Chapter 149 (1/2)

Chapter 149: 149

At the small market at the docks, there was only one simple shop selling medicinal herbs . There were very few kinds of herbs in the shop, and the quality of the herbs were not very good . Of course, the price was also quite cheap . Fortunately, huangdan powder wasn’t a rare medicinal herb . Yu Xiaocao bought twenty copper coins worth of huangdan powder at the pharmacy that seemed like it would be blown down by a gust of wind . After that, she also bought some soda ash at a nearby general store .

After thinking about it, Yu Xiaocao asked Fang Zizhen, who had been following her and asking all sorts of questions, “Uncle Fang, do you have any black tea? It doesn’t have to be really good quality; average quality will do!”

Fang Zizhen creased his brows and thought about it . Then he shook his head and replied, “I’m a rough man, so I don’t know anything about tea . Isn’t drinking wine more pleasurable than drinking tea?”

Yu Xiaocao hung her head in slight disappointment . She had thought that she could save some money since the price of tea wasn’t low after all!

Seeing her look like a frozen eggplant that had withered, Fang Zizhen felt slightly bad and said, “I’ll help ask Little Zhang for you later . That fellow seems like someone who likes to pose as a culture lover . If he doesn’t have it, he will still be able to find it for you . Xiaocao, do you like to drink black tea? Next time, if the emperor rewards me with tea, I definitely won’t reject it!”

Yu Xiaocao was amused by him . She chuckled and said, “The black tea isn’t for me to drink . I need to use it to make century eggs . With black tea, the century eggs will taste even better!”

“It’s used to make century eggs? Okay, okay! Uncle will definitely get it for you!! Ah-li, go ask Little Zhang if he can get some black tea? The sooner, the better!!” Fang Zizhen seemed even more anxious than Xiaocao . After giving his order, he asked Xiaocao, “How long does it take to make century eggs? Will I be able to eat it tonight?”

Yu Xiaocao looked at him with a radiant smile, slowly shook her head, and said, “Uncle Fang, you should forget about eating century eggs tonight . It takes at least twenty days or so to complete the entire process of making century eggs . If the weather is cold, I’m afraid that it might take even longer!”

Fang Zizhen looked disappointed and sighed softly, “It takes more than twenty days ah! It’s alright . I, your uncle, am in charge of supervising the progress of the harbor construction, so I probably won’t leave within the next two or three years! There are plenty of opportunities in the future! Did you get all the ingredients? Go, let’s go back to Dongshan Village!”

“Uncle Fang, aren’t you here to supervise the progress of the construction? What time is it right now? Aren’t you leaving too early?” Yu Xiaocao was in a good mood after buying all the ingredients, and joked with Fang Zizhen .

Fang Zizhen chortled and said, “I’m not the supervisor, who needs to sit at the docks every day . Moreover, isn’t there Li Li and Wu Yun? The disciples will handle all the work! Those two brats aren’t my disciples, but I watched them grow up . They should be able to handle doing some trivial matters for me!”

With Fang Zizhen riding on a tall and big horse and Yu Xiaocao driving the little donkey cart, they traveled slowly and leisurely on the road back to the village . Fang Zizhen was a complete chatterbox, who had one question after another, and thus they weren’t lonely on the way back .

When they returned to Dongshan Village, Fang Zizhen didn’t rush back to his master’s house, but instead, followed Xiaocao and her sister back to the Yu Family’s old residence first .

Under the old elm tree, as if she was afraid that others would hear her, Madam Xiong moved closer and whispered into Madam Li’s ears, “Guihua, your second brother-in-law is seriously amazing! First, he fawned over the third young master of the Zhou Family and became the sole vegetables supplier for Zhenxiu Restaurant . This time he’s currying favor with some government official! Based on the color and pattern of his official’s gown, he’s probably not some low-ranking official . I wonder who has the higher rank between him and the county magistrate?!”

The county magistrate was the highest-ranking official that Madam Xiong had seen! If the short-sighted her found out that Fang Zizhen’s t.i.tle of Zhaoyong General was several levels higher than the county magistrate’s rank, then she probably wouldn’t even dare to speak!

Li Guihua smirked and spat a thick phlegm on the ground and said, “I didn’t notice in the past, but this second brother-in-law is really a money-grubber . What’s that saying again? Separate… separate…something…pay…something…”

“Isn’t it ‘curry favor with those in power’?” Madam Xiong inwardly ridiculed Li Guihua for being uncultured .

“Yes! That’s the phrase!! What abilities does that second brother-in-law of mine have? He’s not even worthy of holding other people’s shoes! How did he even manage to get in their favor?! Just watch! Do you think that it’s really that easy cling onto an official? He will probably get annoyed one day and chop all their heads off!” Madam Li said sourly .

Madam Xiong suddenly thought of something and said, “Guihua, didn’t you say that your family’s Heizi is filial and wanted to go to the docks to earn some money for you to spend . Didn’t Xiaocao just return from the docks . Why don’t you go ask about it?”

“Ask them? What will they know?? Have you not seen my son’s figure before? He’s full of strength, so there’s no way he can’t find a job . I heard that the dockworkers earn quite a lot now . They can earn dozens of copper coins every day with a problem!” Madam Li beamed with joy and had a smug expression on her face .

Madam Xiong’s mouth twitched and thought, ‘Your son’s figure? With a body of fat, he pants like a cow after walking a few steps . What would he be able to do?’

While the two spoke ill of others in a seemingly compatible manner, Xiaocao and the others had already arrived home . Yu Hai was stunned by the official’s robe on Fang Zizhen and didn’t recognize him for a moment . He murmured in his heart, ‘Why did they bring an official here?’

Fang Zizhen greeted him first, “Younger Brother Yu, what’s wrong? You don’t recognize this older brother just after a night? It’s me, Bufan’s older martial brother!”