Chapter 55 Jinjiang First Release Chapter 55 Someone wants to buy Yu Qinglong...

Yu Qinglong wanted to learn a skill to make a living, and even more so, he wanted to provide himself and his family with a better chance of survival in this era. But many things in this world can't be achieved simply by thinking about them.

He was unusually listless.

Before returning to Xiaxixi Village, he went to Yu's house, hoping to talk to his second brother about something. However, he learned that his second brother had gone to the town to continue his apprenticeship and was not there. In addition, Hu Bo's marriage was finally settled and she was going to marry into their Xiaxixi Village. After hearing this, his depressed mood became even more severe.

It was Bai Wanqiu who told him about Hu Bo. Bai Wanqiu told him, "I just heard from my mother yesterday that Hu Bo was going to marry in Xiaxi Village."

Yu Qinglong subconsciously said, "Unfair! Doesn't that mean I'll have to see him often again?"

Bai Wanqiu said, "That's true. But the family he married into wasn't very good."

This was said with a bit of sympathy. After all, they grew up together and were about the same age. Although there were some frictions from time to time, they didn't hate each other to the point of never seeing each other again. They didn't just hope for the worst for each other.

Bai Wanqiu pulled Yu Qinglong to sit down and said, "Originally, Uncle Hu wanted to marry him to that Zhao Laosi. You know him, an old widower with two children. Uncle San even wanted to marry you to him. At the time, Uncle San knew it was a secret, but Uncle Hu was not shy about it at all. Of course, Hu Bo refused, so Uncle Hu said that if he didn't agree, he would marry him to the son of the old Yan family in Xiaxi Village. And within two days, Hu Bo agreed to marry into the old Yan family."

Yu Qinglong tried to think about which "Old Yan's Family" it was, but he couldn't figure it out.

After marrying into Xiaxi Village, he rarely ventured out, fetching water in the mornings at most. Even this task often fell to Fang Shu. Furthermore, Xiaxi's illogical structure made it easy for him to get lost, so he spent most of his time at home. Studying took up the majority of his time.

The place he went to most often was the house of Brother Fangshan next door, because he could see it directly when he went out.

So on the way back, Yu Qinglong asked Fang Shu what was going on in Old Yan's family.

Fang Shu said, "His home is not far from Aunt Liang's. Do you remember Aunt Liang who gave you the perilla leaves? The Yan family is her neighbor. The Yan family has two daughters who are already married, and a young son, Yan Li, who is in very poor health. I heard from his mother that he was almost kidnapped by kidnappers when he was a child. He was frightened and his health has been getting worse since then. Many people now say that he has only two years to live. Yan Li rarely goes out, so you haven't seen him."

Yu Qinglong really didn't have much of an impression: "So what's the relationship between this family and ours? Did they come here when we got married?"

Fang Shu said, "Yes. It was Yan Li's father who came. As for their relationship, it's not a particularly good one, but it's not a bad one either."

That's just average.

Is Hu Bo aiming to become a widow early?

Fang Shu then added, "I heard that the Yan family just wants to marry a man to Yan Li to leave behind an heir. Even if she gets married, she'll inevitably have to live a hard life."

Yu Qinglong didn't ask any more questions.

When they got home, Fang Wu also brought up the matter during dinner. She asked, "Brother Long, do you know a boy named Hu Bo from your Shangxi Village?"

Yu Qinglong said, "Yes, mother, what happened to him?"

Fang Wu said, "She wants to marry into our village. The Yan family has a son who's in poor health and isn't expected to live much longer. Her family wants a happy marriage and also wants to leave an heir for the Yan family. No one was willing to marry her before, but I heard that Bo'er's family agreed."

Yu Qinglong remembered that Hu Bo was quite ambitious and didn't understand why she suddenly wanted to marry someone in poor health, so he asked, "Is the Yan family wealthy?"

Fang Wu said, "We're not that wealthy, just an ordinary family."

