15 Sugar Water
◎A family like this is already considered wealthy in Xixiang.◎
As soon as the White Dew Festival passed, the temperature dropped immediately. The mountain breeze in Lingnan County was chilly, with a bit of the refreshing autumn air.
Ye Yunzhao had already made plans. These days, while every household was planting vegetables, she would take the opportunity to record the families in each village who had difficulty surviving the winter and take a look at the situation in the wheat fields.
Most people in the city also have fields in the countryside, but they are smaller. Every household opens a door for business, and there is rice in the backyard.
Ye Yunzhao planned to go to Xixiang first. Firstly, there were fewer people in Xixiang, and secondly, there were many poor families in Xixiang.
Along the way, she saw many people threshing rice with flails. Sun Ning did so much without saying a word. Ye Yunzhao was a little surprised.
The flail was convenient and labor-saving, and most importantly, there was no need to wait for each household to reach the paddy field. Paddy couldn't be delayed; if we waited another half decade and the autumn rains arrived, all the work of the year would be in vain.
Ye Yunzhao suddenly remembered that Sun Ning had not come to the government office to see him two days ago. He wondered if she had thought about the matter of the workshop clerk. Could it be that she was unwilling?
But Ye Yunzhao really couldn't think of any reason why he wouldn't want to do it.
She shook her head and said, "Forget it. I'll go find Sun Ning and ask about the situation when I'm free in a few days."
Do the most important thing today first.
"Who is it?" The people in the courtyard must have heard Ye Yunzhao knocking on the door and said, "County Magistrate Ye, you are here! Please come in quickly."
Ye Yunzhao waved his hand and asked, "Village Head, would you be able to take a walk around Xixiang with me?"
"It's convenient, it's convenient." Xixiang Lizheng's slightly loose front teeth were exposed when he smiled, which was very funny.
He asked, "County Magistrate Ye, is there something going on? If so, you can just have Liu Bantou inform me. Why bother making such a special trip?"
"Let me take a look at the wheat field." Ye Yunzhao said.
Xixiang Lizheng's expression changed slightly, but he just smiled and replied, "It's fine, it's fine."
Ye Yunzhao didn't notice his abnormality and asked, "Do you know which households in Xixiang have low yields in paddy fields and wheat fields?"
Lingnan County has a complex terrain, surrounded by layers of mountains, but there is no flat land in the middle.
The terrain in the middle is rugged. The high areas have good drainage, so people will plant winter wheat in the fall and harvest it in the spring of the following year. The lower areas are too moist and are flooded all year round. People plant in the early summer when there is plenty of rain, and now is the time to harvest.
"I know that. Does the county magistrate need it?" Xixiang Lizheng said hurriedly, "If the county magistrate needs it, I can write it down one by one on hemp paper. Wouldn't that be more convenient?"
"No need." Ye Yunzhao said, "I'll check every household. You just need to listen to whether what they say is true."
After she finished speaking, she strode forward, with Xixiangli following closely behind her.
"Erya's grandmother, what are you busy with at home?" The village head pushed the door open and walked in. Ye Yunzhao also knew the people in the courtyard.
"Auntie Wang, I'm busy." Ye Yunzhao said with a smile.
Aunt Wang, who was threshing rice in her yard, stopped when she heard the noise, quickly set the flail upright beside the wall, wiped her hands on her clothes, and said:
"Ah! Distinguished guests! County Magistrate, Village Head, why are you here?"
Before the two could speak, Aunt Wang hurriedly said, "Er Ya, quickly move the wooden stool out of the house!"
"County Magistrate, Village Head, please wait here for a moment. I'll go get you some water."
"Auntie Wang, there's no need..." Before Ye Yunzhao could finish her words, Auntie Wang disappeared from her sight like a gust of wind.
"Well, don't worry about it. Erya's grandmother is a very hospitable person." The headman looked accustomed to it and bent down to take the wooden stool that Erya brought.
Ye Yunzhao had no choice but to sit and wait for her.
In just a moment, Aunt Wang came out of the house like a gust of wind, holding two bowls of water in her hands. Ye Yunzhao took it and took a sip.
