Therefore, she needs to open the store as soon as possible.
After that, Lin Qixia lay down and fell asleep, and she slept very soundly that night.
The next day, Lin Qixia planned to go to the county town.
This time, she first hitched a ride on Uncle Zhang's oxcart to town, and then spent money to buy a horse-drawn carriage.
"Look, can you drive a carriage?" Lin Qixia asked, handing the reins to Huo Yanqing.
Seeing that he didn't understand, she raised an eyebrow. "What? You don't want to be my coachman?"
Huo Yanqing lowered his eyes to look at the reins in his hand and replied, "I can try."
As he spoke, he reached out with his other hand and pulled Lin Qixia into his arms.
"Ah!" Lin Qixia exclaimed.
In response, he heard Huo Yanqing's voice as he rode the horse, "Sit tight, giddy up!"
The sound of horses neighing rang out.
The horse galloped off very quickly.
Lin Qixia was thrown backward by the huge impact and immediately screamed, "Hey! Slow down!"
However, it was clear that Huo Yanqing did not control things very well at the beginning, and things got a little out of control.
Fortunately, they weren't in a busy area, otherwise it would have been terrible if they had hit a pedestrian.
"I'm sorry," Huo Yanqing said to Lin Qixia in a flustered state.
Fortunately, he was still familiar with horses.
Therefore, he quickly gained control of the horse. Except for the initial mishaps caused by his unfamiliarity with it, he quickly brought it under control.
They drove their carriage at breakneck speed along the official road.
Soon the town was left behind, and in Lin Qixia's sight, only a blurry outline remained.
A gentle autumn breeze caressed their faces as they crossed the plains and entered a dense forest in the mountains.
The mountain path looked gentle, but it was actually uphill the whole time, and the horse gradually slowed down.
Lin Qixia finally relaxed completely.
“Once you’re familiar with it, teach me how to drive this carriage,” she said to Huo Yanqing in front.
Huo Yanqing turned to her and asked, "Why?"
He was clearly there.
Lin Qixia chuckled, "What? You still want to be my coachman forever?"
"It's not impossible."
Huo Yanqing's deep voice came from the front, and when he turned to look at her, his expression was serious.
"Hehe, there's no need to go to so much trouble for you." Lin Qixia replied with an awkward laugh as she looked into his sincere black eyes.
She didn't want to keep bothering others.
Besides, I'll be traveling everywhere for business in the future, how can I not know how to ride a horse?
Seeing her insistence, Huo Yanqing turned around and replied, "Since you want to learn, I will teach you."
"That's wonderful." Lin Qixia smiled, clearly pleased.
After crossing the mountain, the scene before her made Lin Qixia's smile freeze.
As far as the eye could see, the land was barren and withered, and the cracked and arid conditions had clearly affected most of the area.
As they walked out, the situation only worsened, with no sign of improvement.
This shows that the situation in Xiahe Village is actually extremely rare.
It was because of her actions that things improved.
Their village was one of the few fortunate ones to have a harvest this year, despite the drought.
Therefore, Lin Qixia inevitably looked solemn throughout the rest of the trip.
Upon arriving in Lichong County, they parked their carriage at the hitching post in front of the restaurant.
Lin Qixia looked up at the three large characters "Yu Xian Lou" written in a flamboyant style on the plaque.
Lin Qixia knew about this restaurant because He Zhilan had mentioned it to her, but she didn't expect there to be one in this county town.
"Looks like it's a chain store after all," Lin Qixia muttered.
"What?" Huo Yanqing was clearly puzzled by Lin Qixia's mention of "chain stores".
Lin Qixia shook her head, "It's nothing, let's eat here first, then go take care of our business."
It had taken them all morning to get from Xiahe Village to Lichong County, and Lin Qixia was already starving.
"Okay." Huo Yanqing nodded in agreement.
The two then entered the Jade Fairy Pavilion together, where a waiter quickly greeted them and led them to a spot on the west side.
After sitting down, Lin Qixia ordered the dishes.
While waiting for the food, Lin Qixia looked around and found that Yuxianlou, in terms of both scale and service, seemed to be a large restaurant in Lichong County.
The restaurant was very popular and lively, with many people dining there.
A man at the next table was raising his glass and cheering, "Come on, let's drink!"
“Haha, great! Let’s celebrate properly today!” another person chimed in.
Besides their table, the other tables were also bustling with activity, and the entire hall was filled with noise and chatter.
"How strange." Lin Qixia murmured softly, resting her chin on her hand.
Huo Yanqing asked her, "What's wrong?"
Just then, the waiter brought in the dishes, so Lin Qixia didn't immediately reply to Huo Yanqing. Instead, she turned to the waiter and asked, "Um, is your restaurant always this lively?"
Even though it's a year of famine, Qishan County, which isn't far from them, is also suffering from a plague that has killed many people.
But here it was as if nothing had happened, a scene of prosperity and flourishing.
Of course, this is only what Lin Qixia has seen so far. She dares not say anything about the others, so she seized the opportunity to ask the waiter.
She wanted to know the current situation in Lichong County.
"Oh," the waiter explained without hesitation, "No, it's not that. Things haven't been easy for us in Lichong County lately either. The plague from next door is almost spreading in, you know—"
He paused, lowered his voice, and said, "The imperial court sent people to treat the plague and distribute relief grain the day before yesterday!"
"That's why everyone felt hopeful and started to cheer and celebrate."
The waiter's voice, which had been lowered out of fear of the imperial court, became louder with excitement as he finished speaking.
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