Why did you end up here?
Song Ning gave a dry laugh: "Um... I'm still eating, how about... we wait until another day?"
"It's alright, you eat first, and then come to the yamen to find me after you've finished eating," Zheng Gaoyi said with a smile.
Xie Linzhou stood not far away, and Song Ning could only see his shadow, but for some reason, she felt that Xie Linzhou was glaring at her.
"Then...then I'll be there in a bit."
After seeing the three off, Song Ning returned to the kitchen and sat down to continue eating.
"Who's outside?" Liu Yuelan asked.
"It's the county magistrate. He said he has something to ask me to go over later."
"Magistrate? Why don't you invite him in for a seat? He could have a meal with us."
Forget it, she didn't want to invite people in for dinner and then have to endure Xie Linzhou's disdainful look.
Song Ning smiled and said, "Oh, the magistrate said he has already eaten and has other matters to attend to, so he won't be coming in."
Zheng Gaoyi: Actually, I really want to get in.
After finishing his meal, Song Ning headed to the county government office. Zheng Gaoyi was munching on a pancake he had brought back from Jiangning County. He sighed, "Sigh, Er Ya's family must be eating something delicious. I can smell the aroma. We, on the other hand, can only eat dry pancakes here."
Xie Linzhou slightly raised his eyelids: "Have you forgotten the hardships of war so quickly?"
Zheng Gaoyi curled his lip, "Times have changed."
During wartime, what kind of hardship didn't we endure? We even ate grass and tree bark when there was nothing else to eat in winter.
But after living such good days for too long, one can no longer endure this hardship.
Stone came in from outside: "General, sir, Er Ya is here."
"Quick, let her in."
As soon as Song Ning entered, she saw two people sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed), each holding a pancake and with a bowl of hot water in front of them.
"Er Ya is here, come quickly, come sit down."
Song Ning slowly walked over, not daring to actually sit down. Moreover, Xie Linzhou actually moved further inside when he saw her walk over.
Seriously, if it weren't for her status, the more he disliked her, the more she would get closer to him, disgusting him to death.
However, because of his status and what happened last time, Song Ning wisely refrained from taking any action.
"Lord Zheng, I think I'll stand."
Zheng Gaoyi glanced at Song Ning, then at Xie Linzhou, as if he had figured something out, and smiled, "Don't worry, General Xie won't hold it against us for what happened last time, right?"
Xie Linzhou's face immediately darkened; he had really brought up the very thing he didn't want to talk about.
Zheng Gaoyi kept giving him meaningful glances, and Xie Linzhou gave a helpless groan: "Hmm."
"real?"
Xie Linzhou turned his head to the side, somewhat impatiently: "I'm not going to argue with a little girl."
Song Ning immediately smiled and said, "Thank you, General. You are truly a magnanimous person."
Xie Linzhou snorted inwardly, annoyed. Even if he were to say nice things about him, he would not offer himself in return.
Zheng Gaoyi approached Song Ning about the matter of Jiangning County wanting to build heated kang beds. He hadn't known how good heated kang beds were before, but now he did. And so, the magistrate of Jiangning County came to his door.
This time they're being very generous; you can get half a tael of silver just for building two heated kang beds.
There should be a lot of work this time. Jiangning County is so big, the amount of money involved is quite substantial.
"That's no problem. Everyone here has this skill now. You can choose whatever you like tomorrow."
After finishing discussing the kang (heated brick bed), Zheng Gaoyi changed the subject: "By the way, General, I'd like to see the vegetables you grow. Is that convenient?"
"That's certainly possible, but it's getting late today, so let's go tomorrow."
Zheng Gaoyi took a bite of the biscuit, choked, quickly drank some water, and said after catching his breath, "Alright, I'll take the general tomorrow."
For some reason, Song Ning felt that Zheng Gaoyi's behavior just now was intentional, a deliberate attempt to gain sympathy.
...She pretended not to see it.
When Song Ning came out of the county government office, it was already pitch black outside. Shi Tou had brought her back. Song Ning took some chili sauce from home and asked Shi Tou to take it back with him.
Then he immediately informed Luo Wenxin and Zhou Cheng that each family should send one person to the county government office to register the next day, and they would go to Jiangning County to work with the county magistrate.
Everyone was overjoyed to hear that they could make money again, and they were so excited that they couldn't sleep that night.
The next morning, people knew that General Xie had arrived and was coming to see the vegetables they had grown.
Luo Wenxin and Zhou Cheng excitedly led Xie Linzhou into the cellar, explaining everything to him along the way.
As soon as Xie Linzhou entered the cellar, he felt a warmth; it was much warmer inside than outside.
Xie Linzhou acted like a leader inspecting work, looking around at the dishes, with people following behind him.
"Did you grow all of these?" Xie Linzhou asked casually.
Luo Wenxin quickly stepped forward and replied, "Yes, we planted them all, but this method was Er Ya's idea."
The garlic and scallions on the ground have grown quite a bit, and the bok choy is starting to take shape.
Xie Linzhou squatted down and gently touched the leaves, then looked up at the cellar.
"Was this cellar always there?"
“Yes, Er Ya said it was probably dug up by people who used to live here. They said it was usable here, so they let us grow vegetables here,” Zhou Cheng said respectfully.
Xie Linzhou pointed to the fire burning in the corner: "What's that?"
“That’s where the fire is lit. Er Ya said that if you light a fire inside, the walls will get warm and the vegetables won’t freeze.”
Xie Linzhou nodded; it was indeed a good idea.
"How long will it take to harvest?"
"Reporting to the general, Er Ya said that it should be about twenty days later."
Xie Linzhou asked a question, and every single one of his questions was about Song Erya.
Is Song Erya really that good?
She's clearly a lecherous woman who's after him.
"The Er Ya you're talking about, is that Song Ning?"
"Yes, General, you don't know, although Er Ya is young, she is more capable than us adults. We have relied on her all the way."
Er Ya has been very kind to us, always thinking of us in everything she does. Yesterday she even brought me back some cotton. Cotton is so expensive these days, and she gave us 100 copper coins a pound! You couldn't find such a good child even with a lantern..."
When it comes to Song Ning, Luo Wenxin can talk endlessly.
However, Xie Linzhou grasped the key point.
cotton?
Cotton is hard to find outside now, so where did Song Ning get it?
Xie Linzhou's expression changed, and Luo Wenxin immediately became nervous. Had he said something wrong?
I thought about it and realized there wasn't anything wrong; he was just saying nice things about Er Ya.
How much cotton did she bring back yesterday?
"Okay, it seems to weigh forty pounds."
Forty pounds of cotton—even a cotton seller couldn't possibly have that much in a day. Where did she get her cotton from?
Xie Linzhou left the cellar directly, ignoring the people standing outside, and went straight into the house in front.
Song Ning was helping Liu Yuelan cut cloth on the kang (a heated brick bed). Song Xiu'e and two children were also at home.
Xie Linzhou went straight into the house and immediately saw the cotton piled on the kang (a heated brick bed). He didn't ask directly, but looked at Song Ning and said in a deep voice, "Come out with me."
Before the group could even exchange greetings and speak, Song Ning was pulled away by Xie Linzhou.
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