Chapter Sixty-Nine: Expression of Gratitude
The so-called concealment was completely exposed when the specially made porcelain water pipes were delivered to Xiaba Village. The village chief could be seen chasing after the figure with a thick fire poker. Shen Zhiyi, running against the wind, would occasionally slow down and look back, explaining, "Grandpa Village Chief, these things are really not expensive! They can be used for a long time! Let's say they can be used ten thousand times, then..."
"I won't listen to your nonsense!" the village chief said breathlessly, leaning on his fire poker as he stood there. "Come here and talk to me."
"No, I... I..." Shen Zhiyi said guiltily, racking her brains to think of something she could do in advance, so she began to make amends, "I have to deliver something to Lord Lu today, so I won't chat with you any longer."
"You don't mean the things in those vats and those persimmons, do you?" the village chief asked, half-believing.
Of course, there were still some tomato seedlings left from Shen Zhiyi's cultivation. She carefully pruned and fertilized them, and they had been shaped into "crane shapes." Compared to the tomatoes in the vegetable garden that seemed to grow wildly, that pot was obviously more for ornamental purposes than for picking and eating.
Fortunately, the chili field was alright, otherwise she wouldn't have had the time to constantly correct the growth shape of the tomato seedlings.
After this period of time, the tomatoes have begun to turn red and will be ripe and ready to be picked in a few days. The sweet potatoes were planted a little late, and we will have to wait another month before we can take them out of the pots.
“Yes, those are all good seeds to give to Lord Lu!” Shen Zhiyi said without hesitation. Sweet potatoes were considered “heaven-defying” in this dynasty. If she tried to promote them herself, she would definitely get herself into trouble. Only Lord Lu, as an official, could do it.
She believed that as long as she explained how to take care of the sweet potatoes to Lord Lu, he would definitely promote them once the sweet potatoes matured and he saw the high yield.
The subsequent impact of the sweet potato business was too great for Shen Zhiyi to handle, so she had no choice but to give it away first.
Seeds such as chili peppers, peanuts, tomatoes, and winter melons have already spread to a small area, and judging from the timeline, they should gradually enter the harvest season starting next month.
That way, it can cover some of the house construction expenses, so that the purse strings won't be completely empty.
"With your small frame, how could you possibly move those vats?" The village chief's attention was indeed diverted by those words. He shifted to a more comfortable position and gripped the fire poker, saying, "One cart wouldn't be enough; it would take several! Let me think..."
Shen Zhiyi followed obediently beside the village chief. The mooing of cows came from the courtyards of several houses, which sounded very pleasant.
When every household has a cow, I wonder how beautiful that scene will be.
Now, several households have pooled their money to buy cattle, and some, like Shen Zhiyi, have gritted their teeth and bought cattle. In total, the whole village has five cattle. So the village chief is calculating how many oxcarts it will take to move all the water tanks.
Although the number of sweet potatoes that came with Shen Zhiyi was not large, in order to ensure their vitality, under suitable temperature conditions, we tried to make as many sweet potatoes as possible sprout, and in the end, there were quite a few water tanks after they were planted.
"It would take five oxen three trips to pull the cart," the village chief said slowly.
“Take a vat of it over to Lord Lu first, and he’ll send someone to take the rest away,” Shen Zhiyi said matter-of-factly.
"How can you do anything like this?" the village chief asked suspiciously. He usually thought this girl was quick-witted, so why was she so casual in dealing with Lord Lu?
“I think that once Lord Lu has determined its value, he will definitely be eager to send someone to move it,” Shen Zhiyi said, noticing the village chief’s expression. “Am I wrong?”
"Girl, you know Lord Lu too well," the village chief probed.
"Huh?" Shen Zhiyi was puzzled. Isn't it just a matter of thinking about what the other party will do? What kind of understanding is that?
"You're thinking about Lord Lu..." the village chief continued, then suddenly realized, "No wonder! No wonder! I've introduced you to so many young men lately, but you haven't liked a single one of them. So that's where the problem lies!"
“Grandpa Village Chief, you’re overthinking it. Let’s talk about when…” Shen Zhiyi tried to steer the conversation back to the main topic, but the village chief, who had been imagining things, exclaimed, “Girl, you have such good taste! Lord Lu is a rare find! No, we need to find out more about this.”
The village chief walked home while talking, not listening to anything else.
"Grandpa Village Chief..." Shen Zhiyi's attempt to salvage the situation was immediately drowned out by the running figure.
Before, I only felt a kind of coldness, which was what my elders thought of me; now I only feel a kind of liking, which is what my elders think of me.
But if she asked herself honestly, Lord Lu was indeed worthy of her affection, but he was completely unrelated to what she was doing right now. How did they even connect?
Shen Zhiyi had mentioned giving something to Lord Lu, but in the end, she was treated like a souvenir and squeezed in front of the "gifts." She saw the village chief, who was driving the carriage and looked energetic, and hesitated several times before speaking.
"Isn't this too much?" Shen Zhiyi asked cautiously. Each oxcart had a cart tied to the back, and it moved strangely in sync with the speed of the oxcart.
On the oxcart's sideboard was a water vat half a person's height, with particularly lush sweet potato seedlings on it, while the back cart was loaded with various fresh vegetables, as if they had just been picked from the garden.
