Farming and reading lady

Chapter 168 Sweet Potato Dinner Sing Conquer

Seeing Gu Xixian approaching, Yan Lida and Sun Jingyan bowed and saluted: "Greetings, County Lady!"

Although the person who was getting closer and closer seemed to be just a child, when they saw the county magistrate and his advisor bowing deeply, the mayor, village chief, and villagers dared not stand any more and fell to their knees in a rush. Gu Xixian was so frightened that he staggered and nearly fell into the ditch.

She smiled awkwardly, steadied herself, and raised her hand: "Don't be polite, everyone. Everyone who comes from afar is a guest. Manager Tong, please serve a few tables of sweet potato feast to everyone first. It may take until noon for this place to be ready."

"No, no, we have all brought dry food, please don't spend money, County Lady." County Magistrate Yan waved his hands quickly. With so many people, how much food would be needed?

Everyone lowered their heads and waved their hands. Although the young county lady looked quite amiable, could the noble lady's food be so delicious? What if she found fault?

Gu Xixian said with a smile: "Since you have all decided to grow sweet potatoes, wouldn't it be a joke if you still don't know what they taste like? Only after tasting them first can you have more confidence. This county lady can still afford to feed you a meal."

Having said this, County Magistrate Yan no longer declined, but bowed again and said, "Thank you very much for your hospitality, County Master."

After that, he led a group of people and followed Lidong. During this time, some people secretly looked up and saw, "Mom, the little girl with a smile and moist face looks like a fairy from a painting, so pretty, so the county lady looks like this." Oh, I'll have something to brag about when I return to the village!

Gu Xixian didn't know what everyone was thinking. She looked at the piles of sweet potato seedlings on the ground, and her mind was full of piles of gold. Hum, the stingy ancestor wanted to use the two handfuls of gold to "bribe" her. Was she a person who was short of money? He was really good at judging people through the cracks in the door.

The proud and coquettish Lady Gu put her hands behind her back, raised her chin slightly, turned up the corners of her eyes, and walked onto the stage with a figure-eight step, exuding the air of a king and a lord.

After rushing all the way without even a break, they were really hungry. Led by Lidong, they arrived in front of a building not far from the city gate. The waiter at the door had already greeted them with a smile: "Dear guests, please come in."

The ancient wood carvings on the door gave off a faint fragrance, and the floor inside the building was so shiny that you could see your face in it. Not to mention the village chief and villagers following behind, even County Magistrate Yan and Master Sun were a little hesitant. They subconsciously looked at their feet. The uppers of their shoes were dusty, not to mention the soles. They must be very dirty. Standing at the door, their feet could not move forward at all.

Lidong, who entered first, looked at them suspiciously and bowed again, "Sir, please come in!"

County Magistrate Yan laughed awkwardly: "Manager Tong, how about you find us a place to live and we can just eat the dry food we brought with us."

Everyone nodded and said in unison: "We can just eat the dry food we brought with us."

Lidong...what's wrong with you? Are you dissatisfied with the food in Guizong City?

Seeing that Manager Tong's brows were getting more and more furrowed, Master Sun quickly said, "Manager Tong, don't get me wrong. It's just that we are covered in dust and dirt from the journey, and we are afraid that we will dirty the floor in the hall."

Lidong glanced at the crowd. With the master in front, the crowd quickly agreed. It was unacceptable to make the noble unhappy.

"Your Excellency is worrying too much. Let's bring everyone in." Looking at these sincere and frightened faces, Lidong felt complicated. After thinking for a while, he brought up what Gu Xixian had just said: "Didn't the county lord say that if you don't even know the taste of sweet potatoes, how can you have the confidence to grow them well? You should not let our county lord down for her good intentions."

After hearing this, County Magistrate Yan no longer hesitated, flicked the corner of his robe, and stepped over the threshold. There were more than ten large tables in the hall, and the bowls and chopsticks were already placed at the edge of the tables.

"Please feel free to sit down. The waiter will serve the food soon." Lidong asked everyone to take their seats while asking the kitchen staff to serve the food.

As soon as everyone was seated, a dozen young men in uniform blue shirts came over with trays.

"Sesame sweet potato cakes, honey-roasted sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes with sugar, goat milk sweet potato cakes, sweet potato sugar pudding, sweet potato glutinous rice balls, red bean paste sweet potato cakes, sweet potato glutinous rice cakes, sweet potato pancakes, coconut shredded sweet potato glutinous rice balls... these are our ten sweet potato snacks." The waiter sang the names of the dishes as he served them: "Sweet potato vermicelli and old duck soup, ants climbing a tree..."

The table full of fragrant dishes made everyone feel like their noses were leaving home, but no one picked up their chopsticks. They felt guilty eating such exquisite dishes.

Lidong was sitting next to County Magistrate Yan. He first used his serving chopsticks to pick up a piece of honey-roasted sweet potato for the county magistrate and said, "This sweet potato snack is best eaten while it's hot. It tastes better. If you don't use your chopsticks, this delicious food will become tasteless and wasted."

After hearing what he said, everyone, led by County Magistrate Yan, raised their chopsticks. At first, everyone was still reserved, but after a while, chopsticks were flying all over the table. This was delicious, that was delicious, all were delicious... We were all farmers, and we didn't have the time to eat slowly, let alone facing such a large table of delicious food. How could we control the speed? It was no exaggeration to say that we devoured it all in a whirlwind.

However, Gu Xixian had people prepare large plates, and by the time the food on the table was almost finished, everyone's stomachs were already full. They burped with satisfaction one after another. Many people lowered their heads in embarrassment, as this was probably the best meal they had ever had in their lives.

Li Dong wiped his mouth politely and asked with a smile: "Now, are you more confident in the sweet potatoes you grow?"

This time, the county magistrate didn't need to take the lead. Everyone began to speak and gave the sweet potatoes five-star reviews.

"Our county lady asked me to tell you one more thing." Lidong paused as he looked at everyone.

His eyes gathered quickly, and he looked worried...

"Our county chief said that since you are the first county to respond to the call to grow sweet potatoes in northern Xinjiang, the county chief will give you the right to exchange sweet potato products," said Li Dong.

"What do you mean? I don't understand." said a young man with a loud voice and who was not afraid of strangers.

"You can use the sweet potatoes you grow to exchange for a certain amount of sweet potato products from our workshop, such as the sweet potato noodles and sweet potato snacks you just ate. The price is 10% lower than what we sell to merchants." Lidong felt that his county lady was really kind-hearted. Even though it was only 10%, it was still a considerable amount. Thinking of this, he added: "But I have to say this in advance. This thing is exchanged for you at a low price, and you can only eat it at home. If we find that you exchange it at a low price here and resell it to others there, disrupting our market price, then I'm sorry, we will no longer accept sweet potatoes from your village."

County Magistrate Yan also said solemnly, "Everyone has heard it. The lady of the county gave you face, but you lost it. Don't blame me for being ruthless. It just so happens that the village heads are all here, so we don't need to send people to tell them to control their own people and don't lose face for Changying County."

Except for a few mayors who looked unhappy, everyone else nodded hurriedly. They would not do such an ungrateful thing. Lidong saw all of this, and he calmly noted down those people with strange expressions.

He then offered another sweet treat: "But our county lord also said that if any of you want to buy goods from us and sell them, that's fine, just follow the regular procedures. If you have the ability to open routes to neighboring countries, we can also provide price support."

Those who were quick-witted were secretly calculating in their minds. Even those village heads who looked honest and simple had their own plans in their minds. Which village didn't have someone with a quick mind?