Chapter 180 1/3

Li Qingzhi knew that Vice Magistrate Gou and his wife must be very worried at this moment, but honestly, he found Gou Ying’s actions quite satisfying.

Li Qingzhi lit a fire to boil some water. Even though Gou Ying could eat cold leftovers, it would be better for him to drink some hot water afterward.

After the water was heated, they could also wash their faces and soak their feet.

Gou Ying had left home wearing very little, and despite his youthful resilience, he felt cold.

After Li Qingzhi started the fire, Gou Ying squeezed behind the stove to warm himself and continued talking about what happened next.

What he said was pretty much what Li Qingzhi had guessed.

Because Mrs. Gou had instructed Mr. Zhang to discipline Gou Ying strictly and told him to beat Gou Ying if necessary, Mr. Zhang was particularly harsh on him.

Unfortunately, Gou Ying was the type who responded better to gentleness than to harshness.

After being beaten with the ruler, Gou Ying refused to apologize or admit his mistakes, which made Mr. Zhang even more convinced that he was “beyond teaching.”

Mr. Zhang frequently complained about him.

When Mrs. Gou heard this, she would cry to Vice Magistrate Gou. Already very busy, Vice Magistrate Gou became even more frustrated by his son’s troublemaking and decided to discipline him.

Luckily, Gou Ying was quick to escape and usually managed to avoid these punishments.

But on New Year’s Eve, when Vice Magistrate Gou was off work and at home, he inevitably started to discipline Gou Ying again.

Mr. Zhang had claimed that Gou Ying was the most disobedient student in the entire Chongwen Academy, with the poorest academic performance and the least effort in his studies.

At first, Gou Ying did not argue, but after Vice Magistrate Gou continued to scold him, the already embittered and thinner Gou Ying exploded, leading to a heated argument.

In his anger, Vice Magistrate Gou said he was unlucky to have a son like Gou Ying, to which Gou Ying retorted that he didn’t need a father like him either…

And so, Gou Ying ran away from home.

He fled to the docks and coincidentally met a boatman from Chongcheng County who had just delivered goods to the prefectural city and was hurrying back.

Gou Ying didn’t have any money, but he had some valuable accessories. He pried a jade bead off his hat and gave it to the boatman, asking him to take him to Chongcheng County, explaining that he was a student in trouble in the prefectural city and couldn’t make it home for the New Year.

Although Gou Ying had lived in Chongcheng County for several months, not everyone knew him. The boatman didn’t recognize him and, coupled with Gou Ying’s use of the local dialect, believed his story and took him back to Chongcheng County.

By the time Gou Ying arrived, it was already dark. He stumbled around until he found Jin Ye Embroidery Workshop, only to discover it was empty. After asking around, he learned that Li Qingzhi and his family had moved.

He searched for a long time in the dark before finally finding their new place.

“My dad doesn’t want me as his son, and I don’t want him as my dad,” said Gou Ying.

“So, what do you plan to do now?” Li Qingzhi asked.

Gou Ying looked lost for a moment before saying, “I don’t want to go back.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. If I go back, I’ll just get beaten every day. I don’t want to live like that!” Gou Ying said. “I want to go back to my hometown, or I’ll stay in Chongcheng County. Either way, I’m not going back.”

After talking with Gou Ying, Li Qingzhi also thought it would be better for Gou Ying to stay in Chongcheng County and continue his studies with Mr. Li.

“If you want to stay in Chongcheng County, I can write a letter to your father and explain the situation.”

“Mr. Li, you’re so kind!” Gou Ying was overjoyed and then remembered something. “Mr. Li, I heard you opened a school? Can I study there?”

Li Qingzhi replied, “With your level, you could already be a teacher at my school.”

Gou Ying was thrilled. “I can be a teacher?”

Li Qingzhi said, “After you finish your studies with Mr. Li, or during breaks, you can teach at my school and help me instruct the students.”

“Do I have to continue my studies?” Gou Ying asked.

“Don’t you want to prove to your parents and Mr. Zhang that you can succeed in your studies, and that their methods were wrong?” Li Qingzhi said. “Mr. Zhang criticized you heavily. Wouldn’t you like to pass the imperial exams and show him up?”

For a teenager, such reverse psychology worked particularly well.

Gou Ying took the bait. “I’ll study hard and pass the exams. Then I’ll go back to Chongwen Academy and mock him to his face!”

Gou Ying had a lot of grievances against Mr. Zhang.

Though rebellious, Gou Ying had been taught to respect his teachers and elders from a young age.

Despite his disobedience at Chongwen Academy, he never dared to dodge Mr. Zhang’s beatings, enduring many of them.

The water was now boiling, so Li Qingzhi told Gou Ying to wash up and then rest in the guest room.

Fortunately, the house had several guest rooms. Otherwise, with both Qian Fugui and Gou Ying staying, there wouldn’t have been enough space.

However, Gou Ying couldn’t stay there permanently, to avoid him discovering anything.

There were empty classrooms at the school. Li Qingzhi planned to set one up for Gou Ying and his family’s servants to stay in.

If Gou Ying decided to stay in Chongcheng County, Vice Magistrate Gou would likely agree. After all, if Gou Ying had already run away, he couldn’t keep him confined.

But he would definitely arrange for some servants to come to Chongcheng County to take care of Gou Ying.

As Li Qingzhi led Gou Ying to the guest room on the ground floor, a door opened nearby, and Li Laogen came out. “Aqing, Aqing…”

“Father, what’s wrong?” Li Qingzhi asked.

“I’m scared, Aqing…” Li Laogen replied.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

“No, I couldn’t sleep at all. Aqing, I’m worried someone will steal my gold. I can’t sleep…”

It turned out Li Laogen was afraid of that.

He continued, “Aqing, you keep the gold for me. Give it to me when I need it, although I don’t think I’ll need it anytime soon. Just hold onto it for me.”

After saying that, he handed a string of gold coins to Li Qingzhi and breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Qingzhi was speechless.

Li Laogen, happy to give up the gold, said, “If I keep it, I might lose it, or someone might steal it… You hold onto it; I’ll feel better.”

“Alright, I’ll keep it for you,” Li Qingzhi said.

Li Laogen nodded repeatedly and then added, “Aqing, take one gold coin and get me a big silver peanut to wear around my neck!”

“Okay,” Li Qingzhi agreed.

Only then did Li Laogen return to his room, content and ready to sleep.

Gou Ying glanced at the gold coins in Li Qingzhi’s hand and was puzzled. “It’s just some gold coins. What’s there to worry about?”

His grandparents often gave him and his sister various trinkets made of gold. He had gold coins too.

“My father is just timid,” Li Qingzhi said.

Besides giving Li Laogen six gold coins, Qian Fugui had given eight each to Li Damao, Li Ermao, and Jin Xiaoye.

Jin Xiaoye was keeping those twenty-four gold coins, so she could keep these six as well.

Li Qingzhi took the gold coins upstairs and found that Qian Fugui and Jin Xiaoye were already asleep. He lay down beside Jin Xiaoye and soon fell asleep himself.

The next day was the first day of the New Year.

There were plenty of leftovers from last night, enough for breakfast, but they still needed to make a staple food. Chang Zhan cooked a large pot of vegetable rice cakes.