Li Hongyu soon realized this as well.
He was led into the yard by the handsome young man, and when he raised his eyes he met a cold gaze.
Qin Zhao sat on a bamboo chair and looked at him across the water, his eyes so cold that they seemed to be mixed with ice.
Li Hongyu: “…”
Why do you look angrier than yesterday? ?
In fact, Li Hongyu was just impulsive yesterday. After calming down, he also felt that he had gone too far.
Not only did he violate the village rules, but he also caused a lot of trouble for his family.
If this matter was really exposed by Qin Zhao, not only would Ah Xiu's reputation be ruined, but his family would also no longer be able to stay in Linxi Village.
To be honest, he didn't really have a good impression of Qin Zhao.
What does this sickly kid have at home? No money, no land, can't do farm work, stays in bed every other day, and has nothing to show for himself except his face.
What’s the use of a face? Can a good-looking face be used to make a living
He really didn't understand what was so special about this sickly kid that Ah Xiu should keep talking about him every day.
He didn't have a good impression of Qin Zhao in the first place, and after hearing that Ah Xiu was rejected, he disliked this man even more.
When had his sister ever suffered such injustice in the village
In short... it was just an impulse, he wanted to teach Qin Zhao a lesson.
But he never expected that his luck would be so bad. Not only was he caught red-handed, he also accidentally broke his hand, and now he has to go to the door in person to apologize.
I'm so embarrassed.
Li Hongyu didn't say anything for a while, and Qin Zhao's young husband ignored him. He walked quickly across the stone bridge and came to Qin Zhao's side: "You... why did you wake up?"
The tone sounded quite guilty.
How could Jing Li not feel guilty? He had just forced this man to do something bad.
Was Qin Zhao awakened by the sound of him opening the door? Then when he was about to do something bad, Qin Zhao should not have woken up, right
Jing Li looked at Qin Zhao guiltily.
Qin Zhao raised his eyes and met Jing Li's gaze. His anger immediately disappeared. He retracted his gaze and said calmly, "I was sleeping well, but was woken up by someone."
As for whether this someone refers to Jing Li, or that bastard who only disturbs others, only Qin Zhao himself knows.
He didn't say much, and stretched out his hand to Jing Li: "Help me up."
Jing Li quickly helped him stand up.
Qin Zhao was about to walk towards the main house, but was stopped by a voice: "Qin Zhao!"
Li Hongyu had never been ignored like this before. He walked up to Qin Zhao in two or three steps and said, "You asked me to come to your house in person. Now I am here. Can you... can you accept my apology?"
This was probably the first time he formally apologized to someone like this. His tone was very stiff and his expression was extremely ugly.
Qin Zhao glanced at him calmly and said coldly, "I didn't hear that you were apologizing."
After saying that, he squeezed Jing Li's hand, and Jing Li supported him and walked directly past Li Hongyu.
"If you don't agree, I will stand here until you agree!" Li Hongyu said loudly.
But the two men didn't even pause, they quickly entered the house and even closed the door with a bang.
Li Hongyu: “…”
“… He’s still in the yard.” Jing Li leaned against the window and looked out secretly.
Qin Zhao changed his clothes and said calmly, "He doesn't dare to leave. What will happen to his sister if he leaves?"
Jing Li asked: "Do you really want to torture him like this? His hand is still broken..."
“It wasn’t necessary originally.”
This incident itself was not a big deal. Originally, Qin Zhao just wanted Li Hongyu to come and apologize in person, but who knew that this bastard would come at such an inopportune moment instead of earlier or later...
Qin Zhao's gaze fixed on Jing Li for a moment, then shifted away as if nothing had happened.
It's time to learn a lesson.
The young boy was still leaning against the window looking out. Qin Zhao frowned somewhat unhappily: "Why do you care so much about him?"
"I don't care about him." Jing Li finally glanced out the window and said with some worry, "The flowers I just planted are still outside. Will he get angry and pull them all out again?"
Qin Zhao: “…”
Feelings are caring for your own flowers.
Qin Zhao sat down beside the bed and patted the bed beside him: "Come and lie down with me for a while."
Jing Li: "But I'm not sleepy."
"But I'm sleepy." Qin Zhao looked up at him.
The two looked at each other for a moment, and Jing Li compromised and said, "Okay..."
He always felt that Qin Zhao had become more and more unreasonable recently.
But this makes it more popular than before.
The two of them lay down side by side on the bed. Qin Zhao turned over naturally and put his arms around Jing Li's waist.
Jing Li: “!”
"Don't move..." Qin Zhao's eyes were already gently closed, as if he was extremely tired. His voice was very light, revealing a strong sense of weariness.
Jing Li looked up at the pale face and suddenly felt a little regretful.
Qin Zhao is not well yet, so he shouldn't be asked to help plant flowers.
Thinking of this, Jing Li relaxed his body and let Qin Zhao hold him in his arms.
The courtyard was silent in the afternoon, with only the breeze carrying a hint of bamboo fragrance blowing in through the half-open window. Jing Li heard his heart beating too quickly in his chest, and then gradually returned to calm.
