Chapter 117 City Streets 17

Chapter 117: City Life in the Prefecture, Part 17

Only the village head knew this news; the villagers were unaware. When they saw the messengers beating gongs and drums entering the village, they all came out to watch.

The messenger at the front struck the brass gong loudly and shouted:

"Make way for the honoree! Delivery of the plaque!"

A villager squeezed forward and asked curiously:

"Sir, who's being honored?"

"Could it be the scholar from the Qin family? I heard he came first! Did the County Magistrate think he brought honor to our Luo County and sent him a plaque?"

The messenger at the front didn’t know the way around Shanghe Village and had to ask for directions. He replied:

"Shanghe Village is blessed! So fortunate! Producing one talented person after another!"

The messenger naturally knew that the top scholar of Jiangzhou’s civil service exam came from their Luo County, and that this person was from Shanghe Village.

He added with a smile: "But today’s plaque isn’t for Top Scholar Qin! It’s for Liu Guyu! The honorable one who presented the formula to the official, increasing crop yields per acre with fertilizer! Neighbors, can you tell me how to get to the Liu family?"

Coincidentally, the person the messenger asked was Aunt Hua.

She stood nearby, her ears ringing from the gong.

Waving her hand and rubbing her ears, she said: "No, no! Not the Liu family! It’s the Qin family! Still the Qin family! Goodness, the Qin family must have accumulated virtue from their ancestors, producing one talented person after another!"

The messenger was also shocked, slowing his gong-beating, and asked in surprise: "Still the Qin family? Top Scholar Qin’s family?"

Aunt Hua nodded repeatedly, both delighted and excited, her tone full of pride, as if this talented person came from her own family.

"Yes! They’re from the same family! Sir, heading to the Qin family? We can show you! The main road you’re on is wide, but it’s a long detour! Follow us, officials, it’ll save you a lot of time!"

…

A group headed toward the Qin family, and the village head also got the news, rushing over in a hurry.

By the time Chen Qiaosheng arrived, the front of the Qin family’s courtyard was already crowded. Liu Guyu had already unveiled the red cloth covering the plaque.

A large plaque made of warm yellow old elm wood, inscribed with eight large characters, each written with vigorous and flowing strokes.

— "Full Granaries, Greatest Merit."

Chen Qiaosheng quickened his pace, his eyes squinting with happiness as he stared at the characters on the plaque. He reached out to touch it but didn’t dare actually place his fingers on it, only tracing the characters in the air.

He also said: "Great calligraphy! Excellent characters!"

Although Chen Qiaosheng was the village head and knew a basketful of characters, he was still a farmer at heart—how could he tell good calligraphy from bad? He just thought the plaque was grand, and since it was awarded by the Magistrate, the characters seemed to glow.

The messenger speaking with Liu Guyu turned around immediately and said: "This was personally inscribed by the Prefect! Of course it’s good!"

Oh my! This was extraordinary! Chen Qiaosheng praised it even more.

"Oh my god!" Chen Qiaosheng exclaimed, slapping his thigh. His outstretched hand didn’t dare reach further; he laughed awkwardly twice before slowly withdrawing it. "That explains it! I’ve seen such excellent characters today!"

The villagers outside the courtyard gate also chattered:

"Prefect? What kind of official is that? Higher ranking than the County Magistrate?"

"Don’t know! Must be a high official!"

"Incredible! Liu Geer has caught the attention of important people!"

"Passing the imperial exam and receiving a plaque! The Qin family is hitting the big time!"

…

Liu Guyu and the others ignored the commotion outside. He invited the head messengers inside for tea and served them fine tea.

The messengers felt well-treated and were all smiles. The leader was especially polite to Liu Guyu and the others, particularly knowing that their family also had a top scholar—though still a scholar now, who knew when he might become a high official!

He clapped his hands and called in a soldier carrying a dark lacquered wooden box.

The messenger said with a smile: "This is also a reward from above—five hundred taels of fine silver! Please take care of it! This is a great achievement. Your fertilizer formula has spread throughout Jiangzhou, and the Prefect will likely report it to the capital! You are truly impressive! Amazing!"

As he praised, he grew more sincere, because although the messenger appeared glamorous, his elderly parents, siblings, and their families were all farmers. With this method, their lives had become much better!

Five hundred taels?!

Liu Guyu was extremely excited but couldn’t show it. Instead, he respectfully received the money box with both hands, bowed toward the sky, and uttered some formal words: "Thanks to the County Magistrate’s generosity! Thank you for the Prefect’s grace!"

After delivering the plaque and reward money, the messengers left beating their gongs, the long procession gradually fading away.

With no more excitement to see, the crowd dispersed, leaving only the village head with his hands clasped behind his back, circling the plaque and looking it over again and again, growing fonder each time. As he looked, he muttered: "Excellent writing! Truly beautiful calligraphy!"

Having brewed a pot of fine tea for the messengers, which wasn’t finished yet, Liu Guyu invited the village head in for tea.

Chen Qiaosheng drank tea while discussing the matters Liu Guyu had entrusted to him.

The village head was thorough and handled everything properly.

"There are two families renting land, each renting six mu (about 1 acre). One is the Qin San family at the village end, the other is the Shi family in Duck Gully. Both are reliable and honest families in the village. If you think they’re reliable, call them over tomorrow to sign the contract. And about the tax-exempt status…"

Though Liu Guyu weren't close with these two families, he knew them. One was even the family hired to harvest rice when they took back the land from Chen Guicai.

