Please remember the domain name of this site:

346: The Dragon Raises Its Head, Encounter in the County

Winter goes and spring comes, and it is a new year again.

In the past year, Shen Zian and Su Zhi's life was getting better and better. Fuyuan had become famous because of the drought, the revered holy beast and the well-watered pond. Because of the emperor's gift, the two of them knew almost all the rich and powerful people. They had a lot of connections. Although they were still farmers, their status was equal to those people. Business was also going well. The dyeing factory, the wine shop, the doll factory, and the vermicelli workshop were all developing well, and they made more and more money. They received a lot of banknotes before the Chinese New Year.

The relationship between Shen Zi'an and Su Zhi has stood the test of time and not only has not faded, but has become even more harmonious. People in Hebian Village can often see them walking together. Anyone with good eyesight can see that they are in love with each other. They have become role models for men and women in the village. When many couples quarrel, they will compare them and say things like "Look at Shen Zi'an" or "Look at your wife Zi'an". When the two heard this, they would not know whether to laugh or cry. However, their relationship has become even sweeter.

Xiao Rixing'er and Yueyue are one year older and have grown much taller, but they are still as cute as ever. Also, because they study reading with Su Zhi and practice martial arts with Shen Zian, the three children are very polite and intelligent, and they are in good health. When they stand there, they don't look like ordinary country children. They are no worse than the young masters and young ladies in the city. When the rich man saw the three children, he felt that it was a perfect decision to give them to them to raise.

The old couple of the Lan family are getting stronger and stronger. Liu Jin and Liu Yin have already regarded Fuyuan as their own home. After the Chinese New Year, they took the initiative to sign a lifelong contract, which will not affect their wives and children. They just think that when they get married in the future, they will marry someone who will serve the Shen family all their lives.

Everything went smoothly. If there was anything that made people unhappy, it was the Zhao family and the people in the old house.

The Zhao family members no longer dared to act like they did before. Zhao Daliang and Zhang Qingniang still tried their best to maintain good relations with them as before, and Li Laopo and Zhao Dazhu had also changed their attitudes and smiled whenever they met. That smile made people's hair stand on end. Shen Zian and Su Zhi avoided them whenever they could. It's easy to change a country, but hard to change one's nature. This family is not easy to deal with. They will never get too close to this family.

The people in the old house and the first house were still very close to them. Although the people in the third house would say some sour words, they also said them with a smile, just trying to take advantage from time to time. And Shen Youfu and Shen Zhang were still the same as before. Shen Youfu would call Shen Zian over. He implicitly said that he didn't help his brothers, and Shen Zhang seemed to be persuading him, but in fact she was helping him. Shen Ziju was usually not there at this time, and Shen Zhu sat aside and didn't say much. Fortunately, Shen Zian stood firm, and Su Zhi was very flexible and could not be fooled by them. At most, the New Year gifts and four-season clothes for the two old people were a little more and better.

The days passed like this. The Chinese New Year is a happy time, and it always passes quickly. In the blink of an eye, it is the second day of the second month.

On February 2 of this year, there will be a grand celebration in the county. This event was decided to be held this year because of the severe drought last year. This year, the county magistrate wanted to hold such a grand event on the day when the dragon raised its head, in order to pray to the Dragon King not to let the drought be as severe as last year. It was a bit worrying to just pray to the Goddess of Rain, so now they are praying to the Dragon King as well, hoping that this year will be a good year with good weather and good rain.

The event starts in the morning and lasts until the evening. There will be a lantern festival like the Lantern Festival in the evening, and there will be an additional activity, which is the release of dragon lanterns.

Releasing dragon lanterns is a custom in Liangguo on the second day of the second lunar month. Su Zhi remembered that this custom also existed in some places in her previous life. This practice always reminded her of releasing river lanterns. She had even released lotus river lanterns while swimming in Yunnan.

Su Zhi also released dragon lanterns last year, but she only did it in the river in Hebian Village. At that time, many people from Hebian Village came to release them, and the river was sparkling, as if all the stars in the sky had fallen into the river. She always remembered it, and it also reminded her of her past life that seemed so long ago. Fortunately, Shen Zian was by her side, so she would not be sad about leaving the world she used to live in.

This year, County Magistrate Zhou invited Shen Zian and his wife to the county town. Su Zhi heard that there would be a dragon dance and wanted to see it. In ancient times, there were very few entertainment activities. Su Zhi had not even watched a play many times. The Lantern Festival had just passed, but Su Zhi's enthusiasm had not subsided. She was still full of enthusiasm for this grand event on February 2.

When the second day of the second lunar month came, Old Man Lan and Aunt Lan were left behind at Fuyuan to look after the house. They said that they were old and didn't want to join in the hustle and bustle, so they stayed behind to look after the house.

