It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

Song An turned his head and saw his sister. His face was solemn. Thinking of what the little beggar had said just now, he said with some uneasiness: "Sister, will the shopkeeper of the Wang family send someone to follow us again?"

"Now the enemy is in the open, and we are in the dark. Besides, we have someone to help keep an eye on the shopkeeper. If there is any movement, the monkey will notify us, so there is no need to worry too much."

"However, we can't just sit there and do nothing. Once we get out of the county government office, we'll ask Miss Wang to come out and find out about the Wang family's current situation!"

Song An was comforted by his sister's words, and his tense expression relaxed.

When the brother and sister were about to arrive, they saw many ox carts and donkey carts parked in front of the county government office. They thought they were the means of transportation of the village heads.

Liang Tian, who had been waiting in front of the county government office, saw Song Zhi and hurriedly walked over to her.

"Miss Song, please excuse me for a moment."

Seeing that it was the servant of the county magistrate, Song Zhi didn't ask any questions and followed the man and walked a few steps to the side.

"Well, I wonder how much per pound of the Forsythia tea made by Madam Song is sold for?

Song Zhi thought that the other party just wanted to inquire about the market price of this tea, so she didn't think much about it and told him the price Xu Feng offered last time.

Liangtian breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the price. Fortunately, it was not too expensive. He had enough money to buy 20 kilograms of tea and still have some left over.

His face showed no sign of surprise as he continued, "Well, I wonder if Madam Song has any prepared Forsythia tea. My young master wants to buy twenty kilograms from you."

"It would be even better if it could be delivered today!" Liangtian said all his requests in one go and waited for Song Zhi's reply.

How could Song Zhi refuse a deal that came to her door? She immediately agreed, "But I didn't bring any tea with me today."

She glanced at the county government office and suggested, "If everyone hasn't arrived yet, I can go to the east city market to find my eldest brother. After he sells the jelly, I can ask him to come back and get it."

Liangtian knew the situation inside the county government office best. The distances between each village and the county government office were different, and it was early now, so how could he arrive so quickly?

He immediately agreed, "Miss Song, just go ahead. It will take a while for everyone to arrive!"

In this way, Song Zhi took Song An to the grass market in the east of the city again, told her elder brother about going back to get the Forsythia tea, and then returned to the county government office.

As soon as Song Zhi stepped into the gate of the county government office, she saw thirty or forty people gathered together in the lobby of the county government office. She was stunned at first. Are there so many village heads in their county?

In her memory, it was not the case that there was one village head for every 110 households. On weekdays, the affairs of each village were managed by the village chief or the clan leader.

Is the village head only needed when buying land, acquiring property, settling down, or being recruited by the county government?

Just as she was wondering, a surprised cry interrupted her thoughts, "Azhi, why are you here too?"

"Grandpa, you're here too?"

Clan leader Song nodded. "Yes, the village headman came to the village yesterday to inform me that the county magistrate has something to say. All the village heads and clan leaders under his jurisdiction must come to the county government office today to receive his orders."

I don’t know what he was thinking about, but the face of the Song clan leader was full of sorrow.

He looked at Song Zhi and asked in a low voice, "Azhi, do you know why the county magistrate summoned us here?"

"Isn't it that they are going to recruit soldiers and food again?"

Song Zhi hurriedly comforted him, "Grandpa Clan Leader, don't think too much, it's a good thing!"

Upon hearing that it was good news, the Song clan leader's frown finally relaxed.

He couldn't wait to ask: "What is good..."

Before the Song clan leader finished speaking, someone called out, "Here comes the county magistrate!"

The originally noisy lobby suddenly became quiet.

Zhou Yu was seen wearing an official uniform and black boots, walking slowly into the lobby.

He first glanced around at everyone, then asked the clerk beside him, "Is everyone here?"

"Reporting to the Lord, the twelve village heads have arrived, but the village chiefs from Dali Village and Wazi Village have not yet arrived."

At this time, the head of the village who managed the two villages hurried forward to explain, "Sir, these two villages are built in a valley and are quite far from the county town. I estimate that we will have to wait for more than an hour."

Zhou Yu looked at the crowd below, thought for a moment, and said, "Then let's talk first. I'll have someone talk to them privately later when they arrive."

No one had any objection.

They had been nervous about coming to the county government office today since they received the message from the village head last night.

Instead of being so anxious and overthinking, it would be better to just be straightforward and have a good time.

Zhou Yu put his hand to his lips and coughed lightly, then said to everyone present: "It's like this, I called you all here today because I have a profitable business to discuss with you."

"In Qishui County, there is a kind of medicinal herb whose leaves can be used to make tea. If your village has this herb, you can invite the villagers to pick it. The government will then purchase it from you."

Everyone was stunned for a moment and no one reacted for a while.

I thought they would levy some taxes or impose labor service.

Everyone thought of various possibilities, but they had never thought about what kind of leaves the county magistrate wanted to collect from them to make tea.

After being stunned for a few breaths, the village head was the first to react and couldn't help asking, "Sir, what kind of leaves do you need us to pick?"

Seeing someone speak, someone else couldn't wait to ask: "How many of these leaves do you need, sir?"

"Sir, how is the salary calculated?"

"..."

At this moment, everyone had forgotten that they were in the county court.

Everyone started asking questions one after another.

Zhou Yu waited until everyone below had finished asking questions before he turned to Song Zhi, who was standing by the door, and said, "Ms. Song, please first explain to the villagers what standard forsythia leaves are needed for tea making and preparation."

Everyone looked towards the door and saw a girl dressed as a man walking forward with a basket on her back.

Song Zhi was not afraid of the inquiring or scrutinizing gazes of the big guys.

He calmly put down the backpack behind him, took out the forsythia branches he had just picked from the mountain, and showed them to everyone:

"In addition to the color of the forsythia leaves, you should also look at the surface of the leaves. Smooth leaves without spots or lesions are rich in nutrients, and the tea brewed from them will be clear in color and have a mellow taste."

After that, she picked some leaves that could be used to make tea from the branches, spread out her palms and showed them to everyone.

"My dear uncles, these jobs are actually not that difficult. As long as you listen to the requirements carefully and have hands, you can do it."

Everyone was used to doing farm work, so after seeing Song Zhi's explanation and demonstration, they quickly understood.

Someone recognized the "golden bar" and quickly responded, "Sir, we have these leaves in Dawan Village. We can help harvest them!"

"Sir, we have some in our village too! We can help with the harvest!"

Arimuramasa was afraid that if he responded too late, this lucrative job would be snatched away.

No one bothered to ask about their wages, and for a moment, everyone in the lobby was vying to express their opinions.