Chapter 116: Good News 2/2

After getting up in the morning, those who didn’t need to cook could go nearby for a stroll, see the county, and come back to the workshop afterward to have rice porridge and eggs!

In the morning after breakfast, they needed to work, but they were only doing needlework without being exposed to the sun or rain. Plus, it wasn’t dirty work, and if they got tired, no one would scold them for taking a break.

At noon, they had meat to eat again! If they wanted, after eating, they could go nearby for another stroll!

At night, after dinner while it was still bright outside, they could go to the bathroom and wash clothes together, or chat and play games.

They made sandbags out of scrap cloth and sometimes played with them. They would also borrow a chessboard from Li Damao and Li Ermao and play backgammon together.

As for their accommodation, at first, they slept on the floor, which wasn’t very comfortable, but after all, this was a building in the city, and it wasn’t damp at all, so they thought it was pretty good.

As for now… Shopkeeper Jin had a carpenter make beds for them.

The beds were bunk beds, so they could sleep on the top or bottom as they pleased. There were curtains hanging on the beds, so when they were pulled closed, it became a small space where no one could disturb them.

The girls from better-off families were amazed when they saw the new beds, but for someone like Jin Mao’er, whose family was not well-off, she loved the bed even more.

But they didn’t just get beds. Once they mastered their skills, shopkeeper Jin bought some clothes and had them make two new outfits for themselves.

Each person got the same amount of fabric, already cut, so they just had to sew it together… A few days later, they all had two beautiful outfits.

These clothes were different from what they wore in the countryside; they were the styles worn by city folk, and they looked really good in them.

Jin Mao’er watched as everyone around her changed day by day, looking much better than before, and then looked at her own chubby arms and legs…

If she went home, would her parents even recognize her?

Well, she didn’t want to go home. She just wanted to work at Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop for the rest of her life.

After dinner, Jin Mao’er went to the kitchen to help wash dishes.

At Jin Xiaoye’s table, there was stewed pork with soybeans and a large pot of seaweed tofu and pork soup.

Li Qingzhi would usually make two or three extra dishes, but Jin Xiaoye was lazy and only made an extra soup each time.

Adding some eggs and pork slices to the soup made it taste better.

Today, the seaweed tofu soup was really good, and everyone finished their meal quickly.

After eating, instead of rushing to work, they started chatting. Inevitably, the topic of Li Qingzhi came up.

Li Damao and Li Ermao immediately asked, “Mom, when is Dad coming back?”

“Mom, I miss Dad!”

…

Li Damao and Li Ermao had been eagerly awaiting Li Qingzhi’s return day and night, hoping he would come back soon.

Jin Xiaoye said, “The prefectural examination has been completed. When the results are announced in a few days, your dad will be able to come back.”

“Okay,” Li Damao sighed like a little adult.

Li Ermao asked, “Mom, the teacher at school said Dad might come back as a case leader… Can Dad become a case leader?”

“I don’t know, Ermao. When you’re outside, don’t talk about whether your dad can become a case leader or not.”

“Mom, we didn’t say anything. It was the teacher who said it,” Li Ermao said.

As they were talking, someone came in from outside. “Shopkeeper Jin, good news! Great news! The results of the prefectural examination have been announced, and Mr. Li came in first place!”

Jin Xiaoye stood up in surprise. “Really?”

“Absolutely true. I heard that Mr. Li attended a literary gathering at Chongwen Academy the night before last, and the headmaster of Chongwen Academy even wanted to take him as a disciple!” The messenger was none other than the servant who traveled between Chongcheng County and the prefectural city, responsible for delivering news.

He was well-informed about the affairs of the prefectural city and could speak eloquently. At this moment, he selected some news from the prefectural city to tell Jin Xiaoye.

Of course, he didn’t forget to inform Mrs. Xu, the wife of Mr. Xu, that Mr. Xu had also passed the prefectural examination.

For a while, everyone at Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop was excited and congratulated Jin Xiaoye and Mrs. Xu.

“Shopkeeper Jin, congratulations!”

“Getting the top spot in the prefectural examination and passing the imperial examination is as good as a certainty. Shopkeeper Jin, you will be the wife of a scholar from now on!”

