My Husband Comes from the Future

by Usui Takumii

not mine, shangai fantasy. After chapter 94 is MTL. Also at ao3.

5. 41 to 50

Chapter 41: Little Worker

Li Qingzhi certainly enjoyed eating delicious food, but fresh vegetables also provided energy and various vitamins.

He loved all the edible things in the world.

Of course, he preferred Li Damao and Li Ermao. After hugging the two children and giving them a few kisses, Li Qingzhi let them continue playing.

For Li Damao and Li Ermao, life in the countryside was freer and happier.

They were still young, enjoying running and jumping, but in the Zhu family, they couldn't even speak loudly…

Li Qingzhi smiled and watched the two children for a while before continuing to write.

Settling the score with the original owner was inevitably secondary to family matters.

He would only act after ensuring the safety of his family and making sure they wouldn't get involved.

Li Qingzhi knew that if the original owner were here, he would think the same way.

In fact, the original owner had never thought of revenge; it was too distant for him. He just wanted to live well.

After escaping from the quarry and returning to Miaoqian Village, he learned in a daze that Jin Xiaoye had given birth to two children for him… When the original owner passed away, he only hoped that his two children could grow up well.

Li Qingzhi continued writing while Zhao Xiaodou took good care of Li Damao and Li Ermao.

Normally, older children were impatient to play with younger ones, but Zhao Xiaodou was an exception. He was somewhat introverted and liked playing with children.

Li Damao and Li Ermao taught him how to play Go and gave him rice crust to eat, and he genuinely liked these two children from the bottom of his heart.

After finishing work that day, Zhao Laosan took Zhao Xiaodou home and asked, "Xiaodou, did you have fun today?"

Without hesitation, Zhao Xiaodou replied, "Yes!" He had meat for both meals today! The soybeans stewed with meat were especially delicious.

For Zhao Xiaodou, this day was like celebrating the New Year.

"Then Dad will take Xiaodou out again tomorrow," Zhao Laosan said with a grin.

He wasn't as shameless as Li Laogen. Originally, he felt embarrassed to bring his child to Li's house for a meal. But since his son liked it… he simply became thick-skinned about it.

"Okay!" Zhao Xiaodou let go of Zhao Laosan's hand and skipped ahead, saying, "Dad, Damao and Ermao are really good at Go! Now I can play too!"

"You mean that grid game?" Zhao Laosan asked, having seen the three children playing together.

"Yes," Zhao Xiaodou replied.

"Then next time, I'll make one for you, and you can play with your brother." Zhao Laosan said, he should be able to make that wooden board.

In rural areas, parents usually relied on the oldest child to take care of the younger ones. The later-born children were all taken care of by the older ones.

Zhao Xiaodou was also like this; his brother and sister often took care of him when he was young.

Although there were some conflicts between them, they actually got along well… Zhao Xiaodou nodded happily.

Zhao Laosan kept on talking: "Xiaodou, you must listen to your brother so that he will help you in the future. When we go to Li's house tomorrow, you should also take good care of Damao and Ermao…"

The land of Zhao's family would be given to Zhao Xiaodou's older brother in the future, meaning Zhao Xiaodou would have no land.

Zhao Laosan was afraid that his son would not have a good future, so he always reminded Zhao Xiaodou to behave well. This way, when Zhao Xiaodou grew up and had no livelihood, he might still be able to continue living in Zhao's house.

Of course, it's best for Zhao Xiaodou to have a trade.

For this reason, Zhao Laosan recently went to find an acquaintance, specifically asking them to keep an eye out to see if there were any apprenticeships or servant positions available in the county.

He didn't ask for money; he just wanted Xiaodou to learn some skills so that he could find a job in the county in the future.

For example, being a waiter in a restaurant would be a very good job in Zhao Laosan's eyes – staying in a restaurant, he would definitely have enough to eat every day.

It just so happened that on the day they returned home, the intermediary arrived.

The so-called "intermediary," should actually be called a middleman. These people know a lot of people and have a lot of information. They earn referral fees by selling houses for people or helping them find jobs.

Even if a merchant wants to find a mistress, they can tell the middleman, and the middleman can help find a suitable person to handle the matter.

This middleman found Zhao Laosan and said, "Laosan, didn't you ask me to keep an eye out for a good job for your son? Well, I just found one!"

"What kind of job?" Zhao Laosan was somewhat surprised.

The middleman replied, "Do you know the Hong family in the county? They're a very wealthy family. They want to find a servant for their young master."

Zhao Laosan didn't know much about the county. He was a reserved person who didn't like to talk to people. Although he had worked odd jobs in the county before, he always kept to himself and never chatted with others.

As a result, he had no idea who the wealthy people in the county were.

But these past few days, while helping out at his brother's house, he had heard a lot of gossip from the people in Miaoqian Village. For example, there was a Mr. Zhu in the county who was very wealthy and treated the scholars to meat every day.

There was also this Hong family, which he had heard about today: "Isn't it the Hong family whose eldest son has already passed the scholar exam?"

"The Hong family's eldest son did indeed pass the scholar exam," the middleman confirmed.

Zhao Laosan asked, "They want to find a servant for their young master. Is that the young master who's a bit… mentally challenged?"

The middleman was surprised, "Laosan, I didn't expect you to be so well-informed. You even know about this! I didn't know about this before, but when the Hong family approached me this time, I specifically inquired and found out that this young master indeed has some issues, but I heard it's nothing serious, just a little slow. The Hong family is worried that someone might bully him, so they want to find a child with a good temper and around the same age to take care of him."

"How come I heard people say that the young master hits people?" Zhao Laosan frowned.

Although he didn't chat with people, he would still overhear conversations. He had been listening when Jin Moli talked to Jin Liushu today.

Jin Moli wouldn't lie, would she?

Zhao Laosan wanted to find a good job for his son, but Xiaodou was so well-behaved. If he were to be beaten by a lunatic in the end… he wouldn't bear it.

"Where did you hear that? How is that possible!" the middleman exclaimed. "Besides, the young master is only seven or eight years old. Even if he did hit someone, what harm could it do?"

Zhao Laosan opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

If he hadn't heard what Jin Moli said, and didn't know that the Hong family's young master might hit people, he would have probably agreed happily long ago. Five hundred coins a month, and four sets of clothes a year. This was a good job that couldn't be found elsewhere! What family would pay so much silver to a child who couldn't do any work!

Zhao Laosan hesitated and remained silent.

If he hadn't heard what Jin Moli said, and didn't know that the Hong family's young master might hit people, he would have probably agreed happily long ago. Earning five hundred coins a month, he could save up five yuan a year, and fifty yuan in ten years!

His son would have enough money after ten years to buy land and marry a wife. How wonderful!

But what Jin Moli said frightened him. Now he felt that something was not quite right with the offer of five hundred coins per month.

If there really was such a good opportunity, why would it come to him? It would probably have been snatched up by someone else long ago, right?

"Laosan, how can you not seize such a good opportunity! Let me tell you, if you don't want it, there are plenty of others who do!" The middleman's face wasn't looking good; he wouldn't get his referral fee if the deal didn't go through.

Seeing the middleman's reaction, Zhao Laosan felt a bit scared. "I'm sorry…"

"So do you want this job or not?" the middleman asked.

"I… I'll ask my brother about it tomorrow," Zhao Laosan said.

Zhao Laosan was going to ask his brother, who was even more useless than him? The middleman was speechless for a moment, then said, "Fine, I'll give you a day, but it's only for today! If Xiaodou doesn't go, I'll find someone else! Laosan, we have a good relationship, that's why I came to you first."

The middleman said this, but he didn't really mean it.

Finding a child who was obedient, could work, and was around the same age as their young master in the Hong family was not easy.

Many families were reluctant to let children under ten go out to work, and even if they were willing… if the child didn't look good or had a bad temper, it wouldn't work out.

The middleman thought Zhao Xiaodou was the most suitable candidate, but for some reason, Zhao Laosan seemed unwilling.

After the middleman left, Zhao Laosan went back and told his wife, Fang Shi, about the situation.

Fang Shi was older than Zhao Laosan. She had a bad temper and a loud voice, and she wasn't very close to their three children on regular days.

But when she heard Zhao Laosan's words, she said, "If he hits people, then forget it."

Free food and accommodation plus five hundred coins a month was quite a lot. Fang Shi thought that if Zhao Xiaodou was just going to take care of a little fool, it would be fine even if he had to clean up after him. But if he hits people… then forget it.

Zhao Laosan also thought so. After thinking it over, he decided to ask Li Qingzhi about it tomorrow.

His elder brother's son had been to the county to copy books for the wealthy families there, so he must know a lot of things!

The Hong family, being a literary family, actually had more prestige in the county than the Zhu family.

But Zhao Laosan didn't know about all this. He only heard from Laogen that Li Qingzhi brought home meat every day and could earn a penny of silver each day.

He thought that the Zhu family, being so wealthy, should be even more impressive.

When Li Qingzhi thought about Zhao Laosan, Zhao Laosan was actually thinking about Li Qingzhi.

At that moment, Li Qingzhi was talking to Jin Xiaoye, "Xiaoye, I want to find someone to help take care of Damao and Ermao."

Seeing Damao and Ermao playing so happily under Zhao Xiaodou's guidance during the day, Li Qingzhi felt even more keenly that he had neglected the two children before.

Unfortunately, he had a lot of things to do next, and he still couldn't spend time with the two children properly.

Letting Laogen help take care of them… Even if Laogen was willing, Li Qingzhi still wasn't at ease, and besides, Laogen had some other work to do.

Pulling weeds, pounding rice, feeding chickens and ducks… These odd jobs were now all done by Lao Gen.

So it would be best to find someone to help take care of Damao and Ermao.

"Do Damao and Ermao still need someone to take care of them?" Jin Xiaoye didn't understand. In her opinion, children of Damao and Ermao's age didn't need someone to look after them anymore. Even if Li Qingzhi needed to write during the day, he could let them play on their own.

In the village, children who were four or five years old had already started clumsily looking after their younger siblings.

"They're still young, I always feel uneasy." Li Qingzhi said.

"Then who are you going to find to take care of them? Do you have to spend money to hire someone?" Jin Xiaoye said, "We don't have much money in our family; we can't spend it recklessly."

Li Qingzhi said, "I want Zhao Xiaodou to accompany Damao and Ermao. What do you think?" In the village, adults really didn't pay much attention to children of Damao and Ermao's age; they let them run around freely.

But young children were naive, and their village had many rivers and ditches… What if something happened if they weren't careful?

Although Zhao Xiaodou was only eight years old, he was quite sensible. He had been advising Damao and Ermao not to run around all day today.

Of course, Li Qingzhi would have such thoughts mainly because Laogen had told him that Zhao Laosan wanted to send Zhao Xiaodou to be an apprentice or servant.

Zhao Xiaodou was only eight years old, which was equivalent to second grade in modern times. Letting him leave his parents and go to a completely unfamiliar place to work as a child laborer seemed a bit excessive to Li Qingzhi.

In that case, it would be better to let Zhao Xiaodou come to their house, help take care of Damao and Ermao for a while, eat lunch here during the day, and go back home to sleep at night.

He planned to wait until the house was built and then take some time every day to teach Damao and Ermao to read and do arithmetic. With Zhao Xiaodou at their house, he could also learn… Learning more things would be beneficial for Zhao Xiaodou.

"That's fine!" Jin Xiaoye originally thought that Li Qingzhi was going to hire someone specifically, which was unnecessary. But if Zhao Xiaodou came to help, it would actually be like having another child in the house.

"Then I'll ask Uncle San tomorrow," Li Qingzhi said.

"Okay!" Jin Xiaoye had no objections.

The two of them talked for a while before slowly falling asleep.

In the blink of an eye, it was the next day. Jin Xiaoye specially cooked a little extra rice today. After their family had eaten, she added water to the pot to cook the leftover rice into porridge, to feed the workers who were helping out.

In this way, their family provided three meals a day.

Jin's mother knew about this and felt distressed. Li Qingzhi didn't say much either, he just peeled an egg and put it in Jin's mother's bowl.

Jin's mother said, "I'm already so old, why should I eat eggs?"

Li Qingzhi said, "Mom, you should eat an egg every day to supplement your nutrition." Whether it was Jin's father or Jin's mother, they looked much older than their actual age, simply because they had poor nutrition from eating poorly.

Li Qingzhi felt they should eat more protein.

Jin's mother didn't feel it was necessary, but she was very touched that her son-in-law gave her eggs to eat.

Her son-in-law was really good; it was just bad luck that he was kidnapped for five years.

After Jin's parents finished their meal, Zhao Laosan came with Zhao Xiaodou.

As soon as Li Laogen saw his brother and nephew, he immediately said, "Laosan, Xiaodou, come and have some porridge!"

Li Laogen went to the kitchen and served Zhao Laosan and Zhao Xiaodou two bowls of rice with little water content, inviting them to eat.

Zhao Laosan felt very embarrassed, "There's no need…"

"Eat, eat, we all have some," Li Laogen grinned, "Laosan, I have great news to tell you!"

"What good news?" Zhao Laosan asked.

Li Laogen said, "Laosan, our Ah Qing wants to teach Damao and Ermao how to read, and you can let Xiaodou join in! When the house is built, you can let Xiaodou come to our house to study. After learning to read and write, Xiaodou might even become a shopkeeper in the county in the future!"

"What… what?" Zhao Laosan was dumbfounded. He had only ever thought about sending Zhao Xiaodou to be an apprentice, as for studying… that was something he had never considered.

"It's nothing, just let Xiaodou come to my house to study in the future, you don't need to pay, and he can eat here. As long as Xiaodou can help take care of Damao and Ermao on weekdays," Li Laogen said.

The idea of letting Zhao Xiaodou help take care of Damao and Ermao was mentioned by Li Qingzhi to Li Laogen in the morning.

Li Laogen was deeply moved at the time.

Li Laogen, like Jin Xiaoye, felt that Damao and Ermao didn't need someone to take care of them at all.

So Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye said this just to take care of Zhao Xiaodou, right?

Their family ate so well; if Zhao Xiaodou came to their house, he could eat white rice and meat!

Li Qingzhi also planned to teach Zhao Xiaodou how to read… to learn to read in the county would cost a lot of money each year, but Li Qingzhi? He wouldn't charge any money!

Li Laogen felt that Li Qingzhi proposed such a suggestion because he wanted to take care of Zhao Xiaodou for his sake.

"My Ah Qing is very knowledgeable. Damao and Ermao are just a little bit older, and they already know a lot. Letting Xiaodou study with them in the future will definitely not be inferior," Li Laogen grinned, showing the few yellow teeth he had left. "Laosan, Ah Qing is willing to let Xiaodou come over because of me."

After Zhao Laosan arrived, he originally wanted to inquire with Li Qingzhi about the Hong family, but before he could speak, he learned of such good news.

So what if the Hong family is wealthy? Even if his son goes there, he'll still be serving others for the time being, having to attend to a simpleton. But coming to Li Qingzhi's place is different; there's no need to work and one can still study alongside!

Zhao Laosan only has one child, whom he values greatly. Naturally, he hopes his son will have a bright future, and in that case… even a simpleton knows which option to choose.

"Wouldn't that be inappropriate?" Zhao Laosan was very anxious.

"There's nothing inappropriate about it. Ah Qing is my son!" Li Lao root said proudly.

Li Qingzhi also added, "Uncle San, I've taken on some copying jobs. I'll need to do some copying at home in the future, and I thought it would be good to have someone help me look after Damao and Ermao. If Xiaodou is willing to come, that would be great."

"Xiaodou would definitely be willing to come!" Zhao Laosan replied without hesitation.

He also knew that Li Laogen root wasn't very reliable, but in his opinion, Li Laogen root was not a bad person, and he was also affectionate towards Xiaodou.

As for Li Qingzhi… he wasn't very familiar with him, but he thought Li Qingzhi was a good person.

As for Jin Xiaoye, there's no need to mention her. Although she had a bit of a temper, her heart was good! This could be seen from the fact that his brother never came to their house for a free meal over the years.

"In that case, Xiaodou can come in the morning and go back in the evening. Uncle Laosan, you can drop him off." Li Qingzhi said.

"There's no need for dropping off. Xiaodou can go by himself. He usually wanders around anyway," Zhao Laosan said. "Ah Qing, rest assured, Xiaodou will definitely take good care of Damao and Ermao. He's the most obedient!"

Once they settled on this matter, other helpers also arrived.

Jin's mother let them have porridge and then started preparing the next meal.

Li Qingzhi's house only had one pot, plus cooking on a clay stove… cooking was indeed troublesome.

However, Jin's mother had always been responsible for cooking at the Jin family, and she had to do many other things. While helping with cooking here, she didn't feel tired at all. On the contrary, she felt too relaxed and ate too well, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Jin's mother could only try to make the dishes taste better.

On the other hand, Zhao Laosan worked particularly hard.

Li Qingzhi wanted to teach his son how to read, so Zhao Laosan would certainly help him with work.

As for that young master from the Hong family… he had long forgotten about that matter.

Earning five hundred coins a month was indeed not a small amount, but Li Qingzhi could read, and he could earn a silver coin a day!

And the Li family ate so well. In these two days his son was at the Li family, as long as he played with Damao and Ermao, he could eat meat at every meal. Zhao Laosan felt that his life was almost as good as that of a young master.

When he returned home at night, Zhao Laosan told Zhao Xiaodou about this matter.

Zhao Xiaodou was extremely excited: "Can I go to Uncle's house every day in the future?"

Uncle's house really had good food!

Their family basically ate rice and vegetables cooked together every day, but his uncle's family always ate white rice!

As for taking care of Damao and Ermao, Zhao Xiaodou didn't see it as a big deal at all.

He didn't even feel like he was taking care of them; he was just playing with two younger kids.

"Of course!" Zhao Laosan said. "When the time comes, you'll come in the morning and go back in the evening. Your uncle Li will teach you how to read. Study well, and maybe you'll become a shopkeeper in the county in the future…"

Zhao Xiaodou had known for a long time that he would have to go out to work for a living in the future, so he nodded seriously at the words.

After returning home happily, the father and son, upon arrival, noticed a messenger waiting at their door. It was then that Zhao Laosan remembered the matter concerning the Hong family.

Yesterday, he had hesitated for a moment, but today he didn't hesitate at all: "My son cannot go to the Hong family. My nephew asked him to go over there and learn to read with him."

The messenger was stunned.

The Hong family had asked for assistance in finding a suitable person, promising a high introduction fee, but the chosen individual declined… The messenger, in a bad mood, made a few sarcastic remarks before leaving.

Zhao Laosan felt a bit embarrassed by the comments, but as long as he thought about his son learning to read in the future, he became happy again.

Zhao Laosan's wife, knowing about this, was also delighted. The next day, she specially prepared a basket of eggs and picked some vegetables that the Li family didn't plant to send to the Li family.

The matter of Zhao Xiaodou was settled like this. However, because the house was in chaos, Li Qingzhi temporarily didn't teach them how to read, only letting them memorize poems and telling them stories during their free time.

To Li Qingzhi, this wasn't a big deal, but when Zhao Laosan took Zhao Xiaodou home and heard him reciting poetry, he felt so happy that he wanted to jump for joy.

His son could recite poetry already!

In the future, his son would learn to read and write, and even do accounting…

Zhao Laosan was so excited that he lifted his son up and kissed him.

He had never kissed his son before; it had never occurred to him.

He rarely hugged children. When they were young, he was busy, and his stepchildren helped take care of them. When they grew up… they were already grown up; why would they need to be hugged?

But Li Qingzhi, being an educated man, hugged his child, so why couldn't he?

Subconsciously imitating Li Qingzhi, after he kissed his son, Zhao Xiaodou's eyes lit up, happily looking at his father while covering his face.

"Dad's Xiaodou, you're going to become a scholar in the future!" Zhao Laosan said with great joy. If his son wasn't already a bit too big, he would've wanted to carry him on his neck and go home like that.

After being reminded by Jin Moli, she would occasionally pay attention to Zhao Laosan and his son.

She remembered that Zhao Xiaodou went to the Hong family just before the Mid-Autumn Festival. Shouldn't Zhao Laosan have come to inquire after being introduced to the work by the middleman at the Hong family? Why hadn't he come?

Jin Moli couldn't understand it, but seeing Zhao Xiaodou happily playing at the Li family every day, she let go of her worries.

However, when she saw the house that the Li family was about to finish building, she felt uncomfortable again. In her previous life, she had such a miserable life after marrying Li Qingzhi. How come Jin Xiaoye's life was getting better and better?

In the village of Miaoqian Village, when a family is building a house, typically, the ones putting in the most effort are their own family members.

But the Li family was different.

Although Li Qingzhi's health had improved somewhat, he was still very thin and lacked strength.

As a result, nobody asked Li Qingzhi to work, and nobody dared to let him work either.

With his physical condition… even lifting slightly heavy objects might strain his back.

So, although it was Li Qingzhi's family building the house, he had a particularly relaxed time, not doing anything, and being pampered by his mother-in-law every day.

In another household, the laborers would definitely be discontented and would say a few words, but nobody complained about Li Qingzhi; after all, the food at the Li family was too good.

Not only did those who worked at the Li family get plenty of white rice to eat, but they also got meat!

Building a house was not easy, but for those accustomed to physical labor, it wasn't much, especially since they could rest when tired, without anyone pressuring them.

The laborers came to the Li family every day to build the house, working enthusiastically. The speed at which they built the rammed earth walls was very fast, and within a few days, the walls were already up.

Jin Xiaoye had prepared various wooden materials needed for roofing. She had calculated precisely how many rafters and beams their house would need, and she had prepared everything meticulously.

Experienced craftsmen guided everyone in roofing the house and laying the roof tiles.

In many houses in Miaoqian Village, they didn't use roof tiles; instead, they would cover the beams with woven bamboo mats and then cover them with woven straw on the outside to serve as the roof.

These roofs would deteriorate over time and need renovation, but due to their low cost, many households still used them.

At first, Jin Xiaoye also wanted to build this type of roof, but because Li Qingzhi brought back fifty taels of silver… she gritted her teeth and bought many roof tiles instead.

After finishing the house, they would need to build the hearth, install the doors and windows, and Jin Xiaoye also bought a dining table, a writing desk, a wooden chair, a bed, and a wardrobe.

Li Qingzhi felt that there were still many things missing in the house, but Jin Xiaoye was stingy with money and didn't want to buy more.

Li Qingzhi didn't insist either; they indeed hadn't reached the point where they could squander money. By the time the Li family's house was completed, the weather had cooled considerably, and it coincided with a very important festival for the people of Daqi, the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Li Qingzhi and his family planned to invite relatives for a meal the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, to celebrate their relocation. This meal was known in Miaoqian Village as the "Celebration Feast".

On the day of the treat, early in the morning, Li Qingzhi took Li Laogen, Zhao Laosan, as well as Zhao Xiaodou, Li Damao, and Li Ermao, and went to the county town—they were going to buy ingredients to entertain the guests.

Usually, Jin Xiaoye would be responsible for this, but she had some small business to attend to in the morning and couldn't spare the time. Moreover, Zhao Laosan volunteered to help, so Li Qingzhi and the others went to buy the goods.

At the break of dawn, they set off from Miaoqian Village and arrived at Chongcheng County.

Li Damao and Li Ermao had followed Li Qingzhi to the county town many times before, so going to the county town wasn't a novelty for them anymore. However, it was Zhao Xiaodou's first time visiting the county town.

When Zhao Laosan married into the Zhao family, the Zhao family had accumulated a lot of debt due to Zhao Laosan's wife's previous husband falling ill. Over the years, Zhao Laosan and his wife had been working hard to repay the debt, so their family life wasn't particularly good.

In any case, they didn't have the leisure to take their child to the county town for fun.

Although Zhao Laosan loved Zhao Xiaodou very much, Zhao Xiaodou had already quietly grown up when he wasn't paying attention.

He had rarely communicated with Zhao Xiaodou before, and Zhao Xiaodou wouldn't actively approach him either. Recently, he had been taking Zhao Xiaodou to the Li family every day, talking to him on the way back and forth, which made Zhao Xiaodou speak more in front of him.

On the way, Zhao Laosan instructed Zhao Xiaodou, "Xiaodou, make sure to take care of your brothers, and don't wander around when we get to the county town…"

Li Qingzhi chuckled and interrupted Zhao Laosan, "Uncle San, Xiaodou is very obedient. He will take good care of his brothers without being told."

Zhao Laosan always wanted Zhao Xiaodou to be obedient and well-behaved. He noticed that Zhao Xiaodou became excessively obedient after being reminded too much.

Zhao Laosan chuckled without saying anything, and Li Qingzhi smiled and told the children about various things they saw along the way, mentioning some things about the county town.

Among the three children, Li Ermao asked the most questions, Li Damao occasionally asked questions, but Zhao Xiaodou just listened attentively.

After arriving in the county town, Zhao Xiaodou became even more constrained, giving the impression that he didn't even dare to set foot on the stone-paved streets.

But it wasn't just Zhao Xiaodou; Li Laogen and Zhao Laosan were also like this.

When farmers from the countryside came to the county town, many of them had similar reactions.

Li Qingzhi didn't say anything and led them forward.

They first went to the Ding family.

The two cottages of the Li family had been under construction for twenty days. During this time, Li Qingzhi had taken time to write Ding Xi's autobiography, and by now, he had written a hundred thousand words. His purpose in coming this time was to hand over the manuscript to Ding Xi.

When they arrived at the entrance of the Ding family's residence, Li Qingzhi informed the gatekeeper, who went to report. Soon, a middle-aged man with a big belly came out and said, "Mr. Li, I'm sorry, but my master is not at home right now."

This middle-aged man was Ding Xi's steward. Li Qingzhi had seen him once before. Learning that Ding Xi wasn't present, Li Qingzhi handed the manuscript to him.

The steward of Ding Xi accepted the manuscript and invited Li Qingzhi inside for tea.

Li Qingzhi said he had other matters to attend to and didn't go in. He smiled and bid farewell to the steward as he left.

When Li Qingzhi went to knock on the door of the Ding family, Li Laogen and Zhao Laosan didn't dare to follow. Li Qingzhi asked them to wait nearby and said he would find them after he finished his business.