That was only slightly better than his family in Shangxi Village. So why marry into such a family? Although Zhao Laosi was unreliable, this family wasn't much better either.

Yu Qinglong didn't ask any more questions, because Hu Bo himself was probably the only one who knew the truth about this matter.

The next day, he went to town with Fang Shu.

The deadline agreed with Master Ji has arrived, but Master Ji has not sent anyone to urge him. He plans to go and see if this person has found a more suitable birthday gift, so it doesn't matter whether he can come up with anything new.

But before they could even enter the city gate, they were stopped by the gatekeepers. To be more precise, they were stopped by the team entering the city before they even reached the city gate.

Yu Qinglong asked the person at the front of the line, "Fellow villagers, what are you doing in front of us?"

The fellow villager said, "What else can I do? Collect the money. Didn't you see someone putting the copper plate into the bag in front of me? Oh, this is terrible."

Fang Shu said, "We didn't have these rules before, why are you suddenly asking for money?"

He had seen this happen in the provincial capital, but in Qixia Town, unless there were special circumstances, no entrance fee was charged. People from surrounding villages came to sell vegetables and fruits, and only paid the stall fee when they arrived at the market.

The fellow villager said, "We don't know what's going on. But I just heard someone say that the town guard has been replaced. Didn't you see that the guards at the gate aren't the same ones as before?"

Yu Qinglong and Fang Shu looked carefully, and sure enough, none of them looked familiar.

There used to be six guards at the town gate, four of whom they recognized immediately, and two of whom they knew very well, having seen them at Master Ji's place and had been able to chat with him about family matters. But now, there was none.

Seeing that the amount of money paid by each person was different, Yu Qinglong asked the fellow villager, "Do you know how much each person paid?"

The fellow said, "Ten wen per person. It depends on what the goods are. Some pay twenty wen, some thirty, it all depends on the value of the goods. If you want to stay in town for the night, you have to pay fifteen wen. If you don't pay today and stay in town secretly, you will be discovered when you leave tomorrow, so you have to pay twenty wen. Alas, I was originally at the front of the line, but I didn't bring enough money, so I went to borrow some."

As they spoke, they were about to arrive.

Yu Qinglong thought that the things his master took were probably quite a lot, so he put them in Fang Shu's bag and then put his manuscript on top of them.

When they were passing through the city gate, the officers rummaged through the bottom of the bag and forced the two of them to take out fifty coins.

Yu Qinglong said that those things were not worth much money, but the other party didn't care at all. He just said if you want money, give it to me, and if you don't want money, let others get out of the way.

Fang Shu was worried that Yu Qinglong would start scolding him again, so he quickly paid the money. After entering the town, he went to sell the herbs, and then went with Yu Qinglong to find Ma Qinsui and Yan Xikuan to ask what was going on.

Ma Qinsui said, "What the fellow said is correct. The garrison commander has changed. A new garrison commander named Cao has arrived and has changed the rules here."

Ma Qinshou pulled out a letter from his bosom. "This is what Master Ji sent someone to leave with us before he left. He said he would give it to you when you come today. If you don't come, then I can't give it to you. If I give it to you, it will harm you. Xi Kuan and I thought about it and didn't dare to touch it."

Yu Qinglong quickly took it and opened it to look at it, but there was something he couldn't understand. It was written so sloppily that it was obvious it had been hastily written.

"There's a bandit problem in Lidong. Someone recommended Lord Guo, and he was sent to the front lines to suppress it," Fang Shu said after reading it. "Master Ji went with them, and he probably won't be back. They're not familiar with the new commander, Cao, but they told us not to mess with him easily."

"It seems I'm not familiar with them, but I've heard of them." Yu Qinglong frowned and said, "They left at the perfect time."

Ji Shiyu is quite cunning. If he doesn't keep his promise, he won't be able to see this letter, right?

Yan Xikuan said, "This is going to be troublesome. We just had the Wu family incident, and now the garrison has suddenly been replaced by someone else. Will the Wu Yang family have to quickly find a way to get Wu Xian out? Who knows how they'll plot against us then."

Ma Qinfu said, "That may not be the case. Wu Xian was sent in by Lord Guo after all. Moreover, Lord Guo was promoted this time, and perhaps he could be promoted again if he made military achievements. If Lord Cao releases Wu Xian now, wouldn't that be embarrassing for Lord Guo? What do you think, Brother Xiaoyu?"

Yu Qinglong said, "Lord Cao probably won't release him anytime soon. But if the Wu family offers enough benefits, Wu Xian will definitely have a good time even in prison. Furthermore, it depends on whether there are other people behind Lord Cao. If there are people more powerful than Lord Guo and Magistrate Ma, then he won't have to worry too much."

Yan Xikuan was surprised and asked, "Brother Xiaoyu, how come you know so much?"

Yu Qinglong choked and said, "I read... I learned it from storybooks."

In short, judging from the current situation, the latter possibility may be quite high.

To have such a big show right out of the gate, he either has a powerful backer or is a fool. Of course, it's also possible that he has a powerful backer but a fool.

The question now is whether they should go to the county town.

Magistrate Ma Ding's birthday was coming up soon. If they wanted to get on board, this was their best chance, as Guo Ya and Ji Shiyu were still hot on their heels.

Fang Shu was also thinking about this. The Wu family was a hidden danger. If left alone, there was no telling what would happen.

But if they really wanted to hook up with Magistrate Ma, how easy would that be? Whether they could succeed or not was a question of certainty. Even if they did succeed, what would happen next? Once they established this connection, it would be impossible to live as an ordinary, honest citizen. That was different from their relationship with Master Ji.

When Lord Guo had Yan Xikuan arrested, his son Long Ge'er met with Ji in private to save him. But if they had taken the initiative to go to Magistrate Ma, it would have been an intentional attempt to curry favor, which was a different matter.

Ma Qinshou asked: "What should we do next?"

Yu Qinglong looked at Fang Shu: "What do you think, my husband?"

Fang Shu said, "Let's take it one step at a time. We still don't know what kind of person Lord Cao is. If we act rashly, we might just get into more trouble. But I'm worried about you and your followers staying in town, Xikuan. Why don't you stay at my house for a while? I just happen to have something I'd like you to take a look at. What do you think, Long'er?"

Yu Qinglong thought of the novel he had written and said happily, "Of course I welcome it."

Yan Xikuan and Ma Qinsui thought about it and realized that if the previous incident happened again, it would really be troublesome for everyone. Besides, what Fang Shu asked them to inspect must be some kind of article! Curious!

The four of them returned to Xiaxi Village. When Yu Qinglong came, he had wanted to meet his second brother, but in order not to attract attention, he chose not to go.

After the four of them returned to Xiaxi Village, Ma Qinsui and Yan Xikuan stayed in the Fang family's wing. After dinner, Fang Shu showed them the story written by Yu Qinglong.

At first, they were certain it was written by Fang Shu, as the handwriting and the writing were obvious. But the more they read, the more shocked they became. Something was not right. How could this be a story about a man and a boy?

Does a married man change so much?!

Yan Xikuan opened his mouth and said, "Shoucheng, this, this is really written by you?"

It’s not that the article is bad, it’s just that it doesn’t seem like something Fang Shu would write!

Fang Shu said, "Don't worry about who wrote it, just say whether it looks good or not."

Yan and Ma said in unison: "It looks great!"

Yan Xikuan asked, "Is there any follow-up?"

He was a man who thought about reading even in his cell. He particularly loved these stories, but he had no money to buy such books on a normal day. This was why he particularly liked to copy books at Dexin Bookstore to make money. In the bookstore, you can read for free.

