My Husband Comes from the Future

by Usui Takumii

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

6. 51 to 60

Chapter 51: Business

Since the rice has matured, it must be harvested quickly; otherwise, it will be eaten by sparrows and rats. In fact, some households have already started harvesting. Their rice grew slower because Li Laogen didn't take care of it as carefully, so they fell behind by two days.

Jin Xiaoye has recently been making sleeve covers and similar items. Everyone who needs to buy them in Miaoqian Village has already bought them. These days, when she returns from the county town, nobody stops her to buy things.

This makes her much more relaxed, and as soon as she returns to the Miaoqian Village, she heads straight home.

Jin Xiaoye hasn't been paddling around lately. She has been busy with her own small business. It's not physically demanding, but by evening, she's still very hungry.

Arriving near her home and seeing their newly built house, Jin Xiaoye smiles. When Li Damao and Li Ermao shout "Mom" and rush out of the house, her eyes are already squinting.

But what makes her even happier is yet to come! At this moment, Li Qingzhi also comes out of the house, with the scent of food lingering around him. "Xiaoye, we've been waiting for you. Come and eat."

Jin Xiaoye feels particularly satisfied.

The feeling of earning money outside to support the family, and coming home to find her daughter-in-law has already prepared the meal and the children are welcoming her together, is really wonderful!

Well, Li Qingzhi isn't her daughter-in-law, he's her husband, and he earns more than her!

"It's already autumn harvest season, some boats came to sell meat and tofu, so I bought some…" Li Qingzhi smiles as he talks to Jin Xiaoye.

As soon as he finishes speaking, Li Laogen rushes to Jin Xiaoye to complain, "Xiaoye, your man is really extravagant! He eats meat every day."

Of course, Li Laogen is happy to eat meat every day. He used to be overjoyed when he ate the leftovers Li Qingzhi brought back from the Zhu family. But recently, Li Qingzhi has been buying meat every day!

After Li Qingzhi returned from the Zhu family, they initially had to build a house. They hired people to work on it, so it's reasonable for them to have better food.

Later, just after the house was completed, Li Qingzhi broke his arm, so it's normal for him to eat well.

But now it's been over twenty days since Li Qingzhi broke his arm, and yet he eats meat every day… Mr. Li feels anxious about it.

Especially since Li Qingzhi still has a big appetite, he has already eaten all the grain they harvested this summer!

Li Laogen didn't know that Li Qingzhi had earned a lot of money by writing books.

He thought that Li Qingzhi only earned one silver coin a day by copying books at the Zhu family, and that money was used to build the house.

Later, when Li Qingzhi broke his arm, he certainly couldn't copy books anymore and couldn't earn money… In Li Laogen's view, their family's fortune consisted of the fifty taels of silver compensated by the Hong family for Li Qingzhi's broken arm, and some gifts from the Zhu family.

But those fifty taels of silver were used by Jin Xiaoye to do business!

Jin Xiaoye even used all the fabric sent by Master Zhu to do business!

Li Laogen likes to boast, but deep down, he actually feels like he can't accomplish anything.

In his view, Jin Xiaoye is more capable than him, but she's just a rural girl, and he doesn't think she can do business successfully.

"Xiaoye, your husband can eat a lot, he has eaten all the grain at home!" Li Laogen said with a hint of panic.

He had experienced hunger and had almost starved to death for a while.

So, although he is not very reliable, seeing that there is no grain left at home, he is genuinely afraid from the bottom of his heart.

"Dad, it's okay. Let Ah Qing eat more if he can." Jin Xiaoye said.

Before, they only had two acres of land, and Jin Xiaoye calculated their food consumption carefully.

But now they have six acres of land! Both Li Qingzhi and she can earn money!

She always wants Li Qingzhi to eat his fill.

"But… but… Xiaoye, what about the fifty taels of silver compensated by the Hong family? Shouldn't we use it to buy some land? It's hard to buy land fields, but buying some dry land is also good…" Mr. Li looked pitifully at Jin Xiaoye. "Otherwise, what if we run out of food one day?"

"Don't worry, Dad, we have enough food at home. Didn't I always ask you to keep an eye on the four acres of land sold by the Yao family next door? And let you weed it? I've bought all the grain from those four acres of land." When the Yao family sold the four acres of land, it was already planted with crops. They bought both the land and the crops, so now it belonged to them.

Jin Xiaoye herself didn't have time to take care of it, so she asked Li Loagen to look after it and told him that they were paid to look after it.

Although Li Laogen wasn't meticulous, he did take good care of the land.

Li Laogen said, "The rice in those four acres of land doesn't look very good. How much did you spend to buy it? Um… Xiaoye, it's not my concern if those rice don't grow well. The Yao family hired people to work on the land, and they didn't do it properly from the beginning!"

Indeed, the rice on those four acres of land didn't grow as well as theirs.

This was because the Yao family's workers were rather sloppy, and also because Li Laogen didn't take care of those four acres of land as diligently as their own.

"It didn't cost much, and we won't lose money." She was afraid that if Li Laogen knew they had money, he would go gambling, so she dared not tell him the true situation of their family.

Even if Li Laogen didn't go gambling…Li Laogen liked to boast. If he were to boast about their wealth, it wouldn't be a good thing either.

Seeing Jin Xiaoye looking indifferent, Li couldn't help but ask, "Xiaoye, did you use the fifty taels of silver to do business? Did you make any profit? Did you lose any money?"

Jin Xiaoye finally understood what Mr. Li Laogen had been worrying about all along. "Dad, I didn't lose money! The capital was earned back long ago, and now I can earn two silver coins a day."

Jin Xiaoye's business wasn't about earning two silver coins every day on average. She couldn't earn money when she didn't sell anything, but when she sold a batch of goods to a shop or a traveling merchant, she could earn several taels of silver at once.

But she had indeed earned back the capital, mainly because Zhu Qian had given her a lot of fabric, so she didn't have to spend those fifty taels of silver.

When Li Qingzhi came back from the Zhu family, he brought back fifty taels of silver. Later, after breaking his arm, the Hong family compensated him with fifty taels, and then Ding Xi came to see Li Qingzhi and gave him another fifty taels.

Now she had one hundred and fifty taels of silver hidden in her room, and the gold and silver jewelry sent by the Zhu family were worth more than one hundred taels. Their family was definitely considered wealthy in Miaoqian Village!

In addition, she still had more than twenty taels of silver and a lot of fabric on hand.

Of course, after paying the women who helped her with sewing work, she would have much less money on hand, but when she sold another batch of goods, her money would increase again.

"Xiaoye, you can earn two silver coins a day?" Li Laogen gasped in surprise.

Jin Xiaoye earned much more than two silver coins in a day, but she didn't dare to tell Li Laogen too much: "Yes, I can earn about two silver coins a day now. In a month, I can earn about five or six taels of silver. Dad, just enjoy eating meat without worries."

Li Laogen's anxiety disappeared instantly: "Xiaoye, you're really good at making money. You're definitely the most capable wife in our village! Xiaoye, I bought tofu and meat today and cooked something delicious for you. You must eat more!"

Li Qingzhi: "…" The tofu and meat were bought by him, and he even instructed Li Laogen on how to cook the vegetables!

During the day, Li Qingzhi praised the butcher who came to sell meat, bought two and a half pounds of good fatty meat, used the fat to render lard, and then instructed Li Laogen to pour the leftover bits of oil into the pot, stir-fry some greens, and then add tofu to make a pot of braised tofu with oil residue.

As for the lean meat, Li Qingzhi chopped it up and mixed it with beaten eggs, then steamed it on a steaming rack, making minced meat steamed eggs.

The meal was still hot, and everyone gathered around the table to eat.

Having eaten well these past few months, Li Laogen's complexion had improved a lot. Feeling much better after knowing about Jin Xiaoye's income, he eagerly grabbed a large piece of meat with his chopsticks and put it into his bowl.

Seeing this, Jin Xiaoye got up and divided the meat, then poured the soup from her bowl into the bowls of the three children.

There was oil in the soup, which was a good thing.

In modern times, people say that meat soup is not good, but Li Qingzhi didn't stop Jin Xiaoye from giving the meat soup to the three children.

Their family's food was considered good in the village, but compared to modern standards, it wasn't much. Take tonight, for example… After removing the fat, there was only a bit over a pound of meat left from those two pounds. And who was eating the meat? Their family of five plus Jin Xiaoshu and Zhao Xiaodou totals seven people!

In the end, each person didn't get much meat, plus they had high activity levels… they still lacked enough food.

"This meat is really delicious!" Li Laogen enjoyed the meal and then asked Jin Xiaoye, "Xiaoye, it's time to harvest our grains. How should we do it?"

Jin Xiaoye replied, "Dad, after I finish eating, I'll go out and find someone to help harvest the rice. You can watch them work."

"We're going to hire people to help harvest the rice?" Li Laogen was extremely delighted.

In his view, only families with money would do this. Were they wealthy now?

"Yes, we're hiring help," Jin Xiaoye said, then looked at Li Damao and Li Ermao and said, "Damao, Ermao, when we harvest the rice, you two can also go to the fields and help pick the rice ears."

"Okay!" Li Damao and Li Ermao immediately agreed.

Jin Xiaoye continued, "I've checked our rice. We'll start harvesting the day after tomorrow. I've already ordered a rice bucket, and it will be delivered tomorrow. Then we'll have them thresh the rice in the fields, and the straw will be dried there as well…"

Jin Xiaoye had already made plans for all of this, and as she said, she went out to find people right after eating.

Once Jin Xiaoye left, Li Laogen also immediately went out.

Jin Xiaoye earns two silver coins a day, he definitely had to tell someone about this!

Li Laogen went to the neighboring Yao family.

He was about the same age as Mr. Yao. When he was young, no one looked at him, but Mr. Yao managed to marry the beautiful and capable Yao Mother.

Although Yao Zhenfu was ugly, Yao Mother was actually quite pretty. It's just that after years of hard work, the Yao mother in her forties no longer showed the youthfulness she had when she was young.

During this period, Yao Mother's temper improved a lot.

In fact, she used to be annoyed with people all the time, partly because she was at the age of menopause and always felt uncomfortable, and partly because… Yao Zhenfu spent too much money.

As the money at home dwindled, she felt particularly anxious.

Although they had sold four acres of land, ever since Yao Zhenfu stopped going to school, the money at home increased day by day, which improved her mood. Plus, she didn't dare to argue with Jin Moli… they stopped quarreling altogether.

However, today, the atmosphere in the Yao family wasn't good.

The Yao family used to have twelve acres of land, but since Mr. Yao had to manage the boat, they couldn't harvest it all by themselves, so they had always hired people to help.

But now they only had six acres of land left, and Yao Zhenfu was still idle at home. Mr. Yao and Yao Mother wanted him to help with the rice harvest.

But Yao Zhenfu was unwilling.

Although Yao Zhenfu started studying at a young age, he grew up in the countryside and knew how hard it was to harvest rice.

Moreover, going to the fields to harvest rice… that was too embarrassing!

"Father, Mother, I'm taking the county exam next year, so I have to study at home now." It was impossible for him to work in the fields. Not in this lifetime!

Mr. Yao frowned, "It's only six acres of land. It won't take much time."

"While others study late into the night, if I don't study during the day, can I still pass the exam?" Yao Zhenfu insisted, refusing to comply.

But although he spoke confidently, he actually felt scared inside.

He hadn't studied much these days.

He had been repeatedly reading the textbooks he had bought before, even copying them with a pen… but he just didn't want to study.

Yao Zhenfu knew he was in the wrong, but he couldn't help it.

"You've been studying for so many years, but you still haven't passed!" Mr. Yao said.

Yao Zhenfu felt even more uneasy and was about to say something when he heard Li Laogen's voice outside the door, "Mr. Yao, are you there?"

"Yes, Li Laogen, what's up?" Mr. Yao asked.

"It's nothing… your family had meat today, and so did ours. Ah Qing bought two pounds of meat and finished it all in one meal. I told him it's too wasteful to eat like this, but he wouldn't listen!" Li Laogen laughed with his mouth wide open, revealing only a few remaining teeth.

The Yao family members: "…". They did have meat today, but they just chopped up a little meat and stir-fried it with pickled vegetables. The meat was so scarce that it was hardly visible.

Did Li Laogen come to their house to show off?

Li Laogen was indeed showing off, "These young people nowadays, as soon as they earn a little money, they spend it recklessly. Xiaoye can earn two silver coins a day, yet she wants to eat meat every day. Who eats like that! It's like they're living the same life as those rich landlords in the county!"

The Yao family members didn't want to talk to Li Laogen.

But Li Laogen was full of enthusiasm, "We only have this little land, yet Xiaoye wants to hire people to harvest rice. Unbelievable…"

Li Laogen had always been looked down upon before, but now he finally turned over a new leaf with his cheap son and daughter-in-law. He looked like a petty man who had achieved success.

Mr. Yao couldn't maintain his smile anymore!

They were having dinner. Anyone with a little sense wouldn't come to chat with them at this time. Yet, what was Li Laogen doing? Not only did he stand there watching them eat, but he also kept boasting!

This guy was unbelievable!

Jin Moli couldn't even eat her food because she was disgusted by Li Laogen. She really detested him!

Li Laogen seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the Yao family didn't welcome him, "Xiaoye is really good at doing business. Even before Li Qingzhi came back, she knew to pick the vegetables from the field and sell them in the county! After Li Qingzhi got compensated fifty taels of silver for his broken arm by the Hong family, she had capital and expanded her business. She even hired many people to help her!"

Li Laogen previously heard a few words from Jin Xiaoye about her finding people to help with sewing activities, and now he brought it up to boast.

These words made Mr. Yao and the others feel annoyed, but Jin Moli's face changed drastically.

Jin Xiaoye was really good at business?!

Jin Moli asked Li Laogen, "Uncle Li, how does Xiaoye do business?"

"Just like that! Our family used to be very poor, with almost nothing at home. Xiaoye, wearing tattered clothes and carrying some worthless vegetables, dared to go door-to-door in the county to sell… She had been thinking about saving money to start a business for years. With the fifty taels of silver this time, she made a lot of money in one go!" Li Laogen boasted.

Jin Moli's lips trembled, and she quickly lowered her head.

Mr. Yao, hearing Li Laogen praise Jin Xiaoye, couldn't help but agree, "Xiaoye is indeed very capable. She can talk to anyone, and she's brave. She can make money no matter what she does."

Seeing Mr. Yao praise Jin Xiaoye, Li Laogen immediately started chatting with him, bringing up everything he knew about Jin Xiaoye, sometimes exaggerating a bit.

Yao Mother finally couldn't bear it anymore and, with a stern face, said they had things to do and asked Li Laogen to come back another time, persuading him to leave.

After Li Laogen left, Yao Mother asked Mr. Yao, "Old Yao, can Jin Xiaoye really earn two silver coins a day?"

"It's true. Look at how much she sells in Miaoqian Village!" Their youngest child was wearing a coat bought from Jin Xiaoye.

"She's really amazing. Li Qingzhi is really lucky," Yao Mother sighed.

Jin Moli, hearing Mr. Yao and Yao Mother's words, immediately thought of her past life.

At that time, Mr. Yao always praised Jin Xiaoye, and Yao Mother treated Jin Xiaoye better than her.

She had always thought it was because Jin Xiaoye was lucky. Could it be… Jin Xiaoye was actually good at making money?

Jin Moli tried hard to convince herself not to believe it, but when she looked at Yao Zhenfu, she couldn't help but feel disgusted.

If it wasn't Yao Zhenfu who was making money, what was the point of her marrying him and enduring so much hardship?

Yao Zhenfu didn't notice Jin Moli's gaze. He said to Mr. Yao, "Dad, why don't we also hire someone to harvest the rice?"

"All our money has been squandered by you. We don't have the money to hire anyone! From tomorrow, you must go to the fields. If you don't go, don't bother eating!" Mr. Yao, who was usually gentle, turned cold.

Jin Xiaoye earned more than him! He had to spend less money in the future to save more money!

The atmosphere in the Yao family was very bad because of Li Laogen, but Li Laogen was very happy. He saw that it wasn't completely dark yet, so he went to Li La'oer's house again.

Li La'oer's family was very poor and couldn't afford oil lamps, but he didn't mind showing off in the dark.

Jin Xiaoye didn't know what Li Laogen was up to.

She found people to help their family harvest rice, negotiated the price, and then went home to chat with Li Qingzhi about business.

Li Qingzhi didn't have any business experience, but he had read many books and could always give Jin Xiaoye some novel suggestions.

The next evening, Jin Xiaoye brought back a rice barrel on a boat and also bought some sacks.

Jin Xiaoye carried the rice barrel back to the Li family, placing it in the main hall.

Li Laogen really liked it. He examined it while taking off the shoes of Li Damao and Li Ermao, letting them play inside.

Li Laogen, who had been showing off all day but still had some unfinished business, didn't go out to find someone else to boast to because of this rice barrel.

"Our family's assets are increasing more and more!" Li Laogen sighed.

"Great!" Jin Xiaoye nodded. "I also bought a jar and some other miscellaneous items. In the future, we can store the rice we pound in the jar to prevent it from being stolen by mice."

"Good! Good!" Li Laogen was extremely happy.

Next door to the Yao family, Yao Zhenfu, who was forced to work in the fields today, was holding his foot and crying.

During the day, he was forced to harvest rice. Due to his lack of experience, his speed was far slower than that of his mother's. What's more, he didn't hold back his strength while cutting the rice, and when the sickle cut down a bundle of straw, it ended up heading straight for his toe…

He ended up cutting his big toe with the sickle.

The people in the village didn't take this kind of thing seriously. When Jin Xiaoye was farming before, she had leeches in her leg wound. She calmly pulled them out without changing her expression and continued working with a bloody hole. But Yao Zhenfu was different. He held his foot and wailed for a long time, and he didn't stop even at night.

In the past, Jin Moli would definitely comfort him, but now she couldn't even bear to look at Yao Zhenfu.

She had always liked good-looking people.

Although Mr. Yao and his wife wanted Yao Zhenfu to do more work, they also felt sorry for him.

After Yao Zhenfu was injured, they didn't let him work in the fields anymore.

The next day, early in the morning, Mr. Yao took Yao Mother to the fields. He harvested one acre of rice before putting down the sickle to row the boat.

At this time, Li Qingzhi arrived in the fields with the three children and Li Laogen.

He took a day off to experience the hardships of farming with his three children and teach them the poem "Plowing at Noon."

The three children quickly memorized it.

While the hired workers were harvesting rice, the three children followed behind, picking up rice ears.

Actually, there weren't many rice ears, and the three mainly played in the field.

As for Li Qingzhi… He picked up a bunch of rice ears, threw the grains into his mouth one by one, and even spat out the husks, as if he were eating sunflower seeds.

The villagers who saw this scene said, "…Has Li Qingzhi's mind not fully recovered yet?"

The vast expanse of golden rice fields, swaying in the wind, formed waves of rice.

Harvesting rice was hard work, but there were smiles on people's faces.

A bountiful harvest always brought joy, and at this moment, people were kinder to children than usual.

At this moment, some households who doted on their children ignited some straw, then placed a dried soybean on it… With a crackling sound, the soybean burst open in the fire, cooked.

The children from that household didn't mind and happily picked up the cooked soybeans from the ashes to eat on the ground nearby.

Li Qingzhi saw this and asked the two children, "Damao, Ermao, do you want to eat soybeans?"

But Damao and Ermao, who were full and satisfied, didn't want to eat soybeans. After all, soybeans weren't anything special to them.

However, before they could answer, Li Qingzhi said, "You must want to eat them too. Come, let me burn some soybeans for you!"

Damao and Ermao: "…Is it because you want to eat them, Dad?!"

Soybeans bursting directly into flames tasted surprisingly good, and even tossing rice into the fire could produce popped rice, although the rice grains were small and could easily burn to a crisp.

Initially, Li Damao and Li Ermao were not interested in the soybeans, but when Li Qingzhi really started roasting them, they liked them and even fought over them, eventually turning themselves into little greasy cats.

Li Qingzhi smiled as he watched, and even though they dirtied their clothes, he didn't stop them. After all, children should be lively to be cute.

With this in mind, Li Qingzhi threw another soybean into his mouth.

The soybean he ate was picked by Zhao Xiaodou.

After all, Zhao Xiaodou was older and picked the most soybeans. Initially, he wanted to distribute the soybeans to Li Damao and Li Ermao, but Li Qingzhi stopped him.

Li Qingzhi took away half of the soybeans Zhao Xiaodou had collected, leaving the rest for him to eat, and forbade him from giving them to Li Damao and Li Ermao.

Seeing this, Zhao Xiaodou went to collect more soybeans to give to Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi accepted them.

After eating too many soybeans, his stomach felt bloated. It's better for children to eat less, but he was different. No matter how much he ate, he was fine!

These soybeans were really delicious!

Seeing Li Qingzhi eating soybeans with the three children, Li Laogen was so envious, but he couldn't join in—his teeth were not good, and he couldn't chew soybeans anymore!

In the end, Li Laogen could only mutter a few words, "Children who play with fire will wet the bed at night!"

Li Qingzhi said, "Wetting the bed is no big deal."

"Ah Qing, are you spoiling the children too much?" Li Laogen said sourly, "Don't spoil them!"

Li Qingzhi: "…" Is this considered spoiling children?

The people that Jin Xiaoye hired to help with harvesting the rice were from Miaoqian Village, and they were also surnamed Jin, from Jin Xiaoye's extended family.

Jin Xiaoye negotiated with them, promising them three taels of silver if they helped harvest all six acres of land and beat the rice.

Three taels of silver were not a small amount, so the whole family got to work. In just one day, they helped the Li family harvest half of the land, and the rice was well beaten.

They worked very efficiently, which gave Li Qingzhi a good impression of them. He had Li Laogen cook a pot of green bean soup for them to drink.

They didn't provide meals for the people they hired to harvest the rice, so the green bean soup was considered an extra benefit.

There was no sugar in the green bean soup, so the cost was very low. But the family was very happy after drinking it, feeling that Li Qingzhi was generous.

The villagers, seeing this, were also envious. "The Li family is really rich now!"

"Yes, not only did they spend three taels of silver to hire people to harvest rice, they also gave them green bean soup to drink."

"I heard Jin Xiaoye can earn two taels of silver a day!"

"I heard even more than that."

"Jin Xiaoye is really amazing."

"She has always been capable. Many people wanted to marry her back then!"

"Li Qingzhi is really lucky!"

"Yes! He was gone for five years, and Jin Xiaoye managed to keep the family together and even gave birth to two sons for him!"

"Jin Xiaoye's luck isn't bad either. She can do business because Li Qingzhi received fifty taels of silver in compensation from the Hong family."

"Yes, Li Qingzhi is so good to his children. There's no one in our village who loves children more than Li Qingzhi!"

…

Of course, not everyone spoke well of the Li family. Yao Zumin brought up the incident where Li Qingzhi's arm was injured again.

That day, Li Qingzhi bought two pounds of meat and some thousand-layer tofu. After cutting the tofu into pieces and tying them up, he stewed them with the meat.

Li Laogen filled a bowl of rice, picked two pieces of fat meat and two pieces of tofu knots to put on top, then went out with the bowl: "I'm going to find Li Laoer!"

Li Qingzhi asked Jin Xiaoye, "Will he get beaten?" Li Laogen was clearly going to show off!

Jin Xiaoye replied, "Li Laoer's family isn't good people, but they're quite cowardly and won't dare to fight."

Li Qingzhi smiled and said, "That's true." Li Laoer was not good to Li Laogen and Zhao Laosan, always mistreating them, but he actually didn't have much status in the village.

He was just like Li Laogen, a bit cowardly, and famously afraid of his wife.

The Li family was very poor. Li Laoer had finally managed to marry a wife, fearing that she might leave, he obeyed his wife in everything and had no status at home.

He wouldn't fight, but his wife was a bit fierce, though she wouldn't fight either.

