Chapter Forty: County Magistrate
Xiong Zixiang seemed to be busier in the yamen than before.
It wasn't that there were more cases, but rather that he was frequently summoned to the back room by County Magistrate Zhou Wenqing for questioning.
As a constable, he often made him do the work of a guard.
Magistrate Zhou was transferred to this county from above in the autumn of the year before last. He was not old, about thirty years old, with a small tuft of beard and a thin face.
Upon his arrival, he immediately focused on reforming officialdom, clearing up backlogged cases, and paying close attention to the local people's livelihood.
Xiong Zixiang was known for his down-to-earth approach to handling cases, his familiarity with local customs and traditions, and his exceptional reliability. This made him even more appealing to Magistrate Zhou after the last escort mission to the prefectural city.
That afternoon, there was nothing of great importance going on at the yamen.
After Zhou Wenqing finished processing several official documents, he picked up his teacup, looked at Xiong Zixiang who was standing by with his hands at his sides, and casually asked a question.
"Officer Xiong, I heard that your wife has set up a soup stall at the dock? Business seems to be quite good?"
Xiong Zixiang was taken aback when the magistrate asked this question, and then answered respectfully.
"Yes, sir. My wife and family do some small business. When there's no harvest from the fields, they sell tripe and lung soup and some braised pig's head meat jelly that we've recently come up with. Thanks to the help of our neighbors, we manage to make a living."
"Oh? Braised pig's head meat jelly?"
Zhou Wenqing seemed intrigued and put down his teacup: "This is a novel way to eat it. Pig's head meat is not easy to cook. Slicing it is laborious, and stewing it is too greasy. Making it into jelly... is a clever and economical method. You are very resourceful, Madam."
"You flatter me, sir. My wife is just willing to put in the hard work to study and figure it out."
"A strength lies in being willing to put in the effort to figure things out."
Zhou Wenqing nodded slightly, his gaze falling on a file on the table concerning local market taxes. After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly spoke.
"Officer Xiong, I wish to visit the docks and markets to observe the local customs. Since you are familiar with them, please come with me."
"Yes, sir!" Xiong Zixiang replied immediately.
Zhou Wenqing changed into a slightly worn blue cloth robe and took only Xiong Zixiang and a clever young clerk with him. The three of them walked and mingled in the crowd until they arrived at the bustling dock.
As evening approached, it was the time for people to finish work and head to the evening market, and the streets were bustling with people.
Zhou Wenqing observed the vendors on both sides, inquired about the prices, and occasionally stopped to chat with the farmers selling vegetables and the peddlers carrying loads.
Xiong Zixiang followed behind, keeping an eye on the surroundings and occasionally adding some local information in a low voice.
Before I knew it, I had walked to the vicinity of the tripe and lung soup stall.
From afar, one could smell that familiar blend of aromas, the rich and savory flavor of the tripe and lung soup.
There was still a fairly long queue in front of the stall.
Zhang Liuyi stood at the front, wearing a clean apron with the sleeves neatly rolled up to her elbows, revealing half of her strong forearm.
She was busy cutting and serving soup to the guests.
She handles the money, gives change, and hands over items all in one smooth motion, while clearly responding to the customer's requests.
"Brother Li, please add extra chili to your soup. Foreman Wang, please add an extra portion of pork tripe and lungs, be careful not to burn your mouth."
He moved swiftly, spoke clearly, and wore a cheerful smile that showed he was busy but not annoyed, with fine beads of sweat on his forehead that he didn't bother to wipe away.
Zhou Wenqing stopped a few steps away and watched quietly.
He had seen many ordinary women, some shrewish and calculating, some shrewish and unreasonable, some timid and cowardly. But few were like Zhang Liu, who managed her hard work with such openness and efficiency, and even seemed to enjoy it.
Nodding, I understand why business is so good.
"Business is very good," Zhou Wenqing said to Xiong Zixiang in a low voice, his tone neither praising nor criticizing.
Xiong Zixiang watched his wife's busy figure and only responded softly, "Yes, sir."
A strange tension welled up inside him; he wondered what the magistrate meant.
Zhang Liuyi had just finished serving soup to a guest when she looked up and saw a stranger standing outside the crowd next to her husband, dressed in a blue cloth robe and with a refined demeanor.
She paused for a moment, then saw Xiong Zixiang nod slightly in acknowledgment, and a guess formed in her mind.
Her smile remained unchanged, but her hands moved even faster as she quickly served the customers in front of her. Then, she called out to the people in line, "Please wait a moment, folks. I have some family business to attend to, I'll be right back!"
After saying that, he took off his apron and handed it to Xiong Zijuan next to him. He whispered a few more instructions and then quickly walked around the stall to Xiong Zixiang and the others.
"Brother Zixiang, who is this...?" She looked at Zhou Wenqing with a questioning gaze.
"This is Mr. Zhou," Xiong Zixiang introduced cautiously, without revealing his identity.
"Hello, Mr. Zhou."
Zhang Liuyi readily complied and performed a polite greeting: "May I ask what advice you have for me, sir? Is this stall blocking the way? Or is the smell of the soup offending you?"
She spoke quickly, with the directness and a touch of probing characteristic of women from the streets.
Looking at the poised and elegant woman before him, Zhou Wenqing felt a slight unease from the slight sense of alienation he had felt due to her association with merchants.
He waved his hand and said in a gentle tone, "I have no advice to offer. I was just passing by and saw that your stall was doing brisk business and that you were very skilled. I was quite intrigued and stopped to take a look. It must be hard for you to run this business, so please take good care of it."
His gaze swept over the steaming pot of soup on the stall.
"You flatter me, sir."
