Chapter 181 3/3

However, the spicy duck was difficult to buy. It was said that the seasoning for the spicy duck was imported from overseas and was very rare. Therefore, Juwei Zhai only made fifty spicy ducks each day, with just over a dozen of them being sent to the provincial capital…

But wealthy people could always get their hands on it. Shen Zhilan had paid a hefty price to pre-order a spicy duck and was enjoying it today.

Mrs. Shen loved the taste of the spicy duck. “This flavor is somewhat similar to the spicy dishes we had at Qingyun Tower in the capital.”

“It does taste similar. They must be using the same seasoning. This seasoning is probably very precious, no wonder the spicy duck is so expensive, selling for a tael of silver per duck! I spent two taels to buy one!” Shen Zhilan said.

“You can’t even get a taste of Qingyun Tower’s spicy dishes for two taels of silver!” Mrs. Shen said.

“True.” Thinking this, Shen Zhilan felt better and began discussing with Mrs. Shen about the printing of the storybook written by Li Qingzhi.

The storybook was eventually titled “Children’s Fun Stories.” Due to the New Year festivities, it hadn’t been printed yet, but now it was ready to go.

The Shen Family Bookstore had a large workforce, so within half a month, they should be able to start selling it.

“By then, many people will surely love this book,” Mrs. Shen said.

There were already many books for children available, and some wealthy families even wrote their own stories and compiled books for their children to read.

But this book was different; its stories were much more interesting.

“That’s great! We’ll make a fortune!” Shen Zhilan was very pleased.

In a house in the provincial capital, Qian Fugui was also eating spicy duck.

He had also bought the duck at a high price, but he didn’t mind at all.

After all, the money would eventually go to his nephew.

And today… Qian Fugui looked northward.

Today was the day planned for the “bandits” to attack his wife, sister-in-law, and nephew.

After today, his wife, sister-in-law, and nephew would be “dead.”

Qian Fugui wasn’t worried about anything else, just his nephew.

His nephew’s health was poor, and the doctor even said he wouldn’t live past twenty. He wasn’t afraid of anything but his nephew having an accident in the middle of their plan.

His brother told him not to worry and to leave it to fate, but if anything happened, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Thinking of this, Qian Fugui also thought of the healthy Li Damao and Li Ermao…

Both Shen Zhilan and Qian Fugui bought their spicy ducks themselves, but the one for Governor Zhang was sent by Chang Zhan.

Governor Zhang lived not far from the yamen, and because he was in correspondence with Li Qingzhi, he would go home for meals whenever he could.

Today, he had gone home for lunch.

The steward brought over a food box, and when Governor Zhang opened it, he found a plate of spicy duck and a plate of braised pork, both of which he loved.

Governor Zhang felt warm inside.

He had no children and had always lived a lonely life, but for the past few months, someone had been delivering meals to him every day and writing letters to him.

He had come to regard Chang Zhan and Li Qingzhi as his close juniors.

“Master, I’ll take this braised pork to the kitchen, put it under hot rice to warm it up, and bring it back for you. It’ll taste even better when hot,” the steward said as he took the braised pork away.

After the steward left, Governor Zhang opened the letter at the bottom of the box.

It was so thick… Had Li Qingzhi written another book?

Governor Zhang was full of anticipation. Even the previous children’s book, “Storybook,” was written very well.

And this time…

Governor Zhang opened the manuscript and saw the words “A Solitary Journey.”

A travelogue? Given Li Qingzhi’s experiences of fleeing famine, it was normal for him to write a travelogue.

But travelogues weren’t as appealing as Li Qingzhi’s previous books.

Thinking this, Governor Zhang opened the manuscript and was immediately taken aback.

This manuscript… it was different from anything he had read before. It used some symbols to separate each sentence!

And at the beginning of the book, it explained what these symbols were.

“The punctuation used in this book is called ‘punctuation marks,’ which I learned during my travels…”

Punctuation marks? These symbols made the text much clearer!

There were indeed punctuations in Daqi. Many people would mark books themselves when reading them.

Teachers would also lead students to read, teaching them how to punctuate sentences. Some might even provide students with books that were already punctuated.

In fact, the books Li Qingzhi initially borrowed from the Zhu family were all punctuated; otherwise, he wouldn’t have understood them well.

But newly printed books had no punctuation, at most leaving a space between sections… Li Qingzhi hoped to promote punctuation marks.

This would make reading much easier for common people.

But given his status, promoting this would be seen as breaking away from tradition. As a mere Xiucai, he lacked the authority…

So Li Qingzhi decided to promote punctuation marks under the pseudonym “Solitary Wanderer.”

The reason the manuscript for “A Solitary Journey” was only now being sent to Governor Zhang was because he had revised the beginning multiple times.

The current “A Solitary Journey” was still not perfect, but it was much better than the initial version.

He planned to write this book slowly, releasing it in multiple volumes over time.

Since it was a travelogue, he could write it freely. The first volume was actually titled “A Solitary Journey: The Wooden Bridge Village.” In this village, people built biogas pits to use biogas for cooking and lighting; there was a clinic offering free medical services; there was a school where both boys and girls could study.

Additionally, the village had a factory for making toilet paper from straw, a unified hatchery for chickens and ducks, and a cannery for preserving meat and fruit.

Li Qingzhi modeled this on the development level of the 1970s and 1980s, which was already astonishing for the people of ancient times!