Chapter 396: Cousin’s questions

The magistrate’s wife was not convinced by her husband’s stern preaching but she didn’t dare to say anything. She could only reluctantly agree in a whisper, still muttering in her heart.

That morning, the country magistrate received a report that Master Ding had gone to visit Miss Lian in Dafang village to see the cotton quilts. He was immediately anxious, fearing that Master Ding intended to take credit for the cotton in front of the emperor! Hurriedly finishing his tea, he ordered a carriage and headed over too.

And now he had arrived at the fields.

Lian Fang Zhou and Master Ding greeted him politely. Where would the county magistrate dare to accuse Master Ding to his face? He came forward and greeted him respectfully. Even Lian Fang Zhou and her stewards were given a friendly greeting— don’t be shy, talk openly in front of the county magistrate!

This was the county magistrate’s style. His words were amiable and his expression kind, always keeping people close and unable to pick out the slightest mistake!

After saluting each other, the group went back to the cotton fields to look at the cotton.

Seeing that this cotton field, it was impossible to see one plant that did not have several plump balls of cotton. Though many of them were still not mature, the sporadic mature ones were so white they were almost blinding.

The county magistrate subconsciously swallowed, thinking in his heart: “If all of this was made into quilts and sold, how much money would that be worth…

He couldn’t help but regret secretly! If he had known about this long ago, he could have bought some fields and also planted this stuff back then…

He stayed for about two quarters of an hour before Master Ding proposed to return home.

Lian Fang Zhou hurriedly invited them with a smile, saying that she had prepared some wine and dishes, asking Master Ding to enjoy to his heart’s content.

The county magistrate wanted to use this banquet as an excuse to stay but Master Ding immediately declined. The county magistrate couldn’t stay behind so he generously said a few words and returned to the city with Master Ding.

Lian Fang Zhou had already expected that Master Ding would not stay for dinner, so she only insisted a little before sending them off respectfully.

When the county magistrate had arrived, Lian Fang Zhou had quietly ordered Qin Feng to go back and prepare a red envelop for each of the county magistrate’s entourage.

Qin Feng had counted the number of people and quickly left.

Master Ding had only come with three servants but the county magistrate had brought a full twenty people!

After sending them away, Lian Fang Zhou and the others went back to work.

Since the two guests had not stayed to eat, Lian Fang Zhou brought two of the dishes back home to eat and let the Zhang family serve the rest to the workers. Afterwards, she went to Xiaohuaguo mountain to catch and kill two chickens.

Just as Lian Fang Zhou returned home, Lian Hai hurried in from outside.

Although he was trying very hard to make himself look calm and his steps were not eager, the impatient expression in his eyes explained everything.

“Fang Zhou!” He said quietly when he saw her, “I heard that Master Ding and the county magistrate came to see your cotton fields? Is this true?”

Lian Fang Zhou instantly understood his intentions.

How easy was it to make friends with Master Ding and the county magistrate? Especially, Master Ding! If a student was lucky enough to get a few words from them, maybe even a few words of praise, his reputation would immediately rise!

If you were good at using this opportunity, the future would be much smoother.

No wonder her cousin, who was usually very stable, would lose his temper this time!

Before Lian Fang Zhou could answer Lian Hai, she saw the Lian couple hot on his feet and frowned subconsciously.

For a long time, this uncle and aunt had bothered her constantly. Then suddenly, they never came over to make trouble again! And now, here they were again, for fear that something had happened.

Lian Fang Zhou only glanced at them before nodding at Lian Hai: “Yes, Master Ding and the county magistrate came over for a short while but now they are gone.”

Lian Hai didn’t answer, so she just pretended to be confused.

After a while, Lian Hai sighed regretfully. “Let’s go!”

“What were they doing here? Was it just to see the cotton? You aren’t the only one who grows cotton in Yuhe county, you can see it anywhere! Why did they just come to see yours?” Madam Qiao immediately asked.

Her tone was sharp and acidic. It seemed that the county magistrate and Master Ding coming to see Lian Fang Zhou’s cotton was very unfair and inappropriate to Madam Qiao!

Lian Fang Zhou found this both amusing and annoying. Too lazy to pay attention to Madam Qiao’s voice, which sounded greasy and sour, she smiled and said: “That’s the case. Yesterday, I sent a quilt made of cotton to Master Ding and the county magistrate. Maybe they came for this?”

She smiled vaguely while speaking, “Actually, I don’t really understand this. It was my cousin and cousin-in-law who instructed me to do this.”

Anyways, her two quilts had been presented so it was a given that the matter would soon spread throughout Yuhe county or even wider.

“What quilt? You, the county magistrate and Master Ding received you?” Lian Hai asked in disbelief, his thoughts becoming muddled when he heard it.

For someone like Master Ding, which scholar did not want to visit him? But he didn’t receive anyone!

Did he really meet with a little girl like Lian Fang Zhou? What kind of quilt would merit such reverence?

Lian Fang Zhou knew that these three wouldn’t leave her house if she didn’t say it clearly, so she smiled and said the whole thing again.

Lian Li’s expression changed bit by bit as he listened. When she was finished, he stood up abruptly, his face dark, and yelled at her: “Why didn’t you say such a big thing earlier!?”

Madam Qiao’s eyes wide and she opened her mouth angrily, about to speak—

Like a switch, Lian Fang Zhou’s expression dropped. Coldly, she said: “Uncle, what do you mean by this? This is my business, I manage things by myself. No, it’s not entirely my business, my cousin and cousin-in-law are in front of you. You learned this yourself in the past few days, remember?”

“You—”

Lian Li choked immediately, wanting to teach Lian Fang Zhou a lesson. However, Lian Hai calmly called “Father!” and stopped him.

Lian Li looked at his son and closed his mouth reluctantly. The expression on his face was furious.

“Fang Zhou,” Lian Hai sighed lightly. “Don’t get me wrong but you were indeed a little rash yesterday. Wouldn’t have been better to discuss such a big matter first? Wouldn’t it have been more convenient to have me go with you? Fortunately, you were lucky yesterday. Otherwise, what would you do if someone intercepted you? Moreover, if this matter had allowed me to establish a relationship with Master Ding, it would be extremely beneficial to my future career. After all, Fang Zhou, I’m still in my early days and this would be good for you too.”

Lian Fang Zhou had long understood that Lian Hai was this type of person, he always thought about whether something benefited himself or not, no matter what he did, but in this moment, she was still uncomfortable when she heard him say this.