Chapter Seventeen: Where Did This Lecher Come From?
Shen Zhiyi looked at the man who had inexplicably rushed in front of her. Had he not left after watching the commotion?
She didn't take what the other person said to heart at all, and looked up at the village chief who was walking over, saying, "Grandpa Village Chief, I have something to tell you!"
She needed to finish explaining before it got dark.
"Miss, I..." The man was about to say something when Shen Zhiyi quickly passed by him, leaving only her resentful gaze.
Shen Zhiyi hurriedly walked to the village chief's side and briefly explained her idea of asking someone to collect night soil and transport it to the village for composting. Seeing that the other party nodded repeatedly, it seemed that he also thought highly of the suggestion, so she asked, "Shouldn't we inform Lord Lu about this?"
The village chief immediately shook his head, thinking of the dignified and upright Lord Lu, and said, "No need, Lord Lu is a county magistrate, how could he concern himself with such trivial matters?"
“But Lord Lu…” Shen Zhiyi hadn’t finished speaking when she looked up and saw Lu Jingbai standing at the courtyard gate. If she wasn’t mistaken, she sensed the gaze coming from that direction as soon as she mentioned the words “Lord Lu.”
"What is it?" Lu Jingbai asked.
It seems they heard it when the previous sentence was spoken.
Seeing this, Shen Zhiyi said without hesitation, "I saw the excrement on the streets of the county town..."
The next words were suddenly covered by the village chief's hand. Shen Zhiyi made a few confused "mmm" sounds. At the same time, the village chief said as if to make up for it, "Shen girl, you think that if someone cleans the streets of the county town, it will become cleaner and attract more people from other places. Is that what you mean?"
After the village chief finished speaking, he looked at Shen Zhiyi and, seeing that she nodded, he let go of her hand.
The village chief's heart nearly jumped out of his throat just thinking about saying such disgusting things in front of the county magistrate!
Lu Jingbai subconsciously felt that he hadn't said everything, so he asked, "Miss Chen, is that what you mean?"
"Yes, that's roughly the idea." Shen Zhiyi spoke tactfully, realizing that some of her words had been omitted, so she embellished the rest and added, "If someone does this specifically, can they be considered a government employee? Can they get a monthly salary? After all, it's for the sake of keeping the county clean and tidy."
The question was so specific that it made Lu Jingbai think more deeply. He said, "Miss Chen, do you already have someone in mind?"
There was a hint of seriousness in his voice, and Shen Zhiyi replied frankly, "Indeed, there are, but if they can meet the requirements, Lord Lu shouldn't mind hiring them, right?"
"Miss Shen, have you perhaps listed all my requirements for me?" Lu Jingbai asked coldly.
The village chief, who was listening nearby, was terrified and wanted to stop Shen Zhiyi, but he was a beat too slow.
“Since this is an addition of positions that have never been created in the county before, it must be to encourage some people to realize their self-worth and thus support themselves,” Shen Zhiyi said earnestly. Looking up, she saw that Lu Jingbai was silent, a situation she was all too familiar with, so she continued, “How many widows and orphans are there in the city? Has the magistrate investigated? How many of them are disabled, and how many are capable of working?”
Lu Jingbai was suddenly stumped by the question. He hadn't considered that point yet, and realized he had been overthinking it. He immediately changed his mindset and asked, "Then why give it to the widowed and orphaned? There are plenty of idle people in the city."
“My lord probably doesn’t understand how difficult and tiring it is to clean up all that filth. How could an idle person do it willingly and without complaint? Only those who want to live seriously will try their best to seize any hope given.” Shen Zhiyi said this with certainty. “Therefore, as long as my lord adds this position, the person I have the right for will definitely be selected.”
"I haven't even said what my requirements are yet, and Miss Shen is already so confident?" Lu Jingbai couldn't help but ask back.
“Of course, they are people who want to live.” Shen Zhiyi said confidently, “Lord Lu can’t reject them because they are too young.”
“I don’t judge people solely by their age,” Lu Jingbai said confidently.
"If you're going to post these kinds of notices, please write them in a straightforward and simple way, so they won't be unable to understand them," Shen Zhiyi made her final request.
Lu Jingbai nodded in acknowledgment.
"Now that we've finished talking, I'll be going!" Shen Zhiyi said hurriedly, feeling embarrassed to come back for dinner at the village chief's house again, thinking about the meal she had already eaten there.
Without even entering the house, Shen Zhiyi turned and ran.
Seeing her departing figure, the village chief snapped out of his daze and quickly called out, "Girl, stay for dinner!"
"No!" Shen Zhiyi's voice came from outside the courtyard. She had to go back before it got dark.
"Xuan Yan, go and see Miss Chen off," Lu Jingbai said to the servant behind him.
Xuan Yan accepted the order and left the courtyard as if he were walking silently.
Shen Zhiyi was completely unaware that someone was following her. In the vast darkness of the night, even though she was severely nearsighted and not wearing her glasses, she was still able to make out the outline of a person.
Suddenly something darted out, its menacing appearance startling Shen Zhiyi so much that she screamed, "Help!"
Almost simultaneously, something else flew over, and Shen Zhiyi could no longer stand steadily. She groped around, trying to find a place to hide, when she saw the two "things" entangled together. She instantly knew that the danger level was decreasing.
Always the first to run is the best!
Shen Zhiyi crouched down and was about to walk along the wall of a house when she suddenly heard someone shouting, "Hey? Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! All I want is to marry you. It's just a matter of love between a man and a woman. You don't have to beat me like this!"