Li Qingzhi didn't bother with Li Laogen, and started chatting with Jin Xiaoye about other things: "Xiaoye, after the autumn harvest, do we have to pay taxes?"

Jin Xiaoye nodded.

Now taxes were collected twice a year, once in the summer and again in the autumn.

Fortunately, the taxes were not much and could be borne.

Actually, compared to paying taxes, the winter corvée was even more annoying.

In the summer, it's hot with many mosquitoes, and living together in a group makes it easy to get sick. In Chongcheng County, conscription is mostly done in the winter.

The nature of conscription varies from year to year, but once the time is set, the men in the village need to prepare food and then follow the officers to do various tasks.

When the original owner came to Miaoqian Village, the conscription had just ended, but this year's conscription… Li Qingzhi had to go.

Of course, he could spend some money to exempt himself from conscription or find someone else to serve for him, which wasn't a big problem for him.

The next day, Li Qingzhi didn't go to the field; he wanted to continue writing his book.

However, he let the three children go out to play. Children need to run around in the fields to stay healthy.

And… Li Qingzhi planned to practice writing with his right hand.

When Li Laogen and the others left, Li Qingzhi removed the bandages wrapped around his right arm.

He did have supernatural abilities, and now his arm had fully recovered.

With nobody at home, Li Qingzhi took out a blank book and started writing Zhu Qian's autobiography in small words, making some modifications to the words along the way.

Having read a lot of books recently, he found that some of the words he had written before were incorrect.

A few days ago, Li Qingzhi wrote with his left hand just for speed, and the words were all over the place. But today was different. He strived to write each word perfectly, without any mistakes.

Writing like this was quite tiring, and he could only write up to six hundred words in an hour.

But this kind of writing was indeed good for practicing writing… Li Qingzhi wrote attentively. By the end of the day, he had written over four thousand words in total.

During this time, Li Laogen came back once, but he didn't react at all to seeing Li Qingzhi writing with his right hand.

Li Qingzhi thought he probably hadn't noticed at all.

Jin Xiaoye was different. When she came back in the evening, she noticed that Li Qingzhi had removed the bandage and used wood to fix his right arm.

"Why did you remove the bandage?" Jin Xiaoye asked.

"My arm has improved a lot, I don't need to bind it anymore. Binding it for too long isn't good for the arm," Li Qingzhi said.

Jin Xiaoye didn't understand medicine, but she felt that what Li Qingzhi said wouldn't be wrong… After checking Li Qingzhi's arm and confirming that he was fine, she didn't care about this matter anymore.

It was Li Damao and Li Ermao who were particularly happy. They had been worried that Li Qingzhi's arm might be broken.

If their dad lost an arm, he would only be able to hold one of them in the future, and he wouldn't be able to hold both of them at the same time!

That day, after Jin Xiaoye finished dinner, she had been busy counting the grains harvested at home under the oil lamp. She was busy for a long time and fell asleep as soon as she got into bed.

Li Qingzhi, who had spent a month sharing a bed with his wife and achieved nothing, sighed softly.

Next door, Yao Zhenfu was also very unhappy. He wanted to get close to Jin Moli, but Jin Moli didn't want to!

Of course Jin Moli didn't want to. Whenever she thought that the money in the Yao family in her previous life might have been earned by Jin Xiaoye, and that she wouldn't be able to live a wealthy life in this life, she felt uncomfortable.

She had lived through life again, but her life hadn't improved much compared to her previous life!

No, she actually lived better in her previous life. At that time, she had money in her hands. Li Qingzhi didn't spend her dowry. After Li Qingzhi disappeared, she even got half of the money from selling the two acres of land in the Li family!

As for doing a lot of work after marrying again… She did all sorts of work for the Yao family!

The only thing was… In her previous life, when she first married to the neighboring village, she didn't know how to do any work, and it was very tiring to start learning from scratch. But in this life… She was young and strong, and she had been used to doing work in her previous life, so she didn't feel that the work was so tiring.

Jin Moli felt more and more aggrieved as she thought about it, her eyes turning red. She even felt that after being reborn, it would have been better to continue marrying Li Qingzhi.

If she had married Li Qingzhi and reminded him after their marriage, Li Qingzhi wouldn't have been taken away…

Even if Li Qingzhi wasn't knowledgeable, after becoming a shopkeeper in the county, he would have made a good amount of money!

Li Qingzhi was so good to the children; he would definitely be considerate towards people!

In her previous life, after marrying Li Qingzhi, he was actually indifferent to her, hardly speaking to her. But as they spent more time together and had children, Li Qingzhi would definitely not be like that.

Jin Moli felt uncomfortable all night, and the next day she received some bad news.

When Mr. Yao went to cut rice in the morning, he accidentally sprained his waist and couldn't work anymore!

Mr. Yao was already in his forties, which was considered old in this era.

He usually helped people by paddling boats and carrying goods, which was physically demanding. Doing more when he was younger wasn't a big deal, but now it was a bit challenging for him.

What's more, a couple of days ago, he had to get up early to cut rice.

Bending over to cut rice was already tiring, and after cutting rice, he still had to paddle boats and carry goods… After two days of exhaustion, Mr. Yao's back gave out.

Yao's mother also had a bad back, so she cut rice very slowly. Plus, after cutting the rice, they still had to thresh it… Although it had been two days already, they hadn't finished cutting the rice in their field!

Now that Mr. Yao was down, Yao's mother couldn't do much… They asked Jin Moli to cut the rice.

Jin Moli was dumbfounded!

But could she not do it? If she didn't do it, how would the villagers see her? Their family only has six acres of land now. If they didn't harvest the grain, what would they eat in the future?

After much consideration, Jin Moli took the sickle and went to find her brother.

Jin Liushu: "…"

Jin Liushu was very lazy. During busy farming times, he always tried his best to avoid work and let Jin Xiaoshu and his son do more.

As a result, this year, Jin Xiaoshu brought some money back home, saying he wanted to do business and not work so hard on the land. His second uncle was getting older and couldn't work as hard as before… Jin Liushu couldn't slack off even if he wanted to.

And now that he had just finished the work in his own field, his sister came looking for him? Did she want him to help the Yao family work?

Jin Liushu was naturally unwilling, but after all, she was his sister… He reluctantly helped Jin Moli finish the work with his two younger brothers.

But he couldn't help but complain, "Moli, can't you do this little bit of work yourself? Look at Jin Xiaoye; when she was pregnant, she still went to cut rice!"

Did her brother think highly of Jin Xiaoye too? Jin Moli's tears flowed out instantly.

Jin Moli was very cute when she was young. Whenever she cried, Jin Liushu would comfort her. But now Jin Liushu has two children of his own!

Seeing Jin Moli cry, he just felt annoyed and a little angry.

He had helped Jin Moli with so much work, and all she said was one sentence, which made Jin Moli feel wronged…

After the autumn harvest, there were many miscellaneous tasks to be done.

Jin Xiaoye was busy, so she asked Li Laogen to do them. Although Li Laogen didn't do a very good job, he still knew how to do it.

As for Li Qingzhi… even children under ten could break his arm, so no one dared to let him work.

Li Qingzhi resumed his previous life, reading books every day, teaching the children, and then writing with his left hand and practicing writing with his right hand.

Time passed in the blink of an eye, several days had passed.

After experiencing the autumn harvest, there weren't many people in the county talking about the Hong family's affairs anymore, and Hong Hui also returned to the circle of scholars in Chongcheng County.

"My brother was born with intellectual disabilities, and he was having an episode that day… I usually study and didn't realize it was so serious when he had the episode. I really feel sorry for Brother Li." Hong Hui looked guilty.

Seeing this, Hong Hui's friends spoke up one after another: "Brother Hong, you don't have to blame yourself, this has nothing to do with you."

"Your brother is different from ordinary people, this is unavoidable."

"In my opinion, it's clearly that person named Li's fault. He actively approached your brother and got beaten up. And the fact that his arm broke was because of his own poor health."

"That's right! That Li guy got beaten up by a naturally mentally disabled child and even made a fuss in court… He might be jealous of Brother Hong and deliberately causing trouble for him!"

…

As these people chatted together, they began to think that Li Qingzhi wasn't a good person.

Hong Hui was willing to compensate, but he insisted on taking it to court… Was he targeting the Hong family just to ruin their reputation?

Hong Hui's teacher, Sun Juren, was a scholar in the county.

Sun Juren was not young anymore. He ran a school in the county and accepted some talented students.

Unlike Li Xiucai, who accepted students indiscriminately, Sun Juren had high standards for accepting students, and he was also recognized as the best teacher in Chongcheng County.

Originally, Zhu Qian wanted Zhu Xunmiao to study with Sun Juren, but Sun Juren didn't think highly of Zhu Qian, so Zhu Xunmiao had to settle for going to Li Xiucai's place.

After Hong Hui passed the scholar exam, he no longer went to Sun Juren's place to study every day. But now that he had returned to Chongcheng County… he had to visit Sun Juren.

Sun Juren, like Hong Hui's friends, thought that Li Qingzhi had gone too far.

It was indeed pitiful that Li Qingzhi was injured by Hong Hui's brother, but after such an incident, both sides could have sat down and talked it out… there was no need to make such a big fuss.

"I haven't heard of this Li person before, and this incident shouldn't have been instigated by him. Perhaps it was Zhu Xunmiao who envied you and deliberately tried to ruin your reputation and the reputation of the Hong family," Sun Juren said, "Fortunately, I didn't accept him back then!"

Hong Hui choked up a bit, "Thank you, sir, for trusting me."

Sun Juren couldn't help but feel even more distressed about his student after hearing all the rumors about the Hong family in the county. He pulled Hong Hui aside and said many words to him.

When facing Sun Juren, Hong Hui looked grateful, but as soon as he left Sun Juren and came to a quiet place, his expression turned cold.

Previously, nobody in Chongcheng County knew that his brother was mentally ill, but now everyone knows about it.

Thinking about this made Hong Hui feel uncomfortable, and he hated Zhu Xunmiao and Li Qingzhi even more.

Unfortunately, the Hong family had already declined, and he was just a scholar, so there was nothing he could do for these two.

Taking a deep breath, Hong Hui asked his servant, "Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on Zhu Xunmiao and Li Qingzhi? What have they been up to this past month?" If Li Qingzhi or Zhu Xunmiao did anything wrong, he would make sure their reputations were ruined!

However… Zhu Xunmiao had spent the past month either studying in the school or staying at home. He hadn't gone out during his rest time at all.

Likewise, Li Qingzhi had done the same – he hadn't left Miaoqian Village at all!

As for what Li Qingzhi had been doing in Miaoqian Village… They didn't dare to enter the village for fear of arousing suspicion from the villagers, so they didn't know Li Qingzhi's specific situation.

After hearing this, Hong Hui became even angrier, but he had no way to deal with it.

Li Xiucai's school was closed on the first and fifteenth of every month. On the first day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar, Li Qingzhi went out early in the morning with Jin Xiaoye, planning to visit Zhu Xunmiao.

During this month, Zhu Xunmiao hadn't come to see him, but he had sent some books through someone else, along with some articles he had asked Zhu Xunmiao to collect.

After reading these things, Li Qingzhi benefited a lot, but he had already finished reading them.

He planned to visit Zhu Xunmiao again to borrow some more books.

Jin Xiaoye had left early, and Li Qingzhi walked with her. When they arrived at Zhu's house, it was still early, and Zhu Qian was still having breakfast. It wasn't appropriate to visit someone while they were eating, so Li Qingzhi simply went to the kitchen.

He got along very well with the chef Zhou, and this time he brought a gift for him.

The gift wasn't anything special, just some loaches caught by the villagers in the ditch.

Not every household in Miaoqian Village planted rice twice a year; some only planted it once, and in the winter, they would plant rapeseed.

This was the kind of rapeseed that bloomed flowers, and the seeds it produced could be used to make rapeseed oil.

Rapeseed was usually sown in September, bloomed in February of the following year, and then produced seeds… by the time the rapeseed was harvested, it was time to plant rice.

Of course, some people also planted wheat in the winter, and the planting time was similar to that of rapeseed.

Planting these two crops in the land fields didn't require much water, causing the water in the ditches to become shallower. As a result, some experienced individuals went to catch things there.

Apart from loaches, they could also catch small crucian carp, eels, crabs, and even turtles, although loaches were the most common.

Li Qingzhi spent money to buy some from the villagers. He kept most for his family's consumption and brought the rest to give to Chef Zhou.

Chef Zhou was delighted and chatted with Li Qingzhi. In the course of their conversation, he mentioned something rather unsavory: "Ah, those people who collect human waste haven't been coming every day lately. They only come every few days, and my house is starting to smell!"

In Chongcheng County, every household had a toilet, and if they didn't empty it for a few days, the smell would become overwhelming.

Although it was against the rules to dispose of waste in the river, they had to wait for someone to come and collect it.

After hearing this, Li Qingzhi couldn't help but say, "In the future, they might demand payment from you before they are willing to come and collect human waste."

Wasn't this Zhang merchant monopolizing the business and then raising prices?

As far as he knew, the price of fertilizer purchased by the villagers had also increased.

Although this monopoly business was foul-smelling, nearby villagers still needed fertilizer, so that Zhang merchant probably made quite a bit of money.

According to Chef Zhou, this Zhang merchant was the younger brother of Sun Juren, an accomplished individual in the county… Although scholars didn't have much influence, someone like Sun Juren did, and could even hold official positions. It was with Sun Juren's support that this Zhang merchant was able to monopolize in Chongcheng County.

Li Qingzhi didn't think much of this Zhang merchant before, but after guessing his intentions, he couldn't help but frown.

He hoped the merchant wouldn't go too far, otherwise, the lives of the common people would undoubtedly become even more difficult.

The two didn't continue their conversation because Zhu Xunmiao arrived.

"Brother Li, have you written anything recently?" Zhu Xunmiao asked as soon as he saw Li Qingzhi.

"I have," Li Qingzhi smiled and took out a thick stack of paper.

He had written another case for Magistrate Gu, as well as some articles for Ding Xi.

Since he wanted to borrow books from Zhu Xinmiao, he showed these to him first.

However, his visit this time wasn't just to borrow books – he also wanted to visit Li Xiucai and seek his guidance. Although he had memorized many books and could write novels, his ability to write serious articles was still lacking. If he could get Li Xiucai's guidance, his path in the imperial examinations would be smoother.

As soon as Zhu Xunmiao received the manuscript given by Li Qingzhi, he couldn't wait to read it immediately.

But it would be a bit impolite to do so… He suppressed his urge and invited Li Qingzhi to his study for a conversation.

Upon learning that Li Qingzhi wanted to study with Li Xiucai, Zhu Xunmiao said, "If Brother Li wants to see Li Xiucai, I can take you there."

"Would it be inappropriate to disturb him on his day of rest?" Li Qingzhi asked. He had originally planned to discuss it with Zhu Xunmiao and then choose a day to visit Li Xiucai.

Among the educators in Chongcheng County, the one with the highest level must be Sun Juren. However, Sun Juren had very few students and was very picky. He definitely wouldn't accept him. Moving down the list, it would be Li Xiucai's turn.

Although Li Xiucai was somewhat fond of money and had quite a few students, he was still the best choice.

"Li Xiucai won't mind," Zhu Xunmiao said, then instructed the steward to prepare a gift for Li Xiucai.

The gift prepared by the steward of the Zhu family for Zhu Xunmiao was some paper and two ink cakes, totaling only two taels of silver.

Although the Zhu family was wealthy, they didn't give too many gifts to others. It's not always a good thing to give too much to others; it might even breed resentment.

With the gift in hand, Zhu Xunmiao took Li Qingzhi aboard the Zhu family's boat and headed to Li Xiucai's house.

Li Xiucai's house was crowded with people, so he rented a fairly large courtyard in the county town.

However, even though the courtyard he rented was large, it seemed somewhat cramped after each of his sons got married and moved out. If it weren't for his two somewhat promising sons moving out to live on their own, this place might not have been able to accommodate them all.

Li Xiucai's house was large, with a riverbank on one side. The Zhu family's boat stopped there, and Zhu Xunmiao led Li Qingzhi up the steps to knock on Li Xiucai's door.

"Who's there?" a woman's voice sounded, followed by the door opening.

The one who opened the door was a woman in her forties. Seeing Zhu Xunmiao, she smiled brightly and immediately invited him in, shouting for Li Xiucai to come out.

Li Qingzhi followed in and saw several children playing in the Zhu family's courtyard, with some ropes nearby hanging full of clothes…

Li Xiucai soon emerged. Despite not being young, he was a bit older than Jin Xiaoye's father, Jin Dajiang. However, probably due to a prosperous and well-nourished life, he looked much younger than Jin Dajiang.

Let's just talk about his teeth… Li Xiucai's teeth were very intact, not a single one was missing from the front.

In this era, many rural folks lost most of their teeth by the time they were forty.

One reason was that people didn't pay attention to oral hygiene at this time; many went their whole lives without brushing their teeth. Another reason was that common people had poor nutrition and ate rough food, so naturally, their teeth wouldn't be good.

But it was different for urban dwellers; their teeth tended to be much better.

At first glance, Li Xiucai seemed a bit serious, but as Zhu Xunmiao approached… seeing the gift Zhu Xunmiao held, he smiled and invited Zhu Xunmiao into the hall to talk.

Li Xiucai's hall wasn't large, with tables and chairs for guests. At this moment, two "grandmaster chairs" were pushed together, with two infants about a year old seated in between.

Li Xiucai picked up the two children and called out, "Xiulian, Xiulian, quickly take the children away."

Soon, another middle-aged woman came over and took one child in each arm, carrying them away.

Once the children were gone, Li Xiucai gestured for Li Qingzhi and Zhu Xunmiao to take a seat, saying, "My humble abode is simple, please forgive the inconvenience."

After exchanging pleasantries, Zhu Xunmiao explained the purpose of their visit.

Upon learning that Li Qingzhi wanted to study at his academy, Li Xiucai was delighted. Without hesitation, he stated the tuition fee—seven taels of silver for a year, as Li Qingzhi would require instruction in classic texts.

Li Qingzhi said, "Teacher, I left in a hurry today and didn't bring money. I'll bring it tomorrow."

"No rush," Li Xiucai said with a smile, then asked Li Qingzhi about the books he had read.

Li Qingzhi replied truthfully, "Teacher, I have memorized the Four Books and Five Classics thoroughly, and I have some knowledge of other books. However, I have not received any guidance, so there are gaps in my understanding, especially in writing."

"You've memorized all the books?" Li Xiucai was somewhat surprised. The Four Books and Five Classics together contained over sixty thousand characters, and very few people could memorize them all.

He didn't know how many times Li Qingzhi had read the books, and while he was familiar with them, he couldn't recite them completely. As he grew older, he forgot some of the books he had memorized before.

"Yes," Li Qingzhi said.

Li Xiucai didn't doubt Li Qingzhi's honesty; there was no need to lie. But he was genuinely amazed. So, he recited a few passages and asked Li Qingzhi to continue.

Li Qingzhi spoke fluently without making a mistake.

Li Xiucai then asked Li Qingzhi about the meanings of some sentences. Li Qingzhi had read the annotated books given by Zhu Xunmiao and could provide a general explanation.

As they conversed, Li Xiucai became increasingly delighted, clapping his hands and cheering. Then he asked Li Qingzhi, "Is the injury on your arm getting better?"

Before knowing Li Qingzhi's level, Li Xiucai didn't think his arm injury was a big deal. But now, discovering Li Qingzhi's excellent scholarship… If Li Qingzhi's right arm doesn't recover, he must practice writing with his left hand diligently! Li Qingzhi's current handwriting wouldn't do for participating in the imperial examination!

"Still not fully recovered, but nothing serious," Li Qingzhi said, planning to refrain from using his right arm in front of others for a short period to avoid arousing suspicion.

"As long as it's not hindering you! With your solid foundation and extraordinary talent, passing the scholar examination won't be an issue!" Li Xiucai remarked.

Passing the imperial exams is challenging, but achieving the title of Xiucai is different; with proper preparation, it's not difficult.

Since Li Qingzhi could memorize the Four Books and Five Classics, he should definitely pass as a master.

Thinking along these lines, Li Xiucai even suggested, "You don't have to pay seven taels for tuition; five taels will suffice. There's not much I can teach you."

Li Xiucai had no prospects in officialdom anymore; now he aimed to earn more money through teaching.

With Li Qingzhi's solid foundation, he could easily participate in the county examinations after a little guidance, so Li Xiucai felt it wasn't right to charge him too much.

Of course, teaching for free wasn't an option either.

Li Qingzhi thanked him and expressed concern that he might not be able to attend school daily.

Li Xiucai had no objection to this, saying that Li Qingzhi could attend as he pleased.

As they chatted, Li Xiucai had Li Qingzhi write an article on the spot, then provided feedback.

Writing vernacular novels was different from composing examination essays; Li Qingzhi's article had several issues. Despite that, his level was not low, and Li Xiucai praised him repeatedly, and soon it was lunchtime.

Li Xiucai invited Li Qingzhi and Zhu Xunmiao to stay for lunch, but Zhu Xunmiao declined, saying, "Sir, my father intends to treat Brother Li to a meal, so we must return home."

Zhu Xunmiao hadn't actually planned to treat Li Qingzhi to a meal, but he said this to avoid staying longer. It wasn't that he disliked the food at Li Xiucai's house; it was just that there were too many people there, including many female relatives. If they stayed for lunch, it would make others uncomfortable.

As the aroma of rice wafted from Li's house, the two left and returned to Zhu's house.

Since Zhu's father was not at home, Zhu Xunmiao and Li Qingzhi had lunch together, and Zhu Xunmiao even called his younger brother to join them, saying, "My brother will also go to study with Li Xiucai in a few days. Then, the three of us will be classmates."

Zhu Xunxin had come with Zhao Mancang. Just by looking at Zhao Mancang's expression, Li Qingzhi knew that he had been doing well recently.

He had become a bit fairer and had put on some weight, looking much more adorable.

Zhu's family didn't have many rules, so Zhu Xunmiao let Zhao Mancang join them for lunch, and during the meal, they chatted.

Li Qingzhi learned from Zhao Mancang that his father had come to Zhu's house to see him several times, but after Zhao Mancang insisted that he didn't have any money, his father stopped coming.

"I've been saving the money I earned and not giving it to him so he won't spend it all," Zhao Mancang, acting like a little adult, told Li Qingzhi, "I want to save more money so I can marry a wife in the future. Maybe I can even do business like my father."

"Yeah, don't give your dad the money; it's better to save it for marrying a wife." Li Qingzhi chuckled.

It was quite amusing that a child under ten was already thinking about getting married.

Even more amusing was Zhu Xunxin chiming in, "Then I'll save money too. I'll also need to marry a wife in the future."

Zhu Xunmiao burst into laughter at this.

Zhu Xunxin, still puzzled, asked Zhu Xunmiao, "Brother, why don't you have a wife? Is it because you haven't saved enough money?"

Zhu Xunmiao replied, "…". He didn't need to save money; if he wanted to marry a wife, his father would definitely provide the funds!

Wait, he was only fifteen; why was he thinking about marrying a wife? He planned to pass the scholar examination first before marrying!

While Li Qingzhi and the others were having lunch, Jin Xiaoye was also dining at Sister Wang's house.

The food at Zhu's house was very abundant, while Sister Wang's food was just average.

Sister Wang's daughter, who was sixteen this year, was very skilled. At noon today, she fried a plate of eggs, left some eggs in the pan, added water and some greens to make a vegetable soup, and then steamed tofu with minced meat. The meal wasn't lavish, but it was sufficient.

They ate and chatted.

The covers and sleeves made from defective cloth that Jin Xiaoye and the others made sold well in Chongcheng County due to their low prices, but they didn't earn much from these items.

Their main source of income came from higher-end products.

The fabrics provided by the Zhu family were all bright in color. Jin Xiaoye had them made into various small items, which she sent to clothing stores to sell on consignment. Although they didn't sell a lot, the profit margin was high.