Seeing Li Qingzhi return, Li Laogen immediately asked, "Ah Qing, was that Mr. Zhu just now? The Zhu family's house is really big!"

Li Qingzhi replied, "This is the Ding family. The person just now was the steward of the Ding family."

Li Laogen took a sharp breath of cold air. "Even a steward is so imposing!"

Zhao Laosan nodded repeatedly, feeling that the steward looked like a wealthy master.

Li Qingzhi smiled and led them to the butcher shop in the county town.

When they went shopping, they mainly bought meat and bean products. As for vegetables, poultry, and eggs, they could buy them in the village.

Li Qingzhi directly asked for a piece of pork belly. This kind of pork belly, with ribs attached, was called "striped meat" by the locals. A piece of pork belly was roughly a square piece with all the ribs from one side of the pig.

After Li Qingzhi finished buying, Zhao Laosan put the meat into the basket on his back and then followed Li Qingzhi to buy bean products.

From tofu to dried tofu and even vegetarian chicken, Li Qingzhi bought some of each. As for salted fish, kelp, and dried bamboo shoots, which could be kept for a long time, Jin Xiaoye had bought them a few days ago and stored them at home.

In addition to meat and bean products, Li Qingzhi also bought a jug of oil and a jar of sauce.

These items were also put into the basket on Zhao Laosan's back. Since Li Qingzhi had asked Zhao Xiaodou to help him carry the child, Zhao Laosan tried very hard to help Li Qingzhi with the work.

Walking on the narrow streets of the county town, Zhao Laosan and Li Laogen felt very uneasy.

In small towns like Chongcheng County, in the Jiangnan region, due to the abundance of rivers and bridges making it inconvenient for carriages to pass, wealthy people didn't ride horses or take carriages when going out. They either took boats or sedan chairs, or simply walked.

On the roads of this county town, there were many wealthy people coming and going.

Every time Li Laogen and the others saw them, they would give way, shrinking and lowering their heads, not daring to look at the wealthy people.

Li Qingzhi remained calm. As he walked, he introduced the surrounding shops to Li Laogen and Zhao Laosan.

"Li brother?" a familiar voice suddenly sounded. Li Qingzhi looked in the direction of the voice and saw Zhu Xunmiao.

"Xunmiao," Li Qingzhi smiled.

"Li brother, long time no see!" Zhu Xunmiao was excited to see Li Qingzhi.

There weren't many books available these days, and after Li Qingzhi finished writing Zhu Qian's autobiography, Zhu Xunmiao read the book several times from beginning to end, liking it more and more. He even recited it to his mother and brother.

His mother and brother also liked the book very much after hearing it.

As for his good friend Xu Qifei, it went without saying. Xu Qifei now reads incessantly, day and night. When he felt tired, he would take out this book to read and inspire himself.

In short, Zhu Xunmiao liked the book more and more, and as a result, he also liked Li Qingzhi more and more.

Unfortunately, just after Li Qingzhi finished writing his father's autobiography, he left their house and went to study with Li Xiucai… It had been almost a month since he last saw Li Qingzhi!

Zhu Xunmiao talked to Li Qingzhi for a long time, and then Li Qingzhi learned that Li Xiucai, the scholar, was going back to his hometown for the Mid-Autumn Festival. He had given the students at the school a three-day break, and today was the first day of the holiday.

Zhu Xunmiao had come out of his house because he wanted to go.

As Zhu Xunmiao spoke, he said, "Li brother, tomorrow, Hong brother will host a Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering at home. I have received an invitation, and each invitation allows two people to attend. Would you like to come with me?"

Zhu Xunmiao's newly acquainted friend was surnamed Hong, the young master of the Hong family who had achieved the title of master at a young age.

In the literary circle of Chongcheng County, Zhu Xunmiao had never been very popular. Now, the son of the scholarly Hong family was willing to befriend him… He was particularly happy about it.

"Would it be inappropriate for me to go there suddenly?" Li Qingzhi hesitated. He only knew Zhu Xunmiao, and it seemed a bit inappropriate to suddenly attend a poetry gathering.

Besides, he didn't know how to compose poetry at all.

Li Qingzhi had been diligently studying, and he had memorized quite a few books. But composing poetry… that was a bit difficult for him.

"There's nothing wrong with it, Li brother. Many people will attend this Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering. You can get to know more people by going." Zhu Xunmiao persuaded Li Qingzhi to go with him.

After thinking it over, Li Qingzhi agreed. Since he was determined to follow the path of imperial examinations, it would be good to go and meet some people.

Zhu Xunmiao and Li Qingzhi made arrangements. After Li Qingzhi promised to meet him the next morning, Zhu Xunmiao left happily.

While Zhu Xunmiao was talking to Li Qingzhi, Li Laogen and Zhao Laosan shrank into a corner, not daring to approach, as if they didn't know Li Qingzhi. But when Zhu Xunmiao left, they breathed a sigh of relief and came to Li Qingzhi's side.

Li Laogen asked, "Ah Qing, who was that?"

Li Qingzhi replied, "He's the young master of the Zhu family."

"This young master looks really handsome, like a little immortal!" Li Laogen remarked, and Zhao Laosan nodded in agreement.

In fact, Zhu Xunmiao's appearance was quite ordinary, but his fair skin and round face made him appear very attractive to Li Laogen.

With no one else around, Li Laogen was quite talkative, asking Li Qingzhi various questions.

Li Qingzhi mentioned the invitation from Zhu Xunmiao to attend the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering tomorrow.

"Oh, the Hong family… My Xiaodou, almost became a servant in the Hong family," Zhao Laosan suddenly said.

Zhao Laosan hadn't told Li Qingzhi and Li Laogen about the plan to introduce Xiaodou to the Hong family as a servant, but since it was mentioned now… he explained the situation.

Li Qingzhi was surprised to hear this.

When Jin Moli mentioned that the young master of the Hong family liked to hit people, he was also present.

Having experienced the apocalypse, he could keenly perceive others' emotions… Jin Moli had spoken the truth at the time, at least she believed it herself.

But he didn't think much of it at the time. After all, what did it matter to him if the young master of a wealthy family was a crazy person who liked to hit people?

But now… If the Hong family knew about their son's problem and still hired a servant, and hired a child who was only seven or eight years old… did the Hong family not care if their young master injured someone?

Of course, it was also possible that the rumor about the young master of the Hong family hitting people was false, and that Jin Moli had received incorrect information.

If that young master really likes hitting people… the Hong family, which is highly respected, might not have a good reputation.

Jin Xiaoye had arranged to meet them at the dock, so Li Qingzhi took Li Laogen and the others there and found a shop to treat them to noodles.

There were several types of noodles available, with the cheapest being mixed noodles, which were served with soy sauce, lard, and chopped scallions. A bowl costs only two cents. In addition to that, there were other types of noodles with various ingredients such as shredded pork, pork liver, and grass carp.

Li Qingzhi ordered five bowls of pickled vegetables and shredded pork noodles. He and Zhao Laosan and Li Laogen each had one bowl, while the three children shared the remaining two bowls. At four cents per bowl, the portion of noodles was not enough for an adult man to feel full, but it would suffice as a snack before the lunch banquet.

"I and Xiaodou don't need…" Zhao Laosan repeatedly declined.

Li Qingzhi said, "Uncle San, if you don't eat, I'll feel embarrassed to ask for your help, and if we all eat and you don't, what does that imply?"

Li Laogen even pressed Zhao Laosan's shoulder and made him sit down. "My Ah Qing is rich! If he wants you to eat, you should eat!"

Zhao Laosan had no choice but to sit down, but he refused to eat until the last bowl was served.

In addition, when distributing the noodles to the three children, he picked out some noodles from both bowls to give to Zhao Xiaodou, leaving the shredded pork untouched. However, he took most of the shredded pork from his own bowl and gave it to Zhao Xiaodou, who didn't mind at all.

Li Qingzhi didn't stop him from doing so, as he didn't want him to feel even more uneasy.

After finishing the noodles, they waited at the dock for a while until Jin Xiaoye, who had finished dealing with the matters, came to pick them up and took them back to Miaoqian Village.

By this time, Jin Dajiang and Jin Mu had almost finished all the preparations for the banquet. As soon as they saw the meat, they began cooking.

The pork was cut into small pieces and used to stew with dried bamboo shoots, seaweed, soybeans, tofu, and vegetarian chicken…

They made a total of eight dishes in one go, and the banquet was quite decent, with many guests invited. The closer relatives, such as Jin Xiaoye's maternal relatives and Li Laogen's two younger brothers' families, were invited with their entire families, while some more distant relatives were invited with the head of their household.

There were too many people to accommodate in their house.

The neighboring Yao family, who were also distant relatives, had lent their tables, chairs, benches, and even pots, pans, and tableware to them. Now that the Yao family couldn't cook, Jin Xiaoye invited them to have lunch at their house.

Jin Moli didn't want to go to the Jin family's house for lunch. In her previous life, Jin Xiaoye had always lived better than her, which made her very unhappy, and in this life, she hoped that Jin Xiaoye would not be as good as her in every aspect.

But Jin Xiaoye's life was getting better and better.

And she always felt like Jin Xiaoye had deliberately cheated her out of her happiness, but it didn't seem to be the case, which made her even more upset.

But Jin Moli didn't want to go, but her two children did.

Seeing her two children drooling while looking in the direction of the Jin family's house, Jin Moli began to tidy herself up.

Yao Zhenfu had a lover in the county, which had embarrassed Yao Zhenfu and made Jin Moli very ashamed.

She hadn't wanted to go out for some time!

But she had to go out this time, so she decided to dress up nicely.

Jin Moli had a lot of dowry items, and although most of them had been taken away by Yao Zhenfu to spend, she still kept some for herself.

Because she thought Yao Zhenfu would become a wealthy man in the future, she wasn't frugal with her spending.

This was evident from her purchase of two flowers from Jin Xiaoye's house, which indicated her spendthrifty nature.

With such a transformation, she looked very beautiful, and her body was also infused with the fragrance of the duck egg powder.

Wearing both flowers on her head, Jin Moli walked out of the door and saw Yao Zhenfu, who was wearing his best clothes and had meticulously combed his hair.

Yao Zhenfu's thoughts were exactly the same as Jin Moli's. He didn't really want to go to the Jin family's house to drink, but he felt that if he didn't go, he would seem afraid of Li Qingzhi…

In the end, Yao Zhenfu decided to go.

Although he had been laughed at for having a lover, it wasn't a big deal!

A man who doesn't have romantic experiences in his youth is not a true man!

He's a scholar, and he's going to take the imperial examination in the future. He's much more formidable than Li Qingzhi. Why should he be afraid of Li Qingzhi?

Today, Yao's mother has been helping out at Yao's house. According to the customs here, when someone hosts a banquet, neighbors should pitch in to help. She's old and not in good health, and she's so tired that she can't even straighten her back. Then she turns her head and sees her son and daughter-in-law coming over all dressed up, and she feels angry.

Such chores should be done by her son and daughter-in-law, not by her, an old lady!

But Yao's mother didn't dare to get angry with her son and daughter-in-law, so she could only hold it in.

The dishes were already being served, and people sat down one after another, praising the food as they ate: "The Li family is really generous!"

"So much meat!"

"Jin Dajiang's cooking skills are really good!"

…

However, while praising the food, they also felt that Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye were a bit extravagant with their spending: "Building houses and hosting banquets, Li Qingzhi's earnings from copying books before and Jin Xiaoye's earnings from rowing boats during this time, I'm afraid they've all been spent, right?"

"Young people just don't know how to manage their money. How can they spend money like this? Saving money to buy land for their eldest and second son is the right thing to do."

"Yeah! They were even stewing meat for the workers every day when they were building the house."

…

Of course, some people stated the facts: "Jin Xiaoye is not a spendthrift. They might be so generous because they have money on hand."

Yao Zhenfu had been listening to the conversations around him and couldn't help but interject, "Li Qingzhi only copied books for a couple of months, and Jin Xiaoye only paddles a boat. At most, they earn five or six taels of silver per month… Now that they're spending so much, they must be pretending to be wealthy."

Upon hearing Yao Zhenfu's remarks, the person who had previously suggested that Jin Xiaoye might have money fell silent.

Yao Zhenfu was quite satisfied with the situation. He took a sip of rice wine and began picking out pieces of meat to eat. Since he had stopped going to the county to study and was eating the same food as his parents at home, he felt that his stomach lacked something.

He was determined to eat more of the meat from the Li family.

After no one at Yao Zhenfu's table spoke for a while, they overheard Li Laogen from the neighboring table loudly saying, "My Ah Qing is very knowledgeable and knows a lot of things!"

"Today, when we went to the county to buy meat, the young master of the Zhu family saw my Ah Qing and was very polite. He even invited my Ah Qing to attend a poetry gathering at the Hong family."

"My Ah Qing didn't want to go at first, but after several requests, he agreed."

Li Laogen's speech was accompanied by flying spittle, and he even stood up, looking excited.

Li Laogen used to enjoy gambling, but recently he changed and started boasting. Today, after going to the county, he had a lot of new material to talk about, so naturally, he had to boast to his heart's content.

The villagers listened with admiration. Li Qingzhi was actually going to the Hong family in the county to attend a poetry gathering… This was really amazing!

They were envious, but Jin Moli and Yao Zhenfu felt more and more annoyed as they listened.

Yao Zhenfu couldn't hold back any longer, "This is simply nonsense!"

His voice was loud, and Li Laogen, upon hearing it, became unhappy, "Who are you saying is talking nonsense?"

"You!" Yao Zhenfu said, "Li Qingzhi couldn't even recite the Three-Character Classic a few months ago. His knowledge is similar to mine when I was ten… If he's considered knowledgeable like this, what does that make me?"

Li Laogen was a little confused, "What's the Three-Character Classic?"

Yao Zhenfu became even more disdainful and said, "And as for the Hong family's poetry gathering, it's not something anyone can attend! The Hong family is a scholarly family, and they carefully select their invited guests… Even Zhu Xunmiao can't go, let alone Li Qingzhi!"

Yao Zhenfu felt that Li Laogen was completely making things up. After all, even Zhu Xunmiao couldn't attend the Hong family's poetry gathering.

Was there such a thing? Li Laogen looked a little uneasy and turned to look at Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi had told him about attending the poetry gathering, but was it possible that Li Qingzhi was also boasting?

Yao Zhenfu noticed Li Laogen's unease and became even more smug.

Just then, a servant boy arrived carrying a brand new package. "Is Mr. Li Qingzhi staying here?"

The servant boy looked around and immediately saw Li Qingzhi, then ran over to him. "Mr. Li, my young master will wear a moon-white outfit tomorrow to attend the Hong family's poetry gathering. He wants you to wear the same, so he has prepared a set for you too. Tomorrow, you can both wear the same clothes to the gathering."

As a businessman, Zhu Qian had always been trying to cultivate good relationships with scholars, hoping that one day, when these scholars achieved success, he could share some of their glory.

Li Qingzhi possessed the ability to remember everything he saw, a talent Zhu Qian certainly wouldn't overlook. Thus, he paid close attention to Li Qingzhi.

After some investigation, Zhu Qian learned that Li Qingzhi had used the initial hundred taels of silver given by him to purchase four acres of land, and later he provided another fifty taels of silver, after which the Li family began building a house.

He knew that Li Qingzhi should still have some money on hand, but not much.

Therefore, upon hearing that his son had invited Li Qingzhi to attend a poetry gathering hosted by the Hong family, Zhu Qian immediately arranged for three sets of clothes of the same color to be prepared—one for his son to wear, one for Li Qingzhi, and another set to be given to Xu Qifei, whom his son had also invited.

Xu Qifei was also a scholar whom Zhu Qian wanted to befriend.

Although the clothes prepared by Zhu Qian were ready-made, they were not cheap. Including shoes and accessories, a set costs five or six guan. These were definitely clothes that Li Qingzhi and Xu Qifei would hesitate to buy for themselves, but they were respectable enough to wear.

After preparing the clothes, Zhu Qian immediately found a servant who knew Li Qingzhi and instructed him to deliver the clothes to the Li family. He also prepared a small gift for the servant to give to Li Qingzhi, congratulating him on the new house.

The servant appeared with a smile on his face. "Mr. Li, your house looks magnificent! My master has also prepared a gift to congratulate you on your new house."

With that, the servant handed over a package wrapped in new fabric, along with a small box, to Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi accepted it with a smile. "Please thank Mr. Zhu for me."

Li Qingzhi had heard the boasting from Li Laogen about the house in front of guests before. Though somewhat exaggerated and even inaccurate in some places, Li Qingzhi did not intervene.

He noticed that when Li Laogen spoke like this, not only was Li Laogen happy, but also Jin Father, Jin Mother, Jin Xiaoye, and even Li Damao and Li Ermao were all quite happy.

As long as everyone was happy, Li Laogen didn't say anything he shouldn't, and because Li Laogen was not very reliable, the people around him couldn't be sure if what he said was true.

Li Qingzhi kept smiling and then saw Yao Zhenfu stepping forward to refute Li Laogen.

He felt a little sympathetic toward Yao Zhenfu. Yao Zhenfu was clearly making himself uncomfortable.

Yao Zhenfu had lived a comfortable life since childhood, so his mind was a bit fragile. He had not been willing to go out for several days after being caught in bed with his lover before. This time, being slapped in the face, Li Qingzhi didn't know if it would strike him hard.

Li Qingzhi didn't go to see Yao Zhenfu. He exchanged a few words with the servant and invited him to stay for dinner.

"Mr. Li, I need to report back quickly, so I won't stay for dinner." The servant smiled and left Miaoqian Village.

After the servant left, the villagers immediately surrounded Li Qingzhi. "Li Qingzhi, are you really going to attend the poetry gathering?"

"What is the poetry gathering like?"

"The clothes Master Zhu sent you must be very nice. My, even the packaging leather is top-notch."

"Why did Master Zhu send you clothes?"

…

Li Qingzhi smiled and replied, "Master Zhu did indeed say he wanted to take me to the poetry gathering. I wasn't invited by the Yao family; it's all thanks to Master Zhu that I can go."

"I don't know what the poetry gathering is like; I've never attended one before."

"Master Zhu probably thought I didn't have clothes to wear, so he sent them to me."

…

Li Qingzhi stated the facts briefly, but the villagers' gazes toward him had already changed.

Previously, when Li Qingzhi went to the Zhu family to copy books and brought back leftovers from the Zhu family every day, although the villagers admired him, they didn't pay much attention.

They thought the Zhu family hired Li Qingzhi to copy books simply out of pity for him.

But now, with the young master of the Zhu family inviting Li Qingzhi to attend the poetry gathering and even sending him clothes… Li Qingzhi's relationship with the Zhu family should be quite good.

Li Qingzhi was really remarkable, to be valued so highly by the Zhu family!

"Xiaoye, you've finally turned the corner!"

"Xiaoye, your family's life is getting better and better!"

"Laogen, you're lucky to have found such a good son!"

…

The villagers praised Li Qingzhi, but Yao Zhenfu was furious.

After that servant appeared and said those words, he felt like he had been publicly slapped in the face, feeling utterly embarrassed.

Now that the villagers were all surrounding Li Qingzhi, his anger was even harder to contain, almost causing him to storm off.

As Li Qingzhi went inside to put away his things… Yao Zhenfu couldn't help but snort, "Li Qingzhi is absolutely nothing special. Even if you all fawn over him like this, you won't gain anything from it!"

The villagers were a bit stunned by his words. They had just been congratulating Li Qingzhi because they thought highly of him. How did it turn into fawning?

They had also praised Yao Zhenfu before. Did Yao Zhenfu think they were fawning over him too?

Yao Zhenfu continued, "The young master of the Zhu family is called Zhu Xunmiao, and we were classmates. Zhu Xunmiao is only fifteen years old this year, and I don't know what means Li Qingzhi used to persuade him to be willing to take Li Qingzhi to the poetry gathering! But even if Li Qingzhi has won Zhu Xunmiao's favor, so what? In the county town, many people look down on Zhu Xunmiao."

The young master of the Zhu family was actually Yao Zhenfu's classmate? The villagers were somewhat surprised, and someone asked, "The Zhu family is so wealthy. Why do some people still look down on the young master of the Zhu family?"

"In the literary circle, wealth doesn't count for much! Zhu Xunmiao's knowledge is not even comparable to mine, so who would value him?" Yao Zhenfu said.

Zhu Xunmiao was still young, after all. Even if Yao Zhenfu had caused some trouble by being cheated on by his lover before… because Mr. Yao had always said that Yao Zhenfu was very knowledgeable, everyone still thought he was the most knowledgeable person in Miaoqian Village.

On the other hand, Li Qingzhi… Li Qingzhi had been criticized for his poor academic performance before, and he had been tied up and taken away for five years, never having studied.

"When it comes to knowledge, you have to show your skills. I'm going to participate in the county exam next year and will surely achieve something. As for Li Qingzhi… his knowledge is only as good as a ten-year-old child!" After Yao Zhenfu finished speaking, he turned and left.

Jin Moli hesitated for a moment, then hurried after Yao Zhenfu.

Yao's mother had been taking care of her grandchildren while they ate. Seeing her son leave like that, she wanted to follow him, but when she looked at the food on the table and at her grandchildren still eating… she ultimately didn't move and continued to eat with the two children.

At the Yao residence,

Jin Moli caught up to Yao Zhenfu and asked, "Are you going to participate in the county exam?"

Ever since Yao Zhenfu stopped locking himself up in the study after coming out, Jin Moli's relationship with him has improved.

Jin Moli was indeed very annoyed when she first found out that Yao Zhenfu had a lover and had spent so much money on her. But after that period passed, her anger dissipated almost completely, and she started thinking about Yao Zhenfu's prosperity in his past life again.

At that time, Yao Zhenfu was very grand. He had just returned to the village by boat and immediately got into a sedan chair without touching the muddy ground.

She was quite down-and-out at that time, and when she saw him, she truly envied him to the extreme.

In her past life, after Li Qingzhi, Jin Moli married a man whose wife died in childbirth and left no children.

That family wasn't as wealthy as the Yao family, but they had seven or eight mu of paddy fields. However, her life wasn't good.

She was the eldest daughter-in-law of that family, and although she didn't have to work in the fields, she still had to do chores like washing clothes, cooking, and feeding livestock.

Before she got married, she hadn't done much of these tasks, and even after marrying Li Qingzhi, she didn't do much work. When she started doing these tasks, she was so tired that she wanted to die, but her husband and mother-in-law still complained that she was delicate…

Later, her younger brother-in-law got married, and she thought that someone would share her workload. However, her sister-in-law was fierce and lazy, and she bullied her all the time…

By the time she was forty, her face was full of wrinkles, and her hair had turned white. But Jin Xiaoye? She wore beautiful clothes, her face was white, and she looked no different from the women in their twenties in the village.

She wanted to live like Jin Xiaoye.

So during this period, Jin Moli took the initiative to be nice to Yao Zhenfu.

Yao Zhenfu had always been someone who needed to be taken care of. Jin Moli's initiative to reconcile with him was something he welcomed, and they began to get along as they used to. However, what they truly thought in their hearts, nobody knew.

"Yes, I'm going to participate in the county exam," Yao Zhenfu said.

"Ah Fu, one's future isn't just about studying. Have you ever thought about doing business?" Jin Moli asked.

In her memory, the Yao family had only started becoming wealthy in the past two years. She hadn't been worried in the previous years, but recently, she had become a little anxious.

"Do business?" Yao Zhenfu was taken aback. He had always looked down on merchants because, after all, scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants ranked last!

But thinking about the brilliance Zhu Xunmiao displayed at school, and about how Li Qingzhi had garnered so much attention today just because Zhu Xunmiao gave him a set of clothes…

Yao Zhenfu did consider it seriously.

But he quickly came back to his senses. "I'm a scholar. The most urgent thing is still to study hard and pass the county exam next year!"

"But what if you don't pass…" Jin Moli lacked confidence in Yao Zhenfu. He had taken the exam several times already, and he hadn't passed yet!

And her father-in-law had asked Li Xiucai, who also thought Yao Zhenfu wouldn't pass.

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Yao Zhenfu was annoyed.

"I'm just worried that you won't pass…" Jin Moli's eyes turned red.

"If I don't pass, I'll do business, okay?" Yao Zhenfu said impatiently.

Jin Moli breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and smiled at Yao Zhenfu. "Okay, okay. Ah Fu, don't be angry. In my opinion, Li Qingzhi doesn't even compare to one of your toes."

Yao Zhenfu was finally cheered up by Jin Moli's coaxing.

At the Li residence,

After chatting with the villagers and explaining the situation, Li Qingzhi returned to his room with the gift and clothes given by Zhu Xunmiao.

Jin Xiaoye and Li Laogen followed him in.

Li Damao and Li Ermao showed no reaction; they were busy eating under the care of Zhao Xiaodou.

Meat was so delicious; clothes couldn't be eaten!

Li Qingzhi first opened the small box containing the gift.

Inside the box were four silver bracelets for children.

The four bracelets were of common styles, looking simple and elegant, and were quite heavy, indicating that a considerable amount of silver was used.

"What beautiful silver bracelets!" Li Yaogen exclaimed with envy.

Even Jin Xiaoye's eyes showed longing.

When Jin Moli was young, she had a silver bracelet and a pair of silver earrings, but she had nothing now.

Her mother had pierced her ears with a needle before she got married, but they couldn't afford silver earrings, so she had put two tea stems in her ear holes.

Over the years, she had changed countless tea stems in her ear holes, but she had never bought silver earrings, let alone silver bracelets!

Her two children also didn't have silver bracelets. Although it was customary in their village to give children silver bracelets or silver lockets, Li Damao and Li Ermao had nothing.

It was different at the neighboring Yao residence. When Yao Xiaobao turned one, his aunt gave him a pair of silver bracelets and a silver locket, while Yao Zhenfu's mother gave him a silver anklet. That child was adorned with silver, looking wealthy.

Now, Damao and Ermao finally had silver bracelets too.

Seeing Jin Xiaoye's joy, Li Qingzhi's heart stirred.

