The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 700 - 689: Beating around the bush

Chapter 700: Chapter 689: Beating around the bush

Zhou SiLang, who was worldly as well, knew that some fabrics weren’t easy to come by, and this time, the fabric sent by the Ji Family appeared even better than the last, with colors more vibrant.

He held it up against Manbao and nodded with satisfaction, "It matches you perfectly."

Manbao wasn’t much interested in beautiful clothes now, as she had to go to the medicine shop every day. Not only did she need to wear neat and tidy clothing to treat patients, but even when there were no patients, she still had to climb up and down to organize the medicinal herbs.

Thus, what she liked now were clean, tidy, and comfortable clothes.

Manbao glanced at the cloth only once before turning to hand it to Zhou Lijun, saying, "For you, and take a bit back for Daya and Sanya as well, they can wear it too."

Zhou SiLang, who was stingy, snatched it back, arguing, "Forget it, I’ll take care of it for you instead."

In the study, County Magistrate Tang, who had just finished a game of chess, turned his head and saw the scene of dividing the spoils, oh, no, dividing property in the courtyard.

He smiled slightly and said, "It seems that the master’s three disciples don’t look like they are short of money, yet I didn’t expect them to be so fond of wealth."

Mr. Zhuang was unconcerned and laughed, "Who in the world does not love wealth? But a gentleman loves wealth in an honest way, and as long as they adhere to this principle, it’s enough."

County Magistrate Tang nodded slightly, and, after acknowledging Mr. Zhuang with a nod, stood up and went outside to watch them divide the property.

He walked over to Zhou SiLang, but his gaze wasn’t on the cloth in his hands; instead, he looked toward the carriage in the corner of the courtyard.

That was the cart Zhou SiLang had bought later, a flatbed used specifically for hauling goods, which he only used when he returned to Qili Village.

Right now, the cart was tied with dark green oilcloth, underneath which bulged items unknown to everyone else.

County Magistrate Tang pointed at the cart with a smile and asked, "What’s that?"

Zhou SiLang glanced over and replied with a laugh, "My Lord, those are some local specialties we brought from our hometown."

"Oh? What kind of things are there?"

Seeing County Magistrate Tang’s curiosity, Zhou SiLang, eager to please, stepped forward to untie the rope and show him what was underneath, listing, "There’s sauce made at home, jar-packed meat, and cured meat, oh, this was given by Old Madam Liu, who said Young Master Shan loves this..."

As County Magistrate Tang touched a chest, Zhou SiLang said, "This is Young Master Shan’s winter clothing, oh, this is Young Master Cheng’s winter clothing, these few chests are things collected by their families. I don’t know exactly what’s inside."

County Magistrate Tang: ...

All he could do was feel around until he touched a burlap sack, and Zhou SiLang cheerfully said, "This is wheat."

County Magistrate Tang asked, "Why bother bringing wheat from home? Why not just buy rice and flour here?"

"Oh, that won’t do; the grain prices here are high," Zhou SiLang explained, "When we return to the village, even if we don’t take from our own home, buying in the village is half the price of buying rice and flour in the city. Since we’re going home anyway, it’s just one trip, so we might as well buy it from home."

County Magistrate Tang was left speechless, staring at the bags of grain on the cart.

Manbao couldn’t help laughing on the side and said, "Lord Tang, if you have something to say to my fourth brother, just say it."

County Magistrate Tang’s face broke into a smile once again, regaining his composure, and he laughed, "How come I hear from the countryside’s Land Officer that Silang, you’ve been selling wheat seeds?"

Zhou SiLang was startled and nervously asked, "Is selling wheat seeds illegal?"

County Magistrate Tang shook his head with a laugh, "It’s not illegal."

Zhou SiLang let out a sigh of relief and relaxed again, smiling, "Yes, I’m selling some wheat seeds, but these two bags aren’t. These are just the wheat and millet we brought from home to mill for our own consumption."

He truly found the grain prices here high, and every time he went back, his parents would always give him some rice and flour, so he simply took it from home or bought it in the village.

It was just a matter of making the trip.

County Magistrate Tang was surprised to find that they really did bring rice and flour from home. He was shocked for a moment before finding his voice again, "Then, you’re not going to buy grain from the grain shop anymore?"

"Yeah, other than the first two months when we arrived, we never bought rice and flour from outside again; all of it was from our own cultivation." Zhou SiLang proudly boasted, even recommending their village’s rice and flour to County Magistrate Tang, "Lord Tang, the rice and flour from our place are really delicious. You’ll know once you’ve had some here. It’s also cheap. We just had the autumn harvest not long ago, and the village has plenty of millet and wheat. Wouldn’t you like to stock up some for yourself?"

Manbao couldn’t help but interject, "Fourth brother, Lord Tang is the County Magistrate. He has his own official fields. He can’t even finish all the rice and flour he has."

Zhou SiLang was surprised, "Lord Tang also farms?"

Before County Magistrate Tang could speak, Manbao added, "He doesn’t have to farm; the County Governmental Office does it for him."

Zhou SiLang was filled with envy, "The County Governmental Office is that good, huh?"

Then he looked at his younger sister with pity, "Manbao, why did you have to be a girl? With your smarts, you could have surely passed the official examination. Once you became an official, you’d not only have official fields but also have the County Governmental Office farm for you."

Manbao said, "It’s okay, fourth brother. Wait until your sixth son grows a little more; you can have him study and take the examination to become an official."

Zhou SiLang frowned tightly and said, "I don’t enjoy studying either. My head hurts just looking at letters. What if your sixth nephew is like me? What then?"

Manbao replied, "... Don’t they say a son resembles his mother? Maybe he’ll take after our fourth sister-in-law?"

Zhou SiLang grew more worried, "Your sister-in-law doesn’t seem that smart either. Is there no saying that nephews resemble their aunts?"

Seeing them heatedly discuss across him, right in front of his face, County Magistrate Tang couldn’t help but interrupt with a hand, "Enough, Silang. Did you bring wheat seeds this time?"

"Yes, but the cart’s too full, so I didn’t bring much, just two bags."

Between all kinds of meats, clothes, and their own wheat and millet for eating, how could it not be a lot?

County Magistrate Tang, having looked over the goods on the cart, realized he couldn’t find the two bags of wheat seeds and gave up looking. He simply pulled Zhou SiLang aside to sit down in the courtyard for a talk, "Are these wheat seeds a new variety?"

"Yes, does Lord Tang know about them?"

How could he not know?

Yang Heshu had delivered a batch to him, and he had even tried planting them, but the man was too cunning and didn’t give him much. He did purchase some later, but due to the high prices, he couldn’t buy much.

After all, the money of the County Governmental Office was not his own.

And his money... well...

With a different status, he certainly didn’t have the boldness of Yang Heshu.

So, he could only nod with a sigh, "I know, they do indeed yield more. Are these wheat seeds carefully selected?"

Zhou SiLang, who had only recently started doing business and dealt mostly with farmers he was familiar with, naively confessed everything when County Magistrate Tang asked, smiling, "Yes, they are the finest selected wheat seeds. Other than the seeds reserved for our own use, the rest were all sold to County Magistrate Yang and Old Master Bai."

County Magistrate Tang then asked, "So, is there a big difference between these seeds and the other variety?"

"There is a difference, but they’re still better than the old wheat seeds, right?" Zhou SiLang replied awkwardly with a smile to County Magistrate Tang, "Lord Tang, if you want to buy some, I can sell them to you for a cheaper price."