54 That Knife Again
◎What about the people of Dongxiang?◎
With a bang, Ye Yunzhao suddenly pushed open the door of County Magistrate Han's room.
Before she even entered, she heard him say uncomfortably, "Ahem... County Magistrate Ye, what are you... ahem, doing?"
Ye Yunzhao walked in with a normal expression, but he looked around with a worried look. In the southeast corner stood a tall, broken wooden cabinet, in the middle was a wooden table with a few pieces of waste paper with drawings scattered on it, and to the west was a bed that could accommodate two people at most.
It was empty and no one could be hidden. Ye Yunzhao looked at County Magistrate Han lying on the bed and felt a little at a loss for a moment.
If there was no one else, why would he lie?
She felt a little suspicious, thinking that County Magistrate Han was being coerced into speaking so flawed a statement. But the empty, endless room before her seemed to mock her recklessness.
In short, his initial worries dissipated considerably, and Ye Yunzhao gradually felt relieved. However, the way she looked around upon entering the room startled County Magistrate Han, and his heart secretly tightened.
He sighed, his tone tinged with blame, and said, "County Magistrate Ye... cough cough... How big of a deal is this... that they have to discuss it when I'm sick... cough cough cough cough..."
His coughing became increasingly intense due to his excitement, as if he was about to cough out all his internal organs. At this moment, Ye Yunzhao naturally stopped thinking about other things and hurried forward, "Don't worry, don't worry. County Magistrate Han, what's wrong with you? You're so seriously ill."
But when he rushed to the bedside of County Magistrate Han, Ye Yunzhao unexpectedly saw that the small window that was just covered by the gauze curtain was now wide open, and gusts of autumn wind blew towards County Magistrate Han who was lying on the bed.
Her dormant suspicions were piqued again. She stood up imperceptibly and apologized, "Wasn't I too anxious just now? County Magistrate Han and Doctor Li live in the county government office. How could they just stand there when they were sick?"
"Stick?" County Magistrate Han saw her getting closer and closer to the window and spoke with uncontrollable emotion, "I already told you... cough cough cough... I cooked the medicine before..."
Ye Yunzhao put his hands on the window frame and glanced down. He saw overgrown weeds swaying in the wind.
"Even if you've taken medicine, you can't be exposed to the wind." She said as she pulled back the two windows.
Before Ye Yunzhao could speak again, County Magistrate Han asked anxiously, "What exactly do you want to say... ahem...?"
"Well..." Ye Yunzhao closed the window tightly and said with his back to him, "I plan to lead the people in Xixiang to grow mushrooms."
"Growing mushrooms?" County Magistrate Han sat up from the bed in some pain. "Aren't the hills behind us covered in mushrooms?"
Ye Yunzhao turned around and nodded slightly: "Grow some weaving fungus."
In this way, the doubts in his heart disappeared. The tricholoma is very valuable. If it can be grown, it will naturally be a good thing.
"What about the people of Dongxiang? Such a lucrative job... ahem... are you planning to hide it from Dongxiang?"
Ye Yunzhao didn't say anything for a long time. This was the problem she hoped County Magistrate Han could help solve. Dongxiang has many paddy fields and lakes, and the air humidity is extremely high. It is difficult to grow suitable mushrooms in such an environment, or it is difficult to grow high-quality mushrooms.
But if I tell these words to the people, I think they will not be able to accept it. Not to mention other things, the price of the woven mushrooms alone is enough to make them jealous.
Ye Yunzhao sighed: "After all, growing mushrooms is just to help the people of Xixiang save some money for the winter. I'm sure you all know that Dongxiang's grain production is much greater than Xixiang's. Otherwise, Xixiang wouldn't be the only place where people starved to death..."
"That being said... cough cough..." Han Xiancheng's eyes were filled with hesitation, "Forget it, you go ahead and do it... I'll think about it carefully... cough cough cough..."
Ye Yunzhao nodded gently: "Then I'll trouble you."
After saying this, she walked towards the door. Just as she stepped out of the threshold, she turned her head to look at County Magistrate Han, her eyes pointed meaningfully: "County Magistrate Han, if there is anything you don't know how to deal with, you can also discuss it with me."
“That’s right…”
But before he finished speaking, he followed Ye Yunzhao's gaze to the wooden table, and only then did he realize that there was a porcelain cup filled with tea on the wooden table!
He wanted to explain, but saw that she had already closed the door and left.
