The next day, after Nan Ge Er got out of bed, he shockingly found Magistrate-daren, who shouldve already left the governnt office to cruise around outside, was in the hall, gazing thoughtfully at the fake mountain. Nan Ge Er, as he held onto the dirty laundry, was stunned at the sight and stopped in his tracks. What exactly is going on today?
Hearing Nan Ge Ers footsteps, Mo Shu turned his head over, smiling towards him, Nan Ge Er? Good morning.
Ah Nan Ge Er replied in a daze, Good morning, Daren.
Are you going to wash the laundry? Place it there, Ill wash it later. Mo Shu told him naturally.
Uh Nan Ge Er twitched the corner of his mouth, Well erm I had arranged with Aunty Wang, who should be cooking today. She will be helping to wash the laundry today. Observing Mo Shus expression, he quickly added, Erm, I will give her a few more dou1 of grains. He knew that Mo Shu disliked taking advantage of the townspeople, so he explained accordingly.
Of course, actually, to the affluent townspeople, a few dou of grains didnt an much, and couldnt really be considered a paynt. Their reason for helping was mostly because they wanted to help Mo Shu. The few dou of grains was just an offhanded paynt, not significant at all.
Nonetheless, Nan Ge Ers reply satisfied Mo Shu. He stopped focusing on that question and, instead, asked Nan Ge Er, In that case, is there enough grain at ho?
Enough to last till the new year. Nan Ge Er roughly estimated, That is if Daren stops giving reliefs out freely. He emphasized on the sentence. Truthfully, he felt that in the entire town, the one that needed relief the most was this Magistrate-daren.
Mo Shu gave a slightly awkward smile. Well, the weathers cold, dont stroll outside, quickly get back in.
Nan Ge Er asked curiously, Daren, you arent planning to go out today?
Mn, Mo Shu nodded, I cant keep doing work outside. There are also various matters for to take care of here. I cant constantly rely on secretaries either.
So, you do know that, as a magistrate, you shouldnt be cruising around?! Nan Ge Er rebuked in his heart. He truly felt that the managent in Guang Tian differed too much from other places. It wasnt as if Guang Tian was free of ergencies, but whenever one happened, Nan Ge Er would only see the concerned party rushing into the governnt office to report on the matter, and then rushing back, not even waiting there. The next day, the issue would sohow be resolved
If there werent any ergencies, Mo Shu would usually flip through the docunts and pen the situation down after getting back at night, then write an official report. In any case, he was awfully curious about how Magistrate-daren resolved all those major and minor matters.
Probably after winter and spring. Mo Shu contemplated, Im usually outside during sumr and autumn.
Is there any reason for that? Nan Ge Er opened his eyes wide. Was it because there was lots of farm work, so Mo Shu paid calls directly outside?
Mo Shu gave Nan Ge Er a strange look, I will go out whenever I want to go out for work. It is boring to keep on sitting around.
Nan Ge Er drew up the corners of his mouth, speechless. This guy is just purely hyperactive. Simple townsfolk, you are all fooled by his facade.
Im going to deliver the laundry. He didnt even want to say a word more to Mo Shu, turning and walking away.
Mn. Be careful on your way out; dont stay outside for too long, your body is weak. Mo Shu reminded before continuing to gaze at the fake mountain that was pretty much destroyed.
After taking a few steps, Nan Ge Er couldnt help but turn around, asking, Daren, what are you looking at? Is there a unique artistic conception on the fake mountain that is only visible to soone who has a peaceful state of mind like Mo Shu?
Mo Shu tilted his head and looked at Nan Ge Er, What am I looking at? Unexpectedly, he questioned Nan Ge Er back.
Nan Ge Er felt that he probably overestimated Mo Shu, but he still held so hope, scratching his chin, I saw you looking at the fake mountain.
Mo Shu nodded, Is that so? So you noticed it.
Listening to Mo Shu, Nan Ge Er thought he possibly misunderstood Mo Shu. Perhaps he really was musing on sothing.
So the direction where I was gazing at was towards the fake mountain. Mo Shu murmured.
Though the volu wasnt loud, Nan Ge Er was near him, so he obviously heard it. Rendered speechless, he turned and walked away. Daren, if you are that free, why dont you work on the governnt docunts? He threw the sentence to him.
Well, Im not adjusted to it yet. Mo Shu grumbled in dissatisfaction, Its so boring to just be in one place.
Im wrong, why in the world do I keep thinking that the guy is deep? Im a total idiot! Even though there wasnt much interaction between them, Nan Ge Er could be considered having quite a bit of knowledge about Mo Shus character as compared to other townsfolk. He believed Zhu Xi probably knew the guys empty-headed nature too, but just didnt reveal it. As for the yan runners and various governnt workers, along with the townsfolk They seed to have their eyes covered by bullshit. The Mo Shu they saw with their eyes was totally a saint.
No matter what that guy did, their eyes would beautify it subconsciously, overlooking the imperfections, endlessly magnifying the strengths, and then letting the best image of him appeared onto their eyes
Nan Ge Er believed that even if he spilled out Mo Shus true colors, everyone would still rationalize it, before solidifying Mo Shus saintly image in their hearts again. Anyway, Nan Ge Er didnt really plan on doing such an impractical thing.
Ah, Nan Ge Er. In front of Nan Ge Er was Advisor Zhu Xi, who approached him. Zhu Xi appeared to be rather anxious, only calming down a little after noticing him. He greeted him, Good morning.
Nan Ge Er nodded, Good morning, Xiansheng.
Look at your small stature. Zhu Xi walked the few steps over to Nan Ge Er and started tousling his hair, Have you seen Mo Shu?
In front of the fake mountain. Though Zhu Xi looks ferocious, Mo Shu didnt instruct not to tell on his whereabouts, right? Nan Ge Er sold Mo Shu out without any hesitation at that mont.
Hm hm, is that so?! Instead of working early in the morning, that goofball chose to just daze and stroll outside. Zhu Xi gnashed his teeth as he grunted, before reaching his hands out to pat Nan Ge Ers shoulders, Xiao Nan1, you did great, Gege thinks highly of you. while striding towards the direction where Nan Ge Er ca from without turning back.
Xiao Nan, is he referring to ? Also, Gege, were you mistaken? I dont rember having such a fierce brother like you Nan Ge Er was speechless as he looked at Zhu Xis figure leaving. Forget it, whatever; I should deliver the laundry to the aunty in the backyard.
Frankly, during the day, quite a few people were working in the governnt office. There were already eighteen yan runners, together with the nurous amounts of secretaries, low ranked runners and more; it could actually be considered a decent sized governnt. As the secretaries, accountants and yan runners didnt really have their al in the governnt office, so there were only those twenty or so people in the canteen.
As usual, Nan Ge Er was greeted all the way to the canteen; he placed the clothes evenly in the wooden tub, then bypassing the front door, he walked from the back door to the busy kitchen aunty.
Before he could even greet her, the kitchen aunty had already spun around, Nan Ge Er, youre just in ti. Ive roasted a corncob for you, its at the hearth, hurry and eat it up. It will be lunch soon, so you wont have any appetite to eat it later. That was also a routine; he would usually have various food shoved at him by the won in the kitchen whenever he got there.
Nan Ge Er guessed that it was probably because his body was seriously weak, coupled with how unlucky he looked, so it provoked the protective instinct in those wonIve placed the clothes in the big tub near the door, Aunty. Nan Ge Er docilely took the corn from the hearth.
Alright, Aunty will wash them after cooking, Ive cooked Nan Ge Ers favorites today, so you have to eat more, Nan Ge Er. As she talked, she took so ti to glance at Nan Ge Er, whose face paled a little from the cold, Look at your small stature.
I hate that phrase! Nan Ge Er was extrely gloomy. He held on the corncob while peeling off the outer leafy area, turning his indignation into appetite. Then, he casually moved over a small stool and sat on it, listening to the kitchen aunty gossiping endlessly on all types of matters in many households.
He realized sorrowfully that he seed to begin to love gossip as wellThe influence from fellow humans is indeed quite scary, isnt it? At the very least, I have already accepted this current lifestyle. Although I still rebuke myself sotis, strictly speaking, there isnt much to complain about.
Oh my, Nan Ge Er, you shouldnt eat that much, it will be hard to digest. A hand stuck out from the back, snatching the corncob that was only one-third eaten from Nan Ge Ers hands.
Nan Ge Er was dumbstruck as he turned his head to look at the fellow unscrupulously gnawing on the corncob that was taken away from him.
Mum, you are too biased. The fellow carelessly chewed on, while complaining to Aunty Wang who was cooking, You always give special favors to Nan Ge Er.
Aunty Wang threw a ladle at him, Rascal, look at the amount Nan Ge Er ate from the special favor I gave him; they are mostly in your stomach! You prodigal thing; isnt the food at ho enough for you? Why did you co over to snatch from Nan Ge Er?
Im Nan Ge Ers benefactor you know, Nan Ge Er always wanted to repay , whats the matter with eating a corncob? That fellow continued gnawing on the corncob swiftly, answering his mum unintelligibly as he dodged the ladle.
Yup, I was allegedly stranded at the shore. This Xia Jia Fu fellow noticed and carried to the governnt office. Nan Ge Er made a face as he looked at the shaless fellow gnawing at his snack. Who wants to repay you; youre too shaless.
Look at Nan Ge Ers small stature, do you have the heart to do that?! Aunty Wang raged, grabbing and throwing the kitchen knife at him this ti.
Woah! Xia Jia Fu dodged it by a hairs breadth, Mum, are you trying to kill ?!
Oh my, youve guessed correctly! Aunty Wang smiled coldly, Just in ti for cooking, Ill chop you up nicely and make you into dumplings.
Woah! Xia Jia Fu was startled by his moms sinister tone. Hence, he stopped his movent, lowering his head and looked at Nan Ge Er, who was sitting on the stool and glaring at him.
He really is tiny Xia Jia Fu muttered, before handing the corncob in his hands that was gnawed beyond recognition to him, Here.
Nan Ge Er looked at the corncob that only had a few kernels left on it, and lowered his head.
Woah, Nan Ge Er, dont be upset, Ill definitely send a bunch of delicious food to you next ti. Xia Jia Fu panicked. No, tomorrow. How about I send it over tomorrow? Please dont be angry, youre not a real man if you get angry, and youll beco a dried beansprout too.
Xia Jia Fu! Aunt Wang bellowed, Do you want to die?!
Ugh! Sorry sorry, Nan Ge Er! It wasnt on purpose! Xia Jia Fu kept apologizing again, Wait here, Ill imdiately get you sothing tasty.
I just couldnt be bothered to look at the corncob that was gnawed ssily, or should I say, I refused to take sothing that had been gnawed on by that fellow. Being angry is way too botherso. Nonetheless, since he assud that I am furious, and even planned on getting sothing delicious, I might as well just reluctantly accept that I am supposedly angry then. And, frankly, that mother and son, probably the whole town as well, do think that I look like a dried beansprout, dont they?!
T/N
1 Dou: a Chinese unit of asure for grain; equivalent to 1 decalitre
2 Xiao Nan: the advisor shortened Nan Ge Ers nickna from Nan Ge Er to Xiao Nan, the xiao aning little.
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