My delicate husband

Zhang Xiaomo has missed a lot of official business in the past month or two. He didn't reply to the letter he wrote to Brother Wu before. This is the first time he didn't reply to a letter he wrote to him.

"Master, has Brother Wu sent any letters to the county government recently?"

"Mr. Mo, I haven't received the letter from the county governor."

Although Zhang Xiaomo was puzzled, he did not ask too many questions. He just picked up his pen and wrote another letter to Brother Wu, briefly describing the current situation in Yunling County and mainly informing Brother Wu of the news about Brother Xia.

After writing the letter, the county magistrate put the urgent official business next to Zhang Xiaomo. Zhang Xiaomo looked at the thick stacks of memorials and felt helpless. He would be busy for a while.

"Mr. Mo, the transport dock is almost completed."

"Yeah. I know."

"Will the county governor also return for the completion ceremony?"

"I've already sent the letter. Just wait for Brother Wu's reply."

Zhang Xiaomo was quite satisfied with the county magistrate's work efficiency. During the time he was away, the private schools in each village were almost completed, and the roads, water wheels, wells, etc. in each village were almost completed.

The agricultural production in each village that had been discussed with Brother Wu before was also developing well. However, there was one village that was very strange and attracted Zhang Xiaomo's attention.

"What's going on with this Jianyao Village? Why are there so few records about it?"

"Master Mo, this Jianyao Village is close to Manyue. Their customs are different from ours. The head of their village is the chief priest. They don't make a living by raising animals, but they like to raise poisonous insects.

They are very xenophobic. The previous county magistrate didn't care. We don't know the specific situation of Jianyao Village. They all live in the mountains."

Zhang Xiaomo nodded and asked the county magistrate about the situation in other villages. When he learned that they were all developing well, he didn't ask any more questions. After all, he would be visiting each village to check on the situation in the next week or so.

Zhang Xiaomo had been handling official business for most of the day. Thinking that he hadn't been to the shops for a long time, he decided to randomly choose two shops to check the accounts.

"Boss, why are you here?"

"Brother He, how are the shops in the county town?"

"Business is good, especially the rice shop and the wine shop."

"Okay, sort out the account books of each shop and send them to the county government office. I'll take a look when I have time."

Zhang Xiaomo also discovered that the streets of Yunling County were much busier than before. To be more precise, there were many more itinerant merchants, bringing with them many small gadgets that were rarely seen in normal times.

"Sir, this koi is extremely valuable. Would you like to buy it?"

Zhang Xiaomo looked at the small red fish in the vendor's hand and fell into deep thought. Then he remembered what Lan An said about digging a pond in the yard to raise fish. This little fish looked pretty good.

"How much is one?"

"Twenty cents."

"Then bring ten, and some food for them as well."

"Two hundred and twenty coins in total. Please take your leave, sir."

Zhang Xiaomo paid readily and saw a vendor selling fresh fruits. Remembering that Lan Euan liked sour food, he specially picked some sour apricots and plums.

Zhang Xiaomo didn't expect to meet Guo Ge'er at the stall. He saw the exquisite sachets and planned to buy two as gifts for Lan Euan, as he liked the spices made from Lan Euan very much.

"How much is this sachet?"

After not hearing an answer for a long time, Zhang Xiaomo looked up and saw the person he didn't want to see. He frowned, put down his things and left.

Guo Ge'er didn't chase after her, but just put away the sachet that Zhang Xiaomo liked and stopped selling it.

Zhang Xiaomo was no longer in the mood to stroll around and prepared to return to Lianhua Village. He missed Lan An very much and it was getting late.

Back in the courtyard, Zhang Xiaomo couldn't wait to walk into the inner room, where he saw Lan An sitting on the sofa, teasing Xiao Chengzi, and Xiao Xigua beside him staring at Lan An with wet eyes. Zhang Xiaomo felt soft-hearted, as if he saw Lan An as a child.

