continuation [farming]

When the people sent by the county government came, the corn on the hillside had just sprouted.

The ones that sprouted first were planted in a row outside the wall of Li's house, probably because Xia He missed it very much, and always went for a walk twice when he had nothing to do.Then it was planted in his small courtyard, then the few houses that were finally persuaded to plant on the mountain, and finally the newly reclaimed land.After the little Miaomiao came out, no matter it was the Li family, the Zhang family, or the few families who had tasted the thing called corn and wanted to try it, they all breathed a sigh of relief, and secretly begged God, hoping that this thing is really real. It can grow well and bear fruit, and the harvest can be higher than that of beans.

As usual, the town sent a small yamen servant to wait on the county man. Although Xia He didn't find out what kind of official this man was in the county, could he be better than the uncle of the scholar Kang? a bit.

He inquired about this purely out of curiosity, but before asking a few words, he was held back by Mrs. Li, so he touched his nose and closed his mouth.

The village chief led the lord to Li's house. Li Mu was not at home, so it was naturally Mrs. Li who came out to receive him.Knowing that those seedlings have germinated smoothly, the old lady's waist is much straighter than last time.

"Master Xue is here to inspect the agricultural work, and he didn't send someone to take Master Xue to the field to give you pointers." The man surnamed Xue who came from the county mansion had his nostrils upturned, and he didn't like to talk. The group of dogs who came here.Xia He stood behind Mrs. Li, muttering, what advice, looking at that man's belly full of oil, it was obvious that he had never worked.The old farmer in the village doesn't know how to plant this corn, so what can he point out?

The village head said: "Xia He, quickly take a few adults up the mountain."

Xia He was about to nod, when suddenly he heard a sharp cry: "Ah!—I'm going to kill you!"

Looking blankly, it turned out to be Aunt Lin, who was fine when she was cooking in the morning, but now she has red eyes, like a lunatic, and her vicious eyes seem to eat people, staring at...it is that Xue grown ups.

"Let's go, let's go! Where did this crazy woman come from?" The first one to stand up was the town's yamen servant, standing in front of that lump of fat surnamed Xue, but the trembling of his voice betrayed his nervousness at this moment.

Mrs. Li hurriedly called Xia He: "Xia He, go and lock the Lin family in her room! Don't make her go crazy!" Turning around, she hurriedly apologized to the two adults, "This is a widow in the village. After her husband died, she lost her mind and went insane. Seeing that she was normally normal, the old woman took her in to do some chores at home, but from time to time she would... well, my lord, please don't bother with her. "

"Master Xue is here, why didn't you lock up the crazy woman in advance! You can afford to offend your lord?" Mrs. Li was scolded fiercely.

Taking advantage of this time, Xia He dragged and tugged, and finally dragged Aunt Lin away, and locked her courtyard door from the outside.Hearing Aunt Lin's heart-piercing cry, Xia He frowned and thought, could it be that Mr. Xue is related to Aunt Lin's grievances?

Xia He was pondering, but there was no delay.Mrs. Li is not in good health, she was raised sitting up on weekdays, but today she stood there all the time in order to welcome those adults.He had to take the man away earlier so that the old lady could rest.

"My lords," Xia He usually did not hide his emotions, but this time he rarely smirked and said, "Everything is ready on the other side of the mountain, and several families who planted corn are here, just wait What about your teachings?"

"On the mountain?!" The people of Raonan Town knew about the richness of Anle Village. The yamen servant frowned, and was the first to criticize, "There are so many fertile fields in your village, how did you plant corn on the mountain?!"

Xia He paused, thinking, there are indeed a lot of fertile fields at the foot of the mountain, but there are no free ones, it would be good to ask grandpa to tell grandma to plant a piece of land on the mountain.But he didn't dare to say such things to these officials, so he could only talk nonsense, showing a surprised look, and said: "My lord, the lord who came back said that this corn is solid, where is it planted?" They can all grow. It just so happens that there is still a lot of land on the mountain in our house, and it is impossible to grow beans or wheat. Your lord, you have given such a good thing, so we naturally have to plant it on the other side of the mountain. After a few months, the fruit will come. Yes, it is a great contribution to the adults to spread the word."

Mr. Xue didn't know what the man who came back to run errands said, seeing the beautiful little lady in front of him said so, with a grateful expression on his face, he couldn't help but feel a little flustered.After all, the Min Dynasty was prosperous and peaceful, and everything was good, but it was a pity that there were too many mountains to grow food. If food was grown in the mountains, it would indeed be a great thing to be rewarded by the superiors.But as soon as he went out and looked at the mountain on the other side of the village, the official became terrified.

Xia He didn't understand his intention, wondering why this person didn't go with her?

The surname Xue could only cough twice, and asked: "I just came from the county government, and the boat and the car are exhausted. I wonder if the young lady can find a soft sedan chair?"

Xia He: "..."

