128 Like, really like
"So, we...we're really not suitable..."
Chen Jingshan didn't expect her to ask this. Looking at the woman in front of him who had no joy on her face, his heart suddenly trembled, as if he had guessed the answer.
He didn't dare to answer. He just took the wooden figurine he had spent three or four days carving and said dejectedly, "Don't you like this?"
Ye Yunzhao turned her face to the side. It was not until this moment that she realized that she seemed to have fallen in love with him a long time ago. It was clearly her own choice, but looking at Chen Jingshan's helpless look with his eyes downcast, and the marks left by his fingertips, she couldn't help but soften her heart.
Like it, very much.
But she hesitated again and again, and only said, "You carved it very well."
Chen Jingshan looked at the little figure in his hand, stroking her face with his thumb, a bitter smile hanging on his lips: "It's well carved, but Ah Zhao doesn't like it."
Could a modern soul truly fall in love with an ancient person without reservation? Ye Yunzhao didn't know. She didn't know how to begin. Having been exposed to modern thinking, she couldn't accept her partner falling in love with someone else. Furthermore, such absurdity was commonplace here, and she didn't want to put herself in that situation.
Ye Yunzhao sighed, trying his best to appear calm, but his tone was filled with embarrassment: "Chen Jingshan, you are a very good person, but we are not a good match. I..."
She hesitated for a moment before gazing at the drifting clouds in the distance and speaking, "Wild geese are loyal birds. Even if their mate dies, the other won't seek a new mate. Perhaps you won't believe this, but in my hometown, people, like geese, are always together for life, loyal to each other and unwavering. But... but here, it's not like that. Marrying a wife and taking concubines is commonplace."
At this point, Ye Yunzhao couldn't help but sigh and said bluntly: "I can't share my husband with others. If you don't understand, you will think I am just a jealous person. So, we...we are really not suitable..."
Her lips trembled, as if she couldn't bear it. She was about to speak, but Chen Jingshan smiled, and the despair on his face disappeared. Looking at her, his nose felt sore. He grabbed her hand and said in a strong voice: "A Zhao, I will never take a concubine, and I will never fall in love with anyone else. In this life, I only want to hold your hand until we grow old."
Ye Yunzhao broke free from his restraints and looked at him with a complicated expression. At this moment, she was willing to believe that the man in front of her was truly in love with her, but could the promise really be trusted?
"Chen Jingshan, calm down. Can you guarantee that these words will still count ten years from now? You can't!"
"I can!"
She suddenly turned her back to him. The feeling of pushing him away was not pleasant. Her cheeks were wet. Ye Yunzhao himself was a little surprised that she actually cried.
"Chen Jingshan, let's leave this matter at that. I'll send someone to return the things from the county government office." She tried her best to steady her breathing, her voice slightly choked with sobs.
Chen Jingshan quickly stepped forward, trying to grab her hand, but it was all in vain. He watched her back gradually disappear, his body stiff. "A Zhao, let alone ten years, even if it's twenty, fifty, or a hundred years... my feelings will not change, never."
The wood carving in their hands was wet with tears, as if both of them were crying.
Chen Jingshan looked toward the distant mountains, clenched his hands, and tried to calm himself. He considered himself not the type to back down when faced with difficulties. He needed to think carefully about how he could convince her that he would live up to her expectations.
*
Ye Yunzhao returned to the county government office with a bitter face. She had never realized before that Chen Jingshan meant so much to her. She didn't know why she couldn't help but shed tears from time to time along the way.
After wiping it carefully outside the county government office, she took a deep breath, put on a clear smile, and walked into the county government office as if she was relaxed, but happened to run into Liu Mazi.
"Eh?" Liu Mazi saw that her face looked a little bad and asked in surprise, "County Magistrate Ye, what's wrong with you? Are you too busy these past few days and tired?"
Ye Yunzhao waved his hands and coughed a few times deliberately: "It's okay, it might be because of the cold wind just now."
"That's fine." Liu Mazi nodded. "Hu Er came to see you just now. He said he had something important to tell you. Seeing that you hadn't come back yet, he just left."
She was stunned, remembering what she had asked Hu Er to do two days ago: "Okay, I'll go find him."
As Liu Mazi waved goodbye to her, he reminded her, "Be careful on your journey, County Magistrate Ye. Get some rest. The people of Lingnan County can't do without you!"
Hearing this, Ye Yunzhao smiled at him and hurried to the blacksmith shop.
When they first arrived at the blacksmith shop, Hu Er was working on the ironwork, and Sun Ning was standing by, waiting boredly. Suddenly, she saw Ye Yunzhao, and her face immediately lit up. She called out to her, "County Magistrate Ye, why are you here? What a coincidence!"
"I asked him to make something for me." Ye Yunzhao said with a smile, "What is this?"
Sun Ning pursed his lips at Hu Er and said, "The kitchen knife at home is not enough. I'll make one."
She nodded in understanding. Hu Er said in between forging iron: "County Magistrate Ye, her kitchen knife is almost done. Please sit down and wait for a while."
Ye Yunzhao nodded, turned towards Sun Ning, and said with a smile: "I forgot to ask you a few days ago, why did you secretly go to the county school to be a teacher? I didn't even know."
She smiled embarrassedly. There was really no need to discuss this little thing with her.
But after Sun Ning pondered for a moment, he asked tentatively, "County Magistrate Ye, your previous statement about me...working as a clerk in the county government office...still stands?"
When she brought up this matter out of the blue, Ye Yunzhao didn't think about the job as a clerk in the workshop for a moment. After she recalled it carefully, she remembered that she had been asked several times last year to work as a clerk in the county government office.
