The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 396 - 385: Silver Coins Turning Into Copper Coins (Extra update for the reward given by book friend "Snow*Flower")

Chapter 396: Chapter 385: Silver Coins Turning Into Copper Coins (Extra update for the reward given by book friend "Snow*Flower")

Yang Heshu was also very happy, and as he walked out with them, Manbao said to Zhou Silang and Zhou Hu, "You guys go ahead, we will wait for you here in the shed."

Turning her head, she happily said to Yang Heshu, "Do you want to see the cattle we picked out? Actually, it’s not my favorite. I prefer the third one to its left, but it was too expensive. Still, I will like it a lot and treat it well in the future."

Yang Heshu smiled and nodded, "Sure, let’s go take a look."

He curiously glanced in the direction Zhou Silang and his group had left and asked, "What are your brothers up to?"

"They’re going to get the money."

"Oh, is it copper coins?"

Manbao nodded.

Thinking he understood, Yang Heshu laughed and asked, "To buy one cow, your family sure has brought quite a few people. Aside from the three of you siblings, who else came?"

"My Second Brother, he’s selling bamboo baskets and tofu over there."

"Oh? Your family also makes tofu?"

"Of course, our tofu is very delicious. It’s unique in the county town, and we never have enough to sell."

Yang Heshu then laughed and said, "Well, I’ll have to try it sometime."

As they chatted casually, the two walked into the shed to look at the two cows they had chosen.

The clerks and cowherds hadn’t expected the county official himself to come. They quickly stood up and seeing how familiar Manbao was with him, their attitude towards Manbao and Zhou Wulang improved a great deal.

One of the clerks took the lead and guided them into the shed, taking over the cowherd’s job.

Although Yang Heshu also didn’t have practical experience in assessing cattle, like Manbao, he had done his homework. So, upon seeing Manbao’s cow, he first asked about its age and teeth.

The cowherd now had his role to play, squeezing to the front, rattling off information. Yang Heshu listened and kept nodding. Having done his homework certainly made a difference, and even though he couldn’t distinguish between the teeth in the cow’s mouth that the cowherd was prying open.

Yang Heshu, engrossed, looked at the cow selected by Zhou Hu and then had someone lead the two cows to the entrance of the shed.

Luojiang County’s town wasn’t large, and moreover, the County Governmental Office and the pawnshop were on the same street, so Zhou Silang and Zhou Hu ran off and were back in no time.

However, they left without a load on their backs, but when they returned, they were carrying a load.

Zhou Hu had it slung over his shoulder at the moment, while Zhou Silang ran beside him. When the two reached the entrance of the shed, they first flashed a smile at County Magistrate Yang before saying, "We’ve brought all the money."

Zhou Silang laid out the IOU, and from the load, he first took out five strings of copper coins, then took out three strands of coins. He then looked at the clerk with a piercing gaze.

The clerk glanced at the debt document, confirmed that it was silver borrowed from the County Governmental Office, and without finding anything amiss, accepted the 3,500 copper coins Zhou Silang offered. He then had Zhou Silang sign and stamp the document, and with that, they could lead the cattle away.

After Zhou Silang signed his name, the clerk removed the tags from the cows’ necks and handed them to him, saying, "Just take these inside for record-keeping."

He then looked towards Zhou Hu.

Zhou Hu hadn’t expected to actually be able to buy the cow with copper coins, and after a moment of surprise, quickly took out 3,200 coins from the load to give the clerk and similarly stamped the document to receive his cow.

Yang Heshu had been watching from the side the whole time. After a long silence, he looked at Manbao and, with a gentle tap of his finger on her, laughed and said, "You, you, I hadn’t expected that the first loss I would suffer after taking office would come from you."

"County Magistrate, you’ve suffered no loss. It might take me two years to pay back this money, your interest is too high."

Yang Heshu shook his head, "This is already the least interest that has been set by precedent."

"Every precedent has someone who was the first to set it. Why don’t you create a new one yourself?"

Yang Heshu frowned, and after a long while, finally shook his head and said, "That wouldn’t be proper."

Being new to Luojiang County and to the official circles, he already felt that lending money for cattle was quite extraordinary. Creating another precedent would likely make his life in the next few years not so peaceful.

Although with his family background he wouldn’t have to leave in disgrace, it would be annoying to be scrutinized in everything he did.

Manbao then looked back regretfully at the cows filling up the shed and said, "In this case, you probably won’t be able to lend out any other cows. Everyone is too cautious, mainly because last year’s disaster came so suddenly, nobody knows if heaven will smile on us this year."

Yang Heshu said, "Since there was a great flood last year, this year’s rainfall should be less."

Manbao nodded, "Yes, so there could be a drought."

Yang Heshu’s eyes widened.

Zhou Silang and Zhou Hu came out of the County Government Office with a document, looking very pleased with themselves.

From a distance, Zhou Silang waved to her and exclaimed, "Manbao, it’s all settled, we have a cow in our family now!"

Feeling positively about Yang Heshu, Zhou Silang quickly said, "County Magistrate, we didn’t know you were the county official when you came to our village last time. Next time you come, we will definitely treat you well. I—I’ll invite you over to my house for a meal, and I’ll give you all the bird eggs I find to eat."

Yang Heshu smiled and expressed his thanks, then asked Manbao, "I might not eat tofu for a long time, is your Second Brother in that area designated for selling agricultural products?"

Zhou Silang immediately chirped in smartly, "Why bother sending someone? I’ll bring it to you in a moment. Just tell me how many pieces you need."

Yang Heshu thought for a moment and said, "I have some guests coming over tonight. Let’s get more. You decide how much."

With that, he instructed his attendant to pay.

The attendant took out a string of copper coins and gave them to Zhou Silang.

Zhou Silang was startled, even though bean prices had gone up a bit, and tofu was now three coins each, this was still way too much, wasn’t it?

Zhou Silang asked in a low voice, "May I ask, young man, how many guests is the County Magistrate hosting?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I’m just wondering how much tofu to bring."

The attendant replied, "About five or six people."

Zhou Silang then had a rough idea. The county head seemed very wealthy, and surely wouldn’t have just one dish at a banquet, right?

So after a moment of thought, he counted out thirty coins from the string, pushed the rest back, and said with a smile, "Don’t worry, I’ll personally deliver the tofu soon. Our tofu is cut into big pieces, and with grain prices going up lately, so have beans, so we sell it for three coins a piece. I’ll bring you twelve pieces, you can soak the extra and they’ll still be good to eat tomorrow morning. Or, young man, you can also try our tofu; it’s genuinely exceptionally delicious..."

The attendant waved to show he understood and took the rest of the money as Zhou Silang walked away.

Once the Zhou Family had left, the attendant returned to Yang Heshu’s side and said softly, "Young master, he seems quite honest and not greedy, tofu for three coins each, buying ten and giving two extra."

Yang Heshu nodded slightly and ordered, "Go to the silver shop and ask how much copper can be exchanged for a tael of silver. Also, besides the silver shop, where else can exchange for copper coins?"

After a pause, the attendant answered, "Seems like pawnshops can too."

"Then go there as well," Yang Heshu said.