Jin Xiaoye didn't have any jewelry, but recently, she had some small things like hairpins to wear. After becoming wealthy, could Li Qingzhi buy her some jewelry?

Making up his mind secretly, Li Qingzhi opened the parcel containing the clothes.

Inside the parcel was a complete set of clothes, including inner garments, outerwear, a pair of shoes, a fan, and a hairpin.

The Zhu family was indeed very thoughtful, as nothing was missing.

"These clothes are really nice," Li Laogen said, reaching out to touch them but quickly retracting his hand.

Jin Xiaoye had the same reaction. "This fabric is really good! Ah Qing, you should put them away quickly; such good fabric is prone to snagging."

Her hands were too rough, so she didn't dare touch the fabric, fearing she might damage it.

They had just finished inspecting the gifts from the Li family when they noticed that Yao Zhenfu had already left.

Jin Xiaoshu approached Li Qingzhi and said, "Brother-in-law, Yao Zhenfu said that your and Young Master Zhu's scholarly abilities are poor, and he mentioned that he is going to participate in the county exam…" He quickly repeated what Yao Zhenfu had said.

Li Qingzhi: "…"

Li Qingzhi was quite speechless, but he didn't say much.

Today was supposed to be a happy day, so there was no need to be upset because of Yao Zhenfu.

"Brother-in-law, what's the county exam? Do you want to participate too?" Jin Xiaoshu asked eagerly.

Li Qingzhi thought for a moment and said, "We'll see." He intended to participate but hadn't planned to announce it.

By this time, the guests who came for the feast had almost finished eating.

People these days were quite well-off, so they finished all the food on the table and then, supporting their bellies, took a brief tour of the Li family's house.

The main house was quite small, so there wasn't much to see for a long time.

"This house is really nice!"

"The roof tiles are good; with roof tiles, there won't be any leaks."

"It's really spacious!"

"They even bought a writing desk! Is this for Li Qingzhi to write?"

…

The people stayed at the Li house until mid-afternoon before leaving. Many of those who had eaten at the Li house didn't eat dinner when they returned home that evening; they had already had their fill for the day.

After the others left, Jin Xiaoshu, Jin's father, and Zhao Laosan, Li Laogen, began to send back all the borrowed tables and chairs.

As for Jin Xiaoye, Jin's mother, and Zhao Laosan's wife, they helped wash the dishes and clean the kitchen.

These more intimate people were invited by Jin Xiaoye to stay for dinner.

It was already autumn, but it wasn't cold in Miaoqian Village at this time of year.

At this time of year, adult men with robust constitutions only needed to wear a short-sleeved shirt, but most people wore single-layer clothing.

In such weather, bathing in the river would be a bit cold.

Fortunately, after becoming wealthy, they had bought some firewood, so they could heat water for bathing.

The kitchen and dining hall were in the same room, and behind this room was the bathroom that Li Qingzhi had requested to be built. However, this bathroom was completely different from what Li Qingzhi had originally envisioned; it wasn't made of rammed earth walls but rather a small shed made of bamboo and bamboo curtains.

Inside, there was no bathtub, only a water tub, with a few bricks placed on the ground.

Jin Xiaoye carried half a bucket of hot water inside, used a ladle to mix some cold water from the tub to adjust the temperature, and then used the ladle to scoop warm water to bathe the two children standing on the bricks.

The leftover warm water was allowed to flow outside.

After Li Damao and Li Ermao finished bathing, Jin Xiaoye asked Li Qingzhi to bathe next.

Li Qingzhi suggested, "Will you help me fetch water?"

Jin Xiaoye looked at him speechlessly and said, "How old are you?"

The plan to bathe together with Jin Xiaoye was ruined… Li Qingzhi quietly began to bathe.

After Li Qingzhi finished bathing, Jin Xiaoye went to bathe, washed her clothes afterward, and hung them in the bathroom to dry overnight.

Using a cloth towel to dry her hair, Jin Xiaoye went to the room next door where she and Li Qingzhi stayed. Unable to resist, she said, "Having a bathroom is quite convenient. We don't need to go outside to wash vegetables on rainy days; we can do it inside."

It really is… Li Qingzhi also felt that the bathroom was not bad.

However, if possible, he wanted to live in a more comfortable house.

Life conditions for ordinary farmers in this era were very poor, but it was different in the city. In the city, the best baths cost several taels of silver, and it was said that the edge of the bathing pool was filled with flowers, and one could also eat various things while bathing.

It was already dark outside, so Li Qingzhi lit a lamp.

It couldn't be considered a lamp, in fact, it was just a small dish filled with oil, with a cotton wick inserted, and then ignited with a fire starter.

The light produced by this lamp was actually very dim, and it wouldn't be very bright in the room, but it was enough to see the surroundings somewhat clearly.

In this dim light, Jin Xiaoye looked particularly beautiful.

Jin Xiaoye's facial features were very well-defined, but her skin was dark from being exposed to the sun for a long time, and her face was a bit round. However, in the darkness, only her lively and spirited eyes and eyebrows could be seen.

"Xiaoye, let me dry your hair for you," Li Qingzhi said. Jin Xiaoye often went to bed with wet hair, which wasn't good for her health.

"Okay," Jin Xiaoye said, handing a dry towel to Li Qingzhi, "Qing, I want to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" Li Qingzhi asked.

"Ah Qing, I want to use the fifty taels of silver you brought back as capital to start a small business," Jin Xiaoye said, expressing her thoughts.

Previously, Jin Xiaoye's endeavors, such as making headpieces, were just small ventures, and she didn't earn much from them.

She went to nearby villages to sell various small items, but at most, she would earn a silver coin in a day. When she sold headpieces to traveling merchants… those people saw that she was running a small business, and since she was a woman, they would try to negotiate lower prices.

Moreover, making headpieces was easy to learn, and now there are others doing the same!

"Since the money has already been given to you, feel free to use it," Li Qingzhi said without hesitation.

Although Li Qingzhi agreed readily, Jin Xiaoye still felt somewhat apprehensive. "Ah Qing, I don't know if my business will succeed…"

"What do you want to do?" Li Qingzhi asked.

"I want to make gloves," Jin Xiaoye explained her idea to Li Qingzhi.

Miaoqian Village was located in the south of the Yangtze River, and it didn't get too cold in winter; vegetables still grew in the fields. But there were still some days when the water in the village's ditches would freeze over early in the morning.

Some very poor families might even freeze to death in the winter, and elderly people in the village often died in the winter.

But feeling cold in winter was only a concern for the poor; wealthy people in the county had many ways to keep warm.

For example, they would place burning charcoal on a copper stove. These copper stoves could be large enough to warm the feet when stood upon or small enough to hold in the hands with cotton covers. Before bed, they would even have servants use the copper stove to warm the bedcovers.

In the list of dowry items prepared by Ding Xi for her daughter, there were various styles of copper stoves.

In any case, everyone was afraid of the cold, and seeing that the weather was getting colder, Jin Xiaoye wanted to make gloves.

Listening to her description, Li Qingzhi confirmed that she wanted to make gloves, as well as hand warmers. In short, she wanted to make small warming items.

Items like gloves weren't uncommon in Daqi, but there was no one selling them; usually, people made them for themselves.

Li Qingzhi thought Jin Xiaoye could find an embroiderer in the county to make these items and sell them. As long as she controlled the costs well, she wouldn't lose money no matter what, even if she ended up making items that couldn't be sold.

But in this era, making things wasn't done with machines but with manual labor, so not much could be produced in a day. Even if the items couldn't be sold, she could just stop making them; it wouldn't lead to a large amount of unsold inventory.

Li Qingzhi expressed his support for Jin Xiaoye and, after thinking for a moment, also discussed various glove styles he had seen, such as fingerless gloves or gloves that could be worn with or without exposing the fingers, as well as hand warmers. Li Qingzhi thought they could be made cute, with various patterns.

Jin Xiaoye noted down each suggestion.

Li Qingzhi mentioned some things that already existed, but he had many ideas that Jin Xiaoye didn't know about or hadn't thought of.

He also suggested making attractive sleeve covers for children, which was indeed a good business idea.

In any case, these miscellaneous items were worth trying out. After making them, the more expensive ones could be sold in clothing stores, and the cheaper ones could be sold on boats.

The two of them talked for a long time, and although Jin Xiaoye's hair wasn't completely dry, it was almost there.

Li Qingzhi said, "Let's go to bed."

"Okay," Jin Xiaoye agreed, and he blew out the oil lamp placed at the bedside.

This bed was newly bought, with bedposts on all four sides for hanging mosquito nets.

Li Qingzhi liked this bed very much, but he had never slept on it before. This was his first time.

Lying on the bed, he reached his hand under Jin Xiaoye's neck, wanting to pull her into his arms.

However, as soon as his hand reached under Jin Xiaoye's neck, she lifted her head and carefully took his hand out, saying, "Don't put your arm under my neck. I'm quite heavy; what if I accidentally break your arm?"

Li Qingzhi was speechless—Jin Xiaoye was so thin, where did she get the idea that she was heavy!

But Jin Xiaoye was also caring for him… Li Qingzhi leaned over and kissed Jin Xiaoye's cheek, then moved to kiss her lips, saying, "Xiaoye…"

Jin Xiaoye froze for a moment, then pushed Li Qingzhi away.

Immediately afterward, she covered Li Qingzhi with a thin cotton blanket, and then wrapped her arm around his neck to hold him tight, saying, "Let's sleep, let's sleep. You're lighter than me now, so stop thinking about random stuff!"

Well, when Li Qingzhi kissed her, she felt all tingly and started thinking about random things!

But Li Qingzhi's body wasn't fully recovered yet, so she needed to restrain herself.

However, both being kissed and being the one to kiss felt pretty good… After hugging Li Qingzhi tightly, Jin Xiaoye planted a few more kisses on his face.

Lately, since she had been making money, her mood had been exceptionally good.

She wanted to earn more money to fatten Li Qingzhi up!

Patting Li Qingzhi's body with her hand, Jin Xiaoye said, "Let's sleep!"

Struggling a bit, Li Qingzhi found himself unable to break free. "…I shouldn't have unlocked my brain first!" he thought.

Jin Xiaoye was very tired.

Early in the morning, she went to the city first, then busied herself preparing for the wedding banquet… After suppressing Li Qingzhi, she quickly fell asleep.

Li Qingzhi, however, couldn't sleep for a while. He finally broke free from Jin Xiaoye's embrace, then covered them both with the blanket, lying shoulder to shoulder with Jin Xiaoye.

Reaching out to hold Jin Xiaoye's hand, Li Qingzhi felt his empty heart being filled.

His ability was still weak, but it had improved a lot since his rebirth… Li Qingzhi sent his ability into Jin Xiaoye's body to check her condition.

Overall, Jin Xiaoye was fairly healthy, but there were some minor issues, mostly due to fatigue and poor nutrition.

In the past few years, Jin Xiaoye has endured a lot.

But as long as Jin Xiaoye paid attention to her diet and rested properly, her body would recover. If he used his ability to help Jin Xiaoye adjust her body in the future, she would definitely live a long life like him.

Well, barring any accidents, they should be able to live for more than a hundred years.

Withdrawing his ability, Li Qingzhi closed his eyes to sleep.

But he couldn't fall asleep.

With a sigh, Li Qingzhi carefully kissed Jin Xiaoye's face all over before finally falling asleep.

Li Qingzhi slept particularly well that night.

Since he came to this world, he didn't have to worry about being eaten by zombies in the middle of the night… He slept soundly every night.

In the morning, Li Qingzhi continued teaching Jin Xiaoye to read while cooking breakfast together.

Recently, Li Qingzhi taught Jin Xiaoye to read using teaching material from Zhu Qian's autobiography.

When he wrote the book, his knowledge was limited, so he wrote it in simple language, hardly using any rare words, which was suitable for teaching Jin Xiaoye to read.

Li Qingzhi read a few passages to Jin Xiaoye, explaining the meanings of words she hadn't learned before, while the rice in the pot cooked.

Now they had two pots, one for cooking rice and the other for cooking dishes.

While Jin Xiaoye tended to the fire and read the passages he taught her, Li Qingzhi cracked five eggs and made a large pot of pickled vegetable and egg drop soup.

In addition, he placed the bamboo shoots and taro brought by Zhao Laosan yesterday on the steamer.

The pickled vegetable and egg drop soup was especially good when eaten with rice, and the bamboo shoots dipped in soy sauce were also appetizing.

As for the taro, it would be saved for when they were hungry as a snack.

While preparing breakfast, Li Qingzhi also kept a close eye on Jin Xiaoye, who was studying. If she mispronounced any words, he would remind her.

When the meal was ready, Zhao Xiaodou and Jin Xiaoshu both arrived.

Li Qingzhi let them serve themselves, and seeing that Zhao Xiaodou's portion was even smaller than Li Damao's, he added a little more… After the meal, he changed into the clothes Zhu Xunmiao had sent yesterday and followed Jin Xiaoye to the county town.

The poetry gathering started in the morning and would continue until the afternoon. People generally didn't hold events late at night at this time, as the journey home would be difficult after dark.

After leaving home, Li Qingzhi encountered some villagers. Everyone who saw him couldn't stop praising his handsome clothes.

His clothes were indeed beautiful, and apart from his clothes, there was nothing else to praise about him.

When a person is particularly thin, they really don't look good. He looked like a wooden frame now, with a piece of clothing hanging from it. When the wind blew, the clothes seemed to flutter.

Unfortunately, his current appearance doesn't give people a celestial feeling, but rather a creepy one due to his thinness.

After arriving in the county town, Li Qingzhi went to the Zhu family.

"Mr. Li, my young master came back late last night and hasn't woken up yet. Please wait for a moment," a servant from the Zhu family brought Li Qingzhi tea and snacks.

The tea was black tea, and the snacks were champion cakes and sticky rice balls filled with red bean paste. While Li Qingzhi was eating, he saw a young man dressed like himself entering.

The same clothes looked much better on him than on Li Qingzhi!

After chatting for a while, Li Qingzhi learned that this young man was Xu Qifei, whom Zhu Xunmiao had mentioned before, who helped him copy books.

Xu Qifei didn't know Li Qingzhi, but he was young and easy to talk to. After chatting with Li Qingzhi for a while, he enthusiastically engaged in conversation with him.

Almost everyone around Zhu Xunmiao had read Zhu Qian's autobiography. While chatting, Xu Qifei asked, "Brother Li, have you read the book about Old Master Zhu?"

"I have," Li Qingzhi replied.

Xu Qifei was very excited. "This book is truly timeless! I love this part the most…"

Xu Qifei directly recited a few sentences and told Li Qingzhi how well the book was written.

Li Qingzhi felt a little embarrassed.

The book he wrote wasn't that good, but Xu Qifei liked it so much, partly because he wrote some thought-provoking words in the book, and partly because… Xu Qifei probably hadn't read many books like this before.

Regardless of whether it's Xu Qifei or Zhu Xunmiao, they had mostly read the Four Books and Five Classics. In such a situation, suddenly encountering a refreshing fiction novel, how could they not like it?

People always have a particularly deep impression of the first novel they found enjoyable. Xu Qifei asked again, "Brother Li, which part of the book do you like the most?"

Just as Li Qingzhi was thinking about how to answer, Zhu Xunmiao finally arrived.

Zhu Xinmiao seemed a bit listless, and he yawned after entering the room.

"Xunmiao." "Brother Zhu." Li Qingzhi and Xu Qifei greeted Zhu Xunmiao together.

Zhu Xunmiao looked a bit excited when he saw Li Qingzhi. "Brother Li, did you write any articles when you came back yesterday?"

Zhu Xunmiao came back late yesterday because he went to Ding Xi's house to read the autobiography Li Qingzhi wrote about Ding Xi.

Compared to Zhu Qian's autobiography, Ding Xi's autobiography was more exciting, with plenty of fighting scenes.

Such plots were undoubtedly the favorites of young people. Zhu Xunmiao couldn't stop reading it, and even felt that this autobiography was more attractive than his father's.

He only went to Ding's house in the evening. At that time, Ding Xi had just returned home and started reading the book Li Qingzhi had sent. He followed along and couldn't put it down.

Unfortunately, Li Qingzhi had bound the pages together after writing them separately this time… Zhu Xunmiao couldn't read the contents ahead of time and could only read slowly with Ding Xi, so he hadn't read much after two hours.

In the end, Ding Xi couldn't hold on any longer and went to sleep first so that he could finish the book faster.

After all this, when Zhu Xunmiao returned home, it was already late at night. He was so excited that he couldn't fall asleep and ended up sleeping even later.

Zhu Xunmiao, who used to wake up before dawn, almost couldn't get up today. When he saw Li Qingzhi, he was thinking about the continuation.

Li Qingzhi said, "There was something at home yesterday, so I didn't write any articles."

Zhu Xunmiao's expression showed disappointment, while Xu Qifei, seeing this, was a bit puzzled. "Brother Li, do you write articles very well?"

Zhu Xunmiao looked at Li Qingzhi. He hadn't mentioned to Xu Qifei about Li Qingzhi helping him write his father's book, so he didn't know if Li Qingzhi would be willing to tell Xu Qifei.

Before, Li Qingzhi had already noticed while chatting with Xu Qifei that Xu Qifei was a "familiar" person who was famous but hadn't met him yet.

Every night before Jin Xiaoye went to bed, she would talk to him for a while, mainly about her business affairs.

She would complain about some difficult customers, talk about how much money she earned, but most of all, she would talk about the women who made floral headflowers for her, or the gossip those women told her.

For example, there was a woman surnamed Wang who was very close to Jin Xiaoye. Because her husband used to travel for business, she used to always worry and always looked worried. However, after Jin Xiaoye gave her many tasks to do, she no longer cared about her husband's safety!

In addition, Jin Xiaoye talked more about Mrs. Xu.

Mrs. Xu couldn't read, and her health wasn't very good, but in order to be able to support her son's education, she could sit there motionless for two or three hours, focusing solely on her needlework.

And the person in front of them, Xu Qifei, was Mrs. Xu's son.

Li Qingzhi smiled at Xu Qifei. "I helped write Master Zhu's autobiography."

Xu Qifei looked puzzled.

Zhu Xunmiao explained, "Xu Brother, my dad didn't read books, doesn't understand any great truths, and can't tell stories. His autobiography is so good-looking, all thanks to Brother Li's touch!"

Xu Qifei instantly understood what Zhu Xunmiao meant. He said the most profound words in the book, unlike anything Master Zhu could say.

At this moment, Zhu Xunmiao added, "Brother Li also helped Uncle Ding write an autobiography. I was reading it all night last night, and it was almost dawn when I fell asleep!"

Subconsciously, Xu Qifei asked, "Could I have a look?"

The autobiography of Uncle Ding wasn't finished by Uncle Ding himself, so Xu Qifei couldn't see it.

However, Xu Qifei could have a good conversation with Li Qingzhi, the author.

Xu Qifei liked the book written by Li Qingzhi and admired Li Qingzhi's ability to improve his writing skills during the writing process.

Although Li Qingzhi was still thin and obviously hadn't fully recovered physically, his handwriting was now on par with that of Zhu Xunmiao!

Upon learning that Li Qingzhi had an eidetic memory, Xu Qifei became even more excited. "At the poetry gathering later, Brother Li will surely shine!"

"I don't know how to write poetry; I don't have that skill," Li Qingzhi replied with a smile, then asked Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei not to mention his eidetic memory.

He wasn't anything special right now, and he didn't want to draw too much attention to himself.

Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei both agreed.

Zhu Xunmiao woke up late today and hadn't eaten breakfast yet. After chatting, he planned to grab something to eat and invited Li Qingzhi to join him.

Li Qingzhi was more than willing to have another meal.

He had eaten quite a bit at home in the morning, but now he felt like he could eat a few more bowls of rice.

Xu Qifei had also eaten before coming, but being a teenager, he felt he could eat a little more.

"If you don't mind, come with me to the kitchen to eat," Zhu Xunmiao said. "We can also order some dishes over there."

Li Qingzhi and Xu Qifei didn't mind, so the three of them went to the kitchen.

Although they said they would eat in the kitchen, they actually ate at the tables outside the kitchen where the managers ate.

Chef Zhou, had prepared breakfast for Zhu Xunmiao, which consisted of steamed dumplings and tofu pudding. But now that two more people had joined, it wasn't enough.

Glancing at Li Qingzhi, Chef Zhou smiled and said, "Young Master, shall I make some egg pancakes for you?"

"Sure," Zhu Xunmiao agreed without hesitation.

The "egg pancakes" Chef Zhou mentioned were actually pancakes made by mixing flour, eggs, and water into a paste, then adding salt and chopped green onions before frying them.

The pan was greased, and the batter was poured in and spread out with a spatula. After a while, it was flipped over… It didn't take long for the batter to cook, emitting the fragrance of eggs and spring onions.

These egg pancakes were cooked quickly. Chef Zhou had a plate of them ready in no time and brought it over to them just as Li Qingzhi and the others finished eating the steamed dumplings and tofu pudding.

Xu Qifei had only eaten one steamed dumpling, but after a bowl of tofu pudding, he felt quite full. Seeing Chef Zhou starting to make more egg pancakes, Xu Qifei asked Zhu Xunmiao, "Do we need more pancakes? Aren't we full already?"

Zhu Xunmiao coughed lightly and said to Xu Qifei, "Don't worry, we can finish them!"

Xu Qifei was puzzled. He often ate with Zhu Xunmiao, and while Zhu Xinmiao had a good appetite, it wasn't that big!

Li Qingzhi smiled and, using the bowl emptied of tofu pudding, skillfully scooped some porridge from the nearby pot. Then, he said to Chef Zhou, "Uncle Zhou, your pancakes are really delicious!"

"Mr. Li, please have as much as you like!" Chef Zhou was delighted.

"I will," Li Qingzhi smiled, and after Zhu Xinmiao couldn't eat any more, he finished off the remaining pancakes.

He needed to eat more to gain some weight. No matter what, he had to be heavier than Jin Xiaoye!

After finishing their meal, they still had some time left, so they went to Zhu Xunmiao's study.

This time, Li Qingzhi brought back the books he had borrowed from the Zhu family before and planned to borrow more books this time.

"Brother Li, feel free to pick any books you want," Zhu Xunmiao smiled and said they could put the books on the boat they would take to the Hong family's poetry gathering. After the gathering, they would use the same boat to send Li Qingzhi back.

"Thank you."

After chatting for a while and seeing that it was almost time, they took a boat to the Hong family's residence.

The Hong family had a small house in the county town, but this time, the venue for the poetry gathering was a garden near the county town, a bit far from the Zhu family's residence.

The small boat, manned by servants from the Zhu family, entered the garden. As soon as they entered, Li Qingzhi saw many chrysanthemums.

These chrysanthemums came in various colors and adorned the garden beautifully.

At the same time, a handsome young man in his twenties with an elegant demeanor walked towards them. "Brother Zhu, you're finally here."

This young man was Hong Hui, the eldest son of the Hong family. He exchanged a few words with Zhu Xunmiao with a smile, then took Zhu Xunmiao to meet the other literati who had come to participate in the poetry gathering. He even introduced Zhu Xunmiao to them, saying, "Everyone, this is Zhu Xunmiao. His family runs the Shunlong Trading Company. If you need any help, you can ask him."

Hong Hui was very eloquent and took care of most of the people present. During their conversation, he even arranged for Zhu Xunmiao to provide a job for a poor scholar.

Zhu Xunmiao agreed readily, and the scholar repeatedly thanked Hong Hui.

Li Qingzhi had been following Zhu Xunmiao all this time.

He and Xu Qifei were brought in by Zhu Xunmiao. They didn't know Hong Hui before, and they weren't well-known either. However, Hong Hui not only greeted them at the beginning but also treated them well afterward.

In just a short while, Xu Qifei already admired Hong Hui greatly, but Li Qingzhi didn't particularly like him.

He could sense that Hong Hui actually looked down on him. Not only him, but Hong Hui also seemed to look down on Zhu Xunmiao.

Moreover, after Zhu Xunmiao provided a job for that scholar, the scholar thanked Hong Hui instead of Zhu Xunmiao.

Clearly, Zhu Xunmiao was being used as a pawn by Hong Hui.

But there were always many hypocrites, like Hong Hui.

In the apocalypse, Li Qingzhi, who lacked combat power, would stay as far away from them as possible. But this was Daqi.

Daqi couldn't be considered a rule-of-law society, but it was still a peaceful era. Hong Hui wouldn't suddenly come to attack him, kill him, or bite him for no reason.

That was good!

There were various snacks prepared at the poetry gathering, and they could also enjoy the flowers and scenery. Li Qingzhi ate and looked around, feeling increasingly better.

The only regret was that he couldn't taste the flavor of those chrysanthemums in public.

Next to Li Qingzhi, Xu Qifei thought to himself, "…" Is Brother Li eating too much?

Seeing that all the snacks in front of Li Qingzhi were gone, Xu Qifei quietly pushed his own snacks over.

He had eaten too much in the morning and didn't want to eat anything now.

Li Qingzhi and Xu Qifei were just there to make up the numbers. Most of the people present didn't know them, so no one talked to them. Even Zhu Xunmiao didn't attract much attention.

In this poetry gathering, Hong Hui was definitely the center of attention. He even recited a poem publicly.

"The fragrance of osmanthus floats, the chrysanthemums are yellow, and the crabs are golden!" After Hong Hui finished reciting the last line, the literati present praised him one after another.

"What a great line—'the fragrance of osmanthus floats, the chrysanthemums are yellow, and the crabs are golden. Raise your glasses to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.'"

"Great poem! Hong Brother, could you prepare paper and a pen for us to write down the poetry?"

"Hong Brother's poetry is truly extraordinary!"

Li Qingzhi: "…" How should I put it? Hong Hui's poem is indeed not bad; at least he can't write something like that now, but it's not so praiseworthy.

"Osmanthus fragrance" is a common phrase, and as for "chrysanthemums are yellow, and the crabs are golden"… Usually, people say "chrysanthemums are yellow, crabs are fat, and crabs are red." These three phrases are just put together randomly and don't really match well.

This time, Zhu Xunmiao also prepared two poems in advance, and they are not inferior to what Hong Hui wrote.

