Chapter 16: County Town

Afterward, Li Qingzhi spent his time cooking, going out for walks to exercise, and reading the “Three Character Classic” at home.

He needed to familiarize himself with the text of this era to solidify the knowledge of the original host.

Yao Zhenfu’s copy of the “Three Character Classic” was printed. Such printed books were expensive in the Yu County where the original host lived before, but they would be cheaper in Chongcheng County.

The literary atmosphere was flourishing in the Jiangnan region, and there were many bookstores engaged in printing books. With many bookstores, the prices of books naturally came down.

Yu County, on the other hand, was different. At that time, there was only one bookstore in the entire county town, where the books were not only expensive but also of poor quality.

When the original host was learning the “Three Character Classic,” he used the copy handwritten by his elder brother. Of course, the original host later copied it several times, selecting the clearest handwriting and compiling it into a book for his younger brother.

After many years without review, the original host had forgotten how to recite the content of the “Three Character Classic” at the back, but Li Qingzhi had read it several times and managed to recall these memories.

As for the allusions in the book, the original host was very interested in them, and he remembered them all. It just so happened that he could tell these stories to Jin Xiaoye and the Li brothers while teaching them to recite the book.

As for learning characters, Li Qingzhi felt that there was no rush for the time being.

Li Damao and Li Ermao were still young, as for Jin Xiaoye… it was currently the busy farming season.

While Li Qingzhi stayed at home, Jin Xiaoye picked vegetables from her own yard and took Li Laogen to the county town.

Before they left, Jin Xiaoye asked Li Laogen to put on clothes. While Li Laogen did put them on, he felt uncomfortable twisting and turning, “It’s such a hot day, and you still want me to wear clothes…”

“No one walks around shirtless in the county town!” Jin Xiaoye said.

Li Laogen grumbled, “Those folks from the county town just like to fuss around.” After saying that, he complained softly, feeling that those city people looked down on him.

Li Qingzhi felt a little helpless. In fact, not only the city people but also the villagers looked down on Li Laogen. These days, he had seen many men in the village making fun of Li Laogen.

But complaints aside, Li Laogen obediently followed Jin Xiaoye to the county town.

In fact, he liked going to the county town. Even if he did nothing there and returned afterward, he could still boast to the villagers.

Speaking of which, before being taken to the county town by Jin Xiaoye, Li Laogen had only been there as a child with his parents, and he hadn’t been there since.

After half an hour, Jin Xiaoye and Li Laogen arrived at the county town. Upon entering the town, Jin Xiaoye knocked on a household’s door.

The person who opened the door was a middle-aged woman with her hair tied up in a bun, fair skin, and a round face. When she saw Jin Xiaoye, she smiled and said, “Xiaoye, it’s been a long time since you last came. Is it because of the busy farming season?”

“Sister Wang, it’s not just because of the farming season… my husband has come back!”

The woman surnamed Wang was somewhat surprised. “He’s back?”

“Yes, he’s back. He was captured by bandits when he went out last time and was sold off. He managed to escape after many hardships.”

Jin Xiaoye briefly explained Li Qingzhi’s situation, and Sister Wang said, “Thank goodness he’s safe.” After saying that, a hint of worry appeared on Sister Wang’s face.

Five years ago, Jin Xiaoye was in dire straits, pregnant and selling things in the county.

She wasn’t favored in the Jin family, and she rarely went to the county before getting married. When she arrived in the county back then, she didn’t even know where to go, let alone Li Laogen, who was even more clueless. He was just dumbfounded at the time, only knowing to hide behind her.

Fortunately, she was always daring. With determination, she went door-to-door, selling her goods.

She sold them cheaply, and along the way, she sold everything she had.

The woman in front of her, Sister Wang, was someone she met during that time.

Sister Wang’s husband was a traveling merchant. He bought cloth on this side of Chongcheng County, took a boat to sell elsewhere, bought some goods from elsewhere, and brought them back to Chongcheng County to sell. He often stayed out for several months at a time.

Now, upon hearing about Li Qingzhi’s encounter with bandits from Jin Xiaoye, Sister Wang began to worry about her husband who was often away.

Jin Xiaoye also noticed Sister Wang’s concern and comforted her before leaving behind some vegetables brought from home and departing.

Sister Wang wanted to pay for the vegetables, but Jin Xiaoye refused to accept any money, saying she just came to check on her and give her peace of mind, and the vegetables were of little value.

Sister Wang didn’t insist on paying for the vegetables. Instead, she gave Jin Xiaoye a small dried fish, saying it was for Li Qingzhi to help him recover.

Chongcheng County was not far from the seaside, where people specialized in fishing for a living would collect salted fish, dried fish, dried seaweed, and similar items to sell in Chongcheng County.

These items were inexpensive, with a pound costing just ten cents, and dried goods were practical… People in the city couldn’t afford to eat meat every day, but steaming a salty fish every few days was no problem.

After chatting for a while, Sister Wang learned that Jin Xiaoye would come to the county again in half a month. She took out some money and asked Jin Xiaoye to buy a rooster for her in the village when she came next time, and she also asked her to help kill and pluck the chicken.

