Fang Zichen didn't know much about other types of roads—the only ones he'd dealt with were dirt roads, cement roads, and asphalt roads. The last one was too difficult, but cement roads were easy enough to handle.
For cement roads, the main materials were limestone and clay. Asphalt roads had higher construction costs, and their anti-slip and other properties were better than cement, but funds were tight right now. There weren't any big trucks on the roads anyway, and no one was racing—so cement roads were the first choice.
Originally, he'd only planned to tidy up the dirt roads—widening where needed, patching where needed. But earlier, when he'd gone to Anhe County during the spring rains, the roads had turned into a complete muddy mess. It was the same back in Xiaohe Village—they'd repair the roads over and over, but it never did much good. With all the traffic, potholes kept popping up everywhere. When he'd taken the village head's ox cart into town, his backside had never once stayed flat on the cart bed—he'd been jolted so hard he felt like his butt was going to shatter.
The official road was somewhat smoother, but that was only because the government spent a huge amount of manpower every year patching it up.
Even so, it still wasn't great. When Fang Zichen had first taken office, he'd traveled the official road all the way. During the rain, the carriage wheels got stuck in mud pits so deep that five or six strong men couldn't push it out. Merchants carrying goods had even heavier loads. To avoid that problem, they had to bring plenty of extra men—but more men meant higher costs for food and lodging along the way. The horses got tired, so they had to be fed well. The roads were bad, so travel was slow. When all that was added up, the costs were sky-high.
Later, when Fang Zichen happened to come across those old reports from Luoshan County, he got the idea to build a cement road.
Following Fang Zichen's instructions, Li Yisheng picked a site and was about to start construction in full swing when a letter came from Physician Li's wife, saying that Xie Xiaoyu was pregnant and telling him to come home.
After arriving in Hezhou, Xie Xiaoyu couldn't sit still. He took Yu Ger and a few others and opened a new shop in the city, still selling roast duck and chili sauce.
Starting over from scratch wasn't easy. Where to source the ducks, where to buy the chili peppers—with Zhao Ger away, Xie Xiaoyu had to handle all of this himself. Hezhou wasn't as prosperous as Yuanzhou or the capital, so they couldn't charge as much. That meant smaller profits, but he couldn't just stay idle either.
Here, a catty of raw duck cost six copper coins, and Xie Xiaoyu sold his roast duck for seventeen coins—so there was still some profit to be made. But the people of Hezhou were simply too poor; most bought just a few ounces or half a catty at a time as a treat, and few could afford to buy a whole catty. If he lowered the price further, there'd be no profit at all. In a day, he'd only sell eleven or twelve ducks.
Later, Xie Xiaoyu discovered that pig offal was cheap, and that almost anything could be braised. When braised, the intestines and livers had no unpleasant smell. The cost was low, so he could sell them cheap—and more people bought them.
Business was booming. He worked nonstop for over half a month. Normally, someone that busy would lose a pound or two, but instead he ended up eating even more—two bowls of rice per meal weren't enough, and he was too lazy to go refill his bowl himself. He even took the barrel-sized bowl that Fang Zichen had specially made for Guaizai and started using it himself.
Once everything was on track, he decided to go to the village to see Gungun and Dandan. But he hadn't even made it out of the city gates when he suddenly got a stomach ache. Physician Li's wife thought he needed to use the latrine, so she hurried him back home. He sat in the latrine for ages, but the pain didn't go away. Later, Physician Li took his pulse and announced that he was pregnant—already four months along.
Physician Li's wife didn't even know what to say.
Four months—his belly should have gotten bigger. But when she'd measured him for new clothes earlier, she'd seen his gut—it was layer upon layer of fat. She hadn't noticed a thing herself, and Xie Xiaoyu, having no experience, was even less likely to have realized.
After reading the letter, Li Yisheng couldn't stay a moment longer. Knowing that Fang Zichen had finished dealing with the bandits, he called him over.
Fang Zichen had no choice but to detour to Luoshan County. He was tied up there for two days and quickly realized he was desperately short of manpower. Shi Linjie, Zhang Quan, and their lot were too nitpicky and weren't on the same page as him. Besides, there were some things he didn't want them knowing. It was better to use his own people. After thinking it over, Fang Zichen sent a letter to Yuanzhou, asking Lin Xiaoxia and his family to come over.
Cement factories were highly polluting, so they couldn't be placed too close to villages. And since limestone was the main raw material for cement, the factory site should be near the limestone quarries. Fang Zichen had already planned out the construction. The magistrate of Luoshan County followed him around for two days, attending to his every need. Seeing that the man wasn't like that old geezer from Shunan, Fang Zichen placed him in charge of the remaining work, on the condition that Li Yisheng would take over once he arrived.
He needed to go home.
If he stayed away any longer, his two sons probably wouldn't even recognize him.
Fang Zichen took Guaizai and rode back to Anping County at top speed.
Gungun and Dandan had already sprouted teeth and were drooling constantly. Xiao Feng had to change their bibs twice a day. The two little ones were also incredibly active—when no one was playing with them, they'd lie there kicking each other and throwing little punches, their skin so tough they never seemed to feel a thing.
Zhao Ger often carried them outside the village to oversee the work, with Xiao Feng following along. They'd bring a bamboo mat, spread it on the ground, and sit the two little ones on it, watching the workers labor for hours on end.
Today, Zhao Ger had brought them as usual. Gungun and Dandan were staring intently at the workers when a voice rang out from up ahead.
"Gundan! My boys!"
"Little brothers! Little brothers!"
Gungun and Dandan perked up at once, squealing with delight. They whipped their heads around, spotted Fang Zichen running toward them from the distance, squealed even more excitedly, and happily scrambled over to him—their little arms and legs pumping so fast they were almost a blur.
Xiao Feng couldn't hold them back. Like two starving puppies spotting a steamed bun, the children reached out their tiny hands toward Fang Zichen with all their might.
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