Perhaps it was because the environment was too comfortable, Jing Li began to feel tired and yawned softly.
He buried his head in Qin Zhao's arms, found a comfortable position, and soon fell asleep.
The summer weather changes suddenly. About an hour later, Jing Li was awakened by the sound of rapid rain.
He opened his eyes and Qin Zhao had already sat up.
"It's raining..." Jing Li rubbed his eyes and sat up. Qin Zhao was looking out through the window.
There was still a figure standing in the rain.
Li Hongyu is less than 20 years old, with a strong build, about the same height as Qin Zhao. The bandage on his left arm is hung around his neck. He stands straight in the rain.
Jing Li was a little surprised: "He is still there?"
"He is a man of courage." Qin Zhao retracted his gaze and said calmly, "Let him in. I will find some clothes for him."
A moment later, Li Hongyu sat at the table wearing Qin Zhao's clothes, and Qin Zhao helped him re-apply medicine and bandage his arm.
"Hiss... Be gentle!" Li Hongyu grimaced in pain.
"Bear it." Qin Zhao said calmly, "I heard that you followed your father to the mountains to hunt when you were very young. Can't you bear this little pain?"
"You won't break your hands while hunting..." Li Hongyu muttered, "It's strange, I've walked that road dozens or hundreds of times and never fell, so why did I fall yesterday..."
Jing Li was just carrying a bowl of medicine into the room. When he heard what he said, he stopped.
Qin Zhao glanced at him and said calmly, "Those who do evil will eventually perish."
Li Hongyu asked: "What do you mean?"
Qin Zhao: “…”
“I really don’t understand you scholars. You speak in a flowery way all day long, but I don’t know what you are talking about. … What is this?” He pointed at the bowl of medicine in Jing Li’s hand.
"Ginger tea." Qin Zhao said, "The rain has stopped, drink it and go back."
Li Hongyu drank the whole bowl of ginger tea in one breath and asked, "What about my sister..."
Qin Zhao said: "I will not make things difficult for a girl, and I will not damage her reputation for no reason."
"I feel relieved when you say that." Li Hongyu stood up and said, "I just thought about it, it is indeed my family's fault. If my mother and my aunt hadn't come up with this bad idea first, things wouldn't have turned out like this. I'm sorry."
Qin Zhao nodded.
Li Hongyu held his wet clothes in his right hand, looked at the empty soup bowl on the table, and said, "Actually, I find you're a pretty good person."
He paused, then smiled and said, "Why don't you really consider it? If you and my sister succeed, you will be my brother-in-law, and I will protect you in the village from now on."
Qin Zhao: “…”
Jing Li: “…”
"Say one more word..." Qin Zhao raised his eyes and looked at him with indifferent eyes.
Li Hongyu is about the same height as Qin Zhao, but because he has been living in the mountains for many years, his skin is tanned and his body is much stronger than Qin Zhao.
But after being glared at by Qin Zhao, he actually felt a little guilty.
"Well, I didn't mean anything else, I was just joking, just joking." Li Hongyu forced a smile and said in a panic, "I'm leaving first, I'll return the clothes to you another day!"
After saying that, he hurried away.
The rain stopped for a while near dusk, but after nightfall it started to rain even harder.
Fortunately, Qin Zhao intentionally strengthened the drainage in the yard when building the courtyard, so there would be no water accumulation in the yard, and it did not have much impact on the newly planted flowers and plants.
Jing Li sat by the door, looking at the rain in the yard, and said angrily: "If I had known it would rain at night, why would I have gone to water the flowers at noon? It would have been much easier to just get wet in the rain."
Qin Zhao was sitting at the desk in the bedroom. He looked up when he heard her say, "You are a koi fish, but you can't predict the celestial phenomena."
"That's true..."
Jing Li walked over to Qin Zhao and took a look: "What are you drawing?"
Qin Zhao said: "Flood control dikes and drainage channels."
"?" Jing Li was shocked by him, "To prevent floods?"
Qin Zhao said calmly: "I paid special attention to it when I came back from the fields today. Linxi Village is built by the water, and this part of the river is narrow, which makes it easy to flood the embankment when the water rises."
The blueprint in his hand showed the river outside the village. Qin Zhao ran his finger over the blueprint and patiently explained, "If we widen the river here, raise the embankment, and widen the drainage canals in the village by three feet..."
Qin Zhao seemed to be very proficient in this. After his brief explanation, Jing Li also felt that it was indeed feasible.
But he still didn’t understand…
"Why do you even know this? What did you do before?" Jing Li asked puzzledly.
"I..." Qin Zhao lowered his eyes to look at the blueprint and shook his head. "I was very ill in the past few years and didn't have the energy to care about these things. In my spare time in recent days, I have been thinking about whether there is any way to prevent the village from being flooded. As I was thinking about it, this method suddenly appeared in my mind, just like..."
Seems like it has been used in the past.
Qin Zhao pursed his lips and didn't continue speaking.