The primary role of a workshop clerk was to assist county officials in developing materials and supplies. To put it bluntly, if Ye Yunzhao had a sketch for a new tool, the workshop clerk would be responsible for turning it into a physical object. This position was practically tailor-made for Sun Ning; her craftsmanship couldn't be better!
She quickly replied, "Of course it counts! Are you willing to come?"
Sun Ning didn't expect that she would agree after such a long time, and immediately nodded like a chicken pecking at rice: "Yes!"
"But..." Ye Yunzhao changed his tone, feeling rather ashamed. "The clerks were recruited by the county government. Unlike commissioned clerks, the monthly salary of recruited clerks is paid by the county government..."
She sighed softly, "You know the county government doesn't have much spare money, so I'm afraid the monthly salary isn't that much. If you mind, then..."
Before she could finish her words, Sun Ning smiled and replied sincerely, "I'm not afraid of being short of money, County Magistrate Ye. Don't worry, I will do my best!"
Seeing her so considerate, Ye Yunzhao was filled with emotion. Apart from anything else, the women in Lingnan County were all incredibly kind. She felt sorry for them, so Ye Yunzhao made up her mind:
"Don't worry, once I'm done with the things in Xixiang these few days, I'll definitely go find the Yuezhou prefect and ask him to allocate funds to Lingnan County to give you, Master Wanjun, Xueniang... all of us a raise!"
"Okay!" Sun Ning was a little curious, "But what do you mean by 'salary increase'?"
Ye Yunzhao was stunned for a moment, then raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh! It means a salary increase."
"I see……"
Seeing her sudden realization, before she could speak, Hu Er said, "Madam Sun, the kitchen knife is ready. Wait until it cools down, and then I'll sharpen it for you."
As soon as he finished speaking, he put the red kitchen knife into the water, and it kept emitting white smoke and making a sizzling sound.
Then he took the branding iron from the rack behind him. Ye Yunzhao stood up suddenly, looking very expectant: "How is it? Is it done?"
Hu Er handed her the item and replied unconvincingly, "It doesn't seem to be successful... County Magistrate Ye, take a look for yourself."
What was handed over were two soldering irons!
She was quite surprised and carefully compared the two. The iron on the left was very thin, and she could make out the trademark she had been dreaming of, but the font and the corners of the peaks were a bit stiff, which was obvious without printing. The iron on the right was slightly thicker, and it was actually covered with fine hammer marks. The edges of the font and the pattern showed traces of hammer marks. Although it was not as stiff as the one on the left, she didn't know how it would turn out when printed.
Ye Yunzhao signaled Hu Er to put the soldering iron on the fire to see the effect.
Sun Ning looked curiously: "What is this?"
She took the slightly warm iron and pressed it hard against the dry bamboo leaves. She found a moment to reply, "This is the trademark my brother Wanjun and I designed for the Xixiang weaving fungus—"
As Ye Yunzhao spoke, he released his hand that was pressing the soldering iron and looked at it expectantly. As expected, the handwriting on the picture without hammer marks looked unnatural.
Sun Ning, however, looked around with great interest. "So the last time you went to the county government office to look for Wanjun, was it because of this?"
Ye Yunzhao pressed the hammer iron downwards and said, "That's right."
The hammer pattern trademark had just come out of the oven, and the words and pictures were outlined with hammer patterns, which made it look very special. The three of them were very surprised, especially Ye Yunzhao. She put aside her heartbreak and pain just now, and looked at the printed dried bamboo leaves, smiling continuously: "It looks so beautiful!"
She felt embarrassed to let Hu Er work for nothing. Although she was not very satisfied with the previous soldering iron, she still counted out dozens of copper coins from her pocket and poured them into Hu Er's hands: "Thank you! Thank you! I want both of them!"
Ye Yunzhao hurried out the door with the branding iron, leaving behind a few words before disappearing like the wind: "Sun Ning, if you have time these days, come to the county government office to find me. I'll sign a contract for you!"
She rushed into the county office with the things and went straight to the place where the woven hat mushrooms were stored. Seven or eight aunts who came to pack the woven hat mushrooms were there, and they watched Ye Yunzhao move a small clay stove out of the kitchen.
The small clay stove was usually used for making fire or roasting wild oranges. Ye Yunzhao stuffed some twigs and dry firewood into it, lit the fire with a fire starter, and then blew and fanned it for a while.
A peasant woman asked curiously, "County Magistrate Ye, what are you doing? It's not cold at the moment."
Ye Yunzhao smiled cunningly and said in a pretentious manner, "It's a secret."
As soon as the secret was mentioned, everyone became interested. Their hands and mouths kept moving, and they asked in unison, "What's the secret? Tell us."
"That's right, County Magistrate Ye, don't worry, we will never say anything nonsense."
She put one end of the soldering iron into the small clay stove. After it was heated, she picked up the gray-green "explosive pack" and pressed the soldering iron upwards.
When you take it away, you will see a dark brown mark with a mountain on top and some unfamiliar words on the bottom.
Little Flower Lady pointed at the woven hat fungus in Ye Yunzhao's hand in amazement: "Yeah!? Look, there are pictures on it! And words!"
Everyone was amazed, and someone asked, "County Magistrate Ye, what is this word?"
Ye Yunzhao looked at them with a smile and explained, "This is our signature dish, Lingnan Mushroom Village!"
Before she could finish her words, someone suddenly pointed at the thing in her hand and her face changed. Ye Yunzhao quickly lowered her head to see that the dried bamboo leaf silk used as a lace was actually melted by the temperature of the soldering iron!
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