"My lord, your stamina has improved quite a bit lately!" Zhao Liu said with a grin as he looked at Magistrate Duan, who was panting and stumbling as he climbed onto the carriage.

"Enough with the nonsense, Liu Zi, hurry up and urge the horse on, don't let her catch up!" Magistrate Duan said breathlessly.

Zhao Liu nodded, turned his horse around, whipped it, and the two quickly left Lujia Village. Only after Lujia Village was out of sight did Magistrate Duan breathe a sigh of relief.

"My lord, if you like that Jiang woman, you should just say so. Why bother with all this?"

Zhao Liu and Magistrate Duan were childhood friends, but one preferred literature and the other preferred martial arts. Magistrate Duan's family was much better off than Zhao Liu's, but Magistrate Duan's parents were never the type to be greedy or snobbish. On the contrary, they thought Zhao Liu was a cute, chubby boy and treated him no differently than their own son.

The two grew up together like this. Later, when Magistrate Duan came to Pingxi County as magistrate, Zhao Liu followed him to Pingxi County as a yamen runner. When there were people around, he was his magistrate and he was his yamen runner. When no one was around, the two of them were like brothers, teasing each other and having a lot of fun.

"You know nothing! That Jiang woman is no ordinary woman. Why would she be interested in me?" Magistrate Duan got out of the carriage and sat down next to Zhao Liu.

“You scholars are such a hassle. Look at me and my wife!” Zhao Liu rolled his eyes dismissively and retorted to Magistrate Duan.

Magistrate Duan clicked his tongue in astonishment. He still vividly remembered the things that happened between Zhao Liu and his wife. He rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "So you're a complete bumpkin! Your approach won't work on Jiang Shi. Putting everything else aside, just look at what she said to me today. Do you think a woman from an ordinary farming family would say such things? Moreover, if this fertilizer really has such miraculous effects, you'll see that Jiang Shi's rank will definitely be much higher than mine!"

Magistrate Duan recalled the scene of Jiang Ling controlling the rat infestation, and today he heard Jiang Ling's suggestion about fertilizer. He was confident that if he reported all of Jiang Ling's things, Jiang Ling would definitely receive the Emperor's reward, and might even be promoted.

If that's really the case, I need to work harder, otherwise I'll be too far behind and Jiang might not even look at me!

Lujia Village, fertilizer plant.

The village chief's appearance at the fertilizer plant's entrance surprised Jiang Ling.

"Did Magistrate Duan just come by?" the village chief asked somewhat fearfully.

Jiang Ling explained, "Yes, we've already finished discussing the cooperation regarding the fertilizer plant!"

Upon hearing Jiang Ling's words, the village chief's surprise deepened. He frowned and stared at Jiang Ling for a long time before stammering, "Cooperation? What kind of cooperation?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the village chief regretted it. One of them was a seventh-rank county magistrate, and the other was an eighth-rank lady. Why would they need the interference of a mere village chief to discuss their cooperation?

Just as he was about to open his mouth to explain, Jiang Ling stepped forward and said, "It's about the fertilizer factory. We're preparing to make a profit, and spring planting is coming soon. We need to promote the fertilizer in the county. Pingxi County has so many villages and towns, and I guess many farmers haven't heard of my title, so they probably don't trust me much. That's why I thought I'd ask Magistrate Duan to help take the lead!"

The village chief was completely confused and even somewhat doubtful of Jiang Ling's fertilizer. Was it really as miraculous as Jiang Ling claimed? But then he thought about it again. Recently, it seemed that everything Jiang Ling did had its reasons, and the results of each thing seemed to be quite good.

With that in mind, the village chief no longer had any doubts. He tentatively asked, "Can I pre-order some of this fertilizer?"

Jiang Ling nodded and said, "Of course, we're from the same village. You can take it and use it first, and pay me back when you sell the crops!"

The village chief was taken aback by these words. His mouth agape, big enough to fit an egg, and after a long pause, he cautiously continued, "No, no, giving it away for free is unacceptable! You've done so much for our Lu Family Village! If you give it away for free, you'll be losing money!"

"I don't know about other things, but this fertilizer plant, ever since you set it up, I haven't seen you make any money at all. Now you want to give it to us for free? That won't do!"

Jiang Ling was amused by the village chief's words. She explained, "It's not free; you can use it first, and then after the autumn harvest, you can sell your grain or give it to me! Don't worry, fertilizer plants aren't like shampoo shops; their profit models are different. Village chief, you reminded me! Could you help me tally up who needs it, and I'll deliver it to each household!"

These words brought tears to the village chief's eyes. No wonder she was bestowed the title of Lady by the Emperor; her moral character was truly extraordinary.

Thinking of this, the village chief patted his chest repeatedly and assured Jiang Ling, "Yaojie's mother, don't worry, I'll take care of this. But how much of this stuff do we need? How much is needed per acre? And how much is a bag of fertilizer?"

Jiang Ling glanced at the terrain of Lujia Village and thought for a moment. "One bag of fertilizer costs three hundred copper coins, and one mu of land uses about fifty jin. This bag alone contains fifty jin! As for how to use it, village chief, you should first count the number of people. Once that's settled, I'll teach everyone how!"

The village chief nodded and thanked Jiang Ling repeatedly before reluctantly leaving.

In the afternoon, just as the sun was setting, the village chief appeared at Jiang Ling's door with a piece of paper in hand and a happy expression.

Jiang Ling took the paper from the village chief. It was densely covered with the names of almost everyone in Lujia Village and the amount of fertilizer they needed.

Jiang Ling did a simple calculation and found that the demand for one village was close to five hundred packs.

Fortunately, she had stored up a lot of fertilizer in the past six months; otherwise, Jiang Ling would have almost been unable to supply the amount needed for just Lujia Village.

Not long after the village chief returned, Lightning's mother and Zhao Erleng's wife came in carrying two baskets. Seeing their awkward expressions, Jiang Ling asked curiously, "Sisters-in-law, come in quickly. What's wrong? Why do you look so troubled?"

"I……"

"you……"

"Why don't you tell me?"

Lightning Mother and Zhao Erleng's wife were welcomed into the house by Jiang Ling. The two felt extremely uncomfortable, looking at each other with unease.

Jiang Ling was even more curious and frowned as she pressed, "What's wrong? Have you encountered any difficulties in your life? Or what happened? Just tell me what's wrong, and I'll definitely help if I can!"

Jiang Ling didn't expect that her words would push the silence to a climax. The two of them, who were exchanging glances, immediately sat up straight and kept rubbing the hem of their clothes with their hands.

Faced with this scene, Jiang Ling was completely stunned, and she could only remain silent with the two of them.

The enormous room was eerily quiet.

"Oh no, I can't take it anymore! I'm bursting!" Zhao Erleng's wife, who was always quick to speak, was the first to lose her temper. She put the basket in her hand on Jiang Ling's octagonal table and stood up with a "whoosh".