Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

Chapter 367 Who Cares About This

The new street in Beishan County is formally called Xing'an Street. Before winter came, Zuo Datou led his men to dig the foundation.

On the planned land, people from all over the county are busy.

Although it is busy, everything is organized. It is clear who does what, what group they are assigned to, and who is in charge.

After nearly two years of getting along, the county government and the people have already reached a tacit understanding.

By September 20th, the weather was getting colder.

The life of the group of gamblers who were chopping wood in Xishan became increasingly difficult. They were cold and hungry every day, and there was endless work to do. If they moved a little slower, they would be whipped. After a few days, these gamblers were almost skinned alive.

Zheng Linsheng now looked quite pitiful, carrying firewood in his hands and humming continuously. Having lived to this age, he finally knew what bitterness felt like.

He didn't know when such days would end. He thought it would be better to just die. But if he really wanted to die, he would never dare to.

Therefore, he began to resent Zheng Jiasheng in his heart, blaming him for not trying to save him. Of course, he didn't know that Zheng Jiasheng wanted to exchange his daughter for his heart. He kept imagining the good days of Zheng Jiasheng lying at home. The more he imagined, the more he resented his second brother.

However, no matter what he thought in his heart, the people around him didn't care. His cellmates only wanted to steal his food, and the bailiffs didn't even look at him.

He was full of complaints here, but elsewhere he was meeting his family and was filled with joy.

"Laosan! Laosan!" Before Zeng Dashu got close, he recognized Zeng Laosan who was pushing a cart in the crowd.

When Zeng Laosan heard the voice, he waved at him and responded loudly, "Big Brother!"

"Oh, it's the eldest son's voice." Zeng's mother wiped her tears with joy. Seeing her son running towards her, she hurried to meet him.

Finally, the mother and son stood face to face. They hadn't seen each other for almost a year. Zeng's mother tried hard to see the person clearly.

"Mom!" Zeng Dashu firmly grasped the hand that Zeng's mother extended to him. He could tell at a glance that his mother had aged a lot. "Are you okay?"

"Okay!" Zeng Lao Niang nodded, "I'm fine."

The touching scene of the mother and son meeting did not last long, and a voice nearby interrupted and asked, "Why don't you see your eldest sister-in-law? Are you hiding from your husband's family?"

As soon as Chi Chunmei spoke, the smile on Zeng Dashu's face disappeared instantly.

"Second sister-in-law." Zeng Laosan put down the cart in his hand, "If you have strength, don't use it on your mouth, it would be better to push the cart."

Chi Chunmei rolled her eyes at Zeng Lao San. Although she didn't say anything else, her expression was enough to make people angry.

Zeng Dashu didn't respond or say hello to her. He just ignored Chi Chunmei and patted Zeng Laosan with one hand, "Laosan, thank you for your hard work on the way here."

After he finished speaking, he nodded to Zeng Lao Er, the last one, and said, "Lao Er."

Zeng Laoer looked unwell. I don’t know if he was tired or feeling uncomfortable.

Zeng Dashu ignored him and bent down to help Zeng Laosan push the cart. "I'll take you to the registration place. Once there, the government will arrange a temporary house for you and give you dinner. You don't have to cook today."

"That's great!" Zeng Lao San said with a smile, "Such a good thing has just happened when we got here."

"It was the same when we came back then. Not only did we have dinner, but the place we stayed in also had hot water, firewood, and lamp oil. Although it wasn't much, it was great that the government was concerned about us common people."

Seeing his mother wanted to help push the cart, Zeng Dashu quickly advised: "Mom, I can push it. There's not much road left. Ask the third child to help you walk."

Sure enough, they didn't walk for long before they arrived in front of a row of earthen houses. It was a very long row of earthen houses, and at a glance it was impossible to tell how many doors there were.

Soon, an officer came over and asked about their situation and looked at the pass in their hands. Then, the officer wrote two words on their pass, stamped it, and pointed to a room for them. "Stay in that room. Be sure to keep the pass safe. You will need to hand it in to the government office later." Zeng Lao San hurriedly held out the pass and said, "I'll give it to you now."

"No, no." Before the yamen runner could say anything, Zeng Dashu explained, "This runner is only responsible for checking the situation. The pass should be handed over to other runners."

The yamen runner on the other side recognized Zeng Dashu and asked, "Is this your family?"

"Yes, my mother and my two brothers."

"With you here, I save a lot of trouble. Just go and do it yourself." The bailiff patted Zeng Dashu on the shoulder and left.

Zeng Lao San was surprised, "Brother, do you know the errand boy just now?"

"After all, I've been here for almost a year, so I'll be familiar with everyone. Let's go."

After leading them into the house, Zeng Lao Niang touched the stove and found it was still hot. She opened the lid and saw a pot full of hot water, a small dish of lamp oil on the stove, and a bundle of firewood next to the stove.

Everything his son had mentioned before was indeed in this room.

"Mom, second brother, sister-in-law, you guys go rest inside and hand in the pass later, and I'll take the third brother over."

"Hey!"

Before the three of them entered the inner room, Zeng Laoer spoke up, "There's only so much space inside, how are we going to live? Lao San is already this old, he can't sleep in the same room with his sister-in-law, right?"

"There aren't enough houses for the family to stay in. Each family member can only get one room." Zeng Lao Da kindly thought of a solution, "If it's really inconvenient, the third child can live in my house."

Just as Chi Chunmei was about to speak, Zeng Laosan said, "No need! I can sleep in the outer room. I just got here, and it's good to have a room like this to keep out the wind and rain."

"You sleep in the outer room?" Zeng Lao Er said disapprovingly, "Once this door is closed, who outside will know where you sleep?"

Zeng Lao San didn't get angry and replied, "It's enough for you to know.

If you really want fame, you can ask your second sister-in-law to sleep outside so that everyone can see where and how she sleeps. "

"You!" Zeng Laoer was so angry that he wanted to hit him, but was stopped by Zeng Laonian who was in the middle.

Zeng Lao San snorted coldly, "You are dirty at heart, and you think everyone is dirty. Who of the people living here cares about this!"

Zeng's mother pretended to hit him twice and said, "Stop talking!"

Zeng Laoer was so angry that his face turned red. After a long while, he managed to say, "Okay, now that you've grown up, you can bully me, right?"

"I bullied you? You really have no conscience to say that. Did you push that cart of stuff here? Did I sit on the cart and let you push it?"

"Stop talking! Stop talking!" What annoyed Zeng Lao Niang the most was Zeng Lao San's mouth.

The family had just arrived and before they had time to rest, they started quarreling.

Boss Zeng now sees clearly that it was the second brother who provoked the trouble, and the third brother, who doesn't want to suffer a loss verbally, will naturally fight back.

No one wanted to bully the second brother, but he just felt that he was being bullied because he was weak and he was right.

Zeng Lao Er sat on the kang, looking like everyone owed him something. Zeng Lao San ignored him, took the pass and walked out with Zeng Dashu.

"I'm really fed up with him." Zeng Lao San said to Zeng Lao Da, "If I get married in the future, I will never associate with him."