Hong Hui is just a scholar. If his poetry level is like this, then by reading more poetry collections and memorizing more words like "fishing boats swaying," "maple leaves falling," and "autumn wind blowing," he should be able to compose poetry.

For example, when writing about Jin Xiaoye, he could write "fishing boats swaying, boatwomen busy." Hmm, if a poem requires four lines, he can use phrases like "willows are green" to describe the scenery on the shore…

Although this kind of poetry is full of artistic conception and can only be used to cope with certain situations, it's not considered real talent, but at least he can compose poetry, right?

Li Qingzhi suddenly brightened up, and then he felt like he needed to go to the restroom.

He ate and drank too much!

After informing Zhu Xunmiao, Li Qingzhi was about to leave when Zhu Xunmiao said, "Brother Li, let's go together."

Naturally, Li Qingzhi didn't object, and the two of them went to the restroom together.

Zhu Xunmiao was still excited: "Brother Li, so this is how poetry gatherings are like. Do you think I could organize one in the future? I wonder if anyone will come then…"

As they were talking, Zhu Xunmiao noticed that Li Qingzhi had stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Xunmiao asked.

Li Qingzhi said, "Brother Zhu, I heard crying."

"Really? Why didn't I hear it?" Zhu Xunmiao was a bit puzzled.

"My hearing is better… Brother Zhu, the sound is coming from over there." Li Qingzhi pointed in a direction.

While he was developing his own brain, he also enhanced his vision and hearing.

At this moment, he not only heard crying but also pleading for mercy, and those voices were coming from a child.

A child was being bullied!

Without hesitation, Li Qingzhi walked in the direction where the sound was coming from.

"Brother Li, this is someone else's house…" Zhu Xunmiao wanted to stop him, but after walking for a while, he also heard the sound, a child begging, "Master, please don't hit me…"

Zhu Xunmiao stopped trying to dissuade Li Qingzhi and ran after him.

The garden of the Hong family was quite large. They had been in one of the courtyards filled with flowers before, but now they were twisting and turning, eventually arriving at a somewhat secluded courtyard.

Although the Hong family was a literary family, they were not particularly wealthy. On their way here, they hadn't encountered any servants.

The respectable servants were probably all assigned to serve the guests at the poetry gathering.

The courtyard gate was open. When Li Qingzhi looked inside, he saw a scene that made him angry.

A child who looked abnormal and extremely fat, about ten years old, was pinning down another skinny child with hardly any flesh on his body, hitting him. He even bit him!

Standing beside these two children was a middle-aged maid with a sturdy build, but she didn't dare to intervene, only whispering, "Young Master, please stop."

Li Qingzhi couldn't bear to see children being harmed, especially when the act of "biting" disgusted him.

This fat kid pressing down on the other child looked abnormal from the start. Although he wasn't a zombie, what he was doing wasn't much different from one.

Li Qingzhi immediately rushed over, recalling what Zhao Laosan had mentioned before about Zhao Xiaodou almost becoming a servant in the Hong family.

This young master of the Hong family seemed just like what Jin Moli had described, enjoying beating others up. What were the Hong family thinking about hiring such an abnormal child to serve someone weaker? Were they not concerned that this child, who seemed intellectually challenged and had no restraint in his actions, might end up seriously injuring someone?

Li Qingzhi had already formed a poor impression of Hong Hui before, and now, his impression of the Hong family plummeted even further.

Approaching the young master of the Hong family, Li Qingzhi tried to pull him away. However, despite his young age, the young master of the Hong family was quite heavy, probably weighing around one hundred kilograms.

At this moment, even a pig would weigh around this much, and Li Qingzhi couldn't lift him!

After today, he definitely needed to improve his strength! With this thought in mind, Li Qingzhi struggled to pull the child away.

"What are you doing?" The middle-aged maid was startled by Li Qingzhi's actions and worried that he might hurt her young master, so she immediately tried to stop him. "This is our young master. You can't hurt him!"

Before she could intervene, Zhu Xunmiao had already come over to help, pulling the young master of the Hong family away.

Although Zhu Xunmiao hadn't done any heavy work before, as a fifteen-year-old boy, he was still able to move a child weighing one hundred kilograms.

However, after being pulled away, the child started wailing and began hitting Zhu Xunmiao.

"What are you doing!" Zhu Xunmiao dodged repeatedly, but lacking experience, he couldn't dodge in time and ended up being tackled to the ground by the child.

That wasn't all; the child even tried to bite Zhu Xunmiao's tender face with his chubby, baby-like cheeks.

If Zhu Xunmiao were bitten on the face, it would ruin his appearance! Li Qingzhi quickly reached out to stop him, only to be bitten on the hand by the child.

For a moment, Li Qingzhi almost lost control and wanted to fight back against the child in front of him, recalling various past experiences. His mental state seemed a bit off due to his experiences in the apocalypse.

But this was just an intellectually challenged child… Li Qingzhi snapped out of it and realized that he was already bleeding from being bitten by the child. The child then started using both hands and feet to attack him.

Although Li Qingzhi was weak, he could still escape. He also knew which parts of the child to strike to make him lose his ability to resist.

But just then, he heard some voices; someone was coming this way!

In the end, Li Qingzhi refrained from fighting back. Before long, he saw Hong Hui coming in with two others. Seeing the situation inside, Hong Hui's expression changed, and he immediately said, "Zhu Xunmiao, why did you intrude into my backyard and beat up my younger brother?"

Li Qingzhi's face changed upon hearing this.

This young master of the Hong family was intellectually challenged, and today, he and Zhu Xunmiao have intruded. Li Qingzhi had refrained from fighting back just now, fearing that the Hong family would turn the tables and accuse them of bullying the young master.

If the Yao family shifted all the blame onto him and Zhu Xunmiao, saying that they had bullied the young master of the Hong family, not only would their reputation suffer, but the child who had just been beaten by the young master of the Hong family would also continue to face violence.

But now, this Hong Hui was actually the first to make false accusations!

Li Qingzhi's mind raced as he used his hand to block the kick from the young master of the Hong family.

With a crack, Li Qingzhi's arm broke.

For Li Qingzhi, having a broken arm wasn't a big deal. When he first arrived, the original owner of this body had broken bones, and some had even been deformed.

It had only been three months, and he had already fully recovered from all those injuries. This time, he had controlled the break well, and it wouldn't take more than a week to heal.

However, having a broken arm did pose a problem! Hong Hui couldn't falsely accuse them of beating up the young master of the Hong family now.

Li Qingzhi managed to pull the beaten child away as well. A child like the young master of the Hong family should be kept locked away; he shouldn't be allowed to interact with those weaker than him!

In reality, Li Qingzhi didn't harbor any hatred towards the young master of the Hong family. After all, this child wasn't normal, and he didn't really understand anything. It was the actions of the Hong family that were despicable!

Li Qingzhi didn't think much of breaking his arm, but the others present were shocked by the situation.

Hong Hui's expression changed drastically.

Li Qingzhi, with his broken arm and bitten hand, looked pitiful, yet he was still trying to explain, "Brother Hong, we didn't beat anyone. This child went berserk and attacked us…"

As if to confirm his words, the child once again tried to bite Li Qingzhi. Fortunately, Zhu Xunmiao snapped out of it and, grabbing the child from behind, prevented Li Qingzhi from being harmed.

But when the child lowered his head, he tried to bite Zhu Xunmiao's arm through his clothes.

Although Li Qingzhi's broken arm didn't cause much trouble, Zhu Xunmiao let out a scream even though he was only bitten lightly through his clothes, the sound echoing far away.

Hong Hui's face turned black.

After Zhu Xunmiao and Li Qingzhi left the banquet, Hong Hui followed, intending to talk to Zhu Xunmiao.

Hong Hui's proactive friendship with Zhu Xunmiao had a reason behind it.

Hong Hui's great-grandfather had passed the imperial examination and risen to the rank of a third-ranking official. Although Hong Hui's grandfather and father were not as successful, they were both scholars. The Hong family was highly respected in Chongcheng County.

Unfortunately, Hong Hui's grandfather was not good at managing finances, and his father was even worse. Now, the Hong family was just a facade.

But for the sake of face, they had to work hard to maintain this facade!

For example, they used to host Mid-Autumn Festival poetry gatherings every year. Even though they didn't have money now, they still had to find a way to organize it.

But where would the money come from?

Hong Hui's great-grandfather liked to collect antique calligraphies and paintings. They used to have many valuable collections in their storage room, but they had already been sold off.

Although Hong Hui was young, he had to plan for himself and the future of the Hong family.

Passing the imperial examinations was the most important, and even if he only passed the provincial examination, it would give the Hong family some relief.

In addition to this, he tried to create a good reputation for himself, make friends with all sorts of people, and secretly find ways to make money.

Hong Hui befriended Zhu Xunmiao because Zhu Xunmiao was wealthy.

A few days ago, he had asked Zhu Xunmiao how to prepare for the poetry gathering, requesting his help to find some chrysanthemums and seeking advice on which drinks and snacks to serve…

Then Zhu Xinmiao sent him the chrysanthemums and drinks, and snacks and refused to accept payment.

This poetry gathering had cost them almost nothing, and Hong Hui had received many gifts.

Thinking of the benefits of befriending Zhu Xunmiao, Hong Hui followed him after he left the banquet. However, Zhu Xunmiao didn't go to the restroom but instead headed to the courtyard where his younger brother lived.

Everyone knew about Hong Hui, the eldest son of the Hong family, but few knew that there was another son in the Hong family, and Hong Hui himself felt ashamed to mention his younger brother.

Hong Hui's younger brother was named Hong Zhao. When he was born, he didn't seem much different from ordinary children, but as he grew up, the Hong family realized that something was wrong.

Hong Zhao was extremely dull; he could barely understand what people said, and if not careful, he would scream and hit people.

At first, Hong Hui's mother took care of him with all her motherly love, but later on, she couldn't stand it anymore and handed him over to the servants.

But he was still their own child, and Hong Hui's mother would visit him every day, caring about his food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.

Although the Hong family wasn't as wealthy as before, they could still afford to raise a child like Hong Zhao.

Hong Zhao was usually quiet, but when he was unhappy, he would cry loudly and cause trouble.

Hong Zhao's troublesome behavior had caused disturbances in the Hong family. As he grew older, his punches started to hurt. He constantly wanted to leave the house and would scream if unable to do so.

During that period, the Hong family frequently heard his screams, disrupting the peace of the entire household. Hong Hui was particularly annoyed, leading him to move to the county town.

Two months ago, a servant who took care of Hong Zhao retaliated when struck, accidentally injuring Hong Zhao. Hong Hui's mother was furious and punished the servant severely, replacing her with another, more agreeable maid.

Around the same time, a relative brought two children to the Hong family. Hong Hui's mother noticed a change in Hong Zhao's behavior when he saw children around his age. Despite his speech difficulties, he seemed to desire companionship.

Immediately, Hong Hui's mother arranged for a suitable servant to be a playmate for Hong Zhao. She insisted that the servant be close in age to Hong Zhao, well-behaved, and capable of taking care of him while keeping him company.

Before long, they found a candidate who fit the criteria.

Hong Zhao indeed enjoyed having a playmate, but his behavior resembled that of a child just learning to walk, lacking proper guidance. Occasionally, during their play, he would erupt in anger, resorting to physical aggression against those around him.

The newly appointed servant endured occasional beatings.

However, with the new playmate, Hong Zhao became less inclined to run away or scream. The household found some relief, choosing to overlook his violent behavior.

When Hong Hui discovered that Zhu Xunmiao went to his brother's courtyard, he became worried. He feared that Zhu Xunmiao, upon learning about his brother's condition, might spread the information. His concerns deepened as he saw the scene in the courtyard: the injured servant lying on the ground, and the thin scholar who came with Zhu Xunmiao being pressed and beaten by his brother.

Hong Hui, being sharp-witted, quickly deduced the situation. Most likely, Zhu Xunmiao had seen his brother beating the servant, and being the young and spirited person he was, he had intervened.

Knowing that their family's tolerance for Hong Zhao's violent behavior might garner criticism if widely known, Hong Hui felt a sense of urgency to handle the situation.

Hong Hui glanced at Xu Qifei and the other scholar who followed him, then took the initiative to question Zhu Xunmiao about why he had beaten his brother.

Zhu Xunmiao's intervention when his brother was beating someone and their intrusion into the Hong family's backyard had vastly different implications for the Hong family's reputation.

Hong Hui intended to frame the incident as Zhu Xunmiao bullying his brother to prevent it from escalating.

However, his plans were thwarted when his brother abruptly broke the scholar's arm.

If his brother hadn't injured the scholar, Hong Hui could have easily blamed Zhu Xunmiao and resolved the matter quietly. After all, Zhu Xunmiao and his companion had intruded into their backyard first.

But now… his brother had broken someone's arm!

Hong Hui rushed forward to pull his brother away, then immediately apologized without hesitation: "Xunmiao, I'm truly sorry. My brother's mental state is like that of a child…"

Zhu Xunmiao was gentle by nature and conducted himself with maturity under Zhu Qian's guidance. However, being only fifteen years old, he had been sheltered and privileged all his life.

Suddenly being attacked and bitten, Zhu Xunmiao retreated a few steps after Hong Zhao was pulled away, clutching his injured arm with a look of dismay: "Your brother is not normal. Why don't you take better care of him? If we hadn't intervened in time, this child might have been killed!"

At that moment, Zhu Xunmiao noticed the state of Li Qingzhi's injuries. Seeing that Li Qingzhi's right arm had been broken, he ran to his side, his voice trembling with concern: "Brother Li! Are you okay?!"

Zhu Xunmiao's eyes turned red, and his voice trembled with a touch of tears.

Li Qingzhi felt a bit embarrassed. He was fine, and he had even intentionally broken his arm. But it was clear that everyone thought he was injured.

Seeing the injured scholar and Li Qingzhi, both of whom looked younger than ten, and then looking at Li Qingzhi, whose arm had been broken, Zhu Xunmiao suddenly realized the gravity of the situation.

He had always thought Hong Hui was a good person, but how could a good person tolerate his brother beating others?

Setting aside whether Hong Hui knew about it or not, living under the same roof, there was no way he could be unaware.

Zhu Xunmiao immediately declared, "Both Brother Li and this child are injured. We must quickly take them to see a doctor."

Hong Hui agreed, although he didn't want Zhu Xunmiao to take the servant away. But at this point, he couldn't stop them.

As the ship belonging to the Zhu family waited outside, Zhu Xunmiao helped Li Qingzhi onto the ship, and Xu Qifei lifted the injured servant aboard as well. They declined Hong Hui's offer to accompany them and headed straight for the county town.

Watching the Zhu family's ship depart from the Hong family's residence, Li Qingzhi breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to Zhu Xinmiao and said, "Xunmiao, check on the condition of that child."

By intentionally breaking his arm to escalate the situation, Li Qingzhi aimed to openly take the child away without the family's consent. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had the right to take the servant without permission after trespassing into their backyard.

Zhu Xinmiao nodded and went to check on the child.

The Zhu family's ship was larger than Jin Xiaoye's, with a cabin in the middle containing tables, chairs, and couches.

The child was placed on one of the couches, visibly uncomfortable and cowering in fear like a startled rabbit.

Zhu Xinmiao removed the child's shirt and saw numerous bruises and bite marks covering his frail body, both old and new wounds overlapping each other.

Being a pampered young master, Zhu Xinmiao had never encountered such brutality. Seeing the child covered in injuries, he gasped in shock.

Li Qingzhi's expression also darkened.

This was a child! A child!

"That Hong family is really too much to treat a child like this!"

Li Qingzhi also sat on the soft couch, supporting his broken arm, and asked the child, "Does the young master of the Hong family often hit you?"

"The… the young master gets angry and hits and bites people," the child replied, tears rolling from his eyes but without crying aloud, "Master, could you please not send me back? I don't want to be beaten…"

"Don't worry, we definitely won't send you back!" Zhu Xunmiao took out a handkerchief from his body and wiped the child's tears.

Li Qingzhi patted the child's head and asked again, "Do the others in the Hong family know about the young master hitting you?"

The child leaned closer to Li Qingzhi and said, "They know."

Zhu Xunmiao had delicate skin and tender flesh, appearing pampered, which made the child hesitant to approach.

It was Li Qingzhi… Though Li Qingzhi was thin and weak, he was the first one to come and save him! Plus, Li Qingzhi's simple and approachable appearance made the child somewhat attached to him.

Guided by Li Qingzhi, the child spoke a lot.

This child's surname was Zhao, named Zhao Mancang. His family lived in the same village as Zhao Laosan's, and they were also related by blood and marriage.

His father was a drunkard, always spending money to buy alcohol to drink, so their family was very poor.

Twenty days ago, someone came to his father, saying that the Hong family in the county wanted to find a servant boy for their young master. Without a second thought, his father sent him to the Hong family.

After being brought to the Hong family, Zhao Mancang had a hearty meal, took a hot bath, and changed into new clothes. At first, he was extremely happy and wholeheartedly wanted to take care of the young master.

However, two days later, for some unknown reason, the young master suddenly started throwing tantrums and hitting him.

After that, whenever the young master was unhappy, he would hit him. Sometimes, when the young master went too far, someone would intervene, but most of the time, the maid responsible for taking care of the young master would just stand by and watch.

He sought help and found Mr. Hong, crying and wanting to go back home. Although his father treated him poorly, sometimes even kicking him for no reason, at least he wouldn't be beaten like this.

However, after causing a commotion, the Hong family said he was disobedient and refused to give him any food.

The child trembled uncontrollably while speaking, clearly terrified to the extreme.

Zhu Xunmiao wiped his eyes with his sleeve and said, "I never expected the Hong family to be like this!"

Li Qingzhi also felt that the Hong family was going too far, and he considered more.

They had brought this child out, but would the Hong family find another playmate for their young master in the future?

If that were to happen, it was feared that another child would suffer.

In that case… was there any way to stop this?

Li Qingzhi was well aware that from the moment he and Zhu Xunmiao stopped the young master of the Hong family from beating people, they had already offended the Hong family. After all, they had seen the despicable side of the Hong family that they didn't want anyone to see.

When Hong Hui sent them out earlier, although he kept apologizing and even sent someone to fetch silver, Li Qingzhi distinctly felt a strong sense of disgust emanating from him.

Hong Hui had already developed hatred towards them.

Li Qingzhi looked at Zhu Xunmiao, his pale face showing determination, "Xunmiao, I've suffered like this, I want to report this to the authorities."

"Alright, let's report it!" Zhu Xunmiao replied without hesitation.

This child was almost beaten to death, and Li Qingzhi's arm was broken… He also wanted to report it.

Although the county magistrate of Chongcheng County would also accept bribes, his conduct was relatively fair, so they should get justice from him.

In any case, the Hong family must be made to take better care of their young master and not allow him to continue hurting others!

With this in mind, Zhu Xunmiao looked at Li Qingzhi again and asked, "Brother Li, your arm is broken, does it hurt?"

"It's alright, don't worry about me, I'm fine," Li Qingzhi said.

Zhu Xunmiao looked at him with admiration and said, "Brother Li, you've suffered such a serious injury and yet you can remain calm. You are truly an example for us!"

Zhu Xunmiao felt he was a bit too delicate.

He had just looked at his arm, where the skin had been broken by a bite, and it was already unbearable for him. But what about Li Qingzhi? Li Qingzhi's arm was broken, yet he could still comfort him in turn, his voice steady.

Li Qingzhi was truly remarkable!

Xu Qifei also nodded seriously, fully agreeing with Zhu Xunmiao's words.

Li Qingzhi felt a little embarrassed by the praise, but fortunately, the boat had just docked.

Zhu Xunmiao took Li Qingzhi and Zhao Mancang to the medical clinic in the county town, specifically naming the old doctor who was good at orthopedics and pediatrics to treat them.

Li Qingzhi's arm was fixed with a wooden board by the old doctor, and the wound on his hand was also treated with medicine.

However, he actually didn't need it, after all, he had abilities.

After taking care of his own injuries, Li Qingzhi asked about Zhao Mancang's condition.

Zhao Mancang didn't have any broken bones, but he had many small and large wounds all over his body.

This child was fortunate to have met them and been brought out by them. Otherwise, if he had continued to be beaten so severely, he might have lost his life.

Li Qingzhi breathed a sigh of relief at his words.

At that moment, Zhu Qian hurriedly arrived with some servants, "Mr. Li, Xunmiao is going to report to the officials. Let me carry you and this child there."

Carry? Li Qingzhi said, "I can walk…"

"You're injured, it's better to be carried," Zhu Qian coughed lightly.

Li Qingzhi immediately understood Zhu Qian's meaning, and he thought of how ordinary people needed to kneel when they appeared in court… so he comfortably laid down.

In Daqi, when officials walked on the streets, the common people knew what to do, but in the courtroom, the common people still had to kneel. Of course, if they had achieved merit, they didn't need to kneel.

And now, he was still just a nobody.

Zhu Qian had people carry Li Qingzhi and the child towards the county yamen.

The roads in Chongcheng County were narrow, and their group naturally attracted a lot of attention, drawing many onlookers.

Not far away, Jin Xiaoye came out of a fabric store.

Jin Xiaoye intended to use the fifty taels of silver that Li Qingzhi agreed to bring back home as capital. Since Li Qingzhi agreed yesterday, she started working today.

She found a dyeing workshop and bought some undyed fabric, as well as some unsold fabric accumulated by households at the fabric store.

Such fabrics were cheap, so she could keep the prices of gloves and hand warmers down. The prices of her final products might even be cheaper than if some people bought fabric and made them themselves at home.

So, everyone would probably be willing to buy her finished products.

Jin Xiaoye was in a pretty good mood, but she didn't expect that as soon as she came out of the fabric store, she would see a group of people carrying Li Qingzhi forward.

She confirmed that it was Li Qingzhi; she wouldn't mistake such a thin man for anyone else!

Li Qingzhi was still wearing the new clothes sent by the Zhu family!

He had left the house fine, so why was he being carried by people now?

Jin Xiaoye was startled and rushed over with the fabric in her arms, "Ah Qing!"

Li Qingzhi turned his head and saw Jin Xiaoye, looking worried.

Seeing Li Qingzhi was awake, Jin Xiaoye relaxed a bit, "What happened to you?"

Li Qingzhi sighed, "I broke my arm."

Jin Xiaoye: "…" Last night, she worried that Li Qingzhi holding her might break his arm, and now today, Li Qingzhi's arm is really broken?

Jin Xiaoye couldn't care less about her business now. Learning that Li Qingzhi and the others were going to the county yamen, she followed behind with the fabric she had just bought.

Ordinary people were afraid of the county yamen and would rather take detours than pass by it.

Jin Xiaoye wasn't that extreme, but facing the county yamen, she instinctively felt nervous.

After all, those officials could decide their life or death.

But Li Qingzhi had an accident, so she gritted her teeth and followed him.

"Xiaoye, don't worry, everything's fine," Li Qingzhi reassured the frightened Jin Xiaoye.

"Um," Jin Xiaoye responded, her voice sounding different, with a hint of nasal tone, "That Hong family is really despicable!"

"Yes," Li Qingzhi affirmed.

On the other side, in the village where Zhao Laosan lived, people were also talking about the Hong family.

Thinking about how Zhao Mancang could earn five hundred cents by working for a month at the Hong family, Zhao Mancang's father felt relieved.

That was five hundred cents! Five hundred cents!

The men in their village working as day laborers at the county wharf could only earn fifty or sixty cents a day!

Moreover, the Hong family provided food and shelter, meaning their family had one less mouth to feed, which could save them a lot of food.

The rice in the fields was already growing tall, and it would only take about a month to harvest. Zhao Laosan was inspecting his land when he ran into Zhao Mancang's father on his way back.

"Laosan, where's your son? You didn't really send him to study with your nephew, did you?"

"Yeah, he's studying with my nephew," Zhao Laosan said happily.

Actually, whether he studied or not was secondary; Zhao Xiaodou was eating well at the Li family's, and just that alone made him happy.

"I'm not saying this to criticize you, Zhao Laosan, but you're too naive! Sending him to study… I bet your nephew just wants a free laborer!" Zhao Mancang's father snorted, "Your son is being a slave for others, and in the end, he might not get anything in return. What's the point? Look at my son Mancang, it's different. He works at the Hong family and can earn five hundred cents a month!"

Zhao Mancang knew that the intermediary initially targeted Zhao Xiaodou, and he wasn't very happy about it—why didn't they choose his family's Mancang from the beginning?

Fortunately, Zhao Laosan was naive and didn't let Zhao Xiaodou go, missing such a good opportunity to make money… Thinking about this, he became happy again.

"That young master in the Hong family hits people…" Zhao Laosan said.

"That young master is not even ten years old. So what if he hits people? Can he hit harder than me?" Zhao Mancang had also beaten people himself, so naturally, he didn't care.

Zhao Laosan had mentioned the matter of the young master in the Hong family hitting people several times already. He thought Zhao Laosan was jealous of him, so he deliberately said so.

With these thoughts in mind, Zhao Mancang's father continued, "But the Hong family is remarkable. Their house is particularly big. When our Mancang goes to their house, after a few years of experience, he might become a steward…"

The more Zhao Mancang's father spoke, the happier he became, and the people in the village who heard his words looked envious.

As for Zhao Laosan… they all thought Zhao Laosan was naive.

However, just then, someone ran over in their direction and said, "Mancang's father, someone from the county town is looking for you! They said Mancang was almost beaten to death and asked you to go see."

With Zhao Mancang covered in injuries, Zhu Xunmiao had sent a servant from the Zhu family to inform his family, and now that servant had come.

The original owner of Li Qingzhi's body had a father who used to be a county magistrate.

Li Qingzhi knew how cases were usually handled in the county court, and he had a rough idea of how the magistrate would rule in this case.

Before, Li Qingzhi had tried to learn about the current magistrate of Chongcheng County.

The original owner's father, Li Zhao, was a juren, and although he could hold an official position, he was just a magistrate in a poor county.

For a wealthy county like Chongcheng, the magistrate must be a jinshi to hold such a position. The current magistrate of Chongcheng County was named Guo, a jinshi with a bit of background. Magistrate Guo didn't have much presence in Chongcheng County.

