A leisurely life in the world of cultivation

Chapter 2 Turn over
Li Weizhou was being sized up by Butler Sun, but he didn't care.

The Wu family of Qingzhou Prefecture was the only family in this small border town to have produced a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), making them extremely distinguished and noble.

Coming from a scholarly family, they placed great importance on their hometown's reputation, so his previous remarks had a hint of a gentleman deceiving them with his own principles...

"elder brother!"

Not long after, a thin, small girl with slightly dry, yellowish hair ran out with a big smile on her face and an excited expression. When she saw Li Weizhou, she jumped up and shouted, almost dropping the small bundle on her back.

Ximei is only twelve years old this year, but she looks no more than ten.

Four years younger than Li Weizhou, although her parents died early and she had an unreliable older brother, the girl was lively by nature. Especially after taking leave to go home last time and seeing that her brother no longer resented her, she was in a better mood.

Perhaps due to a lack of nutrition, or perhaps because she hasn't fully matured, Ximei can't yet be considered a beauty, but her eyes are very pretty.

Unlike her brother Li Weizhou, who has long eyelids and phoenix eyes that extend outwards and are quite charming when closed, Xi Mei has bright peach blossom eyes with large curved eyelids, sharp and deep inner corners, and a shape like peach petals.

The kind of eyes that can save a small face.

Fortunately, he is still young and very thin, so he doesn't look particularly eye-catching.

Butler Sun watched with a smile as Ximei nestled into her brother's arms, and said to Li Weizhou, "Actually, there's no need to worry about leaving her here. Your uncle, Lord Li Delong, has visited the family to see the master."

Li Delong, the uncle of Li Weizhou and Li Ximei, is the prison warden of Qingzhou Prefecture.

Li Weizhou, or rather his predecessor, had a very strained relationship with this uncle.

In short: I hate him to the bone.

Six years ago, Li Weizhou's parents were entrusted by Li Delong to travel a long distance to visit a distant relative of the Li family, but they never returned.

Li Delong went out on a trip and returned to announce that Li Weizhou's parents had been killed by bandits.

How could Li Weizhou possibly believe it at the time?

Even if you can't see him alive, you should at least see his body after he's dead, right?

No matter how much he made a fuss, it was no use; Li Delong simply said there was nothing he could do.

Ten-year-old Li Weizhou was unable to go out on his own, so he took out all the money in his family and spent a lot of money to hire a security escort agency to find the person. Even if the person didn't come back alive, it would be fine if the body did.

Li Delong's attempts to stop him were futile; instead, he was verbally abused and led his six-year-old sister to the yamen to plead for justice, crying and begging for their parents, causing a great uproar throughout the city.

Li Delong couldn't control him and could only watch as he squandered his family fortune, even selling his house, but still gained nothing.

Finally, the original owner went to Li Delong to borrow money again, but Li Delong refused to lend a penny. He was only willing to adopt the siblings, but refused to pay for Li Weizhou's parents. From then on, Li Weizhou regarded Li Delong as his mortal enemy.

Many people in Qingzhou City know about these matters, and for Steward Sun to bring them up now is somewhat malicious.

Even Ximei looked at her brother with concern; she knew the hatred her brother had harbored for her uncle's family all these years...

Unexpectedly, Li Weizhou remained all smiles, pretending not to hear, and looked at Steward Sun, saying, "Contract of indenture..."

Steward Sun chuckled and said, "The day after you delivered it, your eldest uncle's second son came and tore the indenture to shreds in front of us. The yamen and the household registration office must have cleared the debt. Look at this, it wasn't our Wu family that forced him... The Wu family didn't even take his money."

Upon hearing this, Li Weizhou paused for a moment, then said nothing more. He handed over twenty taels of silver, cupped his hands in greeting, and turned to leave.

The Li family is no small family; the second son of the eldest uncle's family is now the inspector of Qingzhou Prefecture, and has quite a bit of power. The Wu family has no need to tamper with such matters.

Xi Mei followed closely behind her brother, skipping and jumping happily.

She didn't care about being a slave or a maid; her brother even worked as a teapot in a brothel, and no one laughed at them because they were looking for their parents.

In this era, if a sibling is filial, no one will look down on them; on the contrary, it will be a beautiful story.

Seeing his sister so happy, clutching his clothes, Li Weizhou felt much better.

Redeeming Ximei was an indelible wish of Li Weizhou's predecessor after he transmigrated, a wish that would occasionally echo in his mind in anguish and fury...

It's clear that the previous incarnation must have been a very loving older brother to his younger sister, otherwise he wouldn't have been so attached to her even in death, and Xi Mei's personality wouldn't be so cheerful.

Along the way, Xi Mei chattered on and on about the trivialities of life in the Wu family. These were things that Li Weizhou was not interested in, and even found somewhat annoying, but his mind seemed to be getting clearer and clearer.

