Chapter 239: Disappeared
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
He was still the same as before. Every time he brought people back, he would take saplings from Qiao Mai. But this year, he had twice as many as last year.
One could only blame Qiao Mai for being careless. After the New Year, she went to County She and gave him a hundred thousand silver.
With money in his hands, he had the energy to do anything.
He bought all the land in the county which is more than 50 acres in area.
He gathered the poor families of every village, including Liu Mei’s husband. Each person received 30 coins a day. Where else could they find such a good job?
Digging holes to plant pine trees was not a difficult job. She County had been bustling ever since the new year.
The county governor was capable. Other than trying cases, he also wanted the people to have work and earn money.
When County Governor Zhu heard this, his heart ached again.
Who would give him so much money every year? He could also let the people have work and money to earn. Not everyone has such a capable wife.
County She had set off a tree-planting frenzy. The commoners could always see the county governor patrolling with officials.
He had to check whether the saplings were up to standard and whether they used the water provided by Qiao Mai. They had to check everything carefully. No one dared to cut corners.
He found that as long as one watered the nutrient solution his wife gave him, the sapling could be uprooted in three days. Therefore, he could tell at a glance whether it had been watered.
For those who were lazy and cunning, they would never be hired again once discovered.
He divided the workers into groups of ten. Each group had a foreman who was in charge of a place. If they did well, they would be rewarded.
This motivated the workers even more. He asked them to move some stones in the field to the periphery and build a wall with mud. Before the trees became mature, they had to be protected.
Some unconsciously wanted to reap without sowing, even slacking off while chopping firewood.
However, pine trees were different from other trees. They were green all year round. Few people used their branches as firewood, but pine needles dried in the sun were fine.
Qiao Mai had planned to build a few workshops in County She two years later to specialize in processing pine oil and pine nuts.
All of them were manually operated, which could solve a portion of the labor force employment.
She still had to study some of the tools. She couldn’t let the workers dig with their hands, right?
In addition, she had to start planning now. Qiao Mai had to write down the blueprints of the workshop and calculate the manpower.
She sighed. Yuan Jiaqi was always looking for trouble for her. Did he think it would be over once he planted the tree?
Ever since the beginning of spring, she would secretly go to County She to check and use the spatial cheat device to water the trees.
The pine trees planted last year were already three meters tall. The workers trimmed the branches at the bottom. When they grew to five meters tall, they cut the branches at the top and let them grow wider.
If it were too high, it would not be easy to pick fruits. If it were too low, it would not be suitable for later use as wood.
She wrote some notes on the maintenance of pine trees for Yuan Jiaqi and asked him to form a forest ranger to trim the pine trees yearly.
From now on, he would have to train more people.
She did some calculations. There were at least 200 to 300 people in the tens of thousands of acres of pine forest.
Each of these workers was paid a tael of silver. Three hundred people would be three hundred taels of silver, which is nearly four thousand taels of silver a year.
In the early stages, she had already spent 50,000 taels of silver to buy the wasteland. There were also three years of labor costs. Her saplings were not even counted. She had spent 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver. How could she leave it alone?
When she set up a workshop, she would have more people to raise. Qiao Mai scratched her head in frustration. She wanted to grab Yuan Jiaqi and give him a good beating.
At night, Qiao Mai was frustrated and had nothing better to do. She visited the Qian family and wanted to see how the couple was doing. She did not expect to see Lu Ruxin at the Qian family’s house.
Did something happen to Lu Ruxin while she was busy?
She learned about the situation from the conversation between Mayor Qian and Lu Sanniang. She was speechless.
Lu Ruxin was really daring. It was one thing for her to support a poor lover, but she entangled herself with someone she could not afford to offend. She even asked Mayor Qian and Lu Sanniang to clean up her mess.
When she arrived, Mayor Qian was comforting Lu Sanniang,
“Don’t overthink it. I’ve sent people to investigate the Chen family. Once I find out their unspeakable secrets, I’ll take care of them.”
“It won’t cause you trouble, right?”
“No. Don’t look at the ten thousand taels of silver that they paid. They won’t let this matter go. Don’t worry. I’m secretly doing this; they won’t know.”
Qiao Mai pursed her lips. This was all ordinary people could do. How slow was that? She would have finished it long ago.
At this moment, Mayor Qian took out the pill and handed it to Lu Sanniang.
“Come and take your medicine. Madam Qiao got this with great difficulty. It is great for recuperating your body so we can have a son and a daughter.”
Lu Sanniang leaned into his arms gently. “I’m sorry for making you wait for so many years.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s my family’s fault. Now, it’s finally okay. We can finally be together.”
Qiao Mai couldn’t bear to watch them being so intimate and loving.
She stood on the roof of the Qian family’s house and looked at Wei City. “The Chen family of the prefecture, the eldest young master Chen Kai? Casanova by nature? Very good. In a while, I will make you lose your lust.”
She disappeared in a flash. After fifteen minutes, she appeared above the Chen family in Wei City and looked down.
“The Chen family seems to be the only one, right?”
Thus, she wandered around the Chen family’s backyard. At this hour, most people were asleep. Only one or two courtyards were lit up.
She looked at a courtyard and saw a few servant girls sitting around drinking and chatting. She then went to another courtyard.
The lights in the upper bedroom were on. She didn’t need to poke the window paper to see the scene and sound inside clearly.
“Wife, I’ve made you suffer this time!”
“Hmph, I didn’t expect that b*tch to have something to do with the Qian family. She got off easy.”
“I didn’t expect it either. I put in a lot of effort on her. Other than getting her body, I didn’t get anything. This woman is always on guard against me.” “Didn’t you say that she loved you to death?”
“When she got wild, she kept asking for it. At that time, she would nod at whatever I said. Once it was over, she wouldn’t admit anything. It was difficult to get any money from her.”
“This time, I’ve lost ten thousand taels of silver. My dowry is almost empty. If this continues, we’ll not make ends meet.”
“Don’t worry. Lu Ruxin can’t escape from me. She’ll submit obediently sooner or later.”
Qiao Mai blinked when she heard Lu Ruxin’s name. She did not come here today to avenge Lu Ruxin.
She was willing to solve such a small matter for Mayor Qian and Lu Sanniang.
Moreover, she was not at a disadvantage.
That night, not only was the Chen family in the prefecture robbed, but Chen Kai’s manly part was also missing.
It doesn’t hurt or itch. It’s gone just like that. Isn’t it strange?
There was no movement throughout the night. In the morning, when the servant girl was helping the master wash up, she realized the accessories on her head, ears, and wrists were gone.
It was clean. In other words, as long as it was silver, gold, banknotes, or something valuable, it was all gone.
Even the blue and white porcelain vases in the living room that the Chen family used as a status symbol were gone.
Qiao Mai had to support a bunch of people now, and there would be more and more. She needed money. A family like this should be poor.
Therefore, she found an excuse to rob them.
The Chen family was in great trouble. Magistrate Wang had brought officials to their house. This was the strangest case he had seen since he became a magistrate.
There was no movement, no detection, and no clues. Even Chen Kai’s manly part was the same. How was he supposed to investigate?
Could it be attributed to demons and ghosts? He felt that it was inappropriate.
If they were to say it was done by their enemies, it didn’t seem like it. If their enemies were so vicious, their family would have lost their lives long ago..
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