Chapter 34: Photographic Memory 1/3

When Li Qingzhi arrived at Zhu’s house today, he was later than usual.

He was quite hungry and went straight to the kitchen.

Upon entering, he saw the cook busy at work, so Li Qingzhi asked, “Uncle Zhou, is your child still having diarrhea?”

The cook at Zhu’s house was surnamed Zhou. A few days ago, he had been worried all day about his child’s diarrhea. Li Qingzhi knew about it and had instructed him to feed the child some salt and sugar water.

“He’s already better!” Chief Zhou smiled. Seeing Li Qingzhi taking his portion of food, he also served Li Qingzhi a plate of scrambled eggs and a plate of fried peanuts. “Thank you, Uncle Zhou,” Li Qingzhi sincerely thanked him.

“Why thank me? This was ordered by the young master for Mr. Li Qingzhi. But Mr. Li Qingzhi, why can’t you gain weight?” Chief Zhou sighed.

Li Qingzhi joked, “I have to write a lot every day, which consumes energy, so I can’t gain weight.”

“Is that so?” Chief Zhou believed him.

Li Qingzhi smiled again. He picked up the egg and took a bite, then praised, “Uncle Zhou, you cook these eggs so deliciously. I’ve never had such tasty scrambled eggs before.”

Chef Zhou smiled happily, “Aren’t scrambled eggs all the same?”

“They’re not the same. Uncle Zhou, your skill is exceptional,” Li Qingzhi replied.

Chef Zhou knew his skill was just average – what skill did it take to make scrambled eggs?

But Li Qingzhi’s praise made him happy.

After praising the cook, Li Qingzhi went to compliment the kitchen maid who was plucking chickens nearby, saying that the porridge today was thick and fragrant.

When he first came to Zhu’s house, Li Qingzhi spent most of his energy just writing every day.

His arm had been hurting all the time back then. If it weren’t for his ability, he wouldn’t have been able to continue writing. But even if he could write… every stroke felt like countless needles were piercing his arms and shoulders.

Even though he had suffered in the apocalypse, encountering this situation was still somewhat uncomfortable. Naturally, he didn’t have the energy to interact with Zhu’s servants.

But now, his arm didn’t hurt anymore even after writing three thousand words a day!

He liked chatting, but recently, when he returned to Miaoqian Village, it was already late. On top of that, he had to bathe two children and do some miscellaneous chores… he didn’t even have time to attend the gossip sessions that started promptly every evening at the riverside in front of Miaoqian Village.

So, he simply chatted with the people in Zhu’s kitchen while eating, chatting heatedly.

He really liked Chef Zhou and the other kitchen maids at Zhu’s house! They all carried the aroma of food.

Li Qingzhi liked them, and Chef Zhou and the kitchen maids liked him too.

Mr. Li was a scholar, yet he was so close to them. How could they not like him?

At this moment, Chef Zhou gave Li Damao and Li Ermao each two peaches, “Our peaches at home are ripe now. Li Damao, Li Ermao, have a taste.”

“Uncle Zhou, what about me?” Li Qingzhi immediately asked.

Chef Zhou gave Li Qingzhi four peaches and said, “Mr. Li, can’t leave you out.”

In Chongcheng County, many households planted peach trees. Besides eating peaches, peach trees here also had some other uses.

For example, when children walked at night, it was inevitable for the elders at home to pick a few peach leaves or break a peach branch and put it in their clothes.

However, the peaches here were generally small. The peaches Chef Zhou gave Li Qingzhi were only the size of ping-pong balls.

Now, not only could he eat meat, but he could also eat fruit! Li Qingzhi picked up one and took a bite, finding it sour and sweet, especially delicious. “Uncle Zhou, your peaches are really delicious!”

“They’re tasty when ripe. I’ll bring you some tomorrow,” Chef Zhou said. If the peaches were picked early, they would be very sour, but if left on the tree for a little longer until they ripened, or even fell off by themselves, they would taste great.

Every time Chef Zhou wanted to eat peaches, he would shake his own peach tree. The peaches that fell down from shaking were all delicious.

“Then I’ll thank Uncle Zhou in advance!” Li Qingzhi smiled and thanked him.

