Chapter 100 Aqing's Birthday and the New Cook
The deal I finalized with Liu Ziwen last night.
The next morning, a steward from the Liu family came to the Longcheng County government office to hand over the responsibilities to the Six Ministries.
The matter of Di Gongzha was immediately put on the agenda and began to be implemented under the supervision of the young county magistrate.
The planned Liu family craftsmen and county government personnel also began to be mobilized one after another.
Logically, these tasks should be handled by subordinates. Just like the young master of the Liu family, Ouyang Rong only needed to go to the ribbon-cutting ceremony on the day the Di Gong Gate was completed, and that would be the end of it.
However, the young magistrate took the Di Gong Gate project even more seriously than the first phase of the Zheyi Canal, and personally went to the front line to inspect it.
Early this morning, Ouyang Rong led his subordinates to the upstream site of the Di Gong Gate for on-site investigation.
Taking a boat from Penglangdu to the upper reaches is quite convenient. Butterfly Creek is not particularly rapid, and going upstream is not much slower than going by land.
Ouyang Rong once again set foot on the site of Di Gongzha.
Wildflowers of the same blue color bloomed among the abandoned wooden stakes and stone piers on both sides of the river, and the soil and vegetation swelled wildly after the flood.
It gives people a rather desolate feeling.
The quick-witted and clever subordinates in the group approached the young county magistrate and explained to him the details of the newly built Di Gong Gate.
Ouyang Rong listened silently, nodding occasionally, but his gaze unconsciously fell on the blue flowers that covered the old site.
Driving along the road from Penglangdu, you can see these blue wildflowers on both banks.
In Longcheng, it is known locally as the Butterfly Flower and blooms along both banks of Butterfly Creek.
However, Ouyang Rong was somewhat speechless upon seeing it. Wasn't this the iris from his previous life? But it probably didn't have that name yet.
After a busy morning of inspections, the young county magistrate and his entourage stopped for lunch at a farmhouse in a nearby mountain village.
The aftershocks of the Longcheng flood have subsided considerably, and the wounds are gradually healing.
The refugees who fled from upstream to Longcheng survived the hunger in the disaster relief camps and saved some money and food through the county government's work-for-relief projects. Many of them who had land and families have already returned to their villages.
The mountain village where he settled was just like that. The farmers who had relocated were very enthusiastic about the arrival of the "Radish Magistrate". Women, children and other children gathered around him, and the courtyard was crowded with people. After lunch, they were again warmly invited to stay. Ouyang Rong finally managed to find an excuse to leave.
With the sun high in the sky, the craftsmen from the Liu family and the clerks from the county government had finished their on-site investigation and recording of the old site of Di Gong Gate. As they prepared to return to the county town, Ouyang Rong wiped the sweat from his forehead with his left sleeve.
"Hey, where's Ah Shan?"
He turned around but couldn't see the taciturn man. He turned back and walked a few steps around the back of the boat before he found Liu Ashan bending over and picking something on a wet patch behind the stern.
After the taciturn, tall, thin man boarded the boat with a small handful of blue irises, the boat started moving again to return to shore. Ouyang Rong, at the bow, asked curiously:
"Ah Shan, why are you picking these flowers?"
Liu Ashan said sullenly, "Today is my sister's birthday, and she really likes butterfly flowers."
Ouyang Rong suddenly realized, "Aqing's birthday? How old is she?"
"fourteen."
“I remember you said last time that you bought a house in the suburbs, and Ah Qing and your mother moved in, right?”
"Sir, you are so busy with affairs of state, yet you still remember this matter."
Ouyang Rong said directly:
"Go home and be with your family later. You don't need to come to the county government this afternoon. Bring them to Meiluyuan for dinner tonight. I'll have my aunt prepare some dishes. Oh, and cook a bowl of longevity noodles for Aqing too."
The young magistrate smiled, while the tall, thin man hesitated. The former made the decision without further ado:
"No excuses, it's settled then."
After a moment of silence, Liu Ashan nodded and wiped the mud off his hands on the sides of his pants.
Ouyang Rong then asked with concern, "Didn't you say you were going to redeem your mother and sister from their bonds? How's that going now?"
"Mother has been redeemed, but younger sister hasn't."
Ouyang Rong frowned slightly:
"Is it because there isn't enough money? Aqing is already fourteen, which is the age to get married in the village. It would be better to redeem her free status so that she can find a good family in the future."
Liu Ashan shook his head: "No, it's because Amei doesn't want to redeem herself. She said she can earn some more money and wants to work a little longer, and also help out in other ways..."
Ouyang Rong wanted to ask more, but the taciturn man looked around. There was no one at the bow, and the wind was quite strong. He leaned closer to Ouyang Rong and whispered:
"Master, do you remember the Jia San sword furnace that I mentioned last time, the one that's been vacated on the west bank of Butterfly Creek?"
"I remember, weren't the craftsmen they freed up transferred by the Liu family to prepare for repairing the Di Gong Gate?"