Additionally, she sold some items to traveling merchants, which also brought in a considerable amount of money.

Not long ago, a merchant who planned to go to the north next month approached Jin Xiaoye, paid a deposit, and placed a large order for goods!

The products made by Jin Xiaoye and the others were quite new in style. When they sold these items in the county town, they claimed that the styles came from the capital city, and the customers never doubted them.

When this merchant took their goods to the capital city to sell, he could easily claim that these were popular styles from the south and would surely fetch a good price.

Of course, this was not something they needed to worry about; they just needed to make the goods and sell them to this merchant.

Sister Wang was quite happy, "He wants quite a lot of goods. Xiaoye, we need to buy more fabric."

Jin Xiaoye nodded, "Right, I'll buy the fabric tomorrow!"

Mrs. Xu was a bit worried, "Xiaoye, what if that person is deceiving us? What if we make the goods and then he suddenly changes his mind…"

Even though the person had paid a deposit, the deposit alone wasn't enough to cover the cost of the fabric.

Jin Xiaoye said, "Even if that person is deceitful, we still need to proceed with the deal. We can't just abandon such a big business opportunity because of worries! If he doesn't pay the rest, we can simply refuse to deliver the goods to him and find a way to sell them ourselves."

Jin Xiaoye had considered various scenarios.

If the person canceled the order after they had made the goods, she would end up with a large batch of unsold inventory.

But her products sold well in Chongcheng County, which gave her some confidence. If worst came to worst, she could take her goods and sell them in the capital city.

When Zhu's father was in business, he encountered situations where goods piled up and couldn't be sold, but he managed to sell them by finding a different market.

With her confidence bolstered, Mrs. Xu let go of her worries.

After lunch, Sister Wang's daughter went to wash the dishes and pots, while the others gathered together to cut fabric and chat. Eventually, they brought up the recent absence of the night soil collector.

Sister Wang said: "Some people couldn't bear it, so they called a scumbag who used to do this business to collect it. As a result, the scumbag was beaten by someone who made bad money."

This merchant, surnamed Zhang, was named Zhang Yunquan. His name sounded good, combining literary, martial, wealth, and power.

However, he wasn't reputable in the county, and people disliked him, considering his money to be ill-gotten gains, hence the nickname "Zhang Chouqian."

The fact that Zhang Chouqian didn't come to collect night soil made Sister Wang very angry. She was someone who valued cleanliness and didn't even want to kill chickens. But now… even with a covered toilet, there would still be odors, which was unbearable!

Jin Xiaoye commented, "People in our village have been buying human waste as fertilizer, and the price has gone up… What is Zhang Chouqian thinking? Does he want to make money from both ends?"

If Zhang Chouqian didn't come to collect human waste and also prevented others from doing so, what was he up to?

Did he want people in the city to pay him to come collect it?

"Thinking about it that way, it's quite possible!" Sister Wang said.

The three of them exchanged glances, and Jin Xiaoye cursed, "That bastard Zhang Chouqian is being too greedy!"

With so many people in Chongcheng County, if they had to pay for human waste, Zhang Chouqian could easily make a lot of money every day just lying there!

But they could only curse privately; there wasn't much else they could do.

Jin Xiaoye could only say to Sister Wang, "Sister Wang, I'll help you remove the toilet tomorrow."

Sister Wang asked, "Can't it be done today?"

Jin Xiaoye replied, "My husband and I came to the county together today, so we'll definitely return together."

She was used to farm work, so removing a toilet wasn't a big deal for her, but as for Li Qingzhi… He was a scholar, and it wouldn't be appropriate to have him accompany a toilet on a boat.

Hearing Jin Xiaoye's explanation, Sister Wang said, "Xiaoye, then please help remove it tomorrow… By the way, how is your husband's arm?"

"It's much better," Jin Xiaoye felt that Li Qingzhi's arm was healing quite quickly, so she just vaguely replied without elaborating further.

As they were talking, there was a knock on the door.

Jin Xiaoye opened the door and saw a tall, fair-skinned girl who was very thin.

The girl appeared to be in her twenties, with misty eyes, and asked, "Is shopkepper Jin here?"

"I'm Jin Xiaoye," Jin Xiaoye said, unable to help but take a few more glances at the girl.

The girl wasn't particularly beautiful, but she was exceptionally fair and gave off an indescribable aura… Yes, it could be said that her temperament was outstanding.

If it weren't for the poor quality and old fabric of her clothes, Jin Xiaoye would have thought she was from a wealthy family.

"Shopkeeper Jin, do you have any work available? I'd like to take on some tasks," she said.

"Not today, but there will be plenty of work tomorrow," Jin Xiaoye replied. She had just taken on a big order that required many people to help.

The girl smiled at Jin Xiaoye. "Then I'll come back tomorrow."

After she left, Jin Xiaoye couldn't help but comment, "That girl is really pretty, just a bit thin." Her sense of beauty was similar to that of others in the village; being fair-skinned was considered beautiful to her.

"That's the eldest daughter of the Fang family," Sister Wang said.

Jin Xiaoye was taken aback. Ever since Mrs. Fang scolded her the last time she went to sell paper, she refused to work for her!

That day, Mrs. Fang didn't give her any work and said many sarcastic things, vowing never to give her any work again. Yet, just a few days later, her daughter came?

Wang Jie explained, "That girl is quite pitiful. Many young men wanted to marry her a few years ago, but Mrs. Fang demanded a high dowry, and gradually, no one came to propose anymore… But she also has her flaws; she doesn't like to interact with people. I know her, did you see? She doesn't even greet me when she sees me!"

Indeed, Miss Fang didn't greet Sister Wang; she just smiled and walked away slowly. Jin Xiaoye was puzzled.

Mrs. Xu added, "It's not her fault. I heard that Miss Fang damaged her eyes from doing too much needlework and can't see things far away clearly. Maybe she couldn't recognize who we are."

"That's news to me," Sister Wang said, surprised.

"This was told to me by someone I worked with before," Mrs. Xu sighed.

Sister Wang's husband was a traveling merchant. Although he didn't earn a lot of money, they managed to bring home fifty to sixty taels of silver every year.

Their life was considered good in Chongcheng County, so their two sons could go to school.

However, Sister Wang's sons weren't particularly talented in their studies, and Sister Wang didn't plan to have them take the imperial examination. She just wanted them to learn enough to help their father in business or find decent jobs in the future.

Because of this, although Sister Wang used to do some needlework to earn money, she didn't do much and knew few people.

Mrs. Xu was different. Despite her poor health, she looked for work everywhere and knew many people.

According to Mrs. Xu, after Miss Fang's father died ten years ago, her mother made her do needlework at home every day, even at night with the lights on, which damaged her eyes.

Jin Xiaoye felt some sympathy for Miss Fang, but considering that many people in the countryside couldn't even eat their fill, and some had starved to death during the floods, her sympathy quickly faded.

The man mentioned by Wang Jie earlier, who used to collect night soil, was even more pitiful than Miss Fang. It was said that he was an old man without children. He used to make a living by collecting night soil, but after Zhang Chouqian monopolized the business, he could only beg in the county town. This time, when someone asked him to collect night soil, he was beaten by Zhang Chouqian's men. No one knew if he could survive this winter.

In this world, many people are having a hard time.

Just then, there was another knock on the door.

Jin Xiaoye opened it and saw Li Qingzhi standing there.

"I'm done with my work, so I came to find you," Li Qingzhi smiled.

After having dinner at the Zhu family's, Li Qingzhi came to find Jin Xiaoye with the two books borrowed from Zhu Xunmiao.

Jin Xiaoye showed him the way to Sister Wang's house, which he recognized.

"Come in quickly," Jin Xiaoye invited Li Qingzhi in.

Li Qingzhi entered the house and greeted Sister Wang and Mrs. Xu with a smile.

Sister Wang and Mrs. Xu's first impression of Li Qingzhi was that he was thin. Miss Fang was already thin, but Li Qingzhi was even thinner…

Moreover… Li Qingzhi, standing there, also gave off a different feeling, just like Miss Fang.

Upon careful consideration, it was because Miss Fang looked like a scholar… She was indeed the daughter of a scholar!

Jin Xiaoye's husband was a scholar. What should they talk about with him? Sister Wang and Mrs. Xu felt a bit uneasy.

But their unease only lasted for a short while. Soon, Li Qingzhi, with his excellent social skills, engaged them in conversation, and they talked animatedly.

Sister Wang and Mrs. Xu weren't talkative people and didn't like to socialize much, but somehow, when they chatted with Li Qingzhi, they couldn't stop talking!

From Sister Wang's words, Li Qingzhi learned a lot about Zhang Chouqian.

Although he had written a book praising County Magistrate Gou, Li Qingzhi hadn't actually thought about approaching County Magistrate Gou before. After all, he didn't have any requests for County Magistrate Gou's assistance at the moment.

But if Zhang Chouqian went too far… he would have to go to County Magistrate Gou to intervene.

This matter was not only related to the people of Chongcheng County; nearby farmers needed fertilizer for their crops, and if fertilizer prices rose, their lives would become even more difficult.

Li Qingzhi thought a lot about it, but he didn't show it on his face. He chatted with Mrs. Xu and the others with a smile, and even talked about Xu Qifei.

It wasn't until evening that Li Qingzhi left with Jin Xiaoye back to Miaoqian Village.

On their way back, they met Mr. Yao.

Mr. Yao was bending over, rowing the boat listlessly.

People who did heavy work were prone to injuring their backs. In this era, medical technology was limited, and once people injured their backs, there was no proper treatment.

In Miaoqian Village, there were several elderly people who walked with a hunched back every day, unable to straighten their backs anymore because they had injured them from carrying heavy loads or doing other heavy work in the past.

Mr. Yao… his back hadn't fully healed, and yet he was out working?

Indeed, Mr. Yao was out working despite his back not being fully healed.

Jin Moli's dowry hadn't been completed, and Yao Zhenfu was still unwilling to work in the fields… How could Mr. Yao dare not to work? His back hadn't fully healed, but he had to go back to work.

But now he couldn't help people move goods, so he could only take on lighter tasks. Unlike Jin Xiaoye, who was quick-witted and dared to talk to anyone, he didn't earn much money after a whole day's work.

Jin Xiaoye knew Mr. Yao was in a situation. She didn't ask much about Yao's family affairs; she only said, "Uncle Yao, have you ever thought about renting out your boat?" Mr. Yao rowing the boat like this was not a good thing! He shouldn't worsen his health!

Upon hearing Jin Xiaoye's words, Mr. Yao immediately said, "Xiaoye, why don't you rent my boat then?"

Jin Xiaoye is no longer rowing boats. She had given the boat she used to row to Jin Xiaoshu. Jin Xiaoshu was now the one rowing the boat, and the rental income from the boat was also his responsibility.

Jin Xiaoshu was quite lively and talkative. Like Jin Xiaoye used to, he took on some lighter tasks and sold various odds and ends in nearby villages. On a slow day, he earned sixty to seventy cents, and on a good day, he could make one to two hundred cents. Deducting the daily forty cents for rent, he could earn over one guan a month. His earnings weren't much, but he was just a sixteen-year-old boy, so having such an income was already good!

Every evening after eating at Li Qingzhi's house, Jin Xiaoshu handed over the money he earned to Jin Xiaoye. Previously, she had paid him for helping her, and now Jin Xiaoshu has saved over three guan with Jin Xiaoye.

That was over three thousand copper coins! Jin Xiaoshu had been walking around outside recently, his head held high, feeling quite proud.

Among the people of Miaoqian Village his age, who had as much money as him?

Nowadays in Miaoqian Village, marrying a wife probably required a dowry of around ten taels of silver. If he worked for another year, he could afford to marry a wife himself!

Thinking about this, Jin Xiaoshu couldn't help but smile even in his dreams.

Now upon hearing Mr. Yao's words, Jin Xiaoshu looked at Jin Xiaoye—should he change his boat rental?

Jin Xiaoye said, "Uncle Yao, we already have a boat, so we don't need to rent another one. If you want to rent out your boat, you can ask around in the village. I think there must be people in the village who want to rent a boat."

Previously, people in the village didn't think about renting out boats to make money, but hadn't she made money from it? Jin Xiaoye had noticed that some people in the village were eager to try it after seeing her success and had even asked her about renting boats.

However, most people didn't know much about this business and didn't dare to try it easily. But if Mr. Yao was willing to guide them…

Thinking about this, Jin Xiaoye added, "Uncle Yao, you can take on an apprentice, teach them how to row a boat, and introduce some business to them… Even if you charge fifty cents for boat rental per day, they would still be willing to pay." Mr. Yao had been rowing boats in Chongcheng County for twenty years, and he knew many people, having many old customers.

If he was willing to pass these customers on to someone else…

In their village, after a skilled person took on an apprentice, the apprentice would visit the master during festivals, and the two families would become relatives in a way. Mr. Yao would be like having an extra son.

The person who became Mr. Yao's apprentice would also benefit greatly.

For the villagers who rented boats to do business recklessly, they probably wouldn't earn much money in the end. But with Mr. Yao guiding them… Young and strong people wouldn't earn less than Mr. Yao. Even if they had to pay Mr. Yao rent, they should still make quite a bit of money in the end.

As for her, she wouldn't rent a boat from Mr. Yao, nor would Jin Xiaoshu.

They were relatives, and some things were difficult to handle, mainly because her relationship with Jin Moli wasn't good.

After listening to Jin Xiaoye's words, Mr. Yao was very grateful. "Xiaoye, your idea is excellent. I'll follow your advice!"

He was old, and his back wasn't good. Even after working hard all day outside, he might not earn fifty wen. In that case, why not rent out the boat?

Fifty cents a day, earning one to two taels of silver in a month, wasn't a small amount!

As long as his son didn't go to school, their family's life would be quite comfortable. In another ten years, perhaps they could even buy back the land they had sold.

With hope in his heart,Mr. Yao smiled and asked about Li Qingzhi's arm.

Li Qingzhi smiled and replied, "My arm is much better now."

"Good, take care of yourself. Health is the most important thing," Mr. Yao said, feeling a bit emotional when talking about health.

This time, twisting his back, he realized clearly that he was getting old.

Two boats were parked at the riverside, but not many people paid attention. After all, it was getting cooler now, and there were no people lounging around here.

Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye returned home, where Li Laogen's had already prepared dinner.

Since Li Qingzhi wasn't home today, Li Laogen's cooking was quite simple. According to him, as long as the food was edible, there was no need to fuss too much. Spending half a day to cut neatly was still the same taste, so there was no need to overcomplicate things.

Today they had loach for dinner. Li Laogen used scissors to cut off the heads and tails of the loach, removed the internal organs, fed them to the only remaining duck in their household, and then sprinkled some salt over the remaining loach before steaming them.

Fortunately, loach didn't have much of a smell, so it didn't taste fishy. Otherwise, such good ingredients would be wasted.

In addition to the loach, there was a pot of egg drop soup. They had recently grown some greens, and the vegetables had grown a bit dense, so Li's father plucked some to eat.

They not only grew greens but also radishes. After sowing radish seeds, they needed to pull out excess radish seedlings; otherwise, the radishes wouldn't grow well due to crowding.

And these pulled-out small greens and radish seedlings all ended up on their dining table, mainly used to make soup.

Without seasoning like MSG to enhance the flavor, vegetable soup wasn't very tasty, but when Li Qingzhi picked up several vegetables with his chopsticks and put them in his mouth, he felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

He ate several vegetables at once. How could he be so extravagant during the apocalypse?

After finishing the meal, Li Qingzhi also picked some vegetables for his two younger brothers, Li Damao and Li Ermao. "Eat more vegetables."

Li Damao and Li Ermao didn't like to eat vegetables, but fortunately, they had been eating them since they were young and weren't picky eaters. They obediently ate the vegetables.

The villagers all thought that Li Qingzhi was spoiling the children, but Li Qingzhi didn't feel that way at all. Mainly because both Li Damao and Li Ermao were too well-behaved.

These two kids were not picky eaters or dressers, and they especially listened to him.

After dinner, they stuck to him and refused to leave.

Li Qingzhi kissed one of them and then another while reciting the poems he had taught them.

Meanwhile, Jin Xiaoye and Jin Xiaoshu were doing calculations. The money Jin Xiaoshu had placed in Jin Xiaoye's small treasury had increased a bit.

After finishing the accounts, Jin Xiaoye gave Jin Xiaoshu ten coins and asked him to take them home to give to Grandma Jin.

Previously, Jin Xiaoye had rented the boat, saying that Jin Xiaoshu was an apprentice who couldn't earn money, which was acceptable. But now Jin Xiaoshu was the only one rowing the boat, so he had to contribute money to the family.

During the busy farming days, Jin Xiaoshu used to contribute thirty coins to the family every day, but now that the busy season is over, he only contributes ten coins a day.

When Jin Xiaoshu returned to the Jin family with ten coins, the Jin family members were chatting in the hall.

Grandma Jin saw Jin Xiaoshu and immediately asked, "How much did you earn today?"

Jin Xiaoshu replied, "Grandma, I earned fifty-eight coins today; after deducting the rent, I have eighteen left." He gave nine of the ten coins Jin Xiaoye had given him to Grandma Jin.

"Why so little? Didn't you earn a lot during the busy farming days?" Grandma Jin was dissatisfied.

"There were fewer people rowing the boat during the busy farming days, but more people using it!" Jin Xiaoshu explained. In fact, he just didn't want to do farm work, so he had to contribute more money during that time.

One of Jin Xiaoshu's goals now was to avoid doing farm work in the future.

He really hated doing farm work.

Grandma Jin didn't say anything, but Aunt Jin, the eldest son's wife, spoke up: "You're never at home doing chores, and you end up earning so little in a day…"

Jin Xiaoshu used to be a little afraid of the elders in the family, but now that he had been rowing the boat and seen more of the world, coupled with having money and confidence… Jin Xiaoshu said, "Aunt, Third Brother is at home every day and doesn't work either! He eats at home every day, but if I don't eat at home, it saves the family a lot of food."

Uncle Jin's eldest son, Jin Liushu, was the first grandson of the Jin family and was spoiled. He was a bit lazy.

His second son, Jin Mulangshu, was slightly better, but after getting married, his wife couldn't stand seeing Jin Liushu not working and constantly stopped Jin Sangshu from working. As a result, Jin Sangshu's workload became similar to Jin Liushu's!

As for Uncle Jin's third son, Jin Zaoshu… Jin Zaoshu was eighteen this year and was equally spoiled as the youngest child of Uncle Jin, so he was even lazier than Jin Liushu.

With so many people in the Jin family, except for the busy farming season when they needed him to work in the fields, there wasn't much for him to do on regular days… so he wandered around doing nothing all day.

Aunt Jin could only say, "Zaoshu doesn't have any work to do?"

"If Brother Zaoshu really wants to work, he can go and apprentice with Mr. Yao and learn how to row a boat." Jin Xiaoshu mentioned that Mr. Yao had decided to take on apprentices.

Grandma Jin's eyes lit up at these words. At the same time, the wives of Jin Liushu and Jin Sangshu also became interested and asked Jin Xiaoshu about the situation with Mr. Yao.

After Jin Xiaoshu explained what he knew, he quickly ran back to his room.

Soon after, Jin Dajiang and his wife returned.

Jin Dajiang said to Jin Xiaoshu: "Xiaoshu, is it not good for you to go to your sister's house for dinner every day? Their family doesn't have enough food, they have to buy grain to eat."

The grain from the four acres of land sold by Mr. Yao was collected by Jin Xiaoye. The explanation Jin Xiaoye gave to others was that their family didn't have enough food, so they spent money to lease the land.

"Dad, it's my sister who asked me to eat at her place, and I also help with the work." Jin Xiaoshu replied. Now the boat is his, but he still picks up Jin Xiaoye every day, and when Jin Xiaoye occasionally needs the boat, he doesn't charge her.

"Your sister really spends money recklessly, she even eats meat every day…" Jin Dajiang felt conflicted when he mentioned this matter.

Jin's mother couldn't help but nag. She didn't think Jin Xiaoye was living sensibly now.

Jin Xiaoshu laid down on the bed. "I'm tired, I want to sleep."

Jin Dajiang and his wife didn't dare to disturb the child, so they closed their mouths and stopped talking.

On the other side, Li Qingzhi told Jin Xiaoye about his intention to go to Li Xiucai's place to study.

"It's only five taels of silver a year… Done!" Jin Xiaoye agreed readily.

The money Li Qingzhi spent on studying was much less than she had imagined.

So… The neighbor Yao Zhenfu was really a bit extravagant!

Li Qingzhi was a bit tired today from walking too much, so after chatting with Jin Xiaoye for a while, he fell asleep.

The next day, he put on the clothes that Zhu Xunmiao had given him, and followed Jin Xiaoye to the county town.

Today was the day he would apprentice, so he had to dress a bit better.

In their place, when apprenticeship is done, you need to prepare four gifts, usually dried meat, Zhuangyuan cake, red dates, and dried longan. Of course, some people give other things, and some even give eight gifts.

Regardless, dried meat and Zhuangyuan cake are essential. When the Zhuangyuan cake is given, the teacher will distribute it to the students in the school, which is a good sign.

These gifts are easy to buy, but Jin Xiaoye was afraid that Li Qingzhi couldn't carry them… After arriving in the county town, Jin Xiaoye carried a basket on her back and took Li Qingzhi to buy things.

The gifts are symbolic, and the most important thing is the silver. Jin Xiaoye selected some according to what ordinary families would give, and then she took Jin Xiaoye on Jin Xiaoshu's boat and sent him to the entrance of the school.

Jin Xiaoye was very brave, but when she looked at the school, she was a little afraid to go in. "Ah Qing, I'll leave the things here, you find someone to help you take them in, I'll go first!"

In the place where scholars gather, she didn't know what to say even if she went in! Jin Xiaoye thought so, turned around, and went back to the boat.

Li Qingzhi: "…"

Buying things took a lot of time. By now, the sun was already high, but some of Li Xiucai's students lived relatively far away, so they arrived just now.

They looked at Li Qingzhi with curiosity, and a child around ten years old asked, "Uncle, are you bringing your son to apprentice?"

Li Qingzhi replied, "No, I'm here to apprentice myself."

The child looked at Li Qingzhi in shock.

Li Qingzhi tried to lift the basket and found that he could manage it, so he wanted to carry it himself. Just then, Zhu Xunxin and Zhao Mancang arrived together.

Zhu Xunxin wasn't in good health, so unlike Zhu Xunmiao, he didn't leave early. He had just arrived.

"Brother Li!" Eight-year-old Zhu Xunxin happily called out to Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi: "…" He suddenly felt much younger.

"Mr. Li, let me carry your things!" Zhao Mancang also approached at this time, and his nine-year-old son, Xiao Douding, effortlessly picked up the basket from the ground, his movements extremely skilled.

Zhao Mancang had been beaten by Hong Zhao, but Hong Zhao hadn't broken his arms. What about Li Qingzhi? He had broken his arms as soon as he encountered Hong Zhao.

Zhao Mancang felt that Li Qingzhi was even weaker than him and didn't dare to let Li Qingzhi do any work.

So Li Qingzhi was escorted into the school by these two children.

In the school, those young students who were learning to recognize characters weren't actually taught by Li Xiucai; it was his two sons who were teaching them.

Li Xiucai's two sons weren't very knowledgeable, but teaching children to recognize words was enough. To prevent parents from complaining, Li Xiucai didn't start teaching the children classics like the "Three-Character Classic" or the "Thousand-Character Classic" like other schools did.

He would make the children memorize these two books, but they started with simpler characters for recognition. Li Xiucai also specifically wrote some articles suitable for children to learn word recognition, and his two sons used these articles to teach the students.

These articles couldn't be said to have been specially written by him… With so many children, these were actually written when he was teaching his own children to read. At that time, he hadn't even opened a school.

It was with these articles that the children didn't resist coming to study with him, and their word recognition progressed quickly, so many people sent their children to him.

