A drop of ink fell onto the paper, slowly spreading out into a small stain.
Qin Zhao lowered his eyes, hiding the hint of smile in them.
Qin Zhao was a very smart man. As soon as Chen Yan'an explained the situation, he immediately understood it.
Xiaoyu was not angry at all today. He was just worried about how to help Qin Zhao fulfill his wish after learning that he did not like women or Shuang'er.
Qin Zhao just felt at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
He was worried that Xiaoyu would be angry because of the villagers' unnecessary actions, so he went to help him clear the obstacles, but this person... this person was helping him find a blind date at home.
… This silly fish.
Little Shayu was completely frightened. He pursed his lips and hardly dared to look up at the other person's expression.
Did Qin Zhao guess something
Or what did Chen Yanan just say to him
"You want to help your brother find a man? And you have to ask him in person what type he likes?" The herbal fragrance lingered in the air, and Qin Zhao's voice came from above his head, "Why didn't I know you had a brother?"
Jing Li: “…”
He is not done with that fat guy!
"I..." Jing Li said stiffly, "I was just kidding him."
"Just joking?" Qin Zhao asked back softly.
This tone made Jing Li's back shiver. He nodded reluctantly and said with difficulty: "Yes, I was just joking."
After saying that, she huddled into a ball again, looking even smaller than usual.
…as if he was afraid that others wouldn’t be able to tell that he was lying.
Qin Zhao was unwilling to cause trouble for him. He sighed silently and stood up: "Forget it."
He rolled up his sleeves and walked to the stove, asking, "I bought you a chicken. Do you want to stew it or roast it?"
"It's all right." Jing Li mustered up the courage to glance at him. Seeing that Qin Zhao didn't look angry, he whispered, "It's best... stew half and roast half."
"…" Qin Zhao looked back at him and nodded, "Okay."
Not long after dinner, it really started raining.
This rain was not like the drizzle in spring. It was falling fast and hard. Lightning flashed across the sky, making the gloomy sky seem like day.
Qin Zhao looked at the horizon, his expression slightly worried.
When Jing Li looked up, he happened to see him like this and asked, "Qin Zhao, what are you thinking about?"
Qin Zhao: "Rain."
Jing Li didn't understand.
Qin Zhao explained, "Linxi Village is built along the river. In the three years I've been here, the village has suffered from floods in two years. It's not even June yet, and it's raining so hard. I'm afraid this year..."
"But isn't Linxi Village upstream?" Jing Li asked.
"This is the trouble." Qin Zhao said, "Several villages downstream suffered from severe flooding in the past few years. The government specially sent people to raise the embankment and also sent people to monitor the water level. But Linxi Village is not among them."
Linxi Village is located in a moderately high terrain and is not located in an area severely affected by floods. However, once the stream floods, the fields along the river will inevitably be damaged.
The government would not care about that little bit of damage and would not send manpower or material resources to rescue. But for the common people, every flood brought heavy losses.
Qin Zhao said: "The first year I came to the village, the village suffered a flood and the damage was severe. The village chief was forced to go to the county town to ask the county magistrate for help, but was driven back."
"Isn't this official dereliction of duty? How can they just ignore it?" Jing Li frowned and said angrily, "It must be a corrupt official."
Qin Zhao shook his head and did not answer.
The rain was getting heavier. He stood up and closed the window to prevent the rain from drifting into the house: "I hope I am just worrying too much, and..."
He didn't finish his words, but just looked thoughtfully at the boy sitting at the table.
With the little koi this year, maybe it can really help to seek benefits and avoid harm.
Jing Li blinked: "And what?"
"It's okay." Qin Zhao said, "How is your practice going?"
"It's already been written!" Jing Li handed the rough paper in his hand to him to see.
Jing Li practiced calligraphy all night.
He finally found something to amuse himself, and pestered Qin Zhao to learn many characters from him. He had already filled several sheets of rough paper with dense writing.
"Once I learn it, I can help you copy books!" Jing Li said seriously.