Ma Qinsui was still flipping through the book, this was his second time. He was particularly curious about when the male protagonist Gu Huai'en would find out that Mo Lanzhou was actually a brother.

Now the two of them were on the same boat. Gu Huai'en had to teach Mo Lanzhou how to behave, but Mo Lanzhou wasn't a very bright guy. But he was kind and not the playboy he once was!

Yan Xikuan also wanted to know how Mo Lanzhou would help Gu Huai'en out of this predicament. How could the two of them help each other become better and better? With their different paths, could they really be together in the end?

This story is so fascinating!

Yu Qinglong could tell from the two men's expressions that they weren't just complimenting Fang Shu, they genuinely thought it looked good. This reassured him.

Sure enough, no matter what era, the core nature of human beings will not change. They will always want to break through difficulties and pursue perfection.

"In your opinion, if this story were put up for sale in a bookstore, would anyone buy it?" Yu Qinglong asked. "Or would anyone be willing to rent it?"

"That depends on how much it sells for and how much the rent is. If the price is fair, I guarantee someone will read it," Yan Xikuan said. "I used to make money copying books at Dexin Bookstore, and I've read every storybook there. This one is definitely novel and interesting, and it's on par with the best-selling storybooks."

"So who wrote it?" Ma Qinsui asked, "Is there a sequel?"

"Yes, Shoucheng, we are iron-clad brothers. You can't hide it from us."

"If there is one, I will show it to you. It's not finished yet." Fang Shu said, "I'm waiting for it every day."

"Ah? Then who wrote this? The handwriting is clearly yours."

"It was written by Long Ge'er. I helped polish it and wrote a new copy at the same time. That way it will be easier to sell when I go to the bookstore later."

Because Yu Qinglong needed to make some revisions when he wrote it, it was a bit messy. He polished it and wrote a neat copy at the same time so that it would be easier to read.

Ma Qinsui and Yan Xikuan looked at Yu Qinglong in disbelief.

This, this is something a country boy could come up with?!

Yan Xikuan said, "Brother Xiaoyu, you know too much, don't you?"

Yu Qinglong said, "Brother Xikuan, you are so kind. I learned calligraphy and usually just memorize medical theories, medical records, and prescriptions. Practicing medicine does make money, but it's not something you can learn in a day or two. Writing is different. If I can make some money, wouldn't that be great? Besides, I just write down what I think, and it's mainly thanks to Shoucheng who helped me polish it."

"Long Ge'er is too modest. It is indeed beautifully written." Fang Shu said, "I just polished it a little."

"I just wanted to make some money selling it," Yu Qinglong said. "I heard it costs a lot to take the exam in the provincial capital."

"That's quite a lot," Yan Xikuan said. "My personal attendants and I have been frugal with our spending because we're worried we won't have enough money to take the exam next year. But the bookstores in our town are not good enough, and I'm afraid few people will spend money to read the storybooks. If we could take them to the county town, it would be a different story."

"But the county town is so far away." Yu Qinglong looked at Fang Shu eagerly as he said this.

Fang Shu: “…”

How could this be explained? His husband seemed rather aloof at first glance, his eyes lacking much tenderness. And because of this, many people wouldn't have guessed he was a man.

Even he was usually very calm when he saw his husband. So when he suddenly looked at him with such a pleading look, he...

He would have to pick the moon from the sky and give it to his son Long Ge'er!

Who can refuse to be nice to his Long Ge'er!

Fang Shu said, "I'll talk to my parents tomorrow morning and we'll find a date to go to the county town. Do you want Xikuan and his entourage to come with us?"

Yan Xikuan said, "You can go. I'm familiar with the young master of Dexin Bookstore. I'll ask him to take a look at this storybook. He'll definitely read it."

Seeing that Ma Qinsui also nodded, Fang Shu decided to go there.

As for whether to go and see Magistrate Ma, we will decide when the time comes.

Yu Qinglong said, "Then I'll write more tonight."

