79 Rainproof Clogs
◎It must be that Dayuan cut corners when he was helping them build the mushroom shed◎
The carriage wobbled along the way. When it reached the county government office, Ye Yunzhao pulled back the curtains and said to Li Xianjiang and Ah Sheng, "You two go back first. I'm going to Xixiang to take a look."
Ah Sheng quickly shook his head: "Master Ye, you just had a serious illness, you need to rest well!"
Li Xianjiang agreed, "Ah Sheng is right. It's cold out here, and you're weak, so it's easy for the cold to enter your system..."
Before he could finish, Ye Yunzhao glanced at the cloak left on the carriage by someone unknown, and quickly wrapped it around himself. He said firmly, "I have made up my mind. You don't need to persuade me anymore."
She looked up at Lingnan County, where snowflakes drifted down, and a surge of resolve rose within her. "I'm the official who supports the people of Lingnan. I was the one who instigated the mushroom planting. This matter can't be delayed any longer."
Seeing that she was determined to leave, the two of them had no choice but to get off the carriage. Ye Yunzhao immediately said to the coachman, "Please go a little further. Thank you very much."
In about a cup of tea, she arrived at the entrance of Xixiang.
Ye Yunzhao got off the car quickly. The cold wind was biting, and she couldn't help but tighten her cloak. She looked at the coachman whose face was red from the cold, and secretly touched her arms.
At this time, we should really thank others. Even if we don't say a lot, at least we can give them a little change.
But Ye Yunzhao's pockets, purse, sleeve pockets, and arms were cleaner than her face, and there was really nothing that could be taken out.
Her face flushed, and she could only promise the groom, "Wait... wait until the mushrooms grow. I'll definitely come to thank you in person then. But this cloak will take me some time. If you don't mind, why don't you stop by the county government office and rest a while..."
The groom had never seen an official so friendly with his servants. He looked at the man wrapped in his boss's cloak and remembered the person mentioned by the maids in the kitchen, and he understood.
He smiled naively, "You are welcome, sir. It is a blessing for me to have this cloak of yours. The mountains are high and the roads are long, so I cannot stay any longer."
After saying goodbye to him, Ye Yunzhao hurried towards the home of the headmaster of Xixiang Village.
The snow was not heavy, and the small snowflakes quickly turned into a ball of snow water when they fell to the ground, mixed with soil and became muddy water, making it very inconvenient to move around.
Looking from a distance, you can see that the roofs of every household are covered with a light layer of white, but the straw coverings of the mushroom sheds are still the familiar khaki color.
Ye Yunzhao walked in, one foot deep and one foot shallow. After a while, the cold muddy water soaked her cloth shoes and the hem of her clothes. Snowflakes also playfully drifted towards her face. Soon, she looked extremely miserable.
But before he reached the village head's house, he saw two or three people wearing bamboo hats walking quickly towards the village head's house.
Ye Yunzhao looked up and happened to meet the eyes of several people. One of them was surprised: "Ah! It's County Magistrate Ye! County Magistrate Ye, you are finally back!"
The two people beside him also shouted loudly: "Oh my God! County Magistrate Ye, you don't know the mushrooms in my house!"
"County Magistrate Ye, what have you been doing these days? You said nicely at the beginning that you would definitely solve any problems encountered during mushroom cultivation, but when trouble really happened, how could you not even show up?"
They were talking back and forth in high voices. Before Ye Yunzhao had a chance to speak, the gate of the village head's house suddenly opened. Aunt Xiangyun poked her head out stealthily. When she saw Ye Yunzhao, she suddenly opened the gate.
"Oh! County Magistrate Ye, you're finally here! Come in! Come in!"
Upon hearing this, the farmer immediately stepped forward and stopped Aunt Xiangyun's movements. His face was serious: "County Magistrate Ye, you must hurry to my house to check on the mushrooms! Let's go!"
"no!"
One of them pulled her left arm, and the other pulled her right hand, and they pulled hard. Ye Yunzhao, who was stuck in the middle, struggled hard, but to no avail, and then said:
"Stop! Listen to me!"
After she said this, the two of them finally fell silent and looked at her eagerly.
Ye Yunzhao already knew about the mushroom issue, so he naturally understood the farmer's anxiety. He turned to Aunt Xiangyun and said, "Aunt Xiangyun, they're so anxious because of the mushrooms. I'll go with them and take a look..."
The farmer's anxiety immediately turned into joy: "Yes, yes, we have to hurry up and get those mushrooms!"
"But..." Aunt Xiangyun looked at her pale face, then lowered her head to look at her already soaked cloth shoes, and hesitated, "But County Magistrate Ye didn't even wear clogs..."
"Clogs?" Ye Yunzhao asked in confusion.
Everyone looked down, so she naturally looked down as well. It was not until this time that Ye Yunzhao discovered that the farmers were walking so fast because there was a wooden object tied under their cloth shoes and straw sandals.
At some point, Xixiang Lizheng stood behind Aunt Xiangyun and frowned, saying, "Let County Magistrate Ye change his shoes first. He can't go to see your mushrooms with wet shoes!"
He secretly poked Aunt Xiangyun's waist, and she immediately grabbed Ye Yunzhao with a smile and said softly, "County Magistrate Ye, let's go inside."
Led by Aunt Xiangyun, the two of them entered the kitchen together. She moved a low stool, wiped it with her hand, and then let Ye Yunzhao sit down.