There is no such thing as a sedan chair in Anle Village, and it is rare even in the town. At most, it is only when a rich family gets married that they will invite that thing out to pick up the bride.What's more, even if he got a sedan chair, where would he go to find two idlers to carry this official with three Xia Hezhong to the top of the hillside?

He thought about it, and asked cautiously: "There is no sedan chair... um... Didn't you drive a carriage...?" The carriage was still in the backyard of Li's house, and the village head told him to settle down, Xia He even made a special trip I took bean cakes to feed, these things are used to make high-quality fertilizer, who would be willing to use them to feed other people's livestock.

The one surnamed Xue didn't say anything, but the dog leg behind him got angry: "That's a high-quality horse, is it used to walk the dirt road in your field?"

Xia He thought disdainfully, no matter how good a horse is, it is just an animal, and it was born to do things for others. Treating it well is because it needs to be useful, so why can't it go up the mountain.However, he only wanted to send these guys away quickly, and he didn't bother to argue with him, so he retreated and said, "The Fourth Uncle Li next door has a donkey, or else, I'll go and bring the donkey cart here."

"Go, go!" Master Xue sent off.

Fourth Uncle Li's home was not very far away, and when he heard that an official in the county wanted to borrow his car, Fourth Uncle Li jumped up in fright, not even daring to ask for the money Xia He wanted to give him.I thought I would drive the car to send the pedestrian up the mountain, but the attendants who followed refused, so I snatched the whip from Fourth Uncle Li and respectfully invited Master Xue up.

The hood of this car is not too small. According to Xia He's estimate, even if he and Li Mu both sat in it, and brought the things they bought in the town, they wouldn't feel that they couldn't stretch their legs, but they didn't expect that fat man to despise this place. crowded.While saying this, he poked his head out and asked Xia He, "Why don't the little ladies of the Li family sit up together?"

Fourth Uncle Li glared at Xia He.

Xia He felt that he was flustered, how could he agree to the fat man's words, he just said: "My lord, please sit still, this flat road is fine, but it is not easy to drive on the slope." Then he lowered his head and jumped to the front To lead the way.

There were indeed four or five sporadic people waiting on the mountain. Zhang Shixi stood behind everyone and clenched his fists.

Liu Lanniang hurriedly grabbed his hand, and said in a low voice: "Master, hold back, you have endured for so many years, even if you don't think about the two of us, you still have to think about Xia He and Dongmei."

Others didn't hear what Lan Niang was talking about, but saw the old couple, who had been married for twenty years, but they were still quietly holding hands and talking small things, so someone teased: "Brother Zhang and Lan Niang The relationship is really good, I don't expect this guy, at Brother Zhang's age, to treat me so well."

Zhang Shixi cleared his throat, but graciously grabbed Lan Niang, pointed down the mountain and said, "Master Guan is coming soon."

The donkey cart was not smooth, and the uphill road was bumpy. When he finally reached the place, Mr. Xue always felt his buttocks were bruised and bruised. When he heard about it, he staggered out of the car and saw standing in front of him. The muddy legs in front of him hurriedly stood up straight, putting on a majestic look.

Xia He winked at her parents while others were not paying attention, and said in a low voice to the surname Xue, "Sir, look, this is a cornfield, and seedlings have grown."

The one surnamed Xue pretended to turn around, nodded and said: "Yes, I see that this kind of food is good, and when the harvest comes, I will teach the county magistrate to reward you well!"

The people in the village all thanked him respectfully, but I don't know how many people really took this matter to heart, and how many people didn't believe that the official had such good intentions.

He said he was here to give pointers, but the man surnamed Xue didn’t seem to know how to farm the land. He couldn’t say anything except that it was good. Finally, he pointed to the land that had just been reclaimed and said: “The planting here is good, and the planting should be denser. , You only get a lot of it! Look at other places, what kind of words are scattered here and there!"

"My lord said that it must be changed next year." Xia He said, lowering his head to hide his uncontrollable ridicule.

After a random turn, the one surnamed Xue acted vigorously, thumped his waist, waved his hands and said: "This village is good, not bad, I will definitely report it to you when I go back." Glancing at the yamen servant who was following behind, "I have to make a note for you, Rao Nanzhen."

The yamen servant became happy, but said sincerely: "Thank you, sir, thank you!" Much more sincere than Xia He and the others just now.

Xia He covered her mouth, yawned, and led the way to send the group of people back.The village chief was waiting below, and said respectfully: "My lords, the village has prepared rough tea and light meals, and I hope the adults will not dislike you."

When the village chief said this, he was mostly out of politeness, thinking that the town must entertain them, and these city people who are used to fine food may not think highly of rural meals.Unexpectedly, the leader nodded and said: "That's right, I haven't tasted farm food yet, I heard that the chickens raised by the villagers are very delicious."

The village chief was taken aback, feeling a little distressed.This adult has said so, he must butcher a chicken to entertain guests.But he didn't dare to show any dissatisfaction on his face. The village chief bowed his waist and invited the man back to his home.