CH 42

After transferring the land ownership at the county office, Qiao Yuan took out eighty taels of silver and handed them to the village chief.

The village chief assured him, “Yuan Ge’er, don’t worry, I will inform everyone of every expense of this money.”

Qiao Yuan trusted his character, “Then I’ll leave the rest to you, village chief. Thank you for your hard work.”

The village chief was very excited. Their village was going to have a school too, but it was not suitable to start construction as the weather was getting colder. They had to wait until next spring.

Qiao Yuan thought for a moment and then added a few more words, “Village chief, regardless of knowledge, the character of the enlightenment teacher must be good.” He was really afraid that the village chief would invite someone like Zhang Wensheng, who was arrogant and pedantic.

“Don’t worry! I have already chosen someone, it’s the scholar Wang from our neighboring village. He is currently observing mourning at home and cannot take the imperial examination for the time being. His family is also poor, and he is a close friend of your older brother. Even if I have to make three visits to his home, I will invite him over!”

Qiao Yuan felt relieved in his heart. He still trusted Yu Laoda’s wisdom. Those who could be his close friends at least had good character.

Unlike the big fool in his family, he’s a silly bear!

“Village chief, when you talk to him, try to negotiate a lower salary for him. I will make up for the difference in his monthly allowance. I hope to give more children in the village the opportunity to go to school.”

The village head admired him greatly. He thought that he had to do more ideological work with the villagers and strive to let all the children of the right age go to school.

The next day, Qiao Yuan reserved a table of high-quality dishes at the Laike House. He and Yu Dameng were the hosts, and Meng Bei accompanied them to entertain Manager Liu of the Yunshui Lake dock.

By now, Qiao Yuan was quite a famous figure in Yunshui County. He had handled the birthday banquet of the Lu Manor very well. It was inevitable that people would think that he had some connection with the Lu Manor. Manager Liu gladly accepted the invitation.

But he was puzzled, “May I ask, Boss Qiao, what is the purpose of today’s gathering?”

Yu Dameng poured wine for Liu Da Guan Shi, following Qiao Yuan’s cue. Qiao Yuan smiled faintly, without lowering his posture too much. “I have something to ask Manager Liu to do for me.”

“Oh?” Manager Liu raised his eyebrows, wondering what these two husbands could possibly need from him.

Qiao Yuan asked, “I wonder if Manager Liu knows my father Qiao Guangcheng?”

“Qiao Guangcheng was your father?” Supervisor Liu was transferred to Yunshui Lake pier after Qiao Guangcheng’s death, so he had never actually met the man. However, Qiao Guangcheng’s cargo scheduling methods were brilliant, even still in use today, so he held some admiration for him.

“Although I have not met him, I have heard people at the dock mention him. It’s really a pity,” Manager Liu was a bit unsure. Could it be now that Qiao Yuan had become successful, he wanted to investigate what happened back then?

After all, it was Qiao Guangcheng who slipped and drowned that year. Who could have expected a dock supervisor to be unable to swim?

Manager Liu probed, “So Qiao Guangzhi is your eldest uncle? I’ve never heard him mention you before.”

Qiao Yuan sneered, his eyes full of coldness. “Of course, he wouldn’t dare!”

Manager Liu sensed the hidden meaning and followed up. “Is there something going on here?”

Qiao Yuan sighed. “This is also why I came to see you today.”

“Since I was young, he has been harsh to me, often beating and scolding me, making me feel like a servant at home. After I got married, my in-laws were good, and I only wanted to live separately from him in the future. However, I recently found out that he was able to get a job managing the dock, thanks to my father’s name, and I can’t calm down my heart about it!”

There was no need to spell it out. Manager Liu already understood. Qiao Guangzhi was an insignificant figure at the dock, and it was his fault to begin with. He benefited from his own brother and still mistreated his child.

Manager Liu weighed the pros and cons clearly. He raised his wine cup and smiled. “Don’t worry, Boss Qiao. I know what to do.”

They chatted about other things. Boss Wang, the shopkeeper of Laike House, even came up to their private room personally to deliver wine. “The owner heard that Mr. Qiao is hosting a banquet here today, and specially asked me to bring a pot of our best Jian Lan Chun.1剑兰春 (jiàn lán chūn) – This is a type of high-quality Chinese liquor made from rice. Lit. Sword Orchid Spring”

This wine was not available to ordinary people, and the Laike House didn’t offer it normally. Manager Liu was surprised. Qiao Yuan had even won the favor of the Laike House owner. He secretly sighed that his choice was right and became more attentive to Qiao Yuan.

