Chapter 76: Good Words

The County Magistrate’s intention to recruit civilian laborers to build a pier was already known to the townspeople yesterday.

Yesterday at noon, Magistrate Gou had the constables post notices in the city and read them to the people of Chongcheng County, informing them of his intention to recruit civilian laborers to build a pier. This recruitment was different from previous ones because this time the county government would provide meals.

Upon seeing the notice and hearing the constables’ words, the townspeople were quite surprised. “They’re providing meals this time?”

“Surely it’s because of Magistrate Gou. He’s a good man.”

“Yes, it must be because of Magistrate Gou.”

“But don’t we already have a pier in our town? Why build another one?”

“The current pier is too small. A large fleet passed by before and couldn’t even dock to rest.”

In the past, upon seeing such notices, the common folk would surely complain, but because Magistrate Gou’s reputation was now exceptionally good, the people of the county didn’t complain at all. Instead, they talked about other matters.

“The latest story, ‘Magistrate Gou Punishes Zhang Chuqian,’ have you heard it?”

“Yes, yes, it’s wonderfully written!”

“Thanks to Magistrate Gou, otherwise our town would surely be in a stench.”

“Yes! Now those night soil carriers have returned, not only emptying the chamber pots but also cleaning them. How wonderful!”

“Speaking of that story… can you believe the Hong family’s eldest son wants to marry Zhang Chuqian’s daughter? I always knew the Hong family wasn’t good people.”

“The Hong family was never good people to begin with. That Sun Juren isn’t any better!”

The story “Magistrate Gou Punishes Zhang Chuqian” was written by Li Qingzhi. He didn’t deliberately smear Hong Hui and Sun Juren, just wrote what he learned from Zhu Qian and others truthfully. Even so, it was enough to make the people of Chongcheng County dislike these two.

Initially, after some time had passed, hardly anyone mentioned Sun Juren and Hong Hui’s various misdeeds, but these days, everyone started cursing them again.

The town was bustling yesterday because of the recruitment of civilian laborers, but the folks in the countryside were unaware of this matter. It wasn’t until Mr. Yao and Li Laogen came to the city for tea today that they learned about it.

Lately, people in teahouses were reading “Magistrate Gou Punishes Zhang Chuqian” every day. Mr. Yao felt a pang of worry. He was already past his prime, but Yao Zhenfu was in his prime, and someone from their family was definitely going to be recruited.

In the past, Mr. Yao had managed to avoid it by spending money because Yao Zhenfu needed to study, but now… their finances were tight.

On the other hand, Li Laogen didn’t care much about this matter. After all, it had nothing to do with him.

Li Laogen, carefree as ever, went to ask an old man about the content of “Magistrate Gou Punishes Zhang Chuqian” that was read in the teahouse yesterday. After finding out, he joined in cursing Hong Hui with the others.

Li Qingzhi had his arm broken by Hong Hui’s younger brother!

Such a good lad his son was, and his arm was broken!

If Li Qingzhi’s arm hadn’t been broken, he could have made a good living by copying books!

Meanwhile, when Jin Xiaoye and the others arrived at Sister Wang’s place, they also learned about this matter.

Without earning money, Jin Xiaoye would surely worry, especially considering Li Qingzhi’s physical condition, which wasn’t suitable for manual labor.

But she has money now!

Paying money to avoid tasks is nothing to worry about.

Jin Xiaoye handed a basket to Jin Xiaoshu, saying, “Xiaoshu, Mr. Zhu has provided so many dowries for Jinniang, so we should go thank him. This is a gift prepared by your brother-in-law for him. Take it to Mr. Zhu’s house, express our gratitude, and then accompany Jinniang back home.”

“Sis, I understand,” Jin Xiaoshu replied.

Mr. Zhu had prepared many dowries for Fang Jinniang, and both Jin Xiaoshu and Fang Jin Niang were very grateful. However, they were fully aware that Master Zhu did it solely out of respect for Li Qingzhi.

So, in reality, they were thankful to Li Qingzhi. Last night, they had already agreed that Fang Jinniang would make clothes for Li Damao, Li Ermao, Jin Xiaoye, and Li Qingzhi. 

In addition, from now on, whenever Jin Xiaoshu earned money, she would buy some good food every day for Li Damao, Li Ermao, and the others.