Nowadays, only live chickens were sold on the market, but Sister Wang didn’t like to slaughter chickens herself.

Jin Xiaoye accepted the money and agreed readily.

Coming out of Sister Wang’s house, Jin Xiaoye turned a corner and saw Li Laogen sitting in a corner, huddled up with a basket.

Li Laogen was timid and didn’t dare to talk to people from the city. Jin Xiaoye tried to get him to come to Sister Wang’s house with her, but he adamantly refused and waited outside.

Although Jin Xiaoye received a lot of vegetables from Sister Wang, which were not less valuable than the dried fish Sister Wang gave her, Li Laogen still had a lot of vegetables in the basket he held.

With these vegetables, Jin Xiaoye went to the houses of the people who had employed her before and gave them some.

For these two households, she gave more, for the remaining ones she visited briefly and also gave some dishes, but comparatively less.

After touring the county town, Jin Xiaoye went to the seafood shop in the county town.

The seafood shop is where they sell salted fish and seaweed. Before Jin Xiaoye came to the county town, someone from the village asked her to buy some salted fish and seaweed.

The cheapest salted fish is pickled small miscellaneous fish. You can buy two kilograms of it for ten cents. When you get home, you can take two taels and steam them on the steamer. The whole family can eat an extra bowl of rice with the salted fish.

The same goes for seaweed. Cut a piece from the dried seaweed, stew it with tofu after soaking it, and it’s decent enough to serve to guests.

Before entering the seafood shop, Jin Xiaoye smelled a strong fishy smell. At the same time, she noticed that Li Laogen had slipped away again and was hiding under the nearby wall, afraid to enter the shop.

Jin Xiaoye was both angry and amused. The first time she came to the county town, she was also helpless because she had no money in her pocket, but Li Laogen was really more serious about it!

While Jin Xiaoye was busy in the county town, Li Qingzhi, along with Li Damao and Li Ermao, were out catching fish.

He currently didn’t have the strength to dive into the water to catch them, but there were other ways to catch fish.

Taking a bamboo basket, putting some grains of rice and a stone in it, tying it with a rope, sinking it into the water, waiting for the fish to come into the basket to eat the rice, and then quickly lifting the basket could also catch fish.

However, what they caught this way were mostly finger-sized fish and small shrimps, and the harvest wouldn’t be much. Usually, only children would do this.

It was only because Li Qingzhi was craving a taste that he would do it himself.

The rivers at this time were very clear. People in this era would make the most of everything. Manure was used as fertilizer, old vegetable leaves were used to feed chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep, and scraps of cloth could be used to patch shoes… People hardly produced any waste, so the river water was very clear.

After Li Qingzhi put the basket in the water, he saw minnows swimming in… He seized the opportunity and lifted it up, finding two slender fish the thickness of fingers in the basket.

“Wow!” Li Damao and Li Ermao were extremely excited.

Seeing this, Li Qingzhi put the basket back into the water and then began teaching the two children to count their fingers: “One, two, three… You have five fingers on one hand, and ten fingers altogether with both hands…”

Li Damao and Li Ermao were thrilled to learn to count for the first time, and seeing this, Li Qingzhi gave them another question: “Damao has two eggs, Ermao also has two eggs, how many eggs do you both have together?”

The two children who had just learned to count started counting on their fingers.

While they were busy with this, a man wearing a straw hat strolled over.

Li Qingzhi instinctively looked up, took a step forward, and stood in front of Li Damao and Li Ermao.

He sensed malice from this man.

However, Li Qingzhi quickly relaxed again, and even flashed a smile at the man.

He suddenly realized that this wasn’t the apocalypse, and the man in front of him wasn’t a zombie that would lunge at him!

He was a person!

The public security in Daqi couldn’t be compared to the modern era where there were surveillance cameras everywhere, but living in the same village, even if people argued, they generally wouldn’t resort to violence.

Of course, this also had to do with the regional culture; the people in Chongcheng County were not known for their aggressiveness.

The person who came was Yao Zuming. Initially, he encouraged Li Laogen to gamble and even lent him money. After the conflict with Jin Xiaoye, he spoke ill of her in the village.

But living in the same village, everyone knew each other! No one took Yao Zuming’s words seriously.

To the villagers, Jin Xiaoye was slightly more trustworthy than Yao Zuming. At least Jin Xiaoye never took advantage of others, unlike Yao Zuming’s family… Their vegetable plot was adjacent to others’, yet whenever no one was around, they wouldn’t pick from their own land but instead picked from others’. Even if caught, they would deny it.

Yao Zuming came specifically after seeing Li Qingzhi, but he didn’t expect Li Qingzhi to greet him with a smile. He seemed a bit taken aback.

But he quickly recovered: “Hmm, our top scholar’s hands have become so rough, can you still hold a pen?”

Li Qingzhi smiled even wider.

During the apocalypse, whether it was zombies or those people… if he encountered someone with ill intentions, they might attack him directly!

But now? Yao Zuming was just being sarcastic!

