Chapter 161: Winning Over the Influential 2/2

The products from Jin Xiaoye Embroidery weren’t just for girls; there were also belts and pouches for men, all embroidered with interesting patterns.

Du Yongning was drawn to a pouch embroidered with the words “Gold List Title.”

What a great meaning! Du Yongning immediately bought it.

“Brother Du?” Li Qingzhi felt that he and Du Yongning seemed to have a connection—he had run into Du Yongning again!

“Brother Li,” Du Yongning quickly put the pouch away, not wanting Li Qingzhi to see it.

Li Qingzhi didn’t even notice the pouch in his hand. After exchanging greetings with Du Yongning, he went to greet Magistrate Wang.

Du Yongning breathed a sigh of relief, but then he saw Jin Xiaoye following behind Li Qingzhi… he inexplicably felt a bit scared.

Li Qingzhi wanted to accompany his family, so after greeting Magistrate Wang, he didn’t leave with him but continued to stroll through the night market with Jin Xiaoye and two others.

Magistrate Wang didn’t think much of it, but Du Yongning once again silently criticized Li Qingzhi, thinking he was too indulgent in pleasures of the flesh.

“Sir, did you know Brother Du?” Today’s stall attendant, Jin Mao’er, said to Du Yongning.

“Brother Du?” Du Yongning was taken aback.

“Brother Li is our brother! Jin Xiaoye Embroidery is run by Madam!” Jin Mao’er said proudly.

Du Yongning: “… ” He was really unlucky; he always seemed to spend his money on Li Qingzhi without realizing it.

Magistrate Wang had already noticed that Du Yongning had some grievances against Li Qingzhi. Seeing Du Yongning’s annoyance now, he changed the subject and began discussing the recent provincial examinations with him.

Du Yongning fell silent for a moment.

Ever since he learned of his ranking in the provincial examinations, Du Yongning had been troubled by a thorn in his heart—he couldn’t understand why his rank was so low.

He clearly performed exceptionally well in the exam!

Now that Magistrate Wang is so mild-mannered… he couldn’t help but bring up the matter with Magistrate Wang.

Du Yongning didn’t have Li Qingzhi’s photographic memory, but after the exam, he still rewrote the essays he had written.

The rewritten essays differed slightly from the ones he wrote during the exam, but not by much.

He even carried these essays with him!

Du Yongning showed his essays to Magistrate Wang and also mentioned some things about being a solitary wanderer.

After Magistrate Wang read them, he was somewhat speechless.

“Sir, how are my essays?” Du Yongning eagerly asked Magistrate Wang. Magistrate Wang replied, “The essays are good, but do you know that Cheng Xuezeng is from the Jin Wang lineage?”

“Yes, I do. What about it?” Du Yongning had heard about this from his family.

Magistrate Wang continued, “The ‘Record of Injustice’ has caused a great loss to Jin Wang, and those from the Jin Wang lineage deeply resent solitary wanderers…”

Du Yongning felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

Magistrate Wang added, “You’ve just had some bad luck, and Cheng Xuezeng… sigh, he acts according to his own preferences.”

As someone under Lü Qingxi, Magistrate Wang indirectly criticized Cheng Xuezeng in his words.

But in his heart… he actually thought Cheng Xuezeng was not bad.

Du Yongning wrote essays like this, yet Cheng Xuezeng ranked him eleventh!

After learning the reason from Magistrate Wang, Du Yongning felt restless and inexplicably aggrieved. He might have been able to get second place!

But if given another chance, he might still write the same way.

Du Yongning thought about a lot that night and couldn’t sleep well.

The next morning, as soon as he got up, he immediately went to find Li Qingzhi.

He wanted to tell Li Qingzhi that he got eleventh place because Cheng Xuezeng didn’t like his essays, not because he lacked knowledge!

The news of Li Qingzhi passing the scholar examination spread quickly in Chongcheng County.

The day after he returned, many people already knew about it.

But Li Qingzhi continued his daily life.

He had gone to see Magistrate Wang yesterday and spent time with his family… today, Li Qingzhi intended to do some meaningful work.

After breakfast in the morning, he took out pen and paper and began writing down his plans for Gaixue Academy.

While he was writing, Du Yongning arrived.

There was nothing in Li Qingzhi’s study that couldn’t be seen by others, so he brought Du Yongning in.

“Li Qingzhi, I already know why I ranked eleventh this time. It’s purely because Cheng Xuezeng doesn’t like my essays…” Du Yongning said a lot.

Li Qingzhi had been puzzled before and didn’t understand why Du Yongning’s rank was so low.

He thought Du Yongning should be in the top five at least.

But he didn’t expect this… Du Yongning was really carefree, completely disregarding the examiner’s preferences.

Fortunately, he had the backing of the Du family, and he had a good reputation himself. Otherwise… Cheng Xuezeng might have found a reason to disqualify him.

After Du Yongning finished speaking, Li Qingzhi remained calm, but he was slightly annoyed. “Li Qingzhi, although you got the top score, I still want to say that your essays are far inferior to those of the solitary wanderer.”

“Yes, I’m not as good,” Li Qingzhi remained calm.

Du Yongning continued, “You should study the solitary wanderer’s essays carefully. His essays depict the hardships of the common people…”

Du Yongning didn’t like Li Qingzhi and couldn’t compare to him, so he used the solitary wanderer to belittle Li Qingzhi.

