Chapter 110: Arrangements 1/2

Li Qingzhi was sure he couldn’t bear children. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Li Damao say, “Dad is a man; he can’t bear children.”

Li Ermao said, “But she looks like dad; she loves to drink medicine!”

“Yeah.” Li Damao agreed with this.

Li Qingzhi cleared his throat lightly and said, “Damao, Ermao, dad is back.”

“Dad!” Li Damao and Li Ermao happily shouted, with Li Ermao adding, “Dad, look at your sister; she loves to drink medicine!”

Li Qingzhi: He really couldn’t see where Chang Cui loved to drink medicine.

At this time, Chang Cui had already rushed towards Chang Zhan, crying, “Uncle!”

Seeing his niece, Chang Zhan’s eyes turned red, wanting to pick her up immediately, but Li Qingzhi was quick to react, grabbing Chang Cui before she could reach Chang Zhan.

Picking up Chang Cui, Li Qingzhi said to Chang Zhan, “You go take a bath first.”

Chang Cui cried, “Uncle, uncle…”

Li Qingzhi said, “Your uncle is too dirty; let him go take a bath first.”

Chang Zhan and Chang Cui must have been sleeping on the streets in recent days; both of them were so dirty.

Jin Xiaoye had just cleaned Chang Cui yesterday, and now she couldn’t let her get dirty again.

Waiting for Chang Zhan to hold his niece, Li Qingzhi put Chang Cui on a small chair and said, “Cui cui, drink your medicine in one gulp, then be good and eat. Wait for your uncle here, okay?”

Chang Cui nodded obediently while sobbing, and he even snatched the medicine from Li Damao’s hand and gulped it down in one go.

“So obedient.” Li Qingzhi praised her, then said to Chang Zhan, “I’ll take you to take a bath.”

Chang Zhan quickly followed.

The meal at home was already prepared. Li Qingzhi asked Chang zhan to boil water himself, then went upstairs to find a set of his old clothes for Chang zhan.

The pot was still warm, and there was no need to boil water for a bath. Chang Zhan soon boiled a pot of hot water and went to take a bath.

When Chang Zhan finished washing up, Li Qingzhi, Chang Cui, and they had already finished lunch.

Chang Zhan was not as tall as Li Qingzhi, so he had to roll up his sleeves to wear Li Qingzhi’s clothes.

Coincidentally, Chang Cui was not as tall as Li Damao and Li Ermao, so she also rolled up her sleeves to wear Li Damao’s old clothes.

These clothes for my uncle and niece looked very alike.

“Uncle!” Chang Cui rushed to find Chang Zhan this time, and no one stopped her.

Chang Zhan hugged his niece tightly, saying, “Cui cui, don’t cry.”

But as he finished speaking, he burst into tears himself.

Chang Zhan was only seventeen years old this year.

He had a happy childhood when his family was wealthy. Before the family’s accident, he used to spend his days mischievously, often making his father angry.

Then suddenly, the family encountered trouble!

He became the only man left in the family and was exposed to a lower-class life he had never experienced before.

For the past two years, they have been living in a small alley. His sister-in-law was pretty, and there were always thugs coming to their door. He learned to curse, learned to fight, and learned some survival skills he had never needed before.

He had always thought that when he grew up, he would be able to protect his family.

He was actually quite happy that day—the kitchen of a tavern was willing to hire him, and he would have work to do! He even took Cui Cui to see that tavern.

But when they came back from seeing it, his mother and sister-in-law had already encountered trouble. It was the neighbors who took pity on him and intercepted him early; otherwise, he might have walked into a trap.

After that…

After those people left, he collected the bones of his mother and sister-in-law and then fled with Cui Cui.

Cui Cui had always been afraid, crying all day. As for him? He couldn’t show anything on his face, but he was actually scared inside.

When he went to find County Magistrate Yan with a knife before, he was full of hatred, thinking only of getting revenge, but now… He was terrified.

Chang Zhan cried so loudly that even Cui Cui stopped crying, just sniffling and staring at her uncle.

After watching for a while, Cui Cui patted her uncle’s shoulder and said, “Uncle, don’t cry.”

Being comforted by his niece, Chang Zhan cried even louder.

Jin Xiaoye and Li Qingzhi didn’t stop Chang Zhan from crying. Emotions needed to be released to avoid harming themselves.

After Chang Zhan cried for a while and looked much better, Li Qingzhi served him a bowl of rice and a ladle of vegetables. “Stop crying, let’s eat.”

Chang Zhan felt embarrassed at this point. He wiped his tears and took the large earthenware bowl Li Qingzhi gave him. “Thank you.”

Today’s meal was stewed tofu with seaweed and salted fish.

Chang Zhan had always been picky since he was a child, refusing this and that, but now he found this seaweed tofu soup rice, which had only salt added, particularly delicious.

This was the most delicious seaweed-tofu soup he had ever tasted.

Of course, that was also because he had been starving for the past few days.

After finishing a large bowl of rice, Chang Zhan took a deep breath and looked at Li Qingzhi. “My brother…”

Li Qingzhi smiled and looked at Chang Cui. “Cui Cui, I need to talk to your uncle. Can you stay here and play with your brother?”

Cui Cui obediently nodded, and Li Qingzhi then took Chang Zhan upstairs.

In the study, Li Qingzhi let Chang Zhan sit down and said, “Five years ago, I encountered bandits on the road. After they captured me, they sold me to a quarry in Linhu County, where I was forced to mine stones.”

Li Qingzhi briefly recounted his own experiences and then mentioned Chang Duan: “More than two years ago, your brother was sent to the quarry.”

The original owner didn’t actually have much interaction with Chang Duan.

Their lives as workers were very difficult, and after a busy day, they had no energy left… The original owner and Chang Duan only spoke occasionally.

In those five years, countless people had died in front of the original owner after telling him their experiences.

Of course, Chang Duan didn’t die in front of the original owner; it was the original owner who “died” in front of Chang Duan.

Li Qingzhi told Chang Zhan everything he knew about Chang Duan, and as Chang Zhan listened, he cried again.

But this time, he didn’t cry out loud, just clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, letting tears fall silently down his cheeks.

Li Qingzhi continued speaking.

“At that time, the overseer thought I was dead, so he threw me out. But I miraculously survived… I don’t know where I got the strength from, but I made my way home…” Li Qingzhi’s mood also became a bit heavy when he mentioned the original owner: “You’ve seen my wife. She’s a good person. At the time, we didn’t have much money, but she still got a doctor for me and helped me recover…”

Li Qingzhi knew Chang zhan’s identity and confirmed that Chang zhan could be trusted, so he didn’t hide his own background: “I escaped last summer and spent a few months recovering, then managed to make acquaintance with County Magistrate Gou. I also wrote a letter to Magistrate Zhang… Magistrate Zhang has already started investigating Linhu County, but because this involves the Prince, he can’t act rashly.”

Li Qingzhi only briefly mentioned recent events.

Only now did Chang Zhan tearfully ask, “Is my brother still alive?”

“I don’t know,” Li Qingzhi said. “Many people die in the quarry. It’s too common.” Didn’t the original owner die there?

“I want to save my brother!” Chang Zhan suddenly stood up.

Li Qingzhi said, “There are many guards there. How will you save him?”

That place was the property of the royal family, and besides overseers, there were also some young and strong private soldiers guarding them.

Rushing in recklessly wouldn’t rescue anyone; it would only get them captured and make them one of the stone miners.

Even Magistrate Zhang didn’t dare to act rashly.

As for Magistrate Gou, Li Qingzhi didn’t even plan to tell him about this matter.