Zhou Man picked up the tea cup and took a sip of water before looking up at Aunt Qi.
Aunt Qi also raised her head to look at Zhou Man. Their eyes met. Zhou Man raised the corner of his mouth and looked at her quietly with a warm expression. However, Aunt Qi swallowed nervously and her knees went weak.
The man slipped from his chair and fell to his knees.
Zhou Man's expression didn't change much, and he took another sip of tea before putting down the cup.
In the quiet room, the sound of the tea cup being placed on the table was particularly loud, and Aunt Qi couldn't help but tremble.
Bai Shan couldn't help but wonder, "You don't seem to have much courage, so how can you have the courage to do such a thing?"
Before this, Bai Shan had never met Aunt Qi, but she had only heard Zhou Man mention it, saying that she was quite calm and composed when he stopped the car to ask her to take over the little lady, but she didn't act very well.
The eyes are full of loopholes.
Not to mention that there is Mingda beside her who grew up in a deep palace. Her thoughts are transparent to Mingda.
Ming Da and Zhou Man don't care about others playing tricks in front of them. As long as there is no malice, they are willing to accept their tricks for a better life. If they can help, they will help. If they can't, they will just refuse.
But as soon as Aunt Qi appeared, they felt a sense of disobedience that forced them to do so, so people stared at her.
Aunt Qi shivered.
Bai Shan's face straightened and he said in a deep voice, "Go ahead."
Aunt Qi kowtowed, with tears streaming down her face, "Please forgive me, slave. I was forced to do this."
Bai Shandao: "Let's start from the beginning. This county is all ears."
Zhou Man and Ming Da both looked ready to listen.
Aunt Qi paused for a long time before saying: "I am from Qizhou..."
They knew this. After Zhou Man and Mingda suspected her bad intentions, Bai Shan sent people to Qizhou to check, which was not far from Qingzhou anyway.
But the fact found is that the mother and daughter are indeed from Qizhou, and the information she gave is not false.
Aunt Qi wiped her tears and said: "My man died early and left us orphans and widowed. She is not a son. Her husband's family and the clan always dislike us and want me to remarry."
"I didn't want to, so they called my mother-in-law's family to kidnap me and take me back," Aunt Qi said: "My husband and I only have one daughter, how could I be willing to leave her alone and remarry? There happened to be a passerby when the quarrel was at its worst.
The merchants who helped me rescued me and gave me some money to bring my daughter to Beihai County."
She paused and lowered her voice, "He asked the slave to come to Beihai County to inquire about some information. In the future, all he has to do is hand the information to him. If he does it for three years, he will give us mother and daughter a hundred taels."
Aunt Qi said: "With one hundred taels, we can build a small courtyard in a village. The remaining money can be used to find a son-in-law for my daughter. It will be enough for us two to live a lifetime."
Bai Shan asked, "What information does he want to find out?"
"Just tell me that I must enter the weaving workshop, and then I will take over the job of delivering clothes to the salt farm. We will talk about the rest later." Aunt Qi said hurriedly: "But I can't enter the weaving workshop, and I have no news for him.
.”
"How many times have merchants contacted you?"
"Three times, but only once in person." Aunt Qi said quickly: "I didn't say anything. I have been working in the village. I don't know anything about the weaving mill or the salt field. They didn't ask me anything at first.
…”
The other party didn't seem to expect Aunt Qi to be of much use. After she settled down in Beihai, someone contacted her quietly. They heard that she couldn't enter the weaving mill and couldn't contact the salt field, so she could only stay on Zhuangzi.
What, just let her continue working on Zhuangzi so that no one will become suspicious.
The second contact was made by her on her own initiative, because she was assigned to Shunping Village at that time, and she was actually worried and no longer wanted to continue doing this.
Aunt Qi wiped her tears and said: "You are so kind to us mother and daughter. You not only give us a place to live, but also make us money. I already want to stay here from the bottom of my heart, so I went to find that person to say no."
Done."
"But he threatened me that if I didn't obey, he would not only report me to the adults, but also let us die without anyone noticing. I, I was really scared, so I didn't dare to tell anyone." Aunt Qi said.
: "But after we went to Shunping Village, no one came to see me again, and I, I stopped coming to the county seat..."
At that time, Aunt Qi thought it would be good to be transferred to Shunping Village. As long as she never came to the county seat and the person from the county seat never came to see her, then this incident would be treated as if it never happened.
Bai Shan and Zhou Man were both shocked that there were such innocent people in this world.
Bai Shan finally knew why she wanted to get married to Zhu Liulang, and she felt that it was okay.
Bai Shan asked: "Last time, what did the merchant come to you in person and said? It must be said in detail. No additions or subtractions are allowed."
Aunt Qi told Bai Shan verbatim what the merchant said at that time, and she could even remember his expression clearly.
Bai Shan and Zhou Man raised their eyebrows, and even Ming Da looked up at Aunt Qi in surprise.
No wonder the merchant chose Aunt Qi to do the fine work. This is indeed a rare skill.
The merchant came to ask Aunt Qi not about the salt field, but about all the things she knew about Beihai County, including some rumors about Bai Shanzhouman, the situation of Guantian Zhuangzi, etc. He asked Aunt Qi everything she knew.
However, Aunt Qi said: "But I didn't dare to tell him everything. I just said that I have been working in the village and can't go out, so I don't know much. I only told some things about farming in the village, and nothing else."
Didn't say anything."
Bai Shan asked: "I heard that he stayed in Zhuangzi for one more day. What did he do on that day?"
"I didn't do much, just wandering around in the fields, and looking for people to inquire about the hired workers here," Aunt Qi said, "I think he doesn't believe me anymore, so I asked people in Zhuangzi for information.
.”
Bai Shan frowned, "Where is he wandering around?"
Aunt Qi said: "It's just a place where rice is grown, and wheat is wandering around. Oh, wheat was being harvested at that time, so he came to see us harvesting wheat."
This year, all the official fields in Beihai County are using new wheat seeds, and many villages are also planting some new wheat seeds, and the harvests are good.
But the most important thing is that this year, new rice seeds have been planted in official fields in Beihai County. Because the number of seeds is limited, not all of them have been planted, but it is also guaranteed that every village has at least ten acres of land planted with new rice seeds.
Bai Shan's fields are all covered with new rice seeds.
Bai Shan looked at Aunt Qi with a deep look and asked, "How is the rice in the fields this year?"
Aunt Qi was stunned for a moment and didn't understand why she mentioned this suddenly, but she still said: "Although there was some drought some time ago, it's not bad. I see the earing is going well."
Bai Shan raised his eyebrows, looked at each other and asked Zhou Man, "Who is responsible for planting new rice seeds in Zhuangzi?"
"The steward is personally responsible."
Bai Shan nodded with satisfaction and felt slightly relieved.