vstars Chapter 662 Morale Soars, Magistrate Jiang
Chapter 662 Morale Soars, Magistrate Jiang
Jiang Xiaoqi handed the letter she had been holding to Qiu Cheng. Qiu Cheng didn't open it right away; instead, he stuffed it into his sleeve.
"By the way, Captain Lin Feng and Lord Xiao brought you some seafood specialties. They're outside. I was thinking of taking them back with you later."
"Yes, they told me, but is this in accordance with the rules?"
Out of respect, Jiang Xiaoqi still asked, also to avoid giving any unfounded grounds for complaint.
Qiu Cheng waved his hand, "This is nothing, everyone gets it. What's this? Oh right, it's the employee benefits you mentioned before~"
Jiang Xiaoqi never expected that a slip of the tongue he once uttered would be remembered by Lord Qiu. Employee benefits? Well, since everyone has them, he won't stand on ceremony.
"Okay, thank you very much!"
Jiang Xiaoqi arrived on horseback, without a carriage. Just as Dong Jin was about to speak, his father-in-law interrupted him.
"Mingfei, you didn't come by carriage, did you? Since you didn't bring Li Mo with you, you must have come on horseback. Load your things into my carriage later."
"Alright, then I'll have to trouble you, Father. I really didn't catch the carriage here."
"Hey~ It's nothing, it's nothing. Why be so polite between father and son?"
Jiang Xiaoqi's eyelids twitched. Was his father exhausted today, or had he taken the wrong medicine? Why did his tone of voice sound different from before?
"Yes, son won't stand on ceremony with you. Let's take him straight back to the county government office later. Aunt Qin said at noon that we should have dinner at the back office tonight."
"Oh? Okay, okay, it's been a long time since we ate together. Bring your eldest brother-in-law and fifth brother-in-law along, let's have a few drinks and celebrate the great joy of the Zhenhai's return to port!"
Dong Jin was surprised to find himself included in the drink, and his face immediately lit up with a smile. It had been quite a while since he had drunk with his brother-in-law.
And then there's that brother-in-law I'm not very familiar with, Xiao Ming, the fifth sister's husband. He's the third-ranked scholar in the same imperial examination as his brother-in-law. It's the first time I've seen him today. Hmm, he's quite handsome, but still not as good-looking as his brother-in-law.
Jiang Xiaoqi wasn't thinking about whether to celebrate or not, but the safe return of the Zhenhai was indeed a great event, so he just nodded and said hello.
Jiang Wenqing rarely saw such an obedient son. Oh dear, could it be that he had been working too hard and striving for success lately, and his son was moved by it?
Looking at the harmonious family atmosphere in front of him, Lord Qiu Cheng felt even more envious. Sigh~ His wife hasn't come to see him for a long time. Has she already forgotten about her husband?
Although Jiang Wenqing is not a formal employee at the dock, he has put in a lot of effort recently, so he received two boxes of employee benefits.
Master Qian and Master Xing contributed the most, but their status couldn't surpass that of Magistrate Jiang, so each of them received a box, though they were all packed very tightly.
Dong Jin was considered a "formal employee" at the dock, so he received four boxes of goods, and his two advisors each received one box of goods.
Lord Qiu had six boxes of things, which was the most, but no one was envious, after all, Lord Qiu had put in the most effort and worked the hardest.
Qiu's men also received a box full of solid items. This was the general situation of the welfare distribution among the dock leadership.
So when Jiang Xiaoqi, who doesn't come often, saw that she had also received six boxes of things, she was somewhat surprised.
Qiu Cheng noticed his hesitation and patted him on the shoulder.
"Alright, take it. I won't ask unless you tell me how much effort you put into the ship."
However, I know that Lord Jiang, your contributions are no less than mine, Old Qiu's, hmph~
Lord Qiu's words were ambiguous, but Jiang Xiaoqi realized that the other party might know that he had funded the construction of the ship.
Could it be that the Second Prince let something slip in one of his letters? No, that can't be right either, since he usually wrote them himself, and the Second Prince didn't mention this matter in his letters.
Is that what they were talking about this time? No, that's not right either. Although the letter was written by the Second Prince himself and didn't go through my hands, the things were prepared well in advance, and the letter was delivered by me later.
Besides, the letter is still lying in Lord Qiu's sleeve; it hasn't even been opened yet!
"Hehe, I don't understand what you're saying, Lord Qiu. I'm just running errands."
Oh, all they sponsored were a few baskets of lemons and a cheap water filter.
Qiu Cheng didn't even lift his eyelids, ignoring what Jiang Xiaoqi was saying.
"Well then, we'll head back to the county office first, so as not to disturb Lord Qiu's work."
Jiang Xiaoqi awkwardly touched his nose and placed the six large boxes directly onto Jiang Wenqing's carriage.
Jiang Wenqing placed the two boxes on the clerk's carriage. Together with the four clerks, Qian and Xing, there was still room for people to sit.
Jiang Xiaoqi rode back on horseback, while Dong Jin rode in his father-in-law Jiang Wenqing's car.
Xiao Ming had finished his work and wanted to ride a horse with Jiang Xiaoqi, but Jiang Xiaoqi stuffed him into the clerks' carriage.
Haha, let's forget about sharing a ride~
It's not anything else, but the two of them together weigh over 200 pounds. What if they tire out his beloved horse?
The group headed towards the county government office in a grand procession. Qiu Cheng watched the departing figures of the entire family and felt even more desolate.
Fortunately, he had a few subordinates and Captain Lin with him, and they drank too! Humph! They ate meat too!
They also celebrated the Zhenhai's return to port! Not only them, but all the crew members and craftsmen received an extra meal!
Hundreds of them celebrating together, that's what you call a real celebration!
It was rare for Lord Qiu to be so generous, so he immediately ordered the dock kitchen to make purchases, buying more meat and less vegetables, and also bringing in dozens of jars of inexpensive wines!
I'm so happy today, let's drink until we drop!
On the way, Jiang Wenqing sat in front of several large boxes, and for some reason, he was in a good mood and even hummed a little tune.
Dong Jin hadn't seen his father-in-law for several years and felt that the man had changed quite a bit.
Although I used to be very expressive, I wasn't this boastful and smug.
Upon arriving at the county government office, the group unloaded their belongings.
Aunt Qin greeted them with a beaming smile, "Oh, you're finally back! Come in, the food is all ready."
Everyone went into the back office, where the dining table was laden with delicacies.
Unable to refuse, Master Qian and Master Xing also sat down in the lower seats.
"Oh my, it's so lively with so many people! There's so much food, where are you all going to finish it all?"
After a few rounds of drinks, Jiang Wenqing, whether from drinking too much or for some other reason, kept saying that maritime transport was beneficial to the country and its people, and that every effort should be made to make the local people rich.
There's nothing inherently wrong with the topic, but it becomes very inappropriate when it comes from Jiang Wenqing's mouth.
Of the people at the table, only Dong Jin and Xiao Ming, the two sons-in-law, didn't think anything was wrong, since they didn't know how Jiang Wenqing, the county magistrate, usually acted.
However, the two advisors and Jiang Xiaoqi knew this, after all, the two advisors were "office guns" that Jiang Xiaoqi had hired for her father.
Therefore, Jiang Wenqing's high morale and patriotic demeanor at this moment surprised the three of them, if they had glasses at that moment.