Chapter 28: Renting a Boat 2/3

Why couldn’t his son measure up to Li Qingzhi’s son?!

If Li Qingzhi knew Yao Zhenfu’s thoughts, he would surely be speechless.

Yao Zhenfu’s son was nearly half a year younger than Li Damao and Li Ermao. For a child of this age to forget what he was taught today by tomorrow was completely normal. The reason Li Damao and Li Ermao could remember was that Li Qingzhi repeatedly reviewed with them.

Today, Yao Zhenfu would teach for a short while, and then expect his child to recite articles and poems the next day that the child didn’t even understand… How was that possible!

Every time Li Qingzhi taught his children poetry, he would explain the meaning of the verses to them repeatedly.

The small boat shuttled through the river channels and soon arrived at the Miaoqian Village.

During the days when Li Qingzhi went to the Zhu family’s house to copy books, there would always be a crowd surrounding him asking questions upon his return. However, it had gotten much better in the past few days.

But Li Laogen still came up to him first: “Ah Qing, did you bring back any food today?”

In the past few days, Li Qingzhi had been bringing back some food every day.

Even though it was just a few pieces of meat and a salted duck egg, for Li Laogen, it was a rare delicacy that he looked forward to all day long.

Li Qingzhi replied, “Yes, today Master Zhu gave me some chicken meat.”

Li Laogen immediately looked into the clay pot in Li Qingzhi’s basket and swiftly lifted the lid.

Li Qingzhi: “… It’s common for children to run up to their fathers asking for food when they return home, but for the father to come up asking for food… That’s really rare.”

“Li Laogen, what are you doing! Let Ah Qing come up first!” Jin Xiaoye shouted – Li Qingzhi had just gotten off the boat and was still standing on the steps!

Li Laogen grinned awkwardly, helped Li Qingzhi with the basket, and took the lead up the stone steps, showing off the basket to the villagers, “Mr. Zhu is so generous. He didn’t eat much of this chicken and gave it to Ah Qing!”

“Today I have chicken to eat.”

“I thought we had to wait until New Year’s to eat chicken, but I didn’t expect to have it now!”

…

Everyone thought that Li Qingzhi was given the leftover chicken by the Zhu family.

But even so, the villagers still envied him—although the chicken leg was missing and some of the meat was gone, the chicken wings were still there!

Only Yao Zhenfu said, “Other people’s scraps are treasured. How pathetic.”

Li Qingzhi glanced at him helplessly and said to Li Laogen, “Dad, let’s go back.”

He didn’t mention that Mr. Zhu had given him a whole chicken; if the villagers thought he had suddenly become rich, it wouldn’t be a good thing.

Li Laogen wanted to boast on the riverbank with the basket, but he also wanted to eat chicken meat… He followed Li Qingzhi, “Ah Qing, later, ask Xiaoye to give me a little more chicken meat…”

When they returned home, Jin Xiaoye gave the remaining chicken breast to Li Laogen, who promptly ran off.

With such a big piece of meat, he would definitely go to the riverbank to show off to the villagers.

After Li Laogen left, Li Qingzhi said to Jin Xiaoye, “Xiaoye, Mr. Zhu gave me a whole chicken. I ate some at the Zhu’s house… It’s very delicious. Try it.”

“Mr. Zhu gave you a whole chicken?” Jin Xiaoye was surprised.

“Yes, he wanted me to take care of my health.”

“Mr.  Zhu is so kind.” Jin Xiaoye sighed.

“Xiaoye, try it quickly,” Li Qingzhi urged Jin Xiaoye to eat.

But Jin Xiaoye didn’t eat. She suddenly spoke up, “Ah Qing, I think I’ll go rent a boat tomorrow.”

Since the day she mentioned wanting to rent a boat for business to Li Qingzhi, Jin Xiaoye had taken the time to inquire about it. 

Now that Li Qingzhi was taking care of the two children, she had more freedom. She quickly found out the rental prices for boats, which were generally fifty cents per day. In addition, she learned that there was an old boatman in a nearby village who couldn’t work anymore and had lost his son. He wanted to rent out his boat, charging only forty wen per day, which was lower than what the county charged.

She originally intended to save up some capital before renting a boat, but now there was such an opportunity before her… She wanted to rent the boat as soon as possible.

Li Qingzhi said, “Okay!”

“I’ll need to use all the money at home, and I probably won’t have time to take care of things at home for a while.” Jin Xiaoye looked seriously at Li Qingzhi.

“It’s okay,” Li Qingzhi really liked Jin Xiaoye’s determined and money-making appearance. “Xiaoye, have you decided what kind of business you want to do?”

“I’ll start by ferrying people in the county town. When I get used to it, I’ll think of something else,” Jin Xiaoye said.

People in the county town often went out on trips or needed to transport goods, so they would call for a boat, similar to calling a taxi in modern times.

In fact, ferrying people was mainly what Mr. Yao did. It might not earn a lot of money, but generally speaking, it was not difficult to make ends meet. During festivals and holidays, business would be very good.

“Good.” Li Qingzhi smiled. Jin Xiaoye was indeed such a girl. Even if she encountered the end of the world, she would find ways to survive. She was really good.

“Then I’ll go call Xiaoshu and talk to him,” Jin Xiaoye said. “I’ll give him some of this chicken too.”

Jin Xiaoye’s maiden family was also from Miaoqian Village, but the two families were a bit far apart, and they each had their own work to do, so Li Qingzhi hadn’t met Jin Xiaoshu during this time.

Now Jin Xiaoshu was coming over… Li Qingzhi used a knife to cut the chicken, poured out the chicken soup, and planned to give it to Jin Xiaoshu later.

About half an hour later, Jin Xiaoye brought Jin Xiaoshu back.

They didn’t have a table at home, so they sat on the doorstep, chatting while enjoying the cool breeze.

Jin Xiaoshu was only sixteen years old, like a high school student in modern times.

People didn’t eat as well as they do now, so Jin Xiaoshu was very thin, not tall either, and his voice sounded like a duck’s quack, still going through puberty.

“Sis, are we really going to ferry people?” Jin Xiaoshu was eager but also a little afraid.

“We are!” Jin Xiaoye decided firmly.

“I’ll listen to you,” Jin Xiaoshu immediately agreed.

“Then come find me tomorrow morning,” Jin Xiaoye said.

Jin Xiaoshu agreed, then happily drank the chicken soup and ate the chicken.

Although the chicken breast and legs were gone, there were still chicken wings and other meat! Jin Xiaoshu ate with a greasy mouth and even fed some to Li Damao and Li Ermao.

Li Damao and Li Ermao were very familiar with Jin Xiaoshu. After eating the meat Jin Xiaoshu fed them, Li Ermao said, “Uncle, Ermao can write his own name now!”

“Ermao is so amazing?” Jin Xiaoshu was a little surprised.

Li Damao said, “I can write my mother’s name too!”

“So can I!” Li Ermao quickly followed.

After the two children finished speaking, they took sticks and wrote on the ground.

Indeed, they were drawing. They didn’t write stroke by stroke, but copied what Li Qingzhi wrote. However, the words they drew could still be recognized.

Li Qingzhi had known for a long time that they could draw, praised them many times, but didn’t rush to teach them how to write.

The two children were not yet five years old, so there was no need to rush.

Jin Xiaoshu couldn’t recognize characters at all, but seeing Li Damao and Li Ermao writing, he praised them repeatedly.

Li Damao and Li Ermao proudly puffed out their chests.

It was harmonious and joyful on the Li family’s side. On the Zhu family’s side, when Zhu Xunmiao returned home, he repeatedly read the three thousand words Li Qingzhi wrote today.