Chapter 176 2/3

Qian Fugui didn’t mention that he was Li Zhao’s brother-in-law, only that he was a good friend of Li Zhao’s, which wasn’t a lie. They had been classmates together.

“Brother Li is so talented. In our youth, we studied together, composed poetry, and enjoyed wine together. I never imagined he would end up in such a situation…” Qian Fugui looked sorrowful. “As an advocate for Brother Li’s case, Dusan People must also be a good friend of Brother Li’s, perhaps even knowing Brother Li’s last words… Brother Shen, do you have a way to contact him?”

Shen Zhilan didn’t expect it to be such a matter!

So Qian Fugui approached him actively, was it really for Dusan People?

Shen Zhilan said, “Brother Qian, I don’t know who Dusan People is, but I have a method to pass a message to him. I also know that he is short of money. Brother Qian, you can spend money to ask him to write a piece for you, and also send a letter along with it.”

Many people who came to find Shen Zhilan wanted to reach Dusan People through him.

Shen Zhilan had mostly declined, but Qian Fugui… Shen Zhilan had a good impression of him, and felt that what Qian Fugui said should be true.

Dusan People’s manuscripts were given to him by Governor Zhang, and while few knew about it, it wasn’t exactly a secret. Helping Qian Fugui send a letter was completely feasible.

But Qian Fugui couldn’t just give nothing… It was better to give some money.

Would Dusan People appreciate it?

When he had managed to obtain two pieces of writing for a hundred taels, it must have been because Dusan People was extremely grateful to him. Qian Fugui said, “Dusan People’s writing doesn’t come cheap…”

“I’m willing to offer a thousand taels!” Qian Fugui immediately declared.

Since Dusan People helped clear his brother-in-law’s name, he was willing to offer more.

“Brother Qian, write a letter.” Shen Zhilan suggested.

Qian Fugui didn’t hesitate and began writing the letter in front of Shen Zhilan.

He didn’t write much, only mentioning in the letter that he was a good friend of Li Zhao’s, expressing gratitude to Dusan People for his assistance, and expressing his intention to spend a thousand taels to commission a piece of writing.

After finishing, Qian Fugui signed his name at the end of the letter and affixed a seal.

The seal was a calligraphic signature at the end of a document or contract, or a special symbol instead of a signature, some people wrote it like a cryptic symbol.

The seal Qian Fugui wrote wasn’t his own, but Li Zhao’s. By doing this, he wanted to prove that he indeed knew Li Zhao.

As for other details… he didn’t write much.

Now, he hoped that Dusan People was indeed a friend of Li Zhao’s. If the other party could help his niece, it would be even better.

Qian Fugui had previously exchanged some silver notes from the capital for silver notes from Jiang’an Province. Now, he took out a thousand taels and handed it to Shen Zhilan, saying, “Thank you, Brother Shen.”

“Not at all.” Shen Zhilan smiled.

With the matter settled, Qian Fugui didn’t stay any longer and soon left.

Shen Zhilan then took out many things she brought from the capital and had her servants deliver them to her relatives and friends, of course, she also had to send a portion to Governor Zhang.

Accompanying these items were two letters.

One letter was written by Qian Fugui, and the other was written to Governor Zhang, detailing Qian Fugui’s situation.

Governor Zhang received the letters and items in the evening.

After some consideration, he decided to have them delivered to Li Qingzhi by noon the next day.

The six hundred taels of silver notes from before were sent to Li Qingzhi by Shen Zhilan’s people, without going through his hands, to avoid raising suspicions.

As for these thousand taels of silver, they were still placed in the food box and sent over.

Chongcheng County.

On the first day, Li Qingzhi wrote five thousand words in the “Dusan Collection.”

These five thousand words described Dusan People’s initial experiences and observations after arriving in modern times.

Initially, he wrote about Dusan People arriving at a primary school in modern times. However, as he wrote, he realized that something wasn’t right.

