Chapter 109: The Culinary Tycoon

Like-minded People?

After a bumpy ride for about twenty minutes, the deputy county magistrate lifted the curtain and looked outside; they were still on the official road.

“Sir, did Lord Cai mention which village we’re going to?” the deputy county magistrate asked.

“He didn’t say,” Luo Mingda barely lifted his eyelids, showing obvious disinterest. Rural villages were mostly thatched houses, and once you entered, it was pitch-black like night during the day. He knew they were all pretty much the same, so there was nothing exciting to see.

The deputy county magistrate looked outside and said, “The villages on the western side of the city, the ones closer to the city, have better conditions and a slightly better standard of living for the villagers. The farther you go, the poorer it gets.”

Luo Mingda slightly opened his eyes and looked at the county magistrate. He asked, “How many decent villages have we passed by now?”

The deputy county magistrate nodded and said, “Based on the carriage’s route, it doesn’t seem like we’re heading into any village. I don’t know where Lord Cai wants to go.”

Luo Mingda closed his eyes again and said, “We’ll find out when we arrive. It’s not up to us to decide. Just go along with it.” In these matters, it was always the higher-ups who decided where to go.

The deputy county magistrate continued to look outside. After a while, he said, “We’re turning into a village road.”

Luo Mingda clearly felt that the road became more bumpy and frowned, asking, “Which village are we heading to?”

The county magistrate replied, “There are several villages in this area. The first one is called Niutou Village.”

“Oh,” Luo Mingda responded, thinking to himself that the name of the village was quite common.

After a while, the carriage came to a stop.

The deputy county magistrate saw Lord Cai and his group getting off in front and quickly said, “We’ve arrived. It’s Niutou Village.”

Luo Mingda opened his eyes.

The coachman outside opened the carriage door curtain and reminded them, “Gentlemen, we’ve arrived.”

Luo Mingda and the deputy county magistrate got off the carriage and were greeted by the sight of a newly built house made of blue bricks and tiles. This surprised Luo Mingda.

Luo Mingda blinked and said to the deputy county magistrate, “Are there such good houses in this village?”

The deputy county magistrate glanced at the house and then looked at the other houses in the village. He said, “This should be the house of Yu Qingze. He runs a shop in the city and earns a lot of money.”

“You said who?” Luo Mingda widened his eyes, thinking he misheard, and even rubbed his ears before asking again.

“It’s Yu Qingze, the owner of that restaurant you really like, Yu’s Delicious Delights, and House of Prosperity,” the deputy county magistrate answered.

“This is his house? He lives in the countryside?” Luo Mingda asked in astonishment.

The deputy county magistrate nodded and replied, “Yes, his registered residence is in Niutou Village.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier that he’s in Niutou Village?” Luo Mingda furrowed his brow. He didn’t expect Yu Qingze to live in the village. Since Yu Qingze is the sworn brother of the adopted son of the Cai family, Luo Mingda assumed he lived in the city. Why would the Cai family let their adopted son live in a village?

The deputy county magistrate felt wronged and said, “I thought you knew.” He couldn’t understand how Luo Mingda didn’t know when he frequently dined at Yu Qingze’s restaurant but came to ask about something he rarely visited.

Luo Mingda: …

“Hey, Lord Luo, Deputy County Magistrate, come over here, let’s go to the fields,” Lord Cai called out after standing for a while and noticing them whispering to each other.

Luo Mingda and the county magistrate walked over. They joined Lord Cai and headed towards the village together. deputy

Knowing that this was Yu Qingze’s village, Luo Mingda’s mood improved significantly. The frustration he felt earlier upon hearing about their visit to the village completely disappeared.

He speculated that considering Lord Cai’s relationship with Yu Qingze, they had come all the way to the village, so they should at least be treated to a meal for lunch, right?

With his improved mood, Luo Mingda began to think about other things. He walked up to Lord Cai and asked, “Sir, you’re so busy. Why did you decide to come and see the autumn harvest?”

With so many counties under the jurisdiction of the prefecture, why did they come to Tongshan? And among the many villages in Tongshan, why did they specifically come to Niutou Village, where Yu Qingze resided?

In fact, Lord Cai also took the opportunity to taste Yu Qingze’s culinary skills, didn’t he?

