Chapter 119 Entering the City
"City Lord Xiao, I'm not discussing this with you." Chen Qingzhi put down the cup and his tone became heavy.

He had to fight the Tartars in Ningyuan City whether he wanted to or not, otherwise, he would have to give up his position as the lord of Yaocheng and return to the capital as soon as possible.

Xiao Shan was so angry that he jumped up and slammed the table, stood up, and pointed at Chen Qingzhi's nose, "Don't forget who saved you!"

Chen Qingzhi drank a sip of tea calmly, "So you forgot who pulled you out of the muddy water of the capital and let you live a peaceful life for more than ten years." He paused and said, "I don't owe you anything, right?"

He stared at Xiao Shan. Under the candlelight, his eyes were deep, as if everything was within his expectations.

Xiao Shan clenched his fists in vain and sat back in his chair dejectedly.

"Who exactly is that person from Taoyuan Village?" He lowered his voice.

Don't think he doesn't know that Chen Qianzhi wanted him to help Ningyuan fight the Tartars because Taoyuan Village was the only way for the Tartars to get to Ningyuan.

He did throw the person there on purpose, but he ended up shooting himself in the foot.

Chen Qingzhi raised his eyebrows under the mask and crossed his arms, "You didn't guess it?"

Xiao Shan shook his head truthfully. He really didn't guess. Could it be other descendants of the Chen family who were wandering outside?

Seeing his confused face, he probably really didn't guess it. Chen Qingzhi laughed and shook his head, "It's good that you didn't guess it. There's no need to guess. The fewer secrets you know, the greater your chances of survival."

As allies who had once saved each other's lives, this was all he could remind them of.

……

……

In Taoyuan Village, everyone is building a wall.

Yu Chaosheng wanted to build the village into Wubao. After all, it was so close to the Tartars and there were so many vicious people in Yaocheng. Wubao was always safer than a village.

Everyone understood this truth, so every household contributed some money to buy building materials, but the bulk of the money still came from Pan Yingying and Yu Chaosheng's secret piggy bank, which made her depressed during this period.

Now time is tight and the task is heavy, so materials can only be purchased from the system mall. Pan Yingying spent a lot of money and even lost her appetite.

The concrete wall is 5 meters high, with a large iron gate on the east, south, west and north sides. A security booth is also built not far from the iron gate.

A cement road has been built on the main road in the village, but it has not dried yet and is surrounded by a fence.

As for the area enclosed by the wall, the shameless Yu Chaosheng secretly expanded it several miles further outward, including the land outside Taoyuan Village and a medium-sized mountain. From now on, this will all be the territory of Taoyuan Village.

Therefore, the current Taoyuan Village also includes two other uninhabited deserted villages, covering an astonishingly large area.

Instead of helping to build the wall, the women drove ox carts to two other deserted villages to demolish houses and transported the demolished wood back to use for heating the kangs.

Pan Yingying huddled on the kang, wrapped in a thick goose down coat, sorting out agricultural information.

Yu Chaosheng sat on a small stool and disassembled a bicycle. He wanted to do this with his students first.

This is the first time for both of them to be teachers in two lifetimes, so they must take it seriously.

Honglian came in with a pot of hot milk tea and filled their cups.

Seeing that the two were so serious, he tiptoed out.

In the yard outside, Long Shi was chopping wood that he had brought back from the deserted village, while Lu Mei was practicing calligraphy in a small notebook.

Master Lin has already issued an ultimatum: if her calligraphy can no longer stand out, he will tell the girl to return her.

She wrote with deep hatred and grievance, and when she looked up and saw Long Shi chopping wood seriously, she felt a little envious. She also wanted to work, but her handwriting could not stand up.

Woo woo woo… Just crawl if you want to. It’s not like you don’t understand. Why do you have to force me to stand up…

Honglian put the pot back on the stove, then went to the room where she and Lumei lived and took out a small basket.

"Sister, where are you going?" Lumei was the first to notice that Honglian was going out, and hurried over.

Honglian glanced at her and saw the words on her small blackboard, and the veins on his forehead jumped.

Noticing her gaze, Lumei quickly put the small blackboard behind her.

"Sister, where are you going?" She pulled Honglian's sleeve in a flattering manner.

Honglian glared at her in anger, but still patiently explained to her, "Go into the city and see if you can exchange the silver notes in your hand for gold and silver."

Lumei also reacted. The girl had said before that everyone should try to exchange the silver notes in their hands for gold, silver or materials, but some people still had silver notes in their hands that had not been used, such as the two sisters, and Uncle Jiu and Aunt Shi. Aunt Shi still had at least 100 taels of silver notes in her hands.

Long Shi heard their conversation and stood up, "I'll go too."

Honglian hesitated. If they all went to the city, what would happen to the girl and her husband? Who would take care of them? What about those new little fairies?

So after they come back from the city, do they still have status in front of the girls?

Unfortunately, Long Shi and Lu Mei were as straightforward as their intestines and didn't understand her worries at all. Long Shi threw down the axe and went back to his room to change clothes. Lu Mei also quickly put the writing board back to the room.

Honglian opened her mouth, not knowing what to say, because several other new maids came over and, when they heard that Honglian was going into the city, they wanted to ask her to help bring some things with her.

Numbly, she kept the account, accepted the change in silver and copper coins from the maid, and then Honglian was dragged onto the ox cart by Lumei.

The new maids and servants were all relatively young, which made Pan Yingying feel like they were hiring child laborers.

But this is the social environment now. If you are not married at the age of 16, you will be called an old maid.

Therefore, even if they signed a contract to sell their bodies, they were still paid very high wages, two taels of silver per person per month, and if they made outstanding contributions, they would receive additional money.

Like the sisters Honglian and Long Jiulong, their monthly allowance also increased by 5 taels.

The new maids now take turns going to the school every day to learn reading and martial arts. Pan Yingying has agreed with them that if they are interested in special schools in the future, she will send them there.

Zhao didn't say anything about this. She felt that this was Pan Yingying's way of controlling her subordinates. Didn't she see that the maids were all loyal and tight-lipped like clams now? Even she, as a mother, couldn't ask how many meals her daughter had eaten today.

……

……

The wheels pressed on the overgrown grass road, leaving a shallow mark.

The surrounding area is desolate and there is no human habitation at all.

Looking around, there are vast expanses of yellow earth and scattered wild grasses.

Long Shi, who was driving the ox cart, suddenly sighed, "Luckily we have our daughter, otherwise, with the barren look of Sin City, we would have starved to death if we came here."

Lumei nodded seriously. If she hadn't been a girl, she and her sister would not have been able to follow the master like they are now, with new clothes all year round and a fortune of dozens of taels of silver.

Thinking of her master, Lumei turned to ask Honglian, "Sister, let's make a cape for the master like the one her son-in-law has."

(End of this chapter)