Inside the county government office.
Ji Yun'an sat at the table, drinking tofu and fish soup, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
The tofu and fish soup is very delicious; the tofu and fish are cooked together and taste great.
Ji Yun'an looked at Lu Lin and thought to himself, "This magistrate really knows how to eat. If he can eat so much, he could open a restaurant and not have to worry about making a living."
Ji Yun'an has only been here a few days, but he has already eaten all sorts of food.
Ji Yun'an was born in Kyoto and came from a good family. His father was not a good person, but he never skimped on food for him. However, Ji Yun'an never expected that ordinary ingredients could be made into so many different dishes.
Yuanbao was gnawing on a pig's trotter, his mouth glistening with oil, as was Chen Xiaomai.
Ji Yun'an looked at Yuanbao and Chen Xiaomai with a strange expression.
Logically speaking, wealthy families have rules that women and Shuang'er are not allowed to sit at the table when men eat. However, this county government office seems to have no such rule, and Shuang'er can sit at the table. Not only that, Chen Xiaomai's eating manners are also unusually rough, and Yuanbao almost buried his face in the bowl while eating.
Seeing the magistrate's smiling face, Ji Yun'an felt that Lu Lin was actually happy to see things turn out this way.
"Wheat, are pig's trotters delicious?"
Chen Xiaomai nodded and said, "It's delicious."
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Eat more if you like it. Pig's trotters can beautify your skin and slow down aging."
Chen Xiaomai had great faith in Lu Lin and nodded solemnly upon hearing this.
Ji Yun'an glanced at Lu Lin, thinking to himself: This county magistrate seems to particularly like talking nonsense. Many high-ranking officials and nobles consider pig's trotters to be dirty things. They only eat the fattest part of the pig and don't eat pig's trotters. But Lu Lin says that pig's trotters are the best thing and can even delay aging. Who would believe that?
Lu Lin glanced at Ji Yun'an's expression and guessed that the kid probably didn't agree with what he said. Lu Lin thought to himself: "This kid is so ignorant. He doesn't know that pig's trotters are rich in collagen and have many benefits."
Lu Lin was in a good mood while staying in the county government office.
Although Shaxian County is poorer and doesn't earn as much as before, he is now an official, so he doesn't have to be as restrained as before when he does things.
Chen Xiaocai sat down in front of Lu Lin, calculating, and said, "Brother Lin, the military camp wants us to supply tofu regularly and sign a long-term contract."
Lu Lin nodded and said, "That's a good thing."
Chen Xiaocai hesitated for a moment and said, "In that case, we won't have enough manpower."
Previously, they made tofu for their own family and also to supply the carpenters and blacksmiths who worked at home.
Lu Lin said dismissively, "If we don't have enough manpower, we'll hire more. Besides, this mill doesn't need to be pulled by people; we can use mules."
Chen Xiaocai asked with some surprise, "Use mules?"
Lu Lin nodded. When he first made the stone mill, he had planned to have a mule pull it. However, Chen Xiaomai and the others were very interested in pushing the millstone. The children treated it as a fun game, and Lu Lin naturally didn't want his mule to compete with the children for the toy.
Later, Chen Xiaomai captured Ji Yun'an, who had broken into the house, and made him do hard labor. Lu Lin wanted to teach this kid of unknown origin a lesson. When Chen Xiaomai made Ji Yun'an pull the millstone, Lu Lin did not stop him.
This family has several mules. Feeding so many mules is no easy task, so it's good to have them out to do some work.
In the courtyard, Chen Xiaomai looked at the blindfolded mule, cupped her face, and asked curiously, "Brother Lin, this mule keeps spinning around with its eyes covered!"
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes!"
Chen Xiaomai looked at Lu Lin and said, "Brother Lin, you're really amazing. You can actually make the mule keep spinning."
Lu Lin smiled and said, "Just a little trick."
Ji Yun'an glanced at Lu Lin and thought to himself: Lu Lin is really not a good guy. He has such a good idea, but he didn't use it sooner. He used to be tormented by Xiao Shuang'er every day!
Lu Lin rubbed Chen Xiaomai's head and said, "Our family's tofu shop is going to expand, Xiaomai, you have to help your second brother!" Chen Xiaomai said with some distress, "My second brother said that the tofu shop doesn't make much money."
Lu Lin sighed and said, "Tofu shops don't make much money, but even a small amount is still something!"
Chen Xiaomai sighed and said, "I've heard that being an official is good, and that you can make a lot of money as an official. Brother Lin, now that you're an official, why do you seem to be making less money?"
Lu Lin: "..." Well, who told him to be sent to such a poor county? There's no money to be made here!
“Xiaomai, you don’t know! Not every official makes money. In places like this, there’s no money to be made.”
Chen Xiaomai sighed and said, "It seems that being an official isn't all that great. I think I'd better not become an official in the future."
Ji Yun'an looked at Chen Xiaomai and thought to himself: This kid is really thinking too much. He's worrying about things that don't concern him. Shuang'er can't be an official at all. Even if Shuang'er could be an official, it wouldn't be Chen Xiaomai's turn.
Lu Lin said helplessly, "Being an official also comes with many unavoidable situations."
Chen Xiaomai nodded, "That's right, that's right." He used to have a bunch of dolls to play with, but now he only has one left, and it was only with great difficulty that he managed to keep it. His older brother said that he shouldn't let playthings distract him from his studies.
Ji Yun'an looked at Chen Xiaomai and said in a muffled voice, "An official can't be thinking about money all day long."
Chen Xiaomai, hands on her hips, glanced at Ji Yun'an and said arrogantly, "The money you paid for meals is only enough for rice, not enough for egg pancakes. I'm going to deduct the cost of your egg pancakes."
Ji Yun'an's face flushed red.
