Chapter 175 Will you be left holding the bag?
Xie Liangchen turned around and subconsciously asked, "What did she say?"
"That means she treated you like a master. She used to worry that you wouldn't eat well at noon, so she would specially bring you meat porridge and soup. Back then, as long as you drank it, your stomach pain would be relieved. Now that I think about it, it's been a long time since I've had it. I miss it terribly."
Xie Liangchen pursed his lips: "If you like it, just have your mother make it for you."
In a daze, he placed his hand on his stomach. When Jiang Pangya was around, he never seemed to have abdominal pain. Now, he felt unwell from time to time, which seemed to have become the norm.
“My mother doesn’t have the time for that. Besides, your porridge is very rich in ingredients and has been simmered for a long time. Not to mention that soup, I’ve never even seen it before. What’s the name of that soup? I haven’t eaten anything that delicious in ages.”
"Soup?" Xie Liangchen frowned slightly. "You mean, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall?"
"Yes, yes, that's it!" Wu Wenjie said, slurping his saliva. Then he suddenly tugged at Xie Liangchen: "Brother Liangchen, look! That young man next to her, could he be her husband? He's not as good-looking as you, and he's still so young, like a pretty boy!"
"Huh? Wait, isn't that the young master of the Lü family? We used to be classmates. No wonder she wanted him over you. The Lü family is one of the wealthiest families in our Liujiang County. Women, indeed, are still vain."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but frown again: "But why would the young master of the Lü family take a fancy to Jiang Pangya?"
Xie Liangchen frowned: "Be careful what you say, that person is her friend, not her husband."
After thinking for a moment, she pursed her lips and said, "She is not a woman who craves vanity."
Whether it was herself or her husband, she never left him during their humble times.
Jiang Pangya used to be annoying, but this vanity is really not the case.
Wu Wenjie nodded upon hearing this: "I knew it, he looks much younger than her. Liangchen, have you ever met her husband? What does he look like? Could he possibly compare to you?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Liangchen couldn't help but recall Li Rong's cold and hard face, and his brows furrowed even more: "Why ask this? He's just a man with crippled legs."
"Both legs are crippled!"
Wu Wenjie's eyes widened immediately, then he sighed, "I was thinking that when she stopped chasing after you, maybe I could take her in as a concubine. Just for her delicious cooking, it would be worth it. I never expected that she would marry a cripple. If I had known this would happen, I would have... Hey? Liangchen, wait for me, why did you leave?"
He jogged forward, completely absorbed in his own thoughts, unaware that Xie Liangchen's face had darkened. He even leaned in to gossip, "By the way, she's Li Junping's mother, right? Rumor has it that Li Junping's father was a deserter who colluded with the enemy? Doesn't that mean her life is very difficult?"
"Tsk tsk, after hitting someone like this, life is definitely going to be even harder from now on. Li Junping is supposed to be a good student, if he actually passes the imperial examinations, even if it's just to become a scholar, at least he'll be exempt from the taxes of a slave. He can at least get by."
But the Zheng brothers are no ordinary people, and our dean despises these kinds of people. In my opinion, their family is unlikely to recover.
Xie Liangchen stopped in his tracks, annoyed: "Where did you hear all this from?"
"What did you say?" Wu Wenjie was taken aback.
"That means her husband was a deserter."
"Don't you know? It's all over our academy. If you don't believe me, listen to everyone talking about her family. She probably doesn't even know that her son has been expelled from the academy. How pitiful."
Xie Liangchen pursed his lips, and seeing that Jiang Nuanzhi had already boarded the donkey cart, he quickly walked over and blocked her way.
Jiang Nuanzhi dodged his attempt to grab her arm, frowning at him: "Xie Liangchen, are you out of your mind?"
He had just stopped himself, and a murmur of discussion immediately arose around him.
Xie Liangchen awkwardly withdrew his hand and coughed lightly: "You were reckless today! If you want Li Junping to continue studying at the academy, you shouldn't have offended them."
Jiang Nuanzhi's expression was strange: "It's really unusual to hear you say that."
