Chapter 122: Delicious 2/2

But the villagers were already very happy—such a thing had never happened before. Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye were truly generous!

While they were distributing, Li Damao, Li Ermao, and Chang Cui were sitting next to them with bowls, eating. They were enjoying the food so much.

This meal lasted for a long time. All the braised dishes on the table were eaten up, and even the soup in the plates was gone, and the rice was finished.

If Li Qingzhi hadn’t deliberately cooked extra rice, maybe even the burnt rice would have been snatched away.

Li Qingzhi said, “Everyone, stay at my house for a while. When I make some more braised meat later, I’ll serve you a bit more, and we’ll add another dish in the evening.”

“Sorry for the trouble!”

“I’ve eaten so much, I don’t need to eat dinner tonight!”

“Yeah, I won’t need to eat dinner either.”

…

The villagers said so, but from their expressions… without a doubt, they hoped Li Qingzhi would share some food with them!

Li Qingzhi found it a bit amusing and then cut some more meat and put it in the pot with the tofu and vegetarian chicken.

Fortunately, he had anticipated this scene yesterday and specially asked Jin Xiaoye to prepare some extra vegetables.

“This braised meat is really delicious,” he thought, so he had Jin Xiaoye run an errand to deliver some to County Magistrate Gou, Zhu Qian, Mrs. Xu, and Sister Wang, not knowing if they would enjoy it.

Mrs. Xu and Xu Qifei had already eaten.

Ever since Xu Qifei passed the county exam, his elder brother had been much kinder to him and his mother. When he went to the prefectural capital to take the prefectural exam, his elder brother even gave him ten taels of silver. After he passed the prefectural exam, his elder brother gave him another ten taels of silver.

Today, Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop was closed, so Mrs. Xu didn’t have to work. She bought some vegetables and planned to cook more food to invite her elder brother’s family for dinner.

Over the years, Xu’s elder brother hadn’t been exceptionally good to Xu Qifei, but neither was he bad. Their relationship was acceptable.

While Mrs. Xu was cooking, Jin Xiaoye brought the braised meat. Half a braised duck, half a braised chicken, along with a piece of braised meat and some braised tofu, and vegetarian chicken… Four more dishes were added to their table.

Xu’s elder brother and his family praised, “The taste of this braised meat is really good! Where did you buy it?”

Xu Qifei replied, “It was given to me by a fellow student of mine.”

“Is it Young Master Zhu from the Zhu family?” Xu’s elder brother asked.

“No, it’s Li Qingzhi.”

“Oh, it’s Li Qingzhi!” Xu’s elder brother’s attitude towards Xu Qifei improved upon hearing about Li Qingzhi.

This younger brother of his had made a name for himself and knew so many people… He must maintain a good relationship with his brother so that, in the future, he can help his children.

Well, his children were about the same age as his brother’s children, so what his brother could help with in the future should be his grandchildren.

Smiling, Xu’s elder brother, who was about the same age as Mrs. Xu, praised Xu Qifei.

In Sister Wang’s house, Sister Wang also couldn’t stop praising the braised meat.

Her two sons were away studying, leaving only her and her daughter at home. So, she and her daughter finished off half of the duck together.

After eating, she reminded her daughter, “Don’t tell your brother that there’s still duck left. Just say we didn’t eat any, and we’re waiting for them to come home in the evening to eat together.”

Sister Wang’s daughter nodded with a smile.

Sister Wang added, “Later, I’ll take you shopping and buy you some jewelry. I’ve already talked to Mrs. Xu; she’ll take Xu Qifei to the embroidery workshop tomorrow, so when that happens, you go up and talk to him.”

Sister Wang was very concerned about her daughter’s marriage, and she had even considered Jin Xiaoye before.

But Jin Xiaoye was married to Fang Jinniang, wasn’t he? So she shifted her focus and set her sights on Mrs. Xu’s son.

Initially, Sister Wang didn’t think much of Xu Qifei.

Back then, Xu Qifei hadn’t achieved any success, and studying required a lot of money… If her daughter married Xu Qifei, wouldn’t they have to spend money to support him in his studies along with Mrs. Xu?

Most importantly, Mrs. Xu and Xu Qifei didn’t even have their own house, living in the two small rooms in the backyard of the Xu family.

She didn’t want her daughter to suffer!

But when Xu Qifei passed the county exam and had a good relationship with Zhu Xunmiao and Li Qingzhi… Sister Wang began to consider it and hinted at it to Mrs. Xu.

