Chapter  162 1/2

Du Yongning stayed at the Li family’s place for a whole morning, and he was deeply shaken.

Then, not only did he promise to give Li Qingzhi two hundred taels of silver and support him in setting up a school, but he also expressed his intention to work hard and do something for the underprivileged people.

Two hundred taels of silver was nothing to a big family like theirs. Before Li Qingzhi went to the provincial capital, it cost him a few taels of silver just to take a bath in the most luxurious bathhouse in the capital.

Over there, each person had their own tub, which was filled with spices. There were also fresh flowers and various snacks around the tubs, and there were people to help with bathing and massage.

Eating a meal in the most expensive restaurant in the provincial capital also cost a few taels of silver. The dishes in that restaurant were increasingly elaborate.

There were also some expensive fabrics that were worth a fortune, and the key was that there were people who coveted them.

It could only be said that the wealthy people in Daqi were indeed wealthy.

But the wealth gap was also truly significant. With two hundred taels of silver, Li Qingzhi could buy twenty mu of land. In modern times, he could build a school that could accommodate over two thousand students.

Du Yongning was so generous that Li Qingzhi invited him to stay for lunch.

Du Yongning agreed.

“Let’s go down, I’ll show you what I’ve got.” Li Qingzhi said.

At first, Du Yongning didn’t react, but when he saw Li Qingzhi entering the kitchen, he was stunned. “Are you going to cook?”

In the countryside, it was not uncommon for men to cook. After all, just because there were no women in the house didn’t mean they wouldn’t eat.

But Du Yongning was born into a wealthy family, where women didn’t cook, let alone men.

In his understanding, the kitchen was for women to manage, and it had nothing to do with men. Men just needed to focus on studying.

At most, if he wanted something to eat or didn’t want something, he would tell his mother, and she would naturally arrange it.

“Yes, my cooking skills are not bad.” Li Qingzhi began to clean the pots.

Du Yongning stared blankly at Li Qingzhi cooking.

Li Qingzhi had long seen the Cháng family’s recipes, and he had also observed Cháng Zhān cooking. In addition, he had thoroughly studied the various seasonings used by Cháng Zhān on weekdays.

In the past, he lacked the seasonings, which restricted his creativity. But now, it was different. Various herbs such as purple cloves, sand ginger, cubeb, Sichuan pepper, and san nai, which could all be used for seasoning, were all available in their house.

Cháng Zhān sometimes made mistakes, but he wouldn’t even make any.

For example, when chopping vegetables, he could make them all the same size. When adding seasoning, he was precise, never adding too much or too little.

His ability allowed him to control his body to the extreme.

The vegetables in the kitchen had already been roughly washed by Li Laogen. Li Qingzhi watched as they were washed again, then swiftly began chopping and stir-frying.

He could even work methodically, simultaneously cooking two dishes.

Du Yongning had been in a kitchen before, but he had never stayed in one for long.

Standing aside and watching Li Qingzhi cook was an unprecedented experience for him.

If he had seen this scene before today, he would have surely thought, “Even if Li Qingzhi becomes a top scholar, what’s the use? He still has to cook.” But now, after being deeply impressed by Li Qingzhi, he only had one thought left: Li Qingzhi seemed to be capable of anything.

So, in reality, he was quite foolish.

Du Yongning thought about the class distinctions Li Qingzhi had mentioned to him.

He was born wealthy, had famous teachers guiding him from childhood, which contributed to his achievements.

If he had been born into an ordinary peasant family, he might have been working in the fields now, not even knowing how to read.

Du Yongning felt a bit dazed, then the female workers from the embroidery workshop came to cook.

Du Yongning felt particularly uneasy seeing these female workers.

Their family was quite particular; men and women didn’t sit together at the age of seven. But here…

If it had been before, he would have politely avoided them, but now, avoiding them seemed strange.

Those young girls didn’t mind at all.

The female workers from the temple-front village indeed didn’t mind; they even secretly glanced at Du Yongning.

If one were to talk about appearance, Du Yongning couldn’t be considered very good-looking, but with fair skin and a tall stature, he was considered attractive by ordinary standards.

“I heard he’s also a scholar.”

“His clothes and shoes look very expensive.”

“Lower your voice, don’t let him hear.”

The female workers whispered for a few moments and then started working without talking to Du Yongning.

Jin Xiaoye had warned them early on not to gather around Li Qingzhi or his friends. If anyone did so, she would immediately drive them away.

Jin Xiaoye did this to prevent some people from losing their sense and trying to climb the social ladder. It was better to manage and explain things in advance rather than dealing with them after they caused trouble.

She didn’t want to see anyone trying to seduce Li Qingzhi.

While cooking, Li Damao, Li Ermao, and Zhao Xiaodou came back.

Chang Cui used to like following Chang Zhan, but later, after spending a lot of time at Jin Xiaoye’s embroidery workshop and getting more and more acquainted with the female workers there, and confirming that Chang Zhan wouldn’t suddenly leave, she didn’t like following Chang Zhan to Juewei Restaurant anymore.

Now, in the mornings, she strolled around the embroidery workshop, and when Li Damao and the others came back in the afternoon, she played with them. In the evening, she stayed with Chang Zhan again, and her temperament became much more cheerful.

This was also because the child’s brain had activated a self-protection mechanism, and she had almost forgotten about the things in Linhu County.

