Chapter 91 Chapter 91 Trying out Weapons

Lin Si had harvested the peppers and tomatoes he had planted. The tomatoes were the size of fists, their weight weighing down the branches. The peppers were also growing beautifully.

From the moment the tomatoes and peppers were picked, Lin Si started to look forward to the meal.

He even hummed a tuneless tune while reviewing the documents.

She also invited her dinner companions.

Zuo You was buried in a mountain of official work. She had just finished her night school exams a few days ago and was very busy at the time. However, not only had Lin Si informed her in advance yesterday, but he also did not allow her to refuse.

The same is true for Mo Jinglian.

Zuo You could only let Tingyu handle the matter first, and then come back to continue working like a slave after eating.

Zuo You and Liang Nian hadn't seen each other for a while. When they met again, they could only sigh that both mother and daughter had become a little haggard due to the torture of work.

The two of them spoke almost at the same time, intending to say a few words of concern, but ended up changing the subject and returning to work.

The two were led by Chunyi to the dining room. As they reached the door, a fragrance wafted over.

When they stepped into the house, they saw several dishes already laid out on the dining table. Two of them were new to them, and the color combination was very beautiful. One was gold and red, while the other was shiny and fragrant, dotted with emerald green and bright red.

Lin Si was already waiting at the door. She asked the two to sit down first, and then waited for Mo Jinglian to come.

Then he started introducing them. "This is scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and this is stir-fried pork with chili peppers."

The three of them exchanged glances. The words "chili" and "tomato" were completely unfamiliar to them. But unable to resist Lin Si's eager gaze, they each tentatively took a bite with their chopsticks.

Zuo You hadn't expected this to be the flavor of scrambled eggs with tomatoes. The slightly sour tomatoes, wrapped in the aroma of egg, burst on her tongue. It was absolutely perfect for her! She couldn't help but grab another big piece.

Liang Nian was captivated by the stir-fried pork. The spiciness was different from the usual dogwood, more overpowering. Before he knew it, he had finished a bowl of rice.

Mo Jing liked both dishes. She was about to ask if they could be served in the cafeteria or restaurant, but then she remembered that Lin Si had given her a strict order before the meal so that she could concentrate on enjoying the food.

Just eat at noon today and don’t talk about work.

She opened her mouth but said nothing.

Thus, a strange scene unfolded at the dinner table. The four of them were in a very good mood, enjoying the delicious food. As they ate, they began to think about something to talk about.

"that."

"Um...."

When the words were on the tip of my tongue, I found that apart from personnel deployment, night school exams, and various progress, everyone's mind was empty.

The air suddenly became quiet.

The four of them looked at each other

Is work the only thing in their world? !

No! We need to talk about something.

The three of them simultaneously turned their gaze to the eldest, Zuo You.

Zuo You felt uncomfortable being stared at and racked his brains to think of a topic.

Finally! She thought of one.

"Speaking of which, Li County has recently seen an influx of young men seeking to study. These men love elegance and maintain clean appearances, and they even call themselves handsome men. However, the people of Li County don't buy it, and have even privately compiled a ranking of the most handsome men in Li County."

Mo Jinglian nodded in agreement, "I vaguely heard about it when I returned to Li County. I'm not surprised by these three people."

Liang Nian was unusually curious, "Which three? Zhong Diyan must be one, right? The remaining two are Yin Sheng and Xu Chuo?"

Mo Jinglian: "Exactly. When I was passing by that day, I was asked to vote. I thought about it and felt that among the three, Yin Sheng was the one who most suited my taste, so I voted for Yin Sheng."

Liang Nian pondered, "If I had to choose, I think these three are pretty much the same."

Zuo You interjected, "Xu Chuo and Yin Sheng are very popular."

Lin Si: "Why are our Five-Evening Day people less popular than these two? I need to ask."

"Mr. Zhong rarely appears on weekdays, so few people have seen him."

"Yes, Yin Sheng and Xu Chuo patrol every day, and many people have seen them."