"Oh! It's sugar water!" the village head said in surprise.
Sugar is a precious commodity. Putting some sugar at the bottom of the bowl makes the mountain spring water sweet and cool, which is very thirst-quenching. Ordinary people cannot afford to drink it easily, let alone use it to entertain guests.
Erya on the side was blinking her big eyes with clear black and white at Ye Yunzhao.
No, he was looking at the pottery bowl in Ye Yunzhao's hand.
Ye Yunzhao beckoned at her, and the little girl walked aside obediently.
"Sister, I ate too much this morning and can't drink any more." Ye Yunzhao lowered his voice and said with a smile, "Er Ya, can you help Sister drink it?"
This was such a blessing from heaven, Erya nodded eagerly, took the ceramic bowl with great care, and licked it.
So sweet!
"It's really delicious." Erya said sweetly.
Ye Yunzhao gently touched her head, then turned to Aunt Wang and said, "Aunt Wang, how has your harvest been in previous years? Can you survive the winter smoothly?"
"The harvest is good, and surviving the winter is not a problem." Aunt Wang said after thinking for a moment.
Aunt Wang's husband died in military service in his early years, and her only son raised two sons alone.
The eldest son was named Wang Laiwang. When he was born, he had a huge black mole on his face. The villagers said that because the name was too big, he deserved to be called a bad name.
A humble name is easy to maintain.
Wang Laiwang was an acquaintance of Ye Yunzhao. It was Wang Laiwang who had made a bet with her before. He was not a bad person, but when the former county magistrate was in office, he often collected money in the name of taxation. Therefore, Wang Laiwang was very resistant to officials.
Erya and Erdan are his children. Wang Laiwang is a good farmer. He is tall and strong and does farm work very well. His wife Fangniang works in an embroidery workshop in the city, so he can take care of the family's food and drink.
When Aunt Wang gave birth to her youngest son, she followed the villagers' advice and named the unborn child Wang Xiaoliu. As expected, he was born with fair complexion and lovely appearance, but a little thin and timid in character. Three years ago, he married into the Dongxiang family and became a live-in son-in-law.
In the rare years with extreme weather, thanks to Wang Laiwang's ability and Fangniang's craftsmanship, Aunt Wang and her family managed to survive safely.
Such a family is considered a wealthy family in Xixiang.
Ye Yunzhao understood, and after chatting for a few words, he went to the next house with the village chief.
The whole morning passed, and the two of them only managed to visit twenty-three households. Four of them were extremely poor. They didn't need to say anything. Ye Yunzhao could guess a thing or two just by looking at the courtyard walls and houses.
"Village head, I think it's getting late. You should go home and rest first. We'll go again in the afternoon." Ye Yunzhao said a little tiredly. The workload of this investigation was indeed not small. "Thank you for your hard work, Village Head."
The village head wiped the sweat off his face with his hands, panting heavily, and could only smile: "No...it's not hard...County Magistrate...you can wait here...in the afternoon...I...will be fine."
Ye Yunzhao gave him an apologetic smile. She could see that the village head was exhausted. He was just a grassroots worker, and it had been like this since ancient times.
Enjoying the emperor's salary, if you are lazy for a moment, the people will starve to death or freeze to death...
Ye Yunzhao really couldn't bear to think about it. Although she worked at the grassroots level in a poor county in her previous life, the country was rich and the people were strong at that time, and the grain production in the poor county had never been so low that the people could not afford to eat.
You can imagine how difficult the situation is and how arduous the task is.
"I wouldn't dare sow with a three-legged plow."
Suddenly a voice disturbed Ye Yunzhao's thoughts. She tiptoed to the side and listened carefully with bated breath.
Another voice rang out, "Oh, me too! Although the plow cart the county magistrate ordered us to use is fast at digging ditches, wheat seeds are so expensive! I really don't feel comfortable using that thing to sow seeds."
"Not to mention anything else, using a three-legged plow to sow wheat wastes a lot of seeds!"
"really?"
