Dial 016

  The position was settled, and the silver was awarded. Han Wen and Su Huan had nothing more to say. As for how Su Huan would carry out his work in the future, it was up to Fang Mengjin to arrange, and Han Wen naturally wouldn't get involved in these specific matters.

  After saying a few more insipid words, Su Hao tactfully stood up and bid farewell. Han Wen nodded to him and instructed Fang Mengxuan to escort Su Hao out.

  Fang Mengjin accompanied Su Hao out of the Second Hall and walked towards the outside. In the corridor, Fang Mengjin asked: "Su Hao, do you know why County Master rewarded you?"

  "The student is dull-witted, please instruct me, teacher." Su Hao said.

  "Sir, you've been hired as a teacher with a salary of 2 shi of rice per month, which amounts to 24 shi in a year. Such a salary is barely enough for a middle-class family in the county town, and it's just enough to make ends meet. With your talent, this salary seems a bit meager."

  Su Hao said: "Students dare not have too many extravagant hopes."

  "Ah, gentlemen love wealth, this is also a common human sentiment. You have a mother and sister to support, you need to earn more money too. Let me tell you, the workshop is in charge of engineering affairs, every year handling a large amount of money, if managed properly, saving tens of thousands of silver coins per year, it's reasonable..."

  Su Hao was stunned for a while before he understood Fang Mengjin's meaning, and hurriedly said: "Master, the student has been favored by County Master, how dare I embezzle money and grain again?"

  "This doesn't count as corruption." Fang Mengjin waved his hand and said, "Those in charge of the workshop, if they only make a few dozen taels of silver in a year, are considered very honest. The county magistrate won't mind. However, if their ambitions are greater, it's hard to say. The county magistrate giving you 20 taels of silver is hoping you'll take care of yourself. As long as you do your job conscientiously for the magistrate, he won't treat you unfairly."

  "Thanks for the advice." Su Hao was enlightened and hastily bowed to thank Fang Mengzhu.

  When Fang Mengjin said these words, he always had a light tone, neither arrogant nor condescending, nor did he show any intention of currying favor. Su Hao knew that Fang Mengjin's meaning was to stop at the right point, and as for how to understand it, or whether he was willing to understand it, that depended on Su Hao himself. Fang Mengjin's words were already very straightforward: let you manage the workshop, make some money, the county magistrate won't object, but don't be too greedy. As long as you do a good job, the boss won't treat you unfairly.

  Fang Mengjin sent Su Hang to the outside of the ceremonial gate and then turned back. Su Hang walked along the path towards the outer gate, looking at the officials on both sides, he had a sense of superiority. Han Wen had already said it, his status was higher than all the officials, let alone the former official, which was even more insignificant.

  After seeing Su Hao off, Fang Mengzhen returned to the Second Hall, where Han Wen was still sitting and waiting for him.

  Seeing Fang Mengjin return, Han Wen asked: "What was said, has it been told to him?"

  "I've already said it."

  "How did he perform?"

  "I think he should have understood your meaning by now."

  Han Wen nodded and said, "That's good. Drilling a well is an extremely costly affair. If he goes down there and colludes with those corrupt officials, drilling fewer wells but reporting more expenses, it would be a troublesome thing."

  Fang Mengjin said, "I observe that this person's aspirations are not ordinary, and I think he won't be blinded by these worldly things. Look at him just now in front of the adults, his demeanor was measured, not at all like a scholar who has never seen the world. I think this child is definitely not an ordinary talent."

  "How could I have never heard of such a talented person before?" Han Wen said in surprise.

  "Sir, it's all about timing," said Fang Mengjin with a smile. "As the saying goes, 'the times create heroes.' If it weren't for this severe drought, his skills in digging wells wouldn't have had a chance to shine. Sir, if Su Hao can improve the efficiency of well-digging after taking over, even if not every well is successful, as long as he can increase the ratio of good wells to bad ones to at least one-to-one, we can save thousands of taels in costs, which is no small amount."

  Han Wenda said, "Saving silver is just one aspect. If we can speed up the drilling of wells, the losses caused by drought will be greatly reduced. In that case, our Fengcheng County will also gain a good reputation in front of the prefect and the governor."

  "In my opinion of Su Hao, I think he will definitely not live up to the expectations of his elders," said Fang Mengjin.

  Without mentioning the Korean text and Fang Mengjuan gossiping about Su Hao behind his back, Su Hao himself walked out of the county government office alone. He saw Su Xiaohu guarding the ox cart and dozing off under a tree. He walked up to him, patted his shoulder, and shouted: "Hey, Little Tiger, wake up!"

