Chapter 63 After watching the spring plowing on the mountain, you can go down the mountain
The year he was about to join the army, he passed through Tanzhou and saw officials bullying the people on the street. Out of chivalry, he simply stepped forward to dissuade them. However, the officials took advantage of their power to bully people and act tyrannically. They ignored his advice and pulled out guns to beat the people.
Xie Zhao was filled with righteous indignation, and coupled with his already rough temperament, he accidentally killed the official in a panic, and was then wanted in Tanzhou. On his way to escape, he passed by Qingyao Mountain and encountered Bai Tu and his brothers who were robbing people on the road.
At that time, Baita Village lacked sufficient weapons and strong men, so Bai Tu and his men could only survive by robbing the money and goods of passersby. Facing Xie Zhao, whose martial arts and physique far surpassed theirs, Bai Tu and his men were powerless to resist.
Xie Zhao could have subdued these bandits, but when he thought of the rampant officials, he could only hide in Baita Village and wait for the wanted bandits.
Later, Xie Zhao obtained a lot of silver from several interceptions. Bai Tu and others were convinced by him and regarded him as the leader of Bai Ta Village. More and more people living at the foot of the mountain had their fields occupied and had nowhere to live, so they were forced to go up the mountain to seek shelter.
Xie Zhao was also willing to accommodate and take responsibility for the livelihood of these people.
Although he is a gangster, justice and responsibility in his heart never fade away.
He knew that being a bandit was not the right path. As Lu Tingwan said, perhaps one night at noon, his head would be hung on a high wall and his body would be torn apart.
Joining the army has always been his dream, but it is also his regret that he has no place to display his lofty ambitions.
As the moon set, the sounds from the drinking table downstairs gradually died down. The brothers drank a cup of wine. Bai Tu looked up and called out to the people upstairs to come down and drink, but Xie Zhao turned a deaf ear to him.
Lu Tingwan felt sorry for his situation and felt they could be considered to be in the same boat.
"If there is an opportunity, will you still leave Baita Village and choose to join the army?" Lu Tingwan's voice echoed in the empty space.
"I don't know." He couldn't find his home. The place he once regarded as bright was no longer light when he saw its darkness with his own eyes.
Lu Tingwan felt the same way, but she herself didn't have such an answer.
She had been in the wind for a long time, and the tip of her nose was red from the cold, and she had to take a breath from time to time.
Xie Zhao left the railing and after a while, he climbed up the wooden ladder again.
Lu Tingwan heard the noise and looked back, and a pink and blue satin cloak with a fur collar blocked her view.
It felt familiar, so she pulled off the cloak that was covering her eyes and looked it up and down. It was a new one.
Everyone in Bai Ta Village knew that she was a girl, and she had not worn men's clothes for a long time. The villagers teased her privately, and it was inevitable that some people wanted to marry Lu Tingwan, but some people also said that it was the leader of Bai Ta Village who wanted her. If the leader didn't want her, there was still the second-in-command, and it would never be anyone else's turn.
These words did not reach Lu Tingwan's ears, but were passed on to Xie Zhao by Bai Tu. He ordered that no one should be allowed to discuss them, and anyone who violated the order would be punished according to the village rules.
"Is this the reward the boss gave me?" Lu Tingwan stroked the satin and couldn't help but smile. It was soft and warm, and one could imagine how expensive it was.
"Reward?" Xie Zhao leaned back on the railing, leaned over, and glanced at her sideways.
"I've taken care of the farming for you," she said, putting on her cloak, tightening the ropes, and patting it with satisfaction. "This is your reward to me."
"As long as you are happy." Xie Zhao's eyes gradually became hot, as if the scene in front of him was a calm and vast ocean, which made people fascinated and willing to sink into it.
The cloak kept out the cold wind, and she couldn't help but bury her cheek in the fur collar, feeling as if she were bathing in clouds.
The moonlight and the New Year scene of Baita Village briefly dispelled the gloom in her heart. She looked up at the night and exposed her cheeks to the cold wind, feeling the coolness rushing across her cheeks.
"I like it." The man gazed at the night sky, slowly closed his eyes and felt the rare comfort in the moment.
The whole body was reflected in Xie Zhao's deep pupils. The person in front of him was like a clear spring, washing away his originally turbid heart.