This guy is supposed to be the male lead, and when I read the book before, at least he seemed like a tough guy. But now I feel like he's not quite the same as the character in the book.
"They're just two thugs. I hit them, so what? I couldn't just stand there and let them bully me, could I?"
Xie Liangchen frowned: "He certainly deserved to be hit, but he was also reckless. However, you don't need to worry. I will plead with the dean to help you and explain the situation today. You can prepare a gift and apologize later; perhaps that can resolve the matter."
Jiang Nuanzhi: "Um, I don't plan to apologize."
What's wrong with Xie Liangchen? He inexplicably has a fatherly air about him.
“You should know that taxes are due soon. The money you took from me before isn’t enough to cover the taxes for your entire family. And the amount for criminals will double. If Li Junping can pass the imperial examination, the government will only delay payment for a year at most. After he passes the preliminary examination next year and becomes a student, some of the tax will be reduced, so he won’t have to struggle to make ends meet. The dean is someone you can’t offend. Otherwise, he won’t even be qualified to take the exam.”
"Thank you for your concern." Jiang Nuanzhi smiled slightly, "But it really isn't necessary."
"Also, I didn't take any money from you. That was my consultation fee, which I earned legitimately."
With that, he prepared to leave.
But Xie Liangchen still wouldn't move aside.
Jiang Nuanzhi frowned: "Second Young Master, let's keep our distance from each other in the future, so that others won't gossip. As for my Ping'er, I will think of another way. After all, there are more than one academy in Liujiang County."
Xie Liangchen frowned: "There are more than one academy, but only this one can write a letter of recommendation! You are a woman, you don't know the relationship between them."
Jiang Nuanzhi: "It's really no trouble at all."
Jiang Nuanzhi figured that at worst, she could swallow her pride and beg Magistrate Feng for a chance to pass the exam. Besides, her family wasn't that short of money.
I just sold my calligraphy for 150 taels of silver.
"Wait, wait a minute!"
Jiang Nuanzhi looked at Xie Liangchen with some impatience: "What's wrong with you now?"
Xie Liangchen was momentarily stunned by her appearance and murmured, "My horse is sick again."
Jiang Nuanzhi frowned and looked around: "Where's your horse?"
Xie Liangchen: "I didn't ride my horse today. It's sick and still at home."
Jiang Nuanzhi: "So?"
Xie Liangchen: "So I was thinking, could you take a look?"
"I understand. Come to my house with your horse later. The consultation fee is the same as before."
As she spoke, she looked at Lü Shizhu and said, "Hurry up and catch the carriage, we still have a lot to do today."
Xie Liangchen watched as the two donkey carts gradually disappeared from sight, but his clenched fists never loosened.
"Liangchen, what do you think of her?"
"Don't talk nonsense. I just felt sorry for her. She's a woman, so I was just trying to teach her some lessons."
"That's good, that's good. Being a bed warmer is fine, but if it's about sincerity, a woman like that doesn't deserve you."
"Liangchen, with your learning, a meteoric rise to prominence is just around the corner. Even if you were to marry, you should marry a well-educated and refined young lady, not such a vulgar servant."
Xie Liangchen was taken aback, finding such words hard to accept. Feeling inexplicably irritated, he turned and left.
In fact, after Jiang Nuanzhi left, everyone around her was talking about her. Some were good, some were bad, but most were just people watching the drama unfold.
"Pah! You little slut, just you wait, I'll make sure you regret this!"
"You piece of trash, what are you looking at? Be careful, or I'll kill you all! Now get yourselves up!"
The two brothers, who had been beaten so badly by Jiang Nuanzhi that even their own mothers wouldn't recognize them, had now returned to their arrogant and domineering manner, bossing around everyone.
Not daring to offend them, they helped the person up.
"Brother, we've really been taken advantage of this time. We need to tell our cousin right away!"
"Yes, you, go now! Quickly! Tell them we were beaten up in front of our house."
"What did you say! Li Junping's mother beat up Cousin Zheng?"
Dean Xue carefully fed a spoonful of medicine to his wife, who then stood up immediately upon hearing his words.
(End of this chapter)
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