What else did she see... County Magistrate Han didn't know, and he didn't know if she noticed anything wrong, but what she said sounded like she was making it clear...
The more he thought about it, the more scared he became. The man who was "sick" just now immediately got out of bed, rushed to the door, quietly opened a narrow crack, and looked around to make sure that Ye Yunzhao had really left. Then County Magistrate Han turned his head and imitated a few bird calls towards the window.
The man hiding outside pushed open the window and climbed back inside. He somewhat reluctantly straightened his clothes and adjusted the official sword at his waist. He said unhappily, "This is my new clothes. I almost got them scratched."
Han County Magistrate lowered his voice and scolded, "Clothes, clothes, thinking about clothes every day! Are you crazy? How dare you come to the county government office to find me! Next time! Next time! The next time I see the boss, I will report this to him!"
The man's lips curled up into a smile, but his eyes instantly showed murderous intent. In the blink of an eye, the official sword was unsheathed and placed at his neck: "You dare."
Han County Magistrate was filled with rage but didn't dare to act rashly in front of the sharp blade. He turned his head and asked, "What do you want from me?"
The man's expression quickly returned to normal, his sharp blade sheathed. He sat down with familiarity, picked up the teacup on the table, and spoke with a touch of innocent cruelty: "Of course, it's our big deal..."
If Ye Yunzhao was also in the house at this moment, she would surely recognize him as the man who had threatened her with a knife earlier...
*
The weather was good today, and since it was still the ten-day holiday, Ye Yunzhao hurried to Aunt Wang's house. If he could give her clear instructions on setting up the mushroom shed today, she would have less worries in the future.
Ye Yunzhao knew that she desperately wanted everyone in Xixiang to participate in mushroom farming, but whether it was splitting bamboo to weave baskets or carrying mud to build walls, it was no easy task. Furthermore, she was now busy teaching women skills at the county school, and her schedule was very busy. It seemed that the matter of the teacher had to be resolved.
For various reasons, Ye Yunzhao only discussed the mushroom farming plan with Aunt Wang and her family. Firstly, Aunt Wang's family was relatively well-off, and secondly, Wang Laiwang was strong and could easily handle such hard work. In short, if building a mushroom shed could attract others to follow suit, it would be a great opportunity for her.
As for how to explain this to the people of Dongxiang after it was actually done, that matter would be handed over to Han County Magistrate, who was quite skilled in handling such matters. Speaking of him, Ye Yunzhao thought of the strange cup and the inexplicably open window in the house...
But even Ye Yunzhao, no matter how dumb, could guess that he was probably interacting with someone special. But since he remained silent under her probing, it must be a secret of his...
Who doesn't have secrets? Ye Yunzhao chuckled. As long as this secret didn't affect the people of Lingnan County, she could put aside her curiosity about his affairs.
By the time Ye Yunzhao figured out the twists and turns, she had already arrived at Aunt Wang's house.
Just as she raised her slender hand and was about to knock a few times, the door suddenly opened. The person who opened the door was Aunt Wang. She seemed to be startled to see someone standing in front of her house.
"Oh my! County Magistrate Ye...you scared me to death..."
She raised her hand and patted her chest, then quickly smiled and turned sideways: "Ah, please come in, I was just thinking of looking for you!"
Ye Yunzhao showed a slightly apologetic smile on his face: "I was just about to knock on the door... I came here today because of the mushroom shed matter."
"Oh, that's exactly it!" Aunt Wang hurriedly brought out a bench from the house and shouted into the room, "Erdan! Erya! Hurry up and make some sugar water for County Magistrate Ye."
When Erya in the room heard this, she hurriedly got up from the bed, put on her shoes and ran to the window. After confirming that it was really Ye Yunzhao, she hurriedly stopped Erdan from making sugar water and said, "Brother, let me go get some water to Master Ye!"
Erdan clutched the bowl tightly in his hand, feeling very unhappy. He had previously been unable to keep up with his younger sister, who had only been in the county school for a dozen days and now could recognize many characters that he didn't know...
He felt sad, remembering what his father had told him last night: Erdan, next time if County Magistrate Ye comes again, you must behave well and do more work like serving tea and pouring water. Who knows, County Magistrate Ye might see that you are smart and enroll you in the county school!
"It's okay, I'll go." Erdan used bamboo chopsticks to dissolve the sugar water and was about to leave.
"Brother, I'll go! It just so happens that I have difficulty recognizing the new characters I learned a few days ago, and I want Master Ye to help me look at them."
