Yan Qingqing looked at Magistrate Ling with some surprise and asked, "Does Your Excellency call me 'this humble woman'?"
Magistrate Ling replied, "Of course I called you. There are many villages and towns under Chengyang County, and I cannot visit them all. I wanted to ask you about the disaster situation in Canghe Village."
Yan Qingqing explained the details in detail, and Magistrate Ling sighed, "I am deeply saddened by the passing of the deceased, but thankfully there are no other major impacts, so I am relieved."
He then glanced at Li Xiang'an beside him and asked, "This young master looks somewhat familiar?"
Li Xiang'an quickly cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Your Excellency, I had the honor of seeing you once when you held your harvest banquet last time."
The lord even rewarded this humble commoner with one hundred taels of silver.
Magistrate Ling suddenly remembered and said, "You're the kid who makes the braised offal so delicious, right? I heard that your family also makes the mixed sugar mooncakes and snow skin mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival. I placed an order for five hundred of them."
Li Xiang'an quickly replied, "Thank you for patronizing my family's business, but both dishes are made by my mother. I'm just a gofer."
Magistrate Ling looked at Yan Qingqing with great appreciation and said that Yan Qingqing was not like an ordinary woman. Even when she saw him, she was neither humble nor arrogant. Her calm demeanor was something that even many wives of wealthy families did not possess.
When Yan Qingqing saw Magistrate Ling looking at her, she smiled and said, "I remember my son said that you wanted to make Fanfanhong into a specialty snack of Chengyang County. I have always kept that in mind, but I have been busy with other things at home for so long. I have only just saved enough money to buy a shop and plan to open it before the end of the year."
Magistrate Ling was delighted to hear this. It showed that she had taken his words to heart. No matter how high his official rank was, it would give him a great sense of accomplishment if the people under him always kept his words in mind. Clearly, Yan Qingqing understood this.
As expected, Magistrate Ling was very pleased to hear this and said, "Good, I believe you will do a great job. I will also come to support you when the store opens."
Upon hearing this, Yan Qingqing was immediately delighted and said to Magistrate Ling, "In that case, we will look forward to your presence then."
Soon the group left the county government office. Li Xiang'an forcibly suppressed his excitement and bid farewell to Steward Chen.
Once on the carriage, he spoke up, "Mother, has our shop been officially approved by the county magistrate? If the magistrate comes when we open, our business will definitely boom."
Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "It doesn't matter whether the county magistrate comes or not, as long as other people know about this."
Li Xiang'an asked, somewhat puzzled, "But how can other people know? Are we supposed to spread the word ourselves? If the county magistrate finds out, he probably won't be happy."
Yan Qingqing shook her head and replied, "We don't need to promote it. Isn't there already a suitable candidate among those present?"
Li Xiang'an then realized what he meant and asked, "Mother, are you talking about Steward Chen?"
Yan Qingqing nodded and said, "Although Manager Chen is in the real estate business and comes into contact with people who have some wealth, he may not have even met the county magistrate."
Everything Magistrate Ling said today was beneficial to us, and without Steward Chen facilitating this deal, we wouldn't even have a chance to speak with Magistrate Ling.
Since ancient times, people who are good at sales have known how to leverage opportunities. In the future, whether in life or at work, Manager Chen will inevitably bring up this matter intentionally or unintentionally, and may even embellish it.
"As long as Steward Chen lets it slip, do you think anyone else won't know?"
Li Xiang'an and Li Yueniang both found Yan Qingqing's explanation very reasonable.
Li Yueniang flattered, "Old ginger is indeed spicier; in our family, Mother is definitely the most capable."
Yan Qingqing rolled her eyes at her; this was still a roundabout way of saying she was old.
After accomplishing this important task, Yan Qingqing was in a good mood and wanted to take Li Yueniang shopping.
But then Li Xiangyang thought of his family and immediately felt deflated. The girl's food supply was on him. Although she had expressed some milk when she came out, he didn't know if it would be enough for her.
Thinking of this, Yan Qingqing wanted to go home as soon as possible, so she said to Li Xiang'an, "Let's go back quickly, your sister is still at home."
Li Xiang'an, thinking of his youngest sister, smiled and said, "Okay, let's go back now. But Xiao Qi is very well-behaved as long as she's full."
Without further delay, he drove the carriage toward Canghe Village.
Halfway there, Yan Qingqing heard Li Xiang'an say "whoosh" and then stop the carriage. Yan Qingqing lifted the curtain and asked, "What's wrong, Erlang? Why did you stop?"
Li Xiang'an then winked at Yan Qingqing and said, "Mother, I see someone lying on the side of the road. It looks like a child."
Yan Qingqing originally didn't want to meddle, but when she heard it was a child, she felt sorry for him.
After Li Xiang'an stopped the car, Yan Qingqing quickly got out to check. She looked around to make sure no one was watching before walking up to the child.
The child looked to be about six or seven years old, and was exceptionally handsome. To be honest, the Li family's children were all quite good-looking, but compared to this child, they were still a bit lacking.
Her little face was dirty, and the color of her clothes was no longer discernible, but Yan Qingqing could tell that the material was not ordinary, suggesting that she was probably from a wealthy family.
The child lay motionless in the damp, withered grass and snowdrift. Yan Qingqing checked his breath with her hand; he was definitely still alive.
Yan Qingqing touched his forehead again, and it was indeed very hot. He needed to bring down his fever immediately, otherwise he would be an idiot even if he woke up.
At this moment, Yan Qingqing didn't care about the danger of saving the child and told Li Xiang'an to quickly carry the child into the carriage.
The charcoal brazier in the carriage was still warm, so the child could use it to warm up first.
Li Xiang'an knew the situation was urgent, so the carriage sped along, arriving home in less than half an hour.
Yan Qingqing had Li Xiang'an take the child directly to his yard. Yuan Huiniang and the others were surprised to see this, but no one asked.
Yan Qingqing asked Li Xiang'an to bring over some strong liquor; she wanted to use physical methods to cool the child down first.
He was stunned when he unbuttoned the child's clothes. The child was covered in wounds and bruises, clearly having suffered a lot.
Yan Qingqing could only try to be as gentle as possible.
After wiping his body, Yan Qingqing herself was covered in sweat.
It's not that Yan Qingqing doesn't want to call a doctor, it's just that this situation isn't suitable for calling a doctor. If things go wrong, not only will the child's life be in danger, but their whole family could also be in trouble.
Only then did Yan Qingqing feel a wave of fear, but she didn't regret it. She couldn't bear to watch a child freeze to death in the snow.
Then Yan Qingqing remembered that there was some prepared Banlangen at home, so she immediately asked Yuan Huiniang to brew some.
Yan Qingqing sighed. She had done everything she could. Whether the child would recover depended on fate.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com