After pondering for a while, Luo Mingda came up with a seemingly logical conclusion.

“One is to observe the autumn harvest, and the other… well, it’s for something else. You’ll find out soon enough,” Lord Cai calmly replied.

Sure enough! Luo Mingda glanced at Lord Cai and thought to himself, “I didn’t expect Lord Cai to be one of us!”

At this moment, the villagers in the village were busy in the fields. Occasionally, someone would carry a load of grain back home, moving hurriedly.

A group of four or five-year-old children were playing outside. When they saw a group of people who clearly looked like city dwellers approaching, they curiously stopped and watched. But as soon as the group approached, the children immediately ran off.

At that moment, a man carrying a load of grain walked over. He didn’t recognize the group and could tell from their attire that they were not from the village.

He stopped and asked, “Honored guests, what brings you to Niutou Village?”

Lord Cai, upon hearing the question, smiled and replied, “Fellow villager, we are here to find Yu Qingze. His house is locked, and he’s probably busy in the fields. Could you please direct us to the fields?”

Upon hearing that they were looking for Yu Qingze, the man immediately understood. After all, there were no other people in the village who could be sought after by such visitors.

“Ah, so you’re here to find Aze,” the man said, turning around and pointing. “Just follow this road straight ahead, go to the side of the small creek, cross the creek, and take the road next to the big tree. Keep going straight, and you’ll reach the fields.”

“Oh, thank you,” Lord Cai smiled and thanked him.

The group quickly followed the directions given by the man and left the village. After crossing the small creek, the scenery ahead suddenly opened up. They were greeted by a vast expanse of neatly cultivated paddy fields, with golden rice swaying in the wind, creating a ripple-like effect.

Lord Cai took a deep breath and said, “Harvest time always brings excitement.”

Beside him was his attendant named Sun, whom Lord Cai respectfully addressed as Master Sun.

Master Sun chimed in, “Indeed, especially during the autumn harvest. Whether the people can have a good winter depends on this harvest.”

Lord Cai nodded in agreement.

Luo Mingda looked at the deputy county magistrate with confusion in his eyes.

The deputy county magistrate had been getting along with Luo Mingda for several months now, so he understood that Luo Mingda had questions.

He took a step forward and whispered an explanation in Luo Mingda’s ear, “After the autumn harvest, they have to wait until the summer harvest in June or July of the following year to reap again. It’s a long time, and they also have to pay taxes. The success or failure of the autumn harvest directly affects whether the villagers will have enough food to get through the winter and sustain themselves until the next summer harvest.”

“Oh…” Luo Mingda nodded, indicating that he understood. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “If the harvest is not good, will many people go hungry in the spring next year?”

The deputy county magistrate nodded.

Young Master Luo had never thought about these issues before. Even during times of war and turmoil, his family never experienced hunger. In his eyes, food was simply a matter of whether it tasted good or not, and the concept of scarcity or lack of food never crossed his mind.

Seeing the deputy county magistrate’s nod, he pondered.

He knew that the Ministry of Personnel assessed the performance of officials based on how well they governed the lives of the people under their jurisdiction, including whether there were many deaths from starvation. These were all aspects of the assessment.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

Lord Cai glanced at Luo Mingda, smiled, and said, “Let’s go, let’s go take a look.”

The group of them walked along the dirt road into the fields.

The villagers, seeing a group of people coming to the fields, watched them curiously, wanting to see who they were looking for.

Yu Qingze and the others were cutting the crops in a field closer to the foot of the mountain that morning. They were all squatting down, their bodies obscured by the rice stalks, making them difficult to spot.

After walking a considerable distance without finding Yu Qingze and the others, Lord Cai asked a man they met on the way.

Upon hearing the question, the man first pointed them in the right direction, but there was no one to be seen in that direction. So, he raised his voice and shouted, “Aze! Aze! Yu Qingze, people from the city are looking for you!”

Then, Lord Cai and the others saw that several dozen heads suddenly appeared among the golden rice stalks, all looking in their direction, and a few people stood up.

In the rice fields at the foot of the mountain, upon hearing the man’s voice, Yu Qingze and the others stood up and looked towards the road.

“Who is it?” Chang Hao shielded his eyes with his hand to block the sun as he looked in that direction.

The others were also looking.

