Transmigration: The Little Chef Calls The Shots
Chapter 1110 - 035 Changed color

Chapter 1110: 035 Changed color

With that look from her, Xia Zheng couldn’t keep up the pretense any longer. Licking his lips and chuckling softly, he lowered his voice and said, "I’m defeated by you. I really haven’t been to that lake, but I’ve heard from others that the lake’s water is indeed abundant and clean. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s too far from here, there would have been no need to expand this river."

By that account, the water upstream must be even better, even more plentiful. Lin Yuan couldn’t help but look upstream.

As they were talking, they had already reached the edge of Xiao He. It was exactly as the Lizheng had described; there were signs of modification along the banks of the river, and the water was not scanty. Because the land here was flat, the river didn’t flow very quickly.

Compared to the river in Lin family’s valley, this river was indeed much bigger; however, Lin Yuan didn’t feel happy or pleased at all because the more she looked at the water in this river, the more she felt something was off.

Xia Zheng also noticed the problem. He moved closer for a better look and finally understood.

"Young Master, look at how much water this river has! If you buy land here to farm, I guarantee you’ll have an excellent harvest next year!" The Lizheng continued to boast on his own, even trying to subtly steer them towards other topics. Regrettably, Xia Zheng soon punctured his little ruse.

All one heard was Xia Zheng’s cold chuckle as he said, "Lizheng, aren’t you mistaken? How can it be an excellent harvest? In my view, it should be ’very good, exceptionally good’, that is!"

Hua Hui, upon hearing Xia Zheng’s first phrase, thought that his lie was uncovered, but upon hearing the second phrase, he was instantly overjoyed. He thought to himself, how could these youngsters of wealthy birth understand farming? They must be simply messing around for fun.

Only this time, he really guessed wrong.

Before a laugh could escape, Xia Zheng’s stern yell sent him crashing from heaven to earth.

"Lizheng, the water in your river has changed color. Are you telling me you don’t use it to irrigate but to dye fabric?!"

Xia Zheng’s harsh interrogation caused the Lizheng and the village heads alike to shiver; they hadn’t expected their ruse to be found out by Xia Zheng in the end.

Hua Hui steadied himself and spoke with an awkward smile, "Well, Young Master Xia, please forgive us. We... we didn’t mean to deceive you, just that, just that..."

"Just that you happened upon an easy target and thought selling the land would be good enough. Who would have guessed we’d actually notice something wrong with the river?" Lin Yuan said coldly, interrupting the Lizheng. From the beginning, she had found the Lizheng too sly and obsequious; she hadn’t expected him to be so malevolent as well.

From the expressions of the Lizheng and the village heads, it was clear they had known about the problem with the water all along. They just never took it seriously. Did they not know that watering crops with discolored water could lead to unhealthy crops? Perhaps, it’s not at all as the Lizheng claimed; the harvest for these villagers must be far from good.

Pierced by Lin Yuan’s words, the Lizheng’s expression grew even more awkward. Just as Lin Yuan had said, they had indeed taken Xia Zheng and Lin Yuan for ignorant fools at first, planning to fleece them thoroughly. However, contrary to their wishes, they met someone who knew better.

"Young Master, Miss, please forgive me. I wouldn’t dare take you for fools. I was momentarily blinded by greed and offended you both, high-ranking personages. I hope you can be magnanimous and spare this lowly one!"

Xia Zheng and Lin Yuan frowned. It seemed this Lizheng had completely misunderstood their anger. They were not upset about being deceived; they were angry because the Lizheng hid the fact that the water was dirty. Did they not care about the crops of the villagers? Did they have no concern for their lives?

"Enough, hold your tongue." Xia Zheng glared at him impatiently and looked towards the tainted water, asking, "It seems you’ve known about the water problem here for a while now?"

Hua Hui and the village heads, extremely embarrassed, nodded with forced laughter.

"Then you should know why it has come to this, right?"

Hua Hui nodded and pointed at a manor and said, "Indeed, we do. It’s the water from the dyeing workshop upstream that has polluted it. The owner of the dyeing workshop also comes from the Capital city."

Following his pointer, Lin Yuan indeed saw several carriages slowly heading towards the manor. Her eyesight wasn’t so good; she couldn’t see clearly the insignia on the carriages. But Xia Zheng, trained in martial arts, naturally saw it all at a glance.