67 Chapter 67
◎Market◎
When he arrived at the county government office and looked at the building in front of him, Jiang Jingyun breathed a sigh of relief imperceptibly.
Although it is still old and dilapidated, it is a blue brick and tile house after all.
He is content.
The county government office is not big. It is a square building facing south. The front is the office area and the back is the residence of the magistrate and his family.
County Magistrate Huang led everyone to the backyard and said, "After the house was vacated last month, I have already ordered people to clean it up. You can move in directly."
Not sure if the house had been specially renovated before or if someone had lived there before, but it looked better than expected. Jiang Jingyun looked around and nodded with satisfaction.
Seeing that he was satisfied, County Magistrate Huang finally felt relieved.
Although the new magistrate looked young and always had a gentle and approachable smile on his face, his restrained aura should not be underestimated.
After successfully completing the welcoming work, County Magistrate Huang wiped the sweat from his forehead and said respectfully: "Then please settle down first, my lord. I will not disturb you any further."
"Okay, thank you for today." Jiang Jingyun nodded and didn't stay any longer. In fact, he was already extremely tired. The only reason he could stand here and chat and laugh with others calmly was because he had to maintain his little face in front of outsiders.
"Your Excellency is too polite. I will take my leave now."
"Wait," Jiang Jingyun suddenly remembered something, stopped everyone and gave orders directly, "I will officially start my duty in three days, and I will need to hand over my work to you then. I'd also like to trouble you to notify the rest of the people to be present." As for these two days, he would first sort out his own affairs to give himself time to catch his breath.
"Yes." County Magistrate Huang accepted the order and withdrew.
Seeing the hunchbacked old man staggering away, Jiang Jingyun sighed quietly: "In the cold winter, he still has to get up and work at his age." He hoped that the new county magistrate would take over soon. He really couldn't bear to order this fifty-year-old man around. It would make him feel too guilty.
All outsiders left, leaving only the Jiang family members in the yard.
Jiang Qingrong came over quietly and whispered to her eldest brother: "Brother, it's so poor here."
When she was in the car, she secretly lifted the curtain and looked outside. In this winter when even cotton clothes were still freezing cold, the pedestrians on the road were only wearing a few layers of clothes, shivering with cold, and their faces were haggard, and it was obvious that they had been hungry for a long time.
"Is it because the former officials were corrupt and committed injustice that the people have to live such a hard life?" When I was in Qing County, no matter how poor a family was in the village, as long as they worked diligently and steadily on the farm, they would not go hungry. Why is it so poor here?
Jiang Jingyun did not answer directly, but asked: "Then do you think that the county magistrate just now is a corrupt official who extorts money from the people?"
"Not like it." Jiang Qingrong shook her head. Although the county magistrate had a thin face and looked old, his eyes were clear. Moreover, she looked carefully and found that the clothes he wore had several patches. He did not look like a greedy person at all.
But if it’s not corrupt officials exploiting and oppressing the people, then why?
Jiang Qingrong thought hard but couldn't figure it out, so she looked at her elder brother for help, just for an answer.
Jiang Jingyun smiled and touched her head, patiently explaining: "In this world, there are many things: the right time, the right place, and the right people. If it is not caused by human factors, then the problem may be due to the right time and the right place. However, 'listen to both sides and you will be enlightened, but only believe in one side and you will be confused'. We need to investigate the specific situation in person before we can come to a conclusion."
"It's so complicated," Jiang Qingrong frowned. Although she only understood half of it, she looked at Jiang Jingyun with some worry when she heard that being an official seemed to involve fighting against heaven and earth. "Won't it be very hard for Brother in the future?"
"Yes, hard times are waiting for us." Jiang Jingyun felt melancholy when he thought about the happy days of fishing that were gone forever. He pretended to be pitiful and said, "Maybe in the future, big brother will need my help. You can't refuse then."
"No problem, leave it to me." If the elder brother asks for something, the younger sister will do her best to help.
Seeing the little girl puffing out her chest with pride and a look of pride, Jiang Jingyun couldn't help but laugh and said, "Okay, we've almost moved everything. Go pick a room you like, or your third brother will take the best one."
"Third brother won't do that. He is not like the overbearing second brother who only likes to bully others." Having said that, she still obediently went to choose a room.
After Xiaomei left, Xiao Muyan came over and asked him, "The room has been cleaned up. Do you want to eat something first, or do you want to rest for a while?"
"I have no appetite. I want to lie down for a while." When there was no one around, Jiang Jingyun immediately put down his forced smile, looked listless, and leaned on Xiao Muyan's shoulder and acted like a spoiled child. "Xiao Muyan, I feel uncomfortable."
"Where do you feel uncomfortable?" Xiao Muyan touched his forehead and found it was slightly hot. He might have caught a cold. He said worriedly, "I'll go get a doctor to check you out later."
"No, the medicine is too bitter, I don't want to drink it." When he heard that he wanted to see a Chinese doctor, his first reaction was to frown and refuse.
Xiao Muyan always listened to him, but he never gave in on this point. "No, if you are sick, you have to take medicine. What if you delay it for too long and the condition gets worse? You might even need an injection. You are afraid of the bitterness of the medicine, but are you not afraid of the pain?"
"Even if you don't take the medicine, you'll be fine in a few days," Jiang Jingyun was still fighting back, shaking Xiao Muyan's sleeve pitifully, "If you're still not fine by then, can I take the medicine again?"