Jing Li did not ask any more questions and continued to look at the blueprint. Qin Zhao's blueprint was extremely detailed, but it could be seen from the blueprint that the construction of the embankment was a large project and it was definitely not something that could be done by one or two people.
and…
Jing Li asked: "If we raise the embankment and widen the drainage channel here, will it reduce the amount of land the villagers have?"
"right."
This is also where Qin Zhao hesitates.
Most people in the small mountain village make a living by farming, and the fields are what they rely on for survival. If Qin Zhao really follows this approach, I am afraid that many villagers' farmland will be affected.
Qin Zhao said: "I will go and talk to the village chief tomorrow."
The next day was a sunny day, and Qin Zhao went to the village chief's house early in the morning.
The village chief was about to go out.
"Is the village chief going to the county town?" Qin Zhao asked.
The village chief was carrying a small bag, and it looked like he was going on a long journey. He did not hide anything and nodded: "This year's rain is heavier than in the past. I have to go to the county magistrate to see if I can take some precautions in advance. Qin Zhao, do you want to talk to me about something?"
Qin Zhao: "I came here just for this matter."
Qin Zhao took out the blueprint he had drawn last night and showed it to the village chief. After reading it, the village chief was also surprised: "You actually know about water conservancy?"
"I know a little bit." Qin Zhao didn't explain much, but just said: "Since the village chief is going to the county, you might as well present this thing to the county magistrate for review. If you can ask for help from the county, it will be twice the result with half the effort."
"This..." The village chief hesitated for a moment and put down his bag. "If you are sure that this blueprint is the only way to solve the flood, I can't rush to the county."
The village chief didn't know much about water conservancy, but Qin Zhao's drawings were so clear that he could see the clues at a glance.
If the approach is based on the blueprint, farmers’ arable land will suffer considerable losses.
The village chief said: "Qin Zhao, this matter involves so many people, I can't make a decision on my own."
As the head of the village, his primary responsibility is to ensure the interests of the villagers and respect their wishes.
The village chief thought for a moment and said, "How about this? You leave this thing with me first, and I will go door to door to talk to them in the next few days. If everyone agrees with this method, I will go to the county to ask for help. What do you think?"
This is indeed the most appropriate approach. Qin Zhao said, "I will follow the arrangements of the village chief."
The village chief asked Qin Zhao in detail about the details of the embankment construction. The two chatted for a full hour in the village chief's house before Qin Zhao was finally allowed to leave.
As for the village chief, he didn't even bother to pack his things and went directly to the farmer's house with Qin Zhao's drawings.
Qin Zhao is just an ordinary villager now. He has done his best so far and he doesn't need to worry about what comes next.
It was not easy to persuade the villagers to agree to this plan. The village chief was busy with this in the next few days, and only occasionally sent people to Qin Zhao's house to explain the progress to him.
After only a few days of delay, the village had several consecutive rains and the stream water was gradually rising.
It started raining again in the afternoon. Jing Li finished writing the last word on the paper and held up the rough paper to show Qin Zhao: "I'm done. There will be no problem this time!"
There was an article densely written on the paper. It was the "Thousand Character Classic" that Jing Li had just memorized.
Qin Zhao took it and looked at it carefully. He didn't find any mistakes and nodded: "You learn very quickly."
Jing Li was very proud. If it was a fish, its tail would have been raised to the sky. "This is something that children learn, so of course they learn it quickly."
Qin Zhao was just about to get him another new primer, but when he heard this, he paused and said, "Why don't you just try Tongsheng's book?"
Jing Li: “?”
Primer books are for young children to learn to read. They use few words and their meanings are shallow. Jing Li had some basics, so it was easy for him to learn.
But precisely because it is so easy, it actually lacks some challenges.
In the past few days, Qin Zhao has already figured out Xiaoyu's basics. Given his situation, reading the Four Books and Five Classics directly is not a problem.
Qin Zhao thought so and stood up to help Jing Li find a book on the bookshelf.
Jing Li was so scared that his legs went limp, and he quickly pulled him back: "No, no, I get a headache just listening to you read those books, I don't want to read them."
He just wanted to learn a few words and didn't really want to take the imperial examination!
Jing Li tugged at Qin Zhao's sleeve and softened his voice: "Qin Zhao..."
"Be obedient, this way you will learn to read faster." Qin Zhao ignored the fish's coquetry and pulled out a thick printed book from the bookshelf. "How about this "Spring and Autumn Annals"? "
Jing Li felt that it was difficult to breathe when he saw the thickness of the book. He shook his head and said, "Change it."
"Then it's the Rites of Zhou."
"Change it to something thinner."
"Then..." Qin Zhao searched the bookshelf, and caught a glimpse of a book out of the corner of his eye, and his gaze suddenly fixed.
Jing Li followed his gaze and saw the book. His eyes lit up: "I think this book is good!"
Without waiting for Qin Zhao to stop him, Jing Li quickly reached out and pulled out the book.
That book is much thinner than the "Spring and Autumn Annals" and only slightly thicker than primer, so it must be easy to learn.
Jing Li was very satisfied with the thickness. He lowered his head and frowned as he read the two words he recognized on the cover: "Chun... What's the matter? What a strange name. How do you pronounce these two words?"
Qin Zhao: “…”