That family had two sons, both able-bodied, with plenty of energy, honest, kind, hardworking, and diligent. They were among the most diligent in learning the fertilizer method.

Liu Guyu discussed it with Cui Lanfang, asked Qin Rongshi’s opinion, and they all agreed it was workable, leaving it to the village head to handle.

The contracts were signed the next day.

Once the contracts were signed, most of the village knew the Qin family was moving to the prefectural city. Everyone said the Qin family had hit the big time and were different from before.

That afternoon, Cui Lanfang wheeled over several crates of chickens to knock on the door of Lin Xingniang’s house across the street. Soon, someone answered.

Lin Xingniang said in surprise: "Huh? What's all this? Why are you bringing so many chickens?"

Cui Lanfang smiled: "You know we're leaving for the prefectural city in a couple of days. We can’t take these chickens with us, and we can’t eat them all! There’s too many! I’m giving them to your family to raise! Fatten them for New Year or keep them for eggs! Either is fine!"

The two families were close, but with so many chickens—each chicken costing seventy or eighty wen (a few dollars each), and there were at least ten, totaling over one tael of silver (about $200)—Lin Xingniang felt too embarrassed to accept!

She hurriedly declined: "No way! Keep them for yourself! These chickens are so well-fed, your family can cook one a day! You’ll finish them eventually!"

But Cui Lanfang sighed: "Oh! You have no idea. I never dreamed I’d ever get tired of eating chicken!"

"We’ve been eating it every day! Stewed, stir-fried, fried—I’m really sick of it! Besides, these are year-old chicks, just starting to lay eggs. With luck, we could gather twenty-plus eggs daily! It’d be a shame to slaughter them for meat now!"

"You're right," Lin Xingniang, who also raised chickens at home, agreed, sighing and tut-tutting, even these ten-plus chickens looked pitiful to her now.

But she really felt too embarrassed to accept them and said, "Thanks to your Erlang's blessing, our family's land is now tax-exempt. How could I possibly accept your chickens too?"

Cui Lanfang was mild-mannered, but when speaking with Lin Xingniang, she was much bolder and acted more on impulse. She directly dragged the several cages of chickens past Lin Xingniang into her yard, releasing the chickens into her coop.

She added, "Oh, none of that polite talk! Our two families are as close as one. We’re family, so we don’t speak like strangers—this is what you taught me! Let's be direct—none of this roundabout talk!"

This left Lin Xingniang speechless, causing Luo Maier, who was peeking around the doorframe at the scene, to giggle quietly. The laughter even startled Lin Xingniang.

Lin Xingniang shot her a glare, pointed vaguely at her twice, and scolded, "You little brat, hiding again to watch your mother make a fool of herself!"

Luo Maier stuck out her tongue, pulled a face, and said deliberately, "I’ll watch! I’ll watch!"

Cui Lanfang smiled as she watched the mother and daughter banter. Before leaving, she said, "Come to our place for dinner tonight. We’ve stewed chicken again today!"

Lin Xingniang glared back and said loudly, "Eat? I’ll bring my children along to eat, and if there’s any left, I’ll even doggy-bag the leftovers!"

Cui Lanfang laughed even louder and said, "Take it! Take it all! You can even take everything back!"

After saying this, she sighed again. Though she was smiling, her tone carried a touch of reluctance. "In two more days, we’ll set off for the prefectural city. You won't have many chances to eat like this anymore."

Hearing this, Lin Xingniang’s eyes reddened. She was a widow with a feisty and strong-willed nature and didn’t really have many close friends in the village. The only one she was truly close to was Cui Lanfang, and now even Cui Lanfang’s family was leaving.

Ah.

She sighed inwardly but still made a dismissive "pfft, pfft" sound at Cui Lanfang, saying, "In your dreams! Won’t your family come back for the New Year? Not returning to the village, not paying respects to your ancestors? 'Won’t get to eat it many more times'—in your dreams! During the New Year, I’ll come to your place to eat every day!"

These words made Cui Lanfang laugh heartily again, and she chimed in, "Eat! Come eat! Whatever you want to eat, I’ll cook it! I’ll stew chicken for you every day!"

The two old friends talked for a good while before Cui Lanfang dragged the empty cart back home.

That night, Lin Xingniang indeed brought her children over for dinner. The table was lavish, with fish, meat, vegetables, and soup. The big table groaned with over ten different dishes—even New Year’s celebrations weren’t this abundant.

The two families ate a heartwarming meal together. Everyone knew that after this meal, it might be ages before they'd eat together again, but no one brought it up. On the surface, everyone was all smiles.

After the meal, Lin Xingniang and her children returned home, but Cui Lanfang packed up several dishes of the best food into a basket and prepared a jug of wine. Liu Guyu didn’t even know when she had bought the wine.

Liu Guyu: "Mom? What are you doing?"

Cui Lanfang looked at him, her eyes unexpectedly misty with tears. Her voice choked up. "I was thinking of visiting the graves. Once we leave, who knows when we’ll be back? I need to see them. Today we made good food—they should taste it. And here’s the wine Erlang fetched during the day! Your father loved this stuff!"

"Them" referred to "Father Qin" and "Qin Dalang."

Liu Guyu was silent for a moment. The next moment, wordlessly he turned and went inside. Soon, he came out with an oil lamp, everything ready, and said to Cui Lanfang, "Let’s go, Mom! We’ll all go!"

Cui Lanfang wiped her tears and said repeatedly, "Good! Good! Let’s go together!"