"Besides, Young Master Zhong often has a blank expression on his face."

"Young Master Zhong is almost fifteen years old. According to Dachen custom, he won't need to be given a nickname right away."

"But Yin Sheng is still the most popular. Xu Chuo is a Hu person after all, and some people prefer Yin Sheng's appearance."

After a discussion, several people turned their heads in unison and asked, "County Lady, if it were you, who would you vote for?"

Lin Si was stumped by this sudden question. She stroked her chin with her hand and closed her eyes to think for a moment.

"Zhong Di hates... right?"

Mo Jinglian smiled slightly, "Zhong Diyan got the county lady's vote, so he has already won."

Zuo You chuckled, "That's true. Whose votes are more valuable than the patriarch of Xihe Road?"

Thanks to this handsome men ranking, the four of them were finally able to continue the conversation without talking about work.

After eating and drinking some cold drinks, the four of them couldn't wait to get back to work.

Mo Jinglian is the busiest one now. The orders for perfume have dropped to a plateau, but the orders for soap have increased sharply.

After all, the newspapers said that soap helps prevent disease.

After the epidemic at the beginning of the year, who wouldn’t stock up on soap if they were wealthy or from a wealthy family?

Perhaps it was because she mentioned Yin Sheng when she was having dinner with the other three people just now, Mo Jinglian suddenly found that she seemed to see Yin Sheng often.

For example, Yin Sheng seems to like working overtime. Even if it is not his working hours, he will appear at his home or patrol near the office.

For example, you can always see him at the breakfast stall that I often eat at.

What a coincidence!

For example, at this moment.

Mo Jinglian greeted him casually, "Good morning, Mr. Yin."

Yin Sheng's heart was beating fast. "Good morning..."

Gan Lang was puzzled, "Why do you always act a little strange every time you meet Madam Mo?"

Yin Sheng was extremely flustered and was about to explain.

Then Gan Lang said in a very self-righteous manner, "I know! You must be afraid of Madam Mo, right? You are really a kind person. Madam Mo is such a friendly woman, what are you afraid of?"

Yin Sheng:........

*

The night school exam results are out.

Before the results were announced, many people gathered to watch. Once the results came out, some were happy while others were worried.

A poor student searched for his name on the list for a long time but couldn't find it. He held his head and muttered to himself in disbelief.

"Impossible! There's no way I failed the exam! Is it because I didn't write the essay well? Impossible!"

The whole person took two steps back and fainted on the ground.

Liang Nian had anticipated such a situation, so Bu Yi and A Qing calmly directed the students of the nursing department of the technical school to carry him away.

Some people fainted, and naturally some people were happy.

Ding Shui was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat, but fortunately he found his name at the end of the list.

Although the ranking is not at the top, at least it has passed the admission score line.

It was a close call.

Now he, as the eldest brother, won't be embarrassed in front of his younger siblings.

Then we can pay for and move into the house we agreed on in Li County smoothly.

Ding Shui looked towards the first place on the list again.

It turned out to be Yan Xuanqing! She got full marks on the test.

Yan Xuanqing was not in the same class as him and Li Wenxue. He only knew that Yan Xuanqing was a good student, but he didn't expect him to be so good.

Ding Shui was very grateful that he was a simple person and had a good relationship with Yan Xuanqing.

In short, this achievement is definitely inseparable from the help of Yan Xuanqing and Li Wenxue. Ding Shui has already booked a table in the restaurant to treat the two of them to dinner.

But Yan Xuanqing declined politely, saying that he had a family dinner.

Only Li Wenxue asked awkwardly, "Are we still going?"

Ding Shui: "Go ahead, of course! Just the two of us plus my servant, we'll have a good meal for the three of us!"

Yan Xuanqing was very satisfied with his result.

She was not valued in the Yan family because she was born to a concubine. She had always been a child that the family wanted to sell for a price in exchange for benefits.

