mtl008 Chapter 124 The County Magistrate Visits the Village
Chapter 124 The County Magistrate Visits the Village
Night had fallen, and the surroundings were dark, but Ruan Mumu instructed Xia to hang two 100-watt energy-saving lamps on the big tree in the center of the yard.
"Wow, it's so bright!" The guards who followed Qiao Tinghao into the courtyard couldn't help but exclaim.
"What is this? Why is it so bright?"
"Why is this light the same as daylight? Could it be something like the sun?"
"What an amazing thing! It's so much more convenient than a candle."
......
The guards had never seen anything so magical before and were very curious about what this bright, daylight-like object was, which was even brighter than a luminous pearl.
Driven by surprise and curiosity, people gathered around the energy-saving light bulb, eager to find out what was going on.
Just as everyone was gathering around, Qiao Tinghao spoke up, reminding them, "Everyone, stop looking and quickly move your things outside!"
Hearing their young general's words, everyone snapped out of their daze.
At this moment, Xia brought over another energy-saving lamp, handed it to Qiao Zuo'er, and said softly, "Could you please help me hang this lamp on the tree outside? Thank you!"
Qiao Zuoer looked at the delicate, pretty, lively and charming Xia girl in front of him. This was the first time in his life that he had been so close to a woman.
Especially when his gaze fell upon Xia's bright eyes, for some reason, he felt his heart pounding violently, as if it were about to leap out of his throat.
Xia's face flushed instantly when Qiao Zuoer stared at her intently.
However, Qiao Zuo'er quickly regained his composure, snapped out of his daze, and swiftly took the energy-saving lamp, asking, "May I ask which tree you would like to hang this lamp on, young lady?"
After receiving Xia's clear instructions, Qiao Zuo'er swiftly and steadily hung the energy-saving light bulb in the designated spot. Xia, watching from the side, couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow! That's really amazing!"
Qiao Zuo'er blushed and walked into the courtyard, following everyone to move boxes.
After all the boxes were moved to a spacious area outside the yard, Ruan Mumu handed Qiao Tinghao a utility knife to open the boxes.
When the large box was opened, everyone was completely bewildered by what was presented to them, except for Ruan Mumu and Qiao Tinghao.
"Young General, what is this?" Qiao Zuoyi asked curiously.
When Qiao Tinghao heard someone call him "Little General" again, he quickly corrected them: "There is no Little General here. I am the third son of this family. You can call me Instructor or Third Young Master."
After Qiao Tinghao finished speaking, he searched for the instruction manual in the box. After finding the installation manual, he also found screws and a wrench and began to install it according to the instructions.
Because the object was quite large, Qiao Tinghao called a few people to help, some to lift things, some to tighten screws. Twenty minutes later, a modern version of a foot-operated threshing machine was installed.
"Young...uh, Third Young Master, what exactly is this?" Qiao Zuoyi asked curiously again.
Ruan Mumu smiled and asked, "Guard Zuo, have you ever grown rice?"
Qiao Zuo shook his head. He had been living in the General's Mansion since he was old enough to understand things, and he knew nothing about farming.
“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you!” Ruan Mumu said, shrugging.
In fact, most of the guards present had never farmed before, because they had entered the general's mansion from a young age, and their daily lives consisted mostly of practicing martial arts.
"Okay!" Qiao Zuoyi scratched his head a little embarrassedly.
"Boss, boss, come help!" someone shouted. Qiao Zuoyi nodded slightly to Ruan Mumu and went to join the team installing the threshing machine.
The next morning, as the sun rose, Ruan Mumu sent someone to the village to inform the village chief to send people to Ruan's house to help move things to the fields.
When the twenty threshing machines were carried to the edge of the field, many villagers were puzzled as to what these novelties were, and many women, children, and the elderly ran to the edge of the field to watch the spectacle.
Ruan Mumu took out her phone in the field and snapped many photos and videos as souvenirs.
The villagers were very curious when they saw Ruan Mumu holding something that looked like a box, comparing it here and there, but no one dared to ask her anything.
The village chief said that these new things are beyond the understanding of ordinary people, so don't ask so many questions.
