Walking the Path of a Workaholic in Cliché Novels (QT) Chapter 84

Dingsha County was a piece of land in the farthest corner of Qi State. Its permanent population did not exceed 30,000. Seventy percent of the county’s population were poor and could not afford enough food, and the illiteracy rate was as high as 99 percent. However, in the past two years, the name of this remote small county had frequently appeared in the ears of people in Beijing and other wealthy areas.

It started because the magistrate of Dingsha County wrote a storybook, “Heroes of the Desert”.

It was not surprising for a scholar to write storybooks to make a living. However, for him, a government official, a seventh-rank county magistrate, and a civil servant who was a Jinshi graduate, it was a disgrace to the civil society to write novels!

Therefore, many people scolded and despised him. His peers (Jinshi of the same year) and classmates did not understand him. But more people were curious about the difference between the storybooks written by the county magistrate who was a Jinshi and the storybooks written by a scholar who failed the imperial examination.

Since the book was not expensive, they bought one, which was the first volume of “Heroes of the Desert”, “Devil City”. Many people even bought the hardcover version, which came with twenty illustrations drawn by the magistrate himself. They never expected that this momentary curiosity would lead to a year of scratching their heads and waiting for the next episode.

“What’s wrong with the magistrate of Dingsha County? Why does he put down the beginning of each volume at the end of each volume and then not tell what happened next? Is it fun to torture people like this?”

The onlookers didn’t know whether the magistrate of Dingsha County did it on purpose or not, but the book was very interesting and became popular all over the country within a year. If the storyteller in the teahouse couldn’t tell this book, he would have been left behind by the times.

One book every two months, six books a year, each book was innovative, containing not only heroism and love, but also the desert scenery along with various bizarre and strange legends that could be imagined through the words. It mattered not if one did not know many words, the magistrate of Dingsha County even produced a version of the “picture book” with exquisite illustrations that could be called a work of art.

To be honest, the magistrate of Dingsha County was also a very good painter.

The old, the young, the teenagers, the men and the women, as long as they could read a little, were all its audience. Once this book became popular, the key items that appeared in it also became popular. For example, the love grass of the male and female protagonists was the desert rose.

The reason why it was called rose was because its leaves were gathered like roses, and some people said it looked like lotus. Of course, according to the magistrate of Dingsha County, these plants had a cute nickname, called succulent, because their leaves were not flat like those of plants in the Central Plains, but plump, juicy and fleshy. After that, the ‘succulent’ from the far northwest became the ‘dream plant’ of many people.

Merchants from Dingsha County brought a truckload of succulents to open a shop and plantation here.. People in the Central Plains didn’t know much about them, so they just bought them for novelty and fashion. Anyway, the price was not expensive, and the plants and cute little pots were the same price as a set.

There were many varieties of succulents: ‘Fringed’, ‘Tower-flowered’, ‘Blunt-leaved’… Don’t say it, when these small leaves were wrapped together, they really looked like flowers in bud. People from the southwest region found it very familiar at first sight and said that they had this succulent too, and it looked like a lotus and was everywhere on the walls and roofs.

But others did not recognize it, and they only recognize the Dingsha County succulent used by the male and female protagonists in “The Legend of the Desert Heroes” to express their love.

The novelty of “succulent” had not yet worn off when people heard that a new kind of cattle had appeared in Dingsha County, a black-haired, short-horned cattle. They heard that this kind of cattle was a unique breed in Dingsha and was not good at farming, but grew fast, matured early, and had good quality meat.

That’s right, this was the “Snowflake Beef” that appeared in “The Heroes of the Desert” and was worth eighty horses. The description of this kind of beef in the story made one want to drool just thinking about it.

The county magistrate submitted a petition once a month, and after a year and a half, he finally applied for the “tribute cattle for meat – Dingsha Snowflake Cattle”. Inspired by him, it was said that the whole country was looking for cattle suitable for meat. It was great that cattle could be divided into draught cattle and beef cattle according to their breed – so said the beef lovers.

Later, merchants from Dingsha County brought in this type of beef cattle, which was said to have tender and juicy meat. It was really expensive. Among the four grades, the lowest-rated “Yellow Snowflake Beef” was twice as expensive as the cattle used for farming. But it was also really delicious, with snowflake-like fat dotted in the bright red meat. When one bites into it after it’s cooked, the juice splashed and there was a milky aroma.

