The Farm Girl's Charismatic Fortune-Chapter 44 - 42 Reminder
Chapter 44: Chapter 42 Reminder
Chapter 44 -42 Reminder
The next day boasted clear and sunny weather, and early in the morning, the Ruo Family’s courtyard was packed with people and baskets upon baskets of Zizania.
When Ruo Xuan emerged from the house, she saw everyone squeezed into the small courtyard, some weighing, others selecting tender Zizania, and more still filling sacks.
Everyone was bustling about, incredibly busy!
The autumn morning was quite chilly; everyone’s clothes were damp with a mix of mud and water, but their hearts were warm, and they didn’t feel the cold, their faces even brimming with smiles.
Just then, a cool breeze wafted by, and Ruo Xuan sniffed, looking up at the clear blue sky, yet she detected a heavy moisture in the wind today.
Her mood began to weigh down as well!
Being a flower, she feared both severe drought and flooding the most, but of course, once she had developed intelligence and perfected her cultivation, she would no longer be afraid.
However, the rice in the fields, the peanuts, sweet potatoes, and other crops were certainly susceptible!
She could even sense the persimmon tree and jujube tree in the courtyard shivering.
At that moment, Granny Lei handed Xuanbao a pouch of money, “Xuanbao, could you help distribute silver to the uncles and aunties in the village? Two taels of silver for each household.”
“Sure,” Ruo Xuan snapped back to reality, cheerfully taking the money pouch.
No matter what comes, block if it’s an attack, hide if it’s a flood!
She cheerfully doled out silver to everyone, the spitting image of a generous young deity, utterly adorable.
Early this morning, just as the sky began to brighten, County Magistrate Zhang rode out of the city. He arrived near the fields of Xishui Village to inspect; he needed to have a clear understanding of the county’s fields, wastelands, water conservancy, rivers, bridges, temples, mountains, and villages, among others.
Since these fields were close to Xishui River, he wanted to confirm if the flood conditions of Xishui corresponded with the records in the Governor’s Office, so he made his way to the village where the Ruo Family lived and saw that the Ruo Family’s courtyard was bustling with people inside out.
Crowds can reveal more information, so County Magistrate Zhang approached them, and then he recognized Xuanbao at a glance.
Xuanbao, too, noticed him, and, flowering with excitement, she began to vigorously wave her small hand, “County…”
County Magistrate Zhang hastily put up his index finger to his lips, signaling Xuanbao not to reveal his identity.
Xuanbao saw the gesture, but she didn’t understand—
And so, Little Xuanhua, like a trumpet flower blooming in a gentle breeze, shouted even more enthusiastically and loudly, “Lord County Magistrate, you’ve arrived! Are you here to buy Zizania?”
The courtyard suddenly fell silent!
County Magistrate Zhang: “…”
Only then did Ruo Xuan remember that one must greet Lord County Magistrate with a bow!
She shoved the money pouch forcefully into her chest (she had gained weight recently, and her clothes were a bit tight, making it rather difficult to shove), and after some effort, the tiny girl gave her greeting meticulously, “This common girl pays respect to Lord County Magistrate!”
At this point, Ruo Shui and Ruo He also realized what was happening and quickly urged the village chief to come forward and bow, “The commoners pay their respects to Lord County Magistrate!”
Even the other villagers, though confused, instinctively knelt down and loudly paid their respects.
Seeing a ground full of kneeling villagers, County Magistrate Zhang resisted the urge to facepalm. Wasn’t the little girl supposed to be quite clever? Why did she shout it out?
He quickly said, “Everyone, please, there’s no need for such formalities!”
“Thank you, my lord!” The crowd then stood up.
Now, as everyone gazing upon County Magistrate Zhang dared not move, their first thought was how young the new magistrate was, followed by speculation about what exactly brought the County Magistrate to the Ruo Family’s place.
County Magistrate Zhang, noticing everyone’s uneasy demeanor, spoke in a gentle tone, and without referring to himself in the third person as officials often would, simply said, “I saw that there were many people here and came to have a look. Are you harvesting Zizania to sell?”
Having dealt with County Magistrate Zhang before, Ruo Shui replied, “Your honor, indeed. The village chief is leading us and the villagers to harvest some Zizania to send to the restaurants.”
