Chapter 194 2/3

Chang Zhan, having experienced the destruction of his family, matured quickly and could now stand on his own. Qian Changsheng, however, was still very naive. Li Qingzhi felt that, in terms of psychological age, he might be on par with Gou Ying.

It was time for Qian Changsheng to learn more about the outside world.

Qian Changsheng listened with wide eyes, increasingly fascinated: “What else?”

Li Qingzhi paused, then shared more stories with him.

For instance, how Yao Zhenfu refused to work at home and how Shen Xuniang tried to seduce his father to become his stepmother.

Qian Changsheng was astounded.

He felt as if a new world had opened up before him!

He had never heard such stories before!

Seeing Qian Changsheng’s expression, Li Qingzhi suddenly remembered something.

Previously, when Li Laogen boasted in front of Qian Changsheng, the latter listened with great interest. Did this kid enjoy hearing gossip?

When Li Qingzhi finished telling the stories about Yao Zhenfu and Shen Xuniang, they had arrived at the Qian residence.

Qian Fugui, who hadn’t been to Chongcheng County for over ten days, was happy to see his nephew, who had become tanned and much more handsome. He offered some encouraging words.

Then he took Li Qingzhi to the study.

Seeing the joy on Qian Fugui’s face, Li Qingzhi smiled and asked, “Uncle, what good news has happened?”

Qian Fugui said, “Ah Qing, I set up a few schemes earlier and managed to get a lot of money from Yulong Trading Company. At first, they didn’t suspect me, but later they did!”

There was no trace of worry on Qian Fugui’s face as he spoke, so Li Qingzhi knew things hadn’t turned bad and waited for him to continue.

“Just as they started suspecting me, Yulong Trading Company ran into some trouble. People from Prince Yan’s faction investigated and found out that it was Lu Qingxi’s men causing the trouble!”

Qian Fugui recounted his experiences over the past fortnight.

He had a grudge against Prince Yan and had taken more money from him. Prince Yan and his subordinates were highly suspicious, suspecting everyone and eventually focusing their suspicion on Qian Fugui.

While Qian Fugui was pondering how to clear his name, Lu Qingxi’s men began targeting Yulong Trading Company.

Once Prince Yan’s people discovered this, they immediately stopped suspecting Qian Fugui. Prince Yan even personally wrote to Qian Fugui, suggesting that the accidents involving his wife and nephew were orchestrated by Lu Qingxi.

“Prince Yan said this to make me resent Lu Qingxi, but also because… he genuinely believes it,” Qian Fugui explained. “All the troubles I caused for Prince Yan were attributed to Lu Qingxi, who indeed clashed with Prince Yan…”

Previously, Lu Qingxi had been targeting Prince Jin. But after receiving information from Chang Duan about Prince Yan’s secretive expansion, including Yulong Trading Company being Prince Yan’s cash cow, Lu Qingxi shifted his focus to Prince Yan.

Compared to Prince Jin, Lu Qingxi hated Prince Yan more.

If it weren’t for Prince Yan’s mother poisoning the emperor, Lu Qingxi wouldn’t have lived in constant fear. Without the poisoning, the emperor might have lived long enough to outlive Lu Qingxi, and even if he didn’t, he would have ensured his son treated Lu Qingxi well.

In such a scenario, Lu Qingxi could have adopted a few godsons and enjoyed a comfortable old age!

But now, the emperor’s health was ruined, and he had no heirs!

Lu Qingxi’s reputation was also tarnished!

Regardless of whether Prince Jin or Prince Yan ascended to the throne, Lu Qingxi would face a grim fate.

Realizing that his focus on Prince Jin had inadvertently benefited Prince Yan, Lu Qingxi was furious and determined to destroy Yulong Trading Company.

With Lu Qingxi’s actions, it became even easier for Qian Fugui to siphon money and resources from Yulong Trading Company.

After hearing Qian Fugui’s recount, Li Qingzhi said, “I previously had someone deliver the information about Prince Yan’s actions to Lu Qingxi… It worked well!”

Qian Fugui replied, “Thanks to you for revealing those matters to Lu Qingxi!”

Although Li Qingzhi had mentioned Chang Duan before, it was only now that Qian Fugui fully appreciated the advantage of having someone with access to Lu Qingxi.

He had indeed managed to get quite a bit of money amidst the chaos.

However… Lu Qingxi had written to Shen Zhilan, leading her to ignore Qian Fugui now.

Li Qingzhi asked, “Uncle, what are your plans going forward?”

Qian Fugui replied, “Ah Zhi, I plan to keep a low profile… In a few days, I’ll bring the money I got from Yulong Trading Company to you. You can use it to do whatever you want in the future.”

He could no longer oversee Yulong Trading Company and couldn’t safely ally with Lu Qingxi, meaning he likely wouldn’t be able to do much in the future.

“Uncle, I have some ideas and would like your help to bring them to life.”

“What do you want to do?” Qian Fugui asked.

“I want to make glass and soap,” Li Qingzhi replied.

He couldn’t produce these items himself, but with Qian Fugui’s money and manpower, it was possible.

Li Qingzhi wrote down the formulas and provided the location of a soda lake to Qian Fugui.

Without enough soda, making these items would be difficult.

The small amount of soda from plant ashes was insufficient. Relying on plant ashes to produce soap would not only be costly but the resulting soap would probably be no better than the “soap” people made from pig pancreas at the time.

And glass… making glass also required a substantial amount of soda.

Li Qingzhi knew the formulas but had never made these items himself.

Producing glass would likely require craftsmen to experiment repeatedly, which would be time-consuming, labor-intensive, and require significant initial investment.

This was one reason he hadn’t collaborated with Zhu Qian before; Zhu Qian might not have been willing to invest heavily in these items.

But now, Qian Fugui had the money.

Qian Fugui could afford to research these items slowly. Once they succeeded and made money, they could train some talents in chemistry to produce other things…

Technology would gradually change the world.

Li Qingzhi explained the details of making glass and soap to Qian Fugui.

As a businessman, Qian Fugui immediately recognized the huge profits these items could bring.

However… Qian Fugui asked, “Can such items really be made? Ah Zhi, where did you get these formulas?”

“The person who taught me many things told me. He once sailed abroad and got the formulas from overseas,” Li Qingzhi said.

“That person… what a pity,” Qian Fugui lamented again, then promised to find a way to produce these items.

“Thank you, Uncle,” Li Qingzhi said.

“It’s no trouble at all,” Qian Fugui replied with a smile.

Li Qingzhi also smiled, “Uncle, shall I apply another plaster for you?”

Qian Fugui: “…” Here we go again!

However… his back hadn’t hurt recently; it seemed to have healed?

Could his nephew’s medical skills really be better than the imperial doctors he had consulted before?

Li Qingzhi had lunch at the Qian family’s residence and then left. Qian Fugui stayed for a night and left the next day.

When Li Qingzhi returned home, he saw the children still engrossed in their study of the chickens.

The chicks were still small and cute now, but he wondered if the children would still like them once they grew into adult chickens.

Li Qingzhi was curious about this.

As it turned out… the children still liked them.

Time flew by, and almost in the blink of an eye, the weather turned hot. It had been exactly two years since Li Qingzhi had arrived in this world.

It was now the end of the fifth lunar month, just over two months until the provincial examination. By this time, the chicks hatched at the beginning of the year had grown into adult chickens, with the hens nearly ready to lay eggs!