“It seems like it’s my adoptive father and the county magistrate,” Jiabao squinted his eyes and observed before saying.

Upon hearing that it was Lord Cai and the county magistrate, Yu Qingze and the others were somewhat surprised.

Why did they come?

“I’ll go take a look. You guys continue cutting,” Yu Qingze said. They needed to finish cutting this field in the morning so they could use the threshing machine in the afternoon.

Yu Qingze stuck his sickle into the mud and walked towards the road.

On the other side, Lord Cai and his group were also walking towards them.

After walking on the dirt road, Lord Cai didn’t wait for his attendants to come and assist him. He went straight up onto the field ridge.

Luo Mingda frowned as he looked at the narrow field ridge. Why did they have to go down? Wouldn’t it be better to wait here for Yu Qingze to come?

Master Sun, the deputy county magistrate, and the two attendants were waiting for Luo Mingda to go first. Seeing that he didn’t move, the deputy county magistrate reminded him, “Sir? Should I go down first?”

Luo Mingda nodded.

The deputy county magistrate went down first, then reached out his arm to give Luo Mingda a helping hand.

Luo Mingda looked at Lord Cai, who had turned back, and had to lift his robe, grabbing onto the deputy county magistrate’s arm, and jumped down.

The two groups converged in an empty field.

Upon seeing the two officials, Yu Qingze bowed and asked, “Why have the two officials come into the village?”

Lord Cai smiled and said, “Well, it’s harvest season, so we came to see how everyone’s harvest is.”

Yu Qingze looked at the fields and replied, “It’s been okay this year. We haven’t encountered any natural disasters or major pest infestations. Everyone says it’s acceptable.”

In fact, in Yu Qingze’s eyes, the rice yield per mu here was really low, probably only around three to four hundred kilograms per mu. Unlike in his previous life, where he had hybrid rice developed by the team led by *Grandpa Yuan Longping, which could achieve yields of seven to eight hundred kilograms per mu, and the super hybrid rice even set a record of one thousand kilograms per mu. It could be said that with just one Grandpa Yuan Longping, over a billion people were fed!

(T/N: Grandpa Yuan Longping refers to a renowned Chinese scientist and agronomist known as the “Father of Hybrid Rice.”)

Upon hearing this, Lord Cai nodded repeatedly and said with a smile, “That’s good, that’s good.”

“Sir, the fields are dirty and messy. Let’s go back home to talk,” Yu Qingze said quickly as he saw Luo Mingda repeatedly rubbing the mud off his shoe soles on the straw.

Lord Cai followed his gaze and said, “No need. I brought Lord Luo here to experience the rural life. Lord Luo, Lord Luo…”

Luo Mingda was busy rubbing the mud off his shoes when he heard Lord Cai calling him. He suddenly looked up and asked, “What’s the matter, sir?”

“Stop rubbing, won’t you need to do it again later?” Lord Cai chuckled, shaking his head, and said.

That makes sense. Luo Mingda looked at his shoes with a conflicted expression, then rubbed them a few more times before walking over to Lord Cai’s side and asking, “Why are they harvesting the crops when the fields are still wet?”

Yu Qingze stepped on the field beneath his feet and smiled, “The villagers are used to a little mud. It’s not a big deal.” The field was only about 70-80% dry, so stepping on it would still bring up some mud. For someone like Luo Mingda, it was indeed quite dirty.

“It’s fine,” Lord Cai waved his hand and looked at Luo Mingda. He said, “Lord Luo, how about we go and help Aze and the others?”

“Huh?” Luo Mingda was bewildered, but since the governor had suggested it, he could only nod and say, “Oh, okay.”

Lord Cai suppressed a smile and said to Yu Qingze, “Let’s go, let’s go see your field.”

Yu Qingze understood why Lord Cai had brought Luo Mingda along. He nodded and took the lead, walking ahead.

Luo Mingda struggled to hold up his clothes and followed cautiously behind.

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Author’s Note:

Luo Mingda: So, Lord Cai, we’re in the same boat, huh?

Lord Cai: …Which boat?

Luo Mingda: We’re both willing to go the extra mile for a delicious meal!

Lord Cai helplessly shook his head: …This silly child doesn’t really understand the deeper meaning behind it all.

Thandar: What is the deeper meaning behind it all? I don’t understand either.