Yan Xikuan heard this and said, "Great! There's something to watch tonight! But is there anything I and my attendants can help with?"

Fang Shu said, "If you two don't have anything else to do, please help copy another copy each."

So the four of them lit the lamps, sat down in pairs and began to work.

As for the Wu family, things have been in chaos since Wu Xian was convicted and thrown into prison.

The old lady was so angry that she fell ill. Wu Wei and Yang Feng searched everywhere for ways to rescue Wu Xian, but they kept spending more and more money, and still couldn't save him. Not only were the family's savings almost gone, but the old man was also very dissatisfied with them, blaming their greed and insistence on getting the ten acres of land back, which had caused such a disaster.

They were in dire straits right now, so what could they do? They couldn't just abandon their son and leave him to his fate! Even if he was a good person, he would be tortured to death in a few months!

Yang Feng hated Fang Shu and Yu Qinglong so much that her teeth itched at the thought! Especially Yu Qinglong. She had spent a lot of money to find out that it was because Yu Qinglong had consulted Master Ji that her son was locked up!

Now she only regretted why she had only thought about depriving Fang Shu of the opportunity to take the imperial examination again, instead of thinking about revenge on Yu Qinglong like she did at the beginning.

Otherwise, perhaps her son would not have suffered so much.

Yang Feng was so angry that she dug her nails into her palms.

She had very little money left. All her recent spending had come from the old lady. But the old lady saw it was a bottomless pit and didn't want to give any more money. But she couldn't just let it go.

Counting the days, Yu Qinglong and Fang Shu have been married for more than half a month.

Boys are different from girls. Girls have their periods, which doesn't always make it easy for them to have sex with their husbands. Boys don't have that problem; they can get pregnant at any time.

It's been so long, it should be here eventually.

Since the county magistrate doesn’t care, let’s find someone who can!

Yang Feng pawned her jewelry and then called her brothers from her mother's family. She said, "Regardless of whether Xian'er can be rescued or not, I want Yu Qinglong dead! I used to think that once Fang Shu was gone, Yu Qinglong and Wu Xialan would have to endure hardship. But now I understand, it's only when Yu Qinglong is gone that the entire Fang family is gone!"

Yang Ping held up ten taels of silver and said, "But this is your last fortune, isn't it? Besides, Yu Qinglong is still a son after all. If he's gone, Fang Shu can at most marry another one."

Yang Feng said, "But thirty taels can't buy a scholar's life! I've asked around, and people say Fang Shu protects Yu Qinglong like a treasure. This time, I'm determined to rip out his heart and make the Fang family suffer the same fate! What? You won't help my eldest sister either?"

Yang Ping said, "That's not the case. It's just that my brother-in-law doesn't agree. You said you wanted me to go, but what if... Sister, why don't we just forget about it? I heard the guard has been replaced, maybe they can release Xian'er after a while?"

Yang Feng said, "Bullshit! They're all just a bunch of leeches! They only know how to suck blood. Which one of them is paid to do anything? Don't worry, just use these ten taels of silver to find the person for me, and I'll take care of the rest. If anything goes wrong in the future, just blame me! They ruined my Xian'er, and I'll make them regret it for the rest of their lives!"

Seeing that he could not persuade him, Yang Ping had to keep the money.

There was indeed a gang of bandits on Fuhu Mountain, north of Liangtang Town, who would kill without blinking an eye for money. It was all Yu Qinglong's fault for having angered her sister.

His sister is the kind of person who will never give up until she is in trouble!

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Author has something to say: Fang Shu: Long Ge'er, have you updated yet? [Let me check]

Ma Qinsui, Yan Xikuan: Xiaoyu, brother, have you updated yet? [Let me check]

Qinglong: I’m begging, I don’t have time to write [bursts into tears]

Ma Qinsui, Yan Xikuan, Fang Shu: We are responsible for begging, you just write [burst into tears] Aunties, please comment and ask for nutrient solution [empty bowl]