Last night, Fang Jinniang learned from Jin Xiaoshu that Jin Xiaoshu used to ask Li Damao and Li Ermao for food and then deliver it to her the next day, which she found extremely embarrassing.

Some of the food Jin Xiaoshu gave her was actually obtained from the two children!

They couldn’t continue doing this in the future.

However, they thought of ways to thank Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye, but they didn’t have a way to thank Mr. Zhu. Since today had already passed, they could only express their thanks to Mr. Zhu.

The two of them went to Mr. Zhu’s house first.

When they arrived, it was still early, and Mr. Zhu hadn’t left yet, so they met him.

As soon as they met, Mr. Zhu congratulated them on their marriage.

It was the first time Jin Xiaoshu had dealt with such an important figure as Mr. Zhu. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say. Fortunately, Fang Jinniang had been influenced by her father before and knew how to handle such situations. Besides, since she couldn’t see other people’s expressions, she remained calm. After exchanging a few words with Mr. Zhu, she handed over the basket.

As soon as Mr. Zhu took the basket and looked inside, he found a stack of papers and a book.

With a glance at the papers, he knew they were stories about Ding Xi. As for the book… Mr. Zhu picked it up, flipped through it, and found it was a well-copied and revised version of his autobiography, which delighted him greatly.

After seeing the couple off and instructing someone to deliver Li Qingzhi’s autobiography to Ding Xi, Mr. Zhu left with his own autobiography.

He had read his autobiography more than once, but hadn’t Li Qingzhi made some changes this time? He planned to take another look when he had time.

Maybe he could even let County Magistrate Gou have a look…

After leaving the house, Mr. Zhu went to find County Magistrate Gou. They had been busy with the construction of the pier lately.

Although the idea of building the pier came from Li Qingzhi, they were the ones who had been busy with it in the end!

After discussing with County Magistrate Gou for a while and taking a break, Mr. Zhu took out his autobiography to read.

Before, when Li Qingzhi wrote, he wrote casually on white paper, but this time he wrote properly, copying it into a book.

Having seen Li Qingzhi’s dogged handwriting before, Zhu Qian admired Li Qingzhi even more when he saw the words in this book.

In just a short period of time, Li Qingzhi’s handwriting had undergone a dramatic transformation. If someone had taught him carefully from a young age, Li Qingzhi might already be famous throughout the world.

Zhu Qian hadn’t read many books, so to him, neatly written words were good words. He couldn’t appreciate calligraphy and the like.

As for what constituted the best form of neat writing, he wasn’t clear.

He simply found Li Qingzhi’s current handwriting pleasing to the eye.

However, when County Magistrate Gou passed by and saw the book in Zhu Qian’s hand, he immediately commented, “These words are good. Who wrote them?”

Zhu Qian hesitated for a moment before replying, “Sir, these were written by Li Qingzhi.”

“Is this how Li Qingzhi’s handwriting is? Let me see,” County Magistrate Gou requested.

As someone who had studied since childhood and was now approaching forty years old with the successful completion of the imperial examination, County Magistrate Gou had excellent handwriting himself.

But the handwriting before him was on par with his own!

He had seen Li Qingzhi’s cursive handwriting before, which, though vigorous, was not good and unsuitable for participating in the imperial examinations. But now, this handwriting…

The examiners would surely appreciate it.

Zhu Qian handed the book to County Magistrate Gou, who began to flip through it. Upon examination, he found not a single mistake in the book. Moreover, some sentence structures had been adjusted to make them easier to read.

But what surprised County Magistrate Gou the most was not these adjustments, but… the handwriting in the book was progressively getting better from front to back.

The handwriting at the end of the book was something even he couldn’t produce!

Li Qingzhi’s handwriting had become so good?

It was just a book. How could a person’s handwriting change so much from front to back?

County Magistrate Gou was somewhat puzzled and remembered something—Li Qingzhi had broken his arm!

“Was this written after his right arm healed?” County Magistrate Gou asked.

Zhu Qian replied, “That should be the case.”

“It’s fortunate that his arm healed; otherwise, it would have been a pity! I didn’t expect him to have such good handwriting. He must have practiced diligently for over ten years before,” County Magistrate Gou exclaimed with some excitement.