With two sons to help, Li Xiucai wasn't that busy. When he saw Li Qingzhi, he smiled and exchanged a few words with him, then took Li Qingzhi to meet those students in his school who were planning to take the county exam next year or had already passed the county exam.

While Li Qingzhi was meeting his fellow students at Li Xiucai's school, Jin Xiaoye had just arrived at Sister Wang's house.

Seeing Sister Wang, Jin Xiaoye said, "Sister Wang, bring out the chamber pot. I'll have my brother help you empty it."

Today, Li Qingzhi has come along again.

If she took away Sister Wang's chamber pot when she left at night, it would stink.

Jin Xiaoye simply told Jin Xiaoshu, then let him wait by the river for a while to take away the chamber pot and empty it.

"Then I'll really trouble your brother!" Sister Wang was very happy and was about to call her daughter to fetch the chamber pot.

But suddenly she remembered, Jin Xiaoshu was a boy of fifteen or sixteen!

Sister Wang's daughter was already sixteen years old. Recently, Sister Wang was helping her find a husband.

She knew about Jin Xiaoye's family situation. Although Jin Xiaoye was earning money now, her family was just ordinary farmers, and even Jin Xiaoshu's boat was rented.

Her daughter was definitely going to marry into the county town. She couldn't let her fall for a country boy.

Farming was really too hard!

Sister Wang picked up the chamber pot herself and went to find Jin Xiaoshu.

Jin Xiaoshu had been waiting.

The morning sunlight was lovely. Jin Xiaoshu tied the boat to the riverbank with a rope, sat at the bow basking in the sun, and waited for Jin Xiaoye to bring Sister Wang's chamber pot.

Sometimes Sister Wang would send him food, so he didn't mind helping with the chamber pot.

Just then, a girl shining white appeared in Jin Xiaoshu's sight.

She had a pair of misty eyes, leisurely strolling forward, seeming aloof, yet it somehow suited her.

So beautiful! Jin Xiaoshu momentarily forgot to breathe.

He had been coming to the town every day for the past few months and had seen many town girls, but it was the first time he saw one so beautiful, like a fairy.

"Xiaoshu." Jin Xiaoshu heard someone calling him, snapped out of it, and saw Sister Wang coming over with the chamber pot.

Seeing this, Jin Xiaoshu stood up to take the chamber pot.

Just then, someone suddenly shouted, "What are you doing? Don't you know you're supposed to empty the chamber pot for us? Stop!"

As he spoke, the person rushed towards Jin Xiaoshu and the others.

Jin Xiaoshu took the chamber pot and placed it in the boat, starting to untie the rope to leave.

He didn't think he was doing anything wrong by helping to empty a chamber pot.

But he also didn't want to cause trouble… Jin Xiaoshu wanted to leave quickly.

However, at that moment, the person who had scolded them ran down to the riverbank, jumped onto Jin Xiaoshu's boat, and kicked Jin Xiaoshu into the river with one swift motion.

That wasn't the end of it. The person started kicking around on the boat, smashing the clay jar Jin Xiaoshu used to scoop water. Eventually, he even picked up the bamboo pole Jin Xiaoshu used to row and flipped the chamber pot Jin Xiaoshu had just placed on the boat.

And then, he struck Jin Xiaoshu with the bamboo pole as he climbed ashore. "You little brat, you dare to steal from Mr. Zhang's business? Are you asking for death?"

Jin Xiaoshu grew up in the countryside and had suffered quite a bit since childhood, but he had never been bullied like this before!

Being kicked into the river and beaten was bad enough, but now his boat stinks because of the overturned chamber pot!

When he used to row the boat with Jin Xiaoye, Jin Xiaoshu particularly liked this boat. He felt it was particularly magnificent.

Now, his boat stinks!

"You…" Jin Xiaoshu was furious. The person held the bamboo pole, ready to strike again.

"Stop it! Who gave you the right to hit people?" Jin Xiaoye's voice rang out.

Seeing that something was wrong, Sister Wang went to find Jin Xiaoye. Jin Xiaoye dropped what she was doing and immediately rushed out.

"How come? He dares to snatch our business from Mr. Zhang and we can't hit him?" The man got off Jin Xiaoshu's boat and sneered at Jin Xiaoye.

"Mr. Zhang is even more powerful than the county magistrate! You dare to beat someone in public, let's go see the county magistrate!" Jin Xiaoye angrily retorted, reaching out to grab the man's sleeve. "I just went to the county office not long ago. Today, let's go there again!"

Hearing Jin Xiaoye mentioning the county magistrate and the county office again, the man chuckled. "Let's go! I'm even more familiar with the county office!"

"Are you familiar with the county office? My husband knows Magistrate Gou. I'll go ask Magistrate Gou who you are!" Jin Xiaoye raised her eyebrows confidently.

The person who came to beat Jin Xiaoshu was a ruffian from Chongcheng County.

Zhang Chouqian didn't just deal in the human trafficking business; he also owned a gambling den in the county town.

As the owner of a gambling den, he had to lend money to others, and after lending money, he needed people to collect debts.

Zhang Chouqian had thus raised a group of thugs and ruffians to help him collect debts.

He started the human trafficking business later, only to find it was a low-risk endeavor, perfect for the idle men under his employ. He had them collect people from the town and sell them for money.

Though this business was dirty, Zhang Chouqian didn't have to do it himself. He could just lie at home and count money, and he loved this business.

His men used various methods to collect debts, including throwing feces at people.

After doing this for two years, Zhang Chouqian felt the business was too small.

Why should he empty chamber pots for free? He should charge people in the town!

Zhang Chouqian instructed his men not to empty the night soil for a few days. Then today, they went around telling the townsfolk that they would have to pay a penny every time they emptied a chamber pot.

The person who beat Jin Xiaoshu came to collect night soil. Seeing Jin Xiaoshu "snatching business," he acted without thinking.

And his claim of knowing people at the county office was true. He did know many of the bailiffs there, and their relationship was quite good.

However, Jin Xiaoye mentioned Magistrate Gou… This made him a little fearful. "Who doesn't know Magistrate Gou?" he retorted, then turned and ran away without hesitation.

This sort of thug wouldn't dare confront others head-on.

Seeing him leave, Jin Xiaoye breathed a sigh of relief. She had actually been quite scared just now and had spent quite a bit of effort trying to speak calmly.

"Xiaoshu, are you okay?" Jin Xiaoye asked.

Jin Xiaoshu's eyes stung, almost bringing tears to his eyes. But when he looked up, he saw the fairy-like girl he had seen before standing not far away, looking at him earnestly.

He must have looked very embarrassing now, but the fairy's face was gentle, showing no disdain.

Feeling embarrassed to cry, Jin Xiaoshu's heart pounded rapidly.

Meanwhile, not far away, Miss Fang couldn't see the exact situation and didn't dare to move, so she just stood there with a forced smile.

"That damned Zhang Chouqian!" Jin Xiaoye was furious to see the rented boat reek.

Sister Wang had followed Jin Xiaoye over, feeling extremely guilty. "Xiaoye, I'm really sorry."

"Sister Wang, this isn't your fault. It's that Zhang Chouqian who's gone too far," Jin Xiaoye said, then turned to Jin Xiaoshu. "Xiaoshu, get up quickly. The water is cold."

It was already October, and the water was indeed very cold. Jin Xiaoshu hadn't realized it in his anger and haste earlier, but now, climbing out of the water, he shivered from the cold.

However, he tried to stand up straight, not letting himself tremble. He didn't want to lose his face in front of such a beautiful girl.

Jin Xiaoshu stole a glance at the girl, who still looked at him gently, making his heart swell with joy.

But Miss Fang just stayed where she was because she heard Jin Xiaoye's voice.

"Xiaoshu, go to Auntie's house and change your clothes," Sister Wang said, seeing Jin Xiaoshu's face turning pale from the cold, feeling even more guilty.

If it weren't for her inability to handle the chamber pot herself and asking Jin Xiaoye for help, Jin Xiaoshu wouldn't have been kicked into the water, and the boat… Sister Wang didn't know what to do with the boat, and the smell made her feel nauseous.

"Would it be inappropriate?" Jin Xiaoye asked. Ordinary families didn't have so many rules; it wouldn't be a big deal for someone to visit and change clothes. But it might not be proper for Jin Xiaoshu to go to someone else's house to change clothes…

"It's okay. I have some of my husband's old clothes at home. Let Xiaoshu change into them so he doesn't catch a cold," Sister Wang said.

Jin Xiaoye also feared Jin Xiaoshu would catch a cold, so she hurriedly took him to Sister Wang's house.

As for the boat… the rope hadn't been untied yet, and it still smelled so bad that it couldn't be abandoned.

Sister Wang took Jin Xiaoshu to the cooking room and brought him a set of her husband's clothes to change into.

Jin Xiaoshu quickly changed into the clothes and came out with the wet ones.

Sister Wang's husband was a strong middle-aged man, but Jin Xiaoshu was a slender young man. The clothes didn't fit him very well, but as long as he wore them, it was fine. Jin Xiaoshu didn't mind.

Seeing him come out, Jin Xiaoye gave him two silver coins. "Xiaoshu, don't row the boat today. Find someone to wash it instead."

Today's incident was because of her, so she wanted to compensate Jin Xiaoshu.

Jin Xiaoye knew Jin Xiaoshu probably wouldn't ask someone else to wash the boat. He wouldn't want to spend the money. These two silver coins were actually for Jin Xiaoshu.

"Sis, no need!" Jin Xiaoshu refused to take it. Today's incident wasn't his sister's fault. As for losing a day's worth of business… he had been eating meals at his sister's house every day, eating who knows how much good food. Missing out on a day's business wouldn't matter much.

"Take it!" Jin Xiaoye insisted, forcefully stuffing the money into Jin Xiaoshu's hand. "I still have things to attend to. Clean up the boat yourself."

She had wasted a lot of time this morning and had many things to attend to, so she couldn't help Jin Xiaoshu wash the boat.

"Mm," Jin Xiaoshu replied, taking the money, then leaving.

Actually, for someone who works in agriculture, dealing with manure isn't a big deal. In the countryside, it's something valuable that farmers pay money to buy for fertilizing their fields.

Although he was young, Jin Xiaoshu had worked in the fields before and had even gone with his father to buy manure. He had done all kinds of dirty work.

But today, he still felt very aggrieved.

His boat was now smelly!

Jin Xiaoshu gritted his teeth, remembering a line from Zhu Qian's autobiography: "A gentleman takes revenge ten years later."

He would definitely get revenge sooner or later!

Thinking like this, Jin Xiaoshu suddenly saw the girl standing not far away, her eyes dark and clear, misty. She was looking at him.

Not only that, she even smiled at him, a particularly beautiful smile.

His hair was still wet, and he was wearing ill-fitting clothes. He must have looked very ugly… Jin Xiaoshu blushed and ran away quickly.

Jin Xiaoye felt something was off, but she didn't dwell on it. She was about to continue her chores when Miss Fang walked up to her and asked softly, "Shopkeeper Jin, I'd like to do some work."

Jin Xiaoye wasn't someone who would lash out at people for no reason, so she simply said, "Miss Fang, don't you know your mother and I have had conflicts?"

Miss Fang was stunned for a moment before saying, "I didn't know."

Jin Xiaoye's anger inexplicably dissipated a bit. "Miss Fang, your mother pointed fingers at me and said things before. She even said she wouldn't come here for work anymore. Now you're here again… Isn't that inappropriate?"

Miss Fang said, "Shopkeeper Jin, I'm really sorry. I didn't know about this…"

"Let it go. It's not your fault… Miss Fang, you're not young anymore. Stop listening to your mother and take care of yourself," Jin Xiaoye felt that Miss Fang was too obedient, which led to her being exploited all the time.

If it were her… She wouldn't listen to her grandparents if her parents told her to do something.

Miss Fang was stunned for a moment before saying, "Shopkeeper Jin, I also want to take care of myself… Shopkeeper Jin, can I work here? I can take only half of the wages. This wage, I want to keep it from my mother."

Miss Fang's name was Fang Jinniang. Her father was a scholar and doted on her, his firstborn. So when she was young, she not only learned how to read but also apprenticed to a skilled embroiderer, learning the craft of embroidery.

Before her father passed away, her life could be said to be carefree. At most, her mother would occasionally feel that her father spoiled her and her younger sister too much and would complain occasionally.

But that wasn't a big deal; she knew her mother was just feeling uncomfortable. Her mother had a difficult youth, and seeing her and her sister living well must have been hard for her.

Unexpectedly, ten years ago, her father suddenly fell ill and passed away after lingering on the sickbed for a while.

Their family had spent a lot of money to treat her father's illness, even incurring debts. After her father's death, their family faced some difficulties, and she could only work hard doing embroidery to earn money to pay off debts and support the family.

Of course, her mother and sister also worked hard, but she was the best at embroidery, so she did the most.

After working day and night for two years, her eyesight deteriorated further. Fortunately, the debts were paid off.

At that time, her mother wanted to send her brother to school… and she agreed.

When her father passed away, her brother was only six or seven years old. Losing his father at such a young age made her feel sorry for him.

She could only continue doing embroidery, and two more years passed. Her eyesight got worse, and when doing embroidery, she had to get very close to see the stitches clearly.

At the same time, she turned eighteen and was of marriageable age.

In the area of Chongcheng County, daughters from wealthy families were engaged relatively early. For ordinary families, parents would start looking for potential spouses for their daughters around the age of fifteen or sixteen, and they would get married at seventeen or eighteen, sometimes even later.

She didn't have any thoughts about marriage, but what her mother did really saddened her.

Her father is no longer around, leaving her and her mother as orphans and widows. Therefore, the families who come to propose to her usually have average conditions.

The result is her mother asking for a hundred taels of dowry!

She knows why her mother would do this. She works hard and fast, earning twenty taels a year from embroidering for others. If the dowry offered is too little, her mother would hesitate to marry her off.

But which family would be willing to pay a hundred taels of silver to marry her?

So she's been delayed like this. In the blink of an eye, she's twenty-four, her eyesight is getting worse, and she can't embroider delicate things as she used to. Her speed at doing embroidery is also getting slower.

She almost has to stick to the cloth just to see clearly!

After earning less money, her mother is dissatisfied, always complaining at home, and urging her to find someone to marry.

It was only recently that she suddenly realized her mother didn't like her.

But she has nowhere to go. The money she earned before was taken by her mother, so she can only drift along, living day by day like this.

Before coming to find Jin Xiaoye, she hadn't been out for a long, long time. She didn't know where she could go.

And she came to find Jin Xiaoye because her mother asked her to. Before coming, she didn't know her mother had dirty dealings with Jin Xiaoye.

After knowing this, she felt guilty and wanted to leave immediately, but Jin Xiaoye told her to take care of herself.

Fang Jinniang couldn't see Jin Xiaoye's expression very clearly, but at that moment, as if a light split through the fog in front of her eyes, she suddenly realized something.

She wanted to make some changes, she wanted money.

Not long ago, she asked her mother to buy some fabric for her to make clothes, but her mother refused no matter what.

The old clothes she's wearing are barely presentable, and the underwear inside is from ten years ago. She doesn't dare to wash them too hard, fearing they'll turn into rags with a little force.

Over the years, she has earned a lot of money, but her mother said she rarely goes out, so she refused to buy fabric for her to make clothes. What about her brother? Over the years, her brother has made at least four sets of clothes a year.

Jin Xiaoye was somewhat surprised to hear Fang Jinniang's words. Fang Jinniang appeared gentle and soft-spoken, and she initially thought she had a docile personality. It turns out that's not the case.

Although Jin Xiaoye didn't want Fang Jinniang to work for her due to her dislike for Mrs. Fang, she actually quite liked Fang Jinniang—she was so good-looking!

Jin Xiaoye said, "Of course, you can work here. I'll pay you according to the work you do, and you won't be shortchanged."

Jin Xiaoye had recently hired two elderly ladies to help paste shoe soles, and there were already two people working with her. She didn't mind having one more. Besides, Fang Jinniang was so pleasant to look at that it improved Jin Xiaoye's mood.

So Fang Jinniang stayed.

Then… when Fang Jinniang, with her exceptionally fair skin, started working, all elegance vanished.

It's challenging to maintain a graceful demeanor when dealing with fabric up close and personal.

When Fang Jinniang did ordinary tasks that didn't require constant focus, she could pinch the fabric's edge, not even looking at it, and sew rapidly. Her free and unique movements, coupled with a distinctive aura, gave off an otherworldly feeling.

However, after sewing for a while, she would bring the gloves to her eyes to inspect them, and she would suddenly descend from the heavens to the mortal realm.

But she was still very attractive.

Fang Jinniang worked fast and well. Without embroidering flowers, she could sew two pieces of fabric together with her eyes closed. Her stitches were exceptionally delicate.

Jin Xiaoye felt like she had found a treasure.

After working for a while, it was time for lunch. Fang Jinniang sat still, not moving.

Jin Xiaoye said, "Jinniang, do you want to eat with us? The cost will be deducted from your wages."

Fang Jinniang didn't hesitate. "Sure!"

Fang Jinniang scooped some rice and asked, "What are we having today?"

Both Jin Xiaoye and Sister Wang knew about Fang Jinniang's eyesight after spending the morning with her. Jin Xiaoye introduced the dishes on the table and asked, "What do you want to eat? I'll get some for you."

Fang Jinniang smiled gently at Jin Xiaoye. "I'm not picky. I'll eat anything."

Hearing this, Jin Xiaoye served some dishes to Fang Jinniang.

Fang Jinniang ate slowly and in a way that was indescribably pleasing. Jin Xiaoye couldn't help but want to imitate her.

Of course, she didn't actually try.

Eating at such a slow pace was unbearable for her.

Fang Jinniang only ate a small bowl of rice, while Jin Xiaoye was different. The bowls at Sister Wang's house were a bit small for her, but she ate three bowls in one go and then went back to work energetically.

In Li Qingzhi's study session at Li Xiucai School, he spent the day and had lunch provided by the Zhu family.

Seeing that it was almost time, Li Qingzhi informed Li Xiucai and left for Sister Wang's house.

The front door of Sister Wang's house was open, and there were several people inside doing needlework. Li Qingzhi walked in and immediately spotted Jin Xiaoye. He couldn't help but smile and say, "Xiaoye."

"You're here!" Jin Xiaoye stood up and offered her chair to Li Qingzhi, "Sit down and rest." Sister Wang's house had a shortage of chairs.

"You sit." Li Qingzhi said.

"I've been sitting for a long time, and it's a bit uncomfortable. You sit!" Jin Xiaoye pressed Li Qingzhi into the chair, "I'll be fine soon. When I'm done, we can leave together."

"Alright." Li Qingzhi agreed, then went to see the other people in the room.

At a glance, Li Qingzhi saw an outstanding young lady making leather gloves.

This young lady appeared to be in her twenties, not particularly beautiful in appearance, but her demeanor gave her a considerable advantage. Her exceptionally fair skin was also quite rare, making her seem special.

This person looked like a young lady who wouldn't dirty her hands with anything, but why was she doing needlework?

While Li Qingzhi was thinking this, he saw the young lady bring the leather gloves to her eyes, holding them less than a foot away. She scrutinized them carefully.

Such nearsightedness, probably around 700–800 degrees!

With such severe nearsightedness… in her eyes, he might just appear as a blurry figure, and she wouldn't be able to see his facial features clearly.

Li Qingzhi had been nearsighted in his previous life.

When he was in his senior year of high school, more than half of the students in his class were nearsighted, and he was no exception.

However, after the apocalypse arrived, he awakened supernatural abilities, adjusted his eyes, and his vision was no longer nearsighted.

In modern times, even if someone became nearsighted, it was manageable with glasses or corrective surgery. But for people in this era, it would be quite unfortunate as there were no glasses available.

"What are you looking at?" Jin Xiaoye asked in a low voice, feeling a bit displeased.

She occasionally glanced at Fang Jinniang, but she didn't like it when Li Qingzhi looked at her.

Li Qingzhi asked, "Her eyesight isn't very good?"

"Yes, too much needlework has damaged her eyes," Jin Xiaoye replied.

"I see," Li Qingzhi stopped looking at Fang Jinniang and turned his attention to Jin Xiaoye with concern, "Xiaoye, do less work to avoid harming your health."

"I'll be careful," Jin Xiaoye smiled and continued with her tasks.

When Jin Xiaoye finished her work, she turned around to find Li Qingzhi engrossed in lively conversation with the two elderly ladies who had come to paste shoe soles.

She had been worried before that Li Qingzhi might like Fang Jinniang, but it was obvious that Li Qingzhi preferred the company of the two elderly ladies.

"Ah Qing, let's go," Jin Xiaoye said.

Li Qingzhi reluctantly stood up and followed Jin Xiaoye out.

Fang Jinniang remained focused on her needlework, not glancing aside.

She couldn't see others' expressions clearly, making it difficult to chat, especially since she wasn't familiar with the people here. So she simply listened without speaking, while mentally imagining what others looked like.

Shopkeeper Jin's husband is quite talkative… Fang Jinniang pictured the image of a middle-aged man she had seen in her childhood, who loved to chat.

Outside, as Li Qingzhi followed Jin Xiaoye, she said, "Ah Qing, Xiaoshu got beaten up today!"

Li Qingzhi frowned, "What happened?" Jin Xiaoshu was old enough to be his son… Li Qingzhi had always seen Jin Xiaoshu as a younger peer.

Jin Xiaoye explained what happened in the morning and added, "Today, Zhang Chuqian made it known that from now on, anyone who empties a chamber pot will have to pay a penny each time."

Li Qingzhi's brow furrowed at the news.

Chongcheng County was a prosperous and bustling county town, with many businesspeople and residents living both in the city and its outskirts, totaling around twenty thousand people.

Most of these people didn't have much money; in fact, many had no land and had to come to the city to make a living. There were about one or two thousand workers who frequented the docks, carrying goods, repairing ships, and ferrying them. There were also numerous servants from wealthy households.

Maintaining basic sustenance was already difficult for them, and now they had to pay to empty chamber pots… Wasn't this making their already challenging lives even more difficult?

But there were regulations against the indiscriminate disposal of waste. According to the laws of Daqi, those caught doing so would be whipped ten times and fined… There were reasons for this, as in the past, improper disposal of waste had led to foul odors throughout the city, and residents had inadvertently contracted diseases.

Life is genuinely challenging for the people in the city now.

However, Zhang Chuqian should be able to make quite a bit of money from this. Charging a penny each time a chamber pot was emptied, and with so many people in the county town, he could easily make two hundred taels of silver a month.

Plus, there was money to be made from selling human waste… That was another source of income.

It might not seem like much, but earning money in this era wasn't easy… Zhang Chuqian wasn't a big merchant like Zhu Qian, but he had been in Chongcheng County for a long time. Making this much money every month had already surpassed many of the people in Chongcheng County who ran restaurants or shops.

"Is Jin Xiaoshu okay?" Li Qingzhi asked.

"Jin Xiaoshu is fine, but this matter is really infuriating," Jin Xiaoye said.

Li Qingzhi said, "I'll think of a solution."

When the two arrived at the riverside, Jin Xiaoshu was already waiting.

Seeing Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye, Jin Xiaoshu greeted them with a smile, "Sister, Brother-in-law."

Li Qingzhi looked around and noticed that the boat had been washed clean, and Jin Xiaoshu had even applied a fresh coat of paint on it.

"Sister, Brother-in-law, there's no smell on the boat now," Jin Xiaoshu said.

This morning, Jin Xiaoshu had been busy washing the boat. Afterwards, he went to buy some paint and applied it after the boat had dried.

"Jin Xiaoshu, let me see where you were hit," Li Qingzhi said.

Jin Xiaoshu had been struck on the shoulder with a bamboo pole, leaving a deep red mark that was already swelling.

Jin Xiaoshu didn't say anything, but he was clearly in pain.

