On the first day when Jing Heguang returned home, they both stayed in the room and told him everything.
The next day, those empty gifts finally arrived at his door.
The sources of gifts include the county magistrate, the chief registrar and other officials currently in charge of the county, as well as the rich gentry and people in the surrounding area, as well as some wealthy scholars and children.
The purpose of the county magistrate is to encourage and reward talented people like Jing Heguang. Jing Heguang’s achievements can be regarded as the county magistrate’s achievements and recorded in his merit book for future promotion!
The rich squire and powerful landlord greet him and give gift as a gesture of goodwill because Jing Heguang got first place in the provincial examination at a young age, so he has a promising potential for further progress.
Xiu Cai and Tong Sheng1Xiu Cai is those who has passed the county imperial exam and Tong Sheng is those who has not yet passed the county exam hope to learn from Jing Heguang in the future, and strive to pass the exam as smoothly as Jing Heguang to stand out!
In addition to these gifts, there were also some people who threw themselves at the door and were willing to put their family’s properties under Jing Heguang’s name. In return, they will give Jing Heguang a large portion of the tax they collected.
They did this because there are a limit of tax-exempt land under a juren name.
Jing Heguang and Zhang Xingyu only have two mouths, how much can they eat? They definitely won’t be able to eat all those taxed food, and he can still resell it! In other words – Jing Heguang can eat lying down from now on!
Jing Heguang found a trustworthy intermediary to deal with the farm matter. He could not accept those farmers who might pay taxes late.
Jing Heguang accepted some of the other gifts, then sent back the ones that were too valuable.
Just doing this took Jing Heguang three full days. But in just three days, the family was promoted from abject poverty to well-off!
The neighbors who saw the couple were very envious of the piles of gifts!
“Jing Heguang must have become rich! He became a juren after the emanation. I didn’t expect that there would be so many good things! All of a sudden he would have money and land!”
“Studying is great! I must send my little guy to study.”
“Your family Tiedan is so dark! I think my family Zhuzi is just like Jing jieyuan when he was a child, white, tender, and smart! If he takes the imperial examination in the future, then I will be like an old fengjun2a noble who has a fiefdom!”
“I think my family Goudan is good too. He stopped peeing his pants when he was two years old! How smart he is!”
…
Thus, the children such as Tiedan, Zhuzi, and Goudan who were playing outside were all taken home!
Tiedan, Zhuzi and Goudan who were suddenly taken home: ???
What did they do wrong?!
***
The back room of the pork shop.
The table was filled with the remaining gifts. Zhang Xingyu took the banknotes and said with a headache: “There is so much money, what should I do if I lose it later?”
This is the first time that Zhang Xingyu has so much money in his hand!
Then he discovered that having a lot of money didn’t seem to be particularly good, there were many things to worry about.
However, because Jing Heguang earned all of this but he let him take care of it! Zhang Xingyu felt that these were all sweet little troubles.
Jing Heguang suggested: “Why don’t you save some for use first, and then buy a shop or something? You can also buy a house.”
Zhang Xingyu said: “The shops and houses in the county are actually average, and it’s not easy to get them. I think it’s better to keep them. I’ll give you enough money to use, and then buy some fields, or keep it for you to spend in the future.”
Although Zhang Xingyu is from a small county, he has been in business for so many years, so some of his thoughts are more practical.
Jing Heguang hugged his waist and rubbed his wrinkled eyebrows away: “Then I’ll save some for my journey, and then buy some land. It just so happens that I have fifty acres of tax-exempt land under my name. If I don’t pass, I’ll try it next time. After three years, I’ll definitely be able to save enough money!”
“Mm. I’ll go and see where there are good fields for sale.” After solving the biggest problem, Zhang Xingyu breathed a long sigh of relief and felt relaxed.
He looked at the money on the table with a smile. He stretched and said: “I’ll spend all this later!”
He looked like a little bear stretching comfortably after eating a lot of honey. With a honey jar in front of him, one can imagine how happy he will be next time.
Jing Heguang smiled and agreed: “Okay, spend it all!”
Looking at the banknotes, Jing Heguang suddenly remembered another thing related to money.
At first, he used the fact that he didn’t make any money to explain slag gong delaying the marriage.
Thinking about it carefully, that explanation is actually not that reliable. It’s just that Zhang Xingyu is a nice person and doesn’t want to think too much. It’s not that he can’t think of it but that he doesn’t want to think bad about people.
Jing Heguang dug out slag gong and started beating him mentally again, then put his head on Zhang Xingyu’s shoulder and said warmly: “Actually, I wanted to pass the exam before getting married. It will definitely be more lively and spectacular than the day we marry.”
Zhang Xingyu thought for a moment, the conditions were indeed much better now than before.
But…Zhang Xingyu felt that he still preferred the wedding that happened at that time!
At that time, neither he nor Jing Heguang had much money, so everything was a little rushed, so even some things were not done well.
But Zhang Xingyu felt that Jing Heguang was attentive. He saw Jing Heguang working hard for their future!
Zhang Xingyu still feels sweet in his heart now that he thinks about his thoughts during difficult times and Jing Heguang’s decisive actions.
Zhang Xingyu’s back was pressed against Jing Heguang’s chest. He looked up at the lush spring light outside the window, as if he had seen the scene where Jing Heguang was guarding the Spring Festival couplet stall and then looked back at him and smiled!
Zhang Xingyu moved his head back a little, raised his head, looked up at Jing Heguang, and said with satisfaction: “Our marriage is also very good, I like it very much. You make me see that you like me, this is better than any other scenery.”
Jing Heguang originally just wanted to imagine a different scene.
But he didn’t expect to hear these words!
Jing Heguang already knew that Zhang Xingyu was very good, but he was still moved by this pure love.