Li Qingzhi remained calm: “My hands are fine, I can still hold a pen.” The original owner’s hands were not in great shape due to moving stones all day, causing deformities in the fingers. But he had the golden finger, which could restore his hands.

Unwilling to let the argument die down, Yao Zuming continued: “Even if you can still hold a pen, you probably can’t afford to buy one, right? Your family can’t even afford pens! Li Qingzhi, are you struggling to put food on the table? Otherwise, why would you be digging wild grass everywhere?”

Yao Zuming had an average appearance, and now he wore a particularly unpleasant expression, making him even more disagreeable.

But he wouldn’t come to bite his neck, would he?

Li Qingzhi’s mood remained good: “I just like eating wild vegetables.”

Yao Zuming continued his attack: “Like eating wild grass? Do you think you’re a sheep! I say, isn’t it because you’re useless and Jin Xiaoye despises you, not feeding you properly? With your physique, you definitely can’t satisfy her…”

Li Qingzhi didn’t mind Yao Zuming’s sarcastic remarks about himself, as they were harmless. But when he crossed the line by talking about Jin Xiaoye, he responded calmly: “My wife Xiaoye is very good to me. She gives me whatever tasty food we have at home… Are you speaking from experience? Are you also unable to satisfy your wife?”

After saying this, Li Qingzhi looked at Yao Zuming sympathetically.

Previously, Yao Zuming had spoken ill of Li Qingzhi, expecting him to retaliate. Now that Li Qingzhi had countered, Yao Zuming felt uncomfortable! “You’re damn useless! Li Qingzhi, you’re just a waste. Let me tell you, Jin Xiaoye will eventually leave you. She’s already got her eye on Da Zhuang from the neighboring village!”

There was a single man named Da Zhuang in the neighboring village who had always been interested in Jin Xiaoye and wanted to marry into the Li family.

In the surrounding rural areas of Chongcheng County, when a man died, leaving behind a wife and children, the woman had three options.

The first option was to remain a widow and raise her children alone.

The second option was to remarry. Generally, when remarrying, she wouldn’t take her children with her, nor would she take away the assets and land of her deceased husband. Those assets would be left for the children.

The third option was to find a man to marry into the family, allowing him to take the husband’s surname and help raise the children. If she had more children with this new husband, they would also take the surname of the woman’s deceased husband.

Many women chose the third option, especially if there was no man in the house to do heavy labor.

Many men were willing to do this as well, ultimately for survival and for land.

Land was valuable, especially in densely populated plains like those around Chongcheng County. There was no uncultivated land here, and it was impossible to reclaim land.

In such circumstances, some families only had two or three acres of land, and they were very poor, yet they happened to have several sons. What should they do in such situations?

Parents often couldn’t afford to provide each son with money to get married, so there were many bachelors.

Even if the parents managed to scrape together enough money for each son to marry… how much land would each son have after dividing it up? If these sons had more children, eventually someone would end up being a bachelor without their own land.

Wasn’t Li Laogen just like this?

Then there were some families who faced difficulties and had to sell their land, leaving them with nothing. They could only rent land from landlords or work odd jobs to make a living.

Li Qingzhi’s family wasn’t affluent, but compared to those people… their situation was relatively stable.

During years of natural disasters and poor harvests, rice yields were only half of what they would be in normal years, but the agreement with the landlord still demanded seven-tenths of the usual yield as rent… After working hard all year, the tenant farmers would end up owing the landlord money by the year’s end!

Many landless people couldn’t afford to marry, so they didn’t mind marrying into other families or changing their surnames. As long as they could survive and have enough to eat, that was good enough for them.

For those who hadn’t even achieved food and clothing security, they didn’t even consider dignity.

A few years ago, when everyone thought Li Qingzhi wouldn’t return, seeing that Jin Xiaoye was young and her family still had a house and two acres of land… the man from the neighboring village who had no land, called Da Zhuang, offered himself, wanting to be recognized by Li Laogen as his son and marry Jin Xiaoye, changing his surname to Li and becoming Jin Xiaoye’s husband.

Li Laogen was tempted at the time, but Jin Xiaoye didn’t agree.

Their family only had two acres of land. Jin Xiaoye could manage the work herself, so why add another person?

Moreover, if they were to have more children in the future… life would only get harder. With just two acres of land, there wouldn’t be enough to go around when the children grew up!

Li Qingzhi wasn’t aware of this incident, but he trusted Jin Xiaoye.

At this moment, he looked at Yao Zuming in astonishment. “You said… you got together with Da Zhuang from the neighboring village?”

Yao Zuming was taken aback, exasperated. “Are you deaf? I said it was Jin Xiaoye!”

“Mind your own business.” Li Qingzhi looked at the irritable Yao Zuming seriously.

Yao Zuming exploded, “Your brain must be broken!”

Yao Zuming was about to start cursing loudly when some villagers approached. They were the two old ladies who had been chatting with Li Qingzhi by the river every day recently.

Upon seeing the situation by the river, the two women immediately became angry and spoke up for their friend Li Qingzhi. “Yao Zuming, don’t bully Xiao Li!”