Chapter 66
66 Is He a Good Official?
In the end, after arranging the matters of the noodle stall, Luo Cheng and Li Xiaoran went back to change their clothes and went to town.
Because there were no more ox carts at this hour, the two of them had to walk.
This was the first time she walked on this official road that was filled with the smell of wilderness. Li Xiaoran felt that her entire body had become relaxed.
She closed her eyes and inhaled. The oxygen in the air was so fresh!
Luo Cheng walked beside Li Xiaoran and couldn’t help but laugh when he saw her close her eyes and take a deep breath.
“I thought you’d be very unhappy without an ox cart! After all, it’s an hour’s walk from the village to town!”
Li Xiaoran opened her eyes and looked at Luo Cheng.
“No! I think it’s quite good to walk around! This landscape painting can improve people’s mood. All their fatigue will dissipate when they see this beautiful scenery!”
Luo Cheng raised his eyebrows and looked at Li Xiaoran.
“You always seem to think differently! Everything you see is different from everything we see!”
“Of course! Everyone’s mental state is different. When they look at the same thing, their perception will be different!” Li Xiaoran thought of something and walked to Luo Cheng’s side. “There’s always something in your heart that will affect your subconscious mind!”
Luo Cheng didn’t expect Li Xiaoran to suddenly say this, but his expression didn’t change. Instead, he looked at Li Xiaoran with interest.
“Oh really? Could it be that you can transform into a parasite in my stomach and find out what I’m thinking?”
When Li Xiaoran saw Luo Cheng like this, she looked at him carefully for a while before walking forward.
“I don’t want to be a parasite in your stomach!” Li Xiaoran said and paddled towards the fields at the side. “Luo Cheng, look at how golden these fields are. The farmers will be very happy to see this because this is what they earned after a year of hard work!”
Luo Cheng looked around and said directly, “That’s not the case. Look carefully at the people working in the fields. Although there’s a smile on their faces, there’s also a frown on their faces. Although the harvest is good, it’s a pity that they have to pay a lot of taxes. The food left in their hands won’t even be enough to feed their families for a year!”
The smile on Li Xiaoran’s face froze because she had not thought of this at all.
“And your noodle stall is by the official road now, so no one came to collect taxes. When the market on the official road is formed, the officials will definitely come to collect taxes!” Luo Cheng poured cold water on Li Xiaoran.
Li Xiaoran’s footsteps suddenly became heavy, and then she fell into deep thought.
Seeing Li Xiaoran like this, Luo Cheng didn’t continue.
After a while, Li Xiaoran spoke.
“Is our county magistrate a good official?”
Luo Cheng didn’t expect Li Xiaoran to suddenly ask this, so he thought about it.
Was Luo Han a good official?
This was really worth pondering.
After all, although he lived under Luo Han’s jurisdiction, he rarely asked about the matters in Luo Han’s office.
“What’s a good official to you?” Luo Cheng couldn’t decide if Luo Han was a good official, so he asked.
Li Xiaoran thought for a moment and said, “Someone who cares about the common people, does things in the interest of the common people. That’s the definition of a good official!”
Luo Cheng thought for a moment and then said, “In that case, he can barely be considered a good official!”
If Luo Han had heard Luo Cheng’s words, he definitely would have stomped his feet on the spot.
Ever since he became a county magistrate, he had done a lot of things for the commoners. Why was he barely a good official in Luo Cheng’s eyes?
“If that’s the case, the taxes will be taken from the people and used for the people. However, it’s indeed difficult to rely on farming to survive, so we have to do business and improve the economy!” Li Xiaoran thought about something and said, “People’s livelihood is a big problem. If we want to solve it, we have to have a good imperial court and good officials.”
“The imperial court is too far away from us to care about us, so it depends on whether the county magistrate is a good official or not. If the county magistrate is a good official, then the people will have to use their own brains if they want to become rich. If the timing, place, and people are right, when the three are combined, people will get rich. The matter of paying taxes isn’t something we commoners can change. What we can change is our way of earning money and using our brains to come up with novel ideas!”
“So, if we want to solve the problem in the end, we have to rely on our own brains!” Li Xiaoran seemed to have sorted out everything and came to a conclusion. “If our business is successful, it’s only right to pay taxes. As long as they don’t collect taxes unjustly!”
“What if the officials want to collect taxes unjustly?” Luo Cheng continued to pour cold water on Li Xiaoran.
“Let’s talk about it when we encounter it! There will always be a way! There are always more solutions than difficulties! When they don’t collect taxes unjustly, there’s a way to live without paying taxes unjustly. When someone collects taxes unjustly, we’ll change to another way to deal with it!” Li Xiaoran suddenly said firmly, “You have to flexible!”
As soon as she said this, Luo Cheng laughed.
Li Xiaoran was really likable and he couldn’t help but want to get close to her.
He could always sense vitality in her.
It was as if nothing could crush her.
Perhaps he should learn from her.
“You’re right! People should be flexible!” Luo Cheng said, suppressing his laughter.
When Li Xiaoran heard this, she suddenly reacted and laughed loudly.
Her laughter resounded throughout the land, causing many people who heard it to laugh as well.
After that, the two of them continued walking toward town.
An hour later, the two of them finally arrived at the town gate.
Seeing the words Golden Sun Town appear in front of her, Li Xiaoran felt an ancient aura.
At this moment, many people were queuing up to enter the town. Li Xiaoran and Luo Cheng also queued up.
“Sigh, I usually don’t see anyone lining up to enter town!” An old man standing in front of Li Xiaoran couldn’t help but mutter, “I wonder what happened!”
When the person beside him heard the old man’s words, he lowered his voice and said, “Something big happened in Golden Sun Town. Now, not only will those who come in be interrogated, but those who go out will also be interrogated.”
When Li Xiaoran heard their conversation, she immediately p.r.i.c.ked up her ears.
“Huh, what happened? Tell me.” The old man asked curiously.