Chapter 43: The New House 1/3

As a businessman, Zhu Qian had always been trying to cultivate good relationships with scholars, hoping that one day, when these scholars achieved success, he could share some of their glory.

Li Qingzhi possessed the ability to remember everything he saw, a talent Zhu Qian certainly wouldn’t overlook. Thus, he paid close attention to Li Qingzhi.

After some investigation, Zhu Qian learned that Li Qingzhi had used the initial hundred taels of silver given by him to purchase four acres of land, and later he provided another fifty taels of silver, after which the Li family began building a house.

He knew that Li Qingzhi should still have some money on hand, but not much.

Therefore, upon hearing that his son had invited Li Qingzhi to attend a poetry gathering hosted by the Hong family, Zhu Qian immediately arranged for three sets of clothes of the same color to be prepared—one for his son to wear, one for Li Qingzhi, and another set to be given to Xu Qifei, whom his son had also invited.

Xu Qifei was also a scholar whom Zhu Qian wanted to befriend.

Although the clothes prepared by Zhu Qian were ready-made, they were not cheap. Including shoes and accessories, a set costs five or six guan. These were definitely clothes that Li Qingzhi and Xu Qifei would hesitate to buy for themselves, but they were respectable enough to wear.

After preparing the clothes, Zhu Qian immediately found a servant who knew Li Qingzhi and instructed him to deliver the clothes to the Li family. He also prepared a small gift for the servant to give to Li Qingzhi, congratulating him on the new house.

The servant appeared with a smile on his face. “Mr. Li, your house looks magnificent! My master has also prepared a gift to congratulate you on your new house.”

With that, the servant handed over a package wrapped in new fabric, along with a small box, to Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi accepted it with a smile. “Please thank Mr. Zhu for me.”

Li Qingzhi had heard the boasting from Li Laogen about the house in front of guests before. Though somewhat exaggerated and even inaccurate in some places, Li Qingzhi did not intervene.

He noticed that when Li Laogen spoke like this, not only was Li Laogen happy, but also Jin Father, Jin Mother, Jin Xiaoye, and even Li Damao and Li Ermao were all quite happy.

As long as everyone was happy, Li Laogen didn’t say anything he shouldn’t, and because Li Laogen was not very reliable, the people around him couldn’t be sure if what he said was true.

Li Qingzhi kept smiling and then saw Yao Zhenfu stepping forward to refute Li Laogen.

He felt a little sympathetic toward Yao Zhenfu. Yao Zhenfu was clearly making himself uncomfortable.

Yao Zhenfu had lived a comfortable life since childhood, so his mind was a bit fragile. He had not been willing to go out for several days after being caught in bed with his lover before. This time, being slapped in the face, Li Qingzhi didn’t know if it would strike him hard.

Li Qingzhi didn’t go to see Yao Zhenfu. He exchanged a few words with the servant and invited him to stay for dinner.

“Mr. Li, I need to report back quickly, so I won’t stay for dinner.” The servant smiled and left Miaoqian Village.

After the servant left, the villagers immediately surrounded Li Qingzhi. “Li Qingzhi, are you really going to attend the poetry gathering?”

“What is the poetry gathering like?”

“The clothes Master Zhu sent you must be very nice. My, even the packaging leather is top-notch.”

“Why did Master Zhu send you clothes?”

…

Li Qingzhi smiled and replied, “Master Zhu did indeed say he wanted to take me to the poetry gathering. I wasn’t invited by the Yao family; it’s all thanks to Master Zhu that I can go.”

“I don’t know what the poetry gathering is like; I’ve never attended one before.”

“Master Zhu probably thought I didn’t have clothes to wear, so he sent them to me.”

…

Li Qingzhi stated the facts briefly, but the villagers’ gazes toward him had already changed.

Previously, when Li Qingzhi went to the Zhu family to copy books and brought back leftovers from the Zhu family every day, although the villagers admired him, they didn’t pay much attention.

They thought the Zhu family hired Li Qingzhi to copy books simply out of pity for him.

But now, with the young master of the Zhu family inviting Li Qingzhi to attend the poetry gathering and even sending him clothes… Li Qingzhi’s relationship with the Zhu family should be quite good.

Li Qingzhi was really remarkable, to be valued so highly by the Zhu family!

“Xiaoye, you’ve finally turned the corner!”

“Xiaoye, your family’s life is getting better and better!”

“Laogen, you’re lucky to have found such a good son!”

…

The villagers praised Li Qingzhi, but Yao Zhenfu was furious.

After that servant appeared and said those words, he felt like he had been publicly slapped in the face, feeling utterly embarrassed.

Now that the villagers were all surrounding Li Qingzhi, his anger was even harder to contain, almost causing him to storm off.

As Li Qingzhi went inside to put away his things… Yao Zhenfu couldn’t help but snort, “Li Qingzhi is absolutely nothing special. Even if you all fawn over him like this, you won’t gain anything from it!”

The villagers were a bit stunned by his words. They had just been congratulating Li Qingzhi because they thought highly of him. How did it turn into fawning?

They had also praised Yao Zhenfu before. Did Yao Zhenfu think they were fawning over him too?

Yao Zhenfu continued, “The young master of the Zhu family is called Zhu Xunmiao, and we were classmates. Zhu Xunmiao is only fifteen years old this year, and I don’t know what means Li Qingzhi used to persuade him to be willing to take Li Qingzhi to the poetry gathering! But even if Li Qingzhi has won Zhu Xunmiao’s favor, so what? In the county town, many people look down on Zhu Xunmiao.”

The young master of the Zhu family was actually Yao Zhenfu’s classmate? The villagers were somewhat surprised, and someone asked, “The Zhu family is so wealthy. Why do some people still look down on the young master of the Zhu family?”

“In the literary circle, wealth doesn’t count for much! Zhu Xunmiao’s knowledge is not even comparable to mine, so who would value him?” Yao Zhenfu said.

Zhu Xunmiao was still young, after all. Even if Yao Zhenfu had caused some trouble by being cheated on by his lover before… because Mr. Yao had always said that Yao Zhenfu was very knowledgeable, everyone still thought he was the most knowledgeable person in Miaoqian Village.

On the other hand, Li Qingzhi… Li Qingzhi had been criticized for his poor academic performance before, and he had been tied up and taken away for five years, never having studied.

“When it comes to knowledge, you have to show your skills. I’m going to participate in the county exam next year and will surely achieve something. As for Li Qingzhi… his knowledge is only as good as a ten-year-old child!” After Yao Zhenfu finished speaking, he turned and left.

Jin Moli hesitated for a moment, then hurried after Yao Zhenfu.

Yao’s mother had been taking care of her grandchildren while they ate. Seeing her son leave like that, she wanted to follow him, but when she looked at the food on the table and at her grandchildren still eating… she ultimately didn’t move and continued to eat with the two children.

At the Yao residence,

Jin Moli caught up to Yao Zhenfu and asked, “Are you going to participate in the county exam?”

Ever since Yao Zhenfu stopped locking himself up in the study after coming out, Jin Moli’s relationship with him has improved.

Jin Moli was indeed very annoyed when she first found out that Yao Zhenfu had a lover and had spent so much money on her. But after that period passed, her anger dissipated almost completely, and she started thinking about Yao Zhenfu’s prosperity in his past life again.

At that time, Yao Zhenfu was very grand. He had just returned to the village by boat and immediately got into a sedan chair without touching the muddy ground.