Magistrate Gao couldn't explain clearly, and he himself was full of questions.
Why does this old lady run away as soon as she sees him?
Facing the closed door, Qi Yan was silent for a moment, and his eyes that were fixed on Magistrate Gao's face slowly moved away.
For half an hour, they politely communicated with the people inside the house and knocked on the door, but no one responded.
Qi Yan raised his eyes and glanced at Magistrate Gao again.
Magistrate Gao felt a chill in his heart and couldn't express the pain in his heart.
It's good now, he has to be written down by Qi Yan again.
In the end, they gave up on this house and knocked on the door at another house. The person who opened the door was an old man who looked very old and had cloudy eyes.
"You said you're here to bring warmth, can you give me a piece of steamed bun first?"
"I haven't eaten for almost a day. The food at home ran out yesterday..."
Qi Yan turned his eyes, Lai Che understood, took out a piece of cooking cake that he had eaten on the way, and handed it to the old man.
When the old man saw the food, his eyes lit up. He stuffed it into his mouth without even looking at it, and swallowed it with almost no chewing.
"Is there...any more?"
The old man asked tentatively.
Qi Yan stopped Lai Che's hand to take it again, looked at the old man and confirmed, "Yes, but I want to ask you a few questions. If you answer them truthfully, all the cakes will be yours."
The old man nodded hurriedly: "You ask, you ask."
After some negotiation, Qi Yan's eyes gradually darkened.
The old man sighed: "You officials just came from Mrs. Liu's side, right? I heard you. If I weren't about to starve to death, I wouldn't open the door."
"Old Mrs. Liu used to have a very heroic son in her family. When he was around, we were not afraid of bad guys coming when we were planting the fields and harvesting the harvest. But last year, Mrs. Liu's son was arrested and raped..."
Last year was the most severe war in northern Xinjiang, and all regions were affected by it.
Not only did the young and vigorous people take the initiative to join the army, but also officials from various places who were overwhelmed by the military conscription orders carried out forced conscription, which was also called "catching young men".
Qi Yan frowned. He had been on the front line when these things happened, and he didn't have the opportunity to go down to the grassroots to find out.
"Old Mrs. Liu has a weird temper, but she is also a pitiful person. I don't think this official is good at bluffing, so...can I take away the package of cooking cakes?"
The old man looked at the cloth bag containing the cooking cakes with deep longing in his eyes.
Qi Yan waved his hand.
After receiving the cooking cake, the old man wanted to smile, but as soon as he raised the corner of his mouth, he dropped it again.
He muttered: "Well, I'm so old that I can't survive even a few days with food. Why don't I give it to Mrs. Liu? She also has a grandson. The little one will definitely live longer than us old guys.
.”
The old man raised his eyes and saw that they hadn't left yet, so he subconsciously asked: "The officials have finished asking questions, why haven't they left yet?"
But he saw Qi Yan staring deeply at the cake in his hand.
The old man was startled and hurriedly hid the cooking cake behind him and said: "Hey, since the official has given this cooking cake to me, I can decide who to give it to, right? You are not in high official position, so you don't want to ask for it again.
go back."
Qi Yan shook his head: "No."
"Since it's given to you, you can do whatever you want with it."
"The reason why we stay here is because there is something we haven't given to you."
He took out a bag of seedlings that had been replaced and stuffed it into the old man's hand.
At the same time, there are three strings of copper coins in the bag.
The old man suddenly received such a huge sum of money and his brows trembled.
"This, this, this...can't be done, can't be done!"
"Three strings of copper coins are enough for people like us to live for a quarter. I won't get credit for no work. It's too much money. I can't take it."
He tried his best to resist the gaze attracted by the copper coins, and said silently in his heart, if you have money, you can use it to make a fool of yourself, if you have money, you can have a bad conscience!
He is going to starve to death, but it is his life, don't expect it...
"Take it."
Qi Yan chuckled: "I don't give you these for free."
"You can understand that you will have to work for me in the future. Have you seen the seeds? I want you to go back to your old business and grow the best crops."
"Three strings of copper coins are the first labor fee paid to you. Once the seeds have sprouted and are effective, I will continue to pay you."
"We have prepared many copies of the same thing and will only give them to common people with experienced skills. If you are willing, can you call them out to get them?"
The old man was stunned for a long time.
His hands were trembling, and the emotions in his eyes were changing wildly, from ecstasy to suspicion.
Finally, he swallowed his saliva and asked, "Master, we have quite a few skilled people here."
There are only a handful of rich people in this area, but there are too many poor people, or poor people who are driven crazy by taxes.
Their poverty is not that they are poor in the first place, but that they are overwhelmed by excessive burdens and cannot breathe, so they become more degraded and decadent.
Qi Yan smiled slightly: "Don't worry, I will give you whatever you ask for."
He turned sideways to let Magistrate Gao out, and the smile in his eyes deepened.
"After all, Magistrate Gao has given away all his wealth, so he can take care of whatever he wants."
Magistrate Gao was expressionless and even wanted to laugh.
The old man's eyelids twitched, and his eyes clearly expressed a certain meaning.
When will Zhou Papi become kind-hearted?
But when his eyes turned back to Qi Yan and looked into his firm and smiling eyes, the old man understood.
"May I ask, sir, who are you..."
Qi Yan's voice was clear: "I come from the Qi family in the capital."
Old man: "!!!"
He lowered his head and wolfed down another pancake on the spot. After swallowing it, he roared loudly.
"Everyone, come quickly! Someone from the Qi family in the capital has come to give us seeds and copper coins, and they want to hire us to farm the land!"
The old man took another bite of the cooking cake and shouted: "I ate the cooking cake given by Master Qi! Don't be afraid. County Magistrate Gao is afraid of Master Qi, and he will not do anything to us."
Magistrate Gao: "..."
Zhou Luoyu's eyes widened and he was amazed by the old man's changing attitude.
Moreover, after the old man yelled so unreliably, someone actually came out.
Zhou Luoyu couldn't help but ask: "What do you mean? What happened to the Qi family in the capital? Do you trust the Qi family so much?"
The old man raised his eyes and looked, oh, the person in front of him was a wealthy young man from a certain family. The sight of this pink-faced scholar made him subconsciously regard him as a person who only knew how to spend money but had no knowledge.
Suddenly, the old man raised his head and said, "You don't even know about the Qi family? It is a brave family of three generations of military generals!"
The old man kept talking, and the more Zhou Luoyu listened, the darker his face became.
Qi Yan turned his head, just to communicate with the newly arrived people for a while, and then looked back at Zhou Luoyu, who looked like an eggplant beaten by frost.
Very wilted.
Qi Yan didn't pay attention and turned to reply to the old man.
The old man completely let down his guard now and followed him, chattering about various things on his own initiative.
Qi Yan's eyes were strange and he couldn't help but ask: "I don't seem to have shown you any identity documents. Why do you believe me when I tell you?"
The old man paused and grinned.
"Except for the Qi family, who would dare to admit that they are related to the Qi family in such a situation."
"Although we stay behind closed doors, it concerns the Qi family. Everyone knows it in their hearts without saying anything."