Because of Jin Xiaoshu's incident, both Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye were in a bad mood. Jin Xiaoshu, on the other hand, didn't show any signs of distress. He even asked Jin Xiaoye, "Sister, who's the girl at sister Wang's house, the one who's exceptionally fair and dressed in blue like a young lady?"

Jin Xiaoye immediately knew who he was referring to, "That's Fang Jinniang."

Fang Jinniang… Jin Xiaoshu stored that name in his mind. It was the first time he had ever liked a girl!

But is it possible that Fang Jinniang is already married?

Jin Xiaoshu was torn between asking or not, but Jin Xiaoye spoke up: "Jinniang is in a tough situation."

Jin Xiaoye briefly explained Fang Jinniang's situation and complained about Mrs. Fang, but she didn't mention Fang Jinniang's poor eyesight since she had already discussed it with Li Qingzhi.

Upon hearing this, Jin Xiaoshu felt deeply distressed.

But… Fang Jinniang is already twenty-four? Eight years older than him?

When Fang Jinniang was sixteen, he was only eight years old?!

Feeling a bit disheartened, Jin Xiaoshu thought Jin Xiaoye might assume he was upset because of the beating. "Xiaoshu, don't be too upset. Zhang Chuqian will get his comeuppance sooner or later!"

"Yeah," Jin Xiaoshu nodded.

Thinking about the injustices he faced in the morning, Jin Xiaoshu suddenly had a different idea.

If he were like Mr. Zhu, who would dare to beat him? He might not even have to empty chamber pots.

He used to think that owning his own small boat in the future would be good enough, but now… he felt that wasn't sufficient.

He wanted more money, he wanted to become more formidable.

Tomorrow morning, when his sister learns to read, he would learn too! In the future, he wants to do business like Mr. Zhu.

Mr. Zhu's autobiography truly inspired many people, at least Jin Xiaoye and Jin Xiaoshu, who both underwent some changes because of this book.

When the three returned to Miaoqian Village, they found it bustling with activity, or rather, it wasn't the village but the neighboring Yao family's compound that was lively.

The reason was simple: Mr. Yao, was going to take on apprentices.

After taking on apprentices, Mr. Yao would also introduce all the customers who hired him for transportation to his apprentices!

Renting a boat to go to the county town to find work might not necessarily earn money; it might not even cover the rent. But with Mr. Yao guiding them, they could make money no matter what!

There were over a dozen young men in the village eager for this opportunity. They all showed their strengths: some helped repair Mr. Yao's roof, some helped pound rice, and some brought gifts to Mr. Yao. Each one treated Mr. Yao better than Yao Zhenfu did, as if Mr. Yao were their own father, which left Yao Zhenfu dumbfounded!

Of course, this matter had nothing to do with them. That night, Li Qingzhi was preoccupied with thoughts of Zhang Chuqian.

The next day, Li Qingzhi originally had no plans to go to the county town, intending to stay home and write and teach his children.

But after the incident with Jin Xiaoshu being beaten up… Early the next morning, Li Qingzhi followed Jin Xiaoye to the county town as usual.

Two days ago, when Li Qingzhi went to see Zhu Xunmiao, he brought his new manuscript, which included a story about the magistrate of Gu County solving a case.

Zhu Xunmiao had read it that day and had someone help transcribe it. By yesterday, most of the manuscript had been copied.

This morning, the manuscript should be finished… Li Qingzhi planned to visit the magistrate of Gu County with this manuscript in the afternoon.

He didn't tell Jin Xiaoye and Jin Xiaoshu about this matter, only saying that he was going to school.

"Sister's husband, you're already so old, why do you still want to go to school?" Jin Xiaoshu asked.

"Learning has nothing to do with age, it's about whether you like it or not, and whether it's useful to you," Li Qingzhi replied.

"Then what's the use of you going to school?" Jin Xiaoshu asked. His brother-in-law already knows how to copy books and do accounts, why does he still need to learn?

Li Qingzhi smiled and said, "I want to take the imperial examination."

Jin Xiaoshu looked at Li Qingzhi in astonishment. "Brother-in-law, can you pass?"

Even if his brother-in-law isn't knowledgeable, he was previously taken away to be a laborer for five years… It's been so many years since he last studied, and he still wants to take the imperial examination?

Jin Xiaoshu felt it would be more reliable for Li Damao and Li Ermao to go to school and try taking the imperial examination in the future.

Damao and Ermao are so clever!

Li Qingzhi said, "I should be able to. Anyway, it's not a bad thing to give it a try."

Jin Xiaoshu pondered.

Now it's Jin Xiaoshu who rows the boat, while Li Qingzhi teaches Jin Xiaoye to recognize words on the boat.

Unknowingly, the boat arrived at the county town.

Li Qingzhi hasn't adjusted his body to its best state yet, but his vision, smell, and hearing are already in perfect condition. Therefore, he immediately smelled an odor.

Li Qingzhi: "…" Even the villages with open-air toilets in Miaoqian Village don't smell as bad as this!

It was still early, so Li Qingzhi didn't go to school. Instead, he had Jin Xiaoshu drop him near Zhu's house and went straight to Zhu's house.

Zhu Xunmiao was still having breakfast. Li Qingzhi first went to find Chef Zhou, to learn about the situation.

Chef Zhou from Zhu's house and I both lived in Chongcheng County. When they mentioned the events of the past few days, they complained bitterly.

Previously, Zhang Chouqian didn't collect the garbage fees for several days in a row and didn't allow others to collect them either, which made everyone very uncomfortable. Then yesterday, Zhang Chuqian's men told them that from now on, his people would come to collect the garbage fees, and everyone had to pay.

A penny for every flush of the toilet… Wealthy families didn't care about such a small amount of money and readily gave it, but there were many families in the county town whose lives were not so affluent, and they struggled to maintain even basic necessities.

Even if they could barely maintain their livelihood… no one was willing to increase their expenses for no reason.

Many people took advantage of the late night when no one was paying attention to sneak into the city and secretly dump their chamber pots.

In addition to this… yesterday, Zhang Chuqian's men went around collecting fees and got into conflicts with many people. Then last night, Zhang Chuqian's men splattered excrement in front of the houses of those who had conflicts with them or simply held grudges against them.

Today, there was a foul smell wafting through many parts of the county town. When Zhou, the cook, stepped out of Zhu's house early in the morning, he almost stepped on something he shouldn't have.

Li Qingzhi: "…"

After Li Qingzhi got off the boat, Jin Xiaoshu escorted Jin Xiaoye near Sister Wang's house.

Jin Xiaoye agilely jumped off the boat and said to Jin Xiaoshu, "Xiaoshu, be careful later."

"Sis, I will," Jin Xiaoshu replied.

Jin Xiaoye thought for a moment and added, "Xiaoshu, wait for me. I'll get some goods for you. You can take them to sell in nearby villages later. It's been unsettled in the city these days."

Jin Xiaoshu agreed and stood at the bow of the boat waiting for Jin Xiaoye.

As he waited, Jin Xiaoshu suddenly saw Fang Jinniang.

Fang Jinniang was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, carrying a basket and strolling leisurely, just like yesterday.

After learning about Fang Jinniang's situation from Jin Xiaoye, Jin Xiaoshu realized that it was impossible between him and Fang Jinniang.

The age gap between them was quite significant, but that didn't really matter. After all, his uncle's wife was more than ten years older than his uncle!

His uncle couldn't afford to marry a wife, and somehow ended up getting involved with a married woman, who happened to be his aunt. Then his aunt abandoned her husband and son, packed up, and followed his uncle.

Because of this, there were fights on both sides back then. His aunt was determined to follow his uncle, and there was nothing they could do but let his uncle compensate them monetarily.

But his uncle didn't have money.

Later, they agreed to send his uncle to work as a laborer for five years, and the matter was settled.

If his uncle could marry a woman more than ten years older, what difference would it make if he married someone eight years older?

Jin Xiaoshu thought it was impossible, mainly because Fang Jinniang was exceptionally beautiful, she was the daughter of a scholar, and her mother had high expectations… She definitely wouldn't look at him!

But… his brother-in-law didn't have much knowledge, yet he was thinking of taking the imperial examination. If he thought about Fang Jinniang for a moment, maybe it wasn't impossible?

Jin Xiaoshu gritted his teeth and jumped off the boat towards Fang Jinniang.

Yesterday, when his sister took her husband to buy gifts for an apprenticeship, she bought some longans and gave him ten of them.

After returning home yesterday, he gave three to his dad, three to his mom, and kept the remaining four for himself, but he hadn't been willing to eat them.

Running up to Fang Jinniang, Jin Xiaoshu threw the four longans into the basket hanging from her arm. "Eat them!" he said, then ran off without looking back.

Fang Jinniang was a bit confused.

Someone suddenly ran up to her and said something about giving her something to eat… What was it that he gave her to eat? Who was that person?

Fang Jinniang could only see that the person had put something in her basket. She felt around and found a round object.

Picking it up and holding it in front of her eyes, Fang Jinniang realized it was a longan. The person must have given her more than one… She felt around in the basket and found a total of four longans.

When her father was still alive, she had eaten longans, but since he passed away, she hadn't had such snacks.

Her mother rarely bought them, and when she did, it was usually for her younger brother.

Fang Jinniang didn't know who gave her the longans. After thinking for a moment, she put the longans in her pocket and continued walking.

After giving the longans, Jin Xiaoshu didn't dare to look at Fang Jinniang's reaction. He returned to the boat and waited for a while before his heartbeat slowly returned to normal.

At this point, Jin Xiaoye came over with a package and told him the prices of each item. She also said, "Xiaoshu, these items add up to three hundred yuan. How much you can sell them for depends on your ability."

If she sells these items, selling them for four hundred yuan shouldn't be a problem, so she would net a profit of one hundred yuan.

Jin Xiaoshu took the goods and rowed away from Chongcheng County. Now he was even more motivated to make money!

He wanted to marry Fang Jinniang!

That afternoon, Li Qingzhi went to the county government office to visit County Magistrate Gou.

County Magistrate Gou was not a local of Chongcheng County, and he couldn't be a county magistrate in Chongcheng County forever, so he didn't buy a house in Chongcheng County.

Initially, he wanted to rent a house, but the rent in Chongcheng County was high, and since the government office was well-equipped, he simply brought his wife and children to live behind the government office.

Knowing that Li Qingzhi had come to visit, County Magistrate Gou had his steward bring him in.

County Magistrate Gou really liked the articles Li Qingzhi had written and was full of goodwill towards him.

"The humble one pays respects to Your Excellency, the County Magistrate." Li Qingzhi bowed and saluted County Magistrate Gou as soon as he saw him—there was no need to kneel before the county magistrate if it wasn't in court.

County Magistrate Gou helped Li Qingzhi up and asked with a smile about Li Qingzhi's injuries.

Li Qingzhi had experienced the end of the world and had survived until the end.

As someone who is not particularly strong in combat, it wasn't easy for him to do so, and it was also this experience that allowed him to perceive others' emotions keenly.

In addition, he genuinely liked everyone around him.

County Magistrate Gou's judgment back then not only saved Zhao Mancang but also prevented harm to other children… When Li Qingzhi looked at County Magistrate Gou, his eyes were full of admiration and affection.

Every word Li Qingzhi said touched County Magistrate Gou's heart.

County Magistrate Gou had initially thought that Li Qingzhi wrote about his solving cases to gain his appreciation, but after chatting with Li Qingzhi… he felt that Li Qingzhi's writing about his solving cases might be a source of sincere admiration for him!

Having seen countless people, County Magistrate Gou could feel that Li Qingzhi genuinely liked him!

Moreover, Li Qingzhi remembered clearly what was said in court that day…

As he spoke, Li Qingzhi took out a manuscript he had just finished writing and said, "Your Excellency, you work tirelessly for justice and redress grievances for the people. The humble one greatly admires you and wishes to compile your experience in solving cases into a book for future reference!"

County Magistrate Gou smiled with joy. "How could I write as well as you!"

Li Qingzhi said, "Why would Your Excellency say that? I am shallow in knowledge and have only written about three-tenths of Your Excellency's brilliance! Your Excellency in person is far more outstanding than what I've written!"

Li Qingzhi's expression was very sincere.

Even if Li Qingzhi was clearly trying to flatter, County Magistrate Gou would be happy to hear such words. Moreover, Li Qingzhi didn't seem like he was just flattering.

As Li Qingzhi and County Magistrate Gou chatted more, County Magistrate Gou couldn't help but say, "You have good knowledge and speak well. Your future must be smooth!"

After crossing over, Li Qingzhi spoke in the local dialect when talking to people. Most people in Chongcheng County only spoke the local dialect, and even Li Xiucai taught in the local dialect. When Li Qingzhi taught Jin Xiaoye, Li Damao, and Li Ermao to read, he also used the local dialect.

Speaking of which, when the original owner first arrived at Miaoqian Village, although he knew some of the local dialect, he didn't know much, so he didn't dare to talk to people much… But later, after being driven away and working as a laborer for five years with people from the same prefectural city, the original owner became fluent in the dialect.

But County Magistrate Gou was not from Jiangnan, so he didn't know the dialect of Chongcheng County at all; he only spoke Mandarin.

Of course, County Magistrate Gou had been in Chongcheng County for some time now, so he probably understood the dialect of Chongcheng County.

For this reason, when Li Qingzhi spoke to County Magistrate Gou, he used Mandarin, and the so-called Mandarin was highly similar to modern standard Mandarin.

The original owner spoke Mandarin with a heavy accent, probably afraid that someone would discover his identity by his accent. After he came to Chongcheng County, he had been enduring not speaking Mandarin.

For safety reasons, Li Qingzhi didn't use the Mandarin with the accent that the original owner used but directly used the standard Mandarin he had spoken for decades in his past life.

And to County Magistrate Gou, this was Li Qingzhi speaking Mandarin very well.

"Thank you for your kind words, Your Excellency! I'm still young and need to learn a lot from Your Excellency." Li Qingzhi smiled.

County Magistrate Gou had never heard of Li Qingzhi's name before and had thought that Li Qingzhi was just an ordinary person, but now… Li Qingzhi was not simple.

Not to mention anything else, Li Qingzhi spoke so well; he shouldn't be unknown.

County Magistrate Gou was quite puzzled and decided to ask directly.

Li Qingzhi didn't elaborate on his past, only mentioning that he had suffered from a serious illness that had delayed him for many years.

It was better not to publicize the matter of being bound to dig stones too much, lest it attract the attention of the Wang Family.

The stone quarry where the original owner worked belonged to a certain prince.

Of course, generally speaking, the people in the stone quarry wouldn't notice him.

The original owner was at the bottom of the stone quarry, and the supervisor above didn't even know him. Those who worked with him kept dying one after another, and he had already changed his appearance with his abilities… His appearance would gradually differentiate from that of the original owner.

Another point was that… there was more than one stone quarry for digging stones, and these stone quarries were not in Chongcheng County but in nearby counties.

Knowing that Li Qingzhi had suffered a serious illness, County Magistrate Gou could understand why he had been unknown all along.

Of course, some people still discovered this hidden talent of Li Qingzhi. Zhu Qian and Zhu Xunmiao, this father and son pair, held Li Qingzhi in high regard.

After chatting for a while longer, Li Qingzhi realized that County Magistrate Gou had developed enough goodwill towards him, so he said, "Your Excellency, there are many local tyrants entrenched in Chongcheng County, and you have been wronged."

These days, local powers were quite strong, and Chongcheng County was no exception. Despite being the county magistrate, many people in Chongcheng County didn't listen to County Magistrate Gou.

Not to mention anything else, just take the recent trouble caused by Zhang Chuqian… County Magistrate Gou certainly wouldn't want to see such a situation.

If an epidemic broke out in Chongcheng County due to sanitation issues, it would be County Magistrate Gou who would be in trouble. As for the money Zhang Chuqian earned… Zhang Chuqian wouldn't give County Magistrate Gou money, and County Magistrate Gou wouldn't even care about such a small amount of money.

However, County Magistrate Gou couldn't do anything. Zhang Chuqian was a local power figure with many underlings. In modern terms, he was the kind of person who needed to be cracked down on for criminal activities.

As an outsider county magistrate, County Magistrate Gou didn't dare to confront Zhang Chuqian directly!

Li Qingzhi didn't mention the plight of the people of Chongcheng County; he only sympathized with County Magistrate Gou's situation and condemned Zhang Chuqian for disturbing the peace of Chongcheng County out of greed.

County Magistrate Gou was aware of the recent events in the county. To some extent, he also had his own supporters.

Before meeting Li Qingzhi, County Magistrate Gou was already upset about the situation. If something were to happen in Chongcheng County, he would be seen as incompetent!

Even if nothing happened, how would outsiders perceive the foul-smelling situation in Chongcheng County? In the long run, the docks of Chongcheng County would become desolate.

Now, hearing Li Qingzhi's mention of it, County Magistrate Gou became increasingly angry.

"I live outside the city and have nothing to do with this matter, but I'm afraid you, Your Excellency, will be implicated," Li Qingzhi said with concern, looking at County Magistrate Gou.

Hearing Li Qingzhi's words, County Magistrate Gou couldn't help but feel moved. Li Qingzhi was just an ordinary commoner who didn't even live in the city, yet he was worried because of him.

"That man is behaving outrageously, but it's not easy to bring him to justice," County Magistrate Gou sighed.

Zhang Chuqian was a local power figure, closely related to many influential people in the area. His sister even married Sun Juren as a concubine.

If County Magistrate Gou went against Zhang Chuqian, he would offend a large group of people.

Moreover, what Zhang Chuqian did, like collecting money for emptying chamber pots, wasn't considered illegal. As for his underlings' bullying and assaulting people, Zhang Chuqian could simply claim ignorance and blame it on his subordinates, who would only receive mild punishment.

The county yamen's runners were familiar with each other, and the punishment they received would often be mitigated.

For instance, regarding imprisonment… in some cells, over a dozen people would be crammed together, making it difficult for them to even lie down straight. In other cells, however, they would be neatly arranged with furniture, and the inmates would be relatively comfortable. If they wanted something to eat, the cell boss would arrange for it.

"Your Excellency, I have an idea," Li Qingzhi said.

County Magistrate Gou looked at Li Qingzhi, and Li Qingzhi began to explain in a low voice.

Despite the vast difference in their statuses, after chatting for a while, County Magistrate Gou had grown quite fond of Li Qingzhi. He addressed him as his esteemed nephew and even invited Li Qingzhi to stay for dinner.

Li Qingzhi refused, saying, "Your Excellency, my wife is waiting for me at home."

Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Gou praised Li Qingzhi for his deep affection for his wife and then instructed the steward to escort Li Qingzhi out.

After Li Qingzhi left, County Magistrate Gou, in a very good mood, went to the study in the backyard and began reading the new story written by Li Qingzhi about solving cases.

The more he read, the happier County Magistrate Gou became. In Li Qingzhi's eyes, he turned out to be such a kind person.

According to Li Qingzhi, these manuscripts had already been circulated, and the people in Li Xiucai's school had all read them, and some even composed poems for him. That Zhang Chuqian must be dealt with, or those people might be very disappointed.

After leaving the county yamen, Li Qingzhi leisurely made his way to Sister Wang's residence.

As he walked, he contemplated what he needed to do next. Suddenly, he sensed malicious intent.

Without thinking, Li Qingzhi looked in a certain direction and saw Hong Hui sitting by the window of a two-story restaurant by the roadside, watching him.

Their eyes met, and both of them smiled and nodded at each other spontaneously.

But as soon as they looked away, Hong Hui's expression turned cold.

He had been keeping an eye on Li Qingzhi and naturally knew that Li Qingzhi had gone to the county yamen. He also found out that Li Qingzhi had written a book praising County Magistrate Gou.

This person was quite adept at ingratiating himself!

Hong Hui didn't care much about County Magistrate Gou. His teacher, Sun Juren, was quite influential in Chongcheng County, and County Magistrate Gou would likely leave in a few years, while Sun Juren would remain.

However, even so, Hong Hui felt a bit uncomfortable that Li Qingzhi had gained County Magistrate Gou's favor.

But soon, Hong Hui's mood improved.

He couldn't deal with Zhu Xunmiao for the time being, but as for Li Qingzhi… After some investigation, he knew exactly how to deal with him.

Li Qingzhi's wife ran a small business in the county, and it would be easy for him to ruin that business.

Hong Hui found out that a merchant had placed a large order with Li Qingzhi's wife, and today he was sitting here to treat that merchant to dinner.

Thinking of the merchant, Hong Hui's expression became even more unpleasant.

The Hong family was already short of money, but they still wanted to maintain their former status, leading to unusually high expenses. Unfortunately, the family members were not good at managing money.

His father had tried to do business when he was young, but not only did he fail to make money, he also lost a lot.

Before, he had deliberately befriended Zhu Xunmiao for the sake of the Zhu family's money, but Zhu Xunmiao had turned against him.

And now, his parents wanted him to marry a merchant's daughter.

Hong Hui didn't want to marry the merchant's daughter, especially since his parents had their eyes on Zhang Yunquan's daughter.

If Zhang Yunquan was already being called Zhang Chuqian by people, what would others think of him if he had such a father-in-law?

The more Hong Hui thought about it, the angrier he became. But when the servant reminded him that the guest had arrived… he greeted them with a smile on his face.

On the other side, Li Qingzhi saw the smile on Hong Hui's face after they exchanged glances and felt genuinely happy.

As long as he thought that even if Hong Hui hated him, he wouldn't jump down from upstairs to chase and bite him, he felt very happy.

The world was beautiful. Although there was occasionally a foul smell in the air, there were also various delicious food aromas.

Moreover, compared to the end times, these smells couldn't be considered much.

Seeing a vendor selling roasted pumpkin seeds by the roadside, Li Qingzhi bought some and ate them as he walked.

Hmm, he ate them without spitting out the shells.

He cracked open the pumpkin seeds, ate the kernels first, and then chewed up the shells before swallowing, not wasting anything.

When Li Qingzhi arrived at Sister Wang's house, it was already late.

Jin Xiaoye had already packed up and said to him, "Let's go back."

"Okay." Li Qingzhi followed Jin Xiaoye onto Jin Xiaoshu's boat.

Jin Xiaoshu had sold quite a few things today, earning nearly ninety wen in total. He was in a good mood and started chatting with Jin Xiaoye as soon as he saw her. While chatting, he rowed the boat quickly.

Their boat soon left the county town.

There were many people and boats in the county town, but there were few people outside the county town… Li Qingzhi asked Jin Xiaoshu, "Xiaoshu, you were beaten yesterday. Do you want revenge?"

Jin Xiaoshu didn't hesitate: "Of course!"

He really wanted revenge. Last night, lying in bed, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He wished he could scoop up two buckets of dung from his own toilet and splash it into Zhang Chuqian's house.

But he didn't do it in the end. He was afraid of being beaten to death.

Li Qingzhi asked, "Xiaoshu, do you want to go to Zhang Chuqian's house tonight and splash dung?"

Jin Xiaoshu looked at Li Qingzhi in shock. He didn't expect this cultured man to say such things.

Jin Xiaoye said, "What are you talking about! If someone finds out, what will happen? Xiaoshu will be beaten to death!"

Today during the day, Jin Xiaoye had been worried, afraid that someone would come to cause trouble for her and Jin Xiaoshu.

Zhang Chuqian had many people under him. If these people were to cause trouble for them…

"I was just joking. Xiaoshu doesn't need to do it. Someone else will do it tonight." Li Qingzhi said.

Jin Xiaoye was stunned. "What did you say?"

Li Qingzhi said, "I mean, someone will splash dung at Zhang Chuqian's house tonight."

"Is what you're saying true?" Jin Xiaoye asked.

"Of course it's true," Li Qingzhi smiled, "the county magistrate told me this. Don't tell anyone." In fact, this was his idea, and it was the first step.

Zhang Chuqian had quite some influence in Chongcheng County. It would be best to remove him all at once this time. If they were lucky, County Magistrate Gou might even regain some power.

"Brother-in-law, did you meet the county magistrate?" Jin Xiaoshu asked.

