Chapter 142: Strategies 1/4

Li Qingzhi also ordered twenty pieces of fried dried stinky tofu and sat beside Wu Baichuan to eat.

He felt that dried stinky tofu with only sweet sauce wasn’t tasty enough. If there was some spicy sauce, and preferably with sesame and peanuts, especially fragrant, that would be perfect.

At this time, there were no disposable utensils, so everyone who bought food either ate it directly or used the plates and bowls provided by the shop. Some more particular ones even brought their own bowls and plates.

Both Li Qingzhi and Wu Baichuan were not particular people. They sat behind the stall on the small stools provided by the shop, holding the shop’s plates and eating.

In front of them was the bustling street full of lanterns, while behind them was an endless expanse of darkness. Li Qingzhi ate while asking Wu Baichuan about the situation in the capital, and Wu Baichuan, not hiding anything, whispered to Li Qingzhi about what he knew.

After finishing, Wu Baichuan asked Li Qingzhi, “Mr. Li, was ‘Record of Injustice’ written by you?”

Li Qingzhi wasn’t surprised that Wu Baichuan could guess. Wu Baichuan, a businessman who traveled extensively, might not have the courage to pursue profit and avoid harm, but he was definitely smart. “Yes, I wrote it.”

“Does Governor Zhang know?” Wu Baichuan asked again.

“He does,” Li Qingzhi replied.

Wu Baichuan was in a great mood. He knew that Li Qingzhi must be one of Governor Zhang’s people.

“Mr. Li?” Shopkeeper Chang came over with Chang Cui in his arms.

Children’s sleep was always good. Despite the lively atmosphere outside, Chang Cui still slept soundly.

“Cui Cui is asleep… You should take her home soon,” Li Qingzhi said.

Chang Zhan glanced at Wu Baichuan, then left with Chang Cui. He really wanted to know about his brother’s situation, but it wasn’t appropriate to ask about it now.

Li Qingzhi and Wu Baichuan had finished eating the dried stinky tofu, so they went together to Wu Baichuan’s ship to get the things Wu Baichuan had brought back for Shopkeeper Duan.

The items Shopkeeper Duan entrusted to Li Qingzhi were mainly letters, packed in a small wooden box. Li Qingzhi picked up the box and said, “Mr. Wu, thank you. Next time you go to the capital, I’ll trouble you to bring him some things again.”

Wu Baichuan immediately said, “No trouble at all, Mr. Li. Whatever you need me to bring to Shopkeeper Duan, just let me know.”

After Li Qingzhi left Wu Baichuan, carrying the box, he went to find Jin Xiaoye.

At this point, it was already modern time, probably past eight or close to nine o’clock. Most of the common people had already gone home, and most of the stalls at the lantern festival had been packed up—the vendors had sold out of their goods!

“Zixiao.” A familiar voice rang out, and Li Qingzhi looked over to see Li Xiucai.

Behind Li Xiucai, there was a large group of people.

Hmm, if Li Xiucai’s whole family was here, there really were a lot of people.

“Why hasn’t Xiucai returned yet?” Li Qingzhi asked. Generally, those with children would return early.

Li Xiucai replied, “One of the kids wanted to play for a bit and didn’t want to go back. They only agreed to leave now.” He wanted to return earlier, but his grandchildren were reluctant, and just now someone even sat on the ground and refused to go back…

“Take care on your way.” Li Qingzhi smiled.

Li Xiucai’s income was decent. Although his family wasn’t wealthy, they lived quite comfortably. Li Qingzhi noticed that each of the children had snacks or toys in their hands.

When Li Qingzhi arrived at the inn, he ran into Magistrate Gou’s family.

Magistrate Gou and Mrs. Gou were both carrying a lot of stuff, while Mrs. Gou and Magistrate Gou’s two daughters didn’t have much with them, probably letting their servants carry things.

After exchanging greetings, Li Qingzhi went to find Jin Xiaoye, and also woke up Li Damao and Li Ermao.

These two kids were quite heavy, so it was better to let them walk themselves.

Li Damao and Li Ermao were reluctantly awakened and pouted.

