Chapter 102: Hiring Workers 2/2

“In my opinion, Li Qingzhi participating in the county examination is just a waste of money.”

“Jin Xiaoye’s mind must be clouded to support him in studying.”

…

After Li Qingzhi and his family moved away, Yao Zuming began to badmouth them again.

Actually, Yao Zuming didn’t have a good relationship with Mr. Yao’s family, but because he disliked Jin Xiaoye’s family even more, he praised Yao Zhenfu and belittled Li Qingzhi.

At noon, Mr. Yao and Yao Zhenfu returned.

The villagers gathered around, asking eagerly, “Mr. Yao, did Zhenfu pass the examination?”

Mr. Yao looked embarrassed. “Zhenfu didn’t pass.”

“He didn’t pass again? This examination must be very difficult,” someone commented.

Another person chimed in, “Certainly, it’s very difficult. I heard that there were hundreds of people taking the examination in the entire county, but only about twenty of them passed.”

The first person nodded. “Indeed, with so many people taking the exam, many of them are scholars from the city.”

After murmuring for a while, someone else asked, “What about Li Qingzhi? Did he pass?”

A person nearby remarked, “He probably didn’t pass, right? He has only been studying for a few days?”

Mr. Yao became even more embarrassed. “He passed.”

“He passed?” The villagers were astonished.

Mr. Yao knew that everyone would eventually find out about this matter. “Li Qingzhi passed, and he even came in first.”

The villagers gasped in amazement.

Most of the people in Miaoqian Village would never leave Chongcheng County in their lifetime. Now, someone from their village had achieved the top spot in the county examination, which was truly remarkable for them.

As if that wasn’t enough, on that day, those who usually worked at the dock came back early!

“Li Qingzhi passed the examination, so the manager let us come back early!”

“Li Qingzhi really makes us proud!”

“Do you know? Today, someone questioned Li Qingzhi, saying that his top ranking was given by the county magistrate, not earned by himself. Then he had someone examine him and answer all the questions they gave him!”

“I heard that no matter what book it is, Li Qingzhi can memorize it after reading it once. He’s like the incarnation of the God of Literature!”

…

Today, everyone at the new dock was discussing Li Qingzhi, and these people brought back a lot of news.

The villagers were all amazed!

So, when Jin Xiaoshu and Fang Jinniang returned to the village, they found many people gathered on the riverside. Upon seeing them, the villagers expressed their congratulations and then asked about Li Qingzhi’s situation.

In fact, Jin Xiaoshu wasn’t clear about Li Qingzhi’s academic abilities, but at a time like this, he had to speak well of his brother-in-law: “My brother-in-law is very intelligent and learns things very quickly!”

“My brother-in-law has a photograpic memory. Once he sees something, he won’t forget it. Isn’t he amazing?”

“The county magistrate has always praised his academic prowess!”

…

The people from Miaoqian Village surrounded Jin Xiaoshu, following him all the way to the Jin family’s house, wanting to share in their joy.

“Dajiang, your family’s life is getting better and better!”

“With both chicken and duck, Xiaoye is thinking of you all!”

“In the future, when you become prosperous, don’t forget about us.”

…

After chatting for a long time, they reluctantly left.

Mr. and Mrs. Jin bid them farewell at the door.

The words spoken by the villagers were so pleasant to hear, and they wanted to hear more.

The Jin Daijiang’s family felt indescribably happy, but the neighboring Uncle’s Jin family didn’t feel as pleased.

Ever since Aunt Jin from the neighboring house knew about this matter, she kept nagging, “Jin Xiaoye must have expanded her business a long time ago; she just kept it from us!”

“They don’t consider us family. They didn’t even tell us about Li Qingzhi’s academic achievements!”

“No wonder they were in a hurry to split the family. They must have wanted to get rid of us to live a better life!”

…

Aunt Jin from the neighboring house kept complaining, making Grandma Jin from the Jin family feel uneasy.

Grandma Jin from the Jin family always thought that the Jin family could prosper because she managed the household diligently.

She was also worried that after the split, these people below would not be able to manage their lives and would squander all the family’s money.