Her only purpose was to marry someone who could help the Yan family. This person might be a 40-year-old official, a 20-year-old son of a wealthy businessman, or a scholar whose family was so poor that they could barely make ends meet.

She has no choice.

When she first stole a newspaper in her father's study, she could hardly imagine that there was such a place in the world.

Because Anping County was very tolerant towards women, choosing someone to go with her cousin to study was a small shortcut.

The other daughters of the father all retreated silently, only Yan Xuanqing stood up.

"I am willing to share my father's worries."

Yan Xuanqing felt free in Lingzhou, and she saw the many ladies under the command of Anping County Lord.

She also wanted to be like them.

She thought that being ranked first in night school was only the first step in her progress, and her father's approving look at the family dinner tonight was also only the first step.

*

As summer drew to a close, the weapons Ding Pu had been collaborating with the Technical School were finally taking shape. He, Zhao An, and Tao Yanghui brought the items to Lingzhou and asked Lin Si to take some time to inspect them.

Lin Si brought Nan Shuang, Nan Qiao and Yin Sheng with him, while Qi Liang represented Wu Gengtian to go and see.

A group of people found an open space and evacuated the surrounding people.

Amidst the slight rise of dust, a cart covered with linen was brought in front of Lin Si.

When the sackcloth was lifted, inside was the painstaking work of the three people over the past few days: gunpowder arrows and fireballs.

Chunyi stood in front of Lin Si, looking around curiously. To the left were several strangely shaped gunpowder arrows, their shafts made of bamboo. The powder horn beside them was also made of a small bamboo tube filled with gunpowder, which could be recycled after use. To the right were several dark balls.

Chun Yi: "County Lady, are these things more powerful than the gunpowder we had before?"

Ding Pu took a deep breath and walked over to Yin Sheng, Nan Shuang, and Nan Qiao. With a serious expression, he explained the safety regulations in detail: "Use a fire stick to ignite the arrow, and keep it away from your face. This arrow has a special chute launch mechanism to stabilize its flight trajectory. Don't be careless."

Ding Pu has been studying this thing for so long and knows the dangers of not following the regulations.

Yin Sheng nodded repeatedly after hearing this. He had been eager to try it out for a long time. He picked up a gunpowder arrow at random, then signaled to Lin Si, aimed at the haystack in the distance, lit the fuse with a tinder, and then shot it out in one go.

The whole process was done in one go.

The gunpowder arrow penetrated deep into the haystack in the blink of an eye. The effect was perfect. The haystack exploded with a bang and immediately caught fire.

Yin Sheng succeeded in his attack and couldn't help but praise, "Good!"

This isn't just a rocket; it explodes upon landing and is incredibly stable, making it perfect for long-range attacks.

Next is the fireball test.

Along with the weapons were brought simple catapults.

Ding Pu and Yin Sheng carefully placed the fireball in the pocket of the catapult.

Ding Pu adjusted the counterweight and lever angle, saying to Yin Sheng, "If you want to throw accurately, you have to pay attention to the parabola, the distance and height of the landing point. Now is the time to put all the function calculations we learned in school into practice!"

The formulas that once gave him a headache flashed through Yin Sheng's mind. He never thought that they would come in handy in this war.

It seems that I need to let them review math again when I get back.

Boom! A loud noise reached Chunyi's ears.

Unlike the penetrating power of a gunpowder arrow, this cast iron fireball exploded when it hit the ground. The prefabricated thin cast iron shell was instantly broken by the rapidly expanding gunpowder gas inside, turning into countless sharp fragments.

The effects of these two weapons undoubtedly exceeded expectations.

Lin Si was very satisfied.

Nan Shuang and Nan Qiao were even more satisfied, and they both tried the gunpowder arrows themselves.

Nan Shuang and Nan Qiao were extremely excited, "Wouldn't it be easy to kill someone with this?"

"It's even more convenient to use it to burn the enemy's food supplies!"

The men under him were busy and excited, while Lin Si supported his head with his hands.

Since this thing works well, let's mass-produce it and open a military workshop.