The two of them were fighting and snatching things from each other inside the house, but outside the house the scene was peaceful.
"County Magistrate Ye, please take a seat." Aunt Wang moved the bench in front of her.
Ye Yunzhao waved his hand gently and walked directly to a large pit in the yard. The pit was located in the southeast corner of the yard, but it was not facing the wall. This was originally where Aunt Wang's family placed their farm tools.
Ye Yunzhao walked around the big pit. The pit was about two and a half meters long and two meters wide. However, as she was looking at it, she suddenly jumped into the pit, scaring Erya who came to bring her sweet soup.
The pit was half a person's height. Ye Yunzhao stood inside and looked at it. He raised his head and said, "Brother Laiwang dug too deep."
As she spoke, she supported herself on the ground with both hands, kicked hard, and crawled out in a slightly embarrassed manner. Ye Yunzhao patted the dust on his hands and sleeves:
"Brother Laiwang, please fill some more soil back in, just to the knee level...
Oh, and it would be better to build a few steps here to make it easier to go up and down."
Aunt Wang listened carefully and said, "Don't worry, County Magistrate Ye. I'll have him do it right away when he gets back."
Erya, who was holding the sugar water, took a few steps forward and handed it to Ye Yunzhao awkwardly. After she took it, she smiled and said casually:
"How's the writing you learned two days ago? Let me see."
Aunt Wang laughed so hard she couldn't stop. She nudged Erya and said, "Hurry up and go to the kitchen to pick up some firewood. Don't you have to write every day? County Magistrate Ye just happened to be here. Hurry up..."
Erya seemed a little shy, but after some encouragement from Aunt Wang, she finally made up her mind and walked towards the kitchen.
Aunt Wang also smiled and explained, "County Magistrate Ye, Erya is timid and a bit reckless. I hope you can teach her more in the future."
Ye Yunzhao nodded: "Of course, Erya has a pure heart, which is more precious than anything else..."
Before the two of them could say anything else, Erya came over with a thin stick of firewood. Ye Yunzhao winked at her, and she nodded slightly and started writing and drawing on the ground with the stick.
As she began writing, her original childishness and shyness vanished, leaving only a confident air. Ye Yunzhao had never been a teacher before, so she relied solely on her memory of her original self's elegant cursive writing, "pretending" to teach her a lot of characters. But she wasn't stupid. From Erya's state, she quickly realized that this little girl before her could become Lingnan County's next scholar, or even a Jinshi (imperial scholar) in a few years.
Just as they were immersed in it, the courtyard door creaked. Ye Yunzhao turned around and saw that it was Wang Laiwang who came back. He was carrying a huge bamboo. Besides him, there were a dozen curious villagers who were peeking in from behind.
"Oh, Aunt Wang, what are you doing? Why did you dig such a big hole?"
"I'm afraid you're going to save the radish?"
"Are you stupid? A two-foot-long pit for storing radishes is enough. Why did Brother Laiwang cut down such a big bamboo? Are you making something good?"
"Oh, County Magistrate Ye is here too? What's all the fuss? Aunt Wang, please tell us all about it so we can see for ourselves!"
Everyone was talking at once, and Aunt Wang was speechless. She looked up at Ye Yunzhao, and seeing her permission, she happily explained:
"Ah! What kind of excitement can there be? Isn't it County Magistrate Ye who came up with a way to grow mushrooms..."
"Growing mushrooms?"
Everyone was puzzled, and someone asked, "There are mushrooms all over the mountain behind us. If you want to eat them, just go up the mountain and pick them. Why do you need to grow mushrooms at home?"
"Besides, can mushrooms be grown so easily?"
“That’s right…”
Aunt Wang laughed and said, "Well, what are you talking about? If you don't believe me, don't you also believe County Magistrate Ye?"
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw the woman standing in the yard with a normal expression on her face. She was not angry at their curiosity and suspicion, as if she was completely sure.
Coupled with the three-legged plow that she had promoted earlier, everyone was now worried. Could it be that growing mushrooms was really a profitable business?
Amid their confusion, Ye Yunzhao slowly spoke, "We're not growing ordinary mushrooms, but Braided Mushrooms. If you're willing, you can build a mushroom shed at home like Aunt Wang did. Don't worry if you don't know how to grow them. I'll personally come to your house to teach you how to grow mushrooms."
But no one listened to what she said afterwards. Everyone just asked in surprise, "Growing woven mushrooms?"
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