Chapter 29 Chapter 29 The road to the government office was pitch black...
The road to the yamen was pitch black, and the lights had long since stopped. In late summer, most people would sit under the trees with fans to enjoy the cool air.
This time I met Wang Xiaopang on the street again. He was squatting under the red light on the street with a bamboo basket covered with blue floral cloth beside him and a book strung together on a string in his hand.
When he saw them coming, he stood up and said hello, sir.
Xie Xunzhi took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Why don't you go home? Isn't mother worried?"
"It's okay. I told my mom about it. She's hoping I'll learn more." Wang Xiaopang smiled. His chubby face and incomplete teeth made him look very cute.
"Then don't study for too long. It's bad for your eyes."
Xie Xunzhi squatted down and lifted the blue floral cloth. There was a wooden board separating the inside. On one side was Su Jin's men's style, and on the other side was Su Jin's pretty women's style.
He grabbed a white handkerchief and asked, "How much is this? I want it."
Wang Xiaopang waved his hands repeatedly, his face flushed and he couldn't speak: "Just keep it, sir, it's not worth much."
"Hey, Wang Xiao? Why don't I remember you telling me that? A few days ago, I asked you to deliver a letter and even charged extra." Hezhou bent down and pinched his face, a smile playing on his lips: "Here."
"no the same……"
"Why is it different? Paying for things is only natural." Hezhou didn't listen to what he said. He just threw the money into the basket and ran away with Xie Xunzhi.
Wang Xiaopang was left shouting behind him, his voice echoing throughout the entire street.
Hezhou didn't stop until he reached the county government office. He gasped and laughed for some reason: "If someone didn't know, they would think we were eating for free."
"That Wang Xiao's voice can penetrate the entire shepherd's purse." Xie Xunzhi smiled, his disheveled hair flying in front of him. He handed the handkerchief he had just bought to Hezhou, with one hand spread out in front of him.
"Um?"
Hezhou took the handkerchief, his eyes flashed as he stared at his open palm, a greeting seemed to pop up in his head, and after a long time he put his hand on it.
His chest was heaving so violently from running so intensely that Hezhou could even hear his own heartbeat in his ears.
In order to make it easier to get out of bed, I had nothing on me except a few copper coins that I wanted to use to have tea with Miss Huang.
All the copper coins were thrown to Wang Xiaopang in one breath. He thought Xie Xunzhi wanted to hold his hand, so he naturally put his hand on it.
"Looking for it?"
When Hezhou put his hand on Xie Xunzhi, he was also stunned, and then he laughed: "No! Brother He, I'll give you a new handkerchief. Is that my square handkerchief?"
"Ah? I'll wash it and give it to you." Hezhou pushed Xie Xunzhi inside, mumbling to himself, "I've been working in the fields all day, and that little handkerchief has been used up to pieces. I have to return it to you clean, and besides, you have more than one."
"Didn't you say you weren't used to using handkerchiefs and wanted to use toilet paper?"
"That straw paper...that straw paper is too coarse...too expensive...a handkerchief is more convenient. Isn't that what you told me?"
In the kitchen, Chunjuan had already heated up the dishes after hearing their voices. Hezhou gulped down the tea on the table. "Xunzhi, do you have a kettle? I finished that little water bag in no time."
"I remember it, right? Let me look for it?"
At night, Hezhou lit a lamp and drew the pattern of the four-legged plow cart, and asked Chunjuan to deliver it. When Chunjuan came back, he told him that Master Li took it, looked at it again and again, and then delivered it to the carpenter, and paid a deposit for five carts at once.
The next day, Hezhou got up early again, and even took time out to go to the private school with Xie Xunzhi to attend a class.
The weather was really good at noon, without much wind. Xie Xunzhi knew that he had to burn the fields today, so he asked for a day off out of worry.
That piece of wasteland was connected to an abandoned house. Although no one had lived there for a long time, if a fire started, it would be uncontrollable.
Hezhou did not refuse and took out the flatbed truck piled up in the warehouse, pulled a bucket of water to the wasteland. Except for the fenced-in area, the weeds around it had already been trimmed neatly, and he also dug a large pit along the way.
He stopped the flatbed truck at the head of the field. The water in the bath tub swayed along the edge, emitting a dazzling silver light. Hezhou took out the stool that was tucked behind him.
"Please thank Mr.
Xie Xunzhi was a little confused. He lowered his eyes to look at the ground. The soil under his feet had been trampled firmly for a long time, and the days he had stopped only covered him with a thin layer of dust.
"Aren't you going to light a fire? Let me see which way the wind is blowing."
"I've made sure it's all right. Today's sky is clear, so don't worry, there won't be any wind or rain. But that may not be the case after the fire is finished. Besides, don't worry, I'm going to dig the canal over there." Hezhou rolled up his sleeves and started working.