The voice sounds familiar.
She suddenly remembered the man who had inexplicably "proposed" to her with flowers. He hadn't left yet? Coming to wait for her so late at night, he clearly had no good intentions!
Shen Zhiyi tried her best to minimize her presence and quietly left this place of trouble by following the wall.
The cooling night was already confirming his suspicions, which made Lu Jingbai preoccupied. He solemnly wrote down the day's events on paper, with the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) being of utmost importance.
Footsteps approached, and Lu Jingbai stopped writing. After glancing at the person who had entered, he continued writing.
"On the way escorting Miss Shen, we encountered a lecherous man. During the ensuing struggle, Miss Shen managed to escape. I later confirmed that Miss Shen had returned safely," Xuan Yan reported straightforwardly.
"Hmm," Lu Jingbai replied indifferently.
Then silence fell over the room.
As Lu Jingbai finished writing the last stroke on the paper and the ink dried on each page, he realized that there was more and more writing about "Miss Chen".
Although he had promised not to expose it to others, he still had to remember this mentor-student relationship and was willing to help as long as it did not violate the law.
"You will oversee the construction of the heated brick bed. Since it was Miss Shen who proposed it, the villagers from Xiaba Village should be the main contributors. As for the money..." Lu Jingbai said, but then he suddenly remembered Shen Zhiyi's private complaint to Village Chief Li about buying too many bricks. He seemed to be unfamiliar with money matters. "You decide what to do. It shouldn't be too low or too high."
“Yes,” Xuan Yan replied obediently.
"As for the new position in the county government, you must also do as Miss Shen said. If you are unsure, then come and ask me again," Lu Jingbai said slowly.
Shen Zhiyi had thought through every aspect of the problem, so he had nothing to add.
Sometimes he couldn't help but think that this girl, Chen, didn't seem to have grown up in the countryside, nor did she seem to be here; she seemed to come from somewhere else.
But where else can we go besides here?
Lu Jingbai couldn't figure this out, so he kept it to himself to avoid causing trouble for Miss Shen if he spoke of it.
"Oh right, that lecher..." Lu Jingbai's thoughts finally returned from the important matter, and he remembered what he had overheard.
"I gave him a good beating, and he shouted that he would never dare to do it again. He shouldn't cause any more trouble for Miss Shen," Xuan Yan reported earnestly.
Lu Jingbai frowned upon hearing this and said in a deep voice, "Nothing a lecher says can be taken seriously, otherwise there wouldn't be so many people breaking into houses..."
At this point, Lu Jingbai's mind raced through numerous cases, and the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became. He then said, "Go and keep watch outside Miss Shen's courtyard tonight. If that scoundrel goes there again, tie him up and send him to the yamen tomorrow."
Xuan Yan immediately became solemn, bowed to Lu Jingbai, and then took his leave.
The night was dark and the wind howled outside the window. Shen Zhiyi tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep, as she could always hear some faint, rustling sounds outside.
If you hear this kind of sound while living alone, you absolutely must not go outside!
Feeling scared, Shen Zhiyi pondered where to buy a guard dog.
On second thought, I realized that my savings weren't enough to afford a dog, so fixing up the yard was the top priority!
After much contemplation and a wave of drowsiness washing over her, Shen Zhiyi drifted off to sleep.
Sunlight streamed in through the hole in the fence. She got up wearily to wash up. The cool water that usually fell on her face felt freezing. A breeze blew by, and Shen Zhiyi couldn't help but shiver.
I noticed the temperature was off on my way home last night, and this morning the feeling only intensified. If the cold continues like this, I'm afraid we won't be able to wait until next month to use a heated kang (traditional Chinese bed).
The matter of installing heated brick beds should be addressed as soon as possible, otherwise countless unsuspecting people will suffer from the cold, or even...
Shen Zhiyi didn't want to think about it too deeply; she firmly believed that human will could overcome anything!
The most important thing right now is to go find Lord Lu!
She didn't even have time for breakfast and hurriedly ran towards the village chief's house, just as she unexpectedly encountered the carriage. She called out, "Lord Lu, I have something to say to you!"
The carriage stopped at the right moment, and Lu Jingbai slowly lifted the curtain, already listening intently.
“The temperature turned cool last night and even cooler this morning, so the land reclamation will probably have to be delayed again, but the heated kang bed cannot be delayed any longer. I beg Lord Lu to consider this carefully!” Shen Zhiyi said anxiously.
“I understand,” Lu Jingbai replied earnestly. “Thank you, Miss Chen, for coming all this way to inform me.”
Feeling a little embarrassed by such a heartfelt thank you, Shen Zhiyi repeatedly said, "No need to thank me, no need to thank me."
"Then I'll be going now." Just as Lu Jingbai was about to lower the carriage curtain, the words hidden in his heart burst forth, and even his voice became gentle, "Miss Chen, please take care."
Shen Zhiyi was stunned for a moment, and it wasn't until the carriage started moving again that she reacted and belatedly replied, "You too."
Watching the carriage disappear completely from sight, Shen Zhiyi was momentarily unaware of what was secretly stirring in her heart, and quickly adjusted her breathing to let that feeling slip away quietly.
"Shen girl, what are you doing standing here! Come here quickly, something good is about to happen!" The village chief's voice rang out from not far away, immediately attracting Shen Zhiyi's attention.
"Coming!" Shen Zhiyi called out as she walked over.
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