Chapter 428 Fang Ziming's Fear

When spring came, the bamboo in the county government courtyard continued to grow, but the herbs had all been buried under last year's snow.

Master Cao left the magistrate's study and exhaled a breath of stale air.

When the yamen runners passed by, they saw that Master Cao looked unwell and came over to inquire.

"Master Cao, what's wrong?" the constable asked in a low voice as he followed Master Cao.

Knowing that this man wanted to inquire about Magistrate Fang's mood, Master Cao turned his head and said gently, "It's alright, you can continue working, don't wander off."

"good."

Since Master Cao had said so, the constables didn't ask any further questions.

It was midday, and the sun was at its zenith.

Master Cao glanced at the sky, sighed again, and walked out of the county government office.

Just as he stepped out of the county government gate, he saw a familiar figure heading towards the market in the distance and called out, "Yongnian!"

Upon hearing the voice, Chen Yongnian paused, turned around, saw Master Cao, raised his hand in a salute, and said, "Greetings, Mr. Cao."

He addressed Master Cao as "Master" because he learned to read and write in the county government office under Master Cao's instruction.

Before Wan Ziyan left, he also said that Master Cao was a trustworthy person.

"No need for further explanation." Master Cao gestured for Chen Yongnian to continue forward, then asked, "Are you comfortable in your current position?"

"Not bad." Chen Yongnian put one hand on the knife at his waist, scratched his head with the other, and grinned.

"Go on patrol?" Master Cao asked.

"Yes, let's walk around and get familiar with the county." Chen Yongnian was not familiar with Yunhe County and had never been to many streets and alleys.

But with a new work environment, he had to know the streets and alleys of Yunhe County by heart.

“You’re the only one in the county government to be transferred, but that’s fine too. It’ll be easier for you to go home and visit your wife and children if you want.” After hesitating for a while, Master Cao asked, “Have you been home recently?”

Chen Yongnian was taken aback for a moment, then replied, "I went back home a few days ago during my vacation."

He was a little confused as to why Master Cao was suddenly concerned about this. Had something happened at home?

I remember Wu Gousheng sent a message a couple of days ago saying that everything was fine.

Even though Tang Qiwen wasn't in town, the restaurant was doing very well.

"Mr. Cao, is there a problem?" he asked directly.

"It's not any other problem, it's just that your wife now runs a restaurant in town and has started a food delivery service. The people are talking about it, and it's even getting on the minds of the county officials," Master Cao replied.

Although he didn't say that Wan Qiqi was too popular and had aroused the magistrate's dissatisfaction, Chen Yongnian could roughly understand the meaning behind his words.

If it doesn't have any impact, Mr. Cao wouldn't specifically bring it up with him.

"Alright, I understand what Mr. Cao means. I will certainly find time to discuss it with my wife." Chen Yongnian bowed respectfully to Master Cao and continued on his way.

Before long, the two arrived at the market.

Unlike the small town, Yunhe County has many pedestrians during the day, and there are no people wearing patched clothes.

However, no matter where you are, there will always be some beggars.

When the two men encountered these people, they both took out a copper coin and put it into the beggar's bowl.

"Thank you, thank you... You two are such kind people!" The beggar didn't intend to ask the two for anything, because Chen Yongnian was wearing official robes.

Everyone, from commoners to beggars, knows that you can mess with anyone, but never mess with government officials or people walking the streets with knives.

These people have special privileges; they can execute people on the spot under the pretext of disturbing public order.

Of course, Chen Yongnian would not do such a thing, nor would he allow his subordinates to do such a thing.

"Gentlemen, would you like to sit down and have some fresh food? We just received a sheep's head this morning, along with excellent mutton soup..."

The waiter, seeing that the two looked friendly, couldn't help but call out to them.

Chen Yongnian waved to the people and continued walking forward.

At this moment, Master Cao stopped and looked up at the restaurant's signboard, which read "Guests from all directions".

This is the branch of Bafanglaike in Yunhe County.

Seeing that the man hadn't followed, Chen Yongnian turned around and looked in the direction he was looking, asking, "Sir, would you like to try some?"

He was conflicted.

He wanted to invite Master Cao to dinner, but since it was during working hours, he dared not leave his post.

"No." Master Cao took a step forward and gestured for Chen Yongnian to continue, saying, "I heard Lord Fang mention today that Hefeng Town's 'Eight Directions Guests' business is reopening!"

"Reopen?" Chen Yongnian was somewhat surprised.

Hefeng Town, which was closed due to the drugging incident, had even had its belongings cleared out. Now it's reopened?

Could it be that Lord Fang is wary because of his wife's situation?

"Yes, the documents have been signed, and it should reopen in a few days." Master Cao answered Chen Yongnian accurately, and added, "Now you don't have so many restrictions. It only takes half an hour to ride back to town from here. You can go back and take a look when you have time."

Chen Yongnian paused for a moment, then replied, "Okay."

Master Cao accompanied Chen Yongnian for a while before leaving.

After inspecting the area and finding nothing amiss, Chen Yongnian turned and entered the bustling city center.

Chen Yongliang's stall was set up diagonally opposite another restaurant, but he didn't get many customers; most of them went into the restaurant to eat.

At this moment, besides Chen Yongliang, there were two other people, one adult and one child, standing on the stall.

"Brother Yongliang, your pancakes smell so good." Chen Molin sniffed and grinned.

“Your sister Qi’s are even better; I’m not half as good as hers.” As Chen Yongliang spoke, he used his tools to peel the pancake off the oven wall, folded it in half, and handed it to the child in front of him.

Chen Molin took the pancake, took a bite while it was still hot, and kept panting as his long mouth burned, "Hot..."

Xie Xing stood aside, a hint of helplessness in his expression, and said, "No one's going to take it from you, don't burn yourself."

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