The canal wasn't too dirty. It had been dry for a long time, but moss had grown on the walls. There were all kinds of things blocking the mouth. Hezhou even took out a pair of black cloth shoes.
He threw it aside in disgust. The mask hanging on his ears was draped underneath and was wet with sweat. Fortunately, the water was flowing, so this step did not waste too much time.
The fire was soon lit. Hezhou tentatively threw three torches forward, and the dry weeds in the wasteland were ignited in an instant.
The fire was bigger than they had expected. At one point the sparks were so high that they seemed to engulf them. The last scene of his previous life flashed before Hezhou's eyes, and he felt a tightness in his chest.
He placed his hands on the wooden barrel, his nails trembling slightly, and his face was hot from the fire.
"Be careful."
"Nothing, just move aside." Xie Xunzhi pretended to be relaxed and looked back, but he couldn't help but gasp: "Are there puddles all around?"
"Well, I brought the water here. It's a palm deep, and there are no weeds within five inches of the water ring. Don't worry." Hezhou stared at the fire without blinking.
The fallen flames did not blow far in the absence of wind, and drifted into the surrounding puddles more or less like fine snow. The fire subsided over time, and the black, bare ground that was burned in the front could be vaguely seen.
Everything was just as expected. The fire burned slowly and unevenly. Even the dried-up puddles turned to ashes in the canals.
Hezhou carefully put out the flames with buckets of water, and sprinkled water all over the wasteland. The fireworks spread for ten miles, and many people came to put out the fire with wooden buckets.
The busy schedule ended in the afternoon. Hezhou sat down on the ground with the bucket in his hand. He lowered his head and sniffed his body, then tilted his head in disgust: "Yesterday's shower was in vain again."
"It's okay, I'll boil some water for you tonight." Xie Xunzhi gave up his stool and patted the grass ash off his body.
"Why do you choose farming when it's so hard?"
"Food is the foundation of a county, isn't it?" Hezhou shook off the weeds beneath him and plucked a few cockleburs that were stuck to his legs. "The Chen family controls the price of food, and shepherd's purse can't stand up."
"Your output is not enough to stop the growth of shepherd's purse."
Hezhou remained silent for a long time, his sharp face scratched by the black charcoal fire, his eyes looking at the old traces. "I want seeds. Shepherd's purse has good geology, but the yield has been low in recent years. Besides pests, the most likely problem is that the seeds themselves are not good."
"How confident are you?" Xie Xunzhi looked at him seriously, only bursts of bird calls echoed around.
"It's hard to say." Hezhou couldn't explain it either. Although he had done many experiments in college, he had visited many experimental fields in order to get into graduate school and had written quite a few papers.
But it is all thanks to modern technology and the support of successful templates. If he were to start from scratch, it would be hard to say, but he has to give it a try.
All the people who could buy food from outside had already run away.
Xie Xunzhi still didn't sit on the stool that he had given up. He didn't know if it was because he had done too much yesterday, but after lighting the fire today, he felt okay.
After resting for a while, Hezhou stood up. There was a piece of pancake on the ground next to his mouth. He looked at Xie Xunzhi and started to eat it without saying a word.
"I knew it. I asked you this morning how long it would take, and you said you could be back for lunch." Xie Xunzhi handed over the water bag: "Don't choke."
He couldn't even speak the Hezhou dialect, but just nodded continuously, his face puffed up, and swallowed the dry pancake along with the water.
"I thought it would be quick, but I didn't expect it to take so long." The experimental land he planted before was generally wasteland that was returned to the field with biological resources.
Fires had been banned long ago, and he was inferring it based on the fire in the kitchen. He didn't expect it to spread so quickly and burn for so long. At one point, he thought something had gone wrong. He decided not to use fire next time. Besides, returning biological resources to the fields is more conducive to circulation.
"Have you got a meal yet?"
Xie Xunzhi nodded: "I just ate and called you, but you didn't hear me. You're more serious than in class."
"By the way, are we going to the back mountain tomorrow?" Hezhou finished the last bite of the cake and looked at him with his head tilted.
"No, I just said it casually..." Xie Xunzhi's voice lowered, pinching the corner of his clothes with his fingers. He had an idea in his mind, but the situation was not appropriate.
"Next time, at least stabilize the county."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Hezhou pouted and shook his finger. "Think about it, the bandits' place is unstable. What if something happens to your group? I know what you're afraid of. Let's take the bread and go and watch for a day."
He raised an eyebrow and looked at Xie Xunzhi's already unsteady face, becoming even more certain that his guess was correct: "We agreed that we won't leave even if you ask."
