Chapter 59
The old woman also noticed Lin Xing, but she didn't even look at her and just put paper into the brazier. The tongues of fire were jumping continuously due to the wind, and Lin Xing's eyes flickered.
"Old man, why are you burning paper here? There is no grave here."
The old woman ignored Lin Xing. She thought to herself, this guy is really a weirdo. He is burning paper on the street and is not afraid of fire.
The paper beside the old woman gradually became thinner. Lin Xing stood there watching her movements. Just when Lin Xing thought the old woman would not speak again, she finally spoke.
"I'm burning paper for County Magistrate Zhao..."
"Zhao County Magistrate?" Lin Xing raised her eyebrows. "Who are you to him? Don't you know what he did? This kind of person doesn't deserve to have people burn paper for him."
The old woman lowered her head. The paper had just burned out and the firelight dimmed, making her kneeling figure look particularly lonely. Lin Xing felt that her words were a bit harsh and wanted to open her mouth to make amends, but she couldn't get over the barrier in her heart. What she said just now was all from the heart.
"I... sort of watched him grow up."
"Zhao County Magistrate is from Quyang. He grew up in a poor family. When he was ten years old, his parents left one after another. He didn't even have a proper name. Everyone just called him Zhao Yi. This child had a hard time, so I helped him from time to time."
"When he was eighteen, he suddenly said he wanted to leave Quyang and go to the capital to seek a living. It was seven years after I met him. He returned here and became the county magistrate of Quyang."
"For so many years, he was very powerful in Quyang and was very filial to me, but I found that he had changed a long time ago. He was no longer the poor Zhao Yi of the past."
"It's just that I didn't expect him to be so excessive." The old woman stood up and stared at Lin Xing. "What you said just now is right. He really doesn't deserve to have paper burned for him. I am old and confused."
The old woman hobbled away, but Lin Xing always felt that her old voice was echoing in her ears. Looking at the brazier in front of her and the ashes left in it, Lin Xing kicked it.
But when he touched it, he retracted his strength, and the brazier shook a few times before finally stopping steadily. No matter how hard Zhao Yi's life was in the past, it was not the reason why he made a big mistake.
Lin Xing no longer cared about the things on the ground and turned back to the inn. She returned to the table and unconsciously picked up Zhao Yi's calendar. This calendar reminded her of what the old woman had said just now: how could a child from a poor family become a county magistrate so quickly? Not to mention it is at the foot of the capital.
There is only one possibility, that Zhao Yi had been promoted by a certain adult, or that he was the prime minister's man.
He was just a puppet of the prime minister. The prime minister was worried that the matter would be exposed, so he took such a cruel action. He was really ruthless.
The night was long but Lin Xing had no mood to sleep. Considering that she had to send the calendar back to the county government office tomorrow, she simply copied down the two calendars. Lin Xing used the brush relying on muscle memory, and the more she wrote, the weirder it became. Fortunately, she managed to reproduce it perfectly in the end. By then, it was already daybreak.
Lin Xing came to the window. Without her noticing, the street had become lively and full of people. She took deep breaths of the fresh, cold air, hoping to clear her brain after a night of rest.
"Xiao Xing, it's time to eat."
"Coming." Lin Xing stretched lazily and walked towards the door, yawning several times.
"Why do you look so bad? Did you not get enough rest last night?"
Xiaomei reached out to touch her face, but Lin Xing dodged it out of guilt, holding the handrail and walking downstairs, leaving only her voice echoing: "It's okay, I'm starving, let's go."
"I'll go call Master Shen and Master Yu, you go ahead."
Lin Xing said without even turning her head: "Okay, I'll wait for you downstairs, you better hurry up."
After Lin Xing walked down the stairs, she remembered that Xiaomei had forgotten to tell her which table it was. She symbolically glanced around and found a familiar figure.
So Lin Xing quickly walked to the man's table and sat down directly. Before she could speak, the man opened his mouth and said, "Xiao Xing got up really early."
Then she exclaimed, "You look so bad, are you thinking about me so much that you can't sleep?"
"You worry too much. I just can't sleep."
Li Xiaxi covered her lips with a handkerchief she got from somewhere and smiled, then threw the handkerchief away and said, "Xiao Xing, don't be shy, we are all family."
“…”
Lin Xing looked away awkwardly and changed the subject, "Where is your master? Why didn't Doctor Li come?"
Li Xiaxi couldn't tease him anymore, so she said, "He didn't want to disappoint everyone, so he didn't want to come."
"Yeah." Lin Xing paused tactically, "Have you returned to the Li Mansion?"
"No, that place is too dirty, I don't want to go there."
"Indeed, so how do you plan to deal with this?"
Li Xiaxi's expression became serious, as if what he was going to say next was treasonous. "I want to turn the Li Mansion into a school. All children can go to school, and Li Dongyi's property will be used to take care of the people in the school."
“Are there any requirements for children to attend school?”
"As long as you want to study, it doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman, or your family background."
Lin Xing looked at the slightly nervous person in front of her and smiled with appreciation in her eyes, "I support you, this is a very good idea, I will tell the county magistrate right away, I believe he will agree."
Li Xiaxi's brows were filled with joy. At this moment, she looked like a girl in her twenties, showing her unique temperament.
"It seems like you two are really soulmates. You're having such a happy chat."
“Chen Ling, I see you’re still not hungry.”
"Don't, don't, don't."