Zhang Yi's smile was even more genuine:
"It's just a simple, clumsy way to make a living. If you don't mind, sir, why don't you try some at the stall? It's all freshly made today, and it's very clean!" she said, turning to get some soup.
"No need, madam."
Zhou Wenqing quickly stopped them, saying, "I appreciate the thought, but you can continue with your work."
After saying that, he waved to Xiong Zixiang, telling him he didn't need to follow anymore, and then turned around with his clerk and continued walking forward.
Zhang watched them walk away before letting out a sigh of relief. He then turned back to Xiong Zixiang, who was still on duty, and whispered something.
"This Mr. Zhou doesn't look like an ordinary person. Is he from the government office?"
Xiong Zixiang nodded and said in a low voice, "He is an important person. He praised you for being efficient in your work."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Liuyi's eyes crinkled into a smile: "Then I'll get back to work."
She shook her hands, quickly tied on her apron, and threw herself back into her busy stall: "Brother Zixiang, hurry up and help me greet the customers, there's a line behind us."
Xiong Zixiang watched her back as she instantly switched back to boss mode, smiled helplessly yet indulgently, and rolled up his sleeves to help collect money and hand out bowls.
The days slipped by amidst the bubbling of the braising pot and the hustle and bustle of the dock.
Zhang Yi's meat jelly business has become increasingly stable, even attracting some vendors from neighboring towns to inquire about wholesale availability.
She thought to herself that once the shed for preparing materials was finished, perhaps she could really expand the scale.
Because of Magistrate Zhou's appreciation, Xiong Zixiang was occasionally assigned to handle more important tasks or to accompany the magistrate on field trips.
He was a man of few words, but his observations were meticulous and his reports were clear and organized. Zhou Wenqing found him increasingly useful, and he began to handle and organize some non-confidential files and documents.
Xiong Zixiang knew that this was an opportunity, but also a responsibility, so he became even more cautious and diligent in his work.
That evening, leaden-gray clouds piled up on the horizon.
Zhang Liuyi and Xiong Zijuan had just packed up their stall when large raindrops began to pelt down, instantly forming a continuous line.
The two quickly covered the things tightly, pushed the cart, and braved the rain, trudging home.
Back at the Zhang family's courtyard, both of them were soaked to the bone.
Li Xiulan quickly grabbed a dry cloth: "Oh, hurry up and wipe it off. This rain came so suddenly. Did your things get wet?"
"That's right, the stuff is fine, but we were almost soaked to the bone," Xiong Zijuan replied while drying her hair.
Zhang Liuyi wiped his face, and looking at the increasingly heavy rain outside the door, his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
This rain came at a rather inopportune time.
She recalled that when she went to the neighboring village to buy pigs a couple of days ago, she overheard the old man who raised the pigs muttering that there had been a lot of rain recently, making the pigsty damp, and that two of the piglets looked listless, probably because they had caught a cold.
I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but now, looking at this continuous rain, I feel a little uneasy.
"Sister-in-law, have you finalized the deal with the pigs we're buying tomorrow?" Zhang asked.
"It's settled then, it's still the Su family."
Li Xiulan replied, "However, he said it's been raining heavily these past two days, and the roads are difficult to travel, so it might be delivered a little later."
"Okay, later is fine." Zhang nodded, suppressing the strange feeling in his heart.
The meat jelly business is booming right now, so we can't afford to run out of raw materials.
The rain fell all night and didn't stop until the next morning, only turning into a light drizzle.
Zhang Dashan and Zhang Liuji braved the rain to bring back the pig's head meat from the neighboring village, which didn't delay their business.
The meat looked a little darker than usual, and as Zhang Dashan was deboning it, he muttered, "This skin feels a bit sticky? Has it been sitting out for too long?"
Zhang Liuli leaned closer to take a closer look and smell it. Apart from a faint meaty smell, he couldn't detect any other unusual odors.
"It doesn't smell bad, maybe it's just stuffy from the rain? Washing it a few more times should help, and blanching it for a longer time will remove the stickiness," she decided decisively, and asked Li Xiulan to add more ginger and wine to remove the fishy smell.
The braising pot started bubbling again, and the rich aroma temporarily dispelled the damp chill of the rainy day and the lingering worries in my heart.
Xiong Zixiang was off work today, but he got up early to help chop firewood and then went to the kitchen to help Zhang keep an eye on the fire.
"This rain is really annoying." Xiong Zixiang added a piece of firewood to the stove, the firelight illuminating his composed profile.
"You bet it is, everything is wet."
Zhang Liuyi stirred the meat in the pot, looking out at the gray sky: "Brother Xiang, do you think... if this rain keeps going like this, the stall might not be able to open?"
She finally voiced her concerns.
Xiong Zixiang paused for a moment.
He has had similar concerns recently.
He reached out and gently patted Zhang Xiaoyi's shoulder, then patted her back reassuringly.
"Don't overthink it. It's normal for this place to have a lot of rain. Just make sure you have enough ingredients, clean the meat thoroughly, and cook it properly. Everything will be fine. Even if the sky falls, I'll still be here for you."
Zhang Liuyi felt the warmth from his palm, and the unease in her heart gradually subsided.
She turned to him and gave him a sweet smile: "Yes, I feel quite at ease with you here. Come on, help me taste this soup to see if it's salty enough?"
She scooped up a small spoonful of thick broth, blew on it, and brought it to Xiong Zixiang's lips.
Xiong Zixiang took a sip from her hand, savored it carefully, and nodded: "Mmm, just right, very fragrant!"
Could it be that pig from Yangyang's shop...? I hope the business I'm keeping an eye on doesn't run into trouble.
Could there be bird flu, swine fever, or something similar?
It's possible, but probably not that bad.
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