Li Qingzhi said, "Yes, I did. The county magistrate even invited me to dinner, but I refused."

Jin Xiaoshu said, "…Brother-in-law, how come you're also bragging now?"

Li Qingzhi laughed, "I'm not bragging. The county magistrate likes me very much and regards me as a close friend."

Jin Xiaoshu became even more suspicious.

But Jin Xiaoye was different. She had spent a lot of time with Li Qingzhi and knew that he had real abilities. "Xiaoshu, your brother-in-law isn't bragging. He's clever!"

Jin Xiaoshu reluctantly agreed, "Fine, if his sister believes him, then I'll reluctantly believe him too."

As soon as Li Qingzhi and his three companions arrived home, Li Damao and Li Ermao rushed out and hugged Li Qingzhi, saying, "Dad, I missed you so much!"

Li Qingzhi always told his two children that he Li Qingzhi always told his two children that he missed them, and in return, the two children also learned to express their longing for him. missed them, and in return, the two children also learned to express their longing for him.

Li Qingzhi said, "Dad misses you too, Damao, Ermao, come, let me give you a kiss!"

Li Damao and Li Ermao immediately raised their little faces, waiting to be kissed by Li Qingzhi.

After the kiss, Li Qingzhi took out some pumpkin seeds for them, saying, "Dad bought some pumpkin seeds in the county today, you can have them."

The two children took the pumpkin seeds and went to find Zhao Xiaodou.

Zhao Xiaodou was older than Li Damao and Li Ermao, and he usually took good care of them, so the two children didn't mind having him as an additional older brother at home, and even stuck to Zhao Xiaodou quite a bit.

Li Qingzhi could leave the two children at home with peace of mind because Zhao Xiaodou was there to look after them.

"Brother in law, can you give me some pumpkin seeds?" Jin Xiaoshu asked.

"You can go get them yourself," Li Qingzhi replied.

Upon hearing this, Jin Xiaoshu squeezed next to Li Damao and Li Ermao, took out a pouch, and started to fill it with pumpkin seeds until it was full.

Li Damao and Li Ermao watched as a third of the pumpkin seeds disappeared into Jin Xiaoshu's pouch.

Jin Xiaoshu felt a little embarrassed, "Damao, Ermao, Uncle will bring you some delicious snacks next time."

Li Damao said, "No need, Uncle, you don't have money."

Jin Xiaoshu cleared his throat, "Who said I don't have money? Your uncle is wealthy!"

"Alright." Li Damao didn't believe Jin Xiaoshu's words. He had seen it himself; his uncle gave their mother money every day!

Jin Xiaoshu didn't eat any pumpkin seeds; he put the pouch away and sat down at the table, waiting for dinner.

He was starving!

But things are much better now. Before, he only had two meals a day at Jin's house, and he was so hungry every day that he was almost eating grass like his brother-in-law.

Of course, he didn't eat grass; he usually just dug up some radishes or turnips from the field, washed them, and ate them directly. Sometimes he would sneak into the kitchen to eat the pickled vegetables his grandmother had prepared and stored in jars.

His grandmother would keep eggs and grains away from him, but the jar of pickled vegetables was always kept in the kitchen.

The food at Li's house today was still very good, with radish and egg soup, and steamed meat slices.

The meat was sliced thinly, drizzled with soy sauce, and steamed until cooked. It was delicious, especially when eaten with the meat soup, making people want to eat three more bowls.

Of course, the meat soup belonged to the three children, and no one else got to eat it.

Li Damao and Li Ermao were happily eating when someone came in from outside.

It was Aunt Jin, and seeing meat on the Li family's table, she swallowed her saliva, "Xiaoye, your family is really well-off, eating meat every day."

Jin Xiaoye said, "Ah Qing was injured, Damao and Ermao are growing up, so they eat a bit better now."

Aunt Jin eagerly looked at the dishes on the table, but Jin Xiaoye didn't invite her to sit down and eat.

Jin Xiaoye wouldn't do such a thing; if she did, what would happen if Aunt Jin me over for meals every day in the future?

After finishing the meal in no time, Jin Xiaoye gave Aunt Jin some pumpkin seeds, "Sister-in-law, did you come over for something?"

Jin Xiaogu said, "I have something to discuss! Xiaoye, aren't you familiar with Mr. Yao? Could you help me talk to him and ask him to take my son as his apprentice?"

Jin Xiaoye replied, "Why don't you talk to him yourself?" Aunt Jin was her sister-in-law, and also Jin Moli's sister-in-law. Why didn't she speak to him herself instead of him coming to her?

Aunt Jin looked embarrassed. "Mr. Yao said my son is still too young…"

Aunt Jin's son was not exactly young, so Mr. Yao's excuse was probably just a pretext. In plain terms, he was unwilling.

That was quite normal, considering Aunt Jin's son was a bit slow.

Aunt Jin constantly complained that her husband was dull and her son was slow, which was true. Her husband and son could handle farm work, but probably not much else.

Jin Xiaoye said, "Auntie, there's nothing I can do about it. My relationship with the Yao family isn't that great either."

In fact,Aunt Jin didn't think Jin Xiaoye had a great relationship with Mr. Yao either. Jin Xiaoye had never gotten along with Jin Moli, and Yao Zhenfu clearly disliked Li Qingzhi. Although the two families were neighbors, their relationship was probably superficial.

She had been rejected by Mr. Yao, so she came to Jin Xiaoye to try her luck. Whether Jin Xiaoye was willing to help or not didn't matter much.

Aunt Jin changed the subject, "Xiaoye, Yao Zuming said Mr. Yao's back probably won't get better, and he also said the Yao family will eventually be ruined by Yao Zhenfu…"

Li Qingzhi thought to himself, "…Yao Zuming sure talks a lot," though Aunt Jin was about the same!

After chatting for a while, Aunt Jin left, still unsatisfied.

Meanwhile, the Yao family next door was still lively. They only had six acres of land fields left, but they had quite a bit of dry land.

There was over one acre of vegetable fields around their house, and three acres of land with mulberry trees planted.

Now, even the unused parts of their vegetable fields had been carefully reclaimed, and even their mulberry tree field had been reclaimed to grow some vegetables.

Being Mr. Yao's apprentice meant a stable income in the future, so many young people in the village were eager for it.

"Mr. Yao's being too picky, it's just rowing a boat…" Li Laogen grumbled. Recently, no one was talking about Jin Xiaoye earning two silver coins a day. Instead, the villagers were all talking about Mr. Yao taking on apprentices.

"Mr. Yao still has connections," Jin Xiaoshu said, "If I didn't already have a boat, I'd definitely work for him!"

As Jin Xiaoshu mentioned Mr. Yao, on the other side, Mr. Yao also mentioned Jin Xiaoshu.

Mr. Yao said to his wife, "If Jin Xiaoshu didn't already have a boat, I would definitely take him as my apprentice." Jin Xiaoshu was still young, but he worked in the fields with Jin Dajiang. Jin Dajiang himself was hardworking and honest, so if he took Jin Xiaoshu as his apprentice, he would be assured.

But Jin Xiaoshu probably wouldn't agree now.

"Have you decided who to take as your apprentice?" Yao's mother asked, feeling a bit embarrassed by the enthusiasm of those people.

Mr. Yao also felt embarrassed. He could only take one apprentice, but there were several people working at his house… If he didn't make a decision soon, it would seem like he was deceiving them into working for him.

Mr. Yao said, "Let's choose Jin Sangshu."

Previously, Jin Moli's mother had come to their house with her three sons to cause trouble, and she had been quite rude to them. He was quite angry about that.

But after all, the two families were relatives; they were the grandmother and uncle of his grandson.

If he didn't choose someone from the Jin family this time, what would the Jin family think?

He hoped that his apprentice could assist his son and grandson, so it would be better to choose someone from the Jin family. Jin Liushu and Jin Zaoshu were lazy, but Jin Sangshu was okay. These past few days, Jin Liushu and Jin Zaoshu have brought him gifts and said a lot of flattering words, while Jin Sangshu… had helped with a lot of work.

"Alright." Yao's mother had no objections. She looked at the three brothers of Jin Moli, and Jin Sangshu was indeed a bit more hardworking.

The matter of Mr. Yao choosing an apprentice didn't have much to do with Li Qingzhi.

At this moment, what he cared about the most was the situation in the county.

That evening, Li Qingzhi lit a lamp and began to write something with a flourish.

"What are you writing?" Jin Xiaoye asked. She recognized some of the words Li Qingzhi was writing, but some were unfamiliar to her, and coupled with Li Qingzhi's sloppy handwriting, she found it a bit difficult to read.

"Some little stories," Li Qingzhi smiled.

Jin Xiaoye asked again, "Ah Qing, did you really meet the county magistrate today?"

"I did." Li Qingzhi thought for a moment and told Jin Xiaoye everything he had said and done after meeting Magistrate Gou today.

Jin Xiaoye listened thoughtfully.

Li Qingzhi was really good at flattery, and she wanted to learn that skill too.

The next day, they went to the county as usual.

The county… smelled worse than before.

Most households only had one chamber pot, and with so many people in the house, it couldn't be emptied every few days, but they also didn't want to spend money…

So last night, many people quietly emptied their chamber pots.

Jin Xiaoshu couldn't help but say, "We can't buy fish to eat these days!" Many of them were dumped into the river, and just thinking about it made him feel uncomfortable.

Li Qingzhi nodded in agreement and headed to the Zhu family as usual.

As soon as he entered the door, he met Zhu Qian, who asked, "Nephew, was it your idea for Magistrate Gou to deal with Zhang Chuqian?"

"It should be my idea," Li Qingzhi replied.

Zhu Qian was at a loss for words, then said, "Magistrate Gou asked me to find someone to pour manure at Zhang's house yesterday. I could only borrow a few reliable men from Uncle Ding…"

Li Qingzhi hadn't expected this job to fall into Zhu Qian's hands, feeling a bit embarrassed.

At this time, Zhu Qian continued, "Magistrate Gou asked us to go over early today." He was specifically waiting here for Li Qingzhi.

"Then let's go." Li Qingzhi said, knowing that something would happen at the county yamen this morning.

On the other side, after Jin Xiaoye dropped Jin Xiaoye near Sister Wang's house, he didn't leave immediately, but kept looking around.

After waiting for a while, he saw Fang Jinniang.

The young man ran towards Fang Jinniang and threw a pouch filled with pumpkin seeds into her basket, saying as usual, "For you to eat!"

Without waiting for Fang Jinniang to say anything, he had already run far away.

Fang Jinniang: "…" Who exactly was this person giving her food?

Fang Jinniang found a pouch in her basket and put it into her own pocket, then walked towards Sister Wang's house.

When Fang Jinniang arrived at Sister Wang's house, Sister Wang, Mrs. Xu, Jin Xiaoye, and the two old ladies responsible for shoe repair were already there, chatting.

"I heard that someone poured manure at Zhang Chuqian's doorstep!"

"I heard that too."

"In the past, whenever someone offended him, he would pour manure on them. This time, he's getting a taste of his own medicine!"

"There were a lot of people watching the commotion today. I heard he was really furious."

…

As they talked, one old lady said, "Zhang Chuqian is really despicable. Isn't the eldest son of the Wang family a bit slow? He used to wet his bed when he was ten or so… Zhang Chuqian's men dragged him into gambling dens and encouraged him to borrow money to gamble… Later, they even took away the Wang family's house."

"The most pitiful one is Lao Suntou. His nephew is no good, spending his days eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, borrowing money everywhere… Lao Suntou refused to lend him money, so they fell out. Unexpectedly, two years ago, his nephew became one of Zhang Chuqian's thugs. His nephew found excuses to break Lao Suntou's son's legs and even poured manure at their house every day… Their neighbors didn't dare to talk to them for fear of being implicated. Lao Suntou couldn't bear it and jumped into the river."

"And then there's the Zhou family…"

Jin Xiaoye, not being from Chongcheng County, didn't know about these things before. Now that she had heard them, she couldn't help but gasp in shock.

Zhang Chuqian and his henchmen were truly despicable.

Thinking about what Li Qingzhi planned to do, Jin Xiaoye said, "It used to be free to empty chamber pots, but now it costs one penny. Will it be two or three pennies in the future? Zhang Chuqian is so arrogant, no one can control him. What are we going to do in the future?"

Sister Wang and the others shuddered at Jin Xiaoye's words.

This really could happen, and if it did, what would they do?

At that moment, a woman who had come to find Jin Xiaoye for work said, "Oh, speaking of this… Yesterday, someone was caught red-handed while secretly emptying a chamber pot, and Zhang Chuqian's men beat him up and even pressed him into the chamber pot…"

As they chatted, an elderly man climbed to the entrance of the county yamen to lodge a complaint against Zhang Chuqian.

The bailiff who had a good relationship with Zhang Chuqian wanted to drive the man away, but was stopped by Magistrate Gou's people.

This old man used to be a night soil carrier, making a living by emptying chamber pots for people and then selling the fertilizer. This job didn't pay much; maybe he would earn ten wen a day if he was busy, but this amount of money was enough for him to eat and survive.

In the past, many people in the county made a living this way.

But now Zhang Chuqian has ruined their livelihoods, not allowing them to collect and sell the fertilizer anymore.

The year before last, these people had a very hard time. The man who accused Zhang Chuqian had been seriously injured not long ago because he emptied chamber pots for people. He, an elderly man with no children, had his legs broken, making it almost impossible for him to survive. Because of this, when someone asked him to accuse Zhang Chuqian, he agreed without hesitation and crawled to the county yamen to lodge a complaint.

Magistrate Gou had seen this old man and sent someone to summon Zhang Chuqian.

Just based on this incident, Zhang Chuqian couldn't be convicted. As expected, after arriving at the county yamen, Zhang Chuqian claimed he didn't know anything about it and completely shifted all the blame away from himself.

Li Qingzhi glanced at Zhang Chuqian from a distance.

This is a middle-aged man of about forty, with a fierce face full of flesh, probably because his own house was splashed with feces, his complexion is very bad, and he has a bad temper when facing County Magistrate Gou.

Zhang Chuqian was not afraid of County Magistrate Gou.

It is understandable. In Chongcheng County, if County Magistrate Gou wants to collect all the taxes, he must rely on some local forces. If he offends Zhang Chuqian, and Chuqian prevents him from collecting taxes, he won't be a good magistrate.

This person is really arrogant… After Zhang Chuqian left, Li Qingzhi found County Magistrate Gou who was upset by Zhang Chuqian.

He first comforted County Magistrate Gou, then said, "Sir, you can begin."

This is just the beginning.

After Zhang Chuqian swaggered out of the county government office, County Magistrate Gou, with tears in his eyes, personally took the old man who accused Zhang Chuqian to the clinic for treatment, paid for his medicine, and bought food for him.

The feces worker had always been doing the lowest of jobs, and no one respected him. Now, the county magistrate was so good to him that he was moved to tears.

Chongcheng County is not big, and many common people saw this scene.

"County Magistrate Gou is really a good person."

"Yes, the county magistrate is quite good."

"That Zhang Chuqian is really despicable."

"Why didn't the county magistrate arrest Zhang Chuqian?"

"The county magistrate may not have a way…"

…

As the people of Chongcheng County were discussing, someone suddenly said, "The county magistrate really has no way. Zhang Chuqian's brother-in-law is Sun Juren!"

"Last time when Zhang Chuqian beat someone, he proudly said his brother-in-law is Sun Juren!"

"Zhang Chuqian even said he could prevent County Magistrate Gou from becoming the magistrate!"

"Is Zhang Chuqian that powerful?"

"It's not just him, many powerful people in Chongcheng County, like Sun Juren, are related to him."

…

Along with such remarks, there were also some anecdotes circulating in Chongcheng County. These anecdotes were all tearful complaints from ordinary people about Zhang Chuqian's misdeeds!

Whether it was comments exposing Zhang Chuqian's background or stories accusing Zhang Chuqian, they were all spread by Li Qingzhi and County Magistrate Gou.

Li Qingzhi spread County Magistrate Gou's predicament to let the common people know about his difficulties.

The bad things Zhang Chuqian had done, he even turned into stories.

Zhu Family.

With a brush in his left hand, Li Qingzhi quickly wrote on the paper. In no time, a tear-jerking essay accusing Zhang Chuqian was written by him.

County Magistrate Gou stood aside, his disgust for Zhang Chuqian growing stronger. "This person truly commits numerous evils."

Zhu Qian replied, "I'll immediately have people copy it several times and spread it around!"

Li Qingzhi put down his brush. "Uncle Zhu, we can also have someone read it aloud in crowded places."

"It should be done!" Zhu Qian agreed.

Li Qingzhi had written several such essays last night and some more today. It was almost enough. "Now that it's almost done, all we need to do is push it in the direction we want."

"Nephew, your idea is really good," Zhu Qian said.

This time, County Magistrate Gou almost entirely relied on Zhu Qian to handle things, which Zhu Qian was delighted to do.

As long as he helped County Magistrate Gou accomplish this matter, he would certainly stand out in County Magistrate Gou's eyes in the future.

And with County Magistrate Gou as his patron, his business would inevitably thrive.

Li Qingzhi said, "This is just an ordinary idea, but it's successful because the county magistrate empathizes with the people."

"Indeed, the magistrate is truly a benevolent official, willing to sacrifice his own reputation to bring a bright day to the people," Zhu Qian hurriedly added. They had spread the news of County Magistrate Gou being sidelined by local forces in certain areas, which somewhat tarnished County Magistrate Gou's reputation.

But Zhu Qian didn't mention it, and County Magistrate Gou probably wasn't even aware of it.

Li Qingzhi and Zhu Qian praised County Magistrate Gou relentlessly, making County Magistrate Gou feel extremely pleased and considering the two as confidants.

"I haven't done much… It's Ah Qing who is the hero," County Magistrate Gou said.

"If it weren't for the county magistrate, how could I accomplish anything?" Li Qingzhi quickly replied.

County Magistrate Gou was deeply moved to see Li Qingzhi always putting him first and praised Li Qingzhi's handwriting with his left hand.

Li Qingzhi's handwriting wasn't pretty, but it had its own style within its vigorous strokes.

"I only practiced left-handed writing to capture the county magistrate's heroic spirit," Li Qingzhi looked sincerely at County Magistrate Gou. After all, everything was thanks to County Magistrate Gou!

The Zhu family was harmonious, but outside, the common people were becoming increasingly angry.

"That Zhang Chuqian is truly lawless."

"Who let his brother-in-law be Sun Juren?"

"Quick, go to the east of the city, someone is covering their face there and accusing Zhang Chuqian!"

…

The crowd rushed over, and there, the person arranged by Zhu Qian covered his face with cloth and was reading aloud the simple and tear-inducing essay written by Li Qingzhi. The first-person essay was very colloquial and moving, causing the listeners to uncontrollably wipe their tears.

Even the story of the son of Old Sun, whose leg was broken, telling others about his family's misfortune, wasn't as moving as this!

The people of Chongcheng County were already resentful towards Zhang Chuqian because of the incident with the chamber pots, and now, these emotions were further exacerbated.

Not only ordinary people were affected, but even scholars were influenced. The students in Li Xiucai's school were extremely disgusted with Zhang Chuqian.

Such a good county magistrate like County Magistrate Gou was actually being forced by Zhang Chuqian!

And those who were harmed by Zhang Chuqian were truly pitiful!

The younger students in the school were crying, and they cursed Zhang Chuqian.

Li Xiucai was also secretly cursing Zhang Chuqian.

With so many people in his family, and many people having chamber pots at home, everyone liked cleanliness… If Zhang Chuqian's plan truly succeeded, their family would only be emptying chamber pots, and they would earn barely a few coins a day.

And who knows if Zhang Chuqian's collections will keep increasing?

The entire Chongcheng County was in turmoil. Zhang Chuqian, who boasted "My brother-in-law is Sun Juren," was furious due to the two incidents of feces being thrown at his house and being sued.

Zhang Chuqian sent his men to find the person who threw feces at his house, and during their search, conflicts inevitably arose.

"Zhang Chuqian's men have beaten someone again!"

"Zhang Chuqian is going too far!"

"Why don't they arrest him?"

"I heard even the county government's bailiffs have been bribed by him."

"What should we do then?"

"The county town is getting worse and worse…"

…

The people of Chongcheng County complained, and it was at this time that some words spread: "Let's all go to the county government office tomorrow!"

"County Magistrate Gou is a good official, he will surely help us."

"We can't let Zhang Chuqian harm people anymore!"

"Sun Juren and his people are all related to Zhang Chuqian, only County Magistrate Gou can help us!"

…

After all, this was ancient times, and news spread slowly.

So by the time these messages spread, Li Qingzhi had already boarded Jin Xiaoshu's boat, ready to go home.

His idea was actually very simple, just to stir up public opinion and let the people of Chongcheng County collectively sue Zhang Chuqian.

Zhang Chuqian could indeed shake off the accusations against him, but if all the people in the city sued him… this was ancient times, and officials had to consider public opinion.

With the entire city demanding punishment for Zhang Chuqian, County Magistrate Gou could easily capture him.

If County Magistrate Gou were to inform the authorities in the capital… not to mention Zhang Chuqian, even those like Sun Juren who were connected to Zhang Chuqian would be in big trouble!

The original owner of Li Qingzhi's body had experienced many hardships and had witnessed scenes of great suffering.

But, overall, Daqi was peaceful.

In peacetime, if someone incites public anger… Zhang Yunquan was finished.

"Brother-in-law, yesterday someone really did throw feces at Zhang Yunquan's doorstep!" Jin Xiaoshu saw Li Qingzhi getting excited. "Brother-in-law, what you said yesterday was true?"

"Of course it was," Li Qingzhi said.

Jin Xiaoshu gasped, "Brother-in-law, how do you know County Magistrate Gou?"

"I wrote a book for County Magistrate Gou, and he liked it very much," Li Qingzhi said.

Jin Xiaoshu was a bit confused.

"I wrote Mr. Zhu's autobiography, and I wrote a book like that for County Magistrate Gou," Li Qingzhi explained.

"Such books! Brother-in-law, no wonder County Magistrate Gou likes you!"

"Using the word 'like' here isn't quite appropriate. 'Appreciate' would be better," Li Qingzhi corrected.

"I see. Brother-in-law, your books are really interesting. Can you read the rest to me?" Jin Xiaoshu really wanted to know the rest of the plot.

But Li Qingzhi refused him, saying, "Xiaoshu, I've been busy all day today and I'm tired. You should wait until your sister learns and let her read it to you." This way, he could encourage Jin Xiaoye to study.

"Ah Qing, you should go rest in the cabin!" Jin Xiaoye added.

Li Qingzhi didn't refuse. He had been with County Magistrate Gou all day today, his mind had been tense, and he was a bit weary.

And tomorrow, there was another tough battle to fight.

Chongcheng County, the Sun residence.

Sun Juren had known about the incident of his nephew helping people empty chamber pots for money a long time ago, as Zhang Yunquan had told him about it.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Helping people empty chamber pots should indeed be paid for. Otherwise, who would be willing to do such dirty work?

However, many people were unwilling to pay and even dumped waste secretly… Sun Juren thought these people were going too far.

And then today… not only did someone throw feces at Zhang Yunquan's residence, but someone also sued Zhang Yunquan. Sun Juren was very angry. He had almost sent someone to reassure Zhang Yunquan, telling him not to worry, and that if he needed help, he would assist him.

Until this moment, Sun Juren hadn't taken this matter seriously.

But this afternoon, one of Sun Juren's students hurriedly found him and told him about the rumors outside, saying, "Sir, now the people in the city all think that because of you, Zhang Yunquan dares to commit so many atrocities." This was actually true. Zhang Yunquan was indeed emboldened because of Sun Juren's support.

Sun Juren was wealthy, and he had never experienced hardships since childhood. He always looked down on the common people from above.

In his eyes, Zhang Yunquan's men only charged one coin for helping people empty chamber pots, which he thought was very little. He couldn't understand why those common people were unwilling.