The village head brought a few farmers into the main room.
Aunt Xiangyun saw the confusion in her eyes and smiled as she scooped a bowl of hot water from the pot and handed it to her: "County Magistrate Ye, drink this quickly to warm yourself up. The kitchen is warm, but the living room is cold. Warm your feet here first while I get my shoes."
"Thank you, auntie."
She was stunned: "Oh, thank you for what."
It was not until this time that Ye Yunzhao realized that his feet were frozen stiff and almost numb.
After a while, Aunt Xiangyun brought a pair of cloth shoes and the clogs she had just mentioned, squatted beside Ye Yunzhao, and said awkwardly, "I see our faces are about the same size, County Magistrate Ye...if you don't mind, you can wear mine first."
She then picked up the coarse cloth shoes again, trying to smooth out the marks of wear and tear, and explained anxiously, "Don't look at them as worn... I'm not afraid of County Magistrate Ye laughing at me. These... these are my newest and best shoes. I'll just have to trouble you... to make do with them for a while."
Ye Yunzhao immediately said: "I haven't had enough time to thank you, aunt, how could I despise you."
Aunt Xiangyun smiled sincerely and said, "As long as you don't mind, County Magistrate Ye, come and change."
She nodded, hurriedly took off her shoes and socks, and put them on neatly. Ye Yunzhao smiled and stood up, walked back and forth a few steps, and comforted her: "Auntie, that's not true, these shoes are comfortable!"
Hearing this, she smiled and moved her soaked shoes and socks closer to the stove, then stuffed a few more pieces of firewood into the hearth. She said in a hoarse voice, "You don't know, County Magistrate Ye... During these days when you weren't around, those heartless people were going to torment this foolish child of mine..."
As Aunt Xiangyun spoke, she quickly raised her hand and wiped the corners of her eyes, her tone choking with sobs.
"It's all my fault..." Ye Yunzhao paused and continued, "Aunt, can you tell me what happened these days?"
When she mentioned this, she looked up and glanced back. Her red eyes reflected the firelight beside her, which made Ye Yunzhao feel very uncomfortable.
"Ah...it's actually not a big deal. The weather was nice a few days ago, and every mushroom-growing household would go to Aunt Wang's house every day to ask about everything. But Aunt Wang is really attentive, and slowly, many families' mushrooms have started to sprout...this is a good thing..."
Aunt Xiangyun added some firewood to the stove, wiped away her tears, and said with a smile, "Everyone is happy, and I am happy too. We all think we can have a good New Year this year! It's just..."
She changed the subject, "But their joy didn't last long. More than a dozen households hadn't sprouted their mushrooms yet. Aunt Wang told them it was because they'd planted them too late, and advised them to wait a little longer... But after waiting for three or five days, seeing other people's mushrooms growing bigger day by day, they became anxious..."
"My husband also goes to check on us every day, but he really doesn't understand these things. Who would have thought..." Aunt Xiangyun burst into tears as she spoke, "Who would have thought there would be such heartless people! They curse outside my house every day. When we were building the mushroom shed, my Dayuan went to help every day. He knew that everyone's family was not doing well, so he didn't even have a meal at their house! Now he is standing outside my house and cursing Dayuan... He must have cut corners when helping them build the mushroom shed... County Magistrate Ye, I... wuwuwu..."
Ye Yunzhao's heart trembled, and he hurried forward to comfort her: "I'm sorry, Aunt Xiangyun, it's all because of my absence these few days. I never thought such a big thing would happen..."
Before she could finish her words, Aunt Xiangyun straightened up, wiped her tears, spat outside the house, and deliberately raised her voice, "County Magistrate Ye has nothing to do with you. It's all because of this group of heartless people. Bah! If I had known this would happen! I would never have let my son work for these ungrateful people for nothing!"
Ye Yunzhao hurried to stop her: "Aunt Xiangyun, I have wronged you and Brother Dayuan. If there is anything I can help with in the future, I will definitely do my best..."
After receiving her promise, Aunt Xiangyun finally let out the frustration in her heart: "What are you talking about, County Magistrate Ye? Come, I will help you put on your clogs."
Ordinary people had no money to buy oiled clogs to wear when it rained, so they came up with an idea. They carved patterns under wooden boards or embedded a few narrow wooden strips. When it rained or snowed, they could tie these clogs under their cloth shoes or straw sandals. This not only kept out the rain but also kept their feet warm. It was very clever.
With the help of Aunt Xiangyun, Ye Yunzhao tied up his clogs very quickly, but he felt a little uncomfortable when he put them on.
After walking around the kitchen twice, she stuck her head out and called the farmers out. Everyone had a sad look on their faces and walked quickly to their homes.
Ye Yunzhao, wearing the hood of his cloak, said in a serious tone, "First, tell me how the mushrooms in the mushroom shed are doing. Are they sprouting?"
"Don't even mention the mushrooms at my house..."
"Let me speak first! County Magistrate Ye, you don't know that my family..."
"Get up! I'm telling you! I think there's something in the mushroom shed..."
…
Seeing them arguing endlessly, Ye Yunzhao's face darkened and he said sternly, "Shut up! Speak one by one - you first, tell me what's going on with your mushrooms."
【Author’s words】
P.S.: Geta are not Japanese, they used to be Chinese.
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