Chapter 23 Spring Thoughts

After a while, Li Wuxiang found everything he wanted. Although the items listed on the wooden board were mostly common spices, rice and flour, he was still a little surprised that this shop had such a wide variety of products.

Shopkeeper Chen didn't use an abacus, he just calculated in his mind and quoted two taels and three cents of silver, which made two townspeople who came into the store look at him sideways and be amazed.

"The sugar is damp, so I'll charge you nine taels." Shopkeeper Chen looked at him and saw that he really took out a handful of silver from his pocket, then he slowly whispered, "It's not like before. I have to say one more thing. Young master should save more and not show off his wealth."

Li Wuxiang smiled at him and said, "Thank you for your advice. That's right. But I didn't buy it for my own use. Miss Xue saved my life, and I want to start a business with her. This is all I have left."

Shopkeeper Chen nodded, weighed the money, gave him back twenty-three copper coins, and swept the change into a small bamboo basket with a small broom.

Li Wuxiang and Xue Baoping went out and walked back along the road. After staying in Chen's grocery store for a while, there were fewer people staring at them. Chen Sanyao and a few idlers were still leaning against the wall with their arms folded. Seeing that the garrison soldiers also ignored them, they could only spit on the ground again. Li Wuxiang slowed down his pace and stared at him. Chen Sanyao immediately turned around with his face raised.

They passed by a stall selling vegetables, fruits and melons and bought half a winter melon for two coins. When they reached the west bridge of the town, they saw a few wet rats for sale, so they spent another twenty coins to buy a young hen and carried it along the way.

When the two of them reached the bridgehead in the east of the town, Xue Baoping let out a long sigh and glanced at Li Wuxiang several times. He smiled and asked, "What's wrong?"

"You are really from the Li family of Lijia Bay..."

"It shouldn't be. I can't remember a lot of things, but it shouldn't be around here. Zhao Kui definitely didn't catch more than a hundred children around here, otherwise the matter would have become a big deal." Li Wuxiang thought for a while, "But since the people in the town think so, then I will do it now. Tell me about the Lijiawan incident when you get back - let's go, I'll teach you how to make winter melon candy."

……

As soon as it got dark, the lights in the town owner's house were turned off. But Liu Jiao found that her precious daughter was a little strange today - she would sit at the table when the dishes were served, and chatter about the town while setting the dishes and chopsticks. Three or four days out of ten, she would make a fuss about going to Qingjiang City to play. But tonight she was quiet, holding her cheek, staring at the table in a daze without saying a word. When the food was served and Chen Xin was at the table, she was neither busy pouring a cup of wine for her father nor secretly taking a sip, but continued to be in a daze, as if she had lost her soul.

Liu Jiao winked at her husband, but Chen Xin just smiled, poured the wine himself, and waved at her, as if to say, come on, who knows what will happen next.

The couple started eating. Chen Xin drank a cup of wine before asking, "Have you arranged the wine and food for the Taoist priest today?"

"Ah."

"Have you picked up all the taboo foods?"

Liu Jiao sighed and complained, "How dare I not pick them up? I didn't put any onions, ginger, garlic, or leeks in them. I also boiled the dishes in hot water several times. I also boiled the chopsticks several times, all newly chopped from bamboo. I was afraid he would be unhappy again. He's really hard to please."

Chen Xin waved his hands: "Alas, alas."

At this time, Chen Xiu suddenly sat up straight: "Dad, Mom."

"what?"

"I want to get married. Find someone to act as a matchmaker for me."

"……what?"

The couple looked at each other in bewilderment. They knew their daughter liked to talk nonsense, but they didn't expect her to talk so much nonsense today. Liu Jiao raised her eyebrows and said, "Aren't you ashamed? You are a grown-up girl. Is this what you say?"

Chen Xin quickly waved his hand at her and wiped his mouth: "Xiu Xiu, whose family do you want your parents to go to for matchmaking?"

"The Xue family, the Xue family in the east of the town, well, not the Xue family, there's a mute girl in her family, the Xue family... oh, that's the one who ran a food store in the past! Her family picked up a guy, and the shopkeeper Chen said he's the young master of the Li family in Lijiawan, I want to marry him!"

Liu Jiao became more and more confused, and simply threw her chopsticks on the table: "This meal is inedible!"

He then poked Chen Xiu's forehead with his finger: "You've been driven crazy by idleness all day long. I've spoiled you!"

Chen Xiu moved the stool a little closer to her father and frowned: "Hey, I'm talking about serious matters, don't bother me!"

Liu Jiao was furious. She pointed at her and then at Chen Xin, threw down her chopsticks, and walked away from the table.