It was not easy for Xie Zhao to get such a cloak from Fufeng Town. It was not expensive to her, but it contained Xie Zhao's sincerity. She didn't want to care why he gave it to her. At least it was pure, unlike when she was in Kyoto, where she learned that every important thing she got was obtained through conditional exchanges.
The cloak was not obtained by him in exchange for the seized property, but was obtained from the foot of the mountain by Xie Zhao using the blueprint he had drawn and the bow and arrow he had forged with his own hands. He thought that the cloak suited her and was worthy of her.
"After the spring plowing, you can go down the mountain." Xie Zhao looked away reluctantly for a long time, as if he had made up his mind.
"What?" She almost pulled her neck when she turned her head.
Her clear eyes were filled with joy: "Are you willing to let me go?"
"You don't want to leave?" He tried to get the answer he wanted.
"If the boss is willing to let me go, I will go down the mountain without hesitation." Lu Tingwan was so determined that he didn't even notice the disappointment that flashed across Xie Zhao's face.
"And then? Where to?"
"Go south and be like the returning geese."
"What about you?" Lu Tingwan asked, "Maybe you can try a new way of living."
Xie Zhao did not answer.
Snowflakes began to fall again from Baita Village, landing on the railings. Xie Zhao stroked the snow with his fingertips, and it melted into a wet spot on his fingertips before disappearing completely. After a long moment, he said solemnly, "The geese flying south... The snow will melt after it falls. The geese make a sound when they pass by, but in the end, there is no trace."
Lu Tingwan didn't think so. She pointed outside the railing at the distant mountains surrounding the village.
"They say the green mountains turn white with snow," she thought, "but the time has come, and the snow has fallen on the mountaintops as expected. No one has ever asked the green mountains and the white snow whether they are willing to fall there, or whether they are willing to turn white with him. It is the season that brings them together, and no one can control the timing."
"Miss Jiang's words are profound, and I, Xie, don't understand." Xie Zhao withdrew his hand, left the wine jug on the roof, turned around, stepped onto the wooden ladder, and went downstairs.
Lu Tingwan's gaze shifted from the wooden ladder back to the wine table downstairs. He was immersed in the wine cups handed to him by his brothers. The sieve cups scratched the wooden table, and his shouts rose with the wind, swirling in the valley, and then dissipated beyond the mountains.
She picked up the wine jug, poured herself a glass, and drank it in big gulps. The spicy taste burned her throat.
In the blink of an eye, after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Xie Zhao began to lead his brothers down the mountain frequently again.
Lu Tingwan has recently been developing a facial cleansing cream. The raw materials are collected from tea seeds and tea leaves from Qingyao Mountain. Qingyao Mountain is full of camellia trees. Tea seeds can be used to refine oil and can also be used as facial cleansing ingredients. She asked Xie Zhao to keep some of the spices she had previously snatched back for what she would need, thinking that she would concentrate on developing the facial cleansing cream after she finished farming.
On New Year's Eve, Xie Zhaoyun let her go down the mountain after the spring plowing. Lu Tingwan thought about leaving some things for the village before leaving, so that the villagers could use them to get rid of the plight of material shortages, and also to thank them for their care during this period of time.
She first listed a few ingredients, and then mixed and developed them according to the relevant recipe proportions recorded in the classics in her memory. She tried it dozens of times and consumed a lot of spices.
Fortunately, the most important raw materials could be obtained from the mountains. Xie Zhao saw her lock herself in the thatched hut for three days and three nights, tinkering with it without sleep. He didn't know much about the cleansing cream. Lu Tingwan patiently explained the function of the product to him and repeatedly invited him and the brothers in the village to test the results of the research.
Xie Zhao felt awkward, thinking it was too embarrassing for a grown man to use these women's things, so he ordered his men to use her as an experiment.
The subordinates did not dare to disobey. Although they were willing, they were reluctant to do so. Lu Tingwan suppressed his laughter and pretended to be serious. Holding up the token given by Xie Zhao, the subordinates had to follow Lu Tingwan's instructions. They applied the medicine according to the steps and then washed it off. Lu Tingwan recorded the effect, the feeling of use, the experience, and the results after use.
Xie Zhao leaned against the door frame and saw her behaving intimately with so many men. Lu Tingwan observed the condition of her skin after using the cleansing cream and had to touch the cheeks of these men. She didn't think it was a big deal and only wanted to do her best to develop the most effective cleansing cream.
