Chapter 476 Iron Mine

The sound of children giggling could be heard from the clean and tidy farmhouse courtyard.

A tall figure carried a little girl on his neck, running in circles around the stone table like a donkey.

Inside the house, Li Meng watched the father and daughter having a great time, a satisfied smile on her face.

While packing his clothes, he talked to Xiaoling.

Zhang Lin is back, and Xiao Ling's mission is complete.

But she was originally a servant in General Gu's mansion. When Gu Chengzhou brought her here, he sent her along with her indenture, not intending for her to go back.

Listening to her hesitant explanation, it seemed she didn't want to leave, and that she could stay elsewhere if it was inconvenient.

Li Meng was also reluctant to see her leave. Over the past two years, she had been grateful to Xiao Ling for keeping her company and helping her with everything without slacking off. She had long regarded Xiao Ling as her own sister.

Li Meng found out her indenture and said she would go to the yamen to cancel her slave status, and from now on Xiao Ling would be her sister, and she would find her a good family here.

Xiao Ling gratefully kowtowed to Li Meng.

Li Meng pulled her up.

"Actually, Guo Tian has asked me about him several times, and I've always said I can't make that decision for you. What do you think of him?"

Xiao Ling thought of Guo Tian.

He was the accountant at the pharmaceutical workshop, with a good personality and many friends, and was highly regarded by the Second Young Master Lu.

Many girls want to marry him.

Looking back now, he did take care of her on several occasions.

Xiaoling knew she wasn't a free agent before, but she never considered this.

She shook her head. "Sister Meng, I don't know."

"Then you should observe him carefully. Whether you marry him or not is entirely up to you. We women must keep our eyes open when we get married. Take your time and don't rush things."

"Um."

Xiao Ling looked outside and smiled, "I'm taking Niannian out to play. You and your brother-in-law can talk."

She ran out and took the little girl in her arms.

Zhang Lin went inside and closed the door.

"Wife, I have something to tell you..." He mysteriously pulled something out.

"We not only have money, we also have this!"

"What can this brand do?" Li Meng asked curiously, picking it up and flipping through it.

“It’s very useful, this mountain…” Zhang Lin gestured to the dense forest in front of the village.

"From now on, it's under my control."

Li Mengxiang said, "Does holding a sign really make the tigers inside obey?"

However, she smiled but didn't say anything. She just pressed him down on the kang (a heated brick bed), lifted his trouser leg, looked at the purple and black patches on his leg, silently picked up some ointment, applied it, and gently rubbed it with her palm.

"Mind your own business, I just want your legs to stay warm from now on."

"oh."

Zhang Lin lay flat, looking down at the person in front of him, without saying a word.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I wasn't thinking about anything."

Li Meng: "You've been gone for so long, and now you have nothing to say to me?"

"I'm afraid you'll hit me if I tell you."

"I won't hit you, you say."

"I want to hold you down. Day and night, until I die on top of you."

"..."

Li Meng raised her hand as if to hit him, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to do it.

I don't know what he learned in the barracks, he speaks so rudely.

Weren't those last few times enough?

Her back still hurts.

"Look, to be honest, you're unhappy again. I think about this every day in the military."

"I'm not upset, stop talking!" Li Meng covered her face and got up to pour hot water for him to soak his feet.

Zhang Lin grabbed her, his eyes like those of a wolf. Just as he was about to say something, he heard someone knocking on the door.

"Ugh, it's Liu Jianshan and his gang again. These brainless bastards! I just got back and they keep dragging me out for drinks. My daughter is more sensible than them!"

Zhang Lin sprang up and got off the kang (a heated brick bed) to take a look.

Unexpectedly, it was Lu Qingqing who came.

"Qing... Hi, sister-in-law is here."

He looked at the child beside Lu Qingqing and started rambling:

"Oh my, whose child is this? He's quite good-looking. But my daughter is still young, so who knows what kind of arranged marriage we'll have."

Lu Qingqing and Li Meng behind her rolled their eyes at the same time.

"This is Lu Guichen, my adopted younger brother. You will be his master and teach him martial arts."

"Master," Gui Chen obediently called out.

Zhang Lin was initially resistant because the little boy was thin and small, and didn't look like someone who would practice martial arts.

Besides, he didn't plan to take on any apprentices!

But Lu Qingqing also said:

"Your brother sent me. He said, 'The silver embroidered knife, when drawn, can cleave the sky; mountains and rivers will roar and shake the heavens.'"

He said, "The apprentices you teach will definitely be better than those your father taught."

A silver-embroidered knife can cleave the sky.

On his first battle, Zhang Lin became a figure feared by the Western Liao army.

Where the sword swung, armor shattered and flew everywhere.

They called him "Silver Knife Yama".

He made invaluable contributions to the war against the Western Liao.

Although he didn't want to be an official, his elder brother, the emperor, remembered his contributions!

Zhang Lin grinned.

However, he doesn't admit that the apprentice his father taught was bad.

Big brother is the best!

Zhang Lin poked Gui Chen's small chest with his finger, causing him to stumble backward.

"Alright, you'll be my apprentice from now on."

"I'll teach you... just enough to be a little bit worse than my older brother."

...

More food stalls have appeared in Shenyi Village. Although business is slow, the villagers are quite happy. It's convenient for them to buy food occasionally!

Qu Yiran's hot pot business is doing well. Merchants from other places come to the pharmaceutical workshop every day, and they usually eat there.

At first, she was puzzled, but after chatting with Li Fang and the others, she learned that Lu Qingqing had sent them, and she felt that there must be something going on.

Sure enough, a few days later, a group of people came down from the mountain.

They started building a fence at the foot of the mountain.

Erect a stone tablet.

The stone tablet reads: Liuyun Mountain Iron Mine!

The terrifying mountain forest in front of the village turned out to be an iron mine!

The surrounding villages were all shocked.

Then, the villagers who had disappeared into the mountains before returned.

He hugged his family and cried bitterly. They had not been eaten by wild animals or harmed by ghosts. They had been digging stones in the mountains for two or three years!

However, they also brought back a considerable amount of money with them.

Moreover, mining can continue in the future.

After the fence was built, a wide road was constructed.

After finishing all that, the miners in the mountains would come to Shenyi Village for food when they finished work.

Li Fang and the others were so busy they were practically dizzy, but they still couldn't keep up with the demand.

Qu Yiran hired several more women from the village to make more copper pots, tables, and stools.

Fu Leng, whom we haven't seen for a long time, also came down the mountain.

He met Lu Qingqing once, then rushed off to eat hot pot.

I was eating it while my eyes were watering from the spiciness.

Waaaaah... I finally got to eat some delicious food! Life in the mountains... was so tough!

Now he's finally made it! From now on, he'll be the iron official at the iron mine!

Responsible for the entire iron ore chain of "mining, smelting, casting, and sales".

This is a task that only the emperor's most trusted people can do.

Oh, and he has a carefree Marquis above him who oversees him.

Where did this carefree Marquis come from?

That doesn't sound very proper!

"Delicious, delicious..."

"Even if it tastes good, don't eat too much; eat in moderation."

A clean handkerchief was handed to him.

Fu Leng: "It's alright, there's a miracle doctor here, so don't worry about upset stomach."

He looked up at the owner of the place.

A young girl with a simple braid and wearing a light blue headscarf.

With a serene gaze, though wearing an apron and seemingly detached from worldly affairs, she possesses a simple and elegant charm.

Like a tranquil lake in the mountains.

Slow down your movements when eating hot pot.

Take a couple of bites, then glance at it.

Take three bites, then glance at it.

Whose daughter is this?

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