He was amiable and never offended anyone. He would make some money, but not excessively.

Chongcheng County was very wealthy, with many merchants, especially at the wharf where countless ships docked every day. Magistrate Guo's money mostly came from merchants and the wharf. The merchants actually hoped he would ask for money; even if he didn't, they would willingly offer, feeling relieved only after they did.

As for settling cases, the magistrate couldn't sentence people to death. Major cases had to be sent to higher authorities for judgment, but Magistrate Guo was fairly impartial when handling minor cases.

The Hong family was esteemed in the scholarly circles of Chongcheng County, but the highest achievement in the family was only a scholar. Magistrate Guo had no reason to fear them, nor would he show favoritism towards the Hong family when adjudicating cases.

There was nothing to favor in this case anyway.

Therefore, Li Qingzhi was determined to report to the authorities. Only by making the matter big would they prevent another Zhao Mancang. Otherwise, if the Hong family found another servant for their young master, what would they do?

The courtrooms of this era were quite small, unlike what was depicted in TV dramas, with a group of bailiffs standing neatly on both sides.

Yes, there were bailiffs, but they seemed rather casual, some even smiling and greeting Zhu Qian.

As a businessman, Zhu Qian was acquainted with people from all walks of life.

Compared to the county yamen where the original owner's father worked, the county yamen in Chongcheng County had improved a lot. The county yamen where the original owner's father worked looked shabby.

In the original owner's memory, sometimes the commoners would even fight in the courtroom, and the original owner had once rolled up his sleeves to join the fray, only to be kicked by someone.

The original owner, as the son of a magistrate when he was young, although he didn't study well, he had always lived happily and had a wide circle of friends… Unfortunately, he later experienced a great change, and the entire Yu County was flooded.

Jin Xiaoye didn't enter the courtroom, but Zhu Qian, Zhu Xunmiao, Li Qingzhi, and Zhao Mancang did. Also present was Hong Hui, who had followed them to the county town after they left the Hong family.

Hong Hui had originally wanted to compensate Li Qingzhi and suppress the matter, but unexpectedly, they ended up in court.

Therefore, his expression was extremely unsightly. He couldn't believe that Zhu Xunmiao would actually report to the authorities.

After all, Zhu Xunmiao hadn't been harmed!

Although there was a scholar with a broken arm, he had never seen him before and had never heard of him. Clearly, he was someone of little importance. Even if his hand was broken… compensating him with some money would suffice. Why report it to the authorities?

As for Zhao Mancang, he was their family's servant!

So what if Zhao Mancang didn't serve his younger brother well and was hit a few times? His younger brother was still a child!

Although he thought this way, Hong Hui didn't show it on his face. Instead, he apologized to Li Qingzhi with a face full of regret.

"This has nothing to do with Brother Hong." Li Qingzhi gave Hong Hui a weak smile.

Hong Hui could act, and so could he.

Just as they were talking, Magistrate Guo arrived.

Magistrate Guo was a middle-aged man who was plump and round. He was no more than 1.7 meters tall, but he weighed at least 180 pounds.

As soon as the chubby Magistrate Guo arrived, he began to inquire about the case.

The case was explained by Zhu Xunmiao and Zhu Qian, while Li Qingzhi lay on the stretcher, not needing to do anything.

The final judgment in this case was similar to what Li Qingzhi had expected.

In Daqi, the trade of human beings was rampant, and many wealthy families would buy slaves. However, regardless of trade, killing was still a crime.

However, this was ancient times, not a modern society ruled by law, so wealthy people had many ways to evade responsibility even if they killed their slaves.

For example, they could frame the slave for theft, inform the authorities, and openly beat them to death.

Some slaves who died from beatings could be claimed to have died from illness, and no one would investigate further.

Being confined to the stone quarry like the original owner was a desperate situation.

However, in Chongcheng County, most of the laborers working for wealthy families were locals, and they signed labor contracts. If these people were beaten to death, their families would definitely come to make trouble.

Yet even so… most of the time, as long as the wealthy families offered more money, the families of the slaves wouldn't go to the authorities.

Li Qingzhi had talked to Zhao Mancang and had some understanding of his family.

Zhao Mancang's father was a drunkard, and as for Zhao Mancang's mother… she was completely different from Jin Xiaoye. Even though she was often beaten and scolded by Zhao Mancang's father, she endured it all.

If Zhao Mancang had been accidentally beaten to death by the young master of the Hong family, his father would most likely take the money and settle the matter.

Fortunately, Zhao Mancang was unharmed.

In the future, the Hong family couldn't let their young master act recklessly like this anymore.

Magistrate Guo's judgment was made according to the laws of Daqi.

When a lunatic accidentally kills or injures someone, according to the law, the lunatic needs to be detained or placed under the supervision of their family.

The young master of the Hong family was a lunatic and also a child. After consulting with the Hong family, the decision was made to have the Hong family take charge of his supervision.

If he were to harm anyone again in the future, the responsibility would fall on other members of the Hong family.

In addition, Zhao Mancang was compensated with ten taels of silver for his injuries, while Li Qingzhi, who had his arm broken, was compensated with fifty taels. The vast difference in compensation amounts was because Zhao Mancang was a servant of the Hong family, while Li Qingzhi was not. Moreover, in the eyes of most people, a scholar having his arm broken was considered more serious than a child being beaten all over.

In this world, there were always many injustices.

The whole case was clear, and Magistrate Guo's judgment was quick, with no objections from anyone.

The Hong family couldn't object. Both injured parties were lying in the courtroom, which was solid evidence. Moreover, if Hong Zhao were summoned to the courtroom to answer for himself, it would only bring more disgrace to the Hong family.

As for Li Qingzhi… he was well aware that if he chose to privately negotiate with the Hong family, he might be able to get more money out of them, but that wasn't what he wanted.

He hoped that the young master of the Hong family would be supervised, and that no one else would be harmed.

With the case settled, Hong Hui expressed his apologies to Li Qingzhi, saying, "Brother Li, I'm really sorry for what happened today."

"It's alright, Brother Hong. As long as you can take care of your younger brother in the future," Li Qingzhi replied.

Hong Hui immediately gave his assurance, "Brother Li, rest assured, I will definitely take good care of my younger brother in the future."

While they were talking, Zhao Mancang grabbed Li Qingzhi's uninjured arm with his slender fingers and trembled all over.

In fact, he had been trembling the whole time. Going to court was a terrifying experience for a child.

However, Li Qingzhi had spoken to him for a while before, even mentioning Zhao Xiaodou… Since Zhao Mancang knew Zhao Xiaodou, he trusted Li Qingzhi even more.

Li Qingzhi held Zhao Mancang's hand to comfort him.

He liked children, and seeing Zhao Mancang in such a pitiful state couldn't help but make him feel distressed. Fortunately, Hong Hui didn't say much more. After looking at Zhao Mancang next to Li Qingzhi, he left.

As soon as Li Qingzhi left, Zhu Qian immediately called the Zhu family's servants to carry the injured back to the Zhu family.

They met many people on the way, and each time they met someone, Zhu Qian would briefly explain today's events: "My son went to the Hong family to participate in a poetry gathering, but when he saw the young master of the Hong family beating someone, he and his friends stepped forward to stop it. Unexpectedly, they were all injured by the young master of the Hong family…"

As they walked and talked, they quickly arrived at the Zhu family.

Zhu Qian asked the servants to take Zhao Mancang to eat something and rest. Seeing that only Zhu Xunmiao, Li Qingzhi, and Xu Qifei were left, he said, "That Hong Hui is not a good person. You must be careful in the future!"

"Dad?" Zhu Xunmiao was a bit confused. After being bitten, he did feel that there was something wrong with the Hong family and Hong Hui, but Hong Hui had behaved gracefully in court and admitted his mistake quickly. He thought that the incident of the young master of the Hong family injuring someone might not be related to Hong Hui. Hong Hui was busy studying and might not even know that his younger brother liked to beat people up.

Zhu Qian said, "Hong Hui is extremely crafty, but having traveled far and wide for so many years, I can still see through his superficial intentions. Such people are best not to be offended. Since we've already offended him, we must be on guard!"

Finishing, he looked at Zhu Xunmiao and continued, "In fact, he approached you without any sincerity, just wanting to extort money from you!"

People like Zhu Qian, who had climbed up from the bottom, had a keen eye for judging others.

After getting to know Hong Hui, Zhu Xunmiao helped him find chrysanthemums, bought wine and snacks… Although Hong Hui had offered to pay, Zhu Xunmiao declined. But could a wealthy family like the Hongs not procure chrysanthemums and wine?

Wasn't Hong Hui trying to get money from Zhu Xunmiao?

Moreover, Zhu Qian was aware of the Hongs' habit of maintaining their dignity by pawning their belongings. Although the Hongs always went to the capital to pawn things, people like him, as businessmen, were well-informed.

However, although Zhu Qian saw through it at the time, he didn't say anything. He didn't care about the money or Hong Hui's scheming. As long as his son could enter the literary circle of Chongcheng County through Hong Hui, it was fine.

But what Zhu Qian didn't expect was that his son would get into trouble just by attending a poetry gathering!

The Hong family actually let their young master beat up a child who wasn't even ten years old!

Zhu Qian had been a servant in a wealthy family since he was young, so he knew how difficult it was to be a servant.

The master's family he had served before was relatively kind, but even so, he had suffered a lot after leaving his parents so suddenly.

For Zhao Mancang to be beaten like this and have nowhere to turn to… Zhu Qian felt truly distressed just thinking about it.

As for the Hong family… a family that looked down on their servants like this wasn't worth befriending.

Zhu Qian didn't dare to call himself a good person. After living for so many years, he had done his fair share of immoral things, but he would never ignore someone's life or death.

After briefly analyzing Hong Hui's character, Zhu Xunmiao was shocked.

He had never thought about what his father had said before!

Zhu Qian allowed his son to ponder this and then thanked Li Qingzhi again.

Zhu Xunmiao said, "It was thanks to you that I wasn't bitten. If it weren't for you, my face might have been bitten."

If he really had bite marks on his face, Zhu Xunmiao wouldn't know how people would talk about him in the future. Even if he passed the imperial examination smoothly, his career path wouldn't be smooth.

"You don't need to thank me. You were also there to help save someone, which led to this unfortunate incident," Li Qingzhi said.

"How can you say it's an unfortunate incident? You saved a child!" Zhu Qian sighed. "You are both good people."

"When it comes to that child… Uncle Zhu, can you let him work at the Zhu family?" Li Qingzhi said, "This child's father… isn't very reliable."

If Zhao Mancang's father were like Zhao Laosan… the child, having survived a deadly situation and receiving ten taels of silver as compensation, the father would definitely care for the child in every way, making sure the child is well taken care of at home.

But Zhao Mancang's alcoholic father… who knows, he might even think about selling Zhao Mancang again!

Even if he doesn't sell Zhao Mancang again… he is someone who would resort to violence!

In this world, there are many people living in miserable conditions. During the great flood in the Yaohe River, we witnessed all sorts of tragedies.

I can't save everyone, but since I've encountered Zhao Mancang, I should at least give him a hand.

Li Qingzhi briefly explained the situation at Zhao Mancang's home.

Zhu Qian also wanted to help this child: "My youngest son just needs a personal assistant, so let him serve as my youngest son's personal assistant."

Zhu Qian has two sons and a daughter, and Li Qingzhi has met his youngest son.

This child isn't in the best health; he seems to be overprotected, but he isn't spoiled, just genuinely talented.

It would be good if Zhao Mancang could serve as his personal assistant!

"I'll talk to Mancang later. As for his father… Uncle Zhu, I'll trouble you with that," Li Qingzhi said.

After chatting with Zhu Qian, Li Qingzhi held Jin Xiaoye's hand, and they both went to see Zhao Mancang.

Zhao Mancang had already eaten but hadn't slept.

After experiencing so much in one day, he simply couldn't fall asleep.

"Mancang," Li Qingzhi sat beside Zhao Mancang, handed him the ten taels of silver given by Hong Hui, held Zhao Mancang's hand, and spoke to him.

He didn't say much; he just asked Zhao Mancang to hide the money, preferably not giving it to his father, and mentioned that Zhu Xunmiao, who helped save Zhao Mancang, felt sorry for him and was willing to let him stay at the Zhu family.

"You must be scared after being beaten and might not want to be a servant anymore. But if you go back home, your father might sell you again," Li Qingzhi said slowly, while his ability circulated within Zhao Mancang's body.

Zhao Mancang had many hidden injuries, and if not properly cared for, his life might be shortened. If he continued to be beaten like this, it would be an even more certain death.

But he was still young, with a strong ability to recover. As long as he was well taken care of at the Zhu family, avoiding heavy labor and eating well, he would eventually recover.

Zhao Mancang was still young, but he had experienced a lot: "Uncle Li, I, I'm willing to be a servant again. Young Master Zhu and Master Zhu are both good people!"

"Yes, they are both good people. Master Zhu used to be a servant too, so he treats servants well…" Li Qingzhi spoke to Zhao Mancang, while using his remaining ability to soothe Zhao Mancang.

Zhao Mancang finally calmed down and smiled at Li Qingzhi.

At the same time, Zhao Mancang's father was also brought to the Zhu family.

The servant who went to pick up Zhao Mancang's father settled him in a side room and then went to find Zhu Qian.

Zhu Qian had a chat with this person and probably understood what kind of person Zhao Mancang's father was.

When he went to the court before, Zhu Qian took off his gold ring and gold chain, but now he had them brought back. After putting them all on, he went to see Zhao Mancang's father.

Zhao Mancang's father had been drinking and still reeked of alcohol. Zhu Qian frowned and spoke coldly, "You are Zhao Mancang's father? Your son is quite something. After being beaten, he begged my son for help, causing my son to get bitten!"

Zhao Mancang's father was taken aback by Zhu Qian's words.

Zhu Qian, looking impatient, briefly explained the situation, and concluded, "My son has a kind heart. Seeing your son's pitiful state, he wants to keep him working at our Zhu family… I agree to this, but I'm not someone with a good temper, so you better behave yourself!"

Zhu Qian immediately suppressed Zhao Mancang's father with his imposing manner. Where would Zhao Mancang's father dare to oppose him? He agreed in a daze, not even daring to ask about the wages for Zhao Mancang's work at the Zhu family.

Seeing him like this, Zhu Qian realized that he didn't have much affection for Zhao Mancang after all, which made him sigh.

After setting up the arrangement with Zhao's father, Zhu Qian sent him to meet Zhao Mancang.

Zhao's father, usually in a bad mood, would often scold and beat his wife and children. But Zhao Mancang was still his son, and seeing the injuries to him, he felt a twinge of pity.

However, after that brief moment of pity, he couldn't help but say, "The Zhu family wants you to stay and work, I agreed, but they're really stingy, not mentioning any wages. They must not want to pay… The Hong family gives five hundred cents a month, why couldn't you just appease the young master of the Hong family?"

Actually, for a child of Zhao Mancang's age, not being paid wages was normal, but Zhao's father couldn't bear the thought of losing the money that was supposed to come to him, hence his mournful expression.

With Zhao Mancang's teeth chattering, he could only clench them tightly.

After saying a few words to Zhao Mancang, Zhao's father left. It was only a few days later that he learned from others that the Hong family had compensated Zhao Mancang with ten taels of silver.

Upon knowing this, Zhao's father hurried back to the Zhu family, demanding that Zhao Mancang to hand over the money. But Zhao Mancang said that he had used all the money for medical treatment.

In fact, the money for Zhao Mancang's treatment was provided by Zhu Xunmiao. The ten taels of silver were still in Zhao Mancang's possession. It was just that after the sudden calamity, he matured all of a sudden.

Zhao's father was immediately angered, "You only took a few beatings, what illness are you talking about? Just rest for a few days and you'll be fine…"

Hearing his father's words, Zhao Mancang started trembling again, but he stubbornly didn't mention that the ten taels of silver were still with him.

Zhu Qian was generous and promised to give him five qian of silver as wages each month, which Zhao Mancang didn't mention either.

After staying at the Zhu family for a few days, Zhao Mancang was convinced that the Zhu family were all good people. Now, he just wanted to work hard at the Zhu family and save up money.

He also wanted to become stronger so that others couldn't hit him.

As for Zhao's father asking for money from Zhao Mancang, that was a later matter. On this day… Zhao's father actually left the Zhu family surreptitiously.

It was different for Li Qingzhi. He was personally sent away by Zhu Qian.

In fact, Zhu Qian wanted Li Qingzhi to recuperate at the Zhu family's place. After Li Qingzhi refused, Zhu Qian prepared some gifts for him, and together with Zhu Xunmiao, they sent Li Qingzhi to Jin Xiaoye's boat.

The gifts included bright fabrics and a box of jewelry.

The fabric was given because Zhu Qian saw Jin Xiaoye carrying some fabric. As for the jewelry… Zhu Qian was observant and could naturally discern that Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye had a great relationship.

Li Qingzhi didn't expect to receive gifts again.

Zhu Qian was really generous!

Thinking of this, Li Qingzhi asked, "Uncle Zhu, are you going to see the county magistrate next?"

Zhu Qian replied, "Indeed, I have to go and thank him. Magistrate Gou is fair and strict; it's necessary for me to express my gratitude."

Magistrate Gou hadn't been in Chongcheng County for long, and Zhu Qian hadn't had the chance to socialize with him before. But this time, after reporting to the Hong family, he had a reason to thank Magistrate Gou.

After expressing gratitude and having frequent interactions, wouldn't both sides develop a relationship?

Zhu Qian's mind was set.

Li Qingzhi said, "Uncle Zhu, could you ask Magistrate Gou if he needs someone to publicize his achievements? I heard Magistrate Gou is good at solving cases. I can help him write about it."

After Magistrate Gou arrived in Chongcheng County, he resolved many cases. He seemed to genuinely enjoy solving cases with keen observation skills, and he had even helped clear up several injustices.

Jin Xiaoye had mentioned this to Li Qingzhi before.

Li Qingzhi felt that he could help Magistrate Gou write, thus helping him gain a good reputation.

When Zhu Qian heard Li Qingzhi's suggestion, his eyes lit up. But soon, he looked at Li Qingzhi's arm.

Li Qingzhi's right arm was broken! It was unknown how long it would take to heal, and even if it did heal, there might be lingering effects.

He hadn't dared to mention "writing" in front of Li Qingzhi before.

Li Qingzhi said, "It's okay, I still have my left hand."

"Can my nephew write with his left hand?" Zhu Qian was somewhat surprised.

Li Qingzhi coughed lightly, "Uncle Zhu, my handwriting wasn't that great when I first helped you write, and now, writing with my left hand, it'll probably be the same."

Zhu Qian recalled Li Qingzhi's previous writing and understood.

Considering Li Qingzhi's extraordinary memory, being able to write with his left hand wasn't a big deal!

Zhu Qian immediately said, "I'll definitely have a good chat with Magistrate Gou."

"Then, thank you very much, Uncle Zhu," Li Qingzhi said.

Li Qingzhi originally reported to the official just to help Zhao Mancang, but after meeting Magistrate Gou, he had new ideas.

He felt he could take this opportunity to get to know Magistrate Gou.

Initially, he planned to write the story first, then visit Magistrate Gou, saying he wrote the book for him out of gratitude. But with Zhu Qian's enthusiasm, he thought he could use Zhu Qian to get to know Magistrate Gou earlier.

As for why he wanted to know Magistrate Gou… from what he knew, the county exam really did value personal connections!

A magistrate with no issues in his head would definitely let outstanding students pass the county exam, but the ranking would depend on the magistrate's personal preferences.

Additionally, even if someone's academic performance was average, if they had a good relationship with the magistrate, they could easily pass the county exam.

Li Qingzhi believed he could pass the county exam, but just to be safe, he planned to get close to Magistrate Gou.

Also… he had already offended Hong Hui. In the literary circle of Chongcheng County, he might not fare well in the future. But if the magistrate liked him, what did it matter if those literati didn't like him?

Li Qingzhi's being able to live until now is somewhat related to his extensive contemplation. Now, he's already started thinking about how he can smoothly progress on the path of imperial examinations.

After Zhu Qian sent Li Qingzhi away, he spoke to his son again: "It's a pity about Li Qingzhi. If he had better health, his future would be limitless!"

Li Qingzhi is indeed very intelligent. Not only does he seize opportunities around him, but he also actively seeks them out.

Initially, Li Qingzhi volunteered himself, and now, he plans to actively contact Magistrate Gou.

If Li Qingzhi were to write about Magistrate Gou's exemplary case judgments and spread them around… Magistrate Gou's reputation would surely be excellent!

Who in office doesn't desire a good reputation? Magistrate Gou would definitely like Li Qingzhi then.

Unfortunately, Li Qingzhi's health isn't good, his bones are too brittle!

On the other side, Jin Xiaoye, who had left the Zhu family, sighed with relief, then said to Li Qingzhi, "Li Qingzhi, your bones are too brittle!"

Li Qingzhi: "…"

His bones were actually okay!

It's just that the bones of ordinary people are wrapped in muscles and fat, making them less likely to get hurt when they collide. As for him… he didn't have much muscle and fat, did he?

When a skinny person and a fat person wrestle, it's usually the skinny one who's more prone to fractures.

"There probably won't be any meat left at the market now. Tomorrow, I'll buy a pig's trotter to nourish you." Jin Xiaoye said.

Li Qingzhi swallowed saliva and said, "I want to stew soybeans."

"Sis, what's wrong with your brother-in-law?" Jin Xiaoshu couldn't help but ask.

This morning, seeing Li Qingzhi wearing such bright clothes when he went out, Jin Xiaoshu felt envious, thinking that his sister's husband was a scholar, so different from him.

Later, when Jin Xiaoye went to buy fabric, Jin Xiaoshu watched the boat and, with nothing to do, began to imagine what the poetry gathering his brother-in-law attended would be like.

At that gathering, there must be a lot of delicious food. I wonder if his brother-in-law will bring some back? He should, right?

Just thinking that his brother-in-law might secretly save some pastries for him, Jin Xiaoshu couldn't help but salivate, occasionally craning his neck and looking around.

However, not only did he not see his brother-in-law, he didn't even know where his sister had gone!

Jin Xiaoshu waited for a long time before seeing his sister and brother-in-law being brought over by Zhu Qian and others. They also brought books, fabrics, and some gifts in boxes.

When Zhu Qian and Zhu Xunmiao were present, Jin Xiaoshu felt apprehensive and didn't dare to speak. When they left, he couldn't help but ask.

His brother-in-law was fine when he left. How did he come back with a broken arm?

Jin Xiaoye said, "Your brother-in-law saw a lunatic assaulting someone and went to help, but he ended up getting his arm broken by the lunatic."

Mentioning this matter, Jin Xiaoye didn't know whether to be happy or distressed.

When a child is beaten, she certainly hopes her husband will rush to help, but her husband is too weak and actually got his arm broken…

She felt extremely sorry, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"What?" Jin Xiaoshu was puzzled.

Jin Xiaoye explained what had happened to Li Qingzhi to Jin Xiaoshu.

Jin Xiaoshu, being from a poor family, naturally identified with Zhao Mancang: "Isn't the Hong family too much? They let their insane young master beat up a child!"

"That's really excessive!" Jin Xiaoye snorted, thinking that in the future, when she went out to do business, she must tell people about this incident, so that everyone in Chongcheng County would know about the Hong family's deeds!

"Brother-in-law, you're a good person, brave and chivalrous!" Jin Xiaoshu looked at Li Qingzhi admiringly and asked, "Brother-in-law, did I use the term 'brave and chivalrous' correctly? You wrote about it in your book!"

Li Qingzhi taught Jin Xiaoye to read using the book he wrote, and during the day, whenever she had free time, she would take out those sheets of paper and read the words on them.

Having heard a lot, Jin Xiaoshu also learned some words and recognized some words. He especially wanted to know the content behind it.

Unfortunately, Jin Xiaoye hadn't learned the content behind it, so she couldn't read it well.

Actually, Li Qingzhi had told this story to Jin Xiaoye before, and he had narrated it vividly. However, when Jin Xiaoshu asked Jin Xiaoye to tell him the story, this is how Jin Xiaoye narrated it: "Zhu Qian went to buy a batch of fabric, sold it for ten taels, then went to buy another batch of fabric…"

Jin Xiaoshu refused to listen to Jin Xiaoye's storytelling. Now, he just hoped that Jin Xiaoye could learn the words quickly and then read them to him!

This story is really interesting!

"You got it right!" Li Qingzhi praised Jin Xiaoshu. "Xiaoshu, you learn things really quickly. As long as you're willing to learn with your sister, you'll definitely learn to read soon."

"Really?" Jin Xiaoshu was a bit doubtful.

"Of course it's true!" Li Qingzhi affirmed.

Jin Xiaoshu became happy. "Brother-in-law, I will definitely study hard." In the future, when he had nothing to do during the day, he would learn to read with his sister!

At this moment, a gust of wind blew, and Jin Xiaoye lifted the stray hair from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. "Ah Qing, you should stay in the cabin. It's windy outside."

"Okay." Li Qingzhi went into the cabin.

The boat was quite small, but there was still a small canopy in the middle. In the summer, everyone would remove the cloth curtains from the canopy to let the breeze in and cool down. But now, it was different. Jin Xiaoye hung up the cloth curtains to block the wind.

Today, the wind was quite strong, and it was indeed more comfortable to sit inside the cloth curtains.

After buying the fabric, Jin Xiaoye had originally planned to go see Sister Wang and the others, but after Li Qingzhi was injured, it was already evening after all the commotion… So she took Li Qingzhi back to Miaoqian Village.

When they arrived at Miaoqian Village, it was almost dark. As the weather got colder, the nights grew darker earlier.

"Jin Xiaoye is back!"

"It looks like there's fabric on the boat?"

"Jin Xiaoye has bought something again!"

…

Li Qingzhi went to the county town to participate in a poetry festival. This was a big event for the Li family and the people in the village.

Throughout the whole day today, the villagers have been discussing this matter, just like Jin Xiaoshu, imagining what a scholar's poetry gathering would be like.

They believe that at such a gathering, there would definitely be all kinds of mooncakes, with red bean paste ones being a must; surely there would be meat mooncakes, and maybe even five-nut ones!

