Gu'an County is poor, and Gu'an County is also very small.
Many businessmen come and go, come and go, and finally choose to leave.
It has become a problem for people to even have enough food in their stomachs, so they have no spare money to spend on other things.
There was only one tavern on the narrow street, and it simply set up a few tables and started business.
Most of the other shops sell daily necessities such as rice, flour and oil. Occasionally there are one or two shops selling farm tools, which are crowded with people buying some essential items for spring sowing.
As for these shops related to people's livelihood, there is only one owner behind them, and that is Shopkeeper Li as mentioned by Wei Liang, the magistrate of Gu'an County.
No one knows when Shopkeeper Li came. Anyway, Shopkeeper Li was already in Gu'an when Wei Liang took office as the county magistrate.
The shops on the street have changed owners countless times, but Shopkeeper Li's shop has never closed.
When they meet people who come to beg, the children in the shops will give alms.
Therefore, in the minds of Gu'an people, Shopkeeper Li is a genuine good man.
The streets after the rain were muddy.
Wei Liang walked up to the door of the largest rice store in Gu'an County.
In the past, Wei Liang also borrowed seeds from Shopkeeper Li here many times.
Looking at the clean bluestone floor at the entrance of the rice store, Wei Liang rubbed the mud on his shoes vigorously on a large locust tree not far from the entrance of the rice store.
He looked down at his clothes, then reached out and patted the wrinkled areas of his sleeves a few times, then took out the cloth package containing West Lake Longjing tea from his arms, straightened his chest, and walked towards the rice store.
There were not many customers in the shop on weekdays, and today the road was muddy, and there was not even a single person.
But even so, the child was still cleaning the floor.
The shopkeeper said that the rice store sells food. Other things are not important. Cleanliness and hygiene must be done.
As soon as I reached the door, a pair of big muddy feet walked in.
The child was dissatisfied and wanted to explode. When he looked up, his face was filled with smiles.
"Mr. Wei, the road on the street is muddy today, but it's not easy to walk. How did you get here?" As he said that, the waiter hurriedly put down the tools in his hands and asked with his body hunched over.
"I'm here today because I have something to do with shopkeeper Li." Wei Liang replied, but he didn't see shopkeeper Li in front of the counter. He looked around and found that except for the waiter, there was no one else in the shop.
"Waiter, there are usually a lot of people in your shop, why are you the only one here today?" Wei Liang asked again.
"My lord, I don't know. I've been the only one working in the shop these days. Shopkeeper Li doesn't know what's going on, so he hasn't come to the shop for several days. If your lord has something to do with him, you might as well go to his house to look for him."
The waiter bowed and answered with a smile.
It was now the spring sowing season, and Mr. Wei came to the shop regardless of the mud, most likely to borrow grain seeds.
Although he said that every time he borrowed seeds without repaying them, shopkeeper Li would lend them to him without hesitation. He also knew that there was no time for spring sowing and there was no room for delay. However, there was nothing I could do as a waiter about this kind of thing.
"Shopkeeper Li hasn't come these past few days? It seems there is something going on at home. Well, I'll go to his house to find him." As he said that, Wei Liang turned around and walked out of the door.
Although the grain seeds borrowed before were distributed to the common people, Shopkeeper Li owed this favor to himself.
Shopkeeper Li hasn't come to the shop for a few days, so there must be something going on at home. He has no other abilities, but after all, he is the magistrate of Gu'an County, and he is also a member of the imperial court. If you can make it easier for him, it can be regarded as a generous loan to him. kind of repayment.
Wei Liang knew Shopkeeper Li's home. It was a large courtyard under the city wall.
However, shopkeeper Li was a businessman, so Wei Liang only knew about that kind of luxurious residence and had never been to it.
First, facing such a wealthy businessman, Wei Liang had an inferiority complex in his heart that he was unwilling to express.
Another thing is that since you are an official and the other person is a businessman, walking too close to each other can easily lead to gossip.
From the shop to Shopkeeper Li's large yard, you need to cross several streets.
Wei Liang almost fell down several times on the slippery muddy road. He was careful all the way, but before he was halfway through the journey, he was already out of breath.