"That's true, but the Liu family vacated the Jia San sword furnace before Liu Ziwen made peace with the master. At that time, there were no signs of reconciliation between us. Moreover, our people have heard that there are some strange things about the aftermath of this Jia San sword furnace."
"What's strange about it?"
"Even after the people at the sword furnace were evacuated, the fire was still burning, as if it had no intention of stopping."
"Have all the people from Jia San Sword Forge left?"
"No, but the original swordsmiths have all left, and some old, weak, sick and disabled craftsmen have come to guard them. For some reason, the furnace fire never goes out. Every morning, black smoke can be seen, and it burns day and night."
"If the fire isn't extinguished, what is this sword furnace forging?"
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but wonder, and considering the unusual behavior of Liu Ziwen and the Liu family in the past few days, his expression became somewhat wary.
"have no idea."
"Go and investigate further; this matter needs to be closely monitored."
"Yes, sir."
The bow of the ship fell silent, save for the whistling wind, as if no conversation had ever taken place...
Back at the Longcheng County government office, Ouyang Rong and Liu Ashan parted ways, agreeing to have dinner together that night.
Ouyang Rong rested for a while in the afternoon and continued working. His current task was to review the plans provided by the Liu family's craftsmen with his clerks and subordinates.
The young magistrate buried himself in his documents for an hour before getting up, stretching, grabbing a teacup, gulping down a drink, letting out a long breath, and glancing around.
The lobby of the government office was filled with the rustling of pages turning and the clattering of ink grinding as subordinates from the Six Ministries worked with their heads down.
However, Ouyang Rong knew that some of them were probably working extra hard because he was there.
Ouyang Rong circled the case for a while, then suddenly thought of something and looked a little troubled.
In the evening, I invited Aqing to Meiluyuan for longevity noodles. She's the birthday girl, so I had to give her something, right? Even her brother gave her a bouquet of butterfly flowers.
Having almost been impolite, Ouyang Rong gave a brief self-criticism.
However, the gifts for little girls don't need to be too expensive; they're usually quite easy to please.
“I remember Aqing is a skilled handicraft sewer, very meticulous and dexterous. Well… let’s fold some paper.”
The young magistrate glanced at the wastebaskets beside the tables in the busy hall and nodded to himself.
Let's get right to it.
Someone put down their teacup and stepped off the stage.
The clerks who were focused on their work behind the ten desks in the hall suddenly tensed up as they sat in their chairs.
Many people were secretly wondering: What is the Prefect doing? Why is he going through our wastebaskets one by one? Could it be...?
The person who was slacking off suddenly tensed up, and their focused expression became even more intense.
The hall became even quieter.
Ouyang Rong looked up and glanced curiously at his subordinates, who seemed to have been injected with chicken blood. He didn't pay them any more attention, and returned to his office with some clean waste paper from the wastebasket.
Longcheng County Government Office was, after all, an official government office, and the paper used by its officials and clerks was quite expensive.
Ouyang Rong noticed a type of paper dyed indigo blue, which seemed to be called porcelain blue paper, often used by temples like Donglin Temple for copying scriptures.
The young magistrate brought over a wooden ruler, cut the porcelain blue paper into small triangles, and began to carefully fold and piece them together.
In less than fifteen minutes, he had produced a little gadget.
Put it aside and get back to the important stuff.
As evening approached, Ouyang Rong finished his shift, reached out and picked up the little gadget, tucked it into a book, and left the county office with the book, returning to the Deer Park.
Liu Ashan and his family arrived earlier than Ouyang Rong had expected.
When he returned to the Sika Deer Garden, he took the hot towel handed to him by the little white-haired girl who was waiting anxiously at the entrance, wiped his face and hands casually, and hurried to the front hall for the meal.
The round table was already full of people including Madam Zhen, Mother Liu, Liu Ashan, and Aqing.
"Master." Liu Ashan and his family stood up to pay their respects.
"It's alright, it's alright, make yourself at home." Ouyang Rong pressed his palm down lightly and sat down with a smile.
The group sat down again and exchanged a few pleasantries.
At Zhen's instruction, Banxi and other maids served all the dishes.
The woman in the skirt smiled and said, "Auntie, Aqing, please try this. It's a dish from my and Tanlang's hometown. See if you like it."
Ouyang Rong glanced at the familiar dishes on the table, especially the bowl of spicy soup in front of him, and couldn't help but swallow hard, his gaze falling on Zhen Shi:
"Auntie, did our cook make this?"
Madam Zhen laughed and said, "I changed the cook at home and had Banxi hire the cook from Yunshui Pavilion. Tanlang likes to eat here, so he can have it anytime from now on."
Ouyang Rong's expression froze.
This chapter might be a bit short due to the setup... There's one more chapter coming, I'll post it after I finish writing it. Everyone go to bed early, and we'll read it tomorrow~
(End of this chapter)
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