But he cared about his reputation. Upon hearing the rumors, he became a bit restless and planned to discuss what to do about it tomorrow.

However, when he woke up… someone had also thrown feces at Sun Juren's doorstep.

This wasn't even arranged by Zhu Qian, but was done spontaneously by the people in the city.

The common people could endure a lot. Unless they were pushed to their limits, they wouldn't resist.

If Li Qingzhi hadn't intervened, after the city stank for a while, the people of Chongcheng County would probably have accepted the practice of emptying a chamber pot for one coin.

Of course, by that time, the rivers of Chongcheng County would certainly not be as clear as they are now, and the act of secretly dumping waste would certainly continue unabated.

But because of public opinion, things have changed now.

Early the next morning, people were clamoring around various parts of the county town, demanding County Magistrate Gou to punish Zhang Chuqian.

At first, the ordinary people in the city were hesitant and dared not actually go, but as they saw more and more people going…

So many people! Many people unconsciously joined the crowd.

Before long, it was crowded near the county government office even though the day had just begun.

The common people who came to the county government office found themselves surrounded by people who despised Zhang Chuqian. Amidst the discussions, their hostility towards Zhang Chuqian grew stronger.

When Li Qingzhi and Zhu Qian rushed to the vicinity of the county government office, they found themselves unable to squeeze in. And all around them, there were voices condemning Zhang Yunquan.

There was nothing more for them to do now.

This time, Zhu Qian stood on County Magistrate Gou's side and saw that he had won his bet. He was in a great mood and said to Li Qingzhi, "Nephew, shall we go to the tavern and have something to eat?"

"Sure." Li Qingzhi readily agreed. He couldn't refuse such a good thing as eating.

The two entered a nearby tavern, where many literati had gathered and were discussing Zhang Yunquan's affairs.

At such times, no one would praise Zhang Yunquan. Everyone was cursing him, but the literati cursed without using dirty words, which made Li Qingzhi feel relieved and silently learn.

As they talked, they inevitably talked about Sun Juren. A young man in his twenties said, "I have always admired Sun Juren, but I never thought he would be such a person!"

As soon as this person spoke, several others echoed his sentiment, expressing strong dissatisfaction with Sun Juren and feeling that he had condoned Zhang Yunquan's actions.

Some even felt that Zhang Yunquan's behavior was helping Sun Juren accumulate wealth.

As people became more and more angry, one of Sun Juren's students present couldn't bear it anymore and said, "Master Sun may not know about this!"

Sun Juren's student was bound to speak up for Sun Juren, but how could he contend against the crowd alone? The situation instantly became one-sided.

With the phrase "My brother-in-law is Mr. Sun" spreading throughout Chongcheng County, Sun Juren's reputation in the county had plummeted.

At this point, Sun Juren finally sensed that something was wrong. He sent someone to inquire about the situation outside and was horrified to learn that thousands of people had surrounded the county government office.

What was this? This was people inciting public anger!

With thousands of people surrounding the county government office, this was a serious matter!

If County Magistrate Gou were to report this matter to the prefect, the prefect would definitely send someone to investigate and appease the people. By then…

Too harsh! County Magistrate Gou was too harsh!

After becoming the County Magistrate of Chongcheng County, he pretended not to care about power, and he didn't bother with matters that didn't concern him. He only dealt with cases and ate food all day. And then, when they least expected it, he struck them hard.

Sun Juren hurriedly left his house and went to find Zhang Yunquan. However, on the way, someone threw rotten eggs at his sedan chair.

What on earth was going on?!

In the midst of his panic, Sun Juren didn't forget to have someone investigate the situation. And then, when he arrived at Zhang Yunquan's residence in a sorry state, someone delivered some sheets of paper to him.

The writings in these papers detailed all of Zhang Yunquan's misdeeds.

After reading several sheets of paper, Sun Juren didn't hesitate and slapped Zhang Yunquan across the face. "Are you courting death by acting so domineeringly?" he exclaimed.

Zhang Yunquan hurriedly protested, "Brother-in-law, it's a mistake! These things are all fabricated by someone!"

Zhang Yunquan was lying. The things written by Li Qingzhi were all based on facts. However, to avoid causing trouble for the victims, he would sometimes obscure some information when writing.

Sun Juren snapped back to reality and took another look at the papers. "These seem to be written by the same person… This must have been prepared by that surnamed Gou to frame you and me!"

Sun Juren felt that this matter must have been orchestrated by County Magistrate Gou for power.

This person's methods were truly vicious.

But he had no choice. Faced with this situation, he could only choose to make a bold move and sacrifice the smaller piece to save the larger.

Sun Juren said, "Zhang Yunquan, if you want to live, you should surrender with me to the county town."

Zhang Yunquan's face changed drastically. Just yesterday, he had gone to the county government office without fear. And now, they were asking him to surrender in the county town?

Sun Juren continued, "You have incited public anger. If you don't confess quickly, you might end up being executed and having your family property confiscated!"

Regardless of whether Zhang Yunquan was willing or not, Sun Juren ordered his men to tie him up and they set off for the county government office.

If County Magistrate Gou was willing, he could escalate the matter to the prefectural city, and both Sun Juren and Zhang Yunquan would meet a tragic end.

But this would not benefit him. If such a thing happened in Chongcheng County, the prefect would think he was incompetent, unable to manage even a small county.

Therefore, after Sun Juren brought Zhang Yunquan to the county government office and had him thrown into the dungeon, County Magistrate Gou came out to appease the people and persuaded them to disperse.

Immediately after, he sent people to arrest Zhang Yunquan's accomplices and threw them all into the dungeon.

While capturing the criminals, County Magistrate Gou also posted notices informing the people of the city that anyone who had been harmed by Zhang Yunquan or his subordinates should come forward and file a complaint at the county government office. He promised to investigate each case and punish the criminals accordingly.

For a moment, the people of Chongcheng County were overjoyed, as if they were celebrating the New Year.

"County Magistrate Gou is truly a good person!"

"Both Zhang Yunquan and his subordinates have been arrested! This is really great!"

"Zhang Chuqian deserves to be in jail!"

Zhang Yunquan was in prison, but Sun Juren was fine. Someone inevitably brought up the matter: "Why is Sun Juren fine?"

"Those things weren't done by Sun Juren, so of course he's fine."

"Sun Juren took Zhang Chuqian to the yamen, isn't that considered cutting ties with his own family for the greater good?"

…

Sun Juren himself hadn't done anything wrong, and on top of that, he was a master… so the common people could understand why he was fine.

But they didn't have any positive feelings for Sun Juren anymore. They felt that Sun Juren wasn't even worth a single hair on County Magistrate Gou's head.

Sun Juren was frustrated by this situation, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Not only had his reputation suffered, but he had also lost a considerable amount of power. After County Magistrate Gou got rid of Zhang Yunquan, those who hadn't taken him seriously before were now wary of crossing County Magistrate Gou. Some of them even actively sided with County Magistrate Gou. Finally, County Magistrate Gou gained full control of Chongcheng County.

County Magistrate Gou hadn't been interested in climbing the ranks before, but as power fell into his hands, his mindset changed. He began to consider making some achievements.

Most importantly, everyone in the county is praising him now.

Ultimately, County Magistrate Gou was just an ordinary person who cared about his reputation. When the people of Chongcheng County thought he was a good official, he also wanted to be a good official and not disappoint the people.

Li Qingzhi saw this change in County Magistrate Gou's mindset.

He thought it was a good thing and even considered adding fuel to the fire to make the people of Chongcheng County believe even more firmly that County Magistrate Gou was a good official.

He found Zhu Qian and said, "Uncle Zhu, can we have storytellers in the county tell the stories I wrote about County Magistrate Gou solving cases?"

After Li Qingzhi crossed over to this world, he wrote books for Zhu Qian, Ding Xi, and County Magistrate Gou.

He wrote autobiographies for Zhu Qian and Ding Xi, who were both merchants. These two books were basically for their own entertainment, to be kept at home as family heirlooms for future generations to read.

If they tried to sell these autobiographies in a bookstore or have storytellers tell them, it wouldn't be appropriate. As businessmen, if they were too high-profile, they would definitely be criticized by literati, which wouldn't benefit them.

But County Magistrate Gou was different.

He didn't write an autobiography for County Magistrate Gou; instead, he wrote stories about County Magistrate Gou solving cases, which were very suitable for storytellers to tell.

Now that County Magistrate Gou had just helped the people of Chongcheng County get rid of a malignant tumor, it was only natural for the storytellers in the county to sing his praises.

When Zhu Qian heard Li Qingzhi's suggestion, his eyes lit up. "I'll arrange it right away."

"Thank you, Uncle Zhu," Li Qingzhi said.

"No problem at all. The more of these things, the better," Zhu Qian smiled. Helping find storytellers and having them tell stories about County Magistrate Gou would surely make County Magistrate Gou very happy.

When County Magistrate Gou was happy, Zhu Qian would benefit as well.

He was eager to do things like this every day.

Chongcheng County has a dedicated Chamber of Commerce. The previous president of the Chamber of Commerce was someone similar to Sun Juren, who had some influence over local affairs and had many followers.

Zhang Yunquan had a good relationship with this person.

Now that Zhang Yunquan had fallen from grace, this person's influence had suffered a significant blow. Some businessmen who had previously followed this person were now trying to curry favor with County Magistrate Gou out of fear of being targeted.

Zhu Qian thought he might be able to take over the position of president of the Chamber of Commerce.

He obtained such great benefits, and Li Qingzhi wouldn't receive any fewer benefits. Not to mention, in the upcoming county exam, Li Qingzhi will definitely be able to pass it effortlessly.

As long as Magistrate Gou lends a hand, even if Li Qingzhi isn't very knowledgeable, passing the scholar exam will be no problem, not to mention Li Qingzhi's photographic memory!

Li Qingzhi's future is boundless.

Zhu Qian said, "Ah Qing, when you achieve success in the future, you must remember to help your Uncle Zhu."

"Uncle Zhu, you're saying this… I'm afraid I'll need to rely on you in many ways in the future." Li Qingzhi smiled and replied.

After chatting for a while, Li Qingzhi bid farewell to Zhu Qian and headed to Sister Wang's residence.

On the way, Li Qingzhi encountered several righteous officials who were cleaning up the feces that the common people had scattered in the city over the past few days. The spirits of the common people along the way were much better than before, talking excitedly about how Zhang Yunquan had been arrested yesterday.

The people of Daqi were accustomed to enduring hardships, but this time they rebelled, and their rebellion succeeded… This was a significant event for them.

Those who had been to the county yamen were even more excitedly sharing their experiences: "There were thousands of us, and we surrounded the county yamen. Magistrate Gou saw us and knew that we had been bullied by Zhang Yunquan. His eyes turned red, and he promised to give us justice."

"Magistrate Gou is truly majestic!"

"Zhang Yunquan was brought here tied up by Sun Juren. He didn't even dare to lift his head!"

"I spat on Zhang Yunquan! Unfortunately, I didn't have rotten vegetables or rotten eggs."

"Magistrate Gou is truly a good official!"

…

Li Qingzhi leisurely arrived at Sister Wang's residence and overheard Sister Wang lamenting, "Why didn't I go to the county yamen yesterday! If I had known, I would have gone!"

Whether it was Sister Wang or Mrs. Xu, neither of them had gone to the county yamen yesterday. As women, they felt it wasn't appropriate to squeeze with a group of men, so they stayed at home all day.

Jin Xiaoye said, "There were so many people yesterday, we might not have been able to see anything even if we had gone."

"But we could have seen something, right? Many people saw Zhang Yunquan being taken away!" Sister Wang said, "Xiaoye, that rascal who overturned my toilet and beat up the little tree, he was also arrested this morning!"

"That's good," Jin Xiaoye continued working.

Sister Wang couldn't help but say, "Xiaoye, with such a big event happening, how can you still focus on work?"

Jin Xiaoye sighed, "What else can I do? We have a big order to fulfill by the end of the month."

In fact, Jin Xiaoye was also very concerned about this matter, even more so than Sister Wang. After all, this was Li Qingzhi's idea.

Because her brother had been beaten, Li Qingzhi came up with the idea to have Zhang Yunquan arrested by Magistrate Gou… Jin Xiaoye felt her heart pounding rapidly and couldn't help but think of Li Qingzhi.

Forget it, stop thinking and focus on work!

Taking a deep breath, Jin Xiaoye continued with her work.

However, just then, Li Qingzhi's voice rang out, "Xiaoye."

"Xiaoye, your husband is here to see you again," Sister Wang winked at Jin Xiaoye.

She used to feel a lot of sympathy for Jin Xiaoye. Her husband was always away on business, which made her feel like she was enduring a lot. But now, she felt a bit envious of Jin Xiaoye.

Although Li Qingzhi wasn't in the best of health, just by looking at him, she could tell he valued Jin Xiaoye greatly.

"Husband," Jin Xiaoye smiled and called out, moving a bamboo chair next to the two old ladies with worn-out shoes. "Husband, please wait a moment, I'll be done soon."

"Okay," Li Qingzhi replied.

There were very few chairs in Sister Wang's house, to the extent that the last time Li Qingzhi came over, there wasn't even a chair for him… So Jin Xiaoye took the initiative to buy a few bamboo chairs, so she wouldn't have to worry about Li Qingzhi not having a place to sit.

The two old ladies with worn-out shoes were already familiar with Li Qingzhi, so they asked him, "Xiao Li, did you go to the county yamen yesterday?"

"I did," Li Qingzhi replied.

Yesterday, he had been staying on the second floor of the tavern, observing the situation at the county yamen. He had witnessed Sun Juren taking Zhang Yunquan to the county yamen.

Both Sun Juren and Zhang Yunquan were quite timid.

But it was better for them to be timid. If they were bold… There were military troops stationed nearby!

"What did you see? Tell us quickly!" The two old ladies looked at Li Qingzhi expectantly.

Li Qingzhi described some of the things he had seen vividly.

Everyone present listened with great interest. Sister Wang said, "Scholars are indeed different, you tell the story so well!"

Li Qingzhi waited for a while, and when Jin Xiaoye finished her work, she packed up her things and brought the goods intended for Jin Xiaoshu. She said to Li Qingzhi, "Ah Qing, let's go."

The two of them left Sister Wang's house together. After they left, Sister Wang said to Mrs. Xu, "I envy Xiaoye so much. My wretched husband, who knows when he'll come back!"

Mrs. Xu smiled but didn't say anything. At least Sister Wang had something to look forward to. She didn't even have a husband anymore.

At this moment, Fang Jinniang finished her work and said to Sister Wang, "Sister Wang, I'm also going home now."

"Be careful on the way," Wang Jie said.

"I will," Fang Jinniang smiled. Her vision was blurry, but fortunately, she wasn't completely blind, so she had no problem walking on the road.

Fang Jinniang walked through the alley and slowly made her way home. After about fifteen minutes, she arrived at her doorstep.

The door to her house was open. As she approached, she heard her mother's gentle voice say, "Ah Jian, you've been studying hard. Have some sweet soup and eggs."

Fang Jinniang paused.

At that moment, Mrs. Fang also saw Fang Jinniang and immediately turned cold. "Why are you just coming back now? Don't you know you should come back earlier to help me with cooking?"

Fang Jinniang said, "Mother, it was you who told me to do more work."

"I also told you to bring the work home and do it, but I didn't see you listen!" Mrs. Fang said sharply. "That Jin Xiaoye cursed at me before, and yet you still went to do work for her. You're really heartless!"

"Mother, you were the one who sent me there," Fang Jinniang whispered.

Mrs. Fang raised her voice and said, "You've really grown wings now, not even listening to a word I say!"

Fang Zijian, who was eating sweet soup and eggs on the side, also chimed in, "Big sister, how can you argue with mother? Hurry up and apologize."

Fang Jinniang could only say, "Mother, I'm sorry."

Mrs. Fang acted as if she hadn't heard, only saying to Fang Zijian, "Ah Jian is the obedient one."

Fang Zijian said, "Mother, you've worked hard. Let's each have one of these sweet soup eggs."

"No need, Ah Jian, you have it," Mrs. Fang replied.

The mother and son displayed filial piety, and in the end, Fang Zijian enjoyed both sweet soup eggs.

"Dinner's ready," Fang Jinniang's sister, Fang Xiuniang, whispered.

Mrs. Fang quickly stood up to serve the food.

The Fang family's income wasn't low, but because they rented their home and had to support Fang Zijian's studies, they weren't well-off.

In the evening, they still drank porridge at home. There were only a few grains of rice in the porridge in front of Fang Jinniang, and she and her sister only had a little pickled vegetables to eat.

In front of Fang Zijian, who had just eaten the sweet soup eggs, there was even a peeled century egg.

Fang Jinniang had asked Jin Xiaoye not to give the money to her mother, but she hadn't told her mother about it.

When she returned home that day, she told her mother that Jin Xiaoye didn't want her to bring the work home, but seeing her pitiful state, she allowed her to work at Wang Jie's place.

She also mentioned her poor eyesight, so she didn't earn much in a day.

As for the wages… the wages from Jin Xiaoye were usually settled monthly.

She thought, if her mother treated her better, she could give her mother some money after a while.

But her mother probably thought she couldn't earn much, so she treated her worse and worse, not even giving her enough food to eat.

If it weren't for being able to eat enough at Sister Wang's place at noon, she might have fainted from hunger.

For years, Fang Jinniang had always felt suffocated in the presence of her mother.

Her mother would always find fault with her for no reason at all.

She used to endure it, but now… she wanted to leave.

The owner of the Shokeeper Jin's had lived alone before and still managed to support two children… so couldn't she do it too?

Fang Jinniang and her sister, Fang Xiuniang, lived in the same room, but when she went to bed, Fang Xiuniang was still working outside.

Fang Xiuniang's embroidery work wasn't as good as hers, but it wasn't bad either. Plus, her eyesight was better… In the past year, Fang Xiuniang has earned more money than her.

Her younger sister was already eighteen, but like her, she hadn't married yet. Her vision for distant objects was becoming increasingly blurry.

"Ah Jian, reading at night is bad for your eyes; stop reading… Xiuniang, take your work to Aunt Li's and save us some lamp oil!" Mrs. Fang said. Fang Xiuniang left with her embroidery.

Fang Jinniang used to do the same thing, taking her embroidery work to other people's houses at night and not lighting the lamp at home.

Places closer to the lamp would be a little brighter, but that lamp belonged to someone else's house, so they naturally wouldn't let her sit near it to work…

It was because she had done so much embroidery work in the dim light that her eyesight had gotten worse.

About six months ago, she finally came to her senses and stopped working tirelessly under the excuse of not being able to see clearly. Then she couldn't even eat a full meal at home.

Her stomach was very hungry. Fang Jinniang couldn't help it and took out the peanuts that someone had thrown into her basket this morning, slowly eating them.

She didn't know who had sent these, and originally didn't want to eat them.

But she couldn't return them, and lately she hadn't been able to eat enough at home, so she decided to eat them.

She had already saved some of her wages from Jin Xiaoye, but it wasn't enough for food. She would repay the debt in the future.

After Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye boarded Jin Xiaoshu's boat, Li Qingzhi took out a bag of persimmon cakes and gave one to Jin Xiaoye. "Xiaoye, today the Zhu family's snacks are persimmon cakes. I think they're quite delicious. You should try one too."

Jin Xiaoye took the persimmon cake. "How could you bring back the snacks they served? That's embarrassing."

"It's fine, Uncle Zhu is used to it," Li Qingzhi laughed. When he went to Magistrate Gou's place, he never took away the snacks the servants brought out; he always just tasted them and left. But it was different at the Zhu family's; he had taken away so many snacks so many times, so one more time wouldn't matter.

Besides… this was actually arranged by Zhu Qian, who had given him extra.

"Brother-in-law, can I have one too?" Jin Xiaoshu asked.

"Sure," Li Qingzhi gave Jin Xiaoshu three. "Xiaoshu, one is for you, and the other two are for your parents to try."

"Thank you, brother-in-law!" Jin Xiaoshu carefully wrapped up the persimmon cakes.

He was very greedy, but he didn't intend to eat them.

That persimmon cake was intended for Fang Jinniang tomorrow.

Every time he went to give her things, Fang Jinniang would stare at him blankly and even try to grab his clothes… She was really too cute!

If he gave her more things, maybe Fang Jinniang would start to like him.

Jin Xiaoshu could see that Fang Jinniang wanted to talk to him. This morning, she even chased after him for a few steps, but then suddenly stopped.

But he didn't dare to say too much to Fang Jinniang, fearing that she would reject him.

He was just a rough guy; the first time he met Fang Jinniang, he was kicked into the river…

Every time he thought of this, Jin Xiaoshu felt regretful.

Li Qingzhi glanced at Jin Xiaoshu and vaguely guessed what was going on.

Before, when he brought things back from the Zhu family, Jin Xiaoshu wouldn't actively ask for them. But after receiving them, he would quickly eat them.

But recently… Jin Xiaoshu not only actively asked for them, but also didn't eat them after receiving them.

Did Jin Xiaoshu have someone he liked? Did he give these snacks to someone else?

In Li Qingzhi's eyes, Jin Xiaoshu was still young, but in this era… there were plenty of people who got married at fifteen or sixteen.

Li Qingzhi remembered that the original owner had attended a wedding at a wealthy household in Yu County once. The groom was only thirteen years old, and on the day of the wedding, he was still wearing his wedding attire, playing around with a group of children…

At least Jin Xiaoshu was already sixteen, so it was perfectly normal for him to have someone he liked.

"Sis, I sold quite a bit of stuff today…" Jin Xiaoshu said to Jin Xiaoye while rowing the boat, telling her about his day.

Jin Xiaoshu was quite busy during the day. He still had to go home to sleep at night, so he definitely didn't have time to do anything with any girls. He probably just managed to find some time to talk and maybe give a gift.

Li Qingzhi relaxed and continued to listen to Jin Xiaoshu.

They soon returned to the village.

The news of Zhang Yunquan's arrest had only spread in the village today, so as soon as Li Qingzhi and the others got off the boat, people came to inquire about Zhang Yunquan.

Li Qingzhi explained everything carefully to them.

The villagers were all pleased to hear it: "Zhang Chuqian got caught, will fertilizers be cheaper from now on?"

"It definitely will be cheaper!"

"That's great!"

"Magistrate Gou is a good man!"

…

The villagers were just as happy as the people in the county town.

Although the amount of money they could save wasn't much, for the villagers, even saving a penny was good, as it could buy a large block of tofu!

Just as they were talking, another boat arrived—it was Mr. Yao's boat.

However, it wasn't Mr. Yao who was rowing the boat, but Jin Xiaoye's cousin, Jin Sangshu.

Uncle Jin's family had three sons in total, and Jin Sangshu, the middle one, had never been given much attention. But this time, he stood out and became Mr. Yao's apprentice.

Jin Sangshu, who had never been highly regarded in the village, suddenly became the envy of everyone in the village.

Mr. Yao's back was still not well, so after Jinsangshu moored the boat, he helped Mr. Yao off the boat, handling everything with special care.

Li Qingzhi could see that was very satisfied with this apprentice.

Back home, the first thing Li Qingzhi did was naturally to greet Li Damao and Li Ermao. After finishing that, he took out the persimmon cakes and gave one to each of them, then gave one each to Li Laogen and Zhao Xiaodou.

There were still two persimmon cakes left. He planned to give them to Li Damao and Li Ermao tomorrow morning.

"Persimmon cakes, I've never had them before!" Li Laogen was particularly happy holding the persimmon cake.

There were persimmon trees in the village, so he had eaten persimmons before, but he had never had persimmon cakes.

"Persimmon cakes are quite delicious. Dad, if you like them, I'll buy some for you next time." Li Qingzhi said.

"Who needs it? You don't have to buy it for me… Persimmon cakes are so delicious, who wouldn't like them?" Lilaogen took a bite of the persimmon cake and said he didn't need Li Qingzhi to buy them, but he looked at Li Qingzhi expectantly.