In order to go, Xiao Ri and his friends started to beg and behaved well from the day they received the letter from County Magistrate Zhou, and finally Su Zhi agreed to take them with her. In order to take care of them and prevent them from being kidnapped by kidnappers like before, they naturally had to bring Liu Jin and Liu Yin with them, which made the two teenagers very happy. They were still young, so they naturally joined in the fun.

Because they had made some money, the family had bought a carriage, so they went there in the carriage.

When they arrived at the county town, the county magistrate had already arranged a place for them to stay. Knowing that Song Dashan knew them, he asked Song Dashan to take them there. Song Dashan happily took them to a courtyard, saying that this was a private residence of the county magistrate's wife, which was usually only for distinguished guests.

Su Zhi looked around. The courtyard had two entrances and was planted with trees. It hadn't turned green yet, but the dense branches gave it a very rustic feel, set against the black tiles, white walls, bluestone slabs, and the Chinese New Year couplets and Chinese characters for "happiness". The ground was clean, and it was obvious that it was often swept. County Magistrate Zhou had arranged them here, and it was obvious that he had put a lot of thought into it.

Originally, a maid was assigned to her, but she was sent away by Su Zhi.

Shen Zian parked the carriage, then took his family to a restaurant for dinner and rested for a while. Then Song Dashan came over with Xiao Ping'er.

Xiao Ping'er has already married Song Dashan. Because they were always gossiped about in the village, the two families discussed it and got married quickly and lived in the county town.

Xiao Ping'er was also very happy to see Shen Zi'an and Su Zhi. She pulled Su Zhi aside to talk to them, while Shen Zi'an talked to Song Dashan, and Liu Jin and Liu Yin took Xiao Ri and the others to play.

The dragon dance had already been performed once in the morning, and there was another round in the afternoon, so Shen Zian and his friends went to watch the dragon dance.

Shen Zian and Song Dashan carried Yueyue and Xing'er on their shoulders, and Xiaori held Su Zhi's hand obediently. He still liked to stay with his mother. In fact, after the inexplicable fainting, Xiaori became more stable and less talkative than before. He also relied more on Shen Zian and Su Zhi. At such a young age, he showed filial piety, which made the two of them feel sorry for him and love him.

Su Zhi had watched enough of the dragon dance and wanted to go and rest, but the children hadn't seen enough yet, so she and Xiao Ping'er went to find a tea stall to sit down, letting Shen Zian and the others continue to play. They would just come back to find them when they had seen enough.

The two of them ordered a pot of tea and a plate of snacks, sat there to rest and chat, watching the lively scene around them, and were in a good mood.

"Bring me a pot of tea, a plate of sunflower seeds, and a plate of snacks! Come on! I'm dying of thirst!"

A man walked into the tea stall and shouted loudly to the owner of the tea stall. Then he saw Su Zhi at a glance and froze there. This man was Zhao Yuanbao.

Su Zhi also saw Zhao Yuanbao. She wondered if Zhao Yuanbao was also here to watch the dragon dance. At first glance, she found that Zhao Yuanbao was a little different from before. Zhao Yuanbao was now wearing silk clothes, which was very different from the cloth clothes he wore before. It made people sigh that clothes make the man.

"Yuanbao, what are you doing here? Go in!" A voice urged from behind, and another figure flashed in. It was Zhao Yuanbao's wife Zhang. Zhang also saw Su Zhi. She felt a little uncomfortable. After all, their family had deceived Su Zhi. Now they were still a family on the surface, but they were no longer a family.

"Brother Zhao and Sister Zhao."

Xiao Ping'er also knew them, so she greeted them. She didn't know that Su Zhi was not the daughter of the Zhao family, so she treated them as Su Zhi's elder brother and sister-in-law. If she knew that the sisters of these two men were teaming up to hand her over to an old man, she probably wouldn't have greeted them.

Zhao Yuanbao and Zhang nodded awkwardly. Zhao Yuanbao and Su Zhi said, "Sister, you're here to play?"

Su Zhi nodded calmly and said, "Are you guys here to have fun too? You look well dressed. I guess you've been doing well lately."

Zhang said proudly, "That's not right. Look at us, we are wearing silk clothes. We live in the city now. We are no longer peasants digging for food in the dirt. We are city dwellers now!"

Zhao Yuanbao pulled her aside and Zhang shut up, seeming to regret having said too much.

Su Zhi raised her eyebrows. Their movements and expressions were too obvious, which made her feel a little strange. Speaking of Zhao Yuanbao and Zhang, they were not bad people. Su Zhi was present when Zhang had a difficult delivery, and Zhang was better to her. Zhao Yuanbao was not a cunning person. Even if they were embarrassed when they met her, they would not be afraid to say one more word, right? As if saying one more word would be wrong.

(Lishu Literature)