Chapter 109: Chang Zhan 1/2

The next morning, Li Qingzhi was awakened by the child’s crying.

Jin Xiaoye woke up too and comforted the girl in her arms.

The girl had slept after taking medicine, and now she was awake, looking around anxiously and crying softly, “Uncle, uncle…”

“Your uncle has something to do, so he asked us to take care of you for a few days. He’ll come to pick you up in a few days,” Jin Xiaoye comforted her.

The girl glanced at Jin Xiaoye but didn’t stop crying. However, she seemed less frightened now. “I want uncle…”

“Don’t cry, don’t cry. He’ll come to pick you up in a few days.” Jin Xiaoye patted her back.

“A few days?” the little girl asked cautiously.

“He said three days, maybe a few more days,” Jin Xiaoye said.

The little girl held up three fingers. “Cui Cui is three years old… No, Cui Cui is four years old now.”

After saying that, she changed her three fingers to four.

She probably hadn’t learned how to count, but her family told her how old she was.

“Your name is Cui Cui? Cui Cui is really smart,” Jin Xiaoye praised. Li Qingzhi used to praise people all day long, and now her words of praise come naturally.

After hearing the praise, Cui Cui spoke pitifully, “Cui Cui is good, waiting for uncle.”

Jin Xiaoye sighed with relief and asked the girl if she needed to use the toilet. After cleaning her up, she took her downstairs.

The cooking chores at home were assigned to the girls from Maoqian Village, and when Jin Xiaoye went downstairs, someone was already cooking porridge and boiling eggs; both the grains and eggs were prepared yesterday.

As for Li Qingzhi, he was occupied with making egg cakes. He cracked six eggs, added flour, water, salt, and chopped green onions, and mixed them into a batter.

Then, he used a pair of chopsticks wrapped in gauze to spread a thin layer of oil on the bottom of the pan before pouring in the batter and spreading it out. In no time, he had a large plate of egg cakes.

“Jin Mao’er is sick; give her a piece of egg cake, and we’ll eat the rest,” Li Qingzhi said, taking two pieces and handing them to Li Damao and Li Ermao.

The two children had been waiting eagerly on the side, and as soon as they received the cakes, they couldn’t wait to eat them before going to see Jin Xiaoye.

At first, they were fine, but after a while, Li Ermao said, “Mom, I want to hold her.”

Hearing this, Li Damao also approached Jin Xiaoye and said, “I want to hold her too.”

Li Qingzhi immediately understood that the two children were jealous of Jin Xiaoye holding Cui Cui.

They were still young, and seeing their mother holding someone else made them definitely unhappy.

As for why they didn’t react yesterday… Cui Cui was still drowsy, so they probably didn’t think much about it.

But today was different. Cui Cui seemed a bit afraid of people, and now she was clinging to Jin Xiaoye’s neck, which seemed too intimate.

“You two are grown-ups,” Jin Xiaoye began to say.

Li Qingzhi interrupted her, saying, “Damao, Ermao, you two are already grown-ups. You should help your parents. You can feed your little sister pieces of egg cake. Tear them into small pieces for her to eat.”

Jin Xiaoye had intended to tell Li Damao and Li Ermao that they were too old to be held, but Li Qingzhi’s interruption made her forget about it. She then asked Li Qingzhi, “The doctor said she should eat plain food. Can she eat these egg cakes?”

“It’s fine. I only used a little bit of oil,” Li Qingzhi replied. “Put Cui Cui down.”

Jin Xiaoye put Cui Cui down, and immediately Li Damao and Li Ermao stopped feeling jealous. They approached Cui Cui and tore pieces of egg cake to feed her.

Cui Cui, choking back her sobs, obediently ate the egg cake.

When she couldn’t eat anymore due to her illness, she closed her mouth and refused to open it again.

Seeing that they couldn’t feed her anymore, Li Damao and Li Ermao looked disappointed.

Seeing this, Li Qingzhi served them some porridge soup and asked them to feed their sister a few spoonfuls. The two eagerly took turns feeding her.

“Your sister will stay with us for a few days. Damao, Ermao, and Xiaodou, you have to take good care of her, understand?” Li Qingzhi instructed them.

