Walking the Path of a Workaholic in Cliché Novels (QT) Chapter 81

After the county magistrate left, An Yinong went to the backyard, took some hot water from the stove to wash himself, then returned to his room. A map of Dingsha County and a letter from Emperor Qi was on the desk.

After the bandits were wiped out, An Yinong wrote a letter of apology, which not only reported the results of his actions, but also contained a long paragraph of self-condemnation. However, Empress Qi saw through his thoughts and replied in a very colloquial letter, asking him to stop talking about these useless things and do his job well.

“I’ve always done my job well.” There was no one in the room, so An Yinong leisurely leaned on Gu Zhengzhong. He didn’t even need to look back, he only smelled his fragrance and knew he was coming, so he could fall back with his eyes closed.

Such trust always made Gu Zhengzhong unable to refuse. He had been silently indulging him, hoping that An Yinong would be more comfortable and willful in front of him, that he would get used to his presence and could never leave him.

“I brought you a present.”

An Yinong had his eyes closed, but when he heard this, he opened them a little and saw a scarlet mass of something warm. He opened his eyes completely and found that it was a scarlet cloak, which seemed to be carefully woven with fine wool similar to cashmere, and felt soft and warm.

This warmth was not psychological, but a true heat that was constantly radiating.

“What is this?” An Yinong was very curious. Could this natural self-heating material be mass-produced?

As if he could hear what he was thinking, Gu Zhengzhong helplessly unfolded the cloak and wrapped him up. “This is firebird down. They only pluck a little to feed their young. How can there be so much that each person can get one?”

An Yinong reached out and grabbed a sleeve, grinning, “Sir, are you telling me in a roundabout way how good you are to me?”

Gu Zhengzhong was about to explain when his neck was clasped in an arm, pulled down, and kissed. The soft human body temperature warmed him through his clothes, and his beloved whispered sweet nothings in his ear: “Thank you, I really like you more and more every day.”

Gu Zhengzhong’s eyes were covered with a faint red glow, but the treasure on his heartstrings was still recklessly saying sweet words to tease him. But thinking about the consequences of his impulse, he still suppressed this commotion.

“Are you tired today?” Gu Zhengzhong looked down at An Yinong, who was wrapped in a red cloak and looked even more handsome. He reached out to untie his hairband, letting his long hair fall down.

Gu Zhengzhong’s cold fingers passed through his hair and touched his scalp. An Yinong shuddered and said in a trembling voice: “Don’t, don’t touch it.”

Gu Zhengzhong paused and started to comb his hair: “Go to sleep.”

An Yinong felt dizzy as his hair was being combed. Suddenly, his body felt lighter, and he was picked up and gently placed on the bed covered with a thick quilt. Then his outer clothes, shoes and socks were taken off.

He sank into the soft bed, stretched out a hand and pulled Gu Zhengzhong, who was about to leave, over to the bed, and kindly gave him half of the quilt, closing his eyes: “Go to sleep.”

Thousands of prisoners worked hard and finally cleared the wasteland before the snow fell. Looking at the large piece of new farmland, An Yinong put his hands in his pockets and smiled like a cat holding a fat fish. “Go back and divide the land.”

He waved his hand, and the poor people who had been waiting for half a day howled with joy. The yamen runners went to each village beating gongs and drums to announce that the reclaimed wasteland was now available for distribution.

These wastelands were not free, but sold to families with no land or very little land (less than five mu) at half the market price of inferior land, and the cost was to be paid off in three years. At the same time, they were also given newly made farm tools and high-quality seeds, and that cost was also to be paid off in three years.

In the past, the people of Dingsha County would still have doubts, wondering if this was a scam, but they had bought the land from the government at a very low price before, so when they heard that the land would be sold at half the price this time, the people of Dingsha County went crazy.

The newly reclaimed land was a bit barren, but this was only half of the market price. Wasn’t it like grabbing something at a steal? The county government gate was surrounded by crowds of people. They were afraid that they would not be able to get a ticket and they wanted to queue up outside the gate overnight.