Li Weizhou guessed that the lingering resentment had finally dissipated... Once home, Li Weizhou hesitated for a moment, then took a sanitary napkin from the cupboard. Amidst Ximei's astonished and rapidly blushing expression, he explained its use, finally whispering, "Last time you took leave to visit me, I saw blood on the back of your pants. I got this from a wealthy person elsewhere; you can't buy it on the market even with money. Don't tell anyone. Use this, little sister, and you won't get sick. There are some other things later that will also protect your body. Little sister, Mother is gone, so I'm the only one who can teach you these things. Don't be shy; everyone is the same. By the way, I've found a small courtyard house I like on South Street; we'll move tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Xi Mei's face flushed slightly. She first grinned in surprise at the end, then opened her eyes wide and asked her brother, "Brother, do we have that much money?"

Li Weizhou smiled and said, "More than enough, you don't need to worry about these things."

Without asking where the money came from, Xi Mei busied herself rummaging through her bundle, her face beaming, "Brother, the Wu family paid my monthly wages! Here you go!"

Li Weizhou looked at the string of copper coins and laughed, "No need, just take them and spend them yourself. I have enough money, more than I can use."

Xi Mei blurted out, "Didn't brother say we'd work together to earn money and find our parents?" Then she looked up at Li Weizhou with some regret, because at times like this, her brother's emotions would become unstable, and sometimes he would shout and curse his uncle's family and their ancestors for eighteen generations with a pained expression.

But today, Li Weizhou was in a very stable mood. He gently stroked Ximei's head with one hand and said softly, "We won't look for them anymore. We won't look for them anymore. I guess Mom and Dad ran off to have fun and don't want to come home. Hmph, then we won't look for them anymore. From now on, we'll just live our lives well and see them when they want to come back. I believe that day will come."

Upon hearing this, Xi Mei looked up at her brother in disbelief. As she looked, her eyes suddenly reddened, her lips trembled, and she buried her head in Li Weizhou's arms, her sobs gradually turning into loud wailing.

She was only six years old when her parents went missing, and she already had memories of them.

Although she was the one who cried the loudest and looked for her parents at first, children don't have long memories, and she quickly forgot what her parents looked like...

Li Weizhou, on the other hand, initially struggled to support his family and take care of his younger sister. But as time went on, he longed to find his parents. He would often wake up in the middle of the night in a nightmare, dreaming that his parents' bodies were lying in the wilderness, and he was being asked to bring them home...

Therefore, the boy spared no expense, even sacrificing his family's livelihood, to raise money to find his parents.

Under these circumstances, Ximei also endured six years of poverty and high-pressure hardship.

Unexpectedly, this chapter is finally over today!
It's really too hard to get through...

After coaxing his younger sister to calm her down, and while she went out to fetch water to wash her face, Li Weizhou moved the bed aside, took out the remaining eight silver ingots, wrapped them in an old cloth, and went out to say to Ximei, "You rest at home for a while. I'm going out to take care of something and will be back soon."

Xi Mei naturally agreed happily. Li Weizhou took the package and went out, heading straight to the location he had roughly figured out over the past half month.

This feudal dynasty, known as the Great Qian Dynasty, had an unexpectedly thriving commercial sector.

Within this small county town, there were three or four money shops and banks.

Of course, it could also be because this is the county town closest to the grassland horse market.

Beyond this city to the north, there are no more decent towns, so caravans often stop here to rest and recuperate.

The shops on both sides of the main road in the city are lined up one after another, offering everything from clothing and food to housing and transportation.

There are even several martial arts schools that teach people to box.

Oh, right, although Li Weizhou hasn't seen how powerful the martial arts of this world are yet, it seems that it's because martial arts are prohibited in the city, and those who violate the rules are severely punished.

But this should be a world with extraordinary power.

Because Li Weizhou had personally witnessed the guards of Zuixianglou move the stone lions weighing several hundred kilograms at the entrance a few steps to the side with their bare hands. Their strength was beyond reason, so it must have been martial arts.

Unfortunately, the head of the guards at Zuixianglou told him that young people like Li Weizhou, who were over sixteen years old, had already reached the point where their bones were fully developed and they had basically lost the qualification to practice martial arts...

However, Li Weizhou had not given up. Although traditional martial arts on Earth had become infamous and, like witchcraft, a synonym for fraud, what man didn't dream of being a martial arts hero?

Now that he has this opportunity, Li Weizhou still hopes to give it a try.

I don't aspire to be a patriarch or founder of any sect; I simply want to make the world more interesting and exciting.

Of course, these are not things he can pursue right now; he needs to make more money first.

After all, quite a few online loans have been taken out on the other side of the world.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived at their destination. