Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

She said to Mr. Qiao, "Please go ahead and do your work. I'll go to the front yard to take a look. If you need anything, you can come to me or the chief clerk."

"Hey!" Old Qiao answered with his head down, without slowing down his hand movements.

Before Shen Zheng reached the front yard, she met Zhao Xiu.

As soon as Zhao Xiu saw her, he immediately hid what he was holding behind his back.

Shen Zheng saw his abnormal behavior, frowned and asked: "Why are you sneaking around? Did you steal something?"

Zhao Xiu's face turned slightly red and he shook his head violently, refusing to take out the thing in his hand.

Shen Zheng became more and more curious about what he was holding and stretched out her hand in front of him.

When Zhao Xiu saw her actions, he knew that he couldn't avoid it today, so he gritted his teeth and handed the thing in his hand to her.

That's a book.

The title of the book is clearly visible on the blue cover - "Poems of a Child Prodigy".

Shen Zheng was a little confused. Isn't this a book for children's enlightenment? What was Zhao Xiu doing secretly with it?

When Zhao Xiu saw her expression, he couldn't hold back anymore.

He said, "I was thinking of giving Mr. Li an apology today. I thought Mr. Li was a scholar and sending him books would be the best thing to do, so I went to the bookstore in Quanyang County early in the morning."

Shen Zheng nodded. Zhao Xiu was also concerned about it, but... why did he buy a children's enlightenment book?

Scammed?

Zhao Xiu continued, "The shopkeeper saw at a glance that I was not a scholar, so he asked me if I wanted to buy books as gifts."

Shen Zheng nodded, this sounded quite normal.

"I said I wanted to give books to someone, but the shopkeeper asked me if the person was a man or a woman and how old he was. I am a man, and if I wanted to give books to a man of the same age..."

Zhao Xiu scratched his head and continued, "It felt weird, so I lied and said I was giving it to a child, and the boss chose this one for me."

Shen Zheng chuckled: "Then just don't bother."

Zhao Xiu sighed. He felt a little regretful. Just one book cost him half of his monthly salary.

He explained, "I went there early today, and it was I who knocked on the door of the bookstore. The shopkeeper was very patient and took me to choose for a long time. In the end, I couldn't say no, so I had to pay the money and buy it."

Shen Zheng also felt helpless after hearing this. This was what it meant to have to keep covering up a lie once you told it.

She thought of the books that the original owner had brought in her room, so she said, "Give me the books. I'll exchange my two books with you."

Zhao Xiu's eyes lit up: "Are you willing, sir?"

He thought about the uselessness of the book he bought and felt a little embarrassed: "This book of "Poems of a Child Prodigy" should not be as valuable as your book. I will give you the difference in money."

Shen Zheng shook her head and refused. She couldn't really read those books, so she might as well give them to Zhao Xiu to apologize.

"Wait here. I'll get the book."

After she finished speaking, she took the "Poems of Child Prodigy" back to her room, picked out two books that were not available in the county government and gave them to Zhao Xiu.

The two went to the front yard together. Li Hongmao and Pei Zhaoqi were distributing food coupons to the villagers, while Fang Ziyan was reading a book nearby.

However, Fang Ziyan read the book reluctantly, as if there were thorns on the stool, and he kept twisting on it.

When he saw Shen Zheng coming over, his face lit up and he wanted to talk to her.

When she saw Zhao Xiu behind her again, she snorted and lowered her head to pretend to read.

His hum made Li Hongmao and Pei Zhaoqi notice Shen Zheng behind them, and they stood up to greet her.

Shen Zheng picked up the brush that Li Hongmao had put down and said, "Let me do it. Constable Zhao wants to talk to you about something. You two can go to the side and talk."

Li Hongmao turned his head to look at Zhao Xiu, and when he saw the book in his hand, he understood a little more.

He nodded to Zhao Xiu: "Let's go to the backyard and talk."

There are many people in the front yard, especially the villagers. Last night's dispute was just a trivial matter and there was no need to make it known to everyone.

At this time Fang Ziyan had an opinion. He stood up and asked Zhao Xiu:

"What are you looking for my master for again!"

Li Hongmao was touched when he saw Fang Ziyan protecting him like this, but etiquette should not be abandoned. As a junior, it was wrong for Fang Ziyan to point directly at Zhao Xiu's face yesterday.

He said, "You come with us. What did the master teach you last night?"

Fang Ziyan lost all his arrogance in an instant and lowered his head. Even though he was extremely reluctant, he remembered what his master had told him last night and obediently followed them to the backyard.

As soon as they arrived at the backyard, Zhao Xiu spoke first:

"Mr. Li, I lost my temper yesterday and offended you. This is my apology. I hope you can accept it."

After saying that, he handed over the two books. Although he apologized sincerely, he couldn't get away with it at this point.

Li Hongmao originally felt that what happened last night was not worth mentioning, so he did not want to accept this so-called apology.

But he saw that Zhao Xiu looked stubborn, as if he would keep holding the book unless he accepted it.

He had no choice but to reach out and take the book. When he saw the title of the book, he smiled.

These are two good books.

He said, "Yesterday's incident was not a big deal. Constable Zhao was just worried about the two of you. There is no reason for you and me to get angry with each other over it."

Zhao Xiu praised Mr. Li in his heart for being a scholar, and with just a few words he eased his embarrassment.

He breathed a sigh of relief: "I'm glad that Mr. Li is not angry. The adults said that we are colleagues and we should help each other in the future."

Li Hongmao nodded. This was actually the same as "A harmonious family brings prosperity". Everyone in the county government had to work together to get things better and better.

He raised his hand and called Fang Ziyan who was standing beside him. Fang Ziyan knew why his master wanted him to come over, so he moved over in small steps reluctantly.

Li Hongmao patted his shoulder without saying anything.

Fang Ziyan pouted and said to Zhao Xiu, "Brother Zhao, I also offended you yesterday. I'm sorry."

Zhao Xiu was stunned. Although Fang Ziyan was a little fat, how could he offend him with his muscular body?

Then he thought of what happened last night and asked uncertainly, "Are you saying you used your finger on me last night?"

Fang Ziyan nodded.

"Oh! What kind of offense is that? I don't take it seriously!"

Zhao Xiu didn't expect that in their minds, this could be considered a big deal. Wouldn't they, the detectives, be offending others every day?

The three of them laughed away their grudges.

At this time, the front yard of the county government office became lively.

When Shen Zheng was busy writing food coupons for the villagers of Qingyuan Village, Wu Lizheng from Shanghe Village ran in from the gate of the county government office.

As soon as he came in, he leaned against the door and gasped, with sweat from his forehead dripping down his cheeks into his collar.

He raised his sleeve to wipe the sweat off his face, looked around, and when he saw Shen Zheng sitting at the table, his eyes lit up and his face was full of joy.

The villagers in the front yard saw him and started talking about him.

"Isn't this Wu Lizheng from Shanghe Village? He looks so anxious, what happened?"

"Looking at his expression, it shouldn't be a bad thing."

Shen Zheng raised her head when she heard the discussions and looked at Wu Lizheng who was walking towards her in a hurry.