Chapter 181 2/3

Qian Fugui didn’t feel much; he just thought that after resting well for a few days, his physical condition was quite good.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Aunt Jin’s family was marrying off a daughter-in-law, and Li Qingzhi was invited to attend. He centst to Miaoqian Village early in the morning.

They first centst to the Jin family, and the first thing Li Damao and Li Ermao did when they arrived was to visit their little sister in Fang Jinniang’s room.

Li Qingzhi felt it was inappropriate to enter, so he centst straight to Aunt Jin’s house.

Aunt Jin’s house was full of joy. Her usually taciturn son had a smile on his face the whole time. He was marrying a bride who was several years older than him and whom he had never met before. But in those days, just being able to marry was already a blessing.

Li Qingzhi found a table and sat down to chat with people.

He loved social gatherings, but now the people of Miaoqian Village were a bit wary of chatting with him.

As soon as he sat down, people around him became cautious and spoke more formally.

Li Qingzhi could sense that the gap between him and the people of Miaoqian Village was widening. The villagers felt the same way.

Previously, they would talk about anything in front of Li Qingzhi. When he first returned, they even made fun of him, saying he was too thin to do any work and advising him to treat Jin Xiaoye well so that she would be willing to take care of him.

But now… he was a scholar, not the same as them anymore!

The wedding at Aunt Jin’s house was quite lively. The bride was a bit stout, but since Aunt Jin’s son was very tall, they looked quite matched together.

After attending the wedding at Aunt Jin’s house, Li Qingzhi began preparing for the school to reopen.

On the ninth day, the teachers came to the school, and Li Qingzhi took the opportunity to conduct a training session for them. On the tenth day of the first lunar month, Chongcheng Primary School officially reopened.

Early in the morning, students began arriving at the school one after another.

Since it was the first day of the new term, Li Qingzhi was at the school early, making arrangements for the newly hired cook to boil extra water so that the students could take turns bathing.

He did not require the female students to cut their hair, but he did have the male students cut theirs short.

The boys didn’t mind this at all; in fact, some of the younger ones already had very short hair or were nearly bald, as it was common for children to keep short hair until they were thirteen or fourteen.

As for bathing…

Many rural folks centst the whole winter without a bath, so Li Qingzhi’s insistence on them bathing was a novelty.

“My dad says a bath at the county bathhouse costs a hundred cents!”

“So expensive? I better make sure to have a good long bath.”

“You better hurry, or there won’t be enough hot water!”

At a county bathhouse, hot water was unlimited, but here, even with the kitchen staff working hard, there wasn’t enough for everyone to use freely. Hence, each student had a limited amount, and some were scheduled to bathe in the afternoon.

By midday, the kitchen stopped boiling water and began preparing lunch for the students.

Li Qingzhi had some salted pork prepared, cut into pieces for each student, along with tofu and seaweed soup and white rice. This meal was significantly better than what they had before the New Year.

The students in the cafeteria were stunned: “Are we really getting this?”

“We get to eat meat?”

“Isn’t this a mistake?”

Those who had stayed over the New Year reassured them, “No mistake. During the New Year, we had meat every day.”

“Yes, we even had noodles a few times!”

“Mr. Li treats us very well!”

The students who had gone home for the New Year were filled with envy.

Their families couldn’t afford to provide such good food!

The female workers from Jin Ye Embroidery House, who hadn’t attended the school before, were there today and remarked, “Mr. Li and Shopkeeper Jin are always generous. When we worked at the embroidery house, we ate well every meal, with meat regularly. I thought we wouldn’t eat as well when we came to study here, but I didn’t expect we could still eat meat.”

Hearing this, the students were filled with hope for the future.

While the students were eating lunch, Li Qingzhi was also having lunch.

There was an office for the teachers at the school where they ate, divided into two tables.

Besides the students’ tofu soup and salted pork, they had three more dishes sent by Chang Zhan: scrambled eggs with garlic shoots, stir-fried greens, and braised tofu from Juewei Zhai.

The teachers were very happy with the meal, and even Gou Ying, who had come to join them, did not complain.

He usually disliked the local food in Chongcheng County, but with the braised tofu from Juewei Zhai, he was satisfied. His servants had also bought him a portion of Juewei Zhai’s new “spicy duck” for him to enjoy.

The new spicy duck flavor from Juewei Zhai was incredibly delicious, and Gou Ying considered it the best duck he had ever eaten.

Li Qingzhi also thought the spicy duck was good, though not quite spicy enough for his taste.

Since the introduction of chili peppers, Chang Zhan had been experimenting with new flavors for his braised dishes. Initially, the limited supply of chili peppers delayed the launch, but after a bountiful harvest, they had enough to proceed. However, the shop had been too busy and lacked the necessary large pots and vats for the production.

After the printing equipment was moved out before the New Year, Chang Zhan had the shop renovated and added large pots and vats for braising. He also bought a piece of land nearby and built housing for the shop workers.

This expansion allowed for more production space for braised dishes, and after much effort, they launched the new spicy duck flavor.

The braised dishes from Juewei Zhai were expensive, and the spicy duck was even more so, but it sold very well.

Some people didn’t like it, but those who did found it irresistible after the first taste!

In the prefectural city, several Juewei Zhai shops were crowded with people buying braised dishes.

Many of them were specifically there for the spicy duck.

Word had spread that the spicy duck had a unique flavor, so the wealthy in the prefectural city had to try it!