Ji Yun'an's time in the county government office was short, but he was completely won over by the taste of the egg pancake. Ji Yun'an never thought that there was such a delicious thing in the world. He secretly thought that Lu Lin really knew how to enjoy life.
Ji Yun'an didn't think he was the kind of person who was obsessed with food, but it would be terrible if Lu Lin gave Xiaomai and the others special treats while he didn't get to eat.
"It's good to make some money while being an official," Ji Yun'an said somewhat awkwardly.
Ji Yun'an thought to himself: The tofu sold in this tofu shop is not expensive. In winter, a penny can buy a bowl of vegetables to improve the meal, which is not bad for farmers. It seems that the uncles and elders in the military camp also highly recommend this tofu.
Because the demand for tofu in the military camp was very high, Lu Lin no longer needed the military camp to come and get it. Every day, once the tofu was made, it would be delivered to the camp by a mule cart.
Ji Yun'an also followed the mule cart back to the military camp several times.
Lu Lin recruited several yamen runners from the village, some of whom were previously employed by the prefectural government.
The previous magistrate was impaled in a sack, but no one could be found out who did it. Unable to vent his anger, he blamed the yamen runners for their incompetence and dismissed several of them before leaving office.
Because of this, Lu Lin was left with no one when he arrived at the county government office.
If the previous magistrate hadn't dismissed all the yamen runners, the county government wouldn't have been in such a dilapidated state when Lu Lin arrived.
Lu Lin didn't use the original team; instead, he selected two yamen runners with better reputations and found a few others from the village.
Chen Xiaocai's tofu shop sells tofu for one cent a bag and soy milk for one cent a large bowl. A few people come to buy from him, but not many.
Tofu is inexpensive; a block of tofu can make a dish, so many villagers aren't stingy with the money.
Although the profit margin was a bit thin, Chen Xiaocai was in a good mood while doing the job.
In the past, their shop catered to the wealthy, selling things by tricking them into spending money. Now, they cater to ordinary people, and their mindset is quite different.
In the courtyard, the Qin brothers were learning their craft from several carpenters and blacksmiths.
Lu Lin once sold rocking chairs and rocking horses at his Huaxia Trading Company. At that time, the Qin family father and son had learned some carpentry skills and picked it up very quickly.
Since the mule took over the job of grinding grain, Chen Xiaomai stopped forcing Ji Yun'an to do it. In Chen Xiaomai's words, the mule did a much better job than Ji Yun'an and worked hard without complaint. Compared to the mule, he was far inferior.
Having followed Ji Chengkang for years, Ji Yun'an was respectfully addressed as "Little General" by everyone. Being looked down upon by this little Shuang'er made him feel somewhat embarrassed.
However, he couldn't hold a grudge against this little Shuang'er. After all, he had heard that this little Shuang'er was a bit mentally unstable. Now that his identity had been exposed, Ji Yun'an stopped hiding it and became familiar with several people working in the county government.
"Young master, do you know what the magistrate is up to?"
Ji Yun'an shook his head and said, "I don't know, Uncle Tian, you're a carpenter, do you know that?"
Tian Zheng shook his head and said, "I don't know, I've never seen it." They were only responsible for making some parts; the final assembly was done by the Qin family father and son.
The carpenters and blacksmiths knew that Lu Lin had divided the work among them to make it, because he didn't want them to know what he was doing. They had also privately gathered together to discuss what Lu Lin was up to, but they had no clue.
Ji Yun'an stroked his chin and said, "I heard that this magistrate used to sell all sorts of strange things, like rocking chairs. These things are useless, but they were ridiculously expensive."
Huaxia Trading Company has a pretty big name, and there are counterfeit Huaxia Trading Company products in many places.
Having been around Ji Chengkang, Ji Yun'an had heard of rocking chairs before. They were supposedly chairs that swayed back and forth when you lay down on them, useless in any real sense, but supposedly very comfortable for sleeping in. It was said that this county magistrate was involved in tinkering with things that led to decadence, and Ji Yun'an suspected that the magistrate was up to his old tricks again.
Tian Zheng said somewhat awkwardly: "I don't care what he's up to, as long as he doesn't delay paying wages."
Tian Zheng had a so-so impression of the new county magistrate.
However, Luo Yuan had a good impression of the new magistrate. Knowing that the new magistrate needed a carpenter, Luo Yuan recommended Tian Zheng to the magistrate. Tian Zheng originally didn't want to take the job, but even a hero can be brought down by a meager salary. The severance pay provided by the imperial court was limited, and Tian Zheng couldn't always rely on his former comrades in the army for support.
When Tian Zheng arrived, he found that the new county magistrate was a decent person, not arrogant at all, and generous with his money. The daily meals were also good; although there wasn't much meat or fish, the dishes were plentiful and filling.
In fact, the people who came to work at the county government office were all captivated by the food there, and the dishes served there became a topic of conversation in the village.
After several men with wives returned to the village, they asked their wives to cook the dishes according to the recipe. Although the dishes were not as good as those made by the skilled Yunniang, they still tasted quite good.
The two unmarried men were in a terrible predicament. When they got home, they could only eat dry bread. After eating good food, they lost their appetite for dry bread. Tian Zheng was not a picky eater at first, but after working in the county government for a while, he looked forward to lunch every day.
Ji Yun'an nodded and said, "Indeed, our county magistrate is very good at making the most of resources."
Lu Lin seemed to have recruited several new yamen runners. In addition to their patrol duties, these people were also assigned to other tasks by Lu Lin. Ji Yun'an felt that this was a misuse of public resources, but since he was paid by the county government, he couldn't say much.
In addition, Lu Lin only occasionally asked a few people to deliver goods, which was not frequent, so there was nothing he could do about it.
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