Lord County Magistrate Zhang truly saw the Ruo brothers in a new light after that, admiring their grand vision of even involving the villagers in earning silver!
He had thought the Ruo Family would sell the zizania on their own for a while after discovering they could make money from it, but it turned out they were smarter than that.
Looking again at how the fourth brother of the Ruo Family spoke, he was not self-congratulatory; he even respectfully brought up the village head.
He smiled and patted Ruo Shui on the shoulder, “Well done! You brothers, and your village, are truly commendable; the village head has done a good job managing.”
Lord County Magistrate Zhang was just thinking of finding the village head to discuss the patterns of flooding in the Xishui River over the years, when Xuanbao already came running up to him, waving her little chubby paws, “My lord, I have a secret to tell you!”
Lord County Magistrate Zhang was truly charmed by the little figure of Xuanbao; he squatted down and lifted Xuanbao in his arms, “What secret does Xuanbao have to share with me?”
Ruo Xuan then covered Lord County Magistrate Zhang’s ear with her little chubby hand and whispered, “Lord County Magistrate, I had a dream last night that an old deity was observing the stars at night and said that our county will face a flood.”
Upon hearing this, Lord County Magistrate Zhang’s face changed color. It was almost harvest time and the rice had not yet been reaped. If a flood happened now, the consequences would be unimaginable.
No, wait, it was almost harvest time, which means it’s already autumn.
In autumn, the weather across the Provincial Government Office is mostly clear and crisp, not like summer with its dragon boat waters and hurricanes.
The annals of Shaxi County for over a hundred years do not record a single flood that occurred in autumn.
How could there be a flood?
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And how could a three-year-old girl’s dream be taken seriously?
Lord County Magistrate Zhang laughed, “Xuanbao, do not fear, autumn is here, the weather is clear and crisp, all sunny days, there will be no floods.”
Seeing that he did not believe her, Ruo Xuan felt a bit anxious, unsure how to make him believe. She looked up at the sky, then at the bare persimmon tree, thought of the dream message, and touched Lord County Magistrate Zhang’s head with her little chubby paw, “So! In autumn it definitely won’t rain, there definitely won’t be a flood, it will definitely be all sunny days, right? Then I’m not afraid anymore!”
Lord County Magistrate Zhang wanted to agree, but the heavens are in charge of rain, not caring whether it’s autumn or winter.
These are all unpredictable matters!
It’s precisely because they’re unpredictable that natural disasters are the most deadly; otherwise, everyone could prevent them beforehand.
Lord County Magistrate Zhang’s heart grew cold. Floods in autumn were indeed rare, but it was not unheard of in history, especially since Shaxi County is located in the south, adjacent to the sea, and hurricanes are common in the summer. Now in autumn, though hurricanes are fewer, they are not nonexistent.
Thinking back on his inspections around the county these past days, he found the state of the river channels and water management in Shaxi County quite concerning.
Many wastelands were the result of consecutive years of flooding, which led the people to give up farming and abandon the land.
He had planned to start dredging water channels and building higher levees to prevent the next summer’s dragon boat waters and hurricanes after the autumn harvest, putting the wasteland to use.
But what about starting earlier?
He wasn’t superstitious and had never believed in dreams as omens, but for some reason, Xuanbao’s words unsettled him.
Yet, it would be ridiculous to take action based solely on the words of a three-year-old child’s dream; it would be seen as absurd!
Should others find out, they might even label him a confused official!
But if a flood really did happen, and he did nothing, he felt he would be failing the people here a thousand times over and betraying The Emperor who had appointed him as their parent official.
Before leaving the capital to take office, his father had said to him, “You are going to be a parent official. The parent official is the parent of the people. The love of parents for their children is deep and far-reaching!
You need not consider whether your actions will bring political achievements, nor worry about right or wrong; you only need to put yourself in the position of a father: as long as it’s good for the children, doing it is right.”
What loving parent, hearing their child may suffer, wouldn’t worry, wouldn’t do something?
Lord County Magistrate Zhang was inwardly conflicted, still finding it absurd to believe something just because a child dreamed it, and his reason cautioned him against impulsiveness. He looked at Xuanbao blinking up at him with big eyes, and a thought struck him, “Did the old deity from Xuanbao’s dream say what should be done?”
