342 Request

Yue Jiaojiao shook her head.

“What if I get morning sickness?”

Zhao Zhan lowered his eyes to look at her.

“Then do whatever makes you happy.”

Yue Jiaojiao has always been a person with lazy personality. Now that she was pregnant, she was even lazier and didn’t want to move every day. She was even extremely tired every day.

She had not been sleeping well for the past two days because of Fang Tianliu and Li Xiangjun’s issues. She did not stay in Zhao Zhan’s arms for long before she yawned. “Zhao Zhan, when the sun outside is not so bright anymore, remember to wake me up and so I can move around.”

Ever since she got pregnant, she had been strolling around the yard more often than before, so that she could give birth more smoothly in the future.

“Okay.” Zhao Zhan held his lover in his arms more firmly. “I’ll do that.”

Zhao Zhan gently placed Yue Jiaojiao on the bed.

Zhao Zhan had just left the room when Madam Qin came up to him.

“Are you going out today?”

“I’m fine for now.”

Although the village had already begun to harvest wheat in the past two days, Zhao Zhan could still relax for two more days.

When the wheat is half-harvested, he will cooperate with County Magistrate Zheng to promote the planting of soybeans and chili.

“I want to make a trip to town.” Madam Qin glanced at the room. “I don’t know if you’ll be able to find the time when you’re busy later on. I might as well take the opportunity to get out now. My lady’s body is getting plump. I want to go to the cloth shop in town to buy some soft fabric and make a few loose clothes for her. We also have to prepare the clothes and shoes for the child in her womb.”

Yue Jiaojiao was still wearing her old clothes since the baby bump was not that big. Now, her stomach was getting bigger and bigger, and Madam Qin was getting anxious.

“Thank you for thinking about this.” Zhao Zhan muttered to himself for a moment. “How about this? You go to town first and pick the thinnest and softest fabric in the store now while I watch over her. Jiaojiao’s body is tender and she’s afraid of the heat. It has been getting hotter and I heard that silk won’t trap heat. Madam Qin, you should buy some good ones. When I go to Huai County, I’ll buy some better fabric and bring it back.”

Madam Qin was elated.

“Sure, that sounds perfect.”

Zhao Zhan turned around and took out some silver from his room. “Take this silver. As long as it’s useful to Jiaojiao and can be bought in town, please buy it.”

“Of course.” Madam Qin nodded. “You don’t have to give me the silver. I don’t have much use for the salary that your wife gives me.”

“You have to keep some silver for yourself.”

Zhao Zhan’s attitude was firm, and he gave Madam Qin the silver without any explanation. “Buy as much as you want.”

Zhao Zhan hurriedly called out to her just as she was about to leave. “Please ask Doctor Sun if he’s lacking any medicinal herbs. If he is, you can buy whatever he needs as well.”

Although he hoped that everything would go smoothly for Yue Jiaojiao, it was always right to make more preparations.

“Alright, I’ll go find Doctor Sun now.”

Madam Qin left in a hurry. Before Zhao Zhan could turn around, he saw Yang Lizheng walking over with his hands behind his back. He stood there and waited for a while.

Zhao Zhan thought of Madam Qin’s trip to town. “Is your ox cart available right now?”

“It is. If anyone from your family wants to go to town, they can come to my house directly. There’s someone to drive the carriage.”

Yang Lizheng looked worried as he spoke.

“I just happened to have something to tell you. This year’s wheat harvest went well. I asked you to teach me how to use retting fertilizer, but this year’s taxes have increased again. Everyone has been looking forward to a year’s harvest. When the government comes to collect the tax grain in a few days, it will be good if the remaining grain can last until next spring.”

Yang Li was squatting on the steps in front of the door, knocking the pipe in his hand against the steps. “Life is hard. See, if it wasn’t for the fact that most of our village earned some copper coins because of you, I’m afraid life would be even harder.”

Zhao Zhan wanted to go back and keep Yue Jiaojiao company more, so he asked directly, “Is there something that’s troubling you?”

Yang Lizheng’s brows furrowed into a knot.

“I’m very embarrassed to be saying this… But didn’t you hire some people to plant soybeans before? You know how the Zhao Dalei is. They didn’t put much effort into the manure either, so the harvest is much worse than last year. There’s no one in the family working in your workshop…” Yang Lizheng stammered, wanting to say something but hesitating. “Isn’t it tough watching other people’s lives get better and better, while their family is unable to scrape by? They’ve come to my door to beg me for help several times. I think they really want to admit their mistakes. About planting soybeans and chilies… In a few days…”

Yang Lizheng’s words ended here. He really couldn’t continue.

Zhao Zhan answered without hesitation, “I can’t agree to that.”

Zhao Dalei’s wife is Liu Xiaowan. Zhao Zhan still remembered what she had done. “Every time I think about the soybean incident,” Zhao Zhan said honestly, “It makes me not want to deal with them anymore. If I let them in, the whole workshop might blow up.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t agree to their rude request either.” Yang Lizheng sighed deeply. “But the reason why I came to find you today is that they said that if they don’t plant any soybeans this year, they will report it to the chief.”

County Magistrate Zheng gave the order at the beginning of the busy farming season. The chief put up a notice in the town this morning.

“Zhao Dalei’s family is worried that we’ll make things difficult for him. If he really wants to report it to the chief, you will not be in the right in this matter.”

The notice had been put up.

“How about this,” Zhao Zhan told him his plan. “I’ve asked Dashan to save the soybeans and chili seeds for next season. I was planning to take some people from the workshop to raise the seeds first.

“Since the higher-ups have made a notice for every household to participate as much as possible, then I won’t raise the seedlings.

“You can go back today and inform every household to free up some people to collect the soybeans three days later. The method of growing the soybeans is simple, so we can let them go and get them themselves.

“This way, there won’t be issues saying I’m not willing to help.”

Zhao Zhan’s face was serious when he spoke. “Technically, I’m following County Magistrate Zheng’s orders to plant soybeans with everyone. My promise to County Magistrate Zheng is that I will be responsible for purchasing the production of soybeans… But I’m not responsible for whether they’re good or bad at planting it.”

Yang Lizheng nodded. “How about this, I’ll find the other village chiefs in the nearby villages. When the time comes, I’ll stamp my seal on every village to approve it.”

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