At dusk three days later, the ship Qin Zhao and his crew were on docked at the pier outside the city of Jiangling Prefecture.
There were many merchants and travelers coming and going at this pier, and there were many horse-drawn carriages waiting at the pier to transport goods and passengers. Qin Zhao got off the boat first and rented a carriage, and took the coachman and boatman to move the luggage off the boat.
Jing Li sat on the shore holding the backpack and waiting.
"Okay, I'll let you out when we get home." Jing Li patted the edge of the wooden barrel. The small fish eggs bounced on the water surface in dissatisfaction, as if trying to jump out but failing.
During the days on the boat, the little cub became more and more restless. Fortunately, the fish eggs had no point of force and could not jump out of the barrel.
Jing Li pushed the fish eggs back to the bottom of the wooden barrel and covered the backpack.
Qin Zhao walked towards him and said, "Get in the car, we're going into the city."
The prices in the city were high, and Qin Zhao spent twenty coins just to rent a carriage. Jing Li paid the fare, and the driver happily accepted it, waved his whip, and the carriage moved slowly forward.
Qin Zhao hugged his frowning husband and said softly, "The cost of living in the capital is not as high as in the village. Haven't you seen it before?"
"I know, it's just..."
Or they are too poor.
Qin Zhao used all the 300 taels he earned in the county to buy a house, and he still owed 200 taels. Before leaving, Jing Li counted their small treasury, and there were only 11 strings of cash and 356 coins left.
This amount of money could barely last them more than three months in the capital city if they were frugal, not to mention the debt repayment and the cost of buying furniture and supplies.
Jingli sighed sadly.
Things had finally gotten a little better, but now things are back to square one overnight.
He didn't want Qin Zhao to worry with him, so he changed the subject: "Should we go home directly, or go to the inn first?"
"Go home." Qin Zhao said, "I have already arranged it."
Jing Li: "Arrange?"
Qin Zhao didn't explain, but Jing Li quickly understood what he meant.
The carriage passed the interrogation and body search at the city gate, entered the inner city, and stopped outside a mansion.
The house is only one street away from the main street of the city. There are residential houses on both sides of the road, and shops are on another adjacent street, so it is relatively quiet. One side of the house is close to the lakeshore, and the other side is the most lively night market in Jiangling. There are not many people during the day, but even if it gets busy at night, it is not noisy because of the lake.
It is quiet in a busy area and has an excellent geographical location.
The house itself is not bad.
The gate of the house was open, and someone was wiping the vermilion gate. Qin Zhao took the backpack and put it on his back, and helped Jing Li get off the carriage. The steward saw them and hurried over to greet them: "Mr. Qin is here, our young master is waiting inside. We can move the luggage, you go in and rest."
Jing Li felt that the person who spoke looked familiar. Before he could remember, Qin Zhao had already led him inside.
There is a stone-carved screen wall at the entrance of the mansion. Walking around the screen wall, you will reach the front yard.
This front yard is bigger than Ayi's, and someone is moving potted plants in the yard. The two people moving the potted plants also look familiar. Jing Li tilted his head and thought about it, and someone strode out from the main hall.
"Brother Qin, you are finally here."
It’s Fang Tianying.
When he saw him, Jing Li suddenly remembered, weren't those the same group of people who went to Linxi Village to look for koi
Fang Tianying walked up to them and said, "Luckily you guys arrived today. I will be back to town early tomorrow morning."
Jing Li didn't understand: "Why are you here?"
"Mr. Fang came to the city half a month ago to discuss business with a timber merchant, and helped us buy the mansion." Qin Zhao frowned, "But these..."
"Isn't this just something I did when I was free?"
Fang Tianying said, "These flowers were left by the original owner. I arranged them for you. The servants have cleaned the whole house. The wall of the kitchen is a little peeling, so it was repaired two days ago. But the furniture has not been bought yet. I was afraid that you would not like it if I acted on my own, so I didn't prepare it for you."
Qin Zhao: "Thank you..."
Fang Tianying didn't take it seriously: "It's just a small favor, Brother Qin, we are so familiar with each other, why are you being so polite to me?"
"Let's go to the inner courtyard first. There are many people here. Be careful not to bump into my sister-in-law."
Fang Tianying still believes that Jingli is still pregnant.
He asked the servants to carry the luggage and led the two of them around the main hall, through the hanging flower gate, and into the inner courtyard.
There is a lotus pond in the center of the inner courtyard.
The lotus pond had also been cleaned, and the lotus leaves were neatly spread on the water surface, with a few flower buds forming.
Fang Tianying said, "I heard that the previous owner used this pond to raise fish, but now he has moved away, so he naturally took the fish with him."
Qin Zhao nodded.
They had seen this house the last time they came to the city, and Jing Li also took a fancy to the pond at that time.
The room had been cleaned by the servants brought by Fang Tianying. The furniture was not completely moved out. There was a bed and a stool left in the inner room.
Qin Zhao put the backpack by the door, went into the inner room, brought out a stool, and asked Jing Li to sit down.
Fang Tianying took out a house deed from his arms: "By the way, this is for you."
"You are lucky. The owner of this house happens to be familiar with the businessman I do business with. After I interceded for him, the owner gave me a discount of fifty taels." Fang Tianying said.
"Also, I've already talked to Mr. Shang. If you want to buy wood for furniture, go to him. It's cheaper."