After Zhang Xingyu finished speaking, he saw Jing Heguang looking dumbfounded.
Zhang Xingyu bumped his head against Jing Heguang’s chin in embarrassment, widened his eyes and said fiercely: “Do you prefer the glamorous one? But there is no way there will be a second time. If you want it, marry and make a scene yourself!”
Jing Heguang felt that he was so cute that his heart trembled, so he asked with a smile: “Shall we continue doing bad things?”
The big bad guy continued to be online.
Jing Heguang thought of how he had dismissed the big turntable, and said loudly in his heart: It smells so good!
***
Zhang Xingyu helped Jing Heguang with a lot of things, then spent some time relaxing at home. The shop didn’t open for several days.
The neighbors on the same street were chatting, and inadvertently the topic about the two came up again.
“Is Xing’ger quitting? Heguang won the juren title. He is now a juren’s husband. Isn’t it a bit bad to kill pigs again?”
“Other juren’s wives and husbands are so blessed. They bought maids and servants, so they don’t have to do anything! They can just play cards and buy things all day long. It’s like a life lived by a god!”
“If you live a good life, who would want to do such hard work like killing?”
As everyone talked, they felt that the inference was particularly reasonable, as if Zhang Xingyu really quit!
After another rumors was passed, the guess turned into a certainty!
Aunt Zhang bought some tofu and took a bite while passing by on the street.
Listening to those people’s vivid words, Aunt Zhang also hadn’t seen Zhang Xingyu for several days. She asked curiously: “Xing’ger really said he quit?”
“How can it be fake?! Aunt Zhang, don’t even think about it. A juren is such a prestigious person. Xing’ger is now the husband of a juren, will he still do such rough work like killing pigs?”
Aunt Zhang was surprised: “Why didn’t I know?”
It stands to reason that Zhang Xingyu would tell her about such a big matter. Aunt Zhang married a Zhang, and her man is also related to Butcher Zhang.
After hearing this, Aunt Zhang went home and put the tofu away, then turned around and knocked on the door.
***
Zhang Xingyu opened the side door and let Aunt Zhang into the room. He asked Aunt Zhang with a smile: “Auntie, why are you here? Come sit down and I’ll pour you tea!”
Aunt Zhang didn’t go in and stood at the door of the courtyard in a hurry. He hurriedly took Zhang Xingyu’s hand and asked: “Xing’ger, are you not going to kill pigs anymore?”
Zhang Xingyu was a little confused: “No! I’ve been busy these two days, so I didn’t open a stall.”
Zhang Xingyu thought about what happened yesterday with Jing Heguang, his face was getting hot again. They were fooling around in the daytime.
Aunt Zhang didn’t notice his shyness at this moment, she asked in confusion: “But I heard several people say that you won’t do it anymore, it was so vivid too? I thought they were talking about what they heard from you!”
Aunt Zhang thought it was so ridiculous that her brows almost flew away!
Zhang Xingyu laughed out loud: “Who passed those wrong message around? They will know when I open the shop tomorrow.”
After hearing this, Aunt Zhang restrained her anger towards those who spread rumors indiscriminately.
She glanced at the direction of the room, and then whispered to Zhang Xingyu: “Xing’ger, no matter how successful Heguang is, I think you still have to do something. Whether it’s killing pigs, or changing to something lighter, you have to have your own thing to do.”
“The man in the family is very important, but your own business is also very important. After all, we won’t always have a man in our lives, right?” Aunt Zhang was worried that Jing Heguang would run away before, but now she is worried that Jing Heguang is too good.
People who are too good won’t be tied up easily!
If she knew that Jing Heguang was so promising, Aunt Zhang would be timid about this ‘forced marriage’ and wouldn’t have spoken out.
If Jing Heguang changes his mind later, and Zhang Xingyu relies entirely on him to live, he will be easily fooled. How can a person live without his roots?!
Seeing Aunt Zhang looking afraid of being heard by Jing Heguang, Zhang Xingyu smiled even more.
Zhang Xingyu knew that Aunt Zhang had good intentions. Others only thought about his glory, but only Aunt Zhang thought that there were hidden dangers under his glory.
Aunt Zhang was afraid that if he liked Jing Heguang too much, he would only have this man in his heart in the future, and his days would become narrower and narrower.
Regarding the stall, Zhang Xingyu and Aunt Zhang had the same idea. He is an independent person so he has to do his own things.
However, Zhang Xingyu also knows that there are no ‘hidden dangers’ in Jing Heguang glory!
And it’s impossible, even if Jing Heguang doesn’t like him in the future, he will definitely be very sad, but his life will not be difficult.
Zhang Xingyu didn’t tell anyone this. He likes Jing Heguang very much now, but his liking for Jing Heguang only started after Jing Heguang took his hand and said that he would not leave.
Jing Heguang likes him and he likes Jing Heguang. Zhang Xingyu is actually…a stingy person!
Jing Heguang is very good! He couldn’t help but like Jing Heguang more every day!
However, maybe only Zhang Xingyu himself understands Jing Heguang best. Aunt Zhang is an outsider and doesn’t know that well, so she worries about his future.
Zhang Xingyu thought to himself: He couldn’t let Aunt Zhang misunderstand Heguang all the time. He couldn’t bear it. He had to let Aunt Zhang know how good Heguang was!
Zhang Xingyu smiled and took Aunt Zhang’s arm: “Auntie, you are right, I have to do my own thing, thank you. However, since they are spreading rumors about this, we should tell Heguang this, he will definitely be able to come up with a better solution!”
Aunt Zhang: “What?!”
Tell Jing Heguang?
She won’t go! She is weak now!!
Zhang Xingyu looked positive: “Auntie, let me tell you, Heguang is really smart, and he is also very good to me!”
