Zhou Man picked up his teacup and took a sip of water before looking up at Aunt Qi.
Aunt Qi was also raising her head to look at Zhou Man. Their eyes met. Zhou Man raised the corner of his mouth slightly and looked at her quietly with a warm expression on his face. But Aunt Qi swallowed nervously, her knees softened, and the whole The person slipped from the chair and fell to the ground, kneeling on the ground.
Zhou Man's complexion didn't change much, and he took another sip of tea before putting down the cup.
In the silence of the room, the soft sound of the teacup being placed on the table was particularly loud, and Aunt Qi couldn't help shaking.
Bai Shan couldn't help being curious, "I don't seem very courageous, how can I have the courage to do such a thing?"
Before that, Bai Shan had never met Aunt Qi, but Zhou Man mentioned that she was calm and composed when she stopped the car to let her take in Miss Lu, but she didn't act very well. Eyes full of loopholes.
Not to mention that there is Mingda beside her who grew up in a deep palace, her thoughts are transparent in Mingda's eyes.
Mingda and Zhou Man don't care about others playing tricks in front of them, as long as there is no malice, they are willing to accept their tricks for a better life, if they can help, they will help, if they can't, just refuse.
It's just that as soon as Aunt Qi appeared, they felt the sense of disobedience of forcing them, so they let people stare at her.
Aunt Qi trembled.
Bai Shan straightened his face, and said in a deep voice, "Speak."
Aunt Qi kowtowed, tears streaming down her face, "I beg your lord to spare your life, slave, slave was forced."
Bai Shan said: "Let's start from the beginning, the county is all ears."
Both Zhou Man and Ming Da were ready to listen.
Aunt Qi paused for a while before saying: "I am from Qizhou..."
They knew this. After Zhou Man and Ming Da suspected that she had bad intentions, Bai Shan asked someone to go to Qizhou to check, anyway, it was not far from Qingzhou.
But the fact found is that their mother and daughter are indeed from Qizhou, and the information she gave is not false.
Aunt Qi wiped her tears and said: "My man died early, leaving us orphans and widows. She is not a son. My husband's family and clan always dislike us and want me to remarry."
"I didn't want to, so they called my natal family to tie me back," Aunt Qi said, "My husband and I only have one daughter, how could I be willing to leave her behind and remarry alone? There happened to be a way out when the trouble was at its worst. The merchants in the village rescued me, gave me some money, and asked me to bring my daughter to Beihai County."
She paused, her voice lowered, "He asked Nu to come to Beihai County to find out some news, and in the future, he only needs to pass the news to him, and after three years, he will give us mother and daughter one hundred taels."
Aunt Qi said: "One hundred taels, you can build a small courtyard in a village, and the rest of the money can be used to find a son-in-law for my daughter, which is enough for us and my wife to live a lifetime."
Bai Shan asked, "What news does he want to inquire about?"
"Just tell me that I must enter the weaving workshop, and then I will take over the job of delivering clothes to the salt field, and I will talk about the rest later." Aunt Qi hurriedly said: "But I can't enter the weaving workshop, and I have no news for him. .”
"How many times has the merchant contacted you?"
"Three times, but only once in person." Qi Da Niang said quickly: "I didn't say anything. I have been working in the village. I don't know anything about the weaving workshop and the salt field. They didn't ask me anything at first. …”
The other party didn't seem to expect Aunt Qi to be of much use. After she came to Beihai and settled down, someone contacted her quietly. Hearing that she couldn't get into the weaving workshop or the salt field, she didn't say anything when she could only stay in the village. What, just let her continue to work on Zhuangzi, so as not to make people suspicious.
She took the initiative to contact her for the second time, because she was assigned to Shunping Village at that time, and she was actually worried, and she didn't want to continue doing this job anymore.
Aunt Qi wiped her tears and said: "Your Excellency is kind to our mother and daughter. It not only allows us to have a place to stay, but also allows us to make money. I already want to stay here from the bottom of my heart, so I went to that person to say no." done."
"But he threatened me that if he was disobedient, he would not only report on me with the adults, but also let us die without anyone noticing. I, I am really afraid, so I dare not speak out." Qi Da Niang said : "But after we went to Shunping Village, no one came to see me again, and I, I didn't come to the county again..."
At that time, Aunt Qi thought it would be good to be transferred to Shunping Village. As long as she never came to the county town and the person in the county town never came to her, then it would be as if this incident never happened.
Both Bai Shan and Zhou Man were stunned that there are such naive people in this world.
Bai Shan finally knew why she wanted to marry Zhu Liulang, so she felt that it was all right.
Bai Shan asked: "The last time the merchant came to you personally, what did you say? In a nutshell, you can't add or subtract."
Aunt Qi told Bai Shan exactly what the merchant said at that time, and she could even remember his demeanor at that time clearly.
Bai Shan and Zhou Man raised their eyebrows, and even Ming Da looked up at Aunt Qi in surprise.
No wonder the merchant would choose Mrs. Qi to do the meticulous work, which is indeed a rare skill.
The businessman came to Aunt Qi not to ask about the salt field, but to ask about everything she knew about Beihai County, including some rumors about Bai Shan Zhouman, the situation of Guantian Zhuangzi, etc. He asked Aunt Qi everything she knew.
But Aunt Qi said: "But I dare not tell him everything, I just said that I have been working in the village and can't go out, so I don't know much, just, I only talked about some things about farming in the village, and others Didn't say anything."
Bai Shan asked: "I heard that he stayed in Zhuangzi for an extra day, what did he do that day?"
"I didn't do anything, I just wandered around in the field, and I was looking for someone to inquire about the employment here," Aunt Qi said: "I don't think he trusts me very much, so I asked the people in the village for news. .”
Bai Shan frowned, "Where is he wandering around?"
Aunt Qi said: "It's just walking around the place where rice and wheat are grown. Oh, it was harvesting wheat at that time, so he went to see us harvesting wheat."
This year, all the official fields in Beihai County use new wheat varieties, and many villages also plant some new wheat varieties, and the harvests are good.
But the most important thing is that this year, new rice seeds were planted in the official fields of Beihai County. Because the number of seeds was limited, not all of them were planted, but it was also guaranteed that at least ten mu of land in each Zhuangzi was planted with new rice seeds.
Bai Shan's working fields have all used new rice seeds.
Bai Shan looked at Aunt Qi deeply, and asked, "How is the rice in the field this year?"
Aunt Qi was stunned for a moment, she didn't understand why she brought this up suddenly, but she still said: "Although there was a bit of drought a while ago, it's not bad, I think the earing is pretty good."
Bai Shan raised his eyebrows, looked at Zhou Man, and asked, "Who is in charge of the new rice fields in Zhuangzi?"
"The steward is personally responsible."
Only then did Bai Shan nod his head in satisfaction, and feel a little relieved.