Chapter 88: Finding a House 3/3

At this moment, Li Qingzhi felt extremely fortunate that he had timely removed Zhang Yunquan. Otherwise, with Hong Hui’s intense hatred towards him, who knows, Zhang Yunquan might have been ordered to kill him.

Now… with Zhang Yunquan gone, Sun Juren’s influence would no longer stir up trouble, especially since the Hong family had already declined. He didn’t have to worry too much about his own safety in the future.

As for any potential tactics Hong Hui might employ, when the time came, he could face them head-on or find ways to counteract them.

Over the next few days, life in Miaoqian Village continued as usual. While Li Qingzhi studied, he also wrote five thousand words of a new story every day with his right hand.

The story he wrote this time was titled “Magistrate Zhang’s Secret Investigation Reveals Sun Juren’s True Colors”.

Magistrate Zhang’s visit to Chongcheng County to investigate this matter was indeed perfect material for a story. The villain’s attempt to frame Magistrate Guo only to face his own downfall… After reading it, the people would surely cheer!

In the blink of an eye, it was already the fourteenth day of the twelfth month, and Li Qingzhi’s story was finally complete.

Since the story was finished, Li Qingzhi specifically went to the county yamen and handed it over to Magistrate Guo.

“Nephew, have you heard the news?” Magistrate Guo asked as soon as he saw Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi was puzzled. “What news?”

Realizing that Li Qingzhi was unaware, Magistrate Guo said, “Sun Juren has passed away.”

Sun Juren was already advanced in age, and after Zhang Yunquan’s incident, he fell seriously ill and had been bedridden ever since.

This time, his plot to frame Magistrate Guo was exposed, which terrified him so much that he fainted. Afterward, he remained unconscious, and yesterday, he passed away.

Upon hearing this news, Magistrate Guo couldn’t help but feel a bit rueful.

When he first arrived in Chongcheng County, the local forces and many of the yamen’s officials were gathered around Sun Juren, forming a powerful interest group that marginalized him.

He had always thought he could only be a nominal magistrate, but he hadn’t expected Sun Juren to meet such an end.

However, for Sun Juren, this might be considered a good thing. The magistrate couldn’t revoke Sun Juren’s status as a juren, so stripping him of his title hadn’t been accomplished yet.

Sun Juren passed away with the status of a juren.

Although Magistrate Guo harbored resentment towards Sun Juren before, now that the man was dead, he didn’t hold onto that grudge. He merely sighed at Sun Juren’s self-inflicted demise and asked Li Qingzhi why he had come.

Li Qingzhi immediately presented the newly written book he had.

Magistrate Guo took it, and as he read, his expression grew increasingly delighted. “What a splendid story!”

Many people had already heard the previous stories numerous times, so they were in need of a fresh tale! This story in front of him couldn’t have been more appropriate!

Magistrate Guo praised Li Qingzhi’s excellent handwriting once again, then instructed some fast writers from the government office to come over and copy the manuscript into several parts.

After that, Magistrate Guo discussed the matters concerning the dock with Li Qingzhi.

The labor-intensive work required for building the dock was nearly completed. The brick kilns had been constructed, and the necessary clay had been dug up. The river channel near the port needed to be dug deeper, but that could wait until the dock was almost finished and the weather turned warmer before hiring people for it.

Li Qingzhi suggested, “Sir, the bailiffs and clerks watch the laborers work every day. You can have them select strong and hardworking individuals among them and reward them with some money for their efforts. Then you can ask them to come back next year to work again, while the rest can stay home. Building the dock requires many people, but not thousands. Next year, you can afford to hire two or three hundred laborers; paying them one or two taels of silver a month for food should be enough. You can definitely afford it.”

Magistrate Guo thought it was a great idea. Currently, there were too many people, and just feeding them all cost a lot of money every day. If he only hired two or three hundred people next year, the expenses might be lower than they were now.

Li Qingzhi also proposed some other suggestions. For example, once these laborers became proficient, Magistrate Guo could have them help those who had bought land and intended to build houses, thereby earning more money.

This was akin to forming a construction team. If executed well, Magistrate Guo might make a profit.

The more Magistrate Guo listened, the more feasible he found it.

Li Qingzhi stayed at the yamen until the afternoon before heading to Sister Wang’s house to find Jin Xiaoye.

As soon as he arrived at Sister Wang’s house, he saw Wang Jie’s husband helping to move goods. When the man saw him, he greeted him warmly, “You must be Mr. Li! I’ve heard so much about you.”

Li Qingzhi quickly responded, “Hello, Brother Qu, just call me Xiao Li.”

Facing Qu Yunqing’s enthusiasm, Li Qingzhi couldn’t help but smile. Mainly because Jin Xiaoye had told him quite a bit about this person recently.

When Qu Yunqing had just returned home, he had been somewhat cold toward Sister Wang because she wasn’t enthusiastic enough, and then he had thrown a tantrum and slammed chopsticks on the table at home because the house was filled with goods. He even wanted Jin Xiaoye to move all those goods out.

This led to a big fight between him and Sister Wang, and she demanded that he bring out the money he had earned.

In a year, Qu Yunqing had earned about sixty taels of silver, but he wanted to keep thirty taels for himself as his own spending money, meaning he could only give thirty taels to Sister Wang.

This amount of money wasn’t little, as he had given Sister Wang about the same sum in previous years.

But truth be told, with two boys in the family needing education, and the family needing to eat and drink, not to mention his habit of hosting guests at home during the New Year, demanding that Sister Wang prepare good food and drinks… this money was barely enough to cover all these expenses.

If this were in the past, Sister Wang would have had to endure such situations, but now she earns money!

Sister Wang had an argument with him, saying that she earns more than three or two taels of silver a month…

Learning that Sister Wang actually earns so much money, Qu Yunqing was greatly surprised, and then… he became attentive to Sister Wang and even started helping with the work.

Of course, in addition to working, he also constantly inquired about the market for the things Jin Xiaoye made, hoping to buy a batch of goods from her at a low price.

Truly showing his merchant nature.

However, most of the traveling peddlers are like this; if they want to succeed in business, they have to have a thick skin.

Li Qingzhi chatted with Qu Yunqing for a few sentences before going to find Jin Xiaoye.

Since Qu Yunqing came back, Jin Xiaoye has been thinking about renting a shop to open an embroidery workshop and moving out of Sister Wang’s house.

Working at Sister Wang’s house all the time really isn’t ideal. It’s a bit cramped here, and having so many things piled up at Sister Wang’s house also affects her daily life.

Unfortunately, the county town is very crowded, and it’s not easy to find a suitable place. So until now, she still hasn’t found a shop that she really likes.

Jin Xiaoye is even thinking about building a shop on the new pier, but she has always had the women in the county town help with the work. If she goes to the new pier, which is a bit far away, it won’t be convenient for these women to come and get work.

Jin Xiaoye was thinking about this when a woman in her forties came up to her and asked softly, “Shopkeeper Jin, I heard you’re looking for a house. Would you consider my family’s shop?”