He praised the solitary wanderer endlessly.

“In fact, the solitary wanderer is my favorite writer,” Li Qingzhi suddenly said, “I have always studied his essays, and ‘Record of Injustice’ is my favorite book. I’ve stayed up many nights reading it.”

Du Yongning was dumbfounded.

Li Qingzhi smiled at Du Yongning, “Your understanding after reading the solitary wanderer’s essays seems a bit superficial to me.”

In the angry gaze of Du Yongning, Li Qingzhi praised the solitary wanderer while interpreting his essays.

When he wrote these essays, he was still somewhat reserved, but now… he was unrestrained and said whatever came to mind.

Without a recording device at this time, Du Yongning couldn’t report what Li Qingzhi said even if he wanted to.

Even if Du Yongning did report it… everyone knew that Du Yongning liked the solitary wanderer. On the contrary, he had never said anything in front of outsiders… everyone would think that it was Du Yongning’s opinion.

Li Qingzhi continued to talk for a long time with a smile.

Du Yongning listened dumbfoundedly.

He had always thought that he had studied the solitary wanderer’s essays deeply, but compared to Li Qingzhi… he was indeed superficial.

After talking about the five essays of the solitary wanderer, Li Qingzhi began to talk about “Record of Injustice.” “The solitary wanderer said that ‘Record of Injustice’ was dictated by the people, but I have been to Linhu County and know that this is not the case. The stories in it were all written by him, so this book reveals a lot, like this passage in the first story of the first volume…” Li Qingzhi talked for an hour.

At first, Du Yongning could still interject, but later he couldn’t say anything.

He suddenly felt that he had been too arrogant before, and compared to Li Qingzhi, he seemed to be nothing at all.

At this point, Li Qingzhi finally stopped talking and took a sip of tea.

Du Yongning felt extremely embarrassed. “I am indeed superficial. I will continue to devote myself to studying…” His confidence was completely shattered!

“Brother Du,” Li Qingzhi called out to Du Yongning.

Du Yongning looked at Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi said, “Brother Du, it’s not enough to just immerse yourself in books. Some things you haven’t seen through are because in your daily life, you don’t get to see the hardships of the common people.”

Du Yongning looked ashamed.

Li Qingzhi continued, “Brother Du, do you know that the new pier in Chongcheng County was built at my suggestion?”

Li Qingzhi explained why he had suggested to Gu Tongzhi to build the new pier, and in the end, he said, “At that time, I just wanted to do something for the common people. The night market that followed was also my suggestion.”

“Brother Li is truly talented!” Du Yongning felt even more ashamed. After reading some of Li Qingzhi’s books yesterday, he had thought that Li Qingzhi would just flatter him, but…

He had been studying for so many years without accomplishing anything, while Li Qingzhi had already helped many common people.

Moreover… now looking back, he realized that some of the things he had done before weren’t quite right.

For instance, giving gifts to the teachers at Anjiang Academy and asking that they publish his works in “Anjiang Collection” was not something a noble person would do.

“Brother Du, from now on, try to interact more with the common people and do something for them. It’s not too late.” Li Qingzhi said.

Du Yongning was only twenty years old this year. He had been pampered by his family since childhood, always studying and never interacting with society, so he was relatively naive, but fundamentally good-hearted.

But he could be a bit annoying.

This person had repeatedly caused him trouble and even came to his home… if he didn’t coax him a bit, Li Qingzhi would feel guilty!

“Yes,” Du Yongning nodded.

Li Qingzhi continued, “Brother Du, I plan to open a school and provide free education for the children of poor families… would you like to do the same? After Zhang killed Yan County Magistrate and the Lou family in Linhu County, although he settled the people, there are still many struggling families in Linhu County, and many children are suffering from hunger. Brother Du, you can set up a school there or in Chongcheng County, let those children attend school, and provide them with a livelihood…”

He didn’t have much money himself, and his capabilities were limited, but Du Yongning was very wealthy.

So why not take advantage of it!

Du Yongning was very excited, “Brother Li, you truly understand the solitary wanderer better than I do! I just wanted to go to Linhu County to give some money to those harmed by the Lou family, but I forgot to teach them to fish instead of giving them fish… Brother Li, how should we set up the school? How much money do we need? Please tell me quickly!”

Li Qingzhi: “… ” He felt embarrassed about how easily he had been manipulated!

Li Qingzhi took out the charter he had just written for the school and showed it to Du Yongning.

He had limited financial resources and had only planned to establish a school, but with Du Yongning joining, they could also establish an orphanage and adopt more children.

In Daqi, there were government-run homes for the elderly and orphanages for children without parents, but due to lack of funds and inevitable corruption, the care provided to these elderly and orphans was very poor. These people struggled to have enough to eat and wear, and in some places, there were no orphanages at all.

In addition to government-run orphanages, there were also some temples that ran orphanages to adopt orphans, but it was still not enough.

There were truly too many orphans in this era.

If Du Yongning was willing to establish an orphanage, he could help many people.

Li Qingzhi and Du Yongning discussed it, and then Du Yongning realized… besides studying, he really didn’t know anything else.

Li Qingzhi knew a lot, even how to build houses, but he knew nothing about these things.

How could he have thought he was exceptionally clever before?

He even looked down on the people around him…