Chapter 62: Wu Baichuan1/3

Li Qingzhi spent the whole day discussing the construction of the dock with Magistrate Gou. However, in the afternoon, he took his leave early and left the county office.

He was going to find Jin Xiaoye and the two children.

Before leaving, Li Qingzhi also told Magistrate Gou that he would be focusing on studying at home for a while and might not be able to come to the county office. Magistrate Gou agreed without hesitation. Li Qingzhi had come up with such a good idea, yet he didn’t ask for any benefits, truly displaying noble character.

Thinking about how he had initially thought Li Qingzhi was trying to curry favor, Magistrate Gou felt a bit guilty.

Because of this, after Li Qingzhi left, Magistrate Gou immediately wrote a letter and had it sent to his home.

He instructed his family to find two suitable assistants for him and also to pack up some books he had read during his previous attempts at the imperial examinations and send them to Chongcheng County.

He had brought some books with him when he entered officialdom, but not many. Some of the more precious books were kept at home. Now he planned to have someone bring those books over to let Li Qingzhi read them.

Li Qingzhi was talented, but due to his poor family background, he hadn’t read many books, which was truly a pity.

While Magistrate Gou was thinking about Li Qingzhi, Li Qingzhi arrived at Sister Wang’s house.

As soon as he entered, the first thing he saw wasn’t Jin Xiaoye but Li Damao and Li Ermao wearing big red cotton-padded jackets.

These two children were so eye-catching!

With the decrease in mosquitoes as summer passed, the two children didn’t have any scratches on their faces from mosquito bites.

Their faces were now free of wounds, and the slightly chubby Li Damao and Li Ermao, wearing red cotton-padded jackets, looked incredibly adorable!

“Damao, Ermao, you two look so good!” Li Qingzhi hugged the two children and kissed their little cheeks.

Li Damao and Li Ermao proudly puffed out their chests.

Jin Xiaoye said, “Damao, Ermao, your father has already seen your new clothes. Take them off quickly.”

Li Damao and Li Ermao clutched their jackets, reluctant to take them off.

“Why do they have to take them off? Let them wear them,” Li Qingzhi asked.

Jin Xiaoye said, “These cotton-padded jackets were made to be worn on New Year’s Day. How can they wear them now?”

There was a custom in Chongcheng County where new clothes and shoes had to be worn on New Year’s Day.

Of course, if the family was poor, they couldn’t afford new clothes, so there was nothing they could do.

Jin Xiaoye remembered that when she was young, she mostly didn’t have new clothes on New Year’s Day, but Jin Moli did.

She was extremely envious when she saw Jin Moli wearing new clothes and shoes on New Year’s Day.

“How about making two more sets and letting them wear them on New Year’s Day?” Li Qingzhi suggested. After earning money from writing, Jin Xiaoye made new clothes for her family members one after another.

However, she was worried about being too conspicuous, so she used ordinary fabrics, and each person only had one or two sets of new clothes.

The old clothes that Li Damao and Li Ermao used to wear were torn and too small to wear now. They now rotated between the two new sets of clothes every day, but the cotton-padded jackets they wore inside were still old.

Jin Xiaoye said, “We can’t spend money like this. They already have two new sets of clothes.”

After speaking, Jin Xiaoye took out a new cotton-padded jacket for Li Qingzhi. “Ah Qing, the cotton-padded jacket I made for you earlier was a bit thin. This one is thicker. Try it on and see if it fits. Oh, I also arranged for someone to make new clothes and shoes for you to wear on New Year’s Day, but they haven’t been finished yet.”

Li Qingzhi had supernatural abilities, so he wasn’t afraid of the cold. However, Jin Xiaoye was worried about him being cold, so she made a cotton-padded jacket for him a few days ago.

The cotton inside the jacket wasn’t cotton but soft and fluffy silkworm silk. Wearing it was incredibly comfortable!

And now, Jin Xiaoye has prepared an even thicker cotton-padded jacket for him.

Li Qingzhi directly put it on over his clothes. This jacket was truly thick and warm. After putting it on, he didn’t look skinny anymore.

Moreover… his treatment here with Jin Xiaoye was better than the two children, making him inexplicably happy.

On the day they returned home, Jin Xiaoye and Li Qingzhi brought back a lot of things.

Inside were new clothes for the two children, as well as new padded jackets for Li Qingzhi and Li Laogen.

Li Laogen now wore an old padded jacket just like Li Damao and Li Ermao. However, his old padded jacket was too worn out; the silk inside was no longer fluffy, so it wasn’t very warm.

As the days grew colder, Jin Xiaoye made him a new padded jacket.

When they arrived home, Li Laogen had already coked. As soon as he saw them, he exclaimed, “Xiaoye, Ah Qing, you don’t know, the teahouse is really lively! There are so many people there, and some are telling stories about the county magistrate…”

Li Laogen kept talking, and then he helped Li Qingzhi and them serve the meal, then asked cautiously, “Xiaoye, Ah Qing, can I go tomorrow?”

As he spoke, Li Laogen kept looking at Jin Xiaoye.

Jin Xiaoye said, “Dad, you can go if you want, but you can’t gamble.”

Li Laogen quickly said, “I won’t gamble, I won’t gamble!”

Actually, gambling wasn’t that interesting. It was more stylish to go to the county teahouse for tea.

Li Qingzhi added, “Dad, if you don’t gamble, I’ll give you one hundred and fifty cents as pocket money every month.”

Li Laogen looked at Li Qingzhi in surprise and said, “One hundred and fifty cents? So much? Ah Qing, are you really giving me so much money? Wait, no, I can’t.”

“What’s wrong?” Li Qingzhi was puzzled. Did Li Laogen think it was too little?

Li Laogen said, “If you give me so much money at once, I won’t know how to spend it. Ah Qing, just give it to me day by day. How much is one hundred and fifty cents for a day?”

Li Laogen could barely count to one hundred, but asking him to divide one hundred and fifty cents by thirty days, he wouldn’t be able to do it.

Li Qingzhi said, “Five cents per day.”

Li Laogen’s excitement peaked, “Five cents per day? Then I can eat noodles every day!”

“Yes, Dad, you can eat noodles if you want.” Li Qingzhi said.

Li Laogen was ecstatic, “I can eat noodles every day! Hehe! I can eat noodles every day!”

Jin Xiaoye glanced at Li Qingzhi and didn’t object.

If her business succeeded, she could earn a lot of money. By then, a daily pocket money of five cents wouldn’t be a big deal.

Thinking like this, Jin Xiaoye took out the padded jacket she had made for Li Laogen. “Dad, I had someone make you a padded jacket. Take it and wear it.”

Li Laogen took the new padded jacket from Jin Xiaoye’s hand and squeezed it.

The padded jacket made of silk was especially soft. As Li Laogen squeezed it, he suddenly cried, wiping his tears and saying, “Xiaoye, I’ve never worn a new padded jacket before. They’ve always been worn by others before giving them to me. Xiaoye, Xiaoye, why are you so good to me… I’ve never thought I could live such a good life, it’s like I’m dreaming…”