Li Qingzhi used to always bring snacks home, and this time he surely will as well. Even though they won't get to taste them, just seeing them would broaden their horizons. Plus, when they visit relatives elsewhere, they will have something to talk about.

With this thought in mind, some villagers even waited at the riverhead just to catch a glimpse of Li Qingzhi as soon as possible.

The most anxious person waiting was still Li Laogen.

Today was the Mid-Autumn Festival. When Li Qingzhi left home, Li Laogen told him that he had never eaten a whole mooncake in his life. Li Qingzhi promised him then that he would bring back a mooncake for him to enjoy all by himself.

Seeing the boat approaching the shore, Li Laogen pushed forward eagerly, "Ah Qing, Ah Qing, did you bring me a mooncake?"

Afterwards, Li Laogen started boasting to Jin Xiaoye, "Xiaoye, I've already prepared dinner. I also listened to you and stewed a duck for you guys."

Because today was Mid-Autumn Festival, Jin Xiaoye had instructed Li Laogen earlier to kill a duck and stew it with dried bamboo shoots.

Li Laogen didn't have much cooking skills, but stewing a duck with dried bamboo shoots only required putting them together in water, boiling, and adding salt, which he could manage.

"Ah Qing got injured and didn't buy mooncakes." Jin Xiaoye said with a wry smile, seeing Li Laogen's anxious expression.

"Ah Qing got injured? What happened?" Li Laogen was puzzled.

The villagers were also confused. Li Qingzhi was fine, so how did he get injured?

Even Zhao Laosan poked his head out from the crowd and asked, "What happened to Ah Qing?"

The Mid-Autumn Festival was quite an important festival. Many families would buy some meat to eat. Those with better financial conditions would even slaughter a chicken or a duck. Even if the conditions were not so good, they would still steam some eggs.

But in rural areas, families reunite every day, so they don't place much emphasis on family reunions. Zhao Xiaodou had previously said he would eat at Li's house, but since the Zhao family didn't wait for him, he arrived in Miaoqian Village late.

Upon hearing that Zhao Mancang had almost been beaten to death at the Hong family's, Zhao Laosan was extremely grateful.

His son, Zhao Xiaodou, was a year younger than Zhao Mancang. If Zhao Mancang had been beaten to death, and Zhao Xiaodou had gone…

No, he couldn't think about it!

Fortunately, Li Qingzhi was willing to keep Zhao Xiaodou, otherwise he might have sent Zhao Xiaodou away.

Zhao Laosan came specifically to thank Li Qingzhi, only to find out that Li Qingzhi had been injured.

Jin Xiaoshu had already learned what had happened from Jin Xiaoye, and he immediately said, "It's all because of that Hong family! Their young master is crazy. He grabbed a child and beat him to death. My brother-in-law is kind-hearted, so he went to stop him, but ended up getting his arm broken… Today, this matter has even reached the court!"

"To court?" The villagers gasped in shock. They were afraid even of encountering a yamen runner, so going to court was a big deal!

At this time, Li Qingzhi also came down from the boat. His arm was fixed with a wooden board and hung around his neck, clearly indicating that it was broken.

"Li Qingzhi, are you okay?

"That madman from the Li family is terrifying!"

"What happened after this matter went to court?"

…

Jin Xiaoye said, "The Hong family compensated fifty taels of silver… Let's hurry home for dinner."

Jin Xiaoye took out a carrying pole, picked up the fabrics from the boat, and handed some other things to Li Laogen and Jin Xiaoshu, then walked towards home.

Since Zhao Laosan didn't get anything, he asked Li Qingzhi, "Ah Qing, do you want me to carry you?"

"Uncle San, I can walk." Li Qingzhi smiled.

"Zhao Laosan asked again, "Ah Qing, was the child you saved named Zhao Mancang?" When the Zhu family came looking for Zhao Mancang's father before, they didn't say much, so he only knew that Zhao Mancang had almost been beaten to death. Now, hearing Jin Xiaoshu's words, he realized that Li Qingzhi's injury was related to Zhao Mancang.

"Yes," Li Qingzhi replied.

The villagers were very curious and followed Li Qingzhi and the others to Li's house, asking various questions. With this question, they roughly understood what had happened.

"Li Qingzhi is really unlucky, going to attend a poetry gathering and ending up with his arm broken."

"That Hong family is despicable. They knew their own child was crazy, yet they didn't keep an eye on him!"

"What was it like in court? What does the county magistrate look like?"

"They actually compensated fifty taels of silver; that's a lot…"

"Li Qingzhi has a really good heart. I knew he was a good person."

…

Li Qingzhi had broken his arm, so naturally, the villagers sympathized with him. But knowing that the Hong family had compensated them with fifty taels of silver, they also felt a bit envious.

If someone were to break their arm and then offer them fifty taels of silver… they would gladly accept it.

At the same time, everyone also thought highly of Li Qingzhi.

Someone willing to stand up for justice like that would never be disliked by people.

The villagers were all praising Li Qingzhi. Jin Xiaoye glanced at Li Qingzhi and also felt that he was quite good.

Her judgment was really spot on; she had found herself a good man!

They soon arrived at Li's house.

Since Li's family hadn't eaten yet, the villagers didn't follow them in. They just chatted outside with Zhao Laosan, after all, Zhao Laosan also knew some things.

At Li's house…

As soon as Li Qingzhi entered the main room, Li Damao and Li Ermao surrounded him, "Dad! Dad, what happened to you?"

The two children looked curiously at Li Qingzhi's suspended arm.

Li Qingzhi said, "Dad's arm is broken."

Li Ermao was startled, "Dad, will you not have an arm anymore in the future?"

Li Qingzhi coughed lightly, "I still have it…"

"Your dad's arm is just broken. It will heal, and they even compensated fifty taels of silver!" Li Laogen said happily.

After hearing that Li Qingzhi had broken his arm, Li Laogen was very worried at first. However, when he found out that they were compensated with fifty taels of silver, he became happy again.

That was fifty taels of silver!

With this in mind, Li Laogen even said to Li Qingzhi, "Breaking your arm is actually not bad. You won't have to work anymore, but you can still wander around."

Li Qingzhi: "…"

The dinner tonight was prepared by Li Laogen, which consisted of stewed duck with dried bamboo shoots, two steamed dishes, and nothing too sumptuous.

Li Qingzhi originally wanted to buy some mooncakes in the county town to bring back, but he didn't have time.

"Master Zhu sent mooncakes!" Jin Xiaoye suddenly said while organizing the things sent by the Zhu family.

They had seen the fabrics sent by Master Zhu, but they didn't know what was inside the other boxes.

However, seeing the somewhat excited expression on Jin Xiaoye's face… the items inside those boxes must be valuable.

Jin Xiaoye took a deep breath and placed one of the boxes on the table.

There were sixteen mooncakes in the box, with slight variations in appearance, likely divided into two flavors.

Mooncakes can last for several days, but not too long… Jin Xiaoye gave two to Zhao Xiaodou and four to Jin Xiaoshu. The remaining ten were just enough for her, Li Qingzhi, Li Laogen, and the two Li brothers.

Zhao Xiaodou and Jin Xiaoshu didn't eat the mooncakes; they wanted to bring them back home to share with their families. The two Li brothers agreed to eat two mooncakes each first, one of each flavor, and save the rest for the next day. Jin Xiaoye only ate one.

Only Li Qingzhi and Li Laogen ate both mooncakes.

The mooncakes were all made with flaky crusts and were likely freshly made. Li Qingzhi bit into one and found it filled with meat.

The flaky crust wrapped around the meat filling was really delicious! Unfortunately, the mooncake had cooled a bit, it must have been even more delicious when it was freshly baked.

As for the other mooncake, it was filled with red bean paste, but it had a hidden surprise – there was actually a salted egg yolk inside.

This red bean paste with salted egg yolk-filled mooncake tasted almost identical to a traditional mooncake with salted egg yolk. Their crusts were made in the same way.

Both mooncakes were very delicious. Li Qingzhi slowly finished eating them and then ate two big bowls of rice.

Li Laogen had prepared a lot of food for dinner. After everyone had eaten their fill, Li Qingzhi even finished the leftover rice and the bits stuck to the bottom of the pot.

With a broken arm, he needed to eat more to replenish his energy.

Jin Xiaoye looked at Li Qingzhi in surprise and asked, "How can you eat so much?"

"I didn't eat anything at noon today, and I was starving." Li Qingzhi didn't mention that he had actually eaten two portions of snacks before going to the Hong family.

Well, before going there, he had also had an extra breakfast with the Zhu family.

"Even if you're hungry, don't eat too much at once, so you don't upset your stomach." Jin Xiaoye looked at Li Qingzhi's stomach with concern.

Li Qingzhi smiled and promised.

After they finished their meal, it was already dark outside.

Jin Xiaoshu put the mooncakes in his pocket and headed home, while Zhao Laosan picked a small branch from the peach tree next door to the Yao family and stuffed it into Zhao Xiaodou's arms. Then, he left while holding Zhao Xiaodou.

The villagers who had gathered at the Li family's door had long since dispersed.

Jin Xiaoye poured some bean oil into the oil lamp and lit it with a match.

At this time, people had already begun to use soybeans to extract oil, but the soybean oil at this time didn't have a very good taste, so many people didn't like it and mainly used it for lighting lamps.

In Chongcheng County, the most commonly consumed vegetable oil was rapeseed oil, followed by sesame oil.

Of course, everyone's favorite was still lard.

"I'm not going to bathe you guys today. Your dad needs to rest, and I won't tell you a story either. You should go to bed early," Jin Xiaoye instructed Li Damao and Li Ermao, then moved the gifts sent by Master Zhu to the room where she and Li Qingzhi lived.

"What did Master Zhu send?" Li Qingzhi asked Jin Xiaoye.

"Master Zhu sent jewelry!" Jin Xiaoye opened a box and showed it to Li Qingzhi.

Inside the box were several pieces of jewelry, including a pair of twisted silver bracelets, a gold ring, two gold earrings, and a gold necklace.

The styles were all very beautiful, and they were quite heavy, worth at least a hundred taels each.

Master Zhu was really generous!

He had just been thinking about giving some jewelry to Jin Xiaoye, and Master Zhu had already sent some… if he gave Jin Xiaoye more, she probably wouldn't be as surprised as she was now.

"These pieces of jewelry are worth quite a bit of money, aren't they? Would it be inappropriate for us to take them?" Jin Xiaoye looked at Li Qingzhi with concern after seeing the jewelry.

Li Qingzhi said, "It's okay, you can take them." Master Zhu was probably so generous because he had helped Master Zhu fend off the Hong family's young master's bite towards Master Zhu.

Master Zhu's face was worth a lot of money.

"Qingzhi, I feel like it's a bit unreal," Jin Xiaoye took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

"Why?" Li Qingzhi asked.

Jin Xiaoye said, "It's only been a short while, how come our family suddenly has money?"

Before Li Qingzhi came back, she had been worried that Li Damao and Li Ermao wouldn't be able to find wives when they grew up.

Their family was too poor!

But now… there was no need to worry at all!

Li Qingzhi smiled, "Our family will be even wealthier in the future."

Jin Xiaoye was actually a bit too excited.

But considering that Li Qingzhi was injured… she didn't say much, just kept urging Li Qingzhi to sleep.

She even slept in the same bed as Li Qingzhi, dividing the bed into two with a roll of cloth in between, just to avoid accidentally pressing on Li Qingzhi's wound in the middle of the night.

Despite Li Qingzhi's objections, he eventually reached out his hand, crossed over the cloth in the middle, and held Jin Xiaoye's hand.

"Why are you holding hands?" Jin Xiaoye asked. Wouldn't it be uncomfortable with the cloth underneath his arm?

"Xiaoye, I was imprisoned for a long time before, and I always had trouble sleeping at night. I can only sleep well when I'm close to someone," Li Qingzhi said.

"You…" Jin Xiaoye remembered how Li Qingzhi had always liked to be close to her or the two children before. In the end, she took away the cloth dividing them.

Li Qingzhi must have suffered a lot in the past few years, no wonder he has undergone such a big change in temperament.

In the future, she must pay more attention to Li Qingzhi.

And Li Qingzhi's health—she must take good care of it!

Jin Xiaoye felt a bit uncomfortable because of Li Qingzhi's broken arm, but Yao Zhenfu, the neighbor, was quite happy about it.

Many people gathered at the Li family's house this evening. Yao's mother went over and learned about Li Qingzhi's broken arm, and she told her family about it.

Yao Zhenfu has already told his family about his plan to take the county exam next year. At first, Mr. Yao's disagreed, but later, Yao Zhenfu said he wouldn't spend much money this time, so Mr. Yao's agreed.

Yao Zhenfu has been studying for so many years. If he completely gives up on taking the exam… Mr. Yao's also feels regretful.

Since the decision has been made… Yao Zhenfu got up early today and started studying.

But he couldn't help thinking about Li Qingzhi participating in the poetry gathering. Various thoughts circled in his mind, and he couldn't concentrate at all.

When the Li family was holding the banquet, he questioned whether Li Qingzhi was slapped in the face. Was everyone in the village making fun of him?

Will Li Qingzhi discuss his situation at the poetry gathering at the Hong family's house?

Are Zhu Xunmiao and Li Qingzhi making fun of him behind his back?

Restless all day, Yao Zhenfu nearly laughed out loud when he heard about Li Qingzhi's broken arm in the evening.

As for Li Qingzhi saving a servant… Yao Zhenfu felt that Li Qingzhi was meddling too much.

"Li Qingzhi broke his arm and can't copy books to earn money anymore. He will be useless in the future and will have to be supported by Jin Xiaoye…" Yao Zhenfu said happily to Jin Moli.

Jin Moli heard about this and also felt a bit happy.

After being reborn, she really didn't want Jin Xiaoye to live a better life than her.

But amidst the joy, she also felt a bit of lingering fear.

She didn't expect Zhao Xiaodou to not go to the Hong family, and Zhao Mancang was taken there instead.

She knew Zhao Mancang too.

In her past life, when Zhao Xiaodou had just gone to the Hong family, Zhao Mancang's father was very jealous. He used to beat Zhao Mancang every day, thinking that Zhao Mancang was useless and that's why he wasn't chosen by the matchmaker.

Later, when Zhao Xiaodou died, Zhao Mancang's father stopped doing this. There was a period of time when he treated Zhao Mancang fairly well.

But Zhao Mancang's father always got drunk. Once, when he went to someone else's house for a feast and they served a lot of rice wine, he stubbornly refused to leave until it was dark, and then accidentally fell into the river and drowned.

At that time, Zhao Mancang was only eleven years old and started working in the fields, doing all sorts of hard work to support his younger siblings… Probably because he was doing heavy labor from a young age, Zhao Mancang grew very short. When he reached the age to get married, nobody wanted to marry him because of his height. So, he simply didn't get married and continued to save money, later marrying a wife for his younger brother.

Fortunately, his younger brother wasn't as heartless as Li Laoer, and he was always very good to him.

This time, Zhao Mancang almost died?

Jin Moli couldn't describe the feeling in her heart.

The next morning, Li Qingzhi got up early as usual and went to the kitchen with Jin Xiaoye.

He wanted to help with chores as before, but Jin Xiaoye wouldn't allow it. So, he could only read books to Jin Xiaoye and teach her how to recognize words.

In the Li family that morning, everything was more or less the same as usual. However, after Jin Xiaoye left, many people came to the door to inquire about what happened yesterday.

Li Qingzhi didn't hide anything and explained the situation in detail to everyone who asked.

The villagers couldn't help but sigh once again.

After Li Qingzhi finished speaking, he made an excuse of being tired and sent away the villagers. Then, he took out a piece of paper, held a pen in his left hand, and wrote down a case he had heard Jin Xiaoye mention before, a case from the magistrate of Gou County.

In writing this, he definitely couldn't use the first person perspective; it had to be in the third person, and he had to praise the magistrate of Gou County a lot.

How should I put it, this book had to be like one written by a student who worships the magistrate of Gou County!

Writing with his left hand was really uncomfortable for Li Qingzhi.

But the words he wrote with his left hand were almost as recognizable as the ones he wrote with his right hand when he first went to the Zhu family. It didn't reach the point of being unrecognizable.

Although he wasn't used to using his left hand, at least it was healthy. At that time, he was covered in injuries and felt unwell all over.

His right arm kept hurting, but for Li Qingzhi, this little pain didn't count for much. He wrote the words very seriously, organized what he wanted to write in his mind, and then began to write.

This matter of the case in Magistrate Gou didn't need to be very long, just a few thousand words. He planned to write it out as soon as possible.

Speaking of which… after writing books for the magistrate of Gou County and Ding Xi with his left hand, he should have practiced writing with his left hand.

In the future, he would be able to write with both hands, with different handwriting, which would be quite interesting.

While Li Qingzhi was writing seriously, at this time in Chongcheng County, countless people were talking about the case that the magistrate of Gou County judged yesterday.

"They say the Hong family is a scholarly family, but I didn't expect them to actually condone their lunatic hitting people."

"This is not just condoning, they actually bought someone and let the lunatic hit as he pleased!"

"This is not taking human life seriously…"

"I have a relative who works at the Hong family. He said that a servant couldn't bear it when the young master of the Hong family hit him, and he hit back, leaving some bruises on the young master. Then he was held down by the Hong family and given twenty lashes!"

"My goodness, you can't even defend yourself if you get hit!"

"What's that? Someone told me before that the aunt who died of illness in the Hong family last year didn't actually die of illness at all."

…

The good reputation of the Hong family was ruined in an instant because of yesterday's lawsuit. As people chatted, they also found out that the Hong family had actually been involved in many messy things.

Leaving aside how angry the people of the Hong family were, early the next morning, Zhu Xunmiao packed up some things and planned to go to the temple village to see Li Qingzhi.

Xu Qifei was also very worried about Li Qingzhi, so he followed along.

The two of them arrived at Miaoqian Village on Zhu's boat. After asking for directions to the Li family's location, they headed straight for the Li household.

At the entrance of the Li family's house, three children were playing, and a thin old man was speaking to someone: "The mooncakes given by the Zhu family are so delicious. One kind is filled with meat, all meat inside, and the other kind has red bean paste and salted egg yolk… Master Zhu is such a good person. Compared to the Hong family, the Zhu family is much better!"

Hearing this, Zhu Xunmiao's face turned red.

Then, Zhu Xunmiao's face turned even redder out of embarrassment.

He saw Li Qingzhi, who had lost his arm, writing with his left hand!

While people outside were chatting, Li Qingzhi was completely focused, writing meticulously with his left hand.

He realized he had been too lazy before! If he had Li Qingzhi's determination and diligence, his scholarship would definitely be much better than it is now!

"Who are you?" Li Laogen saw Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei.

"We are friends of Brother Li; we are here to see him," Zhu Xunmiao said.

The lighting in Li Qingzhi's study was mediocre, so he placed his desk near the door and opened the door to write.

Hearing the voices, Li Qingzhi looked up and saw Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei.

"Brother Zhu, Brother Xu," Li Qingzhi greeted them with a smile.

At first, Li Laogen was a bit cautious, mainly because Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei looked like they were from affluent families. He didn't think Li Qingzhi would have such friends. He even suspected that they might be from the Hong family, coming to cause trouble.

But Li Qingzhi knew these two people… Li Laogen smiled, "Ah Qing is over there, you can go over."

Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei bowed to Li Laogen and walked towards Li Qingzhi.

Li Laogen had always been looked down upon, and suddenly someone bowed to him, leaving him stunned.

After a moment, Li Laogen regained his composure and whispered to the people he was talking to, "Did you see that? The young master from the town came to find our Ah Qing! Our Ah Qing is really something now!"

The villagers in front of Li Laogen nodded repeatedly.

At this moment, Li Qingzhi said to Li Damao and Li Ermao, "Damao, Ermao, go fetch two chairs."

Before Li Damao and Li Ermao could act, Zhao Xiaodou rushed to fetch the chairs. Seeing this, Li Qingzhi asked Li Damao and Li Ermao to bring two bowls.

They didn't have teacups at home, but they had a large ceramic teapot placed on Li Qingzhi's desk, filled with boiled water from earlier in the morning.

Li Qingzhi poured some lukewarm boiled water into the two bowls brought by the children. "We don't have tea. Please forgive us."

"It's okay, as long as it quenches thirst," Zhu Xunmiao said. Although he grew up in a wealthy family, he wasn't at the point where he couldn't drink plain water.

As for Xu Qifei, although his family's life was still okay, he usually drank water from a bowl at home.

Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei came to see Li Qingzhi, very concerned about his health. Li Qingzhi said, "I'm fine. My injury won't take long to heal."

"Brother Li, you mentioned before that you wanted to take the county exam next year, but now with this…" Zhu Xunmiao felt guilty. "If I had stopped them yesterday, things wouldn't have ended up like this."

"I'm really fine. Even if there is a problem, I can still write with my left hand in the future," Li Qingzhi said.

"Write with your left hand?"

Li Qingzhi showed them the paper he had just finished writing: "When I started helping Uncle Zhu write letters, my handwriting was like this, wasn't it?"

He indeed had some kind of special ability, his control over his body was far stronger than an ordinary person's. The handwriting from his left hand was legible.

Zhu Xunmiao glanced at Li Qingzhi's handwriting and couldn't help asking, "Brother Li, how long do you think it will take you to write with your left hand?"

"Perhaps two months," Li Qingzhi smiled.

Zhu Xunmiao: "…" Li Qingzhi was too amazing; he couldn't even muster jealousy towards him!

Since Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei were here, Li Qingzhi had a good chat with them and even asked them to find some articles written by others for him to read.

Using his special ability, he had developed his brain, not only having the ability to remember everything but also possessing strong analytical skills.

While they were chatting, Jin Xiaoye managed to come back and bring with her a pig trotter stewed with soybeans that had been soaking in water since last night.

Seeing Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei, Jin Xiaoye warmly invited them to stay for dinner. Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei, wanting to chat more with Li Qingzhi, gladly agreed.

Jin Xiaoye stewed the pig trotter with the soybeans she had soaked the previous night and finally brought out a big pot. She also served steamed egg custard and steamed cabbage soup. Although it was not lavish, it was enough to eat.

However, Li Laogen, who used to be particularly enthusiastic about meals, upon learning that Zhu Xunmiao was the young master of the Zhu family, absolutely dared not come to the table to eat.

Jin Xiaoye simply left some of the food aside for him and let him eat with the three children in the kitchen. As for herself, she quickly packed some food in a clay pot and hurriedly left.

She still had a lot to do.

While Zhu Xunmiao and the others were having lunch at Li's house, Zhu Qian invited the magistrate of Gou County out for a meal, asking him to dine at the biggest restaurant in the county town.

The magistrate of Gou County loved money, and he was very willing to associate with wealthy merchants from Chongcheng County.

In fact, when he was young, the magistrate was more focused on his career aspirations, eager to make a mark in the officialdom. However, he only passed the imperial examination in middle age, destined not to have much advancement in his career. Thus, he had relaxed his ambitions and only hoped not to make any mistakes in his official duties.

Zhu Qian and the magistrate both wanted to foster a good relationship with each other. As they chatted, they became more and more congenial. Inevitably, they talked about the case from yesterday.

The magistrate praised Zhu Xunmiao.

He genuinely thought highly of Zhu Xunmiao. People who stood up for the weak and oppressed were always likable in his eyes. He felt more reassured in his relationship with Zhu Qian after seeing Zhu Xunmiao's actions.

Zhu Qian also had to praise the magistrate's children. After the compliments, he added, "Sir, that scholar who lost his arm yesterday greatly admires you. He wants to write an article for you. It's said that he has already started writing."

"Sincere intentions are good, but since he's injured, it's best to focus on recovery," the county magistrate sighed as he thought of the skinny scholar.

He had always felt his body was a bit bulky with too much flesh, but after seeing that scholar, he thought having more flesh wasn't a bad thing.

Regardless, with so much flesh to protect him, a child under ten wouldn't be able to break his arm.

As for Zhu Qian mentioning that Li Qingzhi wanted to write an article for him… Ever since he came to Chongcheng County, scholars had written articles for him before, but he found them rather uninteresting.

These scholars couldn't write enduring masterpieces, which couldn't bring him fame.

Zhu Qian didn't mention much about Li Qingzhi's situation, nor did he show the magistrate his autobiography.

He didn't know what kind of article Li Qingzhi would write about the magistrate's judgment. In this case, it was better not to raise the magistrate's expectations too high.

But Zhu Qian did inquire about the magistrate's past experiences in judging cases, and since the magistrate loved to talk about them, Zhu Qian took careful note of what he said, intending to relay it to Li Qingzhi later.

The two of them lingered over their meal for quite some time.

During the meal, Zhu Qian didn't give the magistrate any gifts, but he arranged for a boat and personally sent the magistrate back.

When they reached near the magistrate's residence, as the magistrate got off the boat, Zhu Qian handed him a very plain-looking bamboo basket. "Sir, I've prepared some snacks for you. Please enjoy."

Indeed, there were snacks in the basket, but they were placed in boxes made of pure gold.

When the magistrate returned home and saw the golden boxes, he laughed heartily—Zhu Qian was indeed practical!

In the Miaoqian Village,

After learning that Zhu Xunmiao was the young master of the Zhu family, Li Laogen avoided Zhu Xunmiao, but then went to boast to the villagers, saying how much Li Qingzhi was valued by the Zhu family—after being injured, the eldest young master of the Zhu family actually came to see him in person.

Zhu Xunmiao came to see Li Qingzhi this time with some simple pastries, which were further praised by Li Laogen.

The villagers, influenced by Li Laogen's words, all felt that Li Qingzhi's broken arm was really worth it!

The news of visitors to the Li family couldn't escape the notice of Yao Zhenfu, who lived next door. So, after being very happy last night and thinking of studying well today, Yao Zhenfu became restless again and couldn't concentrate on anything all day.

Li Qingzhi just went to copy a book at the Zhu family's place, why did Zhu Xunmiao still come to see him in person?