Zhu Qian remained silent. In fact, Li Qingzhi had only started practicing calligraphy this year, but it seemed that Li Qingzhi didn’t want people to know about it, so he decided not to mention it.

“These words are truly excellent. Based on this, making him the top scholar in the county exam is no problem!” County Magistrate Gou added.

The county exam questions were relatively simple, and the top scholar was at the discretion of the county magistrate. In the past, there had been county magistrates who liked poetry and awarded the top scholar title to a student who excelled in poetry.

With Li Qingzhi’s exceptional handwriting, he could easily be given the top scholar title.

Zhu Qian’s face lit up with joy.

Once he received the top scholar title in the county exam, he would basically be assured of passing the subsequent provincial examination. Li Qingzhi would then be a surefire scholar!

County Magistrate Gou praised Li Qingzhi’s handwriting for a while before turning to the first page and instinctively began to read…

Once he started, County Magistrate Gou couldn’t stop.

Who doesn’t love reading a delightful story?

In Chongcheng County, the operas were all sung in dialects, which County Magistrate Gou couldn’t understand, and he had already seen all the famous plays…

Today, County Magistrate Gou was going to visit the place outside the city where the pier was being built, but he couldn’t put down the book in his hands, so he sat at the bow of the boat reading on the way.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Qian was extremely excited—his autobiography was written exceptionally well, and after County Magistrate Gou read it, he would surely have a good impression of him!

This was actually his original plan.

Others who saw this couldn’t help but marvel, “County Magistrate Gou is truly someone who loves reading. He even reads while traveling by boat!”

On the other side, after leaving Zhu’s house, Jin Xiaoshu and Fang Jinniang headed towards the Fang family.

When they got closer to the Fang family, some people who knew Fang Jinniang came over to greet her.

Fang Jinniang was initially a bit worried, afraid that these people would accuse or even scold her, but in fact, no one said anything to her face.

In reality, behind her back, some people concocted stories about Fang Jinniang, but normal people wouldn’t say anything to her face.

And the stories they concocted mainly revolved around what might have happened between Fang Jinniang and Jin Xiaoshu before they got married… now that the two had already tied the knot, there was nothing much to say.

Ordinary folks weren’t like the young ladies of prominent families who rarely left their homes. In their alleys, childhood sweethearts who had already decided on their lifelong partners were abundant.

What Fang Jinniang was most afraid of was actually being accused of being unfilial, but ironically, no one said anything of the sort.

Firstly, everyone had seen that Fang Jinniang had been scolded away by her mother, and secondly… Fang Jinniang had stayed at home until she was twenty-four, earning money to support her family. What was unfilial about that?

If Fang’s mother were to cry and complain everywhere, there might be some confused individuals who would stand on her side and condemn Fang Jinniang, but after that day, Fang’s mother didn’t say anything… everyone thought she had tacitly agreed to marry Fang Jinniang off to Jin Xiaoshu.

At this moment, what everyone was most curious about was actually where Fang Jinniang got so many dowries from.

Yesterday, Fang Jinniang had brought four boats full of dowries when she got married, and many people in the county had seen this scene.

They lived close to Fang’s mother, so they knew that Fang’s mother hadn’t bought any dowries for Fang Jinniang.

“It was purchased with the betrothal gifts they received from their family,” Fang Jinniang explained.

Originally, these people thought that Fang Jinniang had married poorly, but upon hearing this, they were shocked. When Fang Jinniang left, their envy only grew, “I thought Fang Jinniang would marry a poor man, but who would have thought that her family would give her so many betrothal gifts.”

“That man might look poor, but his family is actually very wealthy?”

“Anyone who can afford a boat must have money at home!”

“That’s true, Fang Jinniang has struck gold!”

…

The neighbors of the Fang family were quite envious of Fang Jinniang. At this moment, Fang Jinniang had already arrived at the Fang family with Jin Xiaoshu.

Originally, Fang Jinniang was a bit scared, but when Jin Xiaoshu held her hand, she wasn’t afraid at all.

Jin Xiaoshu was tall and strong; whether it was her mother or her younger brother, she could easily handle them!

As they arrived at the doorstep, Fang Jinniang smiled and said, “Xiu Niang, I’m back.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the young woman sitting at the door, sewing, immediately looked up.