The magistrate's wife was also nearly fifty years old, with a kind, round face.
She sat down in the armchair, separated from Ye Caiping by a coffee table.
"How old is Madam Ye this year?"
Exactly thirty.
"Wow, you look like you're in your early twenties. I wonder how you take care of yourself."
Ye Caiping touched her face. Whether in her previous life or the original owner of this body, she used the same face, and both times she had naturally good skin. As long as she took care of her health, her complexion would improve.
She is naturally beautiful, a natural gift from God.
Ye Caiping said, "I don't really have any special skincare routine. I just use some Yu Ning Cream that I bought in town."
Jade Cream is a very common skincare product in Da Zhou. The one she's using now was bought for her by Ye Daquan after he made some money.
No, time waits for no one, and even a good foundation shouldn't be ruined like this.
After the system is upgraded, she will need to buy several sets of high-end skincare products.
The magistrate's wife felt a pang of envy and then asked Ye Caiping how many children she had.
Ye Caiping answered them one by one, and then the magistrate's wife said with a proud look:
“I also have two children, a son and a daughter. I won’t talk about my younger daughter, she’s already married. My eldest son passed the imperial examination last time and became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). He was only 30 years old at the time.”
Upon hearing this, Ye Lizheng exclaimed with admiration, "Your son is truly a genius! He passed the imperial examination at the age of 30. Congratulations!"
"A fellow Jinshi?" Ye Caiping felt a little regretful upon hearing this.
Only three people achieved the highest rank in the imperial examination.
There were 50 people who were second-class Jinshi graduates.
There were 180 people who were awarded the title of Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) in the third rank.
To put it bluntly, being a top-ranking scholar in the imperial examinations is essentially a consolation prize. It's neither high nor low enough; it's higher than a provincial graduate but lower than a regular imperial graduate.
I cannot participate in the imperial examination again to try and get a good ranking.
At this moment, Master Luo arrived with the doctor.
The doctor first examined the remaining cooked cassava, as well as the raw cassava she had brought. An hour later, he took Ye Caiping's pulse again, and the final conclusion was that Ye Caiping was not poisoned!
Magistrate Lu exclaimed excitedly, "This new cassava is so weakly toxic that it doesn't require any complicated treatment. Excellent, excellent, excellent! Lady Ye, it's all thanks to you."
Reporting this will not only reward Ye Caiping, but it will also be a great achievement for him. He'll have a good chance of being promoted!
Ye Caiping showered him with compliments: "It's also thanks to the adults' leadership."
Magistrate Lu was overjoyed and could only laugh: "I wonder where this new cassava was discovered?"
Ye Caiping said, "Before the Lunar New Year, my brother and I went up the mountain to chop firewood. We accidentally fell into a ravine. We found that there were thirty or forty cassava plants there."
“At first, we treated them as ordinary cassava. We thought we hadn’t eaten fresh cassava in a long time, so we dug one up and took it home.”
"After I got home, I treated them like regular cassava. Only after they were cooked did I realize that their color was different from regular cassava; they were actually pale yellow."
"At the time, we didn't dare to eat it, fearing that this color would make it more toxic, so we tested it on mice. In the end, we found that after processing, it was just as non-toxic as ordinary cassava."
"Then I wondered, if the color is different, could the toxicity be weaker?"
"I had a bold idea in mind. In the end, I just scraped off the skin, cooked it directly without any further processing, and tested it on a mouse. The mouse still showed no signs of poisoning."
"My older brother and I mustered up our courage and tried it. After a day and a night, we were still fine. That's when we realized that this yellow-fleshed cassava is less toxic and easier to cook."
“The cassava plants in that ravine all grew together, so they must be the same variety. I called my older brother and father and we dug up all those dozens of cassava plants and brought them home.”
"Thinking that this variety was too rare, we cut the branches of the yellow-fleshed cassava into small sections and planted them. After the New Year, the planted cassava stalks had grown to half a meter tall, so we cut the half-meter-tall cassava into small sections again and continued to plant them."
Magistrate Lu's face was full of praise:
"As expected of Madam Ye, she has courage and is willing to try new things. Madam Ye should have informed me about such a superior breed last year."
Ye Caiping said, "It was close to the New Year at the time, and the government office had already been sealed off. The following year, I ran into a lot of other things. First, I moved to a new house, then my nephew got married, and the workshop opened. I thought I could finally catch my breath, but then the spring plowing season came up, which is why it's been delayed until now."
Magistrate Lu nodded, finding it understandable: "Those yellow-fleshed cassava... is that what they're called?"
"That's what I call it."
"Okay, let's call it that. How many acres of yellow cassava have you planted so far?"
"Until half a month ago, we had already planted 60 mu of land."
"60 mu?" Magistrate Lu's eyes lit up. "Incredible!"
Ye Caiping said, "After these cassava plants grow up and are harvested, they can be divided into smaller sections, enough to plant 600 mu. I am willing to hand over these stalks to the government so that the people can plant them."
"Good, good!" Magistrate Lu was so excited he almost jumped up. "I will write a letter to report this right away. Lady Ye, you not only discovered yellow cassava, saving the people from hunger and poisoning, but you also have those 60 acres of yellow cassava. This is a great achievement."
After saying this, Magistrate Lu turned to run towards his study, but his wife stopped him, laughing and scolding:
"What are you jumping around for? You're almost fifty, and you're still acting like a monkey. Aren't you afraid of being impolite?"
"Haha, I was just too excited. Madam Ye, Village Head Ye, my apologies." Magistrate Lu tried to suppress the smile on his face. "It's getting late, why don't you two have your meal here? Master Luo, please stay for dinner too."
Master Luo hurriedly cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, sir."
Magistrate Lu personally led Ye Caiping and the others into the dining hall.
Soon, all sorts of dishes were placed on the table. Although the preparation was somewhat rushed, the meal was still plentiful, with chicken, duck, fish, and meat all included.
"No need to be so polite, please," said the magistrate's wife.
Everyone picked up their chopsticks.
Ye Caiping was alright, but Ye Lizheng's hand holding the chopsticks was trembling a little.
After all, the person in front of them was their local official, the county magistrate! They used to be extremely nervous just facing Master Luo, but now the county magistrate was sitting opposite them!
Throughout the meal, Ye Lizheng barely picked up any food, and just ate a bowl of plain white rice.
After the meal, tea was served, and then Magistrate Lu said, "I heard from Clerk Luo that Madam Ye wants to open a furniture workshop?"
"Yes. I was thinking of delivering cassava to the adults today, so I took the opportunity to take care of the furniture workshop as well."
Magistrate Lu nodded: "You can run this workshop with peace of mind. In Yue'an County, as long as you don't cause trouble, no one will dare to bother you."
Ye Caiping and Ye Lizheng were overjoyed: "Thank you, sir."
Magistrate Lu laughed and said, "Tomorrow, I will take some men to your cassava field to take a look."
"I'm ready to serve you anytime."
Magistrate Lu was eager to report the matter immediately, but for such an important matter, he had to see it for himself to confirm whether it really amounted to 60 mu.
...
My darlings, I'm taking a day off on August 6th. Sending you love!
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