But in reality… After the split, Uncle Jin from the neighboring house’s family still managed to save money, even though they bought some meat every day. As for Jin Xiaoshu’s family next door, they didn’t need to say much. They bought furniture and boats, and their lives were particularly prosperous.

Jin Dajiang and his wife from the Jin family looked much younger!

And Jin Xiaoye, whom she didn’t like, had already moved to the county!

All of this made Grandma Jin from the Jin family feel like she had been holding these people back from splitting the family and harming them in some way.

Grandma Jin from the Jin family felt very frustrated.

At this time, Jin Moli came back and said she didn’t want to be with Yao Zhenfu anymore.

Aunt Jin from the neighboring house and Grandma Jin from the Jin family were both dumbfounded. Jin Moli had been married for several years. Why did she suddenly not want to be with him anymore?

Before, Mrs. Yao didn’t treat Jin Moli very well, but she didn’t make her do farm work. In the past half a year or so, Mrs. Yao has been quite good to Jin Moli.

Could it be that Jin Moli didn’t want to be with him anymore because Yao Zhenfu didn’t pass the county examination?

Mrs. Jin from the neighboring house took her daughter into the room and asked her what was going on.

Jin Moli was actually just upset. She was clearly prettier than Jin Xiaoye, but why did she end up living like this?

She even repeated all the hard work, yet she still couldn’t compare to Jin Xiaoye in many ways.

Li Qingzhi was good at his studies, treated the children well, and was good to Jin Xiaoye. What about Yao Zhenfu?

When they returned home today, Yao Xiaobao happened to be playing with his sister in the yard, both of them laughing happily. Then Yao Zhenfu got angry and scolded them, making both children cry.

After the children cried, Yao Zhenfu became even angrier and continued to scold them.

Why should she continue to live with such a man?

Jin Moli let slip some words.

Aunt Jin from the neighboring house said, “You’re just jealous of others. If you have the ability, you should go into business like Jin Xiaoye! If you don’t want to be with Yao Zhenfu, can you find someone like Li Qingzhi? Let me tell you, it’s difficult to find someone like Yao Zhenfu, let alone someone like Li Qingzhi!”

“Mother…”

“The Yao family is a good family! Even if they sell four acres of irrigated land now, they still have six acres of irrigated land and a boat! Without you, Yao Zhenfu can definitely marry a beautiful girl from a wealthy family. What about you? What kind of person can you find?” The Yao family was indeed afraid that Jin Moli would run away; after all, it would cost a lot of money to marry a wife, and the stepmother would definitely not treat Yao Xiaobao well.

Yao Xiaobao was now the lifeblood of Mr. and Mrs. Yao!

But if Jin Moli really left, with the Yao family’s background, it wouldn’t be a problem for Yao Zhenfu to marry a girl from a poor family. But Jin Moli was different.

Those poor guys would definitely be willing to marry Jin Moli, but compared to families wealthier than the Yao family, unless the man was older or had been widowed, it would be impossible for him to marry Jin Moli.

After being scolded by Aunt Jin from the neighboring house for a while, Jin Moli eventually returned to the Yao family.

But she cried all night, unable to understand why she couldn’t compare to Jin Xiaoye.

When Li Qingzhi disappeared back then, Jin Xiaoye didn’t cry all night.

When Li Qingzhi didn’t come back that day, she immediately took the villagers to look for him. The next day, she went to the county to look for him.

After searching for several days and not finding him, she began to think about how to live the rest of her days.

As for crying, what use would that be?

That night, Jin Xiaoye was a little excited and didn’t sleep until late. The next morning, she got up early again and went to the shop to work.

She didn’t even have time to make breakfast and asked Li Qingzhi to go outside and buy some buns.

For this, Li Damao and Li ErMao were particularly happy.

They didn’t mind drinking porridge, but buns were definitely tastier!

After Li Qingzhi finished eating the buns, he sent the three children to school and then went to the county office to visit County Magistrate Gou, intending to have a chat with him.

In the afternoon, he would also meet with Peng Jingliang and others… For the next few days, he would be very busy.