Changes

The next day.

By the time An Weiyan slowly woke up, it was already early the following morning.

An Weiyan stretched and shook his head.

"When did I fall asleep?"

An Weiyan thought back. He seemed to have been reading the collection of classical poems in his hands all last night, and afterward, the feeling had become very subtle.

So much so that he had even forgotten exactly when he had woken up.

At that thought, An Weiyan considered it carefully, but could make neither head nor tail of it. Still, when he had read those poems last night, the feeling had indeed been different from usual.

He rubbed his eyes. He did not know whether it was his imagination, but things in front of him did seem a little clearer when he looked at them.

An Weiyan returned to the main world and hurriedly washed up. Over four hundred mouths were waiting for him over in Linbei County.

An Weiyan quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face. A moment later, he raised his head and glanced at himself in the mirror.

"It seems my eyes really are a little brighter than before?"

An Weiyan looked into the mirror, somewhat puzzled.

His eyes had originally been a little cloudy. It was not noticeable ordinarily, but if he looked at a baby's eyes, the contrast would be clear.

Babies' eyes were bright and crystal clear, like a pool of clear spring water.

Most adults' eyes, on the other hand, felt as though they had gathered a little dust.

An Weiyan's had been like that.

But now, it was as though someone had brushed away a little of the dust in his eyes.

An Weiyan stared at his eyes for a while, unsure whether it was just his imagination.

Still, he had no time to keep examining them. He hurried back to Linbei County and opened the yamen.

Looking outside, he saw that quite a few commoners had already gathered.

After their previous experiences, the commoners had now begun washing their hands and faces. Although their hemp clothing still looked filthy, An Weiyan did not demand too much of them.

He had people carry out the rice, then told them to light fires and cook. Once the rice was ready, they did not need to wait for him; they could simply start eating.

These commoners had survived their earlier hunger, and now that they knew there was food to eat, no scrambling or grabbing broke out. It might also have been because respected elders like Uncle Fu were there to keep order.

An Weiyan felt reassured and left them to handle it themselves.

Once that was done, An Weiyan returned to the yamen and looked at the plaque bearing the words "A bright mirror hangs on high."

He wanted to see whether the plaque had grown a little brighter too.

When An Weiyan looked up, he saw, to his astonishment, that the formerly dim plaque looked as though someone had wiped it down with water.

It was indeed no longer as dull as before.

"You really can use this to tell whether the local county magistrate has been reading?"

An Weiyan stared wide-eyed at the plaque. It was so miraculous that it almost seemed like some kind of treasure.

Tsk, no wonder the Earth God had told him to read more. If Linbei County developed in the future, and the commoners entered the yamen to find this "bright mirror hangs on high" plaque dull and lusterless...

Would that not make people feel that when the Earth God chose his people, he had even selected someone who had never read a book?

At that thought, An Weiyan shook his head.

Still, this was his first encounter with an ability that could bring even a slight change to himself, and it left An Weiyan feeling a little inexplicably excited.

After returning to the main world and grabbing something to eat, An Weiyan came back again, now with a pen and notebook in his hands.

He intended to make a detailed record of the names of Linbei County's commoners, as well as the state of its houses.

How many houses stood empty, and the condition of the reclaimed fields.

All of these needed to be recorded.

Along the way, An Weiyan also obtained a ledger and took a look. When he discovered that its writing was the same as the writing in the main world, he breathed a sigh of relief.

That was good. He had been a little worried that it would be troublesome if he could not recognize the characters.

"These children are all called Goudan? Shitou?"

As An Weiyan listened to Uncle Fu talk about one family's children, he rubbed his brow. Calling them those names when they were little was one thing, but keeping those names after they grew up would be such a waste.

"Why don't you give them names, my lord?"

Seeing An Weiyan frown, Uncle Fu took the opportunity to make the suggestion.

An Weiyan thought for a moment. "Bring that family here."

He could record their names and get to know them while he was at it. Previously, An Weiyan had only seen these commoners all in a swarm.

He had not known who was who. Now was a good chance to put names to their faces.

Soon, a family was brought before An Weiyan.

To An Weiyan's surprise, only a mother and two children, three or four years old, came.

The woman approached An Weiyan, looking flustered and uneasy, while the two children beside her gazed around curiously.

"This common woman, Lady Liu, pays her respects to you, my lord."

The woman spoke nervously as she came before him.

An Weiyan glanced at her, then looked around without seeing her husband. "Where is your husband?"

"My lord, a year ago, my husband went hunting in the mountains to find us something to eat, and a tiger carried him off."

At the question, Lady Liu's expression dimmed, and she answered mournfully.

An Weiyan froze at her words and glanced at the children beside her.

"It must be very hard, raising such young children by yourself."

An Weiyan sighed. He seemed to have some impression of this woman. During the first round of disaster relief, she had given the porridge she received to the children beside her first.

It made An Weiyan think a little of his own mother.

His family had been poor when he was little too, but whenever there was anything good to eat, his mother would always tuck it into her pocket and bring it home for him.

Hearing this, Lady Liu remained silent, still looking somewhat reserved.

"These two children don't have proper names. His lordship would like to give them names. What do you think?"

Uncle Fu spoke up then.

Lady Liu froze for a moment at his words, then hastily bowed. "Thank you, my lord!"

Since it concerned her sons, it immediately tugged at Lady Liu's heart.

An Weiyan looked at the little boy before him. Lady Liu's husband's surname had been Lin.

"Then let them be called Lin Jiaxu and Lin Jiaqi."

An Weiyan gave the names, and Lady Liu quickly nodded after hearing them.

She felt that since the county magistrate had chosen the names, they surely could not be bad.

Seeing her nod in agreement, An Weiyan wrote down their names as well.

Once the details had been recorded, Lady Liu left with her two children.

Watching the three leave, Uncle Fu sighed. "She's a pitiful soul too. If Lady Liu's husband hadn't gone up the mountain back then, none of the three would have survived that winter."

Although her husband had been carried off by a tiger, the share of game they received after the hunting party returned had allowed the mother and her sons to make it through that bitter winter.

Hearing this, An Weiyan sighed inwardly as well.