Women's skin is different from men's. Given the conditions provided by Baita Village, she wants to develop a cleansing cream suitable for all skin types.
The brothers who used it felt refreshed, and the rough men who had been unkempt for years had a layer of dirt on their cheeks.
Xie Zhao folded his arms, coughed lightly, and nodded his chin. His subordinates understood and left the hut.
"This..." He pinched the scraper and dipped it in a little cleansing cream, but he didn't know where to start.
"Cleansing cream." Lu Tingwan looked at him with a smile.
"Hmm, cleansing cream." Xie Zhao weighed it twice. "Will anyone really buy it?"
Lu Tingwan snatched the object from his hand and wiped it across his cheekbone with her backhand. Then she held up the paper with the instructions in front of him and said bluntly, "Of course. With this, you won't have to go down the mountain to rob people and property anymore, and you can still support the brothers and villagers of Baita Village."
"Do it according to this, and come to me when you are done. I want to record it." Lu Tingwan ignored Xie Zhao's awkwardness and turned around to organize the records of his subordinates.
Although Xie Zhao was clumsy in her movements, she completed the steps. Lu Tingwan handed her a handkerchief that had been prepared. Xie Zhao took it and roughly wiped the water droplets off her cheeks.
After staying for a quarter of an hour, Lu Tingwan began to record his skin condition. Winter was still here, and after the cleansing cream removed the oil from his cheeks, the moisture on his cheeks was quickly absorbed, and his cheeks gradually became tight.
Only after Lu Tingwan finished recording did Xie Zhao dare to move. He felt as if his entire face was a bowstring stretched to its limit.
Lu Tingwan took a little unknown substance from another box and said, "Put your hand over here."
Xie Zhao was rarely obedient, like a docile tiger, always letting his master do whatever he wanted.
"Rub your palms together and apply it on your face so it won't feel tight." Lu Tingwan turned his attention back to the notebook.
"Oh," Xie Zhao stood there for a long time, "Since this is for Baita Village, if you need me, send someone to the main hall to call me."
The person who was busy recording on the other end responded, "Yeah."
Xie Zhao was absent-minded. Seeing that she was busy and not wanting to distract her anymore, he quietly retreated.
After several days of research and recording, she finally settled on the final ratio. She also made a list and asked Xie Zhao to purchase the required raw materials according to it.
The materials needed for the cleansing cream are not expensive. They were developed based on the conditions that Bai Ta Village can afford. If she wants to open up sales channels, it will not be difficult. She can negotiate with the shops where she previously exchanged cloth and spices. She is confident that she can sell the first batch of cleansing cream. It is inconvenient for Bai Ta Village to sell it under its own name.
Lu Tingwan promised to open up sales channels for these shops, mostly using the same methods used in Zhichunli before, which were equally effective. Baitazhai, as their source of supply, not only avoided the risk of being confiscated by the government, but also allowed them to sell their products in the most convenient way.
Lu Tingwan summoned the villagers. In addition to the people who needed to work in the fields, each family could also send one person to make the cleansing cream. All participants would eventually record the amount produced by each family. After the goods were sold, the money would be distributed to each family in equal amounts according to the quantity.
She stood on the rooftop of the main hall, watching the villagers receive their deserved rewards with smiles on their faces. That was her most satisfying moment.
"Thank you, boss, thank you, second in command, and thank you, Miss Jiang." The villagers revered the people in high places as if they were offering sacrifices to their gods.
Lu Tingwan stood at the wind's edge. Soon, Baita Village would bid farewell to the last winter snow and usher in the spring rain. That would be the time for her to go down the mountain.
Xie Zhao looked down at the crowd from upstairs. "When we inspected the village in the past, they would call us the big boss and the second boss."
Lu Tingwan jokingly said, "Then I will become the third in command."
Xie Zhao also teased, "The village looks at your ability and contribution to the villagers. Now your reputation is no less than mine and Bai Tu's. If you want to stay, you can be the third in command."
It seemed like a joke, but it was his true feelings. He wanted to keep her.
"What if I say that I want the position of the boss?" Lu Tingwan raised his eyebrows, and it didn't seem fake.
Xie Zhao curled his lips: "The boss has to take responsibility, I'm afraid you can't do it."
"Are you underestimating me?" Lu Tingwan was unhappy and frowned.
"Let me take you somewhere." Xie Zhao changed the subject.
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