Mrs. Xu was very willing!

Sister Wang’s daughter worked with her every day, was good-looking, diligent, and even knew a few characters… In the county, Sister Wang’s daughter was already considered very eligible!

Their families knew each other well!

Mrs. Xu didn’t want to aim too high. She was afraid that girls from high backgrounds would look down on their family, which would make life difficult.

Sister Wang’s daughter was perfect!

However, because Xu Qifei had to prepare for the prefectural exam and even went directly to the prefectural capital, she didn’t mention it to Xu Qifei until now, after he passed the prefectural exam, when she discussed it with Sister Wang and planned for the two to meet.

At the Zhu residence,

Li Qingzhi sent a chicken, a duck, and a larger quantity of braised meat and braised tofu to the Zhu family.

The Zhu family always gave gifts of gold and silver, so he couldn’t just give them half a chicken or duck…

When Zhu Qian heard that Li Qingzhi had sent something over, he immediately went to take a look and smelled the enticing aroma.

Zhu Qian had a tough time when he was young and hadn’t eaten many good things. After he became wealthy, he paid great attention to his appetite and loved meat.

If not for this, he wouldn’t be so fat!

Over the years, Zhu Qian had eaten many good things, but he hadn’t eaten such fragrant braised meat much… He took a piece of tofu and ate it, then tore off a chicken claw to eat, and then let the newly hired chef cut up the braised meat and send some to his younger son studying at the school, using the rest to add to the dishes.

Thinking like this, Zhu Qian went to get a duck neck to gnaw on.

As for County Magistrate Gou…

County Magistrate Gou had been exhausted lately.

There wasn’t any particular reason, mainly because his son was too much trouble.

County Magistrate Gou was busy with official duties, having not paid much attention to his son before. He had been rushing to the capital for exams, then came to Chongcheng County to be the county magistrate, and hadn’t seen his son for a year or two.

In the blink of an eye, his son was already thirteen years old, and he had grown a lot taller, almost as tall as him!

It’s good for children to grow up tall, but this child had a bunch of problems!

County Magistrate Gou’s father was very strict with him, but when it came to his grandson… He only had this one grandson, and he doted on him!

County Magistrate Gou found his grandson very picky about food, insisting on having the best of everything. He wasn’t good at studying either; even at this age, his handwriting was very ugly.

At first, County Magistrate Gou was full of paternal love and didn’t mind. He patiently tried to teach him… But this child was often distracted when studying and didn’t like writing big words…

County Magistrate Gou couldn’t help but become stricter. When reprimands didn’t work, he even used a ruler to discipline him.

This stirred up a hornet’s nest!

The child ran around the courtyard, shouting that he couldn’t bear this life anymore and wanted to jump into the river.

County Magistrate Gou was dumbfounded.

Although he knew his son was just threatening him, he was also afraid that the child would really do something foolish, so he didn’t dare to push him further…

After that, it was more of the same – County Magistrate Gou wanted the child to study, but the child only wanted to play. When County Magistrate Gou got angry, he would scold the child, and the child would start causing trouble.

County Magistrate Gou felt that dealing with Zhang Yunquan was less exhausting than dealing with his own son.

He had even lost weight!

The Gou family had dinner relatively early. During dinner, County Magistrate Gou saw his son picking out the best dishes as soon as he sat down and couldn’t help but say a few words. The child threw a tantrum again, threw down his chopsticks, and said he wouldn’t eat.

County Magistrate Gou’s wife couldn’t control the child, so she quietly ate with their two young daughters, while County Magistrate Gou argued with his son.

As they were arguing, someone came in from outside, saying that Li Qingzhi had sent some food over.

County Magistrate Gou opened the food box and immediately smelled a tempting aroma.

The young master Gou, who had originally planned to leave, also stopped and peeked at the food box.

Seeing him like this, County Magistrate Gou, considering his young age, said, “This braised meat smells really good. I’ll have someone cut it up for you. Stay and have some.”

The young master Gou didn’t say anything, just sat down and picked up his chopsticks.

This braised meat even pleased County Magistrate Gou. Needless to say, the people from the Miaoqian Village were even more delighted! Everyone praised Li Qingzhi’s delicious braised meat.

As they praised it… rumors somehow started to spread. They said that eating Li Qingzhi’s braised meat and touching the articles written by Li Qingzhi, the case leader, could make one smarter.