  Su Xiaohu suddenly woke up with a start and saw Su Hang. He smiled and asked, "Brother Hang, you're out, did the county magistrate reward you?"

  "Of course, I'll reward you." Su Hao said with a pleased expression.

  "Hey, where's Xiu Er?" Su Xiao Hu only now realized that Su Hang had come out alone and hastily asked.

  "Oh no, I forgot about Xiuer!" Su Hao slapped his forehead and was about to rush into the county government office. He turned around, only to see Lu Xiuer walking out of the main gate, waving goodbye to someone inside while walking away. Su Hao didn't see who sent Lu Xiuer off, but caught a glimpse of a green skirt flashing from behind the door before it disappeared from view.

  "Brother, you're going out without calling me!" Lu Xiuer ran towards Su Hang, saying with a complaining tone. Her face was flushed, with suppressed excitement that couldn't be hidden.

  "Sorry, sorry, I forgot." Su Hao apologized repeatedly, "Xiuer, who sent you out?"

  "It's Miss Zhī of the county magistrate's family." said Lù Xiù ér.

  "Hasn't anyone bullied you?" Su Hao asked with concern.

  Lu Xiu'er pouted: "Of course not! The county magistrate's wife and the young lady of the county magistrate's family, they're so nice to me. They kept offering me food and took me to play in the backyard garden. I even went to the young lady's embroidery loft, which is 100 times more beautiful than Xiao Hong's embroidery loft."

  Lu Xiuer's "Little Red" refers to the daughter of Su Zhongjia, a wealthy landowner. The Su family was quite affluent and followed the example of other wealthy families by setting up an embroidery tower for their daughter, which wasn't actually a tower at all. Su Xiaohong herself didn't have any of the qualities expected of a young lady from a good family; she was even more unruly than Lu Xiuer. As for what her embroidery tower looked like, Su Hang could pretty much guess - it was probably even more terrifying than a boys' dormitory in a modern university.

  Lu Xiu'er was previously taken to Han Wen's inner courtyard by Yinger Honglian, and she was so scared that she didn't even know how to walk. After arriving at the inner courtyard, she met Han Wen's wife, Song Shi, and daughter, Han Qian. They chatted for a few sentences about family matters, and Lu Xiu'er gradually relaxed. Han Wen is a gentle and elegant person, and his family members are also of high quality. Lu Xiu'er was only a 15-year-old girl after all, without too many thoughts in her mind. Seeing others being kind to her, she quickly threw away her shyness.

  Hanwen's daughter, Han Qian, was one year older than Lu Xiuer. From a young age, she had been taught to read and write by her father and had a high level of talent. She saw Lu Xiuer's simple and innocent appearance and immediately took a liking to her. The two people chatted for only a few sentences before they started calling each other sisters. Han Qian had previously heard her father talk about Su Hang's story, and she was quite curious about this young scholar who could predict the water output of wells. Now that she saw the sister of this scholar, she naturally wouldn't let it go, and with just a few words, she managed to get Lu Xiuer to reveal all sorts of gossip about Su Hang, while Lu Xiuer herself remained completely unaware.

  Two people were having a great time when Han Wenzheng's men came in to inform them that Su Hang had already left and asked Lu Xiuer to follow him out. Han Qian did not let the maid send Lu Xiuer, but instead personally escorted her to the gate of the county government office. The social atmosphere of the late Ming Dynasty was very open, and a young lady like Han Qian was not confined to the boudoir all day, but could move around freely and show her face in public. The county government office was Han Qian's home, and she walked back and forth in it without needing to worry about anything.

  She sent Lu Xiuer to the gate and peeked outside, just as Su Hang turned around. She quickly dodged and avoided him, lowering her head and hurrying towards the inner courtyard, thinking to herself: This scholar is really so young...

  Su Hao stopped Lu Xiuer, who was chattering nonstop about the news from the county magistrate's inner courtyard, and said: "It's almost noon, let's go eat."

  "No, Brother Hao, I brought dry rations when I went out. Let's hurry back. Li Zhang said that after I finish my task, I should quickly drive the ox cart back, he has other uses for it." Su Xiaohu said.

  Su Hao nodded and said: "Alright, since that's the case, then Little Tiger, you can go back first. I'll stay here with Xiuer."

  "Ah?" Lu Xiuer exclaimed in surprise, "Brother, your matter hasn't been settled yet?"

  "The county magistrate's business is done, but there are still other things that haven't been taken care of." Su Hao said with a smile.

  "You came to the county town, wasn't it just to see Master County? Now that Master County has seen you, what else is there?" Lu Xiuer asked in puzzlement.