Zhang Xiaomo took Little Watermelon from Aunt Li's hands and smelled a familiar scent. Little Watermelon wiped away his tears and leaned quietly in Zhang Xiaomo's arms.

"Brother Xiaomo, you're back."

"An An, they are only a little over a month old. They won't understand if you tease them."

"Then I'll tease Brother Xiaomo."

Zhang Xiaomo has now become accustomed to Lan'an's constant teasing, so he asks Aunt Li to take the two kids away. He wants to punish the naughty Lan'an.

"Brother Xiaomo, stop pinching my face."

"An An, I feel uncomfortable."

"Why are you in a bad mood?"

Zhang Xiaomo thought about it and decided it would be better not to mention Guo Ge'er.

"Did I buy you a present?"

Lan Euan was very happy to see apricots and plums. He hadn't eaten fruit for a long time.

Zhang Xiaomo saw Lan An's starry eyes and such a bright smile, which dispelled all the haze.

"Brother Xiaomo, please help me wash two."

"An An, there's a surprise."

Lan An closed her eyes obediently, and then she saw Zhang Xiaomo take out the goldfish he bought. Lan An didn't know how to react for a moment.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? It's a koi."

Lan An tried to hold it in for a long time but still couldn't help laughing out loud. It was rare to see Zhang Xiaomo being fooled.

"Brother Xiaomo, is this just an ordinary goldfish?"

"goldfish?"

“It can be considered an ornamental fish.”

"Didn't An An want to raise fish before?"

"Okay, let Brother Man dig a small pond."

Zhang Xiaomo nodded and handed the goldfish to Brother Man. Brother Man didn't understand. With just these few fish, was it necessary to dig a small pond? It would be enough to feed the ducks. He couldn't understand his boss's train of thought, so he decided to just do his job honestly.

Everyone in the Zhang family didn't understand why they went to so much trouble to dig a small pond but didn't raise fish in it. They also fed it every day. It was only after a long time that they found out that there were so-called koi in it.

Zhang Xiaomo also remembered the vendor at that stall. He actually dared to cheat him. He would bring the yamen runners to have a good talk with him tomorrow.

Lan Euan didn't expect that he could eat sour fruits so well before, but now he couldn't enjoy these sour fruits. He felt that his teeth had no feeling.

"An An, don't you like it anymore?"

"Some of them are too sour. Dessert is better."

"You were idle before and it's not sour enough."

“Well, I used to have a strong taste.”

Zhang Xiaomo stared at the fruit she had just bought with resentment, and saw that the owner of the fruit stall also needed a good talk.

Now villagers from surrounding counties love to come to Yunling County. In addition to buying food and daily necessities, the most important thing is to come to Yunling County to do business.

The vendors sold a wide variety of items, but thanks to Zhang Xiaomo's friendly conversation, the market became much more standardized.

Yunling County only had two or three inns before, and they were never full. Now they are packed every day. Some wealthy people also seized the opportunity and built two new inns, which are decorated quite luxuriously.

With more and more horse-drawn and ox-drawn carriages passing by, the previous parking spots were no longer sufficient, so Lan'an added some new parking spots and arranged staff to take care of them.

Zhang Xiaomo, the county's sanitation official, also listened to Lan'an's advice and arranged for special personnel to clean the streets and collect garbage at different times. He even set up designated garbage disposal areas every 100 meters.

In addition, there are toilets, which has always troubled many people. It is particularly inconvenient to visit toilets in the county town.

Zhang Xiaomo even chose a designated place to build a toilet. A lot of effort was put into the construction of this toilet. It was an improved version of the Zhang family toilet, which was cleaner and more hygienic. The excrement produced was collected and irrigated into the land in the suburbs of Yunling County.

There is still more than a month left before the autumn harvest. Zhang Xiaomo calculated the tax revenue of Yunling County this year and was a little surprised to find that it had jumped into the top three in Youbei County and was approaching the central county seat of Youbei County - Beidi County.