"No," Xiao Muyan remained unmoved by his coquettish behavior, "Take the medicine and you'll be fine tomorrow."
"Hmph, I'll hate you for a quarter of an hour." Seeing that playing tricks was useless, Jiang Jingyun threw his sleeves in angrily and turned into the room.
Seeing that the man was starting to act out, Xiao Muyan did not compromise at all. He went into the room, tucked in the quilt for him, and then went out to get a doctor.
In the end, Jiang Jingyun couldn't escape. With a bitter face, he drank a stomachful of Chinese medicine.
Fortunately, the medicine is effective.
Two days later, Jiang Jingyun, who was fully revived and alive again, looked at the empty house and waved his hand, "Let's go out for a walk and buy some things. Is there anything you want?"
"Brother, my room is still missing a dressing table!" The younger sister responded first.
"purchase!"
"Brother, I want a desk." The third brother followed closely behind.
"Buy them all!" Jiang Jingyun agreed generously, and then looked at Xiao Muyan, who was in charge of the family's finances, "Take the money and let's go."
"Okay." Xiao Muyan responded lovingly.
The four of them did not let servants follow them. They wore ordinary cotton shirts and went out directly like ordinary people.
They first found a nearby carpenter's shop and ordered the furniture they needed for the home, and then the four of them headed towards the market.
Maybe it was because the weather was too cold, there were not many pedestrians on the street, and the market was very deserted, with only a few stalls scattered around.
As they were wandering aimlessly, Jiang Xiaomei suddenly grabbed Jiang Jingyun's sleeve and exclaimed, "Brother, look over there, someone is selling bugs! A basket full of bugs!"
Following the sound, I saw, wow, it was indeed a huge basket!
However, "It's not a bug, it should be a local specialty called 'earth shoots'."
"Is it edible?" The younger sister immediately grasped the point of the question and looked doubtful, "Can it be delicious?"
"I don't know," Jiang Jingyun smiled. He had only seen it on the Internet in the collection of local delicacies, but had never eaten it. He was eager to try it. "Why don't we buy some and try it back?"
“Oh, no,” the little sister said with disgust, “I think it must not taste good.” Otherwise, why would no one buy it.
"In the past, our family was so poor that we couldn't afford meat, but you ate snails one by one, and they were delicious, right?"
"Snail is not a bug." The two have nothing in common based on their appearance alone.
"It's okay. The weirder the appearance, the better I like the taste." Jiang Jingyun was very interested and determined to buy it. He came forward and asked, "Brother, how much is the earthworm?"
"Twenty cents a pound."
"So expensive!" Jiang Qingrong exclaimed. The price is almost as high as that of meat. No wonder no one buys it after it has been put here for a long time.
"You may not know, but earthworms usually hide underground and are very hard to find," he said, fearing that the business would be lost. He hurriedly explained, "For the ones you see, it would take our whole village three days to collect enough to fill a basket."
The young man was probably a nearby fisherman. His dark face was red from the cold wind, he was only wearing two layers of clothing, his fingers were covered with cracks from frostbite, and there was residual mud and sand in the gaps between his nails. It was obvious that he had been working at the seaside all year round.
Jiang Jingyun asked him: "Do you only make a living by fishing? Don't you grow crops?"
"We do grow crops, but our village is by the sea and most of it is tidal flats, so each family doesn't get much land to grow crops." Although he didn't know why he was asked this, he still answered honestly to keep the only customer.
"You live by the sea, but you still can't get enough food? Could it be that the officials in this county are corrupt and their heavy taxes are making life miserable for the people?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?!" Seeing him slandering the old magistrate, the young man couldn't take care of his business anymore and glared at Jiang Jingyun fiercely, "The magistrate loves the people like his own children and is the most compassionate to the people."
"Then why do you look naked and hungry?" You can't just not like eating fish so you would rather starve.
"In order to prevent the Japanese pirates from sneaking in, the court ordered a ban on fishing at sea." But in order to survive, the people would secretly fish near the coast, and the old magistrate turned a blind eye to this. But even so, after deducting taxes, the fishermen did not get much fish, and coupled with the scarcity of land, the people could not get enough food.
After Jiang Jingyun understood clearly, he looked at the young man with an apologetic face, "I'm sorry, I'm new here and don't know the situation, so my words may be offensive."
"Forget it." This man was dressed in fine gold and looked like someone that ordinary people would not offend, but he still couldn't help but say, "But our county magistrate is really a good person, so don't say nonsense again in the future."
"Okay," Jiang Jingyun agreed, pointing to the basket of bamboo shoots on the ground, "No matter how many there are, I want them all."
"You want it all?!" The young man's eyes widened in disbelief. He thought the deal would fail, but he didn't expect the other party to be so generous and buy it all for him right away.
"Well," Jiang Jingyun nodded, "Why don't you sell the basket together so I can carry it back."
"Okay." The young man handed over the bamboo basket and said with a silly smile, "There are a total of eight and a half pounds in it. I'll give it to you for free." Anyway, it was just an ordinary bamboo basket and was not worth any money at all.
Xiao Muyan gave him 180 coins, picked up the bamboo basket and asked, "Do you want to continue shopping?"
Jiang Jingyun looked down at what he was holding and asked, "Is it heavy?"
Xiao Muyan shook his head. This amount of weight was nothing to him.
"Hey, let's walk around for a while longer." He wanted to find a few more locals to ask about the local situation, and take a look to see if he could come across any other rare things.
"good."
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