Yao Zhenfu felt annoyed and couldn't help but mutter a few words. Jin Moli heard it and said, "I heard that Li Qingzhi helped Zhu Xunmiao block a blow. If it weren't for him, Zhu Xunmiao's face would have been ruined."

"So that's how it is! He's not really capable, but he's good at pleasing people!" Yao Zhenfu sneered. "But he definitely didn't expect to lose his arm. With his arm broken, it might not necessarily heal!"

Yao Zhenfu complained all day long, and when Zhu Xunmiao left, he felt a little better.

And by this time, most of the day had already passed.

Forget it, I'll read more tomorrow. There's still half a year left until the county exam next year! Yao Zhenfu put down the book and laid down on the bed to rest.

On the other hand, after Zhu Xunmiao and the others left, Li Qingzhi was surrounded by villagers again, all of whom came to talk to him about Zhu Xunmiao.

"Li Qingzhi, that young master from the Zhu family is really impressive!"

"In my whole life, it's the first time I've seen such a handsome young man!"

"Who are the ones who came with Young Master Zhu?"

"These scholars look different from us!"

…

Although Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei's appearance wasn't particularly outstanding, their fair and tender skin was whiter than anyone in their village!

As people talked, they also mentioned Yao Zhenfu: "Compared to them, Yao Zhenfu doesn't look like a scholar at all."

Yao Zhenfu was short, chubby, and dark-skinned. Although he was indeed a scholar, he completely inherited Mr. Yao's appearance, making him look more like a peasant.

Li Qingzhi enjoyed chatting with people, and today he chatted all day, feeling very happy.

But he couldn't help but sigh—after chatting all day, he didn't have time to read or write.

Starting tomorrow, he needed to restrain his desire to chat, read more, write more, and allocate an hour each day to teach the three children to read and do arithmetic.

The next morning, Li Qingzhi first taught Jin Xiaoye how to read and then picked up the borrowed book from the Zhu family to read.

After reading for an hour, he called the three children who were playing games.

When Li Damao and Li Ermao saw Li Qingzhi, each of them hugged one of Li Qingzhi's legs.

Li Qingzhi would play with them and tell them stories, something that none of the other children's fathers could do. Now, Li Damao and Li Ermao thought that their father was the best father in the village!

Ever since they had a father, they ate white rice and meat every day, a life they had never dared to dream of before.

Li Qingzhi kissed Li Damao and Li Ermao on the head, then said, "Damao, Ermao, Dad has given you two new names. Damao and Ermao will be your nicknames from now on. As for your formal names… Damao, your formal name will be Li Xingjian, meaning simplicity in doing things. Ermao, your formal name will be Li Xingyi, meaning easiness in doing things. Dad hopes that in the future, whatever you want to do, it will be simple and easy, and everything will go smoothly."

After Li Qingzhi finished speaking, he carefully wrote these two names on different pieces of paper and gave them to Li Damao and Li Ermao.

After writing, Li Qingzhi saw Zhao Xiaodou looking at Li Damao and Li Ermao enviously.

Li Qingzhi smiled and said to Zhao Xiaodou, "Xiaodou, I've also given you a name. From now on, you'll be called Zhao Tingju."

In this era, it was very common for teachers to give students names, and Li Qingzhi believed that Zhao Xiaodou and Zhao Laosan would not object to the name he gave them.

After briefly explaining the meaning of Zhao Tingju's new name in terms that the children could understand, Li Qingzhi took out another piece of paper and wrote the three characters "Zhao Tingju" on it.

After that, Li Qingzhi first instructed the three children to write their names on the ground. When they could write them smoothly, he gave them a brush and let them try to write their names on paper.

Zhao Xiaodou was the first to pick up the brush.

This was his first time holding a pen, and Zhao Xiaodou was extremely nervous, hesitating to put the pen on the paper.

Li Qingzhi encouraged, "Xiaodou, don't be afraid, just write. Look at me; my right hand is broken, and the words written with my left hand are not very good-looking, but I can still write."

Zhao Xiaodou, a few years younger than Li Damao and Li Ermao, was Li Qingzhi's cousin — because Zhao Laosan became a son-in-law, they were considered cousins.

Encouraged by Li Qingzhi, Zhao Xiaodou carefully wrote his name on the paper. He was already eight years old, learning faster than Li Damao and Li Ermao. Plus, he had practiced many times before with caution… His handwriting was quite good, not much worse than Li Qingzhi's.

After Zhao Xiaodou finished writing, Li Qingzhi asked Li Damao and Li Ermao to write, but the handwriting of these two children was crooked.

From today onwards, these three children had their names known.

After teaching them their names, Li Qingzhi then asked Li Damao and Li Ermao to teach Zhao Xiaodou how to count and recite multiplication tables.

As for himself, he was going to start writing a book.

Li Qingzhi planned to finish the County Magistrate's book as soon as possible.

Li Qingzhi had a fulfilling day, but Yao Zhenfu next door had a different experience.

He didn't get to read properly yesterday. Before going to bed, Yao Zhenfu was very annoyed. He thought about it and wrote himself a plan before sleeping.

He planned to start reading after breakfast the next morning. He intended to review the Analects in the morning and write an article in the afternoon.

After finishing his plan with enthusiasm, he slept. But the next morning, after having breakfast, he felt lethargic.

At first, he thought he could skip reading the Analects, take a break, and just write an article in the afternoon, but in the end, he neither read the book nor wrote the article…

Li Qingzhi was unaware of Yao Zhenfu's thoughts.

He didn't mind reading at all.

Reading was not tiring for him; he even enjoyed it.

During the apocalypse, he often fondly remembered the carefree days of attending school, even though he had found his senior year of high school challenging, it was still filled with warmth in his memories.

He had eaten particularly well during his senior year!

But the next day, Li Qingzhi's reading and writing plan was interrupted again — Ding Xi and Zhu Qian came together!

Ding Xi also came to see Li Qingzhi, and it happened that Zhu Qian wanted to discuss some matters regarding the County Magistrate of Gou with Li Qingzhi, so they came together.

The day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Li Qingzhi handed the book he wrote for Ding Xi to the steward of the Ding family.

In the evening, when Ding Xi returned home, the steward brought out the book. It was already late, and Ding Xi hadn't planned on reading it, but Zhu Qian came with Zhu Xunmiao, who was particularly eager to read it.

Ding Xi quite liked his nephew Zhu Xunmiao, so he ended up reading it together with him, and once they started, they couldn't put it down.

Zhu Xunmiao was even more engrossed, standing by Ding Xi's side, craning his neck to read. When Zhu Qian was about to leave, he couldn't get Zhu Xunmiao to leave!

The two of them ended up reading until midnight, and Ding Xi couldn't stay awake any longer, so he went to sleep first, while Zhu Xunmiao stayed up until he finished the book.

On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the first thing Ding Xi did after waking up was to read the book. The more he read, the more he liked it, clapping his hands in admiration several times. After finishing it, he was itching to know what happened next.

Then… he heard that Li Qingzhi's arm was broken.

How could Li Qingzhi, who was perfectly fine, break his arm?!

If Li Qingzhi's arm was broken, could he still write books for him?

Ding Xi asked Zhu Qian for information, and then his book was taken by Zhu Qian.

Zhu Qian spent a day finishing the hundred thousand words, and they agreed to go see Li Qingzhi together.

"Old Zhu, can Li Qingzhi really write with his left hand?" Ding Xi still found it hard to believe.

He couldn't even eat with his left hand, and Li Qingzhi could write with his left hand?

"He can; Amiao saw it with his own eyes when he visited him."

"Then can he finish my autobiography quickly?" It seemed a bit unfair to ask someone with a broken arm to continue writing books, but Ding Xi really wanted to see what happened next.

The book portrayed him as a hero! He even wanted to have hundreds of copies made and give them away, to show how awesome he, Old Ding, was.

"I'm afraid not. He should write for the County Magistrate first," Zhu Qian said.

Li Qingzhi had to write for the county magistrate, so his book would have to wait. Ding Xi felt a bit disappointed.

Zhu Qian and Ding Xi came after having their meal.

Ding Xi praised Li Qingzhi's book repeatedly and left fifty taels of silver for Li Qingzhi. As for Zhu Qian, he talked about some cases mentioned by the County Magistrate when chatting with him.

The County Magistrate didn't think he could go far in his official career, so he focused his attention elsewhere.

Reading… the County Magistrate loved it, but he didn't want to read those classics after passing the imperial examination.

As for poetry, painting, and playing musical instruments… the County Magistrate's family was quite wealthy, and he had learned them all, but he wasn't interested.

Nowadays, what he loved to do was eating and solving cases.

Solving cases was really fun, and there was a great sense of achievement in solving them. For this reason, the County Magistrate spent a lot of time on it, and indeed, he solved some cases by his own ability.

What ordinary people knew was actually not much; the County Magistrate himself was the most clear about it, and he told Zhu Qian all about it.

Zhu Qian had a good memory, coupled with the fact that he had inquired about some related information, so he gave Li Qingzhi a detailed account.

All of a sudden, Li Qingzhi had a lot more to write about, and he cursed himself for not having enough time to write it all down.

Zhu Qian and Ding Xi stayed for a while and then left, but their visit inevitably excited the people of Miaojin Village.

"Do you know? Master Zhu came to see Li Qingzhi too!"

"When Master Zhu came, he took a particularly grand boat!"

"Master Zhu and another Master Ding wore really nice clothes!"

"Li Qingzhi is really making something of himself!"

"I heard Master Zhu brought something again; Li Qingzhi is really lucky to encounter such an important figure."

…

After Zhu Qian and Ding Xi left, Li Qingzhi swiftly wrote his book.

He was determined to write quickly, and indeed, his writing speed increased, but the words were a bit sloppy.

While Li Qingzhi was writing, next door, Yao Zhenfu, upon hearing that Zhu Qian had come to Miaoqian Village, started feeling uneasy again!

In the end, he could only swear to himself, like he did a few days ago, that he would study properly the next day.

Studying, writing, and recovering from his injury passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed since the Mid-Autumn Festival.

It was around this time that Li Qingzhi, with his ugly and sloppy handwriting, wrote two short stories about the County Magistrate solving cases.

Initially, he thought that just writing about solving cases—a few thousand words for each case—would be enough. But when he started writing, he realized that those few words wouldn't suffice. He wrote around twenty thousand words for each case.

In any case, he managed to finish them!

Li Qingzhi didn't want to copy them out neatly. He made some alterations to the original manuscript and then had it packed up. He asked Jin Xiaoye to deliver it to Zhu Xunmiao and have it copied out by someone else.

After sending off the manuscript, Li Qingzhi looked at his left hand and felt a bit proud of himself.

This time, in pursuit of speed, he wrote without care, and although the handwriting was indeed sloppy, as he wrote… he found that his left-handed writing, although ugly, had a certain momentum between the strokes.

He was really something!

After sending off the manuscript, he began writing Ding Xi's book.

Ding Xi sent him another fifty taels of silver, so he wanted to finish the book quickly for the sake of the money.

Li Qingzhi wrote with his left hand every day at home, and the people in Miaoqian Village naturally noticed.

So rumors started spreading in the village, saying that Li Qingzhi's right hand couldn't be healed, so he was practicing writing with his left hand.

The people in the village respected scholars a lot. When Li Qingzhi was writing, no one disturbed him, but after he had been busy all day, when he went out for a walk in the evening, people from the village would strike up conversations with him.

One day when Li Qingzhi was out exercising, he ran into Aunt Jin. "Ah Qing, is your arm feeling better?" she asked.

"It's almost healed," Li Qingzhi replied.

He was telling the truth. Thanks to his abilities, his right arm had almost healed.

But he still didn't dare to use his right hand, fearing suspicion from others.

"Ah Qing, is your arm really going to get better?Aunt Jin asked again.

"It will," Li Qingzhi affirmed.

Hearing this,Aunt Jin started complaining about Yao Zuming, who had a deep-seated grudge against her family. "I told you your arm would definitely get better! Ah Qing, you don't know, Yao Zuming has been speaking ill of you all this time, saying your arm won't heal, his mouth is really foul, you must teach him a lesson!"

Aunt Jin tirelessly wanted them to go cause trouble for Yao Zuming.

But Li Qingzhi really wasn't interested in being bitten by a dog just to bite back.

Li Qingzhi cleared his throat. "Sister Jin, let him talk. I can't beat him. What if he breaks my other arm?"

Aunt Jin could only leave in frustration.

At the same time, when Li Xiucai's school was dismissed, as Zhu Xunmiao just walked out, he saw Jin Xiaoye paddling a boat.

"Young Master Zhu, my husband has something for you!" Jin Xiaoye waved to Zhu Xunmiao.

Zhu Xunmiao had seen Jin Xiaoye before, so when he learned that Li Qingzhi had asked Jin Xiaoye to bring him something, he immediately went over.

Jin Xiaoye took out rolls of paper and handed them to Zhu Xunmiao. "Young Master Zhu, these are what my husband has written recently. He asked me to give them to you."

Li Qingzhi wasn't quite used to writing with his left hand, so he couldn't write characters as small as a fingernail. These words were basically as big as a bottle cap.

As a result, the paper used for writing forty thousand words was quite a lot, and it was heavy.

Zhu Xunmiao took them and felt joy rising in his heart—he finally had something to read again.

At this time, Jin Xiaoye said again, "My husband said his handwriting is a bit sloppy, so he'll need someone to copy it neatly before it can be shown to others."

"I understand. I'll find someone to copy it," Zhu Xunmiao said.

"I've told you everything he instructed me to. There's still something to attend to at home. Master Zhu, I'm heading home!" Jin Xiaoye said to Zhu Xunmiao, pushing the bamboo pole in her hand, and the small boat departed from the riverbank, heading in the direction of the Miaoqian Village.

"Brother Zhu, who was that?" one of Zhu Xunmiao's classmates asked curiously.

"She's the wife of a good friend of mine," Zhu Xunmiao replied.

His classmate frowned, "Brother Zhu, about your friend…"

"What about him?" Zhu Xunmiao asked, puzzled by his friend's expression.

The classmate continued, "Since you asked, I'll be direct. Even if your friend's family is poor and needs his wife to do some work to supplement the household income, shouldn't he let his wife do needlework at home instead of letting her come out to row a boat and expose herself like this? Brother Zhu, you should advise him not to let his wife do such improper things."

In Chengcheng County, commerce was flourishing, and women weren't as restricted as in some other places.

Walking along the streets, it was common to see women managing shops and engaging in small businesses. There were also many boatwomen on the river.

Because women could earn money and had their own income, the status of women in Chongcheng County was relatively high.

However, even so, in the eyes of most educated people, women shouldn't be exposing themselves in public.

Zhu Xunmiao had heard Li Qingzhi mention Jin Xiaoye before, and Li Qingzhi seemed grateful towards Jin Xiaoye, saying that without her, he might have starved to death… Therefore, although Zhu Xunmiao hadn't talked much to Jin Xiaoye, he admired her.

Now Jin Xiaoye was just rowing a boat, how did that become improper?

Zhu Xunmiao sneered, "Brother Fang, you really are a gentleman. Why don't you go from one end of the street to the other and advise those women who are out there trying to make a living to go back home!" He felt like those people deserved a beating!

"You…" The scholar named Fang flushed.

Zhu Xunmiao continued, "Your family members still come to the school every day to bring food, so you could also go and remind them."

With that, Zhu Xunmiao left.

His classmate was named Fang Zijian. Fang Zijian's family situation was ordinary, and his ability to study relied on his mother and sisters doing needlework to earn money, similar to Xu Qiwen's situation.

Perhaps seeing how close Xu Qiwen was to him brought many conveniences, and Fang Zijian wanted to befriend him. However, Fang Zijian was too conservative, which made him repulsive.

Previously, this person even advised him to persuade his father to give up doing business and become a landlord, saying that this way, he wouldn't be looked down upon by others…

If his father didn't do business, could he still have his current life?!

He wasn't stupid!

Upon returning home, Zhu Xunmiao couldn't wait to take out the thick stack of paper and start reading.

It was so exciting!

This detective story wasn't any worse than his father doing business or his Uncle Ding enjoying the pleasures of the world!

No, it should be said it was even more exciting!

While Zhu Xunmiao was reading, Jin Xiaoye had already returned to Miaoqian Village.

After her boat docked at the village's pier, some villagers gathered around her. "Xiaoye, do you still have sleeves? I want an apron for my child. Have you made any coats for children?"

After receiving the fifty taels of silver from Li Qingzhi, Jin Xiaoye bought a lot of cloth. With the additional cloth given by Zhu Qian, she suddenly had plenty of fabric.

With the fabric in hand, Jin Xiaoye had Sister Wang and Mrs. Xu make some samples, then had them cut the fabric so others could make various items based on the samples.

Jin Xiaoye only gave the fabric provided by Zhu's family to those skilled in craftsmanship and provided some patterns for them to ensure everything was made delicately.

The items made from this fabric were meant to be sold to the wealthy.

For the slightly defective fabric she bought, Jin Xiaoye took the economical route. Since the weather wasn't particularly cold yet, she had them make some sleeves, coats, aprons, etc., and sold them in Chongcheng County and nearby villages.

In the summer, everyone could wash their clothes daily, but it was different in the winter. Many people only had one cotton-padded coat, which they had to wear for several months straight.

One could imagine how dirty that coat would get after a few months.

As for the children, it was even worse. As soon as winter came, their noses would run, and they liked to wipe them with their sleeves… After washing the cotton-padded coat and putting it back on, it wouldn't take long for the cuffs to get dirty again.

Therefore, families with means would add another layer of clothing over the cotton-padded coat. But in the countryside, there were plenty of families without such means.

They would find a way to make sleeves for the children or just make a garment that covered the front and sleeves, which could be worn inside out.

The fabric needed for making sleeves and garments was much less than for making a complete outfit.

The sleeves and garments Jin Xiaoye sold were very cheap, even cheaper than if they bought the fabric themselves. So, everyone in the village came to buy them.

As for the slight defects in the dyeing of these fabrics… the villagers didn't care at all.

After all, after a short period of use, they would all turn black anyway.

"I have them all! If you want to buy, come to my house!" Jin Xiaoye said, then picked up a load.

These items didn't require embroidery on them. After they were cut, they could be made very quickly. A woman could make at least a dozen in a day, so she never ran out of stock.

People who wanted to buy followed Jin Xiaoye to the Li family's house. When they arrived, they saw Li Damao, Li Ermao, and Zhao Xiaodou wearing sleeves and serving food on the table.

Their sleeves were made from the cloth that the Zhu family had given to Li Qingzhi when they sent clothes to him.

These sleeves were not much different from modern ones, except that modern sleeves have elastic bands at both ends, while theirs had a string at each end that needed to be tied after wearing them.

The village was full of mud, even the walls of the houses were made of mud. Most children were basically mud people, but Li Damao, Li Ermao, and Zhao Xiaodou looked much cleaner, so these people couldn't help but praise them.

"Xiaoye, Xiaoshu, come and eat. I'll serve everyone." Li Qingzhi came out of the house and invited Jin Xiaoye in for dinner.

Recently, their dinners had been directed by Li Qingzhi and cooked by Li Laogen.

His skills weren't great, but Li Laogen's skills were even worse… Li Qingzhi felt more at ease watching him.

Actually, Li Laogen's situation couldn't be described as having poor skills. He simply didn't have any skills and was particularly careless.

For example, when cooking eggplants… there would always be a green stem on top of the eggplant. Most people would remove it before cutting the eggplant, but Li Laogen would leave it on.

The same went for vegetables. He wouldn't bother to separate and wash the leaves; he would just wash them quickly, cut them into large pieces, and put them in the pot!

Li Qingzhi wasn't a picky person; he didn't mind eating the stem, after all, it wasn't poisonous.

But the meals were for Jin Xiaoye and the children, so it was better to be more meticulous.

Fortunately, Li Laogen, although grumbling and speaking harshly, still followed instructions when asked to do something. Under Li Qingzhi's supervision, he managed to get the job done passably.

Li Qingzhi now basically wrote until mid-afternoon, took a walk around the neighborhood, then came back to cook. After he finished cooking and Jin Xiaoye returned, he would help her sell things and chat.

After they finished selling, and Jin Xiaoye and the others finished eating, he would finish off the leftovers.

After eating, a quick wash, and they could go to bed.

Every day of Li Qingzhi's was fulfilling.

Jin Xiaoye didn't stop Li Qingzhi from selling things.

At first, she thought it wasn't good for Li Qingzhi to sell things while they ate inside, but later she found out that Li Qingzhi actually enjoyed selling things.

For him, selling things while chatting with people was relaxing and fun!

Since that was the case… let Li Qingzhi go ahead and do it.

Li Qingzhi indeed enjoyed selling things.

As the weather got colder, people in the village stopped going to the riverside to cool off.

During this season, if it was windy, it would already be chilly, and no one would go to the riverbank after eating their fill to enjoy the breeze.

He couldn't go to the riverside to experience the pleasure of being surrounded by living people. It was quite nice to experience it at home.

Li Qingzhi happily sold various items and chatted with people as he sold.

When everyone had left and Jin Xiaoye and the others had finished eating, he could enjoy the remaining rice and vegetables that Jin Xiaoye had left for him.

Jin Xiaoye always saved the best dishes for him!

"Brother, I'm going back." Zhao Xiaodou greeted Li Qingzhi.

"Go ahead; be careful on the way," Li Qingzhi replied with a smile.

"Yeah." Zhao Xiaodou responded and dashed out.

When it rained, Zhao Xiaodou would stay at the Li family's house and sleep with Li Damao and Li Ermao, but on sunny days, he would usually go back home.

Home sweet home, no matter how good the Li family was, Zhao Xiaodou still wanted to go home.

It wasn't completely dark yet when Zhao Xiaodou left. He ran quickly toward his house.

The village where Zhao's family lived was adjacent to the one in Miaoqian Village. Everything along the way was familiar to Zhao Xiaodou, and people on the road also knew him. Occasionally, someone would greet him, "Xiaodou, going home?"

"Yeah, I'm going home!" Zhao Xiaodou replied, bouncing forward without stopping.

When Zhao Xiaodou got near his home, he saw his father standing under a tree waiting for him. He ran over with a smile and plunged into his father's arms. "Dad!"

Zhao Xiaodou wouldn't have dared to do this before, but recently, Zhao Laosan has been very good to him. Seeing Li Damao, Li Ermao, and Li Qingzhi being close, he learned to do the same.

Li Damao and Li Ermao were so likable; following their lead couldn't be wrong!

Zhao Laosan was actually a little uncomfortable with Zhao Xiaodou's closeness, but amidst the discomfort, he was very happy.

Overjoyed, Zhao Laosan hugged Zhao Xiaodou tightly.

"Xiaodou, no, Tingju, what did you learn today?" Zhao Laosan asked Zhao Xiaodou.

"Dad, today I learned a poem! 'The grass on the field withers year by year…'" Zhao Xiaodou recited the poem. "I recognize all the words in this poem, but I still need to write it a few more times to learn how to write it."

"Tingju is really amazing!" Zhao Laosan couldn't contain his joy.

Zhao Laosan really liked the name Li Qingzhi gave to Zhao Xiaodou. Having such a name made him feel that his son was different!

On their way back home, the two encountered Zhao Mancang's father.

After learning that the Hong family had compensated Zhao Mancang with ten taels of silver, Zhao Mancang's father specifically went to find him, only to be told by Zhao Mancang that the money had been spent on medical treatment…

These days, Zhao Mancang's father has been grumbling and complaining about Zhao Mancang at home every day.

Now, seeing Zhao Laosan hugging Zhao Xiaodou, he snorted and said, "Such a big child and still being carried. Zhao Laosan, aren't you afraid of raising a lazy bum?"

Zhao Laosan's face turned red, and after a while, he replied, "It's better than not having a son to hug like you!"

If someone had said this to him before, Zhao Laosan would definitely have put Zhao Xiaodou down. But thinking that Li Qingzhi had been doing this all along… Li Qingzhi was so much more capable than the person in front of him!

It was better to listen to Li Qingzhi.

Zhao Xiaodou, who had been a bit nervous, couldn't help but laugh when he heard his father say so.

When they arrived at Zhao's house, Zhao Xiaodou's mother also began asking what Zhao Xiaodou had learned.

Zhao Xiaodou's siblings also surrounded him, asking what he had eaten today.

Zhao Laosan actually treated his stepchildren differently, and it was quite obvious. But he didn't mistreat them; in the years he had been busy working to pay off debts… compared to those fathers who beat their children, he wasn't too bad. His stepchildren didn't dislike him either.

Learning that the Li family had meat again today, Zhao Xiaodou's siblings couldn't help but salivate, regretting that they weren't Zhao Laosan's biological children.

Zhao Xiaodou had eaten meat today, and so had Zhao Mancang. He even had some snacks.

After Zhao Mancang's injuries, instead of immediately letting him work alongside his own son, Zhu Qian had him recuperate first.

During these ten days, Zhao Mancang had been eating just like the steward at the Zhu family's, and he had also received clothes made by the servants of the Zhu family.

Additionally, Zhao Mancang could see Zhu Qian's little son, Zhu Xunxin, every day—Zhu Xunxin came to see him every day.

The autobiography written by Zhu Qian was the first long story Zhu Xunxin had heard since he was little, and it was written by his own father!

Young Zhu Xunxin loved this story so much that he wanted to emulate it and become a servant to someone else!

Of course, that was impossible, as Zhu Qian and the others did not agree.

Feeling depressed, Zhu Xunxin encountered Zhao Mancang.

Because he wasn't well and couldn't go outside much, Zhu Xunxin felt that Zhao Mancang was like his father. Therefore, he especially liked Zhao Mancang and would go to see him every day, bringing him snacks.

Having taken care of Hong Zhao, who couldn't speak and would inexplicably go mad, and then encountering Zhu Xunxin, who was fair-skinned, somewhat weak, slow-speaking, and innocent… Zhao Mancang felt that Zhu Xunxin was the best young master in Chongcheng County!

Zhao Mancang genuinely liked Zhu Xunxin, and as Zhu Xunxin lacked playmates, their relationship grew closer and closer.

At the Li family's home…

Now that the Li Qingzhi family had money and didn't lack firewood, Jin Xiaoye boiled a pot of water in the evening.