Qiao Yuan understood that this was Pei Yin helping him save face. He was grateful, and casually wrote down a few recipes for dishes and gave them to Boss Wang when he left.

Boss Wang did not understand, but still passed the recipes to the chef.

Who knew that the dishes made according to the recipes would taste so good!

Boss Wang smelled a business opportunity and personally brought a portion of each dish to Pei Yin.

Pei Yin smiled and said, “Ah Li always tells me how good Brother Qiao’s cooking is, and I thought he was just trying to make me happy, so I didn’t pay much attention. But after tasting it today, I finally understand.”

Chu Li had been experiencing life at Yu Qiao Ji recently and often ate there for free. He would always chatter about it when he came back.

Boss Wang said, “Young Master, should we pay back Mr. Qiao for these recipes at market price?”

“That’s not appropriate.” Pei Yin dabbed his mouth with a handkerchief. “Brother Qiao gave us these recipes as a token of gratitude for our wine gift. If we pay him back with money, it might hurt his feelings.”

He thought for a moment and said, “Prepare a gift for me. I’ll go there tomorrow and see how Ah Li is doing there.”

When he said this, he had a rare lively and playful look. Boss Wang quickly agreed, thinking that it would be good for the young master to go out and relax more.

……

Manager Liu handled things efficiently. The very next day, Qiao Yuan received a letter that Qiao Guangzhi had been dismissed!

Moreover, it was a public dismissal where all his wrongdoings were enumerated, with a guarantee that he would never be hired again.

After this, he probably wouldn’t find a job in the county town anymore.

Qiao Guangzhi lost his job and couldn’t bring home any money. In addition, there was also the matter with Xiao Fengxian, causing chaos in the Qiao family.

Qiao Yuan was worried about accidentally hurting Qiao Wangshi, so he wanted to take her out, but Qiao Wangshi refused to comply, fearing that she would cause trouble for Qiao Yuan and upset the Yu family.

Qiao Yuan could roughly understand her thoughts. She was deeply influenced by feudal ideas. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t believe that Qiao Yuan, a little ger, could achieve so much. She thought he was just living by his in-laws’ favor.

She loved her grandson dearly. Qiao Yuan understood her. He discussed with Yu Dameng briefly and decided to fake an illness and trick her into coming before deciding what to do next.

“You have to act humble and submissive in front of grandmother, like you’re living at my mercy.” Qiao Yuan thought it was funny and deliberately said, “If I don’t call you to the table, you can’t eat, and you have to do all the chores at home.”

Yu Dameng believed it to be true and nodded seriously.

Qiao Yuan couldn’t help but chuckle and gave him a kiss, “Silly.”

“I can’t bear it.” Qiao Yuan rubbed against Yu Dameng in his arms and said seriously, “If you are not comfortable living with grandmother, you must tell me. I will find another way. Don’t suffer in silence.”

“I won’t.” Yu Dameng knew that his husband wanted to repay a favor to the original Qiao Yuan and also wanted to fulfill his filial duty. As his husband, he should share the responsibility with him.

Qiao Yuan felt a softness in his heart, curling his eyes happily as he cuddled into in Yu Dameng’s arms.

Afraid it would be easy to see through Yu Dameng’s lies, Qiao Yuan specifically got Lin Cuifen to help bring Qiao Wangshi over from the Qiao family.

“Auntie, Yuan Ge’er has been feeling down since he failed to pick you up yesterday. He fell ill early this morning and has been delirious, calling out for his grandmother. You should go and check on him.”

Hearing this, Qiao Wangshi became extremely anxious and wanted to rush out immediately. Lin Cuifen stopped her, “Auntie, pack some clothes to change into. The doctor said Yuan Ge’er’s sickness will take at least a few days to recover. You should stay with him and keep him company.”

Qiao Wangshi nodded, but her hands kept shaking from agitation.

Upon seeing the situation, Lin Cuifen took the initiative to pack a large bundle for Qiao Wangshi. Qiao Wangshi was solely focused on Qiao Yuan and did not notice anything wrong.

On the contrary, when she was about to leave, Xu Xiuhua stood on the porch and spat fiercely, “Taking such a huge bundle, you might as well not come back once you leave!”

Qiao Wangshi was startled and stopped. Lin Cuifen didn’t care about anything else and led her out first.

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you want to show your support, you can buy me a coffee. It would make my day! For every five coffees I get, I will release a bonus chapter.