Chapter 66: New Business 2/3

Li Yaofeng and Li Lao’er said many more words, but since Jin Xiaoye refused to lend money, they had no choice but to leave grumbling.

After they left, Li Laogen weakly apologized to Jin Xiaoye, “Xiaoye, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Jin Xiaoye replied.

At this moment, Li Laogen looked at Li Qingzhi again and said, “Ah Qing, are you really going to study? It costs a lot of money to study, so you’d better not bother… “

“Dad, I like studying,” Li Qingzhi said.

Li Laogen continued to persuade, “Studying costs a lot of money! We don’t have much money…”

“Dad, it’s okay, Xiaoye will earn money to support me!” Li Qingzhi held Jin Xiaoye’s hand. “Right, Xiaoye?”

As he spoke, he even caressed Jin Xiaoye’s hand.

Jin Xiaoye blushed and said, “Y-Yes!”

Li Laogen witnessed Li Qingzhi’s actions and was dumbfounded.

This situation… Jin Xiaoye seemed to be enchanted by Li Qingzhi!

His cheap son hardly had any flesh on his body, so why did Jin Xiaoye like him so much?

Hmm, according to the aesthetic of Miaoqian Village, men should be strong and sturdy, while women should be plump and fair-skinned.

At this moment, Li Qingzhi asked Li Damao and Li Ermao again, “Damao, Ermao, would you be willing to earn money for Dad to go to school?”

Li Damao and Li Ermao didn’t hesitate at all: “Willing!”

Following that, Li Damao added, “Dad, we have eight copper coins, which we can give you for studying!”

When Li Damao and Li Ermao went to Sister Wang’s house, they would help with some work, and Jin Xiaoye would give them a few copper coins to buy food.

At that time, Li Ermao wanted to buy something delicious, but Li Damao didn’t want to. He even recounted the story Li Qingzhi told him about saving money to buy chickens and eat eggs for a long time. Then, he saved the money.

Li Damao treasured this money so much that he even tied it to a red piece of cloth and put it under his pillow.

But now, he was willing to take out the money to support Li Qingzhi’s education.

Li Qingzhi leaned over and kissed the little faces of the two children. His own son was really good!

Li Laogen: “…” His cheap son had a great knack for coaxing his wife and children!

Sitting beside them, Jin Xiaoshu felt even more melancholic, seeing how virtuous his brother-in-law and sister-in-law were.

However, he was well aware that his brother-in-law didn’t need money from his sister to study. The capital for his sister’s business was all provided by her husband. Her husband earned quite a bit of money by writing books.

After dinner, Jin Xiaoshu walked unhappily towards the Jin family’s house.

It was already dark, so he walked slowly. He thought that when he arrived home, it would be pitch black as usual. However, he found that the living room was lit when he entered.

Jin Xiaoshu thought to himself that this was bad.

Sure enough, as soon as he entered, he found everyone in the family there. His grandmother even came up to interrogate him about his income.

Jin Xiaoshu firmly claimed that he didn’t earn much: “Second Brother didn’t earn much either, did he? He eats at home every day, but the money he pays to the family is the same as mine!”

Jin Sangshu became Yao Zhangfu’s apprentice, just like Jin Xiaoshu, and paid ten copper coins to the family every day.

But Jin Xiaoshu didn’t eat at home, while Jin Sangshu did. Not only did he eat at home, but he also brought food from home to eat while rowing the boat.

Now, every day when the Jin family cooked the second meal, they would make two extra bowls for him to take the next day.

“Xiaoshu, your grandmother is just asking casually…” Aunt Jin smiled and changed the subject, then asked, “Xiaoshu, what business is your sister doing in the county? Can she take your older brothers with her? Your older brothers are men after all; they can help your sister.”

“My sister’s business isn’t something she does alone; she can’t make decisions by herself,” Jin Xiaoshu replied.

Jin Xiaoye knew she couldn’t hide her business for too long, so she had already instructed Jin Xiaoshu on how to explain things to the Jin family.

She didn’t want her business to be swarmed by a bunch of relatives as soon as it started.

Even Zhu Qian’s autobiography mentioned that promoting capable relatives was fine, but bringing in all kinds of relatives to help would eventually hollow out the family business.

Jin Xiaoshu remained stubborn, and Aunt Jin and the others had no choice.

However, they had another thing they could do. Aunt Jin said, “Xiaoshu, you’re not young anymore. You can get married. I’ve seen a few girls for you to meet. When will you go see them?”

“I don’t want to get married!” Jin Xiaoshu rejected without even thinking. He didn’t want to stay any longer and turned to leave.

Aunt Jin noticed and immediately said to Grandma Jin, “Mother, Xiaoshu’s temper is just as bad as Xiaoye’s.”

Grandma Jin frowned, and seeing this, Uncle Jin quickly said, “Mother, Xiaoshu didn’t mean it.”

“He just doesn’t want to listen to me anyway!” Grandma Jin said.

When Jin Dajiang and his wife returned to the house,

Jin Xiaoshu had already covered his head and was pretending to sleep, and they didn’t dare disturb him, so they went to bed quietly.

Jin Xiaoshu wasn’t actually asleep, but when he heard his parents come back, he didn’t want to greet them.

When others asked him questions, his parents didn’t say a word!

And about his marriage, his parents didn’t care and let Aunt Jin handle it… What was this all about?

The next day, Li Qingzhi didn’t accompany Jin Xiaoye to the county.

He had many things to do and couldn’t always be with Jin Xiaoye.

Moreover, when he went to the county yesterday, he had already confirmed that Wu Baichuan had arranged for someone to protect Jin Xiaoye.

Plus, as long as Hong Hui wasn’t foolish, he wouldn’t resort to extreme measures over such trivial matters… Li Qingzhi was reassured about Jin Xiaoye’s safety.

With Jin Xiaoye absent, there was no one for him to occasionally hold hands with, at most, he would occasionally kiss Li Damao and Li Ermao.

Li Qingzhi sighed while holding a pen in his left hand, writing the story of County Magistrate Gou.

At the same time, a piece of news spread in Miaoqian Village: “Have you heard? Li Qingzhi is going to study in the school!”

“I heard, he’s already so old, why does he still want to go to school?”

“There’s already someone like Yao Zhenfu ahead of him, I don’t know why Jin Xiaoye still wants to send Li Qingzhi to study.”

“Exactly, although Jin Xiaoye is making some money now, their family background is thin. Supporting a student… that’s not a simple matter!”

“Even if they want to support a student, they should support their own child. Why support Li Qingzhi?”

…

In fact, if these people were wealthy, they would definitely send their own children to school.

After all, scholars were different, and their children would certainly not be as ignorant as Yao Zhenfu!

But weren’t they short of money? They just thought studying wasn’t good.

As they were discussing, they saw Li Laogen and Mr. Yao returning from the county with a basket.

These two now went to the teahouse in the county every day, becoming the most envied old men in Miaoqian Village.

Everyone hoped that their later years could be as comfortable as these two.

Immediately, everyone asked Li Laogen about Li Qingzhi’s schooling.

Li Laogen said, “Ah Qing is going to study. He has already become a student of Li Xiucai in the city. His knowledge is excellent, and he will definitely pass the imperial examination in the future.”

As he said this, Li Laogen felt a bit guilty.

The people in their village all knew that Li Qingzhi wasn’t good at studying. According to what Yao Zhenfu had said, Li Qingzhi had even borrowed books from him that he had finished reading before he turned ten.

So… sending Li Qingzhi to study was just throwing money away, right?