"Shopkeeper Li, he's not short of money, so why did he move the yard so far away?" Wei Liang complained involuntarily.
Wei Liang broke off a branch from a tree on the street and scraped the mud off his shoes vigorously.
The road was already slippery and my feet were covered in mud, making it even harder to maintain balance.
After a long time of hard work, he finally scraped almost all the mud off his shoes. Looking at his official palace that had been splashed with mud and water, Wei Liang smiled bitterly and continued to walk forward.
Panting heavily, I finally saw the huge courtyard under the city wall.
This courtyard is big, it's really big, it's several times bigger than my county government office anyway.
Not to mention the big house with gray bricks and gray tiles inside, the half-person-high wall alone is much more imposing than the county government itself.
What is incompatible with this wall is the gate of the courtyard.
No gatehouse was built, only a huge iron gate was installed on the courtyard wall.
At this time, the door was closed tightly, and two figures stood on both sides of the door, motionless.
Putting his right hand on his forehead, Wei Liang looked towards the door.
The two people at the door knew each other personally. They were two waiters from Shopkeeper Li's rice shop.
At this time, he had taken off his waiter's clothes and put on common people's clothes. Although he stood upright at the gate, his eyes were looking back and forth around him.
Seeing Wei Liang walking slowly in the distance, the two "boys" looked at each other, and one of them hurriedly came up to meet him.
"Master Wei, why are you here?" As he spoke, the waiter reached out to support Wei Liang, who was walking awkwardly.
"I went to see shopkeeper Li in the rice shop. The waiter said that shopkeeper Li hadn't been to the shop for several days. I had no choice but to run here." Wei Liang stopped and panted.
"Shopkeeper Li has something to do at home, so he hasn't been to the store these days. You see, it's so difficult to walk on this road. I'll take you to the store. Shopkeeper Li will go to the store to find you later." He said, "Waiter" He had to help Wei Liang leave.
"This can't be done." Wei Liang struggled for a moment, "Shopkeeper Li has helped the people of Gu'an so many times, how can I pretend not to know about anything at home and ignore it? It's all at the door of my house, no matter what, I have to go in and take a look. Just look."
Hearing this, the "boy" who was supporting Wei Liang frowned and winked at the "boy" at the gate.
"Master Wei, wait a moment, I will go in and ask shopkeeper Li to come out and go to the store with you." The "waiter" at the door shouted to Wei Liang, turned around and opened the door and walked in.
Wei Liang was slightly startled. What happened to Shopkeeper Li's house? Why did he not dare to let himself in when he reached the door?
No matter what, as long as we can borrow grain seeds and solve Cao Village's farming problem.
When he thought of the purpose of his visit, Wei Liang felt anxious and couldn't help but touch the tea package in his hand again.
After drinking tea, the door was slowly pushed open, and Shopkeeper Li, dressed in a sky-blue robe, walked out.
"Master Wei, what brought you here?" With a bright smile on his face, Shopkeeper Li walked over without caring about the mud under his feet.
"I'm looking for you because I have a little matter, and I want to trouble Shopkeeper Li." Thinking of borrowing seeds, Wei Liang said with a little lack of confidence.
"Mr. Wei said it's a trivial matter, so why bother? It's already at the door. Come on, follow me in for a sip of hot tea." Shopkeeper Li greeted warmly.
"No, no," Wei Liang hurriedly refused, "Let's go to the store to discuss it."
The two waiters had no intention of letting me in. It seemed that shopkeeper Li's home was inconvenient to go to. I had a request from him, so how could I really go in without knowing what was good and bad?
"It's already at the door of my house. If Mr. Wei doesn't go in and sit down, it will make me look stingy. Or is it that Mr. Wei is afraid that if you enter the house of a businessman like me, people will gossip behind your back and affect your purity for the rest of your life?" Shopkeeper Li was very worried.
He laughed heartily.
"To be honest, I want to borrow some more grain seeds from Shopkeeper Li. This spring rain is a good time for spring sowing, so we can't delay it." Wei Liang found an excuse to evade.
"I'm not worried at this moment. If Mr. Wei doesn't come, it doesn't matter. We have already arrived at the door of our house. If I don't go in and sit for a while, I will feel uneasy."