“The Dingsha Snowflake Cattle could not be raised on any random plot of land. They had to select the best cattle and breed them. They ate grass grown specifically for them, drank transported mountain spring water, and were fed with millet for more than 100 days before being marketed. In addition, there must be a dedicated person to massage them every day. Only then could such good cattle be produced.”

The diners’ eyes widened, and they immediately thought that the beef was expensive, but it was worth the money!

The Dingsha County merchant took out a list issued by the Dingsha County government: “Only 60 snowflake cattle can be produced each year, and each one has an ‘identity certificate’ with a number and a seal from the county government.

“Its mother, father, when it was born, who was the breeder, whether it was sick, who bought it, and when it was slaughtered are all recorded. Without this ‘identity certificate’, it is not our real Dingsha Snowflake cattle.”

In addition to the Dingsha Snowflake Cattle that had been snapped up at high prices by dignitaries, Dingsha County had also applied for a tribute dog – the ‘Dingsha Hound’. It had a long face, a thin waist, was brave and majestic, was an extremely fast hunting dog, was affectionate and protective of its owner. They were beautiful, capable, and very obedient. Hunting enthusiasts in the capital immediately fell in love with this dog breed.

“Wasn’t this kind of dog mentioned in the Legend of the Desert Heroes? It was called a steed among dogs, so it was also picky about its owner, just like a sword, it must be matched with a hero.” People in Beijing really liked such picky dogs. If you raise one yourself, doesn’t it mean that you are also a “hero”?

“I finally understand. ‘The Heroes of the Desert’ is not about patriotism or heroic sons and daughters. It’s about how many good things there are in Dingsha County. ‘Snowflake Cow’ has been released, ‘Condor Dog’ has been released, ‘Lover’s Grass’ has been released, so will there be wine in a luminous cup, colorful wool blankets, desert gemstone lights, and wolf tooth necklaces next?”

The perceptive people saw the clues. It was unheard of for the county magistrate to write books and sell them. For the sake of the people of Dingsha County, he was trampling on his own noble character as a scholar.

“This is what a good official is. Those who don’t care about the lives of the people and only care about their own appearance are all foolish officials who are seeking fame and reputation.”

“Yes, everything else is just empty talk. I don’t understand anything else, but I can calculate how much money is in my pocket.” Ordinary people liked this because their lives have really changed.

“Meat looks good, and beef tastes good. But he is a county magistrate, and he wrote six storybooks in one year, and twelve in two years. He also had to deal with beef cattle and hunting dogs. With so many things to do, could he still do his job as a county magistrate?”

Where there were praises, there were bound to be oppositions, so some people also questioned whether the magistrate of Dingsha County had done his job well.

Before the complainer could even open their mouth, a man from Dingsha County refuted: “How come you can’t do the job of a county magistrate? What do you know? You know nothing.”

The people from Dingsha County couldn’t stand anyone saying anything bad about their magistrate. So one person started by saying something bad about them, and the others couldn’t wait to praise all the good things about their own magistrate.

“The first thing our county magistrate did when he came to our county was to reclaim wasteland. He didn’t even stand up, but rolled up his trousers to work on the wasteland. In those two years, our county gained several thousand acres of land, which was used to grow forage grass, beans, sorghum, and herbs.

“Do you know who these lands are for? For our county magistrate? You know nothing! They were distributed to the people of our county. Anyone who did not have land at home could come and get them. We will give them seeds and land, teach them step by step, and pay them half of the market price. The repayment will be in three years.”

They had prepared the land and seeds, and will teach you how to plant the crops. As long as you had hands and feet, you could pay it off in one year, not to mention three years, and even have some left over for a good new year. To put it bluntly, what the poor people there lacked was not the strength to work, but the land to farm.

“The money from selling ‘succulents’ and ‘snowflake beef’ was not used to repair the county government office, but to repair roads and houses. The houses are ‘welfare houses’, cheap, and they are built for the poor to live in. The repayment is also in three years time. They are all good houses built with good materials, with large yards, livestock, and fruit trees.”

“My family has been herding cattle for generations. Only this year did we get to live in our own welfare housing and raise our own livestock. My mother said that if I come out to sell things for the county, I can’t go home if I don’t sell well. It’s shameful.”