He had built a primary school in Chongcheng County, and writing about it might lead people to associate him with Dusan People.

So he made some changes, depicting Dusan People as arriving and encountering a rural clinic instead of a primary school.

After careful consideration, Li Qingzhi felt that writing entirely about modern times was inappropriate. People at this time might not understand, so he decided to set the story in the 1960s or 70s.

This setting was more suitable, and he could also write about biogas pits and such.

Due to these modifications, Li Qingzhi didn’t rush to deliver the manuscript to Governor Zhang. He planned to spend the New Year writing and deliver it after the New Year.

In the meantime… he needed to come up with a reason why he knew so much.

That would do. When he was arrested and sent to the stone quarry, he met someone at King Jin’s quarry who had traveled everywhere and knew many things. That person taught him some knowledge…

He remembered everything, but that person had long since died at the quarry.

Some of the laborers at the quarry knew the former owner, but those who entered the quarry at the same time as the former owner had all died!

There was nowhere to investigate this person, even if Governor Zhang wanted to.

Li Qingzhi put away the manuscript and went downstairs for dinner.

Tonight, Chang Zhan was cooking again, making salt and pepper spare ribs.

Spare ribs, after being deep-fried and sprinkled with salt and pepper seasoning, were incredibly fragrant!

In addition, Chang Zhan used pork, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots to make the filling for spring rolls.

For Governor Zhang’s meal tonight, Chang Zhan sent uncooked spring rolls and braised spare ribs.

It wouldn’t be good if the salt and pepper spare ribs were made in advance and sent over. However, the salt and pepper seasoning could be sent separately.

As they were eating, Jin Xiaoye said, “Ah Qing, after the New Year, we’re going to a wedding.”

“A wedding?” Li Qingzhi was puzzled.

Jin Xiaoye said, “Xiaoshu told me today that Little Aunt plans to marry her daughter-in-law on the eighth day of the first month. Originally, our families didn’t interact, but Little Aunt specifically found Xiaoshu to invite us.”

These days, every family had many children. If everyone interacted, there would be a lot of relatives.

Women who got married usually only interacted with their maternal relatives, not with the brothers of their maternal relatives.

If they did interact… it would be fine for Jin Xiaoye, but his mother

‘s family had many children, and there were seven or eight daughters married out. These daughters had several children each… the maternal relatives alone could fill more than ten tables.

If so many guests came, there wouldn’t be enough tables to borrow!

But Jin Xiaoye was grateful for Jin Xiaoye’s help, and since Li Qingzhi had let her work as a cook at Chongcheng Elementary School… Jin Xiaoye felt she had to host guests.

“Is the wedding set?” Li Qingzhi asked.

“It’s set.” Jin Xiaoye said. She felt that this marriage was pretty good. Jin Xiaoye’s family was soft, and they needed a strong daughter-in-law.

As for the daughter-in-law possibly bullying their family members… a woman wouldn’t go too far.

Talking about the matters in front of the temple, Jin Xiaoye also mentioned Fang Jinniang.

Fang Jinniang’s belly was already big, and she should be giving birth in the next few days. They all hoped Fang Jinniang would wait until after the New Year to give birth.

“When I was young, my mother said that if you don’t wear new shoes on New Year’s Day, you’ll have to sit the month after the New Year. At that time, I didn’t have new shoes to wear, so she would lend me my father’s new shoes…” Jin Xiaoye used to often wear her sister’s clothes and shoes, even the clothes and shoes that Jin Moli didn’t wear. They didn’t make new shoes every year.

But Jin Dajiang, being an adult, always had a pair of new shoes.

As for sitting the month after the New Year… in rural areas, it was considered a miserable thing.

If you sat the month at this time, you couldn’t go to other people’s homes to eat good food, and… there were some strange customs in the countryside, believing that the house where a woman gave birth was unlucky. Some families even thought it was unlucky to give birth during the New Year.