Xu Di asked again, "Besides the original Magistrate Li, does Landlord Zhou have any other backing?"
County Magistrate Yuan shook his head and said, "It's hard to say. His ancestral home is in Zhoujiatun outside the city, but he and his family have always lived in Qingzhou Prefecture. There are several stewards here who are responsible for managing the affairs of the ancestral home and, most importantly, collecting rent every year."
Xu Di nodded and asked, "Will the landlord be coming this week?"
County Magistrate Yuan looked somewhat troubled and said, "Landlord Zhou said he was unwell. He had traveled a long way from Qingzhou and had been lying on the kang (heated brick bed) ever since he returned. He will send his eldest son over tomorrow."
Xu Di nodded, then, thinking of the somewhat legendary Manager Chen, asked, "What about this Manager Chen?"
Magistrate Yuan said with a smile, "This Manager Chen is quite a straightforward man. His family's dye shop wasn't very big at first, but he took it over from his grandfather and, with a group of employees, managed to expand it. Back then, in order to dye cloth well, he even took people to the southwest to learn dyeing techniques from the locals."
Upon hearing the words "Southwest," Xu Di's brow twitched involuntarily, and he felt a little uneasy. Was he being too nervous? Why were all these people so mysterious?
Xu Di noticed that it was already mid-afternoon, and the two sweet potatoes buried in the charcoal brazier were roasted. He dug one out and gave it to Magistrate Yuan, while he took the other, peeled off the skin, and took a couple of bites.
Sweet and sticky, the hot sweet potatoes were comforting. After the two finished eating, they realized it was getting late, so they put out the fire in the charcoal brazier and went home. As the year drew to a close, there were many things to do at home, and unless there were special circumstances, people usually didn't invite others to drink or eat.
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