Picking Up a General to Plow the Fields

Chapter 395: The County Master is here

Master Ding arrived the next morning.

He came even earlier than Lian Fang Zhou expected, presumably rushing over just after having breakfast.

Lian Fang Zhou unconsciously curled her lips.
It seemed that Master Ding was also a bit impatient!

Fortunately, everything that should have been arranged yesterday had been arranged and there was no loss of courtesy.
In fact, she was from the country so even if she was a little lacking, Master Ding would not blame her, right?

Lian Fang Zhou brought Qin Feng, Su Zi Ji, and the others outside to greet him with a smile.

Although Qin Feng and Su Zi Ji were originally from the capital and had heard of Master Ding’s name for a long time, little officials like them had basically never had the opportunity to meet him.

Seeing him at this time, even though they knew that Master Ding didn’t know them from their previous life, they still felt nervous to greet him.

It wasn’t until Master Ding said a few kind words and greet Lian Fang Zhou with a natural, calm smile, that their hearts slowly settled down.

“We’re really getting better and better,” Su Zi Ji said, “Ah, even more nervous than a little girl!”

Qin Feng snorted.
“Nonsense, Miss is Miss, we are just subordinates.”

“You can’t say that, we’ve been officials!” Su Zi Ji countered.

“But Miss is no ordinary girl with just a little knowledge of the world.
Otherwise, how would you and I be willing to work hard for her and devote all of our efforts?” Qin Feng said.

Su Zi Ji agreed that this made sense.

When Master Ding was finished greeting Lian Fang Zhou, Su Zi Ji led Master Ding to the warehouse to observe the process of making cotton quilts.
Master Ding was full of praise and couldn’t help but boasting a little.

As they walked, Master Ding realized that he did not see Lian Che anywhere and smiled.
He understood Lian Fang Zhou’s intentions in a moment.
This family was indeed very organized.

After a while, they took a break in the main room.
While drinking a cup of tea, Master Ding chatted with Lian Fang Zhou, Qin Feng, and Su Zi Ji.
When they finished, the three of them took him to see the cotton fields.

The scene this time was much different than the last time he had visited.
This time, the cotton had matured a lot and there were many people working in the fields.

The white cotton wool clustered together, seeming like a blanket of snow.
Master Ding was thrilled when he saw it.
Stroking his beard, he said: “It seems that the output is very good!”

Of course, Lian Fang Zhou would not reveal the secret of topping.
At this time, it was too precious!

Instead, she smiled and said: “It’s alright.
Our hard work this year was not in vain!”

Master Ding nodded.
Although he had never seen it in person, he had seen such a description in a book.
These crops were not without hard work.

As they were talking, someone rushed to report: The Country magistrate had arrived!

Everyone was startled.

Lian Fang Zhou looked at Master Ding subconsciously.

However, he only spread his hands and smiled helplessly: “Don’t look at me, I didn’t know that the Country magistrate would come! Now that he is here, let’s go greet him.”

This was the correct course of action so Lian Fang Zhou nodded and agreed, taking Qin Feng and Su Zi Ji to follow along behind Master Ding.

As it happened, when Lian Fang Zhou had left the county government office yesterday, the overjoyed county magistrate had immediately rushed out of the office with the quilt pilled in his arms.

He was extremely excited in his heart and wanted to find someone to share the news with.
Naturally, the person he shared the most interests with, was his wife.

His wife was shocked when she saw her husband rushing in with a quilt, his mouth unable to be closed.
She had stood up and asked: “Master, what’s the matter with you!?”

Hearing this, the county magistrate laughed triumphantly.
Nearly giggling, he said: “Madam, it’s my good luck! This time I have done a great job and promotion is just around the corner! Haha! HAHAHA!”

The magistrate’s wife stood there for a moment, looking at him and then at the quilt in his hands, before saying with some doubt: “But, what are you doing with a quilt? And in broad daylight! Oh, what kind of person are you? Who would give you a gift like this, they really don’t have any eyesight at all!”

Although silk quilts were quite valuable, wasn’t it ridiculous to give such a thing? Didn’t that other person know that the country magistrate preferred gold and silver?

“What do you know?” Her husband huffed, “This is a great thing!” Smiling, he explained: “This is not a silk quilt, it’s a cotton quilt!”

“Cotton quilt?” His wife asked, startled.
Disapprovingly, she said: “What is that? I have never heard of it!”

Never heard of it?

The county magistrate looked even more proud when he heard this.
He set it down, and explained the entire matter to her in detail.

The more she heard, the more the light in her eyes gradually grew.
Touching the quilt, she couldn’t help clapping her hands and laughing, praising: “Tsk, tsk! It’s so thick! It looks warm just at first glance! With a quilt like this, I won’t be afraid of being cold at night!” Then she said, “That Miss Lian just gave you one?”

The implication was: this is too stingy!

The county magistrate gave her a firm look and said: “You really can’t understand? What is the point of one or two quilts? What matters is that I have done a great job for the court! I will definitely be promoted!”

His wife thought about this.
If her husband was promoted, naturally they would become rich! So she also laughed and praised her husband to the heavens.

The more the couple talked, the more exuberant they became, as if they had both gained fame and fortune, showing off their power.

However, after a while, his wife frowned and asked unwillingly: “Then, that Miss Lian, really only gave us a quilt?”

“Why are you asking this again?” Her husband complained impatiently.

His wife curled her lips and said: “I have never seen such a stingy gift! If it wasn’t for your blessing, my lord, how could she do something like this? She can’t just send a bed! At least there must be ten or twenty beds— No! There are dozens of people in our family, there must be at least one bed per person and two for us masters! She is too greedy, I will have to teach her!”

She spoke about teaching but would that girl really dare to not give it? At that time, the magistrate’s wife could get dozens of quilts.
In addition to keeping them for her family, she could also sell the rest! The more she thought about it, the happier his wife became!

“Shut up!” The county magistrate snapped, staring at her coldly: “Don’t you dare act out, this is a big deal! I’m warning you, don’t mess around! You think this quilt is so easy to make? If it was easy, they would be sold all over the streets.
It’s rare! Credit will naturally fall to me, when people praise the Lian girl, they are also praising me.
Not to mention, Miss Lian already promised to send a few more quilts over to me when they’re done.
Do you understand? Making quilts is not easy, so don’t say anything like this again! The Lian family will also sell them for money but you want them to give you a dozen for nothing? Isn’t this a joke? Won’t my superiors say I’m taking the initiative to take pieces of credit at the door? Besides, today she also delivered a cotton quilt to the yamen and one to Master Ding.
If you are greedy and cause an incident, ruining my future, I will give you a bad end!”

TN: I wish it wasn’t always the wife that’s the short-sighted greedy one.
So typical.