Peaceful Farm Life

Chapter 577: Chapter 577: How Can You Be So Smart_1

I was so excited that I couldn’t speak for a moment and just looked at An Jing; not until I was sure I could speak did Shi Xiaolan say, ”An Jing, congratulations, you are truly blessed. Truly blessed. Truly blessed...”

Having such a doting husband and giving birth to so many adorable sons, and now being appointed as an official, none of the women in the ten neighboring villages can match her friend’s glory.

She was genuinely happy for her friend.

Seeing Shi Xiaolan so excited, An Jing couldn’t help but be amused, ”It’s me who’s become an official, yet it seems you are happier than I am.”

Upon hearing An Jing’s words, Shi Xiaolan realized that one of them was now an official and the other a commoner, with a great disparity in their status. She thought she should kneel.

In her eagerness to congratulate An Jing, Shi Xiaolan had forgotten about this. Now that she remembered, she wanted to kneel before An Jing, ”This common woman pays her respects to...”

Before Shi Xiaolan could kneel, An Jing quickly helped her up.

An Jing said, ”We are friends; you need not observe such formalities with me.”

Shi Xiaolan argued, ”How can this be an empty formality? It is proper! You are now an official, and I am a commoner; it is right for me to kneel before you!”

An Jing knew that this way of thinking was deeply ingrained in Shi Xiaolan’s mind and didn’t say much, only pretending to be angry, ”I don’t like my friends kneeling before me. If you insist on keeping up this formality, we might as well not see each other anymore.”

”An Jing, you...” Shi Xiaolan was both anxious and helpless but ultimately, she relented, ”Alright, I won’t kneel anymore; don’t be angry.” After a pause, ”An Jing, you are good-hearted. Even after your rapid rise, you haven’t looked down on me.”

An Jing tried to suppress a laugh, ”Why would I look down on you? Just because I’ve become an official? This position is a sinecure without any real power; the Emperor merely appointed me as a token. You haven’t found it utterly absurd, and I’m already very pleased, so how could I look down on you?”

Shi Xiaolan spoke earnestly, ”An Jing, don’t talk like that. Whether a sinecure or not, it’s still an official position. Especially since you’re a woman, and you also have quadruplets... Among these two things, either one would ensure your place in the annals of history, to be extolled by future generations! You really are in the limelight now! Moreover, your becoming an official has also brought much honor to me as your friend. You didn’t see it, but on my way to your house, so many people who used to look down on me have been amiable towards me.”

An Jing was bemused yet did not argue further with Shi Xiaolan. After all, becoming an official here was indeed a matter of great prestige.

”An Jing, how can you be so clever?” Suddenly, Shi Xiaolan said with admiration. ”I heard that the Emperor appointed you not only because of the grain rice and fish farming in paddy fields but also because you discovered the material for making white paper... That’s right, and the method of sieving ash and charcoal ash on grain to prevent locusts was also your discovery. You really are too smart!”

An Jing, keeping a straight face, lied, ”The grain rice was my and my husband’s idea because hand-milling rice was tiring; we figured it out together, so it’s not solely my achievement. It’s just that my husband married into my family, and the County Magistrate at the time credited this accomplishment to me, naming me a First-class Good Citizen; as for fish farming in paddy fields, I really just wanted to eat fish, and my husband had no pond to keep it for me, so we tried it in the paddy fields without expecting an increase in rice yield; as for the raw material for white paper, although I can’t tell you what it is, I can tell you that it was a chance discovery, like a blind cat finding a dead rat.”