Chapter 31: Small Business 2/3

Indeed, it was delicious. Li Qingzhi once again acted as the big eater.

After breakfast, Li Qingzhi took the two children to the study prepared by Zhu Qian.

He didn’t rush to write; instead, he picked up a book from the bookshelf and started reading.

Zhu Qian must have casually placed several books when arranging the room. Because of this, he placed the most common Four Books and Five Classics.

These books were read by their original owners, but they hadn’t studied them carefully or memorized them. Now, Li Qingzhi could memorize them.

While he was reading, Zhu Xunmiao arrived.

“Mr. Li, I heard you’re going to write a book for Uncle Ding?” Zhu Xunmiao asked.

“Yes,” Li Qingzhi replied.

Zhu Xunmiao said, “Mr. Li, I forgot to tell you something yesterday.”

“What is it?” Li Qingzhi asked curiously.

Zhu Xunmiao said, “Mr. Li, it’s best not to let others know about helping my father and Uncle Ding write the book.” [For more stories, visit the public account: Sweet Even Without Sugar]

Zhu Xunmiao briefly explained it to Li Qingzhi.

The situation in Daqi was different from that of the previous dynasty. There were no regulations like “the son of a merchant cannot participate in the imperial examinations”, and the status of merchants was relatively high.

Li Qingzhi also knew this. Daqi was somewhat similar to the Ming Dynasty in his previous life, but not exactly the same.

In any case, the status of merchants in Daqi was still acceptable.

But just because the son of a merchant could take the imperial examinations didn’t mean that those scholars would look favorably upon them.

The hierarchy of contempt in this world has always existed. Whenever Zhu Xunmiao went out to socialize, he was always looked down upon by others.

Zhu Xunmiao mentioned some situations he had encountered. He was also kind-hearted and didn’t want Li Qingzhi to be labeled as someone who loved money and flattered others just because he wrote a book praising his father and Uncle Ding.

Scholars despised each other, and there were plenty of scholars who liked to gossip behind people’s backs.

“Thank you for the reminder, Young Master Zhu,” Li Qingzhi said.

He actually didn’t care much about his reputation, after all, reputation couldn’t feed him.

But scholars in this era did value their reputation very much!

“No need to thank me,” Zhu Xunmiao said. Seeing that there was still time, Li Qingzhi picked up another book… and they discussed some academic topics.

After this discussion… Zhu Xunmiao felt that he didn’t need to specifically remind Li Qingzhi.

Based on Li Qingzhi’s knowledge… it was basically impossible for him to achieve anything in the imperial examinations. It seemed fine for him to rely on helping people write books to make a living in the future, didn’t it?

Zhu Xunmiao felt quite disappointed. Although Li Qingzhi had mentioned before that his academic skills were not good, he didn’t expect them to be this bad.

But after feeling down, when he saw Li Qingzhi, who was so thin, persisting in writing books to support his family, and when he remembered that his own father couldn’t even recognize big words, he felt that he shouldn’t underestimate Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi had been advancing towards his goal, just like his father. Such a person was worthy of admiration.

As Zhu Xunmiao went to school, Li Qingzhi played with Li Damao and Li Ermao for a while.

He found that Zhu Xunmiao was actually a good person, and what Zhu Xunmiao said made sense.

When Zhu Qian’s book was finished… it would be better for him to write Ding Xi’s book at home.

Initially, Zhu Qian had asked him to come to the Zhu family to write books because he was afraid that Li Qingzhi would be greedy for money and not write properly. And Li Qingzhi did indeed enjoy the hospitality provided by the Zhu family, so he came to the Zhu family every day.

But when he wrote Ding Xi’s book, he could completely avoid going to the Ding family.

If he wrote in front of the Miaoqian Village, he would have more freedom with his time, and he wouldn’t have to worry about spending too much time with his children while writing, which would actually be detrimental to their growth.

Of course, if he wrote at home, various expenses would inevitably increase. However, both Zhu Qian and Ding Xi were generous people, so he shouldn’t be short of money.

Having made up his mind, Li Qingzhi let the two children play by themselves while he continued to write.

At noon, the Zhu family provided him with an extra meal again, this time it was a small bowl of preserved pork with pickled vegetables.

Salt was much cheaper here compared to inland areas, so people here especially liked to eat various preserved foods.

Li Qingzhi planned to take this meat back to Jin Xiaoye to eat.

He didn’t know if his wife had found work yet.

That morning, after Li Qingzhi was dropped off near the Zhu family’s house, Jin Xiaoye rowed the boat and went to the house of Wang, a friend of hers.

The houses in the county town were built along the river, with a stone-paved path on one side of the river. Jin Xiaoye shouted Wang’s name a few times from the boat, and the woman with the surname Wang looked out from the window to see her. “Xiaoye, why are you rowing the boat?”

“Sister Wang, I rented a boat. I’ll come to the county town every day from now on. If you need anything, I can bring it to you,” Jin Xiaoye said with a smile. The woman with the surname Wang agreed with a smile. Jin Xiaoye asked her to put down a basket and then gave her two freshly picked loofahs.

In this way, Jin Xiaoye greeted the people she knew in the county town and found a place to stop, waiting for someone to call for the boat.

While waiting, she and Jin Xiaoshu took out the rice to eat.

The rice was wrapped in oil paper from the lunch Li Qingzhi had packed yesterday, just ordinary coarse rice, but it carried the fragrance of meat.

“This rice is really delicious!” Jin Xiaoshu exclaimed.

He had eaten quite a lot the previous night, but he was hungry again when he woke up!

Usually at home, he had to wait another hour before eating, and he always felt very hungry before meals.

Jin Xiaoye also found the rice very fragrant. Without any side dishes, she could eat a large bowl.

After some thought, Jin Xiaoye said to Jin Xiaoshu, “Xiaoshu, let’s go buy two kilograms of pickled vegetables later. We’ll eat them with rice from now on.” Adding pickled vegetables to plain rice, when you took a bite, it was so delicious!

“Okay!” Jin Xiaoshu immediately agreed.

The two of them agreed, and then someone approached, seeming to want to call for the boat. Jin Xiaoye immediately greeted them.

Jin Xiaoye was a young woman, and Jin Xiaoshu was a half-grown teenager. The two of them were neatly dressed… People wouldn’t hire them for heavy lifting, but those who were going out to visit relatives or friends were willing to hire them, especially those who brought their female family members along.

Yao Zhenfu always said it wasn’t good for women to show themselves, but in Chongcheng County, there were actually quite a few women who went out to work.

Those who bought weaving machines to weave cloth at home would hire female workers, as would those who did embroidery or garment business. Those who spun silk would also mostly hire female workers.

In the county town, some women earned more money than men, and they were financially well-off.

Jin Xiaoye encountered a woman who was going back to her parents’ home. As soon as she paddled, she headed towards the village the woman mentioned.

Jin Xiaoye was a newcomer to the boatman profession, with no regular customers. The number of people who hired her boat was not many, and by evening, she had only earned a total of more than 30 yuan, ending up losing money on her first day out.

But she didn’t mind too much. She chatted with Wang and other people, agreeing to bring fresh vegetables to them tomorrow. With this, she could earn a little more.

She looked around the dock area today and found that some goods were cheaper than in the shops in town.