"I wonder if Mr. Mei would sell his brewing recipe? You know, our Qingshan County still doesn't have its own distinctive industry. Compared with the surrounding counties, Qingshan County has always been at the bottom."
"If I had this secret recipe for brewing wine, I could encourage the local people to brew wine and then sell it to other places!"
"With a stable income, I can do more for the people. With just the meager salary from the imperial court and the small amount of tax revenue from Qingshan County, I can't accomplish anything!"
"Alas, I once came with great ambitions to bring wealth to this region, but upon arriving in Qingshan County, I realized that it is truly too difficult to accomplish anything worthwhile!"
"I have been in Qingshan County for over three years, and almost all the money I brought from Yunjing has been spent on suppressing bandits. Now, I don't even have the money to build irrigation ditches to irrigate the farmland far from the river, and the imperial court is slow to allocate funds. I am willing but unable to do so..."
The meal started off well; everyone was toasting and chatting about pleasant things.
But gradually, as the wine flowed and the dishes were served, our magistrate drank a few more cups, which made him somewhat drunk.
Even things they wouldn't normally dare to say, they couldn't help but say now.
If Lin Xue hadn't realized he was genuinely drunk, she would have thought he was using the moral high ground to force her to hand over the brewing recipe!
The next morning, when the magistrate got up rubbing his aching head, he found that his wife had already dressed him.
"Sir, there aren't any urgent cases to handle today, why don't you sleep a little longer?"
Seeing that the magistrate had woken up, his wife quickly picked up the clothes next to her and put them on him.
"Alas, I drank a bit too much yesterday!"
"I never expected that Guard Lin's fine wine would not only have a high alcohol content and a mellow flavor, but also cause such unpleasant side effects!"
The magistrate rubbed his face to clear his head, and then, with the help of his wife, went to the washing area.
"You've really worked hard, Madam. I will never drink too much again!"
With a sigh, the magistrate finished washing up and sat down in the dining room with his wife to wait for breakfast.
"You were just happy, it's not like you do this all the time. Having a drink once in a while is just a way to relax!"
"But is the wine that Guard Lin brought really as good as you say? Even better than the Drunken Spring Blossom?"
The magistrate's wife is now only interested in the fine wine that the magistrate has been talking about.
Although she doesn't drink alcohol, that doesn't stop her from frequently buying fine wines.
Before she got married, she helped her mother with purchasing things for the household, and wine was one of the items, so she naturally knew a thing or two about it.
"That wine is clearer than water! The flavor is extremely strong. It's far superior to even the tribute wine that His Majesty the Emperor drinks, let alone the Drunken Spring Flower Wine!"
"It's a pity that it was a fine wine brewed by Guard Lin himself. Mr. Mei is a man of great ability, and I suppose he doesn't care about worldly riches!"
"Otherwise, I will pay any price to buy that wine recipe. Then our Qingshan County will have its own specialty, and we won't have to be short of money when we need it!"
The county magistrate sighed deeply. Qingshan County was truly too poor and lacked any distinctive features.
It neither attracts foreign businesses nor has anything to sell.
After paying taxes each year, the harvested grain was not enough to feed even Baixin himself.
The magistrate was truly worried, but worrying was useless; he couldn't conjure up silver out of thin air.
His family had already provided him with considerable support, but unfortunately, he had been assigned to serve as a county magistrate in such a poor and remote place, and his chances of future promotion were extremely slim. His family would not continue to send him money and financial assistance just because of him.
"Didn't Guard Lin write down the brewing recipe you mentioned last night?"
"If this wine is really as good as you say, then we can't treat Guard Lin unfairly. This is his master's secret recipe for fine wine."
"I heard that Lin's master just put a talisman on Zhang and the others and let them experience the speed of the wind!"
"Sir, how fast do you think this 'wind-like speed' would be?"
"master?"
The magistrate's wife realized that after talking for so long, the magistrate hadn't said a word. Somewhat puzzled, she turned her head and saw her husband staring at her with his mouth agape, completely dumbfounded.
"Sir, what's wrong with that expression again?"
The magistrate's wife was somewhat confused, thinking that something was wrong with her attire today, so she hurriedly ran to the bronze mirror and carefully examined her entire face and body.
"You said Guard Lin has already given me the secret recipe for brewing wine? Where is the recipe? Show it to me right now!"
Our county magistrate takes this matter very seriously. As soon as he heard that Lin Xue had copied the secret recipe for him, he immediately became anxious.
"It's here with me. You were too drunk last night, so I kept it for you!"
The magistrate's wife took out a secret recipe from her money box and handed it to the magistrate.
The county magistrate held the secret recipe and burst into laughter.
"With this secret brewing recipe, I don't know who will dare to look down on me. In less than three years, I will definitely turn Qingshan County into a bustling commercial county town!"
Every year when the counties went to the prefectural capital to report on their work, Qingshan County's performance was always at the bottom, and they often received criticism from their superiors.
"Forget about your performance for now, think about what you're going to give Guard Lin!"
"You, a county magistrate, can't just take someone's secret recipe for nothing, can you?"
"Don't forget that his master is no ordinary person. Offending such a reclusive master will not do you any good!"
The magistrate's wife glanced at the smug man and couldn't help but remind him again.
"We need to think this over carefully. We absolutely cannot mistreat Guard Lin!"
"Leaving aside her mysterious master, Guard Lin himself is a rare talent..."
Meanwhile, the magistrate and his wife were discussing how to reward Lin Xue.
Over there, Lin Xue had already set up a stable behind the house, thus taking over the small plot of land that was originally used for growing vegetables.
"Sister-in-law, our vegetable garden has been used to raise horses. Does that mean we'll have to buy vegetables from outside from now on?"
Zhou Xiaowu looked towards the backyard, feeling very reluctant to leave.
In his heart, being able to ride a big horse was great, but not having vegetables to eat made him just as anxious.
"Haven't you farmed enough land yet?"
Lin Xue glanced at Zhou Xiaowu. None of the five children in the Zhou family had any objections to raising horses, but Zhou Xiaowu was the only one who felt more upset about not being able to grow vegetables.
"Sister-in-law, I'm strong and a great farmer, even my second brother can't compare to me!"
"I love farming. Working in the fields gives me energy and makes me so happy!"
When the topic of farming comes up, Zhou Xiaowu's eyes light up.
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