Chapter 560 - 291: Country Beauty (2)
An attendant immediately barked, "The Lord County Magistrate himself has come to your door! Why have you not come out to pay your respects?"
Qingmu grew even more uneasy and stepped forward to explain, "We’re simple country folk, crude and ignorant of etiquette. We were afraid of offending His Lordship. Besides, our womenfolk have never seen the world. They’re easily startled, so we didn’t dare call them out and risk alarming our honored guest."
County Magistrate Li laughed. "You’re far too modest. I heard you married the greatest beauty in the surrounding villages. How can you call her crude? The other is your own mother; you shouldn’t speak of her that way either."
The attendant glared. "Are you still not going to call them out to greet the Lord Magistrate?"
The respectful facade Qingmu had struggled to maintain finally crumbled. He balled his fists in anger, his head bowed and shoulders trembling as he fought to suppress his rage.
It dawned on Li Changyu and Zhang Huai as well. No wonder this scoundrel of an official was lingering. They had thought he had designs on the workshop, but it turned out this was his real goal. ’Then again, he’s probably after the workshop too.’ They were just as furious as Qingmu.
Seeing Qingmu’s state, Zhang Huai knew things were about to go south. He hurried forward, grabbed Qingmu’s arm, and squeezed it forcefully, signaling him not to be rash. He put on an apologetic smile and said to the County Magistrate, "My lord, in the countryside, it’s not considered proper for wives to receive male guests in the main hall. For an esteemed guest such as yourself, it’s even more inappropriate for us to let them out and disturb you..."
Zheng Changhe, however, asked in confusion, "When men are receiving guests, what business do the women have getting involved?"
Li Gengtian nodded in agreement.
Before they could finish, the attendant bellowed, "Who said anything about receiving guests? This is about paying respects to the Lord County Magistrate! Or do you think they are too good to bow to him?"
When County Magistrate Li saw the expressions on Zheng Changhe and his son, he grew even more displeased. His face darkened, and he stared at them coldly.
Zhang Huai was frantic. He squeezed Qingmu’s arm hard again. Only then did Qingmu slowly raise his head, having calmed down a little. He said to County Magistrate Li with great reluctance, "Then I will call them to meet you, my lord. Mother! Yunlan—" he called out loudly.
An answer came from the direction of the kitchen, her voice crisp and loud. "Qingmu, what is it? I’m about to start cooking."
Qingmu shouted back hastily, "Hurry and come pay your respects to the Lord County Magistrate! You can cook later."
The kitchen fell silent. A moment later, the sound of footsteps approached from outside.
County Magistrate Li eagerly looked up, just in time to see a woman in her forties and a young woman in her early twenties enter the main hall.
The young wife had a pair of very bright, spirited eyes, and her features were delicate. However, her skin was a bit dark, likely from the sun during the spring planting. She wore a set of gaudy, brightly colored clothes and, with a slightly protruding belly, strode in with her legs apart. In her hand, she clutched a long, tender Huang Gua, which she gnawed on as she walked.
’She is beautiful, yes,’ County Magistrate Li judged inwardly, ’but her appearance is so... unsightly!’ He was a bit surprised by his own contradictory conclusion.
Qingmu led his mother and wife to pay their respects to the Lord County Magistrate and kowtow.
Mrs. Yang pulled Liu Yunlan along, and they dutifully kowtowed to County Magistrate Li several times. As Liu Yunlan placed her hands on the ground, the Huang Gua in her hand inevitably touched the floor. She paid it no mind. As soon as County Magistrate Li told them to rise, she scrambled to her feet. The first thing she did was open her mouth and take a huge bite of the Huang Gua, chewing on it vigorously. The sight made County Magistrate Li frown.
Just as he was about to speak, Liu Yunlan unexpectedly turned, saw Li Gengtian, and cried out, "Oh! Village Head, you’re here too? I was just looking for you! You..."
Her mouth was so full of Huang Gua that she couldn’t chew and swallow it all in time, making her words muffled. Eager to speak, she chewed and swallowed with all her might, her cheeks puffing in and out. There seemed to be too much in her mouth to contain. A greenish-yellow stream of Huang Gua juice trickled down from the corner of her mouth onto the front of her blouse, but she remained completely unfazed.
After finally managing to swallow the Huang Gua in her mouth, Liu Yunlan wiped the corner of her lips with her hand—ignoring the stove ash on it, which left a dirty smudge across her face. Her voice rose a full octave as she yelled at Li Gengtian, "Village Head, my Qingmu is the only one from our family working at the workshop, and he earns so little! And to think, we were the ones who first made that sausage! At this rate, he only earns a few taels of silver a year. We’d be better off making it ourselves—" She suddenly turned and slapped away Mrs. Yang’s hand, which was tugging at the back of her shirt. "Mother, what are you pulling me for? Am I wrong? You and Dad are just too honest, and Qingmu is too honest! It’s a good thing I married into this family..."
Qingmu glanced around awkwardly and scolded her, "What do you know? Stop spouting nonsense."
Liu Yunlan took another bite of her Huang Gua—a smaller one this time. She spoke as she ate, spraying bits of juice everywhere. "What do you mean, ’what do I know?’ I can see that being a manager is tiring and thankless, and most importantly, the pay is too low! And he was even falsely accused last time. You think I don’t know? Village Head, tell me I’m wrong!"
Li Gengtian was also dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected Liu Yunlan to confront him about the accounts like this. What she said was quite reasonable, though, which made him feel rather awkward. He said helplessly, "Qingmu’s wife, this was something everyone discussed and agreed on..."
Liu Yunlan immediately shrieked, waving her arms. She held the Huang Gua high in one hand and said angrily, "Everyone discussed it? That doesn’t give you the right to bully our Zheng Family like this! It’s a good thing the Lord County Magistrate is here today. Let’s have His Lordship judge what’s fair! Tell us, how much should my Qingmu be paid? And Your Lordship can’t be biased towards the village head! I know his family has a scholar, but that doesn’t mean he can bully us common folk!"
She was truly incandescent with rage, her eyes widened frighteningly, her gaze terrifying!
’Why? Because of pure hatred!’
All that fury had been stirred up by County Magistrate Li. The scoundrel of an official had actually come to her door and insisted on seeing her. Now, she was projecting all that animosity onto Li Gengtian, and she looked like she wanted to take a bite right out of him. There was no need to fake her anger. (To be continued. If you enjoy this story, please consider supporting it with recommendation votes and monthly passes on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)