There was only one desk at home, so Qin Zhao could only be squeezed by his daughter Xiaoyu to read on the bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and just smiled softly when he heard the words, not taking it to heart.
The little guy is very excited about learning something new, and it’s hard to say how long he can last.
Seeing him like this, Jing Li emphasized: "I can do it, don't disbelieve me."
"Well, I believe it." Qin Zhao thought for a moment and then said, "If you really want to learn calligraphy, I'll go to town and buy you a copy of Thousand Character Classic someday."
"Thousand Character Classic" is a special book for children in this era to learn to read. Jing Li felt that the name was particularly familiar and blinked: "The sky and the earth are dark yellow, and the universe is vast and desolate?"
Qin Zhao paused while flipping through the book: "You know this too?"
Jing Li smiled at him smugly.
These are common sense in modern times. Although Jing Li has not studied Chinese culture specifically, he has no problem reciting the first few sentences.
Qin Zhao is so capable, he must like knowledgeable people.
He has to work harder.
Jing Li thought so in his heart and lowered his head to continue practicing writing.
The sound of the dripping rain was isolated outside the house. The lights inside the house flickered, and the silhouettes of two people were reflected on the window.
After a few more days, the house was finally completely built.
On the afternoon of the day the house was completed, Fang Tianying's furniture was transported to Linxi Village and he moved directly into his new home.
—Qin Zhao didn’t know where this young master got the news from.
"This batch of wood is all made of top-quality elm wood, which I personally selected. I supervised the workers for ten days before they made it. Hey, you, be careful with your movements, don't break them!" Fang Tianying introduced them to Qin Zhao while asking people to move them into the house.
Qin Zhao watched several strong men moving furniture into the house, feeling quite helpless.
He originally only told Fang Tianying that they needed a bed, a wardrobe and a square table, but this man did not do as he said. He equipped them with everything including a small table, a desk, a dressing mirror, and there was even a small couch with a soft mat in the outer room!
Once this set of furniture was placed in the house, it instantly transformed from an ordinary farmer's mud house into an elegant country residence.
"Your yard is not big, why build such a big pond, it takes up too much space?" Fang Tianying's men were still busy in the house. Fang Tianying pulled Qin Zhao onto the stone bridge in the yard and looked around. "This bridge is nice. You scholars are so elegant. This bamboo wall and this small bridge will look even better if you plant some lotus flowers."
Qin Zhao shook his head: "I don't grow lotus in this water."
If you want to grow lotus, the bottom of the pond must be covered with a thick layer of silt.
His little fish are afraid of dirt.
Fang Tianying asked: "Then why did you build this pond?"
As he finished speaking, he didn't notice a bright red shadow flash across the clear pool water.
Qin Zhao retracted his gaze and said calmly: "Raise fish."
Fang Tianying: “…”
Not many people in the village mentioned the koi fish anymore, but it was totally different outside. Fang Tianying had been worrying about the koi fish every day recently and was very sensitive to the word "fish".
He looked at Qin Zhao with an indescribable look and decided not to talk about this topic with him anymore.
"Hey, your chair is nice!" Fang Tianying saw another new thing and quickly walked down the stone bridge.
There is a bamboo lounge chair next to the pool.
The bamboo chair was big enough for one person to lie on. The bamboo was polished smooth and cool. Fang Tianying did not lie down, but stood behind the chair and shook his head twice, looking at Qin Zhao with a hint of meaning: "Brother Qin, you can do it."
Qin Zhao: “?”
Fang Tianying glanced around the room and saw that no one was paying attention, so he lowered his voice and said, "The latest volume of Spring Boudoir Secrets uses this kind of reclining chair. I've always wanted to get one to try, but unfortunately I didn't have the chance. But I never expected that Brother Qin also reads that."
Qin Zhao: “???”
Qin Zhao said truthfully: "I haven't seen it, what is that?"
"You haven't read it?" Fang Tianying opened his eyes wide in surprise, and said, "It's the most popular storybook nowadays. Aren't you helping the bookstore in town to copy books? How come you don't know this?"
Qin Zhao: “…”
Fang Tianying hesitated for a moment and said, "That's right. Bookstores won't hire people to copy storybooks."