The two children wouldn't bathe today; washing their faces and feet with Li Qingzhi would suffice. After washing, Li Qingzhi would take them to bed and tell them stories.

As for Jin Xiaoye, after a busy day outside and sweating, she cleaned her body a bit.

After washing up, she returned to her room and started doing bookkeeping under the oil lamp.

When Li Qingzhi came over, Jin Xiaoye was using a brush to write Arabic numerals on a piece of paper.

Daqi didn't have Arabic numerals, but there were some simplified writing methods. However, even though those methods were simplified, they were not as convenient as Arabic numerals.

Li Qingzhi taught Arabic numerals to Jin Xiaoye.

Jin Xiaoye was eager to learn and had a strong understanding as an adult, so she quickly learned. Now, she keeps accounts using Arabic numerals.

"How's business been lately?" Li Qingzhi asked.

"I've earned a lot! Ah Qing, starting tomorrow, I won't be rowing the boat anymore. I'll give the boat to Xiaoshu to sell things around, and I'll stay in the county town, helping with cutting fabrics and keeping accounts," Jin Xiaoye said.

Now she no longer sells headpieces made by others in exchange for eggs but buys fabric and hires others to make them.

Without supervision, she's afraid someone might take more fabric than they should for the finished product.

Supervising the materials received and the finished products is necessary. Although she trusts Sister Wang and Mrs. Xu, she feels it's best for them to be present too.

"Alright," Li Qingzhi smiled and took out two sheets of paper for Jin Xiaoye. "Xiaoye, I took some time during the day to draw a few patterns. You can use them to make bellybands for children or shoes."

Li Qingzhi drew cartoon zodiac signs, which are not difficult to make but are eye-catching when applied to clothes or shoes.

Jin Xiaoye examined them under the light of the oil lamp and said, "These are really nice. I'll ask Mrs. Xu to make some samples tomorrow."

"You can also make a few sets for Damao and Ermao," Li Qingzhi said with a smile before adding, "Xiaoye, it's getting late. Let's sleep. Writing under such dim light is not good for your eyes."

Jin Xiaoye agreed and went to sleep with Li Qingzhi, continuing to recount the day's events.

The next day in the Li family's life was as usual. When Zhu Xunmiao arrived at the school, he seemed a bit excited.

"Brother Zhu, why are you so happy?" Xu Qifei asked Zhu Xunmiao curiously.

Yesterday after school, Xu Qifei wasn't around Zhu Xunmiao because he usually arrived early and stayed late at school. At night, he would go back late because he and his mother lived in a single room, which was partitioned into two. It was hard for him to study at home.

"Brother Xu, do you have time to help copy?" Zhu Xunmiao took out a stack of paper.

Although Xu Qifei had been busy studying lately, when he saw the papers Zhu Xunmiao brought out, he immediately said without hesitation, "I do have time!"

It was definitely a book written by Li Qingzhi. Helping to copy it was a form of relaxation and calligraphy practice for him! Plus, he wanted to read it!

Zhu Xunmiao didn't like copying books himself. He gave one portion to Xu Qifei and another portion to another classmate who had a good relationship with him and wrote well. He even mentioned a reward for helping with transcription.

That classmate was very happy to get such an opportunity—the money Zhu Xunmiao offered for copying was much more than what bookstores paid!

Not far away, Fang Zijian's face darkened when he saw this scene.

He had been trying to get along with Zhu Xunmiao, but unfortunately, Zhu Xunmiao was not interested in him. Zhu Xunmiao liked those who were good at flattery, not someone like him who offered straightforward advice!

Xu Qifei didn't rush to copy it but read it first. After reading it, he couldn't help but say, "Brother Zhu, County Magistrate Gou, is really a master at solving cases!"

Excited, Zhu Xunmiao discussed it with him.

The two were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't notice that Li Xiucai had arrived.

Li Xiucai had many students, all at different levels of progress, so he divided them into three rooms. The students in Zhu Xunmiao's room were already capable of trying for the scholar exam, so Li Xiucai didn't teach them much. Usually, he assigned them essays to write, and then he would go over them one by one.

Aside from that, if they had any questions, they could directly ask Li Xiucai.

At other times… what they did, Li Xiucai didn't interfere much.

But although it seemed like Li Xiucai didn't care, he actually valued these people, especially those who had the potential to pass the scholar exam.

After all, if a scholar came out of his school, it would make the people of Chongcheng County more willing to send their children there!

Li Xiucai's knowledge was quite good, and he had participated in the provincial examinations several times, but he never made it onto the list.

Others thought it was just bad luck, but he knew better.

The reason he didn't do well was that before the exams, he always had trouble falling asleep all night long. During the exams, he would break out in a cold sweat, and his hands and feet would tremble. Once, he even fainted and woke up after a while.

Because of this, he completely gave up on the provincial examinations and focused on teaching to earn a living, or rather, nurturing talents.

Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei both had the potential to become scholars. During this period, they studied even harder, and Li Xiucai paid more attention to them.

But today, these two were not studying. They seemed to be chatting about something, and they looked excited.

Li Xiucai approached and listened for a few moments. He felt they should be discussing storybooks, which made him frown.

Storybooks might be more entertaining than the classics, but indulging too much in them could hinder one's academic progress.

Just as he was thinking this, he noticed a stack of paper in front of Xu Qifei. The handwriting on it was ugly and sloppy, as if it were written by someone who had just learned to write.

There were students in the school who hadn't been studying for long, and they might have copied storybooks to read and showed them to Xu Qifei?

Li Xiucai had high hopes for Xu Qifei and didn't want him to go astray. He picked up the bound stack of paper in front of Xu Qifei and asked, "What's this?"

Xu Qifei and Zhu Xunmiao were startled. After a moment's pause, Zhu Xunmiao spoke up, "Sir, this is an article written by a friend of mine for the county magistrate."

It wasn't a storybook? Li Xiucai was somewhat curious as he looked at the papers.

The handwriting was indeed a bit ugly, as if written by a child… Li Xiucai quickly finished reading the words on the first sheet of paper and instinctively flipped to the next.

After reading the second page, he flipped back to the previous one and unconsciously flipped through five or six pages.

Zhu Xunmiao couldn't help but call out, "Sir?"

Li Xiucai cleared his throat lightly. "The article written for the county magistrate is quite good. I happen to have some free time and can help take a look."

He finished speaking and calmly took the stack of papers.

Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei exchanged bewildered looks, feeling a bit confused.

Meanwhile, Li Xiucai found a stool, sat down, and began to read.

The book was indeed captivating, but the handwriting was atrocious. Li Xiucai sighed as he read, gradually getting used to the ugly handwriting. Well, perhaps "used to" wasn't the right term; as he progressed, he noticed some improvement in the handwriting, with strokes showing a bit of sharpness. The author of this article must have depth; not only were the strokes sharp, but some sentences in the book also invited repeated readings.

It seemed that the author wrote this article to gain the magistrate's favor.

Li Xiucai felt that this person's knowledge was not bad, but… why didn't they practice their handwriting properly?

Li Qingzhi was unaware that his book had been seen by Li Xiucai. At this moment, he was teaching three children to read.

Li Damao and Li Ermao were still young, and Zhao Xiaodou was completely starting from scratch. Therefore, Li Qingzhi didn't teach them too much, often letting them learn by themselves.

For example, multiplication tables. He had previously taught Li Damao and Li Ermao, so he could now let them teach Zhao Xiaodou.

Currently, he spends each day leisurely teaching them some math knowledge, discussing geography and the humanities, and finally letting them learn a few words.

Speaking of learning to write words… the paper Li Qingzhi brought from the Zhu family had been used up. Today, when Jin Xiaoye went out, he asked her to buy some cheap pens, ink, and paper to practice writing with the three children starting tomorrow.

As for not having a desk at home… wasn't there a brand new Eight Immortals table? Li Damao and Li Ermao were short, so they usually kneeled on a stool to eat. They could also practice writing like this.

In fact, he taught them using the Eight Immortals table they used for meals. At this moment, Li Damao and Li Ermao stood on stools, listening to his lecture.

"Today, I'll write another poem for you. Damao and Ermao, you've memorized it before. If Xiaodou doesn't know, you can teach him. After teaching, try to recognize the characters and write them in the sand with chopsticks." With his left hand, Li Qingzhi wrote a poem he had learned in elementary school seriously on the paper: "From afar, the mountains have colors; silently, the waters are soundless…"

These poems were also available in Daqi, so writing them out wouldn't shock anyone.

After writing it once, Li Qingzhi had them recite it a few times, then explained its meaning.

He also explained the stroke order of the words.

At this time, the words were all in traditional Chinese, which were quite difficult to write. Li Qingzhi didn't expect them to learn it all in one day. Tomorrow, they will continue learning this poem.

Just like today, after reciting the poem, Li Qingzhi reviewed what he taught them yesterday.

Children learned things slowly and easily forgot what they learned, but Li Qingzhi was very patient and willing to explain it to them repeatedly.

He had three children in front of him—three!

And two of them were his sons! Teaching the three children was an enjoyable experience for Li Qingzhi. Sometimes, when teaching them to read, he would even kiss Li Damao and Li Ermao affectionately.

Zhao Xiaodou was someone else's child and already eight years old, so Li Qingzhi could only pat his head instead of kissing him.

To teach the children to practice writing, Li Qingzhi had specially prepared three sand trays. Now, he watched as the three children wrote while standing by.

Zhao Xiaodou, being older and very diligent, wrote everything correctly. Li Qingzhi praised him and patted his shoulder to encourage him.

Li Damao was quite steady and focused, managing to learn most of what was taught. Li Qingzhi gave him a few kisses and praised, "Damao, you're amazing."

Li Ermao, being more impulsive, made the most mistakes. Li Qingzhi leaned his face closer to him and said, "Ermao, you made another mistake. You have to accept punishment. For each wrong word, you have to kiss your father's face ten times!"

While Li Ermao kissed, Li Qingzhi had Zhao Xiaodou and Li Damao count beside him.

In the village, children around Zhao Xiaodou's age often couldn't even count up to a hundred, but after following Li Qingzhi for a few days, Zhao Xiaodou could count smoothly, and Li Ermao's progress had not gone unnoticed.

After teaching them for a while, Li Qingzhi let the three children go outside to play.

He didn't have any demands for Li Damao and Li Ermao, as both of them wouldn't turn five until the beginning of next year!

He had taught them enough already; if they didn't learn, it wasn't a big deal.

As for Zhao Xiaodou… Zhao Laosan sent him over just to learn a few characters; he hadn't expected Zhao Xiaodou to become so proficient. Now, this progress is enough.

Moreover, Zhao Xiaodou was just an ordinary child. His parents weren't particularly bright, and his intelligence was average. Teaching him too much would overwhelm him.

After spending an hour relaxing with the three children, Li Qingzhi returned to his study and began writing Ding Xi's book.

When he wrote with his left hand, he didn't deliberately practice any particular font. He wrote freely and quickly.

As he continued writing like this, his handwriting gradually improved.

While Li Qingzhi was busy writing at home, Jin Xiaoye had just finished distributing the fabric.

Early this morning, after arriving in the county town, she began cutting fabric with Sister Wang and Mrs. Xu. Then, she distributed the cut fabric to women who wanted to do some sewing to supplement their household income.

They only gave fabric to women they knew from Chongcheng County; after all, if they didn't know the person and they walked away with the fabric, they wouldn't be able to find them.

While distributing the fabric, Jin Xiaoye also kept a record.

She had been studying with Li Qingzhi for several months, and while she recognized many words, there was still a difference between recognizing and being able to write them; she often made mistakes when writing.

But that was okay; as long as she recognized them, it was fine.

Jin Xiaoye had never been one to fuss over such trivial matters!

Sister Wang and Mrs. Xu even looked at her with envy; they couldn't read or write, so Jin Xiaoye's ability was quite impressive in their eyes.

At this moment, it's already noon, and Sister Wang's daughter came to call them for lunch.

Sister Wang's husband is a merchant who travels all year round, while she lives with her two sons and a daughter in Chongcheng County.

Her two sons are studying with a scholar. The fourteen-year-old daughter follows her home to do needlework and housework.

There are many scholars in the county, and many run schools. Sister Wang's two sons study with Wang Xiucai, who is of the same clan as Sister Wang.

Sister Wang's house is not small. Jin Xiaoye distributes cloth in Sister Wang's house, and she and Mrs. Xu also eat at Sister Wang's house.

Jin Xiaoye and Mrs. Xu both bring food from home. Sister Wang's daughter helps to warm it up, and then they prepare two more dishes so everyone can eat comfortably.

The ingredients for cooking are provided by Jin Xiaoye. Today she brought edamame and eggs from home.

Edamame can be steamed and sprinkled with salt to eat directly. They also made pickled vegetable and egg drop soup with the eggs, which can be served with rice.

Jin Xiaoye also brought some steamed salted fish, and Mrs. Xu brought pickled vegetables from her home… The meal is not lavish, but it's decent.

After the four of them finished their meal, Jin Xiaoye said, "I need to go out for a bit, to buy some paper and pens for my husband."

Mrs. Xu said, "Xiaoye, I'll go with you. I need to buy paper for my son too." Mrs. Xu has been earning quite well recently, so she's become more generous with spending.

Seeing this, Jin Xiaoye asked Sister Wang, "Sister, do you want to come with us?"

Sister Wang replied, "I'll pass. My two boys at home don't like to study, and they don't use much paper… I'll stay home and watch over them, also to prevent others from not finding us when they need something."

"Alright!" Jin Xiaoye agreed, and went to buy paper and ink with Mrs. Xu.

There are more than one shop selling paper and ink in the county, but the prices are similar, so they went to the closest one.

As they entered, a clerk in his twenties, with a pleasant appearance, greeted them with a smile and asked, "What would you ladies like to buy?"

Jin Xiaoye said, "I want to buy paper and also some pens and ink."

The clerk immediately took out some paper and said, "Madam, this paper is locally made, it's affordable and of good quality…"

Jin Xiaoye asked, "Which one is the cheapest?"

The clerk smiled and said, "Madam, if the paper is too cheap, the writing won't turn out well…"

"It's okay, I want the cheapest. Just give me the cheapest pens and ink too." Jin Xiaoye had already decided to buy cheap pens, ink, paper, and inkstones for her three children and for herself.

They had just started learning to write, so there was no need for good quality paper.

"Madam…" The clerk smiled bitterly, but he still brought out the cheapest paper.

Jin Xiaoye took a look and bought a thick stack of it, along with four brushes, two ink sticks, and the cheapest inkstone.

After buying, they put everything in the basket, and Jin Xiaoye asked, "How much is the local rice paper you mentioned earlier?"

Both Jin Xiaoye and Mrs. Xu were dressed plainly. Initially, the clerk recommended paper that wasn't expensive. After Jin Xiaoye heard the price, she bought another thick stack, for Li Qingzhi to use.

Since Mr. Ding gave Li Qingzhi so much money to write, she couldn't let Li Qingzhi use the worst quality paper.

The clerk who served Jin Xiaoye was happy and smiling. At first, when Jin Xiaoye said she wanted the cheapest, he thought she wouldn't buy much. But in the end, Jin Xiaoye bought quite a lot.

Mrs. Xu also bought some paper for her son, the same kind that Jin Xiaoye bought for Li Qingzhi, which was very affordable.

Before, when Xu Qiwen bought paper by himself, he also bought the cheapest. But recently, his income has been good, so she bought better quality paper for him.

After they finished their shopping and left the store, they saw a middle-aged woman with a harsh expression. When this woman saw Jin Xiaoye, she smirked, "Shopkepper Jin."

"Mrs. Fang." Jin Xiaoye smiled back at her.

She knew this middle-aged woman, who had come to her place to pick up work these days. According to what Sister Wang said, this middle-aged woman's husband was surnamed Fang. Her husband was a scholar before he passed away ten years ago. Over these ten years, she had worked hard to raise several children.

"Does shopkeeper Jin have someone in the family studying too?" Mrs. Fang glanced at Jin Xiaoye's basket, "Is it shopkeeper Jin's husband?"

"Yes, my husband is a scholar." Jin Xiaoye smiled.

Mrs. Fang looked at Jin Xiaoye seriously and said, "Shopkeeper Jin, since your husband is a scholar, why do you still show up in business? I saw you chatting with the shopkeeper of the fabric store earlier… You should be careful!"

Jin Xiaoye was dumbfounded.

Was this Mrs. Fang sick? She would come to her to get work done and then say such things to her face!

When Jin Xiaoye was doing business, even if she encountered someone she didn't like, she would still greet them with a smile. But this person in front of her wasn't her customer!

"I've become a laughingstock for talking and laughing while buying cloth, and now Mrs. Fang has some other thoughts when buying writing supplies? Could it be that she has her eyes on the handsome clerk?" Jin Xiaoye snorted coldly, ignoring Mrs. Fang, who turned red in anger, and left with Mrs. Xu.

After walking for a while, Mrs. Xu said, "Xiaoye, don't be angry."

Jin Xiaoye said, "I'm not angry. It's not worth getting angry over someone like that." If she got angry over such trivial matters, she wouldn't have survived the past few years!

Yao Zuming didn't hesitate to speak ill of her back then!

Mrs. Xu saw that Jin Xiaoye wasn't too angry, so she said, "Mrs. Fang's residence is not far from my house. She… is not easy to get along with."

Mrs. Xu didn't like to speak ill of others, but at this moment, she still mentioned it.

Mrs. Fang has a son and two daughters. She dotes on her son excessively but treats her two daughters very poorly, forcing them to do needlework all day without allowing them to rest.

Her eldest daughter is already twenty-four years old but has never married because Mrs. Fang insists on keeping her daughters at home to work and earn money.

After hearing this, Jin Xiaoye couldn't help but sigh, "It's really unfortunate for those daughters to have such a mother."

"Yeah…" Mrs. Xu also sighed.

But regardless of their sighs, they couldn't control other people's affairs. The two of them returned to Sister Wang's residence and continued their busy work.

They had already cut the fabric into pieces for making finished products, leaving behind many scraps of fabric that couldn't be wasted.

The good-colored or large pieces of fabric could be kept for other uses, while the scraps… Jin Xiaoye planned to invite a few old ladies to come and help paste shoe soles with them.

She was very meticulous and dedicated to her business.

While Jin Xiaoye was busy with her business, Li Xiucai had already finished reading the second detective story written by Li Qingzhi.

This second story was written by Li Qingzhi later, and when Li Xiucai read it, he noticed that the handwriting of the writer had improved a lot.

The difference between the initial and final handwriting of this person was particularly large, it was almost as if it wasn't the same person writing.

Li Xiucai was puzzled and sought out Zhu Xunmiao for answers.

"He injured his arm," Zhu Xunmiao could only say this much.

"So he injured his arm… Even with an injured arm, he can still write so well. That's truly impressive!" Li Xiucai asked again, "Did he give you these books to present them to the county magistrate?"

Li Xiucai had many students and a wide network of connections. He knew that after Zhu Xunmiao and Hong Hui went to court, Zhu Xunmiao had some interaction with Magistrate Gou.

"Yes," Zhu Xunmiao said.

"He is a clever person,"Li Xiucai said, "Once you have someone make a copy of these two books, hand it over to me. I will also have a copy made and put it in the school for people to read."

Li Xiucai was someone who could swallow his pride for the sake of making money, so he could understand why this person was writing books for Magistrate Gou.

As for why he wanted people from his school to read it… If this book spread from his school, Magistrate Gou would definitely have a favorable impression of his school!

Zhu Xunmiao respectfully agreed.

Li Xiucai asked again, "Who is the writer?"

"He's called Li Qingzhi," Zhu Xunmiao said.

Li Xiucai hadn't heard of this name before, showing his confusion. Zhu Xunmiao explained when he saw Li Xiucai's expression, "Sir, he's the one who got injured while attending the poetry gathering at the Hong family with me."

"It's him? Didn't he break his arm? And he can still write?" Li Xiucai was surprised.

"Sir, he wrote this with his left hand," Zhu Xunmiao said.

"…"

Zhu Xunmiao had asked for help from Xu Qifei and another person to make copies. The two of them didn't do anything else during the following days but focused solely on copying the books. Even so, they copied until the evening of the third day before finally finishing the books.

When they finally finished, Xu Qifei felt like he couldn't lift his arm anymore!

Li Qingzhi was so thin, yet he managed to write forty thousand characters in such a short time, which was truly admirable.

Zhu Xunmiao wasted no time and took the copied articles to find Zhu Qian.

Zhu Qian attached great importance to these books. When Zhu Xunmiao brought the books back, he had already read them. Now, seeing the copied articles, he exclaimed in approval, then said to the steward, "Old Song, go and fetch the white jade paper I asked you to prepare earlier, and bring it along with these articles to Magistrate Gou. Tell Magistrate Gou that Li Qingzhi appreciates him and has written a book for him. Please ask the magistrate to evaluate it."

"Understood, sir." Butler Song responded and immediately went to take care of it.

Not long after, Magistrate Gou welcomed Butler Song into his home.

After hearing what Butler Song had to say, Magistrate Gou smiled and said, "I will definitely evaluate it carefully."

Previously, Zhu Xunmiao had sent him snacks, but were they really snacks? No, what he sent was clearly a golden box meant to hold snacks!

This time, it was said to be articles being sent to him, but surely what was sent wasn't real articles.

Magistrate Gou opened the box brought by Butler Song and saw that it contained a white jade paperweight, confirming his suspicions.

He took out the paperweight and admired it greatly.

However, after playing with it for a while, he noticed the bound papers underneath the box.

Clearly, he was given a paperweight, but there were also articles attached… Magistrate Gou took them out and started to read.

The more he read…

The more Magistrate Gou liked them!

Before, Zhu Xunmiao said he was sending snacks, but actually sent a box.

But this time… what Zhu Xunmiao wanted to send him was probably really articles.

He hadn't expected that thin bookworm to have such ability!

Wait a minute, this doesn't seem right… Didn't his arm break? In court, that person said he usually writes with his right hand.

So his arm wasn't actually broken back then?

Magistrate Gou was puzzled, then he saw there was a letter in the box.

The letter was written by Zhu Xunmiao, saying that Li Qingzhi was very grateful to him, so he insisted on using his left hand to write two articles… Of course, what Zhu Xunmiao brought were copies.

These two books were actually written by Li Qingzhi using his left hand!

Magistrate Gou knew very well that he hadn't done much in court, so Li Qingzhi's gratitude towards him shouldn't have been so deep.

Li Qingzhi must have written these articles in order to gain his appreciation.

But even knowing the reason, Magistrate Gou couldn't help but develop a favorable impression of Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi wrote so well about him, he must have admired him greatly!

Meanwhile, at Li Xiucai's house, his sons were copying articles.

Li Xiucai had many sons, but their talent for studying was quite average.

Still, being Li Xiucai's sons, they all wrote quite well.

Now, as they copied the books, they couldn't help but sigh, "Our magistrate is really good at solving cases!"

"If only I had the skills of our magistrate!"

"This book is really good."

…

Magistrate Gou really liked Li Qingzhi's books. The next day, he made an appointment to meet with Zhu Xunmiao and had a chat with him.

As they chatted, Magistrate Gou asked, "This scholar surnamed Li has quite a talent. Does he have any intention of coming to the county office to help me?"

"He's recuperating at home and wants to heal his injuries as soon as possible so he can participate in next year's county exam," Zhu Xunmiao explained.

Magistrate Gou's question was meant to ascertain Li Qingzhi's intentions. Now, upon hearing Zhu Xunmiao's words, he immediately understood that Li Qingzhi aimed for a good ranking in the county exam.

Magistrate Gou smiled and continued to drink with Zhu Xunmiao.

When Zhu Xunmiao mentioned that everyone at Zhu Xunmiao's school liked these two books… Magistrate Gou's mood improved even more!

Indeed, everyone at Li Xiucai's school liked these two books.

The detective stories naturally caught people's attention and made them want to know the truth!

Li Qingzhi had read many detective stories in his past life and wrote these two stories very engagingly.

Li Xiucai had his sons take turns copying the books, and it took them three days to finish. After placing the books in the school for borrowing, the students started to compete to read these two books.

"Our magistrate is truly observant in handling cases!"

"Magistrate Gou is amazing; he could tell what Old Wu did just from the details about him!"

"It turns out there are so many secrets hidden in people!"

…

The people at the school admired Magistrate Gou's methods in handling cases and were very fond of some sentences in the books.

Li Qingzhi, being enthusiastic about life, subconsciously wrote a few inspirational lines, which were repeatedly recited and copied by the students.

"In the future, I must become a person like Magistrate Gou!"

"Magistrate Gou said that as a magistrate, he should take care of the people… Such officials are truly rare!"

"My favorite sentence in the book is…"

…

Li Xiucai, seeing how much his students loved Li Qingzhi's books, stroked his beard in satisfaction.

If his students liked Magistrate Gou, then Magistrate Gou would surely like his students!

In this era, without photocopiers, spreading a work was quite troublesome.

An article typically had about twenty thousand words, and it would take at least two or three days to copy it.

So, Li Qingzhi had submitted these articles more than ten days ago, and only the people at Li Xiucai's school had read them.

Meanwhile, in Miaoqian Village, the people were busy with farming again.

Their second crop of rice grew rapidly in the hot summer days and was now ready for harvest.

These days, with the rice ripening, countless birds came to steal the grains every day. Despite their efforts to drive them away, the villagers still lost a lot of grain to the Laogen cursed at the birds every day, wishing he could catch them all and eat them.

When Li Qingzhi went for a walk near his family's fields, he saw the short figure of Li Laogen cursing and hopping around to scare off the birds, looking frustrated.

Rural people really detested birds that stole their food, and sparrows were even considered one of the "four pests."

Of course, at this time, there were indeed many birds.

Li Qingzhi picked up a few grains of rice and chewed on them.

Seeing this, Li Laogen couldn't help but say, "Li Qingzhi, is your stomach a bottomless pit? Those birds stealing my grains is one thing, but now you're stealing them too!"

Li Qingzhi corrected him, "Dad, eating your own grain isn't called stealing."

With that said, he picked up a few more grains and put them in his mouth.

The rice husks were a bit rough, but the rice inside was fragrant and tasty.