Chapter 29: The Next Volume 2/3

This chicken was what the cook had set aside after making extra.

Zhu Xunmiao was truly a good person!

Li Qingzhi packed up most of the chicken before starting to eat.

The braised pork was just soy sauce stewed meat, with a mediocre taste, but this chicken was cooked by the cook for the Zhu family, and it smelled fragrant with the addition of sugar.

Jin Xiaoye probably hadn’t tasted such delicious chicken before.

“Dad, this chicken is delicious!” Li Damao and Li Ermao had never tasted such delicious chicken before, and they looked pleasantly surprised.

“If it’s delicious, eat more,” Li Qingzhi said as he ate, finishing four bowls of rice. Then he used the energy gained from the meal to adjust his body, making his arms even stronger.

At the same time, two of Zhu Xunmiao’s classmates arrived at the Zhu residence to visit Zhu Qian.

The two of them spoke highly of Zhu Qian, praising him with many words of admiration and expressing their determination to study hard and achieve success like him.

Zhu Qian… Zhu Qian didn’t quite understand their words.

These two spoke in an elaborate manner and even quoted some allusions, leaving him bewildered.

Fortunately, Li Qingzhi’s books weren’t like this!

Even so, Zhu Qian warmly entertained them.

But he didn’t introduce Li Qingzhi to these two.

After learning that Li Qingzhi wanted to take the imperial examination, Zhu Xunmiao specifically instructed Zhu Qian not to mention Li Qingzhi’s affairs to others.

Even if people found out about Li Qingzhi helping his father write books, it wouldn’t affect Li Qingzhi’s participation in the imperial examination. But if someone used it to attack Li Qingzhi, saying that he flattered businessmen with his writing… that wouldn’t be a good thing.

Zhu Qian always felt uncomfortable chatting with Zhu Xunmiao’s classmates, so he didn’t chat much.

After learning that Xu Qifei had already copied the contents of his book, Zhu Qian took the copied book and went to see one of his good friends after dinner.

Once Zhu Qian had money, he wanted everyone to know about it. Therefore, he liked to wear luxurious clothes and expensive jewelry.

He was never stingy about flaunting his wealth.

This made some intellectuals look down on him, thinking he smelled of copper.

But in Chongcheng County, there were still people who shared his aspirations!

One of them was his friend, Ding Xi.

Ding Xi’s father was a traveling merchant who went around doing business with his goods.

He married Ding Xi’s mother and had children, but he also had a mistress outside, and he treated Ding Xi and his mother very badly, giving them only a few taels of silver a year.

For ordinary farmers with land, earning a few taels of silver a year as extra income could make life quite comfortable. But for city dwellers who had to buy rice, vegetables, firewood, and other expenses… that little money was simply not enough.

Ding Xi’s mother could only rely on weaving cloth to earn money.

In Chongcheng County, some wealthy people would buy several looms and place them at home, hiring people to weave cloth. That’s what Ding Xi’s mother did.

However, even though Ding Xi’s mother could earn money, life for the Ding family was still difficult. At first, it was because Ding Xi’s mother sent Ding Xi to school, but later…

Ding Xi’s mother fell ill, and Ding Xi, who was only fourteen but already as big as an adult, started working at the docks to earn money to fill their stomachs. And because he was so strong, he was picked to be a guard.

 One time he saved a merchant and received a substantial reward, which he used as capital to establish an escort business, and also did some business on the side.

Twenty years later, Ding Xi’s wealth was not as great as Zhu Qian’s, but he was still very rich, with many strong bodyguards under his escort business.

Seeing Zhu Qian, who was shorter than him by a head, Ding Xi walked up and patted Zhu Qian’s shoulder, “Old Zhu, why do you have time to come and see me?”

If Zhu Qian weren’t so thick-skinned, he would definitely have been hurt by the patting. He frowned, “Old Ding, stop being so handsy, don’t you know your own strength?”

“I didn’t use any strength at all. It’s just that you’re too weak!” Ding Xi patted his long beard.

He admired Guan Yunchang the most, so he grew the same kind of beard, and took great care to groom it neatly.

Zhu Qian couldn’t be bothered to argue with Ding Xi and got straight to the point, “I came to see you because I want to show you a book.”

“Show me a book? Don’t you know that I get a headache every time I read?” Ding Xi frowned.

“This book won’t give you a headache, you’ll see when you read it.” Zhu Qian took out his autobiography and showed it to Ding Xi.

Ding Xi snorted lightly. Was there a book in this world that wouldn’t give him a headache? That’s impossible!

He had thought about reading storybooks before, but they all started with a poem that he couldn’t understand.

However, since it was given to him by Zhu Qian, he accepted it.

Zhu Qian said, “This is a book about me!”

Although Ding Xi was Zhu Qian’s good friend, he didn’t know much about Zhu Qian’s past.

Zhu Qian liked to talk about it in front of his family, but he wouldn’t say much in front of his friends.

Hearing that this was Zhu Qian’s autobiography, Ding Xi began to read it seriously, and then… he unconsciously finished reading it.

After finishing it, Ding Xi asked, “What about the rest?”

“I haven’t finished writing it yet,” Zhu Qian said.

“It’s okay if you haven’t finished writing it. Just tell me!” Ding Xi was a bit eager. He didn’t expect his friend Zhu Qian to be such a talented and visionary person!

Zhu Qian refused, “What I say is different from what I write.” What he said casually would sound completely different when written down!

For example, when he encountered danger and fled later, he would only say a few sentences, still feeling scared when reminiscing about it. But when Li Qingzhi wrote it, it made him appear wise and brave.

Now he himself wanted to see what would happen next!

Ding Xi: “…”

At this moment, Zhu Qian smiled slightly, “Old Ding, do you want a book about yourself?”

Of course Ding Xi wanted it!

So that afternoon, Li Qingzhi hadn’t written many words yet, but Zhu Qian and Ding Xi came together.

Li Qingzhi had been thinking of finding another job after finishing Zhu Qian’s book, but he hadn’t expected that Zhu Qian would introduce him to a job in the blink of an eye.

Li Qingzhi did intend to take the imperial examination, but in the short term, he definitely couldn’t.

His body hadn’t fully recovered, and his knowledge was insufficient.

Now, having the opportunity to earn more money was, of course, excellent.

Li Qingzhi agreed.

Seeing Li Qingzhi agree, Ding Xi was extremely happy and reached out to pat Li Qingzhi’s shoulder.

But when he saw Li Qingzhi’s thin as a bamboo figure… his outstretched hand froze in mid-air, silently retracting it.

He was really afraid that if he slapped Li Qingzhi, he might break him apart.

“Mr. Li, when you write my book, make sure to portray me as heroic!” Ding Xi said.

“Mr. Ding, rest assured, I will write according to your requirements,” Li Qingzhi felt like he was writing customized text, so he must satisfy the other party’s requests.

Ding Xi was very pleased, “Then I’ll be waiting! Mr. Li, let me treat you to dinner!”

Li Qingzhi readily agreed.

Ding Xi invited Li Qingzhi to a restaurant near Zhu’s house. He ordered eight dishes in one go, six of which were meat dishes. “Mr. Li, you’re too thin, you should eat more.”