"Sister, Brother Dong and I have already gotten married. Things were urgent, so I didn't have time to invite you!"
As soon as they met, Liu Xiaoyu awkwardly approached Lin Xue.
"You two got married so quickly?"
Lin Xue really didn't expect the two of them to get married so quickly, and she wondered if their families would agree to such a hasty marriage.
"Isn't this because I've been thinking of following Madam Lin and Lord Huang in the future? Xiaoyu also wants to come with me to Yuhai County, so in order to avoid being separated, we have no choice but to get married ahead of schedule!"
Dong Wu scratched his head, only then showing a slightly embarrassed expression.
Lin Xue also learned that although Dong Wu looked mature, he was actually only 25 years old!
There was hardly anyone left in the family, except for his elder brother and sister-in-law who ran a clothing shop. Normally, someone like him wouldn't be able to marry Liu Xiaoyu.
However, the Liu family didn't stop their daughter from developing feelings for Dong Wu because Dong Wu had once saved her life, specifically during the incident with Lin Xue.
Since Dong Wu's elders had already passed away, the Liu family planned to treat Dong Wu as half a son in the future.
With her family watching over her, they certainly wouldn't let her daughter be bullied.
Family members know their own situation. Although their daughter seemed carefree and unaffected by anything, as parents, they could tell that Liu Xiaoyu was already wary of men.
Now, Dong Wu is the only one Liu Xiaoyu can trust, so the elderly couple in the Liu family have no reason to stop him.
"Sister, I showed those canned fish with chili sauce that you gave me last time to my parents. They said that if this stuff could be mass-produced, it would definitely make money!"
"So, if we can really develop the industry in Yuhai County, my parents said we must keep the distributors in Linzhou City for them!"
"My parents also said that my brother-in-law will definitely become a high-ranking official in the future. If we build a good relationship with my sister and brother-in-law now, our family will also benefit from it in the future!"
Liu Xiaoyu dragged Lin Xue along and blurted out all the gossip her parents had been saying behind her back.
"Since Brother Dong is coming with us, what about you, Xiaoyu? Are you going to come along too?"
Lin Xue had only mentioned it to the two of them with a try-it-out mentality, but she never expected it to actually work out.
Lin Xue knew Dong Wu's character best. Having a capable and trustworthy person by her side was much more convenient than having outsiders around.
"Of course I'm going with them. My parents have already prepared everything for me, so I can just set off with my sister!"
In this way, Lin Xue successfully brought Dong Wu into her team, and also gained the powerful ally, the Liu family.
Once their products are developed, these people will become their benefactors, acting as middlemen to help them sell their goods.
Early the next morning, the Liu family sent their daughter and son-in-law to the city gate to meet Lin Xue and the others.
With Liu's mother giving her countless instructions and reminders, Lin Xue finally led the team on their journey.
Because Liu Xiaoyu's family prepared so much stuff, their group more than doubled in size.
It could be said that Liu Xiaoyu's personal belongings filled six large carriages, which was far more extravagant than the Huang family's.
However, no one said anything about it. After all, the other person has wealthy parents and is lucky, which is something that can't be envied.
The further south you go, the more simply the local people dress.
In the end, Lin Xue and the others even saw that eight- or nine-year-old children didn't have pants to wear and were running around naked everywhere.
After making inquiries, Lin Xue learned that some families only had two or three sets of clothes.
The boy is alright, but the girls in the family can only go out after the person who went out comes back and they get dressed.
Even worse, girls who are sixteen or seventeen years old can only get a decent set of clothes to wear when they get married, provided by their husband's family with a dowry.
These people were so poor that it exceeded Lin Xue's imagination and Huang Dehai's prediction of the situation in the south.
By the time they arrived in Yuhai County, more than a month had passed.
There are only a few days left before Huang Dehai takes office; the time is really tight.
When Huang Dehai and his group arrived in Yuhai County, the government office was dilapidated, with two walls collapsed and not a single broken brick to be found.
The yamen runners were all staggering and thin, looking less robust than the young boys in Lin Xue's family!
It wasn't until they visited several villages and towns in Yuhai County that Lin Xue and her group realized that Yuhai County was not just poor, but also plagued by disasters year after year, and the people simply couldn't get enough to eat.
They hadn't seen a single healthy adult along the way.
Regardless of age or gender, they all had blank stares and wandered around outside like zombies.
They had lost hope in life; the fields yielded no crops, and even if they were planted, they would be flooded.
Every day, he could only go to the beach to collect some seafood, barely keeping himself afloat.
This place should be rich in resources, but the people here live in a living hell, which is beyond Lin Xue's imagination of poverty.
"My wife, you've seen the situation in Yuhai County now. It's a million times more serious than I imagined!"
Huang Dehai was somewhat dejected; he couldn't even muster a single usable subordinate.
Although the yamen runners could still walk, their sunken cheekbones indicated that their physical condition was not much better than that of the local people.
"My lord, I have already asked someone to buy a batch of grain. When the time comes, we will carry out industrial development, and each household will hire one of the strongest people to work for us!"
"Let's first make sure the people here can at least get a bite to eat. We have to take it one step at a time, and eat one bite at a time. It's impossible to change the poverty here all at once. We can only make changes little by little!"
"Tomorrow you will issue a notice that every household in the county should send one able-bodied man to the yamen for paid work. Those who come to work will receive one jin of grain and five copper coins per day!"
Lin Xue planned to find someone to rebuild the county government office first, since it was the power center of the entire Yuhai County. If the county government office didn't even have a proper building, where would their authority be?
This is not bureaucracy, but rather an invisible deterrent to the people here.
It's said that bad people come from remote and impoverished areas, and Lin Xue wasn't too sure about the character of the people here!
Only when you demonstrate sufficient strength will they obediently follow your lead, making economic development smoother.
"My lord, you can also select some smart and capable people from among the workers during this time. Our yamen runner team will need to be strengthened!"
When they arrived, there were only three yamen runners in the county government office.
This is clearly not enough to make a difference; it's simply not sufficient!
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