Chapter 35: Remuneration 4/4

The buns were as big as an adult’s fist. After Li Damao and Li Ermao finished theirs, they couldn’t eat anything else. However, Li Qingzhi was different. After finishing his bun, he drank four bowls of porridge.

The brain is the organ that consumes the most calories in the human body, and the calorie consumption of mental labor is not less than that of physical labor.

Since his brain was developed, it has consumed even more calories!

Even if he didn’t use his abilities in the future, he would still eat more than others and be a big eater for the rest of his life.

After eating, Li Qingzhi went to write his books. In the afternoon, Zhu Qian found him and gave him a one hundred tael silver note.

“Mr. Li, this is your reward for helping me write my book,” Zhu Qian said with a smile.

In this era, one tael of silver was equivalent to over two thousand yuan in modern times.

One hundred taels of silver was equivalent to over two hundred thousand yuan!

In addition to giving him a silver coin every day, Zhu Qian gave him a total of thirty pennies. For writing an autobiography, Zhu Qian paid him three hundred thousand yuan.

This price was extremely high, as books sold to bookstores did not fetch this much money.

Li Qingzhi knew that Zhu Qian wouldn’t shortchange him, but he didn’t expect to receive one hundred taels. It was truly a pleasant surprise.

“Thank you, Master Zhu!” Li Qingzhi said.

“Mr. Li, please don’t call me master anymore. If you don’t mind, just call me Uncle,” Zhu Qian said as they chatted. He also mentioned that he had already told his son that Li Qingzhi could come to borrow books from their house whenever he wanted to study.

He briefly mentioned some of the books in the Zhu family’s collection.

Zhu Qian, who came from a humble background and built his fortune from scratch, did not have many books at home. However, since they were wealthy, they had all the common books found on the market!

Furthermore, the Zhu family also had some examination-related materials that Zhu Qian had obtained at great expense, which were not available elsewhere. For example, the books annotated by Li Xiucai were worth a lot of money.

Books were expensive at that time, and Li Qingzhi had an amazing memory… Zhu Qian promised to lend him these books to read. The value of these books was not inferior to one hundred taels of silver.

Li Qingzhi expressed his heartfelt thanks.

Zhu Qian was very busy and soon left. After he was gone, Li Qingzhi took out the silver ticket to examine it.

In Daqi, banknotes could be used as money to some extent, but only locally.

In Daqi, banknotes were receipts issued by money shops to merchants after they deposited money. In modern terms, they were essentially deposit slips. 

Since transportation was not well-developed at the time, no one could spread their money throughout the country. For example, the largest money shop in Chongcheng County was owned by the Xu family, and there was only one money shop in the entire Xu family.

As a result, the banknotes they issued could only be used in Chongcheng County.

If someone from out of town wanted to exchange the banknotes for silver, they had to go to the money shop in Chongcheng County to exchange them for money. If they took them to another money shop, they would not be recognized.

Previously, when people from the original owner’s hometown were fleeing due to flooding, if they didn’t bring silver but brought banknotes instead… when they arrived outside, those banknotes were worthless.

In fact, even in the local area… many people, when receiving silver tickets, had to first go to the money shop to verify their authenticity. Otherwise, if they received fake banknotes, they wouldn’t be able to exchange them for silver.

Of course, the silver ticket given by Zhu Qian couldn’t possibly be fake. Li Qingzhi looked at it several times, carefully and meticulously, before putting it away.

When he returned home and gave the money to Jin Xiaoye, she would definitely be very happy.

Li Qingzhi was in a very good mood, and his writing speed unconsciously increased.

On the other hand, Jin Xiaoye was also in a good mood.

The head flowers sold very well before, so Jin Xiaoye asked Sister Wang to make more.

Sister Wang couldn’t make so many by herself, so she found several other people who embroidered with her to help.

Today, when Jin Xiaoye went to pick up the goods, she found that they had even made other styles!

Among these embroiderers, there was a woman in her thirties whose husband’s family name was Xu. Everyone called her Mrs. Xu. It was she who made the other styles of headbands.

“I want all styles of headbands!” Jin Xiaoye quickly made a decision. “And there’s no limit to the quantity. I want as many as possible!”

Jin Xiaoye had realized that these inexpensive head flowers were in high demand.

The people in Jiangnan were relatively affluent. Although her family was considered poor in Miaoqian Village and kept chickens, they were able to save some money. People might hesitate for a long time before making a new outfit, but they wouldn’t hesitate for too long to buy a head flower.

Just in Chongcheng County or nearby villages, she could sell many head flowers. After making more, she could even sell them to traveling merchants who would take them elsewhere to sell.

“That’s what we’ll do then.” Mrs. Xu was very happy. These head flowers were made from scraps and had almost no cost. If she spent some time every day making them, she could earn a lot of money. How wonderful!

She wanted her son to take the imperial examination, and that would require quite a bit of money!

“Okay!” Jin Xiaoye made the decision, then took the finished head flowers and left.

She had already repaid the money she borrowed when she took Li Qingzhi to see a doctor, and she had saved up seven or eight taels of silver, six of which were given by Li Qingzhi.

She should buy Li Qingzhi a bed.

After some thought, Jin Xiaoye rowed to the carpenter’s shop in the county.

The carpenter’s shop was by the river, and there were people unloading a boat full of wood nearby, moving the wood to the carpenter’s shop.

Beds were not cheap. Even a cheaper bamboo bed would cost quite a bit, and bamboo beds were not durable.

Jin Xiaoye planned to buy wooden planks directly and then buy two stools. By placing the planks on the stools, she could assemble them into a bed.

Their house was small, so when there was a need, they could also dismantle the bed to make space. When guests came, they could also use it as a table.

Jin Xiaoye walked into the carpenter’s shop and quickly bought what she needed.

The carpenter’s shop not only sold furniture but also firewood—the leftover scraps from making furniture were sold as firewood.

Jin Xiaoye thought for a moment and decided to buy some firewood as well.