Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi took a stroll around the county. Lu Lin discovered that there were actually many impoverished households in Sha County, and many of them had injuries that looked like old wounds from the battlefield.
Lu Lin thought: The fierce nature of the people of Sha County may not be their true intention. This place is poor in soil and has been plagued by war for years. If the officials continue to exploit and oppress the people, they will not be able to survive. If they cannot survive, they will naturally become fierce.
After the house was renovated, Lu Lin and the others settled in the mansion.
Lu Lin spread the blankets on the bed and said sullenly, "Now everything has to start all over again." He had already made a name for himself in Lin Town, but here he was unfamiliar with the place and the people, and he still had to figure things out slowly.
Chen Xiaomi raised her head and said, "Even so, it feels pretty good."
Back in Linzhen, he always had to be mindful of the people in the countryside, but now that he's here, no one in the village is trying to cause him trouble.
No matter what he does, those old-fashioned people won't come knocking on his door to beg for money anymore.
“He’s an official, after all,” Chen Xiaomi said.
Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiaomi and asked, "How have you been lately?"
Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and said, "It's fine, you don't need to worry."
Lu Lin nodded and said, "If you're not feeling well, just say so. I've noticed you haven't been eating much lately."
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "I guess it's because I've been traveling a lot lately, so I haven't had much of an appetite. I'll feel better now that I'm settled."
Lu Lin sighed and said, "The supplies here are quite scarce. Even eggs are hard to buy, which is a problem." Lu Lin had made some preparations for this trip. For example, he had stored a lot of grain and meat in the convenience store, but he couldn't take them out easily.
There were more than just him and Chen Xiaomi in the county government office. Their family members didn't seem bad, but there were some things that couldn't be easily revealed to them.
Chen Xiaomi frowned and said, "Let's take it slow."
Chen Xiaomi thought to herself: We've overcome so much hardship before, and things are much better now than they were back then.
Lu Lin nodded and said, "That works too."
Every man has ambitions to achieve great things, and Lu Lin wasn't particularly ambitious. However, having taken on the position of county magistrate, he wanted to provide a better life for the people under his jurisdiction. As the saying goes, "poor mountains and bad waters breed unruly people," but if living conditions improved, there would naturally be fewer unruly people.
Although the local people didn't have much respect for the county magistrate because of the presence of the patrol battalion, they were still quite obedient as long as Lu Lin didn't do anything excessive, thanks to the battalion's presence.
Lu Lin organized the documents left in the government office. Due to years of war, many things in the government office had been destroyed, and only a limited number could be found.
In his spare time over the past few years, Lu Lin has read some storybooks and can basically understand the characters.
Chen Xiaocai walked in and called out, "Brother Lin."
Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiaocai and said, "It's Xiaocai!"
Chen Xiaocai sat down next to Lu Lin and said, "Brother Lin, do you think we should reopen the old shop?"
Before this, Lu Lin had already transferred the house and shops in Liuzhen to Chen Xiaolai. This time, Chen Xiaolai and Shen Chi sold the house and shops in Liuzhen, as well as the items in the shops, for more than 500 taels of silver.
Over the years, Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi have been managing the business and have saved up a considerable amount of wages. Together, they have six hundred taels of silver.
Chen Xiaocai had seen that Lu Lin had bought an official position and was worried that Lu Lin would be short of money, so he wanted to give the money to Chen Xiaomi to help him out. However, Chen Xiaomi refused to accept it.
Lu Lin shook his head and said, "It's not that easy. Shaxian is a poor county."
There are quite a few wealthy people in Lin Town, and some who indulge in romance and pleasure all day long. However, Sha County is too poor. Although there are many bachelors here, there isn't even a brothel to be found. If he were to open a shop in Lin County here, he would probably lose everything.
Chen Xiaocai frowned and said, "Then what should we do?"
Lu Lin stroked his chin and said, "The original business can't continue. You should buy a few shops and renovate them. As for what to sell in the future, we'll talk about that later."
Chen Xiaocai nodded and said, "Alright, I think there are a few nice shops around our county government office. Buying them shouldn't cost too much money."
Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiaocai and thought to himself: Chen Xiaocai's way of speaking is really different from before. But that's understandable. Chen Xiaocai should have several hundred taels of silver on him. With so much silver, if he bought land, he would be more than enough to become a big landlord. He and Chen Xiaomi are richer than Chen Xiaocai, but they have more people to support!
"My lord." Qin Yi walked in.
Lu Lin glanced at Qin Yi. For the past two years, Qin Yi had been calling him Young Master Lin. Suddenly, he had become an adult, and Lu Lin couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.
"Is there something you need?"
"The patrol battalion has arrived. They want our people to give them some pointers on how to repair the kang (heated brick bed)," Qin Yi said.
Lu Lin nodded. "That's easy. Go and make the trip."
Qin Yi scratched his head and said, "I don't know much about this kang (heated brick bed) either." Qin Yi had seen kangs being repaired a few times, but he hadn't really seen them clearly.
"Brother Lin, I'll go." Chen Xiaocai stepped forward.
Chen Chi followed him out and said, "I'll go too."
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Okay." Lu Lin thought to himself: Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi really have a good relationship; they go everywhere together.
"Try to maintain good relations and avoid conflicts." This patrol battalion is the local strongman; if they want to survive here, they naturally can't afford to offend the patrol battalion.
Chen Xiaocai nodded and said, "I know, Brother Lin, don't worry."
Chen Xiaocai drove the mule cart, carrying Chen Chi, and followed the soldiers to the patrol camp.
The higher-ups value these frontier soldiers highly and have put a lot of effort into their military spending. However, after layers of skimming, very little is left by the time the funds are distributed, so these soldiers don't live a very good life.
When Chen Xiaocai arrived, the patrol battalion had already made quite a few mud bricks.
Chen Xiaocai guessed that the other party probably knew how to build a kang (heated brick bed), but needed someone knowledgeable to check it out.
The arrival of Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi made the patrol camp lively for a while.
The soldiers noticed that the two children were only a few years old, one of whom was twins. They couldn't help but think that the new magistrate didn't take their patrol battalion seriously enough by sending two little devils. However, when Chen Xiaocai spoke, everyone realized that he was an expert. They were convinced that Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi had eaten lunch in the military camp. The food served in the camp was coarse rice porridge and cornbread, with only pickled vegetables as a side dish.
Chen Xiaocai suddenly realized that being a soldier was indeed not easy; the food was terrible.
As Liu Yun walked to his tent, a boy of about eleven or twelve years old approached him. The boy had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and was very handsome. However, he was still young and somewhat immature, but he already had a lot of authority.
"Uncle Liu, did two people come to the military camp today?" Ji Yun'an asked.
Liu Yun nodded and said, "Yes, he is a relative of the newly arrived county magistrate."
"Uncle Liu, I heard that the new magistrate was bought his position and is not a good person."
Liu Yun helplessly spread his hands and said, "This new county magistrate was bought his position, but that doesn't mean he's not a good person."
"No merchant is honest. If he were a good person, how could he have amassed such a fortune? I despise these merchants the most, profiting from national disasters. They hoard and speculate during droughts and floods, driving up grain prices and forcing countless disaster victims into bankruptcy," Ji Yun'an said through gritted teeth.
Liu Yun sighed and said, "This matter cannot be generalized. Alright, stop fooling around."
Ji Yun'an rolled his eyes, smiled, and said, "I understand."
Liu Yun looked at Ji Yun'an and gave him a word of advice: "There are a lot of people who don't like your uncle. Don't cause trouble, or you'll give them something to hold against you."
Ji Yun'an was the son of Ji Chengkang's sister. Ji Chengkang's sister married a scholar. The Ji family was a large family that had produced many generals.
Ji Chengkang's sister married down, thinking the scholar would be a good man. Unfortunately, it seems many scholars are unfaithful; this man, after passing the imperial examination, took several mistresses outside the marriage.
A few years ago, the Ji family was impeached and their position was in jeopardy. The person who impeached them brought several of their lovers into the house and took them as concubines. After that, Ji Chengkang's sister fell ill and died young.
The secrets and intrigues within the inner quarters are impossible to guard against. Ji Chengkang was very suspicious that his sister's death was an accident, but since it happened in the inner quarters, Ji Chengkang was powerless to investigate.
A few months later, Zhao Yun'an, the son left behind by Ji Chengkang's sister, became so ill that he was on his deathbed. Ji Chengkang could no longer bear it, so he went to his door and took him back to the border.
Ji Chengkang's brother-in-law, probably feeling guilty, didn't dare to stop him.
Ji Chengkang originally thought that life in the military camp was too tough for a child, so he left the child in that unfaithful man's house. However, judging from the current situation, if his nephew stayed any longer, he was afraid that his sister's bloodline would not survive.
After Ji Chengkang brought Ji Yun'an back to the Ji family, he changed his nephew's surname to Ji. That scholar was a heartless and fickle man. Even though his eldest son was taken away and his surname was changed, he didn't say a word. He was probably still rejoicing that after his son changed his surname, the position of the eldest son would be vacant.
Not long after Ji Yun'an left the Zhao family, Zhao's father promoted one of his concubines to the position of legitimate wife, and that woman's child became the legitimate son.
Seeing this, Ji Chengkang was completely disappointed in his brother-in-law.
Having received so much cold treatment from the Zhao family, Ji Yun'an wasn't particularly disappointed by his father's actions.
Ji Yun'an had grown up in the military camp for the past few years and had become accustomed to killing. At a young age, he was very brave and fierce. Fortunately, although Ji Yun'an was warlike, he was not unreasonable.
The government office.
"My lord, Young Master Chen is pregnant." Wan Li came out and hurriedly said to Lu Lin.
Lu Lin was taken aback by Wan Li's words. "Pregnant?"
Wan Li nodded and said, "That's right."
Lu Lin frowned. It's not easy for heterosexuals to have children. Many heterosexuals will only have one child in their lifetime.
After having Yuanbao, Chen Xiaomi's belly remained flat for many years, so Lu Lin had given up hope. Unexpectedly, Chen Xiaomi became pregnant again.
The thought that another child, connected to him by blood, would soon be born into this world filled Lu Lin with joy.
"No wonder, no wonder he hasn't had much of an appetite lately."
After the initial joy, Lu Lin frowned with some worry. Most people in this area were quite poor, and it was difficult to buy eggs or meat. However, since Xiao Mi was pregnant, they couldn't skimp on food.
Lu Lin glanced at Wan Li and said, "How's it going with the large stone mill I had you order from the stonemason in this village?"
Wan Li hurriedly replied, "It should be finished in two more days."
Lu Lin nodded and said, "That's good. Buy more beans."
Wan Li nodded and said, "Okay, but this stuff doesn't taste very good. Many farmers use it to feed their livestock."
"I know, it's okay." Xiaomi is pregnant and still needs nutrition, and supplementing with protein is essential. Since there's no meat to eat, let's make more bean products first; something is better than nothing.
Lu Lin walked into the house and saw Yuanbao snuggling up to Chen Xiaomi. The father and son were talking about something, and the scene looked very warm.
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