Qin Zhao looked at Fang Tianying's expression, vaguely guessed what he was saying, and felt a little embarrassed.
Just at this time, Fang Tianying's men had finished arranging the house and came out one after another.
Fang Tianying had something else to do, so he couldn't stay for long. Qin Zhao sent them out the door, and before leaving, he couldn't help but explain: "I made that recliner just because there was some leftover bamboo for the fence, not because of what you want."
Fang Tianying waved his hand and said with a smile: "Otherwise, why do they say that there is no coincidence in the world? It just happens that we can make full use of it. Isn't this great?"
Qin Zhao: “…”
He sent Fang Tianying to the village entrance, watched Fang Tianying's ox cart leave, then turned around and returned to the yard.
When he pushed open the bamboo door, he saw Jing Li wearing that pomegranate red robe, curled up on a bamboo chair, swaying, and his bare toes occasionally paddling the pool water.
Seeing him coming back, Jing Li raised his head and asked curiously, "What did Fang Tianying just say about making the best use of everything?"
Qin Zhao: “…”
"Nothing, just put on your clothes and come back to the cabin with me to pack up."
"I know... Hey, why are your ears red?"
“… No, you are mistaken.”
…
According to the customs of the village, when a new house is completed, many neighbors and relatives will come to give gifts and ask for a cup of tea to share in the good luck.
Even in this remote mountain village, the farmers' families were not well off and could not afford anything better. If it were a slightly more affluent place, they would have entertained relatives and friends with a banquet.
Qin Zhao originally thought that he didn't have many acquaintances in the village and that not many people would come. However, he didn't expect that starting from the second day after moving, people would come to his house for three consecutive days, and he was so busy that he had no time to do anything else.
"I can go by myself, don't worry!" Jing Li stood in front of the courtyard gate carrying a wooden barrel.
Qin Zhao has been very busy these days, and it happened not to rain, so the vegetables in the field had been unattended for several days and needed to be weeded and watered.
Qin Zhao originally wanted to hire someone to help, but Jing Li took the job on his own initiative.
There were guests in the room, so Qin Zhao couldn't leave for too long. Jing Li said, "Go in quickly, don't let Uncle Li and the others wait too long."
"But you yourself..."
"I really can." Jing Li winked at him, "When the man at home is busy, shouldn't these things be done by the husband?"
Qin Zhao was stunned.
"I also want to help you occasionally." Jing Li pushed Qin Zhao into the door without saying anything, and said, "Go back to the house quickly, I will be back after watering the plants. I want to eat egg pancakes tonight!"
After he finished speaking, he picked up the bucket and turned around and ran away along the path.
In fact, Jingli doesn’t know how to farm.
Prior to this, he had no experience of living in the countryside, and only recently began to intentionally learn.
He wanted to be nicer to Qin Zhao in these ways.
I want to help him share some of the pressure, so that he can live an easier life and have more time to do what he wants to do.
This is the decision Jing Li made after thinking about it for many days.
Qin Zhao has always been so good to him.
He never let him worry about food and clothing, and built such a big pool for him. He was tolerant and accommodating in every aspect of life. But the more this happened, the more Jing Li felt that Qin Zhao only treated him as a pet.
If he could help Qin Zhao more, Qin Zhao would not just treat him as a pet fish.
Qin Zhao should... like him a little more.
Thinking this, Jing Li quickly arrived at the field outside the village, but there were already people in the field.
It gets dark late in the summer, and the setting sun in the distance makes the mountains and fields bright red.
The land Qin Zhao rented was growing very well, and the rice seedlings were lush and green. In the middle of the field, a man dressed as a farmer, wearing a bamboo hat, was bending over with his back to him, and no one knew what he was doing.
Jing Li frowned slightly, and had a bad feeling in his heart: "Who are you?"
The man was frightened by him and trembled all over. He stood up and ran towards the outside of the village.
Only then did Jing Li finally see clearly what was in his hand.
There are several seedlings.
The man was pulling out the seedlings in his vegetable garden.