This time the bad man really kept his word and didn't touch Jing Li for the next month.
However, Jing Li would only think about this kind of thing occasionally when he was in the mood, not when he was horny all the time. And he knew that Qin Zhao was worried about his health and would not really be angry.
For the next period of time, Qin Zhao was busy taking care of miscellaneous affairs in the village, most of which were related to the academy.
Qin Zhao was the first to tell the village chief that they had decided to settle in the provincial capital.
The village chief quite agreed with this.
He had told Qin Zhao several times before that there were too many trivial things to do in the village and it was not suitable for Qin Zhao to review, so he hoped that he would find a college to study carefully for a period of time.
The city has many scholars and a good learning atmosphere, so it is naturally the best choice.
… Although the real reason why Qin Zhao went to the capital city was far from this.
Before Qin Zhao left, he helped the village chief to redistribute the students in the academy.
After the division, the academy was divided into three grades: A, B, and C. Children from the village who registered to enter the school were in grade C, where they learned literacy and writing. Since the teaching content was simple, they could be taught in turns by students from grade B.
After passing the C-level assessment, students enter the B-level and begin to study the elementary classics and their interpretations, taught by the A-level students, with the village chief occasionally attending to provide guidance.
As for the A-level students, they can be exposed to the basic content of the imperial examination under the guidance of the village chief.
This method not only reduces the teaching pressure on the village head, but also enables students to strengthen themselves during teaching, killing two birds with one stone.
"Qin Zhao, your idea is really good." The day before leaving, the village chief said this when he came to visit.
Qin Zhao was sitting in the yard with the village chief drinking tea. Hearing this, he looked into the house and said with a smile, "It wasn't me. This idea came from my husband."
"Excellent." The village chief said, "Your husband is a good boy, and now he is pregnant. You must treat him well and don't bully him."
It's not that the village chief is preaching because of his age, but there are so many injustices in this era. I don't know how many people abandon their wives after they become successful.
The village chief was worried that Qin Zhao would follow the same path, so he couldn't help but give him a few words of advice.
Qin Zhao understood the deep meaning of the village chief's words and shook his head: "The village chief is worrying too much."
He looked up again in the direction of the main house.
The window of the inner room was ajar, and a slender figure could be vaguely seen sitting in front of the window.
Most likely he is playing with his cubs again.
Qin Zhao's eyes softened, and he said softly, "He is the only one in my heart, and I cannot live without him in this life."
"That's great." The village chief smiled with satisfaction, "When you come back after passing the exam, remember to bring your grandson to me."
Qin Zhao: "That's natural."
The two chatted for a while, and the sun was setting. The village chief was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something and slapped his head: "Look at my memory. I almost forgot something."
He took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to Qin Zhao: "Take this letter to Jiangling Prefecture School and look for an assistant named Ye. He is an old friend of mine from school. If you need anything in the prefecture city, you can ask him for help."
Qin Zhao took the letter and bowed to the village chief: "Thank you."
Qin Zhao personally escorted the village chief out the door. Just as he was about to return to the yard, he saw a familiar figure.
It’s Lin Qing’er.
The woman seemed to have been standing outside the door for a long time. When she saw the village chief leave, she walked over from the roadside and said, "The village chief was here just now, and I didn't dare to disturb him."
Qin Zhao nodded and asked, "What do you want to see me for?"
Lin Qing'er handed the bamboo basket to Qin Zhao and said, "I heard that the master is going to the capital city tomorrow, so I made some dry food and snacks. This... this is also what my father wanted. You can take it with you on the way."
Qin Zhao took it without delay: "Thank you."
Lin Qing'er is not married yet, and even though they have a teacher-student relationship now, it is not convenient for her to enter Qin Zhao's house.
Qin Zhao did not invite her, so he left the door of the bamboo courtyard open and spoke to her: "What are your plans for the future?"
Lin Qing'er had the best grades among the first batch of students Qin Zhao accepted, so she naturally ranked first. However, women were not allowed to take the imperial examinations, so after she finished her elementary school, she didn't know what to do.
"The student has talked to the village chief before and wants to continue staying in the academy to teach them to read." Lin Qing'er said.
Qin Zhao asked: "Don't you want to leave here?"
"I do, but not now." Lin Qing'er said, "Didn't the teacher say that studying is not just for the purpose of taking the imperial examination and becoming an official? I want to help others as much as I can first, so that I can live up to the teacher's teachings."
Qin Zhao nodded: "That's good."
It was dinner time, and Lin Qing'er had to hurry home to cook, so she said goodbye and left quickly. Qin Zhao watched her walk away before returning to the house.
Jingli was still playing with the kid.
The small fish eggs have grown a little bigger in this month, becoming more round and translucent, and their color is closer to that of Jingli's fish scales.
Jing Li lay beside the fish tank, put his fingers into the water and gently poked the small fish eggs.
Qin Zhao raised the edge of the bamboo bed again, but the little fish egg could swim very flexibly in the water now. He tried hard to jump out, but every time he was about to jump out, Jing Li pressed him down gently with his fingertips, and he staggered and fell on the bed.
In the end, the little fish eggs could only hide under Jing Li's fingertips and circle around his fingers.
Jing Li chased him while giggling happily.
Qin Zhao: “…”
He really treated the fish cubs as toys.
Qin Zhao walked up to him, and Jing Li realized that he was back. He looked up and asked, "Who was here just now?"
"Lin Qing'er." Qin Zhao put the bamboo basket on the table, "And this as a gift."
The surface of the bamboo basket was covered with a layer of dark blue coarse cloth, and a faint sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance wafted out from it. Jing Li's eyes suddenly lit up, met Qin Zhao's gaze, and then retracted it as if nothing had happened.
