Started as a thatched house and ended up as a female figure

Anyone who can sit at the table is not a fool.

Shi Lishi immediately raised his glass towards Cheng Wan and said with a smile, "I have heard of Master Cheng for a long time. Seeing him today, I can see that he is indeed extraordinary. Master Cheng, I offer you a toast."

The county magistrate and the chief clerk also raised their glasses to Cheng Wan again.

No matter what they think in their hearts, they are decent people and they have to do decent things.

Cheng Wan's attitude was very humble and he placed his cup very low.

After this round of toasts, Cheng Wan poured wine into his own cup, stood up and faced Shi Lishi: "Master Shi, Jia Guan and others were stranded in Qinghua County that day. Thank you for your care, which allowed them to arrive safely in Shuoyang City."

Shi Lishi blinked, and then his eyes widened: "Cheng...Cheng Wan!"

Cheng Wan smiled and nodded: "Yes, my name is Cheng Wan."

"No, that's not what I meant!" Shi Lishi slapped his thigh fiercely, a little excited: "Master Cheng, Cheng Wan! Yes, Cheng Wan! Why didn't I think of it?! It turns out that this Cheng Wan and that Cheng Wan are the same person!"

The others didn't know the trick, so seeing Shi Lishi's reaction, they couldn't help but feel confused.

Cheng Wan briefly explained what happened to Village Chief Jia and others.

There is nothing to hide about this matter. Village Chief Jia settled in Shuoyang City in an open and aboveboard manner. As long as one has money and connections, this is a common and normal thing.

"I didn't expect that there is such a connection between you two." Ying Changlin looked at Cheng Wan, then at Shi Lishi, and smiled with his eyes narrowed.

Cheng Wan smiled unchanged and looked at Shi Lishi: "Master Shi, thank you very much!"

Cheng Wan raised his head and drank the wine in the glass, then showed the bottom of the glass to Shi Lishi.

"Good!" Shi Lishi slapped the table and said, "Master Cheng is straightforward!"

After saying that, Shi Lishi also drank the wine in the glass and laughed out loud.

The slightly tense atmosphere at the table was completely broken.

You come and go, it's so lively.

Halfway through the banquet, the two main characters finally started to talk about business.

"Master, are all the things and people ready?"

Shi Lishi's face straightened and his voice was serious: "Everything is ready. We just need to wait for the engineer to arrive. Then we can start making cement. The roadbed is already being dug."

Ying Changlin nodded, his eyes narrowed. "Building a road from Qinghua County to the south is related to the logistics support of our army. There can't be any mistakes. Otherwise, every one of us will have to go to the prince to apologize with our heads held high. Do you understand?"

"I understand!"

Including Cheng Wan, everyone bowed their heads and bowed to Ying Changlin in response.

No one doubted that Ying Changlin was deliberately trying to scare them.

It concerns the logistics of the army. If there is any mistake, losing your head would be the least of your punishment.

If things go wrong, it will implicate relatives.

After the dinner, Cheng Wan returned to her residence and saw Xu Zhinian waiting for her.

"did you eat?"

"After eating, how are you? Did those people deliberately make things difficult for you?" Xu Zhinian's eyes were full of worry.

Cheng Wan smiled and shook his head: "Everyone knows why we got together. If I don't do the things that King Rui asked me to do, my life will be in danger. Who has the time to embarrass me at this time? And today, Master Sigong is very... very protective of me."

Xu Zhinian's eyes widened slightly.

Cheng Wan didn't explain much, just smiled and said, "Go and have a rest. We will be busy tomorrow, and we all need to get enough rest."

Cheng Wan and Xu Zhinian began to wash up and rest, while on the other side, the "three giants" of Qinghua County, who were supposed to disperse, were gathered in the backyard of the county government office and talking about something.

Under the dim light, the county magistrate of Qinghua County glanced at Shi Lishi's face and asked tentatively, "Sir, can you find a way to get rid of Cheng Wan?"

Shi Lishi paused with the pen in his hand. He looked up at the county magistrate who had a flattering smile on his face, and said nothing.

The chief clerk on the other side keenly sensed that the atmosphere was not right, and hurriedly tried to smooth things over: "Now is not the best time to deal with Cheng Wan. She is here with the engineer to work on the road construction. In my opinion, it won't be too late to get rid of Cheng Wan after the cement is produced and the road construction is on track."

Shi Lishi put down his pen and looked at the two old partners with a strange expression: "Did I say I wanted to get rid of Cheng Wan?"

what?

The county magistrate and the chief clerk looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Sir, didn't you say before that you would take advantage of Cheng Wan's visit to Qinghua to...get rid of Cheng Wan?" The county magistrate said carefully, feeling nervous.

"Before was before, now is now. I met Mr. Cheng today and I feel that I get along very well with him." Shi Lishi stared at the county magistrate and the chief clerk, his voice tinged with coldness: "You two had better forget what we said before, understand?"

The chief clerk wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quickly expressed his opinion: "I understand. I also think that Mr. Cheng and you get along very well. It seems like we have known each other for a long time."

"But..." The county magistrate really didn't understand why Shi Lishi's attitude suddenly changed so much.

The chief clerk covered the county magistrate's mouth and said, "Sir, let's go check the preparations for tomorrow. We will take our leave first."

The county magistrate looked at Shi Lishi's unclear eyes and finally realized that he had made a stupid mistake. He followed the chief clerk's force and quickly left.

Shi Lishi snorted lightly and continued to work on the preparations for road construction in a very good mood.

I thought before that Cheng Wan was excluded because she was a woman. How could a woman be an official?

Today, Cheng Wan is still a woman entering the officialdom.

But the situation is different now.

According to what Lord Sigong said, Prince Rui values ​​Cheng Wan very much.

Especially, Cheng Wan should have a close relationship with Lord Gu and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

There was no need for him to take the risk of getting rid of Cheng Wan. If he was exposed, the consequences would be very serious, and there would be no one behind him to save him.

On the contrary, since I already have a connection with Cheng Wan, I might as well try to get along well with her. Maybe there will be some unexpected surprises...

Shi Lishi thought very carefully, but he never considered that Cheng Wan might not be so easy to get rid of.

If he really takes action, it is not certain who will live and who will die...

On the second day, Cheng Wan started to get busy early in the morning.

She needed to bring along officials from the Engineering Department who came with her from Shuoyang City to instruct the workers from the Qinghua County government in making cement.

Raw material preparation, clinker calcination, cement grinding.

Every step is important.

Fortunately, the second batch of cement stone was transported directly to Qinghua County from the southeastern mountainous area, saving the effort of transporting cement stone from Shuoyang City.

Cheng Wan said before that the stone discovered by Jin Jin was the chosen cement stone because this kind of stone is really suitable for making cement in this era.

It is easy to calcine and convenient to grind, but when mixed with other materials, it dries easily and becomes strong when it comes into contact with water.

In particular, modern cement was not suitable for road construction in ancient times because it was too smooth and affected the movement of horses, livestock and vehicles.

The cement made from cement stone is different. When using this kind of cement to build roads, the smoothness of the road surface is just right, which has a positive effect on the passage of horses, livestock and vehicles.

After several days of working day and night, cement was poured on the prepared road surface and allowed to dry.

Shi Lishi and the others, who had never seen a cement road before, opened their eyes wide and looked at Cheng Wan's head as if he were a big treasure.