Seeing this, Li Qingzhi said, “Damao, Ermao, Daddy walked a long way today and can’t walk anymore. Can you help me walk?”

Li Qingzhi pretended to be weak, and when Li Damao and Li Ermao saw this, they hurriedly said, “Dad, I can!”

They forgot about the discomfort of being woken up and got up to help Li Qingzhi.

“Damao, Ermao, you’re great. Hold Dad’s hand and walk with him. With you two here, Dad can walk.” Li Qingzhi said.

Li Damao and Li Ermao nodded seriously and held Li Qingzhi’s hand to walk.

Jin Xiaoye glanced at Li Qingzhi, somewhat admiring.

Li Qingzhi was really resourceful. With these two kids with him, they always behaved especially well.

It was a bit dark on the way back at night, and Li Damao and Li Ermao were a little scared. Li Qingzhi saw this and told them stories.

He absolutely wouldn’t tell ghost stories, so he chose a story from history about winning battles during night marches to tell them.

He also mentioned what to pay attention to during night marches.

The two children listened attentively, completely forgetting their fear.

Similarly forgetting their fear were Li Laogen and Zhao Xiaodou.

Li Laogen was timid, and as for Zhao Xiaodou… He had heard some ghost stories back home and couldn’t help but be afraid of the dark.

The two walked hand in hand behind Li Qingzhi, originally more scared than Li Damao and Li Ermao, but now they were too absorbed in listening to the stories.

When they arrived at the county town, there were lights, and when they returned to Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Shop, the lights were on— the female workers had already returned.

Li Qingzhi asked Jin Xiaoye to take Li Damao and Li Ermao to bathe and sleep, while he went to call Chang Zhan and asked him to look at the letters sent back by Chang Duan.

Learning that his brother hadn’t returned, Chang Zhan felt a bit disappointed, but he quickly adjusted his mood and looked at the letters with Li Qingzhi.

In the letter, Chang Duan didn’t mention his relationship with Lü Qingxi, only talked about the situation in the capital, and then mentioned that he was now managing a restaurant.

Li Qingzhi had already learned about Chang Duan’s situation from Wu Baichuan, so naturally, he also knew that the restaurant was given by Lü Qingxi.

He also knew why Chang Duan chose to stay in the capital. If he opened a restaurant in the capital, Chang Duan could do more things.

After reading the letters, Li Qingzhi gave them to Chang Zhan.

Anyway, he had remembered everything.

The next day, after visiting Li Xiucai’s house, Li Qingzhi took out paper and pen to write a letter to Chang Duan.

He wrote down everything he knew related to running a restaurant, such as having good service from the waiters, preferably with uniform attire, and giving customers some snacks as a gesture of goodwill.

Li Qingzhi wrote down everything he could think of, but of course, he also wrote that he didn’t have any experience running a restaurant, so these were just some casual thoughts. Whether or how to use them depended entirely on Chang Duan.

After writing these, Li Qingzhi took out another piece of paper and began to write about the technique of distilling liquor.

The day Magistrate Zhang got drunk, Li Qingzhi thought about making some high-proof liquor, which could be used as a disinfectant.

But he never got around to making it. Besides, he found out that Daqi already had distilled liquor.

However, the liquor-making workshop in Daqi didn’t know they were refining alcohol through distillation; they just considered it as one step in the brewing process.

They put the fermented mash in a large wooden barrel, then placed the barrel on a steamer. Above the barrel, they placed a large iron pot filled with cold water…

Alcohol evaporates at over seventy degrees, but when it meets the cold water in the iron pot, it condenses… and finally, they could collect the “liquor.”

The liquor produced in this way wasn’t particularly high-proof, only around twenty or thirty degrees. However, Li Qingzhi… designed a simple iron distillation apparatus that could further distill the twenty or thirty-degree liquor, presumably producing alcohol of fifty or sixty degrees.

Although the apparatus was small, the amount of liquor that could be distilled should not be much… Rarity adds value, which is quite good.

Li Qingzhi drew a diagram for Chang Duan and wrote about how peppercorns could be used in cooking.

He planned to send half of the chili powder he had on hand along with the letter to Chang Duan in the capital.

Chang Duan was running a restaurant, so he should find it useful.