“Dad, Dad, what are we eating today?” All four children entered the kitchen, and Li Ermao eagerly asked.

Li Qingzhi told them what they were going to eat today and handed them the cooked dishes to take out and arrange.

When Li Qingzhi wasn’t at home, they often ate the braised dishes from Juewei Restaurant, but when Li Qingzhi was at home, they didn’t.

Eating too much braised food was not good.

After Li Qingzhi finished cooking, he asked the children to call Jin Xiaoye and Fang Jinniang to eat, and then handed a bowl to Du Yongning. “Serve yourself as much as you want.”

In rural areas, there was no such thing as someone serving food for you; you served yourself, taking as much as you wanted.

Of course, if the family was poor and there wasn’t enough food to feed everyone, the head of the household would be responsible for distributing the food. Back when they were at Jin’s house, Grandma Jin would distribute the food.

Jin’s family wasn’t actually poor; Grandma Jin just enjoyed doing this.

Du Yongning held the bowl, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Before, others would have served him food, but in the Li family, let alone him, Li Qingzhi’s son was just a little taller than the stove, and he had to use a stool to serve himself. After serving himself, he even gave a little to the girl who couldn’t reach the stove

Du Yongning followed Li Damao’s lead and served himself some rice before sitting down to eat.

Li Qingzhi asked a few of the children to help themselves to the dishes on the side. At their Eight Immortals table sat Jin Xiaoshu, Fang Jinniang, Li Laogen, Du Yongning, along with Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye.

During the meal, Li Qingzhi specifically told Li Laogen, “Dad, this is Du Yongning. His uncle is a high-ranking official in the capital.”

He was worried that if he didn’t explain, Li Laogen might use his chopsticks to flip the dishes on the table. Both Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye couldn’t tolerate such behavior, let alone Du Yongning.

However, after he said this, he didn’t need to worry anymore. Li Laogen, sitting across from Du Yongning, suddenly became quiet, not saying a word and only picking up the dishes in front of him.

Seeing this, Li Qingzhi picked up some dishes for Li Laogen, earning him a grateful look.

It wasn’t just Li Laogen who felt uncomfortable at the table; Du Yongning did too. It was a mixed-gender table, and he felt a bit out of place. But everyone else seemed to think it was perfectly normal.

Du Yongning felt like he had stepped into a foreign world. He took a deep breath, picked up his chopsticks, and started eating, pushing aside his thoughts for the time being.

The dishes Li Qingzhi made were incredibly delicious. Du Yongning used to think the food at Juewei Restaurant was delicious, but now, Li Qingzhi’s cooking surpassed it.

Li Qingzhi really excelled at everything he did. After acknowledging this, Du Yongning felt much more at ease.

After eating his fill, Du Yongning watched as Li Qingzhi served himself another bowl of rice.

“Brother Li, you have quite an appetite,” Du Yongning couldn’t help but remark.

Li Qingzhi replied, “I have a lot to do on a regular basis. If I don’t eat enough, I won’t have the energy to study.”

So that was it. From now on, he could eat a bit more too.

“Aqing, now that you’ve passed the provincial examination, should we hold a banquet in the village?” Jin Xiaoye asked Li Qingzhi.

If it weren’t for the issues at Jin Xiaoye’s family arising just as Li Qingzhi returned, she would have brought this up much earlier.

According to the customs of Miaoqian Village, passing the provincial examination was a big deal and would warrant a banquet, attended by relatives and friends who would bring gifts.

Of course, now that their family was wealthy, they wouldn’t accept gifts from relatives and friends.

Li Qingzhi said, “Yes, let’s make everyone happy.” It wouldn’t make sense to hold a banquet after passing the provincial examination but not after passing the metropolitan examination.

Besides, holding a banquet in Miaoqian Village would only take a day, and it wouldn’t cost much.

“Then let’s prepare tomorrow and hold it the day after,” Jin Xiaoye directly set the time.

“The day after tomorrow then,” Li Qingzhi said, “I have something to attend to these two days.”

“Okay,” Jin Xiaoye agreed, then took out five taels of silver and gave them to Jin Xiaoshu to buy various ingredients. She also instructed him to inform the people in Miaoqian Village to prepare for the banquet. “We won’t buy chickens and ducks this time. Chicken and duck prices have skyrocketed. We’ll just buy a few pigs, and I’ll have someone from Juewei Restaurant come to slaughter them.”

Du Yongning listened, feeling a bit stunned. Their family’s banquets would cost who knows how much just for the alcohol alone, but the Li family was spending only five taels of silver.

Li Qingzhi had been observing Du Yongning all along. Du Yongning, who seemed like he had just opened the door to a new world, didn’t seem surprised at all.

The lives of wealthy people in this era were completely different from those of the poor, to the point where some wealthy people didn’t care about the lives of the poor at all. Prince Jin was one such person.

Li Qingzhi was willing to befriend Du Yongning because he wasn’t like that.

When they finished eating, Jin Xiaoshu and Fang Jinniang took the remaining dishes and some rice to Jin’s parents before going out to play. As for Li Qingzhi, he took Du Yongning to look at some land outside the city.

Li Qingzhi had noticed upon his return that there was very little empty land in Miaoqian Village. The villagers would make efforts to cultivate any land suitable for farming or plant some fruit trees.