While they were talking, Zhu Qian and Ding Xi came together.

Since coming to Zhu’s house, Zhu Qian would occasionally find Li Qingzhi to talk. After all, Li Qingzhi was writing his autobiography.

Recently, Zhu Qian’s book was almost finished. Ding Xi would also come over from time to time to talk to Li Qingzhi about his experiences, allowing Li Qingzhi to consider how to write his book in advance.

“Mr. Li, haven’t had breakfast yet? You go ahead, we’ll wait for you in the study.” Zhu Qian saw that Li Qingzhi hadn’t had breakfast yet and smiled as he spoke.

Li Qingzhi said, “Thank you both. I should be able to finish quickly.”

After Zhu Qian and Ding Xi left, Li Qing put the salted duck eggs that the stewards had every morning into his pocket, and shared other things with Li Damao and Li Ermao. He didn’t keep any of the four peaches for himself and ate them all.

There were quite a few households in the countryside that planted peach trees, and there were many in Miaoqian Village. There were also people who sent them… Jin Xiaoye and the others weren’t short of peaches to eat.

On the other side, Zhu Qian and Ding Xi were talking at the door of the study.

Zhu Qian said, “Mr. Li is a pretty good person.”

Ding Xi agreed, “Your household servants really like him. He’s indeed a good person.” It’s not easy for Li Qingzhi to get along so well with the kitchen maids and cooks.

They didn’t wait long before Li Qingzhi arrived with Li Damao and Li Ermao.

Seeing Li Qingzhi, Ding Xi said, “Mr. Li, Old Zhu’s book, you’re really getting better and better. I look forward to reading it every day now!”

“You flatter me!” Li Qingzhi replied with a smile.

“Mr. Li, let me tell you about my story again,” Ding Xi said, “I’ve experienced too many things in my life… I used to dislike talking about them with others, but after talking to you, I feel relieved in my heart, and I can’t seem to stop.”

“Old Ding, please go ahead,” Li Qingzhi said, listening attentively.

And so, Ding Xi began to speak.

People like to talk, and Ding Xi was no exception.

The hardships he had experienced in his early years were numerous, and now, when he spoke of them, he couldn’t help but feel a myriad of emotions.

After speaking for a while, Ding Xi couldn’t help but ask in puzzlement, “Mr. Li, aren’t you taking notes?”

Ding Xi used to be a bodyguard, and he had experienced far more than Zhu Qian. Li Qingzhi used to jot down notes at the beginning, but now, thanks to his enhanced memory due to his ability, he didn’t need to do that anymore.

Li Qingzhi replied, “Old Ding, I remember it all.”

“I’ve said so much, and you remember it all?” Ding Xi was a bit surprised.

Li Qingzhi smiled and said, “I remember. Generally, after hearing or seeing something once, I can remember it.” Since he had this ability, there was no need to conceal it. Letting others know could make them value him more.

Ding Xi was stunned for a moment before saying, “Are you not lying?”

“Old Ding can try,” Li Qingzhi said.

Ding Xi thought for a moment, then took out a piece of paper from his pocket and began to read the words written on it.

His daughter was about to get married, and the paper listed the dowry items he was preparing to purchase for her: “Two copper warming stoves, one copper hand stove…”

The list was quite long. Ding Xi read halfway and glanced at Li Qingzhi. Li Qingzhi was smiling encouragingly at him, as if urging him to continue reading…

Encouraged, Ding Xi read through the entire list.

After Ding Xi finished reading, Li Qingzhi repeated back what Ding Xi had just read.

With his current memory, he could certainly remember things in a short time, but to thoroughly memorize them, he needed to review them several times.

For example, the list Ding Xi had just read to him – if he didn’t listen to it again or read it again a few times, he would definitely forget it after a while.

Even so, this still shocked everyone greatly.

“Mr. Li, you remembered everything after just one listen?” Ding Xi couldn’t believe it.

Zhu Qian was also a bit stunned, “You got everything right!”

The list Ding Xi’s wife had just drafted for him, Li Qingzhi had definitely never seen it before, but he remembered it after just one listen!

“My memory is quite good,” Li Qingzhi said.