It was clear that he wanted them, so Li Qingzhi made a mental note to buy some next time.

During dinner, Li Laogen kept talking about what happened in the village today, such as the quarrel between Uncle Jin's wife and Jin Sangshu's wife.

Rural life was truly colorful.

The next day, Li Qingzhi went to the county town as usual.

Because he had come up with the idea to bring down Zhang Yunquan, the magistrate of Gou County valued him a lot now. Since he planned to maintain a good relationship with the magistrate, he definitely had to go there more often.

Li Qingzhi went to the Zhu family first, then went to the county office with Zhu Qian.

When they arrived at the county office, the magistrate of Gou County was already energetically handling official business.

He had never been so diligent before, but now… he practically held the real power, didn't he?

"Old Zhu, Xiao Li, you're here!" The magistrate of Gou County saw them and warmly greeted them, then talked about the aftermath of Zhang Yunquan's arrest.

Many of Zhang Yunquan's subordinates had been arrested, most of whom had done something wrong to varying degrees. Many people had come to report them yesterday, but there were too many people, so it was a bit troublesome to deal with them.

Li Qingzhi said, "Your Excellency, you're really considerate of the people! If you think it's troublesome for the people to report crimes, why not have two people at the gate of the county office to help the people write their complaints? Then, after a few days, you can interrogate them one by one."

Actually, the magistrate of Gou County thought it was troublesome to handle so many cases, but in Li Qingzhi's words, it became his concern for the people's inconvenience in reporting crimes.

Moreover, Li Qingzhi's idea was very good.

The magistrate of Gou County said, "Tell me more about it."

Li Qingzhi explained in detail.

In fact, it was quite simple. They would spend a few days registering the situation of the people who reported crimes, then write a complaint for them. After waiting a few days, they would interrogate each of the accused.

"Your Excellency, when the time comes, you can openly interrogate these people and allow the people to watch. This will definitely make the people of Chongcheng County even more appreciative of you!" Li Qingzhi said.

The magistrate of Gou County slapped the table. "Great idea!"

The hooligans under Zhang Yunquan's command had often bullied the people of Chongcheng County, so the magistrate knew that if he were to interrogate these people publicly, his prestige in Chongcheng County would be unmatched.

Although having too many people watching might cause some disturbance, as long as it was arranged properly, there would be no problem!

The three of them discussed it and not long after, someone came to find the magistrate of Gou County.

The magistrate, who used to be quite idle, was now busy.

At noon, the magistrate of Gou County treated Zhu Qian and Li Qingzhi to a meal at a nearby restaurant.

Zhu Qian thanked the magistrate of Gou County, then, when the magistrate wasn't paying attention, instructed his servant to make arrangements.

Li Qingzhi was close enough to hear him instructing the servant to arrange for a storyteller to come to the restaurant… The magistrate of Gou County should be very happy with this meal today.

Indeed, the magistrate of Gou County was very happy. Since he had left home today, he had been watched by people with eyes full of love, and not only that, from time to time, people would suddenly rush out and kneel in front of him, calling him "Master Qingtian."

Where had the magistrate of Gou County ever encountered such a thing before? He was extremely excited for a moment!

They took their time getting to the restaurant and spent quite some time there. When they finally arrived, they found a storyteller in the restaurant telling stories about the magistrate of Gou County!

"Then, when that person was brought to the yamen, the magistrate took a closer look and noticed many issues…" The storyteller spoke with a rhythm that captivated the audience, who responded with intermittent cheers.

The storyteller became even more enthusiastic.

The magistrate of Gou County glanced at Li Qingzhi beside him. "This…"

Li Qingzhi responded, "Your Excellency, the people of the city are grateful for your benevolence, which is why they are so appreciative."

The magistrate of Gou County beamed. "I haven't really done much…"

"How can you say that? You've eradicated a great menace to our Chongcheng County!"

In the storytelling and Li Qingzhi's flattery, the magistrate of Gou County suddenly felt that he owed it to the people of the city to be a good official.

With this in mind, the magistrate asked Li Qingzhi, "Xiao Li, have the people of the city encountered any difficulties in their daily lives?"

If these people had any problems they wanted to solve, he could help.

Li Qingzhi replied, "Your Excellency, you truly care for the people! I will visit the people and inquire about their hardships on your behalf."

Li Qingzhi did have some matters he wanted the magistrate to address for the people, but since Zhang Yunquan's case hadn't been completely resolved yet, there was no rush.

Moreover, when posing questions, it was best to provide solutions at the same time. To come up with good solutions, he needed to gather information first.

"Excellent!" The magistrate of Gou County was delighted.

Li Qingzhi's words and actions were indeed appropriate!

Such talent deserved recognition in the county examination.

Well, showing favoritism wasn't ideal, but as long as Li Qingzhi's knowledge was good, he would definitely be promoted.

The magistrate of Gou County was in a good mood, ordering quite a few dishes and constantly urging Li Qingzhi to eat more.

After eating for a while, the magistrate of Gou County asked Li Qingzhi, "I heard that my nephew intends to participate in the county exam next year? What books have you been studying now?"

The magistrate of Gou County had known Li Qingzhi for several days, but they had been discussing how to deal with Zhang Yunquan's matter before, without touching on scholarly matters.

Now, the magistrate of Gou County wanted to gauge Li Qingzhi's knowledge.

If Li Qingzhi was knowledgeable, he could give Li Qingzhi a case head. If Li Qingzhi's knowledge was lacking, he could give some guidance to ensure Li Qingzhi passed the county exam, and even the subsequent provincial and metropolitan exams should not be a problem.

However, the later imperial exams would depend on Li Qingzhi's own abilities.

Li Qingzhi had previously met with Li Xiucai and had already experienced such a situation.

Since he intended to pursue the path of the imperial examinations, he wouldn't hide his knowledge. Li Qingzhi immediately stated that he had memorized the Four Books and Five Classics, and had also memorized some annotations from different scholars, but he was lacking in writing essays.

The magistrate of Gou County was astonished, much like Li Xiucai: "You've memorized the Four Books and Five Classics?"

"I have a good memory," Li Qingzhi smiled.

The magistrate of Gou County immediately asked some questions for Li Qingzhi to answer. Li Qingzhi answered fluently, showing that he was very familiar with the classics.

"Excellent!" The magistrate of Gou County was pleasantly surprised.

Li Qingzhi's basic skills were extremely solid!

With such a solid foundation, why worry about not passing the imperial examinations?

Moreover, Li Qingzhi could memorize so much, which also indicated his intelligence.

As for Li Qingzhi's lack of essay writing… Considering that Li Qingzhi's family was not wealthy and he couldn't afford a famous teacher, it was normal for his essays to be lacking. He just needed to practice more.

The magistrate of Gou County became more and more excited as they talked, and his impression of Li Qingzhi became better and better.

If the magistrate of Gou County were younger now and encountered such a talented student like Li Qingzhi, he might have felt jealous, but the magistrate of Gou County was not young anymore, and he had already completed the imperial examination path.

He was now a county magistrate, and the number of scholars produced by Chongcheng County, where he was located, was his political achievement!

The better Li Qingzhi's knowledge, the greater the benefits he would bring.

The magistrate of Gou County immediately expressed that if Li Qingzhi encountered any problems in his studies, he could come to him for advice, and he also said that there were many books in his study that he could lend to Li Qingzhi to read.

Li Qingzhi immediately got up, bowed in thanks, and praised the magistrate of Gou County both overtly and covertly, flattering him repeatedly.

While doing so, he didn't forget to taste the delicacies on the table, eating more than the other two combined.

However, after eating almost enough, Li Qingzhi stopped using his chopsticks and didn't ask for leftovers.

In front of the magistrate of Gou County, he still had to maintain some semblance of decorum.

They enjoyed the meal, and when they left, the storyteller was still narrating stories about the magistrate of Gou County.

The corners of the magistrate of Gou County's mouth were always turned up.

Li Qingzhi didn't stand on ceremony with the magistrate of Gou County. He borrowed two books from the magistrate's study before leaving the county office.

Li Qingzhi was currently riding high on success, while on the other hand, Hong Hui was at a low point.

Hong Hui had a very good reputation in Chongcheng County before, being recognized by the people as the most knowledgeable young person in the city. People even considered him gentle and modest.

But the incident where the Hong family condoned his brother's beating of others had damaged his reputation. That alone might have been manageable, but now, Sun Juren's reputation has also plummeted.

He not only lost a powerful backer, but the people in the city even suspected him of colluding with Zhang Yunquan.

The only good thing was that he no longer had to marry Zhang Yunquan's daughter.

Hong Hui was well aware that as a disciple of Sun Juren, he couldn't sever his ties with him. Therefore, after Sun Juren encountered trouble, he had been comforting him.

But today at noon, he left the Sun family and once again entertained the businessman who placed a large order with Jin Xiaoye at the restaurant.

This merchant was surnamed Wu, named Wu Baichuan. His business was doing well, although not as well as Zhu Qian's, but it was still quite good, with a large ship of his own.

Wu Baichuan's business mainly involved transporting goods from Jiangnan to the capital for sale, and then buying goods from the capital to sell in Jiangnan.

The goods from Jiangnan were novel in style and were very popular among the people of the capital. As for the goods from the capital, after they were brought to Jiangnan, they were said to be used by the palace maidens, naturally causing a lot of people to rush to buy them.

Not long ago, while strolling through Chongcheng County, Wu Baichuan happened upon a clothing store. He noticed the shop assistant selling supposedly novel and exquisite small items said to be from the capital city. Intrigued, he took an interest.

Having traveled extensively, Wu had seen many things, but this fresh style caught his eye. If he took these items to the capital, they would surely sell well.

However, Wu knew these couldn't have come from the capital. He had just come from there and hadn't seen anything like them. After a bit of inquiry, Wu learned about Jin Xiaoye and promptly placed a large order with her.

There was a large trading company in the capital planning to organize a fleet to sail north in early November. Wu paid up, and his ship could join that fleet. They would reach the capital during the New Year, which was guaranteed to bring in substantial profits.

In order to make money, they were willing to endure the cold journey north even in the depths of winter.

Wu hadn't planned to tamper with the order since Jin Xiaoye's asking price wasn't high. At this price… delivering the goods to the capital and doubling the price was no problem.

The fabrics from Chongcheng County that were unavailable in the north would easily fetch double in the capital, let alone the finished products!

However, what Wu Baichuan didn't expect was that shortly after placing the order with Jin Xiaoye, someone approached him, asking him to breach the contract and reject the shipment.

For Wu Baichuan, this would result in a significant loss. He wasn't too happy about it, but the person who approached him was Hong Hui.

Hong Hui was from the Hong family and was a student of Sun, a respected figure in the county. Wu had vaguely heard some rumors indicating that the Hong family intended to arrange a marriage with the Zhang family, proposing that Hong Hui marry Zhang Yunquan's daughter.

Wu Baichuan didn't dare offend Zhang Yunquan.

The townsfolk had suffered greatly under Zhang Yunquan's exploitation, and the merchants were no exception.

Zhang Yunquan's men would occasionally demand money from them, and if they refused, his henchmen would cause trouble for them when conducting business.

They had no choice but to comply!

Not long ago, Zhang Yunquan announced that henceforth, the townsfolk would have to pay a penny every time they used a public toilet, and wealthy families like theirs would have to pay a monthly fee of one or two taels of silver for sanitation services.

Before Zhang Yunquan's downfall, those who didn't want to provoke him, like Wu Baichuan, had already paid up.

Wu Baichuan feared Zhang Yunquan greatly, so when Hong Hui approached him earlier, he agreed without hesitation. However, after a few days, Zhang Yunquan fell.

Seeing this situation, Wu Baichuan naturally didn't want to listen to Hong Hui anymore. Hong Hui also realized this and invited Wu Baichuan to dinner once again.

Upon entering the tavern, Hong Hui immediately heard the storyteller recounting the story of Magistrate Guo solving a case.

That Magistrate Guo had only solved a few ordinary cases, yet he was being portrayed as almost divine!

And as for Magistrate Guo dealing with Zhang Yunquan… Magistrate Guo's actions were clearly about seizing power. Only the ignorant masses would believe otherwise!

After calming his mood, Hong Hui ascended to the upper floor. Last time, he had waited early for Wu Baichuan, but this time, he deliberately arrived late.

Moreover, whereas he had been courteous and welcoming to Wu Baichuan last time, this time his attitude was lofty, and he didn't even show Wu Baichuan a friendly face.

Hong Hui's lofty demeanor actually intimidated Wu Baichuan. Initially determined not to collaborate with Hong Hui, Wu Baichuan ultimately chose to continue their partnership.

"If you do business with Jin Xiaoye, who is my enemy, it's equivalent to opposing me," Hong Hui concluded. "I trust you will make the right decision."

Wu Baichuan could only say, "Rest assured, Young Master Hong, I will help you." Rejecting Jin Xiaoye's goods would only result in some financial loss, but if he collaborated with Jin Xiaoye, he would offend Hong Hui!

His relatives lived in Chongcheng County, and he didn't want to get into trouble.

In the end, he was just helping to suppress a small merchant, which wasn't a big deal.

Jin Xiaoye had no idea about Wu Baichuan's intention to breach the contract; she was busy making the items Wu Baichuan had requested.

The deposit Wu Baichuan provided was inadequate, so she had to invest all the money she had and even borrow some from Sister Wang.

"You're really meticulous,"Sister Wang remarked to Jin Xiaoye.

"Wu's shopkeeper is taking the goods to sell in the capital, so I have to be careful," Jin Xiaoye replied.

"That's right," Sister Wang agreed, nodding. "We can't let others think that our Jin Ye Embroidery Workshop produces inferior goods!"

Last night, while chatting with Li Qingzhi, Jin Xiaoye was advised to give her shop a name.

Although Jin Xiaoye didn't have a shop yet, there was no harm in choosing a name early.

The name should be simple, so they settled on "Jin Ye Embroidery Workshop." Li Qingzhi also suggested that Jin Xiaoye embroider a small leaf as a mark on the more valuable products to quickly establish the reputation of the Jin Ye Embroidery Workshop.

Jin Xiaoye accepted Li Qingzhi's suggestion and informed Sister Wang and the others about the name today.

Upon hearing that they had a workshop, Sister Wang and Mrs. Xu were particularly pleased and had already begun considering the workshop's reputation.

As they were discussing, someone came to deliver completed work and brought news: Magistrate Guo was going to publicly interrogate Zhang Chuqian and his men.

A public interrogation? That sounded interesting! Sister Wang kept talking about it and even wanted to go and see.

However, she was just thinking about it. She wasn't really willing to squeeze in among a bunch of smelly men.

The "smelly men" referred to here were literal – it was cold today, and most people hadn't bathed, so many of them had an odor.

Time flew by, and it was time for Magistrate Guo to publicly interrogate Zhang Yunquan and his henchmen.

In the past few days, Li Qingzhi has been going to the county town every day, providing some advice to Magistrate Guo. Meanwhile, he also took a stroll around the county town.

Today was the day of the public interrogation, and Li Qingzhi arrived at the county government early.

However, he didn't participate in interrogating the prisoners. Instead, he found a place and started writing.

Magistrate Guo wanted to be a good official, and Li Qingzhi intended to help him achieve his dream.

As for how to help… it would start with this winter's corvée.

Corvée was a general term that included many things, including military service.

When there was a war, the government would send people to villages to recruit suitable individuals for military service. The strong and young would go to the front lines, while the weaker ones would do tasks like transporting supplies.

Of course, Daqi was not currently at war, so most of the time, the common people would engage in corvée to contribute to national infrastructure projects.

When the original owner's father was the magistrate of Yu County, he would annually have the people reinforce the Yao River embankment. These people didn't receive wages, and sometimes they even had to bring their own food; this was corvée.

The original owner's father was a good person who didn't excessively exploit the people doing corvée, nor did he allow the officials to beat them. With just this, the people of Yu County considered him a good official.

Generally speaking, the poorer the area, the more terrifying corvée was for the people, as they might have to do heavy labor and could easily become sick or die due to insufficient food.

In Yu County, many people would die each time they reinforced the riverbank.

Chongcheng County was relatively affluent, so there were very few deaths from corvée.

As to why… with the people being wealthy, they could bring more food, and with their bellies full, they wouldn't easily succumb to exhaustion from heavy physical labor.

Moreover, officials in affluent areas didn't lack money, so their temperaments were relatively better. They wouldn't casually beat or scold the people who were doing the corvée.

Under this virtuous cycle, there were fewer deaths from corvée.

But there would still be deaths; after all, the medical conditions of that era were very poor, and the common people were still afraid of corvée. Basically, those who could afford it would choose to pay a sum of money to the government to exempt themselves from corvée.

The Li family was too poor to afford it, so Li's father had participated in corvée many times—Li's second father never participated in corvée. Whenever there was corvée, it was always Li's father who went.

According to Li's father, it was very hard every time he participated in corvée. Fortunately, he was small in stature and thick-skinned; he could cry to the officials, which led to him having to do less work.

The food given by the Li family was not enough, so he would shamelessly ask for food from others, even eating the leftovers that the officials didn't want.

Although the officials looked down on Li's father, they didn't mistreat him.

Later on, when Li's father turned forty, he no longer needed to participate in corvée.

The common people in Chongcheng County didn't all do corvée in winter; sometimes it would be in summer. Generally, they did corvée in summer to clean the river channels, and in winter, they would repair bridges and roads.

The corvée work for this winter was to repair roads and docks.

In the ancient times without any machinery, this was an extremely arduous task, especially since the ones doing the work were often the poorest and most malnourished individuals.

Li Qingzhi wrote down on paper some of the hardships that the common people faced when participating in corvée and how there were always deaths among those who participated. He also suggested an idea to Magistrate Guo.

Many people would pay money to the government to exempt themselves from corvée.

This money could be used to improve the lives of the people doing corvée. Additionally, Magistrate Guo could negotiate with the wealthy households in the city to donate money to improve the food and accommodation of the people doing corvée.

As for why the wealthy households should donate money… when the roads were repaired, a stone monument could be erected on the roadside with the names of the wealthy households who had donated money.

There was a big gap between the rich and the poor in Dazi, and the wealthy households in the city were actually very wealthy. They would definitely not mind spending some money!

He could also negotiate with the medical halls in the city to have a few doctors provide free medical consultations for the people doing corvée. Of course, the names of these doctors could also be written on the stone monument.

The people doing corvée never received wages, so they actually didn't need to be paid. This money could be used to buy meat and grain for the common people, as what the people at the bottom lacked the most nowadays was food.

If they were well-fed, even with a smaller workload, there wouldn't be any deaths from corvée.

After Li Qingzhi finished writing, he thought of something else and continued writing.

Actually, he felt that repairing the docks was not very meaningful. Instead… why not build a new dock?

The docks in Chongcheng County were built many years ago and were a bit small. He often saw many large ships that were unable to dock and could only block the river.

In that case, why didn't Chongcheng County build a larger dock?

Similarly, the county town of Chongcheng County was also small.

When Daqi was just founded, the county town of Chongcheng County only had a few thousand people living in it. But now? The county town had more than twenty thousand people!

The county town was already overcrowded, with not even a slightly larger road. Many families, with several people, could only live in a small hut.

Even the Zhu family had quite small houses.

If a new dock were built outside the city, and some houses were built near the dock… many people could actually move to live outside the city.

This would not only increase the housing area for the people in the county town, but Magistrate Guo could also sell houses and land, earning some money.

This money could be used to build the new dock.

The more Li Qingzhi wrote, the more feasible he felt it was.

What he wanted to build was not a large dock by the sea, but a small dock for the county town. This would actually be quite easy to build.

In Chongcheng County, the smallest dock was the Hebutou, and even if it had a few steps, it could be considered built. The original large dock in Chongcheng County was actually quite small and wasn't even as big as a football field.

If the newly built dock were as large as a football field, there would be two docks for Chongcheng County to use in the future, and it would definitely not be crowded.

While Li Qingzhi was writing down his plans with great enthusiasm, Magistrate Gou was interrogating Zhang Yunquan's subordinates outside.

Many commoners came today; some were victims, while others came just to watch the excitement.

However, among these people, very few could actually see the scene, with most being crowded outside.

Fortunately, Zhu had made arrangements in advance. He had some eloquent people go to the front to watch the interrogation, then they would come back and relay the information to the commoners on the outskirts, which satisfied them.

In the eager and admiring eyes of the commoners in Chongcheng County, Magistrate Gou conducted fair interrogations of everyone, including Zhang Yunquan.

None of these people were particularly stubborn. When they were brought before the crowd and stared at by so many commoners, most of them confessed, making the interrogations proceed very smoothly.

This excited the commoners who were observing the interrogations, and they shouted loudly, "Magistrate Gou," while the victims addressed him as "Master Qingtian."

Facing such enthusiasm from the commoners, Magistrate Gou felt light-hearted.

He couldn't really be considered a good person. When he came to Chongcheng County and found that there were many things he couldn't control, he intended to not bother with anything and just make some money before leaving.

But now… his thoughts had completely changed.

Magistrate Gou was busy for most of the day interrogating everyone, and during that time he didn't even eat anything.

He was too excited to even feel hungry!

After everything was done, Magistrate Gou walked briskly towards the back of the county office.

"Sir, the meal is ready," said the steward of Magistrate Gou.

Magistrate Gou said, "Then let's set up the meal. Wait, has Li Qingzhi eaten?"

"Mr. Li has already eaten," the steward replied. He had sent food to Li Qingzhi, and Li Qingzhi had finished it all.

"He's already eaten… Well, go and invite Mr. Li to join us for a bit more. I have something to discuss with him," Magistrate Gou said. He was hungry, but he also wanted to see Li Qingzhi sooner.

The ideas Li Qingzhi had given him were really excellent!

And those stories Li Qingzhi had written for him… As far as he knew, the storytellers in the city had been repeating those stories over and over these days, and the people in the city never grew tired of hearing them.

The feeling of being loved and admired by the common people was truly wonderful!

Just as Magistrate Gou sat down at the table, Li Qingzhi arrived. He still had some papers in his hand, densely filled with words, and it seemed there were also some drawings.

Magistrate Gou invited Li Qingzhi to sit down and eat, then asked, "Nephew, what do you have there?"

Li Qingzhi said, "Sir, these days I've been moving around and found that the common people truly have difficulties…"

Li Qingzhi slowly began to talk about the issue of corvée labor.

At first, Magistrate Gou didn't think much of it. He knew that corvée labor was very hard for the common people, and he also thought that in the future, he could raise money to improve the lives of those subject to corvée labor. But he didn't expect Li Qingzhi to come up with so many solutions.

And… build a new dock?

If the new dock were really built, it would definitely be his political achievement!

In the past, when officials repaired river embankments, the common people named the embankments after the officials. If he built a dock, would the common people name it after him?

Although his surname didn't sound pleasant, his given name, his style name, and the pseudonym he had given himself, were all very pleasant!

Of course, building a dock required money, but the required amount wasn't particularly large. With a monument in place, merchants would definitely be willing to donate money!

The more Magistrate Gou thought about it, the more excited he became, and he lost his appetite!

Li Qingzhi, on the other hand, was different. He ate gracefully while talking.

Writing so much had consumed a lot of his energy, and now he urgently needed to eat to replenish it.

As Magistrate Gou talked, he came back to his senses and noticed that Li Qingzhi had already eaten a lot.

The steward had said that Li Qingzhi had eaten, but Li Qingzhi must have eaten enough earlier and couldn't eat so much now.

During his busy time, Li Qingzhi must have been racking his brains about the dock construction, too busy to eat.

Magistrate Gou was deeply moved, and his gaze toward Li Qingzhi became even warmer.

But Li Qingzhi, having eaten his fill, just wanted to leave.

He needed to go find Jin Xiaoye.

"Sir, how about we discuss the dock construction tomorrow?" Li Qingzhi looked at Magistrate Gou with concern. "You've been working hard today, you should rest well."

Magistrate Gou was even more touched—Li Qingzhi really cared about him!