With everything ready, Jin Erniu took the lead, picked up a modern sickle, and went to Ruan Mumu's field to start working.
Although he had never used this kind of sickle before, for an experienced farmer like him, the improved sickle would only make him more adept at using it.
“Uncle Jin, let me take a picture of you two standing together to remember this moment,” Ruan Mumu said with a smile.
"You silly child, we're here to work, not to play!" Yang Fang replied to Ruan Mumu with a smile, but unconsciously straightened her clothes and smoothed her hair.
After taking photos of the couple, Ruan Mumu told them to go and harvest rice.
“Mom, why don’t you stand by the field too? I’ll take some pictures of you to remember this moment,” Ruan Mumu said to Chen Donghua.
Chen Donghua had gotten used to her daughter's endless stream of new ideas and cooperated by standing in the field so her daughter could take pictures for her.
When Granny Zhang heard that something new had appeared in the village and was being carried to the fields, she followed the villagers who were there to see what was happening and came to Ruan Xiaojun's field.
Looking at the best-growing rice in the field, Old Lady Zhang felt a pang of bitterness and couldn't help but grumble to herself, "If I hadn't let the pigs trample your rice seedlings back then, would you be enjoying such prominence today?"
Ruan Mumu also saw Old Lady Zhang, but she couldn't be bothered to pay her any attention.
These days, the villagers are keeping a close eye on her. If she dares to have any crooked thoughts, she's practically handing money over to others.
Nowadays, Old Lady Zhang dares not do anything more than hum a few words to herself.
Some villagers who came to watch the spectacle also picked up sickles and helped harvest the rice when they saw them in the field.
"Uncle Jin, you and Aunt Jin, come here. I'll teach you how to use this threshing machine." Ruan Mumu looked at the pile of rice that resembled a small mountain and quickly told Jin Erniu and Yang Fang to stop using their sickles.
When Ruan Mumu skillfully turned the large spinning wheel, she started stepping on the pedals with her feet, and the large spinning wheel spun rapidly.
Ruan Mumu grabbed a handful of rice stalks with grains still attached, stepped on the foot pedal of the threshing machine, and quickly stuffed them into the threshing window. Soon, the rice grains in her hands fell off instantly, leaving only a bare stalk.
Seeing how easily the grains of rice fell off a handful of rice stalks, everyone exclaimed in amazement, "That's amazing!"
Just as everyone was marveling at the amazing threshing machine, someone suddenly shouted, "The village chief is here with his men!"
Looking in the direction they had come from, they saw Village Chief Tian leading several strangers toward the fields.
Jin Erniu and his wife, along with other busy people, stopped what they were doing and waited for the person to come over.
"Everyone's here! The county magistrate heard that our village has grown a high-yield rice crop and said he wanted to come and see for himself," Village Chief Tian said, looking at Ruan Mumu, Chen Donghua, and the others.
"Welcome, Magistrate! Welcome, Village Head!" Ruan Mumu said, leading the conversation.
When the villagers heard that the visitor was the county magistrate, they all rushed to kneel down and pay their respects.
"Fellow villagers, there's no need to kneel. This isn't a courtroom." Magistrate Lin gestured to the nearest villager, preventing them from kneeling and bowing to him.
When the villagers heard the magistrate say that they didn't need to kneel, their impression of him improved considerably.
Everyone was quite surprised to see Magistrate Lin being so approachable.
Normally, the village chief handles most village affairs. If the village chief can't handle it, then the village head will.
They really didn't have the chance to meet high-ranking officials like county magistrates.
"Mumu, is this your home? I never expected to see you here." Suddenly a clear voice rang out, accompanied by a beautiful figure appearing in front of Ruan Mumu.
"Oh, Sister Wan, what brings you here?" Ruan Mumu was quite surprised to see the figure suddenly appear.
"Feng'er, is this the owner of Qingya Pavilion that you mentioned?" Magistrate Lin asked curiously when he saw his daughter greeting a strange girl.
He never expected that this little girl, who looked to be only thirteen or fourteen years old, was actually the owner of Qingyaxuan Daily Necessities Store, which was already famous in Xiyang County.
"Yes, Dad, Mumu is a very capable girl!" Lin Wanfeng boasted to her father.
