“No…” Zhang Cuihua shook her head vigorously. She suddenly grabbed Li Yuanxu’s arm, her eyes bloodshot. “You can pass the exam! You definitely can pass the exam. Give yourself another chance!”
Li Yuantian pried Zhang Cuihua's hands off, trying to calm her down. "Mother! Wake up!"
Zhang Cuihua's hair was disheveled, and her eyes were filled with tears. After being pulled away by Li Yuantian, she sat down on the ground, clenched her right fist and pounded her chest, shouting and crying bitterly.
Li Yuantian tried several times to pull Zhang Cuihua up, but Zhang Cuihua was clearly uncooperative. Li Yuantian had no choice but to stand aside and let Zhang Cuihua sit on the ground and cry.
The village chief watched this farce unfold, unsure of what to say, and remained silent, pursing his lips.
At this moment, Li Yuanxu spoke up, "Village chief, I am willing to accept the village's punishment. I will pay the compensation if necessary, and I will accept being expelled from the village."
“Village Chief,” Li Yuantian said urgently, “Village Chief, we are willing to pay more compensation. We can’t afford it now, but we will pay it back in the future. Please don’t kick Yuan Xu out of the village. He can’t do anything. If he is kicked out of the village in the middle of winter, he will really have no way to survive.”
Looking at Li Yuantian, Lu Qiqi thought that even with Zhang Cuihua's extreme favoritism, he was still willing to speak up for Li Yuanxu. She figured that if it weren't for Zhang Cuihua's favoritism, the two brothers' relationship wouldn't be so bad.
Unfortunately, Zhang Cuihua was so eager for her son to succeed that she placed all her hopes on Li Yuanxu, which ultimately led to discord between the brothers and a rift between mother and son.
I wonder if Zhang Cuihua will regret it someday.
The rule of expelling people from the village was established beforehand. If the decision is reversed now, the village chief's authority will be diminished.
Under duress, Li Shoucai hesitated before finally speaking, "Village Chief, why don't you give Yuan Xu a break since this is his first offense?"
"If Yuan Xu is really kicked out of the village, how will he survive!"
"Everyone watched this child grow up. Although everyone laughed at him for failing the imperial examination, he never made enemies or cared about how others laughed at him. He would even greet those who laughed at him and help the villagers write couplets and other things."
"For a child like this, who has made a mistake once, isn't it reasonable to give him another chance?"
"Don't you all agree?!"
The villagers started discussing it. This matter concerned the interests of the villagers, and they had to make the decision.
"Village chief, let's forgive him this once."
"Make him return the items, and if anything is missing, make him make up for it."
Someone said something, and immediately afterward, people started pleading for Li Yuanxu.
"Yes, village chief, if we get kicked out now, we'll just freeze to death."
"Let's forgive him, as long as he doesn't do it again."
Lu Qiqi didn't expect the villagers to plead for someone who stole things from the village, but she quickly understood.
Li Yuanxu was a scholar. Even if he failed the imperial examination, he was well-mannered, never argued with others, and would repay evil with kindness by helping villagers write things. It is likely that he helped quite a few people.
The village chief naturally didn't want to kick people out of the village. Since everyone was willing to forgive Li Yuanxu, he took the opportunity to say, "Then let's do as the villagers say. Return the things, make up for the missing items yourself, and write a letter of repentance. That will be the end of this matter."
After listening to the village chief's words, Li Yuanxu bowed deeply.
After everyone dispersed, Zhang Cuihua remained sitting on the ground, weeping. No one knew whether she was crying because she would never be able to wear the phoenix coronet and wedding robes in her lifetime, or because Li Yuanxu's path to success had been cut short.
On the way back, Madam Lu walked beside Lu Qiqi and said, "I don't know what Zhang's wife is thinking. We are all poor people, but she insists on forcing her son to become the top scholar. Doesn't she even think about whether her son wants to do it?"
Lu Qiqi's feelings were also a bit complicated, because she had also experienced such pain.
In her previous life, her master placed all his hopes on her. From childhood to adulthood, she had to learn many things, many of which she disliked, but she had no choice, since she had been groomed as his successor since she was young.
But she never complained, after all, without her master, she might have died long ago.
The question remains: if she dies in a plane crash, who will be the next to suffer the same fate?
...
By writing a letter of repentance, Li Yuanxu essentially ruined his own path to becoming a candidate for the imperial examinations.
Fortunately, Li Yuanxu only stole the incense powder and hadn't made any incense charcoal yet, so the amount of money he had to pay back wasn't much.
Although the spice powder was placed in the sauerkraut stall, Li Yuanxu was afraid that the smell would spread, so he wrapped it very well and it didn't mix with other flavors, so it could still be used.
That day, Lu Qiqi and Zhou Yi drove a horse-drawn carriage to deliver charcoal cakes to Feng Yi.
The carriages lined up for a long time before finally stopping in front of the cosmetics shop.
Lu Qiqi jumped off the carriage and strode into the cosmetics shop.
Inside, a motley crew of women, making a racket like a bustling market, made Lu Qiqi's head buzz.
Having not visited the cosmetics shop for several days, Lu Qiqi was surprised to find that Fengyi's cosmetics shop was doing so well.
Lu Qiqi called out to a shop assistant at a cosmetics store, "Where's your manager? I've come to deliver some charcoal cakes."
When the waiter heard that Lu Qiqi had come to deliver charcoal cakes, his eyes lit up as if he had seen a savior. "Miss Lu, you've finally arrived! Our manager has been waiting for you every day."
Lu Qiqi, who delivered the goods on time, calculated the delivery date and said, "I didn't deliver late either."
The waiter slapped his mouth and laughed, "It's my fault for not explaining it clearly to you. Your charcoal cakes have become a hot item in our shop, and everyone is rushing to place orders."
"The girls in this shop all come to order incense charcoal."
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