"It's not much," the village chief said without even turning his head. "This is a token of the villagers' goodwill. What's wrong? You can give it, but others can't?"
"Absolutely not! I just don't know how long it will take Lord Lu to finish eating." Shen Zhiyi became more and more muttered at the end, completely not expecting things to turn out this way, but as long as she didn't mention the matter between her and Lord Lu, it would be fine.
Besides, nothing really happened!
She is innocent, and her innocence will remain so.
However, the orderly procession of their oxcart attracted the attention of others, who then turned to look at them. It was only when they saw the direction the oxcart was heading that some of the more scheming individuals withdrew their intention to follow.
The oxcarts were parked neatly in front of the yamen, and the commotion had already alerted the people inside. Lu Jingbai, dressed in his official robes, came out with other officials from the yamen and saw the village chief of Xiaba Village.
"Li Yongkang, the village chief of Xiaba Village, has come with the villagers to express our deepest gratitude to the magistrate for his discerning judgment and for restoring justice to Xiaba Village!" The village chief said, and respectfully led the way by kneeling down.
Shen Zhiyi followed closely behind, and not only the villagers of Xiaba Village, but also the onlookers, all knelt down in a daze.
"Village Chief Li, get up quickly." Lu Jingbai stepped forward and helped the village chief up.
The village chief, supported by Lu Jingbai, stood up and said emotionally, "If it weren't for the help of the officials, our Xiaba Village would not be at peace! The villagers don't know how to thank you enough, so we picked some fresh vegetables from our own yards. We hope the officials won't find them too offensive."
“How could we find that unacceptable, Village Chief Li? Let’s go inside and talk,” Lu Jingbai said. County Magistrate Mu chimed in, “Upholding justice for the people is simply the duty of us officials!”
With County Magistrate Mu handling the aftermath, Lu Jingbai focused on leading the village chief and Shen Zhiyi inside, and the group headed towards the reception hall.
"I apologize for my abrupt arrival today, Lord Lu," the village chief said sincerely.
"It's alright," Lu Jingbai said gently, patiently waiting for what was to come.
"Sir, you are so kind and benevolent, you are truly a model official." The village chief offered this rare compliment, which sent a chill down Shen Zhiyi's spine.
"What is it, Village Chief Li? Please speak frankly," Lu Jingbai reminded him.
As if the village chief had exhausted all his efforts and methods with that preamble, he immediately said, "Then I will speak frankly. Are you married, sir?"
"Cough." Shen Zhiyi couldn't help but cough when she heard this. There was no need to be so "straightforward".
Lu Jingbai's mind raced, and he immediately understood what was going on. However, he had important matters to attend to and feared that he might endanger others, so he decided...
"No," Lu Jingbai answered honestly, adding before the village chief could, "It's just that I haven't considered it recently."
The village chief's words caught in his throat, and Shen Zhiyi seized the opportunity to speak up during this moment of polite refusal: "Sir, you must be interested in those big water vats! The things in those vats are quite valuable!"
"The adults have already seen its leaves when it was a seedling. If it is transplanted into a water tank like this, the leaves will grow rapidly and you can see its..." Shen Zhiyi said the words that she had thought about several times, and analyzed the general situation of the fruit from the leaves, stems and roots.
Lu Jingbai's eyes lit up, and he said to Xuan Yan, who was guarding outside, "Xuan Yan, bring over one of the water vats that Miss Chen brought."
Without his intervention as the county magistrate, the goods transported by oxcart remained untouched in the backyard.
A moment later, Xuan Yan easily carried the heavy water vat in, leaving the village chief speechless. He couldn't help but mutter, "His strength is comparable to that of Da Ya."
They might even become a family.
Shen Zhiyi silently added in her mind, and after seeing that the water tank was stable, she gently twisted the leaves on the side of the tank so that Lu Jingbai could see the veins and stems at a glance, and then said, "Both the leaves and stems are edible, but it's best to pick the tender parts of the stems. And it's not difficult to grow, you just need to..."
She spoke in great detail, because this concerned the future promotion of the grain varieties, and there was no room for carelessness.
Lu Jingbai saw more in the water tank and couldn't help but ask more detailed questions. However, he received accurate answers to every question, which made him more and more puzzled. But he couldn't ask the questions out loud, because he felt that if he did, the person would fly away.
"Not only that, but also this bowl of tomatoes." As Shen Zhiyi said this, she suddenly realized that she had never mentioned "tomatoes" in front of Lu Jingbai before. Now that she had just blurted it out, she was bound to give herself away!
"The seeds came from the West, and the fruit is red and looks similar to a persimmon, so the name 'tomato' is quite fitting," Lu Jingbai added, trying to cover up. "These must be the seeds that Miss Shen and Village Chief Chen of Shunshui Village signed an agreement for? They've grown so fast, and they're already bearing fruit?"
"No rush, it's been over a month already!" Shen Zhiyi laughed. "Once the fruit turns completely red, it's ready to eat. You can use it to make soup, stir-fry, or eat it raw."
"Lord Lu, what does its shape resemble?" Shen Zhiyi deliberately placed the basin on the table and asked loudly.
Lu Jingbai looked at it carefully, then asked uncertainly, "Chicken?"
"Huh?" Shen Zhiyi was taken aback. The village chief next to him suddenly realized what he meant and nodded hurriedly, "Now that you mention it, it does look very similar."
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