Chapter 2844 Shopping
In the more spacious office on the other side of the county government office, some people were also discussing their new county magistrate, but there were only three of them.
The second, third, and fourth in command of the county government are the county magistrate, county lieutenant, and chief clerk.
Yesterday, Song Zhubu went to the countryside and was not there. I only saw Bai Shan today and couldn't help but sigh, "County Magistrate Bai is really white. I wonder how long it will take for him to get a tan."
After these words were spoken, County Captain Dong could not help but look at County Magistrate Fang.
County Magistrate Fang's expression remained unchanged, and without batting an eyelid, he asked directly, "Have you prepared the account books for the county magistrate to see?"
"We've been preparing for this a long time ago, ever since the court appointed the new county magistrate. Beihai County is so small, how many accounts can we settle?" Song Zhubu smiled faintly, thinking of something. "Judging from our lord's behavior, he obviously doesn't care about these trivial matters. A small item he buys in the capital might be worth our annual salary."
County Magistrate Fang frowned slightly and said, "Don't talk nonsense. How can we make up the county magistrate?"
Song Zhubu said, "There are only three of us in this room, and no one else will hear us. What's wrong with discussing it? As the saying goes, a new emperor appoints new ministers. We have a new county magistrate, so we naturally have to change our ways. If we keep doing the same things as before, what if County Magistrate Bai doesn't like County Magistrate Lu's ways?"
County Magistrate Fang's brows were furrowed so tightly that they looked like they could pinch a fly to death. After suppressing his anger, he said, "Just keep your original intention."
The chief clerk sneered.
County Magistrate Dong quickly smoothed things over between the two men, and after calming the atmosphere, he couldn't help but start discussing, "But our new county magistrate is truly wealthy. You may not have seen it yesterday, but I did. The luggage cart pulled by mules and horses in the back was completely filled with luggage."
"What is that luggage cart carrying if not luggage?"
"People," County Lieutenant Dong said confidently, "When my family traveled, they only had two or three bags, which I thought was too much. The rest of the space was full of people, but they ended up pulling two carts just for luggage. Boxes were piled on top of each other, clearly loaded to the maximum capacity. And I looked carefully, the boxes on top were all good. There was another cart behind with luggage, too. That belonged to the servants. That's why our County Magistrate Bai is so wealthy."
He laughed and said, "When County Magistrate Lu came to Beihai County to take office, he only had one carriage and two servants. Even though his wife came later, she only brought three servants with her, along with her two children, and only half a carriage of luggage."
Seeing that County Magistrate Fang's brows seemed to be furrowing even more, Chief Clerk Song smiled slightly and said, "It's a pity that you're still young. Otherwise, we could have made an appointment to go to the Chunlou for a drink after leaving the yamen. Hahahaha..."
County Magistrate Dong couldn't help but laugh, "Why not? Spring breeze is the best for young people. Maybe the county magistrate is the most popular among the girls in the building."
County Magistrate Fang held his forehead with his hand in pain and simply stood up and left.
County Lieutenant Dong wanted to stop them, but was stopped by Chief Secretary Song. After County Magistrate Fang left, he snorted coldly and said to County Lieutenant Dong, "The county magistrate wants to meet with all parties tonight. After dinner, we can ask the county magistrate to go to the Chunlou for some fun."
County Magistrate Dong: "...Master Bai went to wait for Chunlou, so who benefited?"
When Song Zhubu thought of Bai Shan’s face, it was really like, who is the one who is pimping whom?
Bai Shan had just finished his lunch. He picked up a piece of food for Zhou Man and told her about the situation in the county government office. "Before coming here, the county magistrate only commented on two people to me. One was Fang, the county magistrate, who said he was upright and measured, and the other was Song, the chief clerk."
Bai Shan smiled at this and said, "Master Song was away yesterday, so you didn't see him. I met him today. He looks like an ordinary person on the surface. County Magistrate Lu said he is knowledgeable and comes from the Song family in Beihai County."
Generally speaking, those who can say that a certain family belongs to a certain county are all famous and powerful families in the local area, and at least their influence will not be small.
For example, when people talk about the Zhou family, they will only say the Zhou family of Qili Village. That does not refer only to the old Zhou family, but to all families with the surname Zhou in the village.
Because before, the Zhou family could only be discussed in the village, and even in the township, no one had ever heard of them.
Manbao asked, "Tete mentioned his background. Could it be that his position as chief clerk is related to his family's influence?"
Bai Shan said, "It might be related to some extent, but I looked through some of the accounts and records of the household office today. The recent ones are pretty good. Judging from his face, he is not a useless person. He must be capable."
For the county magistrate Bai Shan, he doesn't care how the other party got to the position before. What he cares about is whether he can get the job done.
After lunch, the two took a break. Bai Shan continued to go to work at the county government office, while Manbao took Daji and Xibing out for a stroll.
Xibing wanted to hire a car, but when Daji didn't move, he looked at Zhou Man. Zhou Man said, "Why hire a car? Yesterday I saw that the county town of Beihai County is about the same size as our Luojiang County. We can just walk around."
That’s what Daji thought.
So the three of them went out for fun, no, to buy things.
Today was not the market day. There were vendors on the street, but not many, and even fewer pedestrians. Manbao walked around for a while before realizing, "It's the busy farming season now."
Daji nodded.
"No wonder there are so few people." Manbao felt relieved. Otherwise, with so few people, it would be very difficult for Bai Shan to manage this county.
Manbao strolled around, not just to the small stalls on the street. She went into almost every store and bought what she needed. If she didn't have it, she would just look around and ask about the price.
The shopkeeper saw that she was a stranger and spoke Mandarin that was a little different from theirs, so he knew she was from out of town. He just didn't know whether she came with merchants or as a traveler, and he couldn't tell for a moment. But when he saw that she was well-dressed and was followed by a very pretty maid, he couldn't help but raise the price.
Man Bao sighed regretfully and didn't buy anything. He turned around and walked out and said to Dajixibing, "It's a pity that the store is chasing customers away, otherwise I could still buy something."
The sound was not loud, but the people in the store must have heard it.
Daji: ...
He glanced at the mischievous Zhou Man and said nothing.
Manbao left the confused shopkeeper in the store and went to the next one with a happy face. As he was shopping, he came to a pharmacy.
Manbao looked up at the plaque of the pharmacy - Renhetang. Manbao had heard of it and had met with the doctor of Renhetang in the capital to discuss illnesses, but he had never been to Renhetang.
Then I looked at another pharmacy two shops away. Hey, this one looks familiar. It’s Baicaotang!
She was familiar with the place. It was just opposite Jishiditang in Beijing. If she went there early in the morning, the doctors from both sides would sit face to face at the door of the store, eating a bowl of wontons.
Manbao stepped inside with a smile on his face.
The apprentice who was greeting people inside paused when he saw her. It was not because he recognized Zhou Man, but because he greeted and saw off so many people every day, and they came to the pharmacy with smiles, and they smiled so happily, but it seemed that he had only seen this once. This was really an eye-opener.
The apprentice thought to himself, and stepped forward with a smile on his face, "What would you like, sir? Would you like a consultation or medicine?"
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