Fifty taels is not a small number. Fang Tianying said this lightly, but Qin Zhao guessed that the truth was probably not as simple as just human feelings.
Fang Tianying's family is a businessman, but he has been influenced by his family for so many years since he was a child, and he has an extraordinary talent for business.
He is a good negotiator.
"Thank you." Qin Zhao took the deed and said, "I will return the money I owe you as soon as possible."
He only had 300 taels of silver from selling prescriptions, and the rest was borrowed from Fang Tianying. Even if he got 50 taels off now, he still owed Fang Tianying 150 taels of silver.
Fang Tianying waved his hand: "Brother Qin, just concentrate on reviewing, don't worry about these."
As they were talking, a servant from the outer courtyard came in and said, "Master, everything outside is ready."
"Okay, let them go out and wait first." Fang Tianying sent them away and said to Qin Zhao, "Brother Qin, go to bed early. I won't disturb you."
Qin Zhao asked: "It's getting late now, why don't you stay for dinner?"
"No, no, I still have to go—" Fang Tianying paused, looked outside, and lowered his voice to be secretive, "To be honest, I have made an appointment with a few friends to go to a brothel tonight. I'm leaving tomorrow, and I don't know when I'll come next time, so I have to have some fun."
Qin Zhao: “…”
Last time, because Fang Tianying talked nonsense about brothels in front of Jing Li, Qin Zhao was so angry that he almost wrote a letter to the master of the Fang family. But then he thought that the young master was still young and it was probably just a casual remark and should not be taken seriously.
I didn't expect him to really...
After hearing what he said, Jing Li's eyes lit up: "You also take me—"
"Cough." Qin Zhao cleared his throat.
Jing Li: “…”
Jing Li said calmly: "It's okay, have fun and take care of yourself."
Fang Tianying looked at him in confusion, said nothing more, and turned and left.
Qin Zhao and Jing Li were the only ones left in the yard. Jing Li looked at the direction Fang Tianying left and felt a pair of hands on his shoulders: "Where are you taking me?"
Jing Li's body froze, and he gave a dry laugh: "No, I was just joking."
Qin Zhao played with his hair, brushed it behind his ears, and shook his head: "You are already a father, but you don't know how to be more stable."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and took out Jing Li's small fish tank from his luggage.
"I'll go rinse this thing out and refill it with water. Your kid must have been bored these past two days."
Qin Zhao said, picked up the fish tank and went out. There was a well in the yard. Jing Li looked at Qin Zhao's back as he drew water and sighed with lingering fear.
He stood up, opened the backpack, looked inside, and his expression changed immediately.
The wooden barrel that originally contained the fish eggs now only contained a bucket of clear water, and the bright red fish eggs were nowhere to be found.
Where did his cub go again
"I... I saw him inside when we were at the dock just now." Jing Li pulled Qin Zhao helplessly, his voice trembling with anxiety, "I also took a look when we passed the city gate, and he was still there then!"
Qin Zhao patted his back and whispered to comfort him: "Calm down. Since it was fine in the carriage just now, it was probably lost when we entered the house."
"Don't worry, the little fish cub is very smart. As long as he is still in this house, he will find it."
The backpack is woven with bamboo strips and is not completely closed, but the gap is just enough for a small fish egg to escape.
It's just... that little guy shouldn't be able to jump out.
Jing Li couldn't wait any longer and stood up to walk out of the yard. Qin Zhao followed him out, but when he saw the lotus pond in the yard, he was stunned.
"Xiao Yu, wait a minute." Qin Zhao called him, his eyes still fixed on the lotus pond.
Between the layers of lotus leaf stems, a bright red lotus flower blooms at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Qin Zhao suddenly remembered that there was also such a pond of lotus flowers that never faded in Yunguan Temple.
Jing Li turned around and followed Qin Zhao's gaze, and was also stunned.
How come he remembered that the lotus was just a bud just now
The two of them walked slowly to the edge of the lotus pond and pushed aside the dense lotus leaf stems. A thin, bright red koi was hiding under a lotus leaf, swimming among the lotus leaf stems.
Jing Li: “…”
Qin Zhao: “…”
This koi carp had no patterns on its body, and its bright red scales had not yet fully grown. Whether it was the shape of its fins or the color of its body, it looked exactly like Jing Li had been carved out of the same mold.
The only difference is that it is too small, only as long as a finger, and its almost transparent tail fin is waving excitedly.
As if enjoying the joy of regaining freedom.
But Jing Li didn't feel the joy at all. He had just had a false alarm and was so angry that he just wanted to go fishing.
The atmosphere suddenly became a little solemn.
The little fish seemed to sense that someone was watching him, so he finally stopped playing in the lotus pond and turned around. He looked up and saw his two fathers, then he slapped his tail hard and jumped out of the lotus pond.
Jing Li quickly reached out to catch him.
The little fish rubbed Jing Li's hand affectionately. Jing Li could hardly hold back his stern expression and coughed lightly: "What did I tell you just now? You can't run around. Don't you remember?"
The little fish stopped moving.
He rubbed Jing Li's fingers gently, and seeing that the latter didn't seem to be calming down, he turned his head and looked at Qin Zhao beside him.
Qin Zhao said seriously: "Your father is right. We are unfamiliar with this place. How can we run around everywhere? What if we can't find us? You—"
The little fish raised his head aggrievedly and looked at him for a moment.
Qin Zhao: “…”
Qin Zhao looked away and softened his voice: "Next... This won't happen again."