Unfortunately, each of them could only grab three acres of land at most (only adult men and women were eligible), and they had to be from families that were truly in financial difficulty and could barely survive. Some people wanted to fish in troubled waters, but these people were caught after just making a round in front of the county magistrate.

“It’s as if our magistrate has eyes behind his back. No one can hide anything from him.” Those who had small plans felt sympathetic – those who were caught were forced to repair the road for three days as punishment.

By the time the snow covered the earth and the people stayed at home, the land had been divided up. Because of the magistrate’s secret manipulation, the land went to those who needed it most. In the entire Dingsha County, the number of people who owned no land at all was as low as one percent.

In the spring of the following year, they will be able to sow seeds on their own land and earn food and living expenses through labor.

“I don’t need to send New Year gifts to the Jin family this year, and the children at home can also eat two more pieces of meat.”

“We still have to save money and buy more lambs and hens. We have six acres of land.” A young couple walked through the back door of the county government office with their child in their arms. They were holding a fish and a piece of meat in their hands, and their faces were filled with happy smiles.

Inside the wall, in the backyard of the county government office, people were also preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner.

“It’s already New Year’s Eve.” An Yinong, wearing a red cloak, stood in the yard watching the snow. With these two land distributions and the permission to settle the money within three years, An Yinong’s status in the hearts of the people of Dingsha County soared to that of a “beloved official.”

Last year, when he went out, he was like a thief and everyone looked at him with wariness. But this time when he went out, everyone greeted him as ‘our magistrate’ and was very friendly. But they were so enthusiastic that An Yinong didn’t dare to go out: Go out and have fun with the people on New Year’s Eve? Forget it.

Wei the doorman and Tian the guard were busy in the kitchen, they volunteered to prepare the New Year’s Eve dinner, saying they knew how to cook. Uncle Zhong went outside to sweep the snow. The snow this year was particularly heavy, but because every household had reinforced their houses and collected enough firewood, life was still relatively easy.

Everyone in the county government was given a fifteen-day holiday, from New Year’s Eve to the Lantern Festival. An Yinong also gave each of them a small New Year gift – a bag of flour, a frozen fish and a large piece of mutton. Even so, they were flattered. Since ancient times, subordinates have given gifts to their superiors, but this was the first time they received a New Year gift from the county magistrate.

Living people enjoyed this treatment, and so did the ghosts. An Yinong burned a new set of clothes and a bag of silver for each little ghost, and also burned a lot of delicious and fun things for them. So at this time, there was no ghost in the county government office, and they all ran away to play. Though he didn’t know how the little ghosts played.

“Let me build a snowman.” An Yinong was afraid of the cold, and he didn’t want to go downstairs, but there was so much snow, wouldn’t it be a waste if he didn’t build a snowman? Southerners simply couldn’t resist building a snowman!

Gu Zhengzhong watched with a smile as the ball of fire rolled around on the snow – because he was afraid of the cold, An Yinong was dressed particularly thickly, like a bear cub. By the time Wei the gatekeeper and Tian the guard came out of the kitchen covered in dust, their yard was already filled with snowmen of all sizes.

The biggest one was as tall as a person, and the smallest one was only the size of a palm. The two little ones were snuggled together and placed on a tray, as if they were specially brought out to show someone.

“Eh? Such a small snowman?” Wei picked up one of the exquisite pocket-sized snowmen and snapped it.

On the side, he was smiling and appreciating An Yinong’s “heartfelt kindness”, and thinking about preserving Gu Zhengzhong forever: …

“Ahem.” An Yinong reached out and held Gu Zhengzhong’s hand. It was icy cold, like snow. “Why did you come out?”

After saying this, the expressions of Wei Menfang and Tian Guard suddenly became awkward. Wei Menfang touched his nose and said, “My skills are not so good anymore.”

Smelling the faint smell of burning in the air, An Yinong realized: “Let’s eat the Boxia offering.”

