Chapter 177 1/3

Li Qingzhi got up and left the teahouse, heading into an alley.

The weather had been cold lately, and many people on the streets were wearing hats, including him.

Now… Li Qingzhi flipped his hat upside down, put it on, opened the package he carried with him, and took out a long cotton scarf, wrapping it around himself, covering half of his face.

He didn’t change his clothes; after all, he was wearing common attire. But he took out a hand warmer and slipped it into his pockets, then slightly hunched his body…

His appearance now was completely different from before.

Li Qingzhi arrived outside the alley, chasing after Qian Fugui, who then entered a restaurant.

He waited for a moment before entering the restaurant and handing a letter to the waiter who greeted him, saying, “Waiter, please deliver this letter to the gentleman in the fur-lined cloak who just went in.”

After speaking, Li Qingzhi also gave the waiter a small bunch of copper coins.

Delivering a letter wasn’t a big deal, so the waiter took the letter and went to find Qian Fugui.

Li Qingzhi didn’t stay here for long and turned to leave.

The letter was prepared in advance, asking Qian Fugui to meet at a pavilion outside the city.

In the restaurant, Qian Fugui ordered several dishes and let his entourage, along with his attendants who had been following him, eat together.

“I had the braised meat from Juewei Restaurant before, and now they have it here in the restaurant…” Qian Fugui ordered a portion of braised pork tongue and slowly savored it. “The dishes from Juewei Restaurant are really delicious.”

While eating, the waiter came over to Qian Fugui and said, “Are you Mr. Qian? Someone outside has given you a letter.”

The waiter spoke in dialect, but Qian Fugui could roughly understand him, and he was surprised.

Besides Shen Zhilan, he hardly knew anyone in Jiang’an Province. Who would write him a letter?

Could it be… from Dusan People?

“Thank you.” Qian Fugui smiled and took the letter, opening it.

The letter was written in less than elegant handwriting, with an address written, saying that they wanted to chat with him alone, and the signature at the end was just one word, “Zhi.”

Additionally… there was a seal signed at the end, which was the seal Qian Fugui had used before.

Businessmen like them were worried about imposters or fake contracts, so they would use a special seal as a mark.

Qian Fugui had even taught his nephew and niece to use his seal.

He hadn’t used this seal since he became associated with Prince Yan, and very few people knew about it.

They hadn’t been sitting for long.

The braised meat was prepared in advance and could be served as soon as it was cut, so it was already served, but the hot dishes they ordered hadn’t been brought out yet.

Qian Fugui had lost his appetite. He took out a bunch of copper coins and gave them to the waiter, saying that they didn’t need to bring the hot dishes and should prepare something that could be taken away instead.

The waiter agreed, and soon brought a bamboo food box lined with oiled paper. Inside were more than ten fist-sized glutinous rice balls placed on bamboo leaves.

The people around Qian Fugui poured the braised meat from the table into the box and carried it away.

Qian Fugui said, “Someone invited me to meet. Let’s go to the north of the city. The letter said to walk a mile after leaving the north city gate, then turn left to see a lake, and there’s a pavilion by the lake.”

He wasn’t familiar with this place and hadn’t been there before, but the letter stated so.

Without hesitation, Qian Fugui went there.

He recognized this ugly handwriting; it was the handwriting of his second nephew, Li Zhi!

He had long wanted to adopt his second nephew. At first, he thought he could still have children, so he didn’t rush to mention it. Later… Li Zhao passed the imperial examination and became an official!

The gap between them suddenly widened, and he felt it wasn’t appropriate to mention it anymore. As a result of this hesitation… the Li family encountered trouble.

Qian Fugui later inquired about the situation in Yuxian County. Except for his niece Li Zhu and Li Zhi, everyone else in the Li family had been killed, and according to the local people… Li Zhi was swept away by the flood.

It turned out his nephew hadn’t died!

It’s just that there was only one son left in the Li family. It was impossible for him to adopt him, but if his nephew had more children, he could adopt one of them as his grandson!

Qian Fugui lost his appetite, but after thinking about it, he took a glutinous rice ball to fill his stomach.

After biting it open, he found that it was filled with meat stuffing, dried tofu, bamboo shoots, and a vegetable he didn’t recognize.

The taste was quite good. Qian Fugui ate two in a row and finally arrived at the agreed place.

There was indeed a lake here, with some reeds growing by the lake, and in the pavilion by the lake, a man with a hat covering his face sat in the middle.

The letter asked him to go alone… so Qian Fugui asked his men to stay not far away and walked forward by himself.

Approaching, Qian Fugui became somewhat excited. “Zhi?”

“Uncle,” Li Qingzhi called out in the dialect of the original owner’s hometown.

Li Qingzhi chose to meet Qian Fugui here because there was no shelter nearby. The lake was connected to the river. If anything unexpected happened, he could jump into the lake and swim back to Chongcheng County.

In addition… when he came to the provincial capital to participate in the palace examination in August, he had come here to play with someone. At that time, there were not many people here, and it was so cold in winter that there would be even fewer people.

“Zhi, how have you been these years?” Qian Fugui was very excited.

“Uncle, please sit down,” Li Qingzhi comforted Qian Fugui, “I’ve been doing well these years. I’m married and have children.”

Qian Fugui became even more excited. “How many sons do you have?”

Li Qingzhi paused before saying, “Two.”

“Good, good, that’s really great!” Qian Fugui was overjoyed, and his gaze at Li Qingzhi became especially eager.

Li Qingzhi: “…” He hadn’t even revealed his face, and his uncle recognized him straight away?

“Zhi, I thought you were gone… What about your sister? Is she with you?”

“No,” Li Qingzhi said.

“What exactly happened back then?” Qian Fugui asked again.

Li Qingzhi briefly explained the experiences of the original owner. The original owner felt that something was wrong, persuaded the family to flee after Li Zhao was arrested, but his mother refused to leave, and

others didn’t think there would be any problem…

The original owner took some jewelry from his mother, ran off, heard the news of the family being killed, and then followed the fleeing crowd all the way to Chongcheng County.

Li Qingzhi briefly mentioned the situation during the escape and what happened after arriving in Chongcheng County. He didn’t rush to explain.

“You suffered,” Qian Fugui’s eyes turned red.

“It’s nothing. At least I survived,” Li Qingzhi said.

“Yes, survival is the most important!” Qian Fugui asked again, “Zhi, you’ve been covering your face. Did you get injured?”

Li Qingzhi said, “I didn’t get injured on my face… Uncle, don’t you doubt my identity?”

Qian Fugui was stunned at the question. “How could I not recognize my own nephew?”

“Uncle, ask me some questions to confirm my identity,” Li Qingzhi said.

Qian Fugui didn’t understand why Li Qingzhi would do this, but he still asked some questions, such as what gifts he had given Li Qingzhi in the past.

Li Qingzhi answered them all.

“Only you know these things…” Qian Fugui didn’t doubt Li Qingzhi’s identity in the first place, and now he was even more certain.

Then he saw the person opposite him untie the scarf, revealing a strange face.

Li Qingzhi said, “Uncle, my appearance is very different from before.”