"Of course it's true! Gouzi's parents used a plow to sow seeds. The wheat seeds they had last year were barely enough, and now they don't even have hard wheat rice to eat..."
"Oh my God, it's a good thing that we sow wheat seeds by hand, otherwise there wouldn't be enough!"
The two people's voices became quieter and quieter, and Ye Yunzhao walked out from behind the earth wall.
No wonder she saw many people working in the fields on her way today. At that time, she thought they were applying fertilizer, but now she thinks they were sowing wheat seeds by hand.
But the hopper of the three-legged plow was obviously not big, so how could it waste wheat seeds? Ye Yunzhao was puzzled.
What puzzled her even more was that no one mentioned this matter when she went to Aunt Wang's house this morning, and no one mentioned it when she went to the home of Gou Zi's parents that the two people had just mentioned.
Ye Yunzhao raised his hands and rubbed his face. Could it be that he had a ferocious face that scared them so much that they dared not tell the truth?
She sighed deeply. She had thought everything would go smoothly, but unexpectedly, everyone had their own setbacks. She still had to discuss the plowing cart with Sun Ning. After all, she was a carpenter and her practical skills in farm work were much better than hers.
At the moment, Ye Yunzhao plans to go to Wang Cuihua's house first. Wang Cuihua is cheerful and generous, and considering what happened to Sun Da before, he thinks she will tell the truth.
Ye Yunzhao did what he said and walked through many twists and turns until he arrived at Wang Cuihua's house.
Wisps of smoke rose from the kitchen in the yard. Ye Yunzhao realized belatedly that it was lunchtime for every household and it would be inappropriate to visit at this time.
Ye Yunzhao was about to hide for a while when a familiar voice suddenly sounded behind him.
"County Magistrate Ye? Why are you outside my house? Are you looking for Cuihua?"
Ye Yunzhao looked in the direction of the voice and saw Liu Dazhuang carrying a bamboo basket of wild fruits, and asked curiously.
"I... I'm just passing by..." Ye Yunzhao felt as embarrassed as if he had been caught doing something bad by an acquaintance. He smiled awkwardly and laughed, "I'll be leaving first, Brother Dazhuang..."
Ye Yunzhao slipped his feet and was about to run away, but the closed courtyard door suddenly opened. Wang Cuihua stuck her head out and said in surprise:
"County Magistrate Ye! Come in quickly!"
As she said that, she reached out to pull him, but Ye Yunzhao couldn't break free and just walked in.
Since we are here, we should make the best of it. Ye Yunzhao said first, "Madam Cuihua, I am sorry for being rude today. I just have something important to ask you."
"Just speak up, County Magistrate Ye. If I, Wang Cuihua, know anything, I will tell you everything I know!" Wang Cuihua patted her chest and promised confidently.
After she finished speaking, she tilted her head and smiled at Liu Dazhuang, "You idiot, quickly bring the wild grapes in the bamboo basket over here so that County Magistrate Ye can have a taste!"
Ye Yunzhao quickly waved his hand to refuse and went straight to the point, saying, "Madam Cuihua, do you know how many households in Xixiang sow wheat seeds by hand?"
The smile on Wang Cuihua's face seemed to freeze. She didn't answer directly, but forced a smile. She took the wild grapes handed to her by Liu Dazhuang and said, "County Magistrate Ye...please try some."
Ye Yunzhao could naturally see her embarrassment: "Madam Cuihua, this matter concerns autumn sowing. If there is any problem with the three-legged plow, please tell me so that I can discuss with Carpenter Sun how to improve it."
Wang Cuihua was no fool and knew Ye Yunzhao's character. After hesitating for a moment, as if afraid that Ye Yunzhao would be upset, she whispered, "There should be... a hundred or eighty households..."
"What!" Ye Yunzhao was suddenly startled.
【Author’s words】
My few readers, I will update at 11 o'clock tonight. I am very sorry. QaQ. I was a bit busy in the three-dimensional world during the day. T_T
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to all of you in advance~
Have you eaten mooncakes?
You must read the next chapter, babies.
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