Some of the bolder gers and women would "accidentally" run into Fang Zichen on the road, hoping that a little sparrow might fly up to the branch and become a phoenix.
[麻雀变凤凰 (má què biàn fèng huáng): lit. Sparrow turns into phoenix; fig. used when someone from a humble background marries into wealth, gains sudden success, or transforms their life dramatically.]
But Fang Zichen—who did they think he was?
Back in the day, even He Huihui couldn't manage to turn a corner and run into love with him. These few? Not a chance.
One ger threw a flirtatious glance his way. Fang Zichen walked right over and said, "Little brother, are your eyes cramping? Are you okay? Should I get someone to help you?"
Not a single one succeeded.
A few even got chased away by Guaizai's sharp tongue.
At first, the families of these gers and women had supported their efforts. If they'd succeeded, they'd have become the prefect's concubines—what status that would be! And with those factories, who wouldn't be envious? If they could latch onto the prefect, their families would be a cut above the rest in the village, and maybe their sons could even land a manager's spot at one of the factories.
These things couldn't be kept under wraps, and word naturally got out.
And everyone laughed at them.
"Think about it—where did the prefect come from? The capital! And what kind of place is that? They say everyone there is wealthy, the cream of the crop. The young ladies and gers there are cultured and refined, well-versed in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. The prefect came from a place like that and still only has his fulang—aren't you all clear on that by now?"
"And you still think you can weasel your way in? Do you really think you're more charming than the fine young ladies and gers of the capital?"
"Not that the village's gers and women are necessarily inferior. But the prefect has seen the big world, been to great places. And if you look at how he treats his fulang, you should already know—don't bother with those little tricks. The prefect is sharp. And if you upset his fulang, isn't your eldest son still working in the paper mill?"
Heeding this advice, everyone naturally stopped trying to "accidentally" run into Fang Zichen.
The daughter also came to her senses and agreed to the matchmaker's proposal. But just when the girl's family said yes, the matchmaker went to the Niu family, and Niu Family's eldest son said he wasn't in a hurry—he wanted to wait.
Wait for what?
The girl was pretty and hardworking—what more could he want? So what kind of person did he like?
Niu Family's eldest son didn't answer.
His father grew anxious. "If you won't say, then I'll decide for you and agree to it."
Niu Family's eldest son refused.
"Then what kind of person do you even like? This one's no good, that one's no good."
Niu Family's eldest son hemmed and hawed. "I... I... I like someone like Lord Fang."
Everyone except Niu Family's second son and his mother was stunned.
Well.
This was a real mess.
The girl's side liked Lord Fang, and they'd finally been talked out of it, seen the light, and agreed to the match. And now the Niu family's side liked Lord Fang too.
Old Man Niu slapped his thigh, wanting to cry. He'd seen the prefect—that man was a heartbreaker for men and women alike. But... where was he supposed to find a young woman or ger who looked like him?
If his son had said he liked a sow, he wouldn't feel half as hopeless.
The villagers couldn't help but "blame" Fang Zichen, hoping he'd stop parading around so much. He was a government official—so why wasn't he holed up in Hezhou City handling official business? Why did he have to be out parading around the village day after day?
In all the years past, no official had ever lived in the village!
Fang Zichen was oblivious to all this. He was busy with official duties, busy playing with the kids, wishing he could learn Naruto's Shadow Clone Jutsu so he could be in three places at once. He had no time for gossip.
But Uncle Tang knew all about it.
Not that it came as any surprise to him. He had once served Meng Ruqing, who had also been strikingly handsome from childhood all the way to adulthood. Later, the line of suitors stretched all the way from the Meng family gate to the city wall—exaggeration at all.
If it hadn't been for the eldest young master of the Qin family being particularly persistent—getting his leg caught in a rat trap but still hobbling over on crutches to scale the wall and deliver love letters, which set Meng Ruqing's heart aflutter—the Meng family threshold might have been replaced seventy or eighty times over!
Now, hearing a few women talk about the Niu family's business, Uncle Tang chuckled along. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a few unfamiliar men. "Eh, who are they? From our village?"
The women nearby looked and said no.
They called out, "Who are you?"
The men said they were from Nanshan Village and had come to see the prefect.
They sounded hesitant, since they had no real status and weren't sure if the prefect would see them.
Uncle Tang led them back. Fang Zichen wasn't home, so Zhao Ger received them in the courtyard and asked what they wanted.
They wanted to do business with the chemical fertilizer.
"We'd like to get some goods from the fertilizer factory and sell them in the neighboring county. Would that be possible?" the man asked carefully.
They'd been the first to go to the fertilizer factory and ask, but the manager there didn't have the authority to decide and told them to come see the prefect directly.
Zhao Ger had heard a bit about Nanshan Village—every household there had very little land, and since the soil couldn't feed them, they had to find other ways to earn money.
Selling chemical fertilizer on the side—that could work.
The chemical fertilizer factory was built over in Anping County, so villagers in the surrounding villages could buy it easily enough. But for people in other counties, it was a real problem. If someone hauled it over there, even if a bag cost ten or twenty copper coins more, there'd definitely be buyers.
Otherwise, were they supposed to make the trip all the way to Anping County themselves? And even if they did, one person could only carry one bag at a time.
But a family with over a dozen mu of land would need four or five bags—what were they supposed to do? They didn't have an ox cart either. If a family had plenty of sons, they could tough it out and make the run, but most villagers didn't dare travel far.
These few men had sharp minds and had already thought about this problem.
It was a small matter—no need to bother Fang Zichen about it. Zhao Ger gave the go-ahead without hesitation and sent word around: from now on, anyone could just buy directly from the factory.
With that settled, the men left grinning from ear to ear.
Back in the village, every household scraped together their money and bought three oxen.
---
By the end of the third lunar month, the fields had all been plowed and it was time to start planting. Only after all that work did everyone suddenly remember—they hadn't bought fertilizer yet.
What were they going to do?
Anping County was so far from home—just walking there took two days, and coming back while carrying supplies would take three. On top of that, they didn't even know the way, since they'd never been. People in the village had only ever been to the town and the neighboring villages; they rarely went anywhere farther. And they'd be exhausted coming back, which would delay the farm work. There were no ox carts in the village or town. If there had been, everyone could have pooled their money and rented one to haul the fertilizer back. But now what?
They were worried sick.
Earlier, everyone had been so overjoyed that this problem never even crossed their minds. Now they were so worried that they couldn't even stomach their dinners.
The next morning, they planned to ask the neighbors when they were going, so they could travel together. But as soon as they stepped out of their yards, there was a commotion at the village entrance. Listening in, it turned out someone was selling fertilizer.
What a coincidence!
They'd just been fretting over this!
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