Chen Xiu quickly poured wine for her father and grabbed his arm: "Dad, I'm telling the truth, it's the young master Li from Lijiawan, he's so handsome, I saw him in the shop this afternoon, and the shopkeeper Chen also saw him, if you don't believe me, go ask the shopkeeper Chen - he's living with the mute girl now, go and help me propose marriage, what if they get married? You won't be able to find such a good son-in-law again -" Chen Xin raised the arm she was holding in front of him: "Okay, okay, don't shake Dad, you tell Dad carefully, Dad has been confused by you, what's going on?"

Chen Xiu immediately sat up straight, took a sip of wine, and started talking excitedly. After half an hour, Chen Xin also smiled, twirling his beard and nodding. After Chen Xiu was tired of talking, he said, "Okay, okay, you eat first, Dad will go to see the shopkeeper Chen - no matter how good this man is, marriage is not something that can be rushed. Look at you, you've made your mother so angry that she won't eat and hides away in anger. You have to go and comfort her."

"So are you going now?"

"Well, go now."

Chen Xiu jumped up with joy: "Then I will go and coax my mother right away."

Chen Xin watched her run away, then he poured himself another cup of wine, drank it slowly, and frowned.

He is over 50 years old this year, but he already looks old, with three sparse beards. At first glance, others would think he is just an old farmer from a well-off family. But the reason why he was able to lead more than 40 soldiers to become the town master of Jinshui a few years ago was because he was cautious and thoughtful.

He knew the Li family of Lijiawan. In the past few years, the two sides had had several conflicts over the mountains and forests in the east of the town, but he always gave in. He had never seen anyone from his family in person, but he knew that the Li family was prosperous and the head of the family had six sons, the youngest of whom was indeed a teenager.

What my daughter said just now sounded reasonable, but if you really think about it, it was just too coincidental. Almost all the people in Lijiawan died out, so how come there happened to be a single child who survived, and who happened to be - if my daughter was right - a good young man of equal status, gentle and well-educated?

Chen Xin put the wine cup on the table, wiped his face, and walked out of the room.

The Chen family's courtyard was very large, with four rooms on each side. The four rooms on the right were occupied by the family's long-term workers and servants, and the four rooms on the left were originally used to store weapons and sundries, but now two of them were cleared out to serve as Zhao Qi's bedroom and guest room.

He walked to the outside of Zhao Qi's bedroom and saw a tiny light inside. He coughed softly and whispered outside the door, "Master, Master Zhao? Have you rested?"

After a long while, I heard the person inside say, "I have not yet attained Yang Shen, so I cannot be called a True Person."

Chen Xin nodded repeatedly outside the door: "Yes, yes, uh... Taoist Priest——"

"I don't practice the eight classics, so I can't be called a Taoist priest."

Chen Xin smiled and said, "Yes, yes, then..."

"I've said it many times, just call me Master Zhao." The man in the window stretched out his hand and pushed the window up a little, revealing a thin face. Long eyebrows, narrow eyes, a slightly longer nose, and thin lips. If this face were shortened, it could be called handsome, but only in Jinshui Town, it would be considered a first-class figure. Zhao Qi frowned, "Have you found the fresh tiger bone?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry... Master, it's a pity that the Wang family left overnight, and there is no one in the town who can hunt tigers. A few days ago, I asked people to go to the mountain in the rain, but in the end, no tiger was seen, and two tigers were injured... Master, don't worry, I have asked people to go to Qinghe to look for them--"

Zhao Qi half-closed his eyes, looked at him for a moment, and then snorted: "Everything I want is for the good of you Jinshui. I said that these are for the Kitchen God and to ward off evil spirits. If one day the evil spirit comes and you don't have all the things, don't blame me for accepting your offerings but not doing my best."

Chen Xin hurriedly bowed to him: "Yes, yes, but this is for something else, Master, dial... dial... um..."

Zhao Qi sneered: "Redundant?"

"Yes, Master, please take the time to listen to my story. This is what happened. My daughter said that a few days ago, a young man was washed into the town by the flood. I listened and thought it was a bit strange. That young man -"

Chen Xin explained the matter in about ten sentences, and finally said: "I thought about it and felt that this matter was somewhat coincidental, but also within reason. When the Immortal Master came, he told me that if there was anything unusual in the town, no matter how big or small, I should tell him. I don't know if this one counts."

Zhao Qi was silent for a moment, then whispered, "A teenager... who came here in the past few days?"

"Yes. He was picked up by the girl from the Xue family."

Zhao Qi thought about it again, nodded, and lowered the window: "Okay, I understand."

　The second update will be at eight in the morning.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)

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