The three nodded repeatedly, surrounding Cui Cui.

However, they didn’t have to take care of her for long before they had to go to school.

Since Jin Mao’er was feeling a bit better now, Jin Xiaoye told her not to do any work and to take care of the child a bit.

Cui Cui was so well-behaved that she didn’t ask for anything. She lay quietly on Jin Mao’er’s bedding, and Jin Mao’er could take care of her.

After Li Qingzhi had breakfast, he took the three children to school. He also chatted with Li Xiucai for a while before heading to the county office.

The investigation into the false accusation made by the scholar from Chongcheng County against the county magistrate in Chongcheng County was almost complete. They planned to leave today at noon, and the county magistrate of Guo had prepared a banquet to entertain them and was even planning to see them off.

The banquet was set up in the morning, and they would eat at a large restaurant near the county office.

The county magistrate of Guo felt that the county magistrate of Yan was a poor county magistrate without any background who had been marginalized by his subordinates in Linhu County. Moreover, the last time he went to Linhu County, the food prepared by the county magistrate of Yan was not good…

So this time, the county magistrate of Guo specially prepared a sumptuous meal to entertain him.

Roast chicken, soy sauce duck, braised pork, white-cut goose… along with various desserts, filled the table.

While eating, the county magistrate of Guo also talked about the various things he had done in Linhu County.

The county magistrate of Yan showed gratitude and kept thanking him, but Li Qingzhi could clearly feel that his words were insincere.

The county magistrate of Yan must know the situation in Linhu County, and by now, he must be annoyed with the county magistrate of Guo.

Quite interesting.

Li Qingzhi smiled and silently ate his food on the side.

With so many delicious dishes, they couldn’t be wasted!

They spent an hour eating this meal, and as noon approached, the county magistrate of Guo finally sent off the county magistrate of Yan.

When the county magistrate of Yan came to Chongcheng County, he had rented a modest little boat. When he was in Linhu County, he had heard that the county magistrate of Yan was very thrifty and never spent money recklessly…

Thinking that the county magistrate of Yan was tight on money, the county magistrate of Guo specially lent the boat from the Zhu family to the county magistrate of Yan: “Xiao Yan, I’ll lend you a boat. It’s much more comfortable to ride in than those small boats…”

County Magistrate Yan: “…”

As they chatted, they walked towards the pier.

The county office was very close to the pier, and the county magistrate of Guo wanted to show the county magistrate of Yan how prosperous their county was. So he specially took them to the pier to board a boat: “In our Chongcheng County, many boats dock here every day, and the pier is always bustling with people. Because this pier is overburdened, I plan to build a new one, which will be completed this summer…”

Although Linhu County had a similar geographical location and amount of fertile land as Chongcheng County and even had more mountains and a lake, the county magistrate of Guo felt that Linhu County was far less prosperous than Chongcheng County.

So, as he spoke, there was a strong sense of pride in his tone.

Li Qingzhi could clearly feel that County Magistrate Yan was even more unhappy now.

He was feeling helpless when suddenly he felt something was amiss—it seemed like someone was watching them.

The person watching them probably wasn’t him, but he vaguely felt a sense of danger.

Li Qingzhi became alert and looked around.

But… everyone around them seemed to be watching them too. He didn’t know who the person giving him this sense of danger was.

But this was County Magistrate Guo! And next to him was County Magistrate Yan! Indeed, everyone at the pier seemed to be watching their group.

“I heard County Magistrate Guo went to Linhu County some days ago and helped County Magistrate Yan solve many cases!”

“County Magistrate Guo is truly a good person!”

“He must have solved many cases!”

The people of Chongcheng County praised County Magistrate Guo incessantly.

Among the group of men carrying goods, Chang Zhan heard this and sneered disapprovingly.

County Magistrate Yan also had a good reputation in Linhu County.

He was friendly with the common people, dressed plainly, and lived just like an ordinary person. Everyone thought he was an honest and good magistrate.

But in reality? He was no different from the Luo family.

Thinking like this, Chang Zhan soon heard someone praising County Magistrate Yan again: “I heard County Magistrate Yan is an honest official.”

“I heard too. Look at County Magistrate Yan; he’s wearing old clothes.”