"Hmm, this girl is truly remarkable! To be able to open such a large shop at such a young age," Magistrate Lin praised.
"Mumu, what are all of you doing here today?" Lin Wanfeng suddenly became very curious about why Ruan Mumu was here today.
"Today is the rice harvest, so I brought everyone here to try out these new gadgets and see if they can help you," Ruan Mumu said, pointing to the threshing machine in the field.
Seeing Magistrate Lin observing the fields, the village chief quickly stepped forward and introduced, "Lord Lin, look, this field belongs to Ruan Xiaojun."
Look at these grains, they're so plump and big, and the rice ears are so plentiful and heavy. This is the best harvest we've ever seen in all our years of farming.
This plot of land is two mu in total, and it's estimated to yield at least twenty shi (Note: I checked online, and there are different estimates of how many jin one shi equals; for ease of conversion, let's assume one shi equals one hundred jin).
Magistrate Lin walked to the edge of the field, touched the rice ears, and noticed that the grains were larger than usual. He pulled one off and found it to be quite heavy.
"Village Chief Tian, did this field always yield such high harvests?" Magistrate Lin asked eagerly.
"No, although this field is well tended, it will only yield about half a bushel more than the rice fields in this area," said the village chief.
"That must be due to the rice seed. Village Chief Tian, all the rice from these two acres should be kept as seed for next year. The county government has offered a high price to buy it," Magistrate Lin said loudly.
Then she added, "The autumn harvest taxes for Ruan Xiaojun's family were also completely waived."
Chen Donghua, standing to the side, heard the news and nervously clenched her trembling hands.
Village Chief Tian glanced at the threshing machine and noticed some threshed grains in the bin beneath it. Curious, he asked, "Mumu! I saw you fiddling with this thing when I came over earlier. Is this for threshing?"
After he finished speaking, he bent down and examined the grains, finding that they were all intact.
"Village chief, this is called a threshing machine. It's really quick to use, and it's much easier than having to carry the grain back and thresh it slowly," Jin Erniu exclaimed from the side.
"Erniu, demonstrate to the county magistrate and the village head how this is threshed," Village Chief Tian instructed.
Jin Erniu took a deep breath, and then carefully turned the main shaft according to the procedure that Ruan Mumu had explained in detail before. Then he stepped on the foot pedal, and the threshing machine quickly started turning.
Upon seeing this, the young people standing to the side immediately sprang into action. Some quickly walked to the threshing machine, stepped onto the pedals without hesitation, and began to rhythmically pedal.
Some people carried the heavy rice stalks closer to the threshing machine, while others handed the rice stalks to the people in front of the threshing machine to thresh the grain.
Encouraged by the lively scene, other people who had been standing by watching also walked over to the idle threshing machine, eager to try their hand at threshing rice.
Some people would pick up a sickle when they saw one in the field and start cutting rice, while others would volunteer to do other things they could.
In the blink of an eye, twenty threshing machines started operating simultaneously, emitting a "buzzing" sound.
The scene was bustling with activity, with everyone doing their part: some people were skillfully cutting down golden rice ears with sickles; some were carrying piles of rice stalks, moving back and forth between the fields; and others were focused on pedaling the threshing machine to ensure it was running properly.
Magistrate Lin gazed at the novel object before him with great interest, finding it quite fascinating.
Unable to contain his curiosity, he first looked around and touched things, and then he even joined the labor team himself, helping to operate the threshing machine and assisting with the threshing work.
Lin Wanfeng was also seeing such a peculiar object for the first time. As a noble young lady, she disregarded her status and took the initiative to help carry the rice stalks.
With everyone working together and toiling away for less than half an hour, something amazing happened—the rice in Ruan Mumu's entire two acres of fields had been harvested and successfully threshed!
Looking at the bountiful harvest, everyone seemed still immersed in the moment, savoring the busy scene they had just experienced.
"This threshing machine is so convenient!" Magistrate Lin couldn't help but exclaim.
He had never farmed before, but after being transferred to Xiyang County as magistrate, he would travel around to check on the harvest every summer and autumn. After all, food was a matter of people's livelihood, and the greatest wish of a local official was for the people to be able to eat their fill and stay warm.