Chapter 61: Teahouse 1/3

Li Qingzhi came to Sister Wang’s residence and saw that it was filled with various newly made items.

Gloves, sleeves, shoes… Various small items made of good fabric were piled on the floor, and Jin Xiaoye was packing and organizing them.

Seeing Li Qingzhi, Jin Xiaoye said, “Ah Qing, wait for me for a moment.”

“Okay,” Li Qingzhi replied.

At this moment, Sister Wang asked Li Qingzhi, “Xiao Li, did you go to the county yamen today?”

“I did,” Li Qingzhi replied.

“Did you see the county magistrate handling cases?” Sister Wang looked at Li Qingzhi expectantly, and the attention of others was also drawn over.

Li Qingzhi said, “I was squeezed outside and didn’t see, but I have a rough idea… Xiao Ye, the person who beat the small tree was punished with fifty strokes.”

Although Jin Xiaoshu was beaten that day, he was not injured, so he didn’t file a complaint.

It was just that Jin Xiaoshu didn’t file a complaint, but others did… The person who beat Jin Xiaoshu helped Zhang Chuqian collect debts and, together with others, beat an old man to death.

In fact, yesterday, Magistrate Gou had already reviewed all the written complaints and decided how to judge today. Li Qingzhi had consulted with him at that time.

Ordinary people wouldn’t complain even if they were beaten a few times. Those who came to complain had encountered great injustice, and therefore, the contents of those complaints were horrifying to read.

Li Qingzhi has a good memory. He can recite the names of every criminal, along with their crimes, and what their final sentences were… Sister Wang and the others listened with great satisfaction.

After Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye left, Sister Wang couldn’t help but say, “Xiao Li knows so much!”

“Yes, Xiao Li knows everything!” an old lady said. Li Qingzhi had mentioned some people she knew, so she asked a few more questions. Now she knew quite a bit and planned to chat with others about it when she got back.

Mrs. Xu, who was nearby, smiled and suddenly said, “Xiao Li must know a lot; he knows the county magistrate.”

“Xiao Li knows the county magistrate?” Sister Wang was extremely surprised. “I know he went to court after his arm was broken by that young master from the Hong family, but how could he know the county magistrate?”

Mrs. Xu said, “Recently, all the teahouses and taverns have been talking about the county magistrate solving cases. You all know about that, right?”

“We know. I even went to a teahouse this morning specifically to listen,” Sister Wang said.

There were several teahouses in Chongcheng County. These teahouses were usually open before dawn, and they sold tea for a penny a pot. After buying a pot of tea, you could refill it with hot water indefinitely.

These were the favorite places for the elderly.

They spent a penny on a pot of tea at the teahouse and then chatted. They could chat from before dawn until mid-morning, chatting for two hours.

Some elderly people who had extra money would also buy some snacks, such as tea eggs, melon seeds, boiled broad beans, and so on.

The teahouses didn’t offer much food, but there were often breakfast shops nearby. The waiters from these shops could bring noodles, steamed buns, and other breakfast items to the teahouse to eat. After eating, they could return the bowls or wait for someone to collect them.

Sitting in the teahouse, drinking a pot of tea, eating a bowl of steaming noodles, and talking about how filial their children were in the envious eyes of others was the life countless elderly people dreamed of.

These teahouses also sold hot water. The nearby neighbors would give the teahouse some money every month, and when they needed hot water, they could go to the teahouse to fetch it. This was more cost-effective than boiling water themselves, after all, firewood had to be bought.

Teahouses were not teahouses, they operated small businesses, so naturally, they didn’t have storytellers, but the stories of Magistrate Gou had become too popular recently, and many people had bought paper and pen to copy down those stories.

These past few days, there was an elderly literate man near Sister Wang’s home who copied down one of the stories and read it aloud to others in the teahouse… His recitation was far inferior to that of a professional storyteller, but everyone liked it. Other elderly people in the teahouse would even give him various snacks.

Mrs. Xu smiled gently. “Those stories were written by Xiao Li.”

“He wrote them?” Sister Wang was extremely shocked.

“This was spoken by my son Qifei,” Mrs. Xu said. “Qifei also helped to transcribe them. These stories were first circulated in their study hall.”

Mrs. Xu had learned some things about Li Qingzhi from her son Xu Qifei, such as his good knowledge, his ability to write books, and his acquaintance with the county magistrate.

But Xu Qifei didn’t know much more.

“Xiao Li is really amazing!”

“I always knew Xiao Li was extraordinary!”

“The first time I saw Xiao Li, I felt like he descended from the God of Literature.”

“Before, they said that the young master of the Hong family was knowledgeable, but we didn’t see him write anything. Xiao Li is different. How many people are reading his books now!”

“Xiao Li’s knowledge is probably even better than the young master of the Hong family!”

…

None of the people present had read books, and they didn’t know much about reading. In their view, Li Qingzhi being able to write a book that everyone liked was already remarkable!

Jin Xiaoye’s husband is really amazing!

Of course, Jin Xiaoye was also amazing. She was just a rural girl, but now she has opened her own embroidery workshop!

On the other side, Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye had already boarded Jin Xiaoshu’s boat.

When Jin Xiaoshu saw Li Qingzhi, he also asked about the matter of Magistrate Gou handling the case.

Jin Xiaoshu didn’t go to the county yamen to watch the excitement, not because he didn’t want to, but because he was busy making money.

Jin Xiaoshu was only sixteen years old, and originally, making money wasn’t so urgent for him. But now, didn’t he have someone he liked? He wanted to marry Fang Jinniang, so naturally, he had to find ways to make more money.

Since Jin Xiaoshu asked, Li Qingzhi explained them one by one.

“The county magistrate is really a good official.” Jin Xiaoshu was especially happy to learn that the villains were all punished, so he exerted more effort while rowing the boat.

When the three returned to Miaoqian Village, they were surrounded again, still asking about Magistrate Gou handling the case. Li Qingzhi could only say, “Let’s go to my house, and after I’ve had my meal, I’ll tell you all about it.”

Hearing this, everyone followed Li Qingzhi to his house.

Li Qingzhi had eaten not long ago, but he ate a little more before he began to tell the villagers about Magistrate Gou handling the case.

He hadn’t been at the scene, but he roughly knew what was happening outside, and he also knew the situation of everyone interrogated by Magistrate Gou, so he had a lot to say.

The villagers listened with relish. Mr. Yao’s couple even specially brought two chairs from their own home and sat down to listen to Li Qingzhi.

Yao Zhenfu didn’t go, he stood at the Yao family looking towards Li’s house, and seeing that Li’s hall was crowded with people, he couldn’t help but say, “That Li Qingzhi just knows how to cater to the public opinion!”

Jin Moli didn’t go either. Hearing Yao Zhenfu’s words, she glanced at him and then looked in the direction of Li’s house.

During this period, Jin Moli’s heart had been uneasy. As long as she thought that in her previous life, it was Jin Xiaoye rather than Yao Zhenfu who made the Yao family richer through business, she felt stifled and didn’t want to deal with Yao Zhenfu.

Yao Zhenfu felt uncomfortable when Jin Moli didn’t speak.

In the past, Jin Moli had been so good to him, obedient, but now she was getting colder and colder towards him…

“Li Qingzhi’s knowledge is so poor, and he even broke his arm. I don’t know what he will be like in the future…” Yao Zhenfu continued to belittle Li Qingzhi.