“You make fun of our county magistrate and call him the storyteller County Magistrate, but do you know how much he has done in the past two years?

“We are Dingsha County, a poor county for generations. Two villages can fight over a single well. Villagers could not afford to marry wives or husbands. If they get sick, they would die. They don’t even dare to have children because they can’t raise them. Now go and see, who is still afraid to have children?”

A big man patted his chest, his eyes reddened, “I tell you, my two children are both going to school this year, to the county academy, it’s free, and they even provide lunch. It’s because our county magistrate is afraid that we can’t read or count, and will suffer losses outside.”

“I know what a good official is. A good official is like our county magistrate. He is afraid that we are poor, afraid that we can’t afford food and have no place to live, so even if he is laughed at by outsiders, he still tried to find a way for us to survive.”

The people who questioned and mocked Dingsha County were spitting dust and left in disgrace. The people who stayed behind were even more curious and asked them more about the “Dingsha County Magistrate”.

“To open up the wasteland, you need manpower. You also need to provide food and drink. Where did your county magistrate get the money when he first went there?”

“You don’t know this, do you? Our county magistrate is good at martial arts. He led people to suppress bandits and wiped out all the thieves near us. Those bandits were sent to open up wasteland, burn bricks, and build roads. The money obtained from the suppression was used to build a cowshed and buy the best cows to breed ‘Dingsha Snowflake Cattle’.”

The people of Dingsha were very proud when talking about this. There had been wars all year round in their area and they valued martial arts, so they also liked people with high martial arts skills.

“In addition, the Bai and Jin families in Dingsha County who colluded with the bandits to oppress us, as well as those wealthy but unkind landlords, were all sentenced and confiscated.”

The Dingsha people laughed heartily: “You don’t know, in the past, when we were trying to make a living, we had to pay two taxes, one to the government and one to the Jin and Bai families. We also had to give gifts during festivals. Life was miserable.”

A female businessman slammed the table and said, “That bunch of horse thieves, they did all kinds of evil things including burning, looting and so on. Those cowardly men, when they see them, would just send women to them, one per year, calling it ‘marriage for peace’, bah!”

“Our county magistrate was so courageous that he wiped out the gang immediately. It’s such a relief. My cousin can rest in peace in heaven.”

“Great! No wonder the Legend of the Desert Heroes had a line like ‘A general will spend his whole life to pacify the country, but where is the need for a general?’ What’s the use of marriage? It’s just my own incompetence!” Passersby applauded.

Seeing this, the female businessman raised her voice again: “You don’t know, a lot of things from the caravans and herdsmen were confiscated from the homes of those two families, as well as a lot of weapons and letters from the thieves. These crazy people were collaborating with the enemy and rebelling.”

Everyone was curious: “The Bai and Jin families are so arrogant, why couldn’t the previous county magistrates control them?”

“The Bai and Jin families have soldiers and more than a thousand thugs. The son of that family serves as a soldier, and he is a leader. The former county magistrates were either secretly harmed by them or were afraid of these two families, so they turned a blind eye. There were even worse ones, who were bribed with money and beauties and became accomplices of the evil.” said another businessman.

“That’s right,” the business woman said, “They also found a demon-like woman and threw her in front of our county magistrate, trying to set up a trap to harm our county magistrate. Guess what happened?”

The business woman smiled with narrowed eyes. “Our county magistrate immediately invited a doctor. After checking her pulse, the doctor said she was not sick, but had deliberately stopped the car. He convicted her of ‘obstructing public service’ and ordered her to repair the road for three days.”

Everyone suddenly remembered the various beauty traps in “Heroes of the Desert” and the mysterious operations of the straight female protagonist who disguised herself as a man, and they burst into laughter.

“They saw that our magistrate was unmoved by persuasion, so they sent people to assassinate him, bribed people to poison him, and even sneaked in at night. They tried to assassinate him several times. Our magistrate was stabbed and his hair was cut off. Later, a famous hero in the county volunteered to guard the gate for the magistrate, and the incidents were finally stopped.”

“The most hateful thing is that the head of the Jin family went to the yamen the next day and threatened our magistrate in front of the yamen runners, saying that if he continued like this, he might not be able to leave Dingsha upright.”

The merchant’s few words brought out many flashes of swords and sabers, and everyone’s blood boiled, and they asked anxiously: “What happened next?”