The Little Lucky Girl

Chapter 178 Attacking the Heart

When receiving the people from the grassland, County Magistrate Tao did not leave the city at all. No, he did not even leave the county government office. He just invited those leaders to come and have a meal. As for the others, he did not even meet them. It was unlike this time when he personally ran to the foot of the mountain to greet everyone.

Lu Tai thought for a moment and said, "The herders on the grasslands obey the tribal leaders directly and follow their lead. If Lord Tao directly shows his favor to the herders, it may not achieve the desired effect. Instead, it may arouse the suspicion of the leaders, who may fear that Lord Tao intends to sideline them."

"And the Daqi villagers are most worried about not being accepted by the government here. Lord Tao took the trouble to come and greet them, probably to reassure everyone."

"But Lord Tao was obviously very concerned about the transactions on the grassland before, and he even considered again and again what gifts to send. Why are we treated so differently even though we are from the same tribe?" Feng Xu felt that County Magistrate Tao was too picky.

Ming Youyou was stunned just now and couldn't get a word in. When she heard Feng Xu's question, she immediately raised her hand happily and said:

"I know this. The gift is for King Amosu. I was the one who came up with the idea. The pony made of gold is so cute in the hand. It's a pity that Lord Tao is too stingy and won't even let me touch it..."

“Stop—” Zheng Huan and the others sweatdropped. They knew Ming Youyou was very upset about not being able to touch those golden ponies, and would complain whenever it was mentioned. “You haven’t told me why yet.”

"Oh, yes," Ming Youyou patted his forehead and remembered the main thing, "Isn't this hard to understand? Amosu is a big moneymaker and sold us a lot of horses. My father said that for a relationship like this, you can't just think about spending money in exchange, you have to show how much thought you put into it, so that the other party can feel your sincerity. The Huyan tribe that surrendered doesn't have that many horses, and Lord Tao doesn't have that much gold either."

Zheng Huan laughed, "I think you are right on one hand, but on the other hand the Huyan tribe is not completely sincere."

He said, "Master He asked me and Lu Tai to copy some documents. They all talked about the tribe's demands and bargaining with us. You two didn't see that they used the treatment given by Da Qi and Daliang to test us, trying to play both sides and gain the greatest benefits."

"And if Lord Tao entertains them too enthusiastically, I'm afraid they will think they are very important to us and take the opportunity to make more demands."

Ming Youyou and Feng Xu stared at each other and said in unison: "How come I don't know about this? Why don't you let me copy it too?"

Lu Tai rolled his eyes at the point where they chose to go to the other side of Daqing Mountain and asked, "Why don't you let us go? Don't you have any idea?"

He looked at Ming Youyou, "Is it because your handwriting is too ugly?"

Then he turned to Feng Xu: "Is it because you are lazy and talkative and can't keep secrets?"

Seeing that the three were about to quarrel, Zheng Huan hurriedly stopped them, "Think about our homework and the vacant land on the back hill of the academy. If we can't think of a solution, we have to go clean it up again."

Feng Xu complained: "Master Tao is so good at playing tricks on people, why does he want us to get involved?"

Lu Tai recalled the story his grandfather had told him in casual conversation, and pondered, "Could it be that Lord Tao wants to test the waters by throwing a stone and asking us to be that stone?"

This silenced the other three. One of them seemed to be thinking about something, while the other two were at a loss as to what to say.

Zheng Huan thought of something, "If that's the case, then we can save a lot of trouble..."

Lord Tao listened to the imperial master's whispered report in his ear and stroked his beard with a smile. The children were quite intelligent and there was no need for Master He to give them any more advice.

They just haven't seen enough of the world. Do they think that if they talk far away, no one can hear them? Isn't it true that everything they say is transmitted word for word?

This master from the Imperial Palace probably did it on purpose, even scolding him and his tone was very similar.

County Magistrate Tao suddenly felt that Chef Zhang had worked very hard, so he could have one less extra dish tonight.

The next morning, Yuxiang came to see Ming Youyou as usual, and was treated with unusual enthusiasm and hospitality by the four people.

Yuxiang felt something was a little strange, thinking that they wanted to eat food from the mountain again, and said embarrassedly: "There is a lot of rain in the mountain this year, and the glutinous rice will be harvested later. Last year's rice has been used up, so we can't bring rice cakes recently."

Ming Youyou suddenly forgot what she was going to say, and swallowed her saliva before admonishing, "Then when you get new ones, don't forget to send us some."

"Oh, Sister Yuxiang," she regained her senses in time, "You've actually drawn very well. It would be nice to use the patterns you came up with, so you don't have to go through the trouble of going up and down the mountain."

Yuxiang didn't feel it was hard. This was a rare opportunity for her to go down the mountain openly, and it was also necessary.

"Although I have learned the patterns you taught me, Madam Tao said that if we want the dyed cloth to continue to sell well, we must constantly innovate the styles, which I cannot do."

The main reason was that she did not have enough contact with the outside world and did not understand the current preferences and characteristics. The patterns she came up with, in Mrs. Tao's words, always felt lacking some spirit.

Yuxiang knew that this was because she didn't have a strong enough foundation and couldn't be confident.

Not only her, but also the uncles and aunts in the village who are good at painting.

For example, last time Xu Ji Bookstore ordered a batch of fabrics with lotus patterns. The price offered was more than twice the usual price, and the requirement was to paint the lotus to have the temperament of "growing out of the mud without being stained, and washing in the clear water without being coquettish."

When the people in the village heard this sentence, they were all stunned. Ming Youyou and others were in the academy, so Yuxiang and the others couldn't wait and went to the county town specially. They paid someone to explain the meaning to them, and only then did they understand a little bit.

They had never imagined that the lotus flowers that simply grew in a pond and were occasionally picked for cooking could be described as so remarkable. For a moment they didn't know where to start.

Without form in the mind and thoughts in the brain, things that are drawn reluctantly will naturally lack spirit and connotation.

Yuxiang said with emotion: "We now know that if you want to draw something well, you have to draw it like it, but you can't just draw it like it. You have to reflect your ideas or the customer's ideas in it. This is too difficult for us."

Ming Youyou gave her some advice, "Then you should go out more often, go to the county town or something like that, there are many strange people from many places there, it's fun. Our teacher always said that if you listen more, see more, and eat more, you will gain more knowledge, and it would be best if you can travel thousands of miles. For example, I went to the capital, and when I came back, they all praised me for becoming more capable."

Yuxiang pinched her chubby cheeks and sighed, "I'm not as lucky as you. I can't go as far as the capital. Even to the county town, my father rarely lets me go. He only came to see you because it concerns the life of the village, so he didn't stop me."