside. She even gave Zhao Dabao a few pieces of fruit candy. Zhao Dabao looked at Zhao Erleng somewhat timidly. After Zhao Erleng nodded to Zhao Dabao, Zhao Dabao quickly thanked Jiang Ling and carefully accepted the candy.

Zhao Erleng put the basket on the ground and took out several wild rabbits and pheasants, placing them in front of Jiang Ling.

"Big brother, what's wrong?" Jiang Ling asked Zhao Erleng, looking at him with some confusion.

"My wife told me about the shop in Pingxi County. I really don't know how to thank you enough. So I went up the mountain and caught a few wild rabbits and pheasants. Please don't be offended!" Zhao Erleng said sincerely.

Jiang Ling smiled and thanked Zhao Erleng before having Jiang Yaojie take the things to the kitchen.

He then said to Zhao Erleng and his wife, "You don't need to thank me. You'll have to be responsible for the profits and losses of this little shop from now on!"

"Don't worry, sister. We will definitely not hold you back after we take over. We will definitely make this shop even more prosperous and take it to the next level!" Zhao Erleng's wife patted her chest and assured Jiang Ling.

Zhao Erleng took out two pieces of paper from his pocket and handed them to Jiang Ling, saying, "This is an agreement that I asked the village chief to help draft. Take a look, sister!"

Jiang Ling took the two pieces of paper from Zhao Erleng with some surprise. She was quite astonished when she saw the contents, but she still pretended not to be able to read.

Turning to Jiang Suihe, who was reading a book, he called her over and said, "Suihe, come and see what's written here!"

Jiang Suihe nodded and carefully read the two pieces of paper before saying to Jiang Ling, "Mother, this is the agreement written by Uncle and Aunt Erleng. It's about renting our shop, the monthly profit sharing, and the agreement on each person being responsible for their own profits and losses!"

Jiang Ling looked at Zhao Erleng and his wife in front of her, shook her head, and said, "I believe you, we don't have to sign this agreement!"

"Yes, yes, that's fine. I've asked the village chief about this. We should do it this way, write it down in black and white. Sister, you've been kind to us, we can't be ungrateful!" Zhao Erleng said, his voice slightly agitated and his eyes a little red.

Jiang Ling smiled and didn't say anything more, but simply took out a brush and signed her name on it.

Zhao Erleng and his family of three thanked him repeatedly before leaving, while Jiang Ling felt somewhat uncomfortable.

The next morning, before the sun had fully risen, the village chief arrived at Jiang Ling's house. Jiang Ling, yawning and rubbing her sleepy eyes, walked with the village chief toward the area that had been marked out earlier.

By this time, more than a dozen hardworking and taciturn men from the village had been waiting for a long time. Jiang Ling briefly explained her idea, and the men began to work quickly.

Since these workshops were only used for making fertilizer and no one needed to live in them, the construction of the houses was very fast. In just a few days, the four fertilizer-making houses were completed.

Inside were dozens of large vats that Jiang Ling had specially commissioned from the county's bricklayers to make according to the blueprints.

People around were very curious about the house construction, but Jiang Ling didn't tell anyone about the fertilizer. Once everything was ready, the village chief organized another meeting at the Lu Family Ancestral Hall.

Seeing the whispers and murmurs among the crowd, the village chief coughed lightly and said to them, "Quiet, quiet! Everyone, please be quiet!"

All eyes fell on the village chief, who glanced at Jiang Ling and asked in a low voice, "What do you say?"

Jiang Ling shook her head and said to the village chief, "Village chief, you should speak. You are the village chief, after all. If I speak, wouldn't that be me taking over the role of the guest of honor?"

The village chief nodded and said to everyone, "The Jiang family is going to open a fertilizer factory and needs to hire a group of employees. Let the Jiang family tell you the details!"

The village chief briefly introduced the contents of the meeting and then led the applause.

What is fertilizer?

"What's fertilizer? This is the first time I've ever heard of it!"

Upon hearing this novel title, the crowd began to discuss it amongst themselves.

Just as Jiang Ling was about to speak, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly approached from afar, and everyone's eyes turned towards the sound.

Jiang Ling recognized the person driving the carriage; it was Zhao Liu. He saw Jiang Ling and waved to her.

The carriage was moving very fast and soon stopped in front of the Lu Family Ancestral Hall. Zhao Liu jumped down first, lifted the curtain, and Magistrate Duan crouched down and jumped off the carriage.

"Your Excellency!"

"Your Excellency, someone come here!"

A sharp-eyed villager immediately recognized Magistrate Duan, and then everyone suddenly knelt down as if waking from a dream.

"Magistrate Duan!" The village chief jogged up to Magistrate Duan and knelt down.

"Get up, everyone, get up!" Magistrate Duan hurriedly called out to the crowd.

"Village chief, what are you doing?" Magistrate Duan asked with some curiosity.

"Ms. Jiang is planning to open a fertilizer factory in the village. She is explaining fertilizer to everyone right now, and before she could even open her mouth, you... you came here. Your Excellency, what brings you to our village?" the village chief answered truthfully.

Magistrate Duan stroked his chin, glanced at Jiang Ling standing in the crowd, and said, "Well, Jiang also came to see me yesterday. I'm quite interested in fertilizer, and I heard that Jiang has already been experimenting with it on her own land. I wanted to come and see!"

"No wonder the Jiang family's fields are growing so well!"

"Fertilizer? Is this stuff good?"

"Listening to Jiang Shi is definitely the right thing to do!"

Hearing the conversation between the village chief and Magistrate Duan, the crowd began to murmur again. Fearing that the villagers' discussion would displease Magistrate Duan, the village chief quickly turned to the crowd and said, "Quiet down! Can't you see the magistrate is here?"

"It's alright, it's alright, let's go and take a look at the fields first!" said Magistrate Duan.