Amidst laughter and chatter, several people took their seats one after another. The waiter who was waiting on the side saw that everyone had arrived and hurriedly started serving the dishes.
Yu Hang: "What were you talking about just now?"
Lin Xing gave Li Xiaxi a look, indicating that she could speak frankly.
"I want to turn the Li Mansion into a school."
Yu Hang: “This is indeed a good idea.”
Shen Ling picked up the teacup in his hand and said, "I admire Miss Li's righteousness. Please allow me to use tea instead of wine to toast Miss Li."
Li Xiaxi made the same gesture and said, "Mr. Shen, what are you talking about? If it weren't for your help, I would still be wasting time in Hongci Post. Compared to you, what is this?"
"I should be the one to toast you all."
Li Xiaxi drank the tea in one gulp without hesitation. Seeing this, the others also drank it in one gulp.
Shen Ling filled his own cup again and raised his teacup again, "I still want to toast Miss Li. This is not a choice that ordinary people can make. I would like to thank Miss Li in advance on behalf of those children."
Then he drank it all in one gulp. Just as Li Xiaxi was about to pick up the teacup, Lin Xing held him down, "Are you done yet? We are all family, why bother toasting each other? The food will get cold soon."
Xiaomei: "Let's eat quickly, we can talk about it later."
After the storm, Lin Xing began to arrange and inquire about today's work. "I have to go to the county government office to return the calendar I borrowed yesterday. Do you have any arrangements?"
Yu Hang said first: "The county magistrate is still in the county government office at this moment. I have something to discuss with him, so I can go with you."
Shen Ling: "In this case, is it inappropriate for me to go again?"
Li Xiaxi: "What do you think, Mr. Shen?"
Xiaomei chuckled at the side, "Xia Xi and I are going to the clinic to help."
Unable to bear this atmosphere, Lin Xing suddenly stood up and pretended to leave, but was stopped by Li Xiaxi.
"Please tell the county magistrate for me, Xiao Xing."
"I don't want it, go by yourself."
There was another burst of laughter behind her. Lin Xing unconsciously quickened her pace, while Yu Hang followed beside her and only slowed down after they had walked a distance.
"Did you stay up all night last night copying the A calendar?"
"How do you know?"
"These two calendars are not thin, why don't you ask me for help?"
Yu Hang stared at Lin Xing with ardent eyes. She lowered her head in embarrassment. "Did you copy it because you couldn't sleep?"
After Lin Xing said this, she suddenly felt a warm touch on her face. She slowly looked up. It was Yu Hang's fingers, stroking Lin Xing's eyes.
Seeing Lin Xing's confused eyes, Yu Hang realized what he had done and hurriedly withdrew his hand, "I...it's not...you...didn't...oops!"
He stuttered at the words he spoke, and Lin Xing shyly turned her head away, "It's okay."
After this incident, the two of them slowed down their pace unconsciously, but they did not dare to look at each other. Although he said that, Yu Hang kept stealing glances at Lin Xing. If Lin Xing looked at him, she would find that his face was as red as an apple.
"Where's Xiaobai? Didn't he come to Quyang with you?"
"No, I left him in the capital."
"County Magistrate Wu grew up in the capital. Have you ever met him?"
"Yes, he has watched the emperor and I grow up, so I dare not say much in front of him, for fear that he will feel something is wrong."
Lin Xing turned her head and looked at Yu Hang deeply, then said in an unclear tone: "So that's how it is."
Even though the two of them deliberately slowed down their pace, they still arrived at the county government office very quickly. It was all because Qu Yang was too young.
"You go find the county magistrate. I can return the book myself."
Just after entering the county government office, before Yu Hang could react, Lin Xing disappeared. Looking at her back, Yu Hang stood there in a daze, staring at his hands.
"Sir Yu, are you here to see Magistrate Wu?"
Yu Hang suddenly came back to his senses and said, "Yes, lead the way."
Under the guidance of the guards, Yu Hang took the right path, while Lin Xing, who was a little directionally challenged, accidentally found the house where the officials' calendars were stored.
Outside the familiar door, Lin Xing thought, that's it? She pushed the door open calmly and put the taken calendars back to their places, with a smile on her face all the time.
But when she closed the door, her face fell. She had forgotten the way back. Lin Xing had just walked blindly and didn't remember anything.
Looking at the exactly the same furnishings, Lin Xing smiled bitterly. What was going on? But she did not give in and decided to believe in her luck. If she could get this far, why couldn't she go back?
It turns out that there is really no going back.
Lin Xing realized that she was getting deeper and deeper into the forest. She had wanted to ask for directions for a long time, but after walking for a long time she didn't see a single guard. This was really unreasonable.
Lin Xing, who had reached the deepest part, stopped and sat on the steps in front of the house to rest. She was hammering her legs while thinking about countermeasures, when suddenly a sound from inside the house attracted her.
"Does your head still hurt now?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore. It's been so long."
It turned out to be Yu Hang and County Magistrate Wu. There is always a way out. Lin Xing wanted to knock on the door but stopped and chose to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"I have been blaming myself for so many years, wondering why I let you run to the edge of the pond and accidentally fall in. I have always been worried that what happened back then had an impact on you. After all, you were already barely breathing when you were rescued."
"It's not your fault. I was too playful."
"Are you saying in your heart that I'm long-winded again? You are the least talkative among the three of us, but I see that you talk a lot in front of Miss Lin."
"this…"
"You remind me of the days after you fell into the water. You were so lively then, but you have changed a lot since you grew up."
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