Farmhouse Green Plum

"Oh my, your village is so clean today!"

"Yes, it's cleaner than during Chinese New Year!"

The villagers of Xinghua Village exclaimed in amazement, and the villagers of Wutong Village smiled happily, but said:

"Don't mention it. We spent the whole day cleaning yesterday and didn't even take care of the work in the fields."

"Oh, my old arms and legs are still sore."

That kind of arrogance made the villagers of Xinghua Village envious and jealous. Xinghua Village had not received any officials for more than ten years.

The last time Magistrate Hu commended Wang Defa and his wife, there was no prior notice, and they came and left in a hurry. The villagers were completely unprepared and lost an opportunity to show off to other villages in vain.

The rule of the world, from top to bottom, is that the head of a village is above the head of the village, the head of the village is above the county magistrate, the county magistrate is above the county governor, the county governor is above the governor of the province, the governor of the province is above the six ministers, and the emperor is above them.

That is, it is divided according to the administrative levels of village, county, prefecture, and province, with the village head, county magistrate, prefect, and provincial governor from the bottom to the top.

Although the village head is only the lowest level administrative unit, he also works for the king and is a colleague of those high-ranking officials. Therefore, when officials go to the countryside, they usually go to the village where the village head is located so that they can understand the situation.

But Qinghuali, to which the nearby villages belong, is quite special. Rongshu Village, where the head of the village is located, is located deep in the mountains and forests, and is very far away from Qingshui County.

Officials found it troublesome, so when they went to the countryside, they chose Wutong Village, which was close to where there was a community school. The reasons were ready-made, which was to encourage the people to study.

Therefore, the villagers of Wutong Village are always very proud and attach more and more importance to the village community school.

Not wanting to see their smugness, Xinghua Village Chief Zhou Mingyan changed the subject: "Where's the gentleman? Hasn't he arrived yet?"

"How can that be possible? We are busy in the school with the students early in the morning." The head of Wutong Village looked up at the sky. "The sun will be very hot soon. They are scholars, not like us peasants who cannot stand the sun. They should just wait in the school. When the inspector is about to arrive, we can call them."

Village Chief Zhou nodded: "Brother is really thoughtful."

The head of Wutong Village smiled with wrinkles all over his face, "No, no, these are all experiences passed down by the older generation."

Village Chief Zhou: “…”

At the beginning of the morning hour, the scout from the yamen arrived, accompanied by the head of the village, and the heads of several villages hurried to meet him.

The head of the village waved his hand and signaled them to lead the way: "Go to the community school."

When they arrived at the community school, the officers checked it inside and out, pointed out the irregularities and eyesores, and demanded that they be rectified as soon as possible. They also decided the order in which the villagers should welcome the officials, and went to see the lunch banquet, deciding the seating arrangements for the upper seats, the middle seats, and the water seats.

Finally, villagers were sent to greet them on the road, preparing tea and cakes for them to eat and drink along the way.

The various rules and regulations opened the eyes of Song Ying and others.

They thought the Inspector would arrive soon, but it turned out to be another long wait, which made everyone impatient.

Song Ying and her friends gathered together to chat, and Yuan Shan, who was familiar with them, came over and joined them to discuss the inspector's pomp.

Luo Yanxing looked at the sun above his head, walked a few steps under the tree, and pulled Song Ying and Xiaoxiang over. "It's too much trouble to welcome these officials. Can we still get back in time for lunch?"

Song Ying rubbed his stomach and said, "I should be hungry today."

Yuan Shan said, "What kind of trouble are you guys making? My brother and his friends started preparing for the essay half a month ago. In the past two days, my brother has been staying up late every night and getting up early the next morning to recite the text.

I hope this will pass quickly, my brother has lost a lot of weight."

When Yuan Qing was mentioned, Luo Yanxing and Xiaoxiang couldn't help but look at Song Ying. They didn't dare to speak casually, for fear of accidentally revealing that Song Ying was learning to read from Yuan Qing.

Zhao Xiaocui's brother Zhao Ziliang, who was also studying in the community school, was deeply touched by this matter and nodded in agreement with Yuan Shan.

Song Ying did not interrupt casually, as she was afraid of letting something slip. She also knew that Yuan Qing was not losing weight because of the hard work in studying, but because he was worried that he would not be praised by the Inspector and would not be able to study at Qingshui Academy.

Suddenly, she felt that there seemed to be a special gaze falling on her, so she turned her head and looked over, and found that it was a little girl of about eleven or twelve years old, with almond eyes and rosy cheeks, wearing a pink silk blouse and a lotus-white skirt, like a graceful lotus flower.

That was Mr. He’s daughter, He Tianyu. She was the most envied girl in all the nearby villages.

Mr. He loved his daughter very much, even more than his son, and would never let her pick the moon even if she asked for the stars.

Song Ying was very confused. She knew He Tianyu, but He Tianyu probably didn't know her. Why did she look at her strangely, as if she was a little curious and a little inquisitive?

She nodded at He Tianyu, then looked away and continued listening to her friends.

As if she had not expected this reaction, He Tianyu blushed and turned her head away.

But just a short while later, Song Ying felt someone looking at her again. When she looked over, she found it was He Tianyu again.

Song Ying was confused.

Her little action caught Luo Yanxing's attention. He followed her gaze and saw He Tianyu. He asked curiously, "Why is Miss He looking at us?"

Zhao Xiaocui pursed her lips and smiled: "I think he is looking at Shanshan."

As she said this, she looked at Yuan Shan with a mischievous smile: "Among the girls in this village, Miss He is only close friends with you, why don't you go talk to her?"

Song Ying also laughed, thinking that he had misunderstood just now. He Tianyu was not looking at him, but at Yuan Shan.

Although they are not from Wutong Village, they know a lot of gossip about Wutong Village.

He Tianyu is very arrogant. She has never liked playing with girls in the village since she was a child because she thinks they are dirty.

But in the past two years, she has treated the Yuan brothers and sisters differently.

The reason was simple. Yuan Qing became more and more handsome, with a figure as straight and upright as a bamboo standing against the wind. He studied in school all year round and was rarely exposed to the sun, so his face was as white as jade.

He has pretty eyebrows and eyes, and when he wears a student's uniform, he looks very different from the other boys in the village. He also has more of the elegance and refinement of a scholar than the sons of wealthy families.

Yuan Qing was also very good at studying, and the teachers at school often praised him, saying that he would eventually become a scholar. As a result, the girls in Wutong Village and their families were attracted to him. It was said that a matchmaker went to Yuan's house to propose marriage last year.

Due to the gender difference, the girls could not go directly to Yuan Qing, so they all liked to play with Yuan Shan, including He Tianyu.

Yuan Shan naturally understood what they were thinking and felt a little annoyed with them, but she felt conflicted towards He Tianyu.

On the one hand, she hated He Tianyu for coveting her brother, but on the other hand, she liked the rare objects and snacks that He Tianyu brought her.