Qin Zhao rented a boat to the capital city and would leave the village early tomorrow morning. It was inconvenient to carry large pieces of furniture, so Qin Zhao simply didn't bring any, and only brought some clothes, books, and personal items.
As for what is missing, we can just go to the capital and buy them.
Qin Zhao walked to the desk and said while counting his luggage, "The lease of the land still has two years left. I have asked the village chief to ask if it can be rented out again."
Jing Li hummed, glanced at the bamboo basket, and secretly tore open a corner of the coarse cloth.
Qin Zhao turned his back to him and continued, "It will take another half month for the wheat fields to be harvested, and we can't make it in time. The village chief promised to hire people to help us harvest the wheat, and half of the harvested wheat will be returned to Li Dali as rent, and the other half will be given to the village chief's family as a token of gratitude for his care for us during these days."
"good."
Jing Li took out a piece of warm osmanthus cake from the bamboo basket.
Qin Zhao happened to see this scene when he turned around. He was silent for a moment, then turned back and said, "The fish tank is not convenient to carry. Tomorrow, put the fish in a wooden barrel and put the fish tank in the luggage. We will take it out when we arrive in the city."
“… Got it.”
Jing Li slowly finished the osmanthus cake and couldn't help but take another piece. Qin Zhao grabbed her wrist and said, "It's almost time for dinner."
Jing Li froze, raised his hand and fed it to Qin Zhao's mouth: "I gave it to you, want to try it?"
The young man looked extremely sincere, and Qin Zhao had no choice but to open his mouth and eat the piece of osmanthus cake.
A little honey was added to the osmanthus cake, which was soft and sticky, sweet but not greasy. It must have just been out of the oven and was still warm. Qin Zhao didn't like sweets very much before, but Jing Li took him to eat some recently, and he finally didn't hate it so much.
He swallowed the cake and said seriously, "You can't eat snacks before meals, or you will teach the fish cub bad habits later."
"No way." Jing Li nibbled at the crumbs on his fingertips and glanced into the fish tank. The little fish eggs were unhappy about being ignored by their two fathers, and were jumping around on the bamboo bed to try to make themselves felt.
"Come to think of it, is he about to hatch? He's been getting more and more active lately..."
Qin Zhao also looked over.
The surface of the small fish eggs seemed to have become a little thinner, and the bright red texture inside could be vaguely seen, gently swaying as he swam in the water.
Qin Zhao said: "Just don't hatch it on the road."
The next day, before dawn, Uncle Lin's ox cart arrived outside Qin Zhao's house on time.
Qin Zhao brought a lot of luggage this time, so he changed to a bigger car and borrowed a cow from a neighbor, using two oxen to pull the car.
Qin Zhao helped Jing Li get into the car and handed him a bamboo backpack.
In the backpack was naturally a wooden barrel filled with small fish.
After packing all the luggage, Qin Zhao locked the door of the bamboo courtyard and got on the ox cart.
The ox cart slowly moved towards the village entrance.
Qin Zhao didn't want to mobilize a large number of troops this time, so he didn't tell too many people that he was leaving, but there were still some people waiting for him at the entrance of the village.
At a glance, there were Chen's eldest sister-in-law and grandmother, Li Dali and Li Hongyu, Lin Changzhong's family, as well as the village chief and several students from the academy.
Everyone knew that Qin Zhao was going to move more than half a month ago. They had said enough parting words in the past few days, and no one said anything more. Only the village chief shook Qin Zhao's hand and finally told him to be careful outside.
The ox cart slowly drove out of the village. Qin Zhao held Jing Li in his arms and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
"It's okay." Jing Li held the backpack in his arms, "I suddenly feel reluctant to leave it."
Although Qin Zhao didn't say it, Jing Li could roughly guess that they might not come back for a long time after they left this time.
After all, this is his first home since he came to this world, and it is inevitable that he will feel sad when leaving.
"Home is here. You can come back anytime you want." Qin Zhao said.
"Yes, you can come back anytime you want." Uncle Lin was driving the car in front, his voice a little hoarse, "This is your hometown now. No matter what grievances you have suffered outside, Linxi Village is your home."
Jing Li responded softly.
Uncle Lin took them to the town dock, helped Qin Zhao move his luggage, and stood on the shore watching the ship leave.
The dock in the distance gradually became unclear. The wind was strong on the river in the early morning. Qin Zhao took Jing Li back to the cabin.
This time on the boat, Jing Li did not turn back into his original form, but he did not get seasick either.
"Sure enough, it was you, little thing, who caused the trouble last time." Jing Li poked the small fish eggs angrily. The latter bounced at the bottom of the barrel and its chubby body circled around the wall of the barrel.
Jing Li burst out laughing: "Little fool, this is no longer a fish tank, of course it's not that big."
I don't know whether the little fish egg didn't understand or just didn't believe it. After circling around twice and still couldn't find a way out, it stupidly bumped into the wall of the wooden barrel.
"Hey, don't move!" Jing Li said he disliked his own cub, but in fact he was more worried than anyone else. He picked up the fish eggs, took a closer look, and saw that there was no damage on the surface, so he slowly put it back.
He scolded, "I told you to be careful. What if it gets broken?"
The little fish eggs shrank back, lying at the bottom of the barrel, and stopped moving.
Qin Zhao opened the boat curtain and came in. Jing Li's attention was immediately diverted, and he did not notice that the fish fry at the bottom of the water moved slightly again. The texture inside the fish eggs became clearer under the waves, and a faint red light appeared.