"Have any of you brothers and sisters ever been to the capital?" Guaizai asked dreamily, sitting in the middle of the group.
"No."
"The capital is wonderful—it's so beautiful and bustling. The clothes people wear there are gorgeous too. When we get back to Hezhou, I'll have my godfather and Brother Yu make ice cream for you to try—it's sweet and so delicious!"
These people had never once set foot outside this barren land of Hezhou in their entire lives. What kind of place was the capital, really?
And what did this "ice cream that's so good it kills you" taste like?
Guaizai went on—after all, he had made it in the capital and knew best just how prosperous it was.
Shops lined up in rows, carriages and horses flowed like water, broad avenues paved with green bricks…
As they listened, a hint of longing crept onto their faces.
And that one hint was enough.
Zhao Ger had received word that Fang Zichen was returning and came to the city gate every day to look out for him. The Anping County magistrate came along too.
But after waiting two days without seeing anyone, Zhao Ger was a little disappointed. Still, there were important matters to attend to, so he didn't wait any longer. He took Xiao Feng, Gungun, and Dandan back to Pingxiang Village first.
Pingxiang Village had been unusually lively lately.
Why?
The prefect's fulang had brought people to build a factory just outside their village.
Pingxiang Village sat by the river, and outside the village was a stretch of flat open land—about thirty or forty mu. Now the government had marked it all out and fenced it in.
Zhao Ger had recruited over a hundred workers from Pingxiang Village and the surrounding villages, and they were busy building the factory with great fervor.
The villagers, whenever idle, would come by to watch. Seeing Zhao Ger directing a group of men at work, some looked on with envy.
"Fang Fulang is truly impressive."
"Impressive how?"
"I don't know—I just think he's impressive."
The village women and fulangs weren't capable of work like this. Zhao Ger was directing over a hundred men. Though no one yet knew what kind of factory he was building, The area he had marked off stretched so far that one could not see where it ended, and the foundation was laid wide too—anyone could tell this factory was going to be huge, and it would cost a great deal of silver. If it were them in charge of something this important, how would they dare take it on?
What if something went wrong?
This wasn't some small-time affair.
"What's so impressive about it?" An old woman sneaked a glance toward Zhao Ger and said with disdain, "A ger—he should stay at home serving his in-laws and his husband, not spending all day mixing with a bunch of men, showing his face in public like that. That's not proper conduct for a ger. If he were in my family, I'd have had my son divorce him long ago."
"Pfft, in your family? Look at Lord Fang's fulang—what a fine figure he cuts. And what do your two sons look like? Pigs, the both of them. And you talk about having him in your family? If Lord Fang's fulang wanted your sons to clean his cesspit, they'd probably be too ugly for the job!"
Old Madam Wu's neck bulged with rage: "You—what do you mean by that, Li Dahua? You dare insult my sons? I'll fight you!"
Li Dahua rolled up her sleeves: "Come on then! Who's afraid of you?"
Li Dahua had a daughter. Because the family was poor, she hadn't eaten well during pregnancy, and her former mother-in-law had favored sons over daughters. The girl grew up often going hungry—eating one meal now, another much later—and by the age of fifteen, she was thin and small. Old Madam Wu had gossiped that the girl had small breasts and small hips, probably a hen that wouldn't lay eggs. When word got back to Li Dahua, the two families had a huge falling-out, and even over a year later, they still went at each other the moment they met.
Seeing they were about to come to blows, the bystanders quickly pulled them apart.
But no sooner had Old Madam Wu steadied herself than someone kicked her square in the lower back from behind.
"Ow! Which good-for-nothing did that?!"
Everyone turned and saw that it was the eldest young master of the prefect's family. This young master didn't usually talk much and always wore a stern face, but rumour had it he listened closely to Lord Fang's fulang, that the two were very close and he was fiercely protective of him.
Old Madam Wu immediately dared not make another peep.
There were always some narrow-minded people in the village.
Back in Ronghe Village, everyone was so poor they had no energy for idle gossip. Anping County was a bit better—folks weren't going hungry, so they had the strength to spread rumours.
Old Madam Wu's back ached badly; she'd fallen and couldn't even get up. Anyone else and she'd have cursed them right back, but facing Xiao Feng, she didn't dare say a word.
The commotion drew Zhao Ger over: "What's going on?"
Several women and fulangs broke out in cold sweat. Xiao Feng pointed at Old Madam Wu: "She was badmouthing Uncle Zhao."
"No, no I wasn't—I, I'd never dare—"
Zhao Ger looked down at her with cold eyes. He recognised her—he'd run into her a few times in the village before. She'd always acted respectful on the surface, but her eyes were full of contempt.
That was just how things were these days. Only when the head of a family had no ability would the women have to go out and show their faces in public.
After a moment, Zhao Ger asked coldly which family she was from.
Old Madam Wu didn't dare answer. Zhao Ger looked at the other women nearby, and they told him.
Zhao Ger opened the little notebook he carried and glanced at it: "The Wu family? Your two sons are working for me right now. Since you look down on me, I wouldn't dare employ your sons anymore."
Old Madam Wu panicked: "Fulang, this old woman was wrong! Please don't take it to heart! And besides, the hiring terms were clear—as long as they worked hard, they could stay. It was just my loose tongue—it had nothing to do with my two sons!"
Zhao Ger's voice dropped low: "How is it unrelated? You badmouth me while your sons earn money here and take it home to support you. Then you're well-fed and have more energy to go around spreading gossip about me, don't you?"
"Fang Fulang, this old woman wouldn't dare—"
Old Madam Wu's two sons were digging the foundation when an imperial guard suddenly called them out. The two exchanged glances and quickly climbed out of the trench.
"Sir, is something the matter?"
The imperial guard handed over a string of copper coins: "This is your wages for the past few days."
The brothers were pleased to see the money at first—then it hit them.
This wasn't right. Why were they suddenly getting paid early?
When they asked, the imperial guard replied coldly: "Your old mother's quite something, isn't she? She dares to gossip about Lord Fang's fulang. Since she's so capable, what are you two even doing out here working?"
The outsiders did not know, but the imperial guards were well aware—the prefect doted on his fulang fiercely. If the fulang said go west, the prefect would not dare go east. The prefect and the young master had been beaten so often by him that they had sometimes wanted to run off and live as monkeys in the mountains. This was a ger who could stand on the prefect's head. That old woman simply did not know any better, daring to gossip about the prefect's fulang.
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