My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 102 Returning to Xinping Village

As soon as Lin Ziping arrived at the entrance of Xinping Village, he was stopped by a group of children holding bamboo poles. They were the same group of children from last time.

"Who are you?" The leader of the children gripped the bamboo pole tightly, his wary gaze fixed on Lin Ziping.

Lin Ziping had been to Xinping Village before and had seen this kind of scene before, so he wasn't surprised. He got off the Wuling Hongguang, took out the transfer document given to him by the clerk's office, and said, "I am a person sent by the county government to see your village head, Cui. This is my document. Go and inform him quickly."

The children looked at each other without saying a word.

After a long pause, the boy in the lead said, "You say you're from the county government, what proof do you have?"

These kids are pretty alert! Lin Ziping leaned against the Wuling Hongguang and looked at the kids standing at the front, saying, "Whether it is or not, you'll know once you call the village head out. I'm right here, I can't run away, and there are so many of you."

After speaking, Lin Ziping glanced around.

The children looked at each other, and the last little girl ran off into the village with a "da da" sound.

Seeing the children's tense demeanor, Lin Ziping's previously depressed mood in Pingding Village involuntarily eased. He grabbed a handful of dry grass from the roadside and put it into the mouth of the "Wuling Hongguang," which repeatedly dodged and made "ah ah ah—uh—" sounds.

“Your donkey doesn’t want to eat grass!” a child in the crowd shouted.

Lin Ziping looked over and saw a little boy with two pigtails. Although his clothes were old, they were relatively clean.

Seeing Lin Ziping continue feeding the donkey grass, the little boy repeated, "It doesn't want to eat grass!"

"How did you know?" Lin Ziping had been thinking that the donkey hadn't eaten all morning, so he was going to get some grass for it to eat. But when he heard the little boy's words, he asked curiously.

"It was braying 'ah ah ah—uh—' just now, it just didn't want to eat," the little boy said, imitating the donkey's braying.

Lin Ziping couldn't help but chuckle.

"Stone!" The boy in the lead glared at Lin Ziping, then turned and called to the little boy.

The little boy silently lowered his head.

"Hahaha..." Seeing the little boy like this, Lin Ziping couldn't help but laugh until his eyes crinkled.

"I'm just talking nonsense, sir, please don't be offended." It was the little girl who had just left who brought Cui Lizheng over. Cui Lizheng clasped his hands in greeting to Lin Ziping.

Lin Ziping waved his hand: "It's alright, Dong Yan is unrestrained, and besides, what he said is true. Does Village Chief Cui still remember me?"

Cui Lizheng looked Lin Ziping up and down and said, "You, you're the officer who came to our village last time looking for the Sun family's wife?"

Lin Ziping nodded and handed the document in his hand to Cui Lizheng, saying, "Cui Lizheng, you can just call me Lin Ziping. The county government sent me to check on the progress of your road construction. This is the transfer document. Please take a look."

Cui Lizheng took the document, casually flipped through it, and said to Lin Ziping, "Our quarry is a bit far away. Young Master Lin, please come with me."

The two weren't familiar with each other, so Lin Ziping didn't dwell on how to address him. He led the Wuling Hongguang and followed behind Cui Lizheng. When they passed the little boy named "Shitou," he took out some steamed buns he had packed from the county town from his bag and handed them to him, saying with a smile, "Thank you."

Cui Lizheng saw Lin Ziping's actions but didn't say anything. He glanced at the leading child and then left with Lin Ziping.

The mountain road was winding and twisting. Lin Ziping struggled to keep up with Cui Lizheng, leading the Wuling Hongguang van. He couldn't help but wonder if this was Cui Lizheng's way of deliberately intimidating him. But seeing how easily Cui Lizheng walked, Lin Ziping swallowed his question and silently followed.

After an unknown amount of time, the road gradually became flat and wide. Lin Ziping heard a "clanging" sound and knew that they were almost at their destination.

I stroked the mane of the "Wuling Hongguang" and thought to myself that it was indeed the car I had chosen. It lived up to the name I had given it, and it had the potential to be the god of the Akina Mountain. It didn't throw a tantrum or act stubborn along the way, and I just pulled it along. I'll give it a treat when we get back.

"Village head."

As they approached their destination, people carrying loads and baskets would occasionally pass by. When they saw them, they would stop what they were doing and greet Cui Lizheng.

Cui Lizheng nodded slightly in response.

"Young Master Lin, this is where we will be quarrying stones," said Cui Lizheng.

Lin Ziping looked in the direction Cui Lizheng was pointing. Standing in front of him was a steep mountain. A dozen or so young men with ropes tied around their waists were using pickaxes to clear rocks out of the mountain. The mountain was so high that it seemed to be hanging over the edge in some places. Lin Ziping was terrified, worried that they might slip.

Several other people were responsible for transporting the cleared stones down the mountain, while a few others used hammers, chisels, and other tools to break the stones apart. The older people and women then carried away the broken stones.

"Where are we going to transport this stone?" Lin Ziping asked.

Cui Lizheng did not answer, but led Lin Ziping to another place and said, "Look, that's the official road. They're going to carry the stones down from here."

Lin Ziping walked forward. The mountain was straight, and the road was barely visible. In the distance, he could see some people working on the road with hoes.

"Why don't you find a closer place to dig for stones?" Lin Ziping asked, puzzled.

"The county magistrate thinks the rocks on this mountain are hard and suitable for paving roads," Cui Lizheng explained casually.

Upon hearing this, Lin Ziping did not ask any further questions. Remembering that the document required him to be stationed here, he said, "Village Chief Cui, I will need your help to find me a place to stay in the village. I will be bothering you for a while. How much silver do you think I need?"

"You're going to stay here?" Cui Lizheng looked at Lin Ziping with a surprised expression.

“Yes, didn’t the county government require the supervisor to be stationed there?” Lin Ziping replied.

Cui Lizheng glanced at Lin Ziping for a moment and said, "I happen to have a spare room in my house. If you don't mind, young Master Lin, you can stay there."

Staying at the village head's house? Given his special circumstances and the fact that he wasn't staying for just a day or two, he knew that if he stayed too long, people would inevitably find out about his situation. So he said, "Do you have a separate house? I've been staying here for quite a while, and it might not be appropriate for me to stay at the village head's house."

After thinking for a moment, Cui Lizheng said, "Let's live next to the ancestral hall in the village. There's a house there with a well inside, and everything else is quite complete."

Lin Ziping nodded: "Could you trouble the village head to ask if any family in the village has any extra quilts, pots and pans, or anything like that, and if they could spare a set for me?"

“Alright, I’ll go back and ask if Young Master Lin wants to come back with me or stay here,” Cui Lizheng asked.

Lin Ziping thought for a moment and said, "I think I'll stay here."

Cui Lizheng nodded and said, "I will arrange for someone to deliver lunch every day at noon. Young Master Lin can usually just eat whatever he can find, and he can come back with the villagers in the afternoon."

"I understand, thank you, Village Chief Cui," Lin Ziping said, clasping his hands in a fist salute.