“Shopkeeper Jin might even become the wife of a Jinshi in the future!”

“Mrs. Xu, your son passed the prefectural examination at such a young age. He will have a bright future ahead!”

“I knew it. Qifei is a promising young man!”

“Mrs. Xu, your good days are yet to come!”

…

Passing the prefectural examination was a big event for Li Qingzhi! Just like Mr. Zhu, Jin Xiaoye planned to give out red envelopes to the people in the workshop.

However, she wasn’t as wealthy as Mr. Zhu. “This is a big celebration. Today, I’ll give each of you a red envelope with fifty wen!”

She took out a box of copper coins from the room and counted them before distributing them one by one.

“Thank you, Shopkeeper Jin!”

“Shopkeeper Jin, you will definitely become wealthy in the future!”

“Wishing Shopkeeper Jin becomes the first lady!”

…

In high spirits, the workers in the workshop happily accepted their money.

However, when Jin Xiaoye handed out money to the workers recruited from Miaoqian Village, they felt embarrassed to take it. “Shopkeeper Jin, don’t we already have money?”

Jin Xiaoye smiled and said, “Of course you do! Everyone should share in the joy.”

The girls from the village happily accepted the money, except for Jin Mao’er, who didn’t come over.

Jin Xiaoye called out to her, “Mao’er, come and get your money!”

Jin Mao’er shook her head with her hands behind her back. “Innkeeper Jin, I don’t want money. You’ve also paid for my medical treatment and medicine.”

Jin Xiaoye smiled and said, “That’s another matter. Take this money. You can go out later and buy something you like.”

“I don’t want it,” Jin Mao’er said.

But Jin Xiaoye still stuffed the money into her hand. “Everyone else has it. It wouldn’t be good if you didn’t.”

Jin Mao’er looked a little bewildered while holding the money.

Jin Xiaoye gave her a gentle push. “Go and work!”

Hearing this, the workers went back to work.

Jin Xiaoye happily kissed Li Damao and Li Ermao, then asked Jin Xiaoshu to help her buy some braised dried tofu and braised pork to bring back.

In the evening, the braised dried tofu was served as an extra meal for the female workers, while the braised pork was for their own extra meal!

She also began to think about what dishes to prepare for the banquet when she returned to Miaoqian Village.

In the past, people from Miaoqian Village used to pity her, but now she wanted to show off a bit and let them know how well she was living!

While Jin Xiaoye was thinking about this, Li Qingzhi and the others were already on their way back to Chongcheng County.

Zhu Xunmiao was very excited. If there weren’t people with him who hadn’t passed the exam, he would be even more excited.

Li Qingzhi was also in a good mood. He had already gained some fame in the prefectural city, and now he was waiting to participate in the provincial examination in August.

After their boat left the prefectural city, Magistrate Zhang went to Linhu County with Chang Zhan.

Magistrate Zhang used all his connections to contact the nearby military garrison.

He told them that the county magistrate of Linhu County had some private soldiers and asked them to help eliminate them. Now, those people had already gone to Linhu County.

Magistrate Zhang had decided to completely eradicate the worms in Linhu County!

Linhu County was adjacent to Lihu Lake, and many people made a living by fishing.

However, there were some places where the fishermen dared not go. After all, the people from Lou’s family had warned them not to go there, and if they approached, they would be driven away.

This was not a big deal. In the past, a few bold young people had sneaked over in the middle of the night to see what was there. As a result, out of the three people who went, two disappeared without a trace, and the remaining one saw a corpse. However, because the steward of Lou’s family said that this person had died trying to steal something, he also died in vain.

The people living by the lake no longer dared to approach that place, so they didn’t know that there were actually many people living there.

And the vast majority of them had dull eyes, spending their days being driven to work in the mountains and waters to dig stones.

At this time, it was noon, and the overseers and guards of the stone quarry were preparing to eat lunch. The laborers who were forced to dig stones were not allowed to take a break.

Chang Duan carefully carried the food to the overseers and guards, and when he delivered it, he glanced at the people who were working without leaving a trace.

A year ago, he was also one of them.