The so-called Boxiagong referred to hot pot. Eating hot pot and watching the snow in winter was convenient and lively, especially suitable for a few grown men like them. It just so happened that he had mutton, beef, chicken and fish at home, but fewer vegetables, only cabbage, white radish, and tofu.

An Yinong used farm beef and beef bones to make the soup base. The two masters competed by cutting mutton rolls and fish fillets, then pounding the chicken into a paste and making meatballs.

Actually, his cooking skills were not particularly good, but at least the food he cooked looks good: “It’s mainly because the beef is good. Such good beef, if we can’t apply to be beef cattle, it would be a waste of such a good taste.”

When the beef soup was ready, An Yinong happily picked up several of the best pieces, placed them all on a celadon plate, covered it with a bowl, and turned to go back to his room. In the room, Gu Zhengzhong was painting the “The Nines of Winter”, lightly tapping the plum blossoms outlined in black with a pen dipped in cinnabar paint.

An Yinong opened the bowl, and the rich aroma of beef wafted out: “I just made it, would you like to try it, sir?”

Although ghosts didn’t need to eat, An Yinong often forgot about it. If there was something particularly delicious, or if he had made something himself, he always wanted Gu Zhengzhong to have a taste. It turned out that Gu Zhengzhong was such a principled person (ghost), he never ate in the bedroom, but now he accepted being fed as a matter of course.

“Next time I’ll have someone make a small hotpot for just the two of us,” said An Yinong.

“What is a small double-flavored hotpot?” Nowadays, hotpots were not divided into double-flavored hotpots, so Gu Zhengzhong had this question.

An Yinong narrowed his eyes and smiled. He was half a head shorter than Gu Zhengzhong. At this time, he stood on tiptoe and kissed him: “It’s a small pot specially for lovers.”

Gu Zhengzhong suddenly felt a little embarrassed. An Yinong brought in three small pieces of beef, but he lingered in the room for a long time before coming out. His lips and cheeks were a little red, and he was a little out of breath.

He reflected deeply on himself: “I have been slacking off recently and not exercising properly. I won’t do that next time.”

The system looked at his expression of “how embarrassing it is to be kissed by my wife until my legs are weak”, and suddenly felt that something was wrong: Was the host’s positioning of himself a little… inaccurate?

Once the chicken meatballs were cooked, their dinner officially began. The small square table was moved to the backyard under the eaves, and a copper pot with hot charcoal in the middle was brought up, with beef soup in a circle around it. Around the copper pot were several plates of fish fillets, mutton rolls, chicken meatballs, tofu, cabbage, and white radish cubes.

Each of them held a small bowl in their hands, which was filled with seasonings, spices, soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil. There was no need to greet or be polite. Several people sat down at the table with their bowls, picked up the ingredients they liked and dipped them in the seasoning. The delicious taste of the ingredients after dipping them in the sauce dish was simply irresistible. All four of them instantly fell in love with this way of eating.

An Yinong liked fish fillets the most, Uncle Zhong liked to eat tofu, Wei the gatekeeper and Tian the guard both set their eyes on the mutton rolls, and the chopsticks in their hands had turned into another kind of sword, the two of them holding the slices of meat and passing them back and forth, like two masters fighting each other on the spot.

“Stop fighting over the meat, how about some sorghum wine?” Uncle Zhong took out a bottle of fine wine brewed from local ingredients. As soon as he pulled out the cork, a rich aroma of wine wafted out. It smelled very strong. Wei the doorman and Tian the guard stopped what they were doing at the same time.

“It tastes good. This is real wine.” Wei the doorman and Tian the guard each poured a glass.

An Yinong also poured a cup. He dipped a little with chopsticks. Hiss, it was really spicy. He took another sip. Hiss, the fire went through his throat, and after the burning, his body became warm.

“It tastes good.” A blush appeared on his fair face, “Another cup.”

There were few ingredients and the food was very simple, but it was steaming hot, and with the strange snowmen and with red lanterns hanging in the yard, it looked lively.

Gu Zhengzhong had been standing next to the pillar, watching over the drunk cat with a smile as he lowered his head and concentrated on drinking and eating fish fillets.