"But...but...even if the person is found safely, why would he tell you?" Xie Xunzhi frowned and shook his head.
"You think you could come here even without the Jade Butterfly. It would be better if you asked fewer questions than now." Hezhou hugged him with a comforting tone.
"That's settled then!"
"No!" Xie Xunzhi blinked his eyelashes: "Then... let's go the day after tomorrow, and you should have a good rest for a day."
"Yeah." Hezhou raised the corners of his mouth high and turned his arms. It would be good to have a day's rest, as the hard days were still ahead.
"Time flies by so fast."
Xie Xunzhi pushed the cart and walked behind: "It's a bit far. Do you want to ask the carpenter to make you a flatbed cart or a wheelbarrow?"
"No need! We'll talk about it after it breaks, then... By the way, do you have enough money? I might need to bring some with me up the mountain."
The alley was empty. They grabbed some hay and put it on the flatbed. The last load was almost gone.
Xie Xunzhi stood up straight: "I've calculated it. According to the normal wages, after paying the wages, I'm afraid there will be enough for one month's salary left for you."
"That's fine. It's considered an advance payment? One month..." Hezhou counted the growth cycle of the leeks with his fingers. They might not be able to be harvested in the first month, but it would be considered a fixed income in the future.
"Don't forget that the Chen family is also related to the bandits. Life is the most important thing. It's more important to find someone to ask about the situation on the mountain!" Xie Xunzhi accepted the result that he would have to go up the mountain later, and sighed for a long time.
"I remember there's a soft knife in the government storehouse. You can take it with you when the time comes."
"Hey! Is this a warehouse or a treasure chest?" Hezhou finished his rant, then winked and took Xie Xunzhi in his arms: "You should take him with you. With my gifted face, who knows, he might think I'm his brother?"
He gave him a reassuring look. This was not just wishful thinking. Whenever a bandit came, he would have a long chat with him and sigh that he was actually a scholar.
Xie Xunzhi slapped his arm away and laughed: "Forget it, you'd better be careful not to be seen as a business thief."
"Hiss~"
"It's hard to say!" Hezhou rubbed his chin and muttered, "Then I was also a rapist."
"Sir! Better pack up the dead leaves and go back to dinner!"
The sack of leaves was stuffed into his hands, but he lost his grip and it slipped to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
Hezhou returned home with a cart full of leaves in a dusty state. After taking a shower in the evening, he couldn't even tell the original color of his clothes when he washed them.
The next day, he slept in for a rare time. Xie Xunzhi brought him some fruit when he came back from the private school, asking him to take a rest. The parents of one of the students were hunters, so they knew everything about what was happening in the mountains.
He had just said that Hezhou had agreed to it, and as soon as Xie Xunzhi left, he followed him, wearing a dark brown short coat full of patches, and went to the wasteland.
The ash from burning wood can be considered a fertilizer, and the land is still normal. He secretly carried a bamboo basket to the mountain to cut down trees, and chose a tree that could not be cut down.
After splitting the branches, I started chopping them with an axe, planning to make a flatbed cart in my mind. Later, I would dig some bamboo shoots to see if I could make a water system.
Time passed minute by minute, until finally Hezhou discovered a problem. When only a small fracture was left of the cut tree, it was swaying left to right and it was not clear in which direction it would go.
He was so scared that he climbed up the nearby tree with a straw rope in his mouth, hooked the rope to the cut tree, and quickly tied it to the side to determine the direction for him.
Hezhou was shocked when he thought about it. He was so tired that he couldn't straighten his back and his hands were numb from the shock after just chopping down a tree.
He ran down the mountain again and asked the carpenter how to transport the wood down. After listening, Carpenter Tian followed him up with a rope and a slide on his back.
When she got there, she was speechless for a moment and rolled her eyes at him: "Sir, don't you think this place is too winding?"
"It's okay. I saw that the trees in the front half were tall. This one probably grew in the back and blocked the light, so it's shorter." Hezhou stepped on the wood and looked up at him.
"Isn't this just bad luck? Isn't there a landslide ahead?"
"Landslide is landslide, but there are few horse-drawn and ox-drawn carts in the county now, so it's difficult to move this place out with manpower. We have to saw it open." Carpenter Tian left a saw mark in the middle.
"Then let me do it. Can you lend me your tools please?" Hezhou looked at the numerous trees around him and smiled in his heart.
Carpenter Tian waved his hand and said, "If you are confident, leave it to me. Thank you for the order."
"You're welcome, but I can't let you do it alone."
After much tugging and pulling, Hezhou finally finished the work together. After going back to clean up, he stood by the window of the private school and watched people. From afar, he could hear the sound of reading, and Xie Xunzhi's gentle voice was particularly prominent.
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