Jing Li never told Qin Zhao about the fact that he was secretly writing a storybook in private.
Qin Zhao has good literary talent, and if he can help revise and polish it, the story will be better completed. However, since arriving in the city, Qin Zhao has to review for the exam, teach at Gu Mansion, and be busy with other trivial matters. Jing Li doesn't want to cause him more trouble.
More importantly, after being with Qin Zhao, that person always helped him to sort out everything.
This time, Jing Li wanted to rely on others.
He wanted to wait until he had made some achievements before telling Qin Zhao.
When the first volume was sold, he didn't make much money, so he had the idea of going to Qin Zhao to take credit. Later, Boss Chang said he wanted to print more copies, but Qin Zhao happened to be seriously ill and bedridden, so he didn't care about it at all.
Now the first volume is about to be released. If the sales are good, he can make a lot of money.
Not to mention Qin Zhao's medical expenses, even their lives would be improved a lot.
When the time comes, I will tell Qin Zhao everything, and he will definitely be very happy.
Because of the promise of Boss Chang, Jing Li was very excited for the next two or three days. He was good at hiding his emotions, and Qin Zhao could see his excitement in the past few days. Even Ah Qi asked him several times if there was any good news.
"It's a secret." Jing Li didn't object, but just spoke in a mysterious manner.
When he said this, Qin Zhao and Xiao Yuzi were fighting over the last piece of millet cake. The little boy had been spoiled and became lawless recently, and he even dared to protest against Qin Zhao.
"If you eat any more, you'll almost be rounder than your little fish doll."
“Woo!”
"… Then eat it after an hour."
“Woo woo!”
Jing Li: “Pfft.”
This happens almost every morning.
Jing Li looked down, picked up the last piece of millet cake on the table, and shook it in front of the fish: "Scream."
Fish cub: “Dia~”
"Yes, think about it again."
"Daddy!"
The little fish cub grew very fast, and now he is taller than the one-year-old kid next door. But he can't speak clearly, and it took him a long time to even call "daddy".
Jing Li pointed at Qin Zhao: "Where's he?"
The fish cub frowned and whimpered for a long time before calling out vaguely: "... Daddy."
Jing Li: "Yes, Dad, you have to tell the difference."
In order to better distinguish the two fathers, after the cub learned to call people, Qin Zhao and Jing Li negotiated and decided that from now on, the cub should continue to call Jing Li "Daddy" and Qin Zhao "Abba".
However, the kid can now completely distinguish these names and always pulls people together to shout at them.
I even called Ah Qi and the wonton vendor dad.
Jing Li taught the little fish a few more times, and only after he had called out the right words did he feed the millet cake to his mouth.
The kid opened his mouth wide and took a big bite.
The rest went into Jing Li's stomach.
"No more." Jing Li stuffed his mouth full and showed his empty palm to Yu Zai, "Go play in the yard with Uncle Qi, don't think about eating all day."
The little fish tilted his head in confusion, and when he saw that there was indeed no food on the table, he obediently slid out of Qin Zhao's arms and was led out of the room by Ah Qi.
Jing Li swallowed the millet pancake and touched his stomach: "I can't keep eating like this. I'm getting fat."
Qin Zhao calmly poured him a cup of tea and said, "It's because you are too greedy."
Jing Li was not annoyed, and drank a sip of tea with a smile: "Anyway, you are the one who takes care of me."
Qin Zhao glanced at him and saw Jing Li finished his tea and picked up the clothes placed aside. He asked, "Are you going out again?"
Jing Li's face changed color and he lied, "Yes, I ordered a new book from the bookstore and I'm going to pick it up today."
Qin Zhao asked: "Shall I go with you?"
Jing Li paused, turned around and glared at him: "Do you think you're okay again recently? The weather is so cold recently, aren't you afraid that you'll get sick again if you go out?"
Qin Zhao was not satisfied with some of the words in Jing Li's words, and asked with a smile: "Can I do it?"
"..." Jing Li was frightened by his smile and coughed heavily, "I'm going out now. I'll bring you something delicious later!"
After saying that, he ran out as if fleeing in panic.
Qin Zhao looked at his leaving back and frowned as if thinking about something.
Jing Li walked towards the bookstore with familiarity, but just as he reached the bridgehead of West City, he saw that the entrance of the bookstore, which was usually quiet, was surrounded by people.
The entrance of the bookstore was guarded by a few fierce-looking men in uniform, who looked like servants in a wealthy merchant's mansion.
Pedestrians stood a little further away and looked inside, wanting to see but not daring to get too close.
The door of the bookstore was ajar, and noisy sounds could be heard from inside from time to time, but because of the obstruction of those big men, it was difficult to see clearly what was happening inside.
"How could Boss Chang get involved with these people? How will this end..." Jing Li heard the person next to him sigh.
Jing Li asked: "What's going on here? Who are these people?"
"You know what?" the man said, "These are people from the Ji family. If Boss Chang provokes them, I'm afraid he will suffer the consequences."
Jing Li didn't react: "Ji family? Which Ji family?"
"There are several Ji families in the city, of course it's Mr. Ji from the silk shop."
Jing Li groaned, then thought, "Is it the silk and satin shop under Jiangling Weaving Mill?"
He remembered that Qin Zhaoyi had taken him to that silk shop to buy clothes not long ago, but they had only been to the store front and had only met the shopkeeper, not the boss behind the scenes.
"That's right." The other party nodded. "Boss Ji has the Gu family behind him, and he is one of the most influential people in the city. Who else should Boss Chang mess with, but he has to mess with them?"
Jing Li asked again: "How did Boss Chang provoke them?"
Boss Chang runs a bookstore, so there should be no conflict with the silk and satin shop.
Seeing that everyone was chatting enthusiastically, someone interrupted and said, "I know about this. It's all the fault of Boss Chang's brother."
"His brother?"
"Yes, he is Boss Chang's biological brother." When the man mentioned this, his expression was full of contempt. "I heard that his brother lost everything in the casino a few days ago, and he mortgaged Boss Chang's shop. If he can raise money within the specified time limit, the casino will take his shop to pay off the debt."
"Guess what happened. His brother didn't go to raise money at all. He left the city yesterday. The casino came up empty-handed and had no choice but to come to Boss Chang."
"Behind the gambling house is the eldest son of the Ji family, Ji Zhifei."
As they were talking, they saw a tall, thin, richly dressed young man walking out of the bookstore. The young man was holding a house deed that had just been signed, and behind him, someone stumbled out, was pushed, and fell heavily to the ground.
It’s Boss Chang.
"Master Ji, if you give me a few more days, I will definitely bring that brat here." Boss Chang fell in a mess and begged desperately.
"He's already run away, where can I find him?"
Ji Zhifei looked a little impatient. At this moment, a servant walked out of the bookstore quickly and handed a wrapped bundle to Ji Zhifei: "Master, I found it."
Ji Zhifei didn't even look at it and threw the bag directly on Boss Chang.
The bundles were scattered, and the soft clothes were scattered all over the floor.
Ji Zhifei sneered: "What's going on? Has Boss Chang already left a way out for me, ready to escape? If I had come later, would I have been left empty-handed?"
Boss Chang hesitated but didn't answer.
Ji Zhifei didn't want to say anything more to him. He patted the title deed in his hand and shouted, "This shop is mine now. Go and destroy it for me."
"Yes, yes, Master Ji, please show some mercy!" Boss Chang said, "If you want to close the shop, go ahead, but the books here are innocent, please let me..."
Ji Zhifei looked down at him, and the latter stopped talking abruptly.
Ji Zhifei bent down and smiled at him: "I'll say it again, this shop is mine now, I can do whatever I want with it, do you understand?"
"Master Ji..."
Boss Chang wanted to persuade him again, but was pushed away by several servants, who started beating and kicking him.
Seeing the once respectable bookstore owner in this state, the passers-by felt a little uncomfortable and started talking about it for a while.
But this is how the world works. Who knows that behind the Ji family is the Gu family, and behind the Gu family is the government. Such wealthy people have great power in the city, bullying and dominating the market, and they are the common people who will offend them no matter what.
There were so many people present, but no one dared to speak up for Boss Chang.
The servants showed no sign of stopping, and Jing Li finally lost his patience and called out to stop them: "Stop!"
Jing Li's shout attracted the attention of many people, even Ji Zhifei who was standing in front of the bookstore turned his head.
He originally looked a little annoyed, but when he saw the person who was speaking, he suddenly put on an interested smile.
Where did this little beauty come from
When Jing Li spoke, the people around him subconsciously took a few steps back, as if they were afraid of being implicated.
Ji Zhifei looked him up and down for a long time before waving his hand and asking the servants surrounding Boss Chang to leave.
Jing Li took a lot of care and went forward to help Boss Chang up.
"Boss Chang, are you okay?" Jing Li asked worriedly.
"It's okay." Boss Chang's forehead was already cut, and his face was covered with blood and dust. He wiped it with his sleeve, and then he saw who was coming, "It turned out to be you."
Ji Zhifei walked up to him leisurely and asked, "Who are you? Do you dare to interfere in the affairs of the Ji family?"
"I didn't mean to interfere." Jing Li argued with him, "But you've already closed your shop, so why bother others? If we continue to fight like this, someone will die."
After hearing his words, Ji Zhifei didn't seem angry at all, but was in a good mood. He raised his eyebrows and said, "You have a point, but why should I listen to you?"
Jing Li: “You—”
Ji Zhifei said: "No one in the whole Jiangling dares to meddle in my affairs, but seeing that you are so good-looking, this young master can forgive you once. As long as you tell me who you are and where you live."
His tone was frivolous, and Jing Li felt a chill in his heart.
Do all the rich young men in this city speak so unpleasantly
Boss Chang quickly came to the rescue and said, "Master Ji, you know this author who just came to submit his manuscript to my bookstore. He is an acquaintance of mine. He came here today just because I made an appointment with him to return the manuscript, so..."
He took out a small package wrapped in oil paper from the bundle scattered on his bed, stuffed it into Jing Li's hand, and said quickly: "Mr. Zhao Li, your manuscript is here, and the fee is inside. The book I promised to print for you has been delivered to other bookstores, so you can leave now."
"Can… "
Boss Chang lowered his voice and said, "Go away, this matter has nothing to do with you, don't get involved."
Boss Chang said this with Jing Li's best interests at heart.
The Ji family is extremely powerful in the city. No matter who Jing Li is, he is just an ordinary citizen and cannot afford to offend these people.
Besides, she was already highly valued in her husband's family. If she got into trouble now, how would she explain to her family
It is said that he will definitely be expelled from the house one day.
Jing Li knew what Boss Chang was thinking.
The boss's worries are groundless.
He is alone now. If he helps others out and causes trouble, Qin Zhao will definitely be implicated.
He didn't want to cause trouble for Qin Zhao.
But if we don't intervene, Boss Chang will be beaten to death by those bastards, right
Jing Li hugged the manuscript tightly in his arms and made up his mind for a moment.
Before Jing Li could respond, Ji Zhifei said, "I haven't said anything yet. Did I let you go?"
Jing Li was a little angry and asked angrily, "What do you want?"
"Nothing, it's just that Mr. Chang just signed and sealed that everything in his bookstore belongs to me. Of course, including the manuscript in your hand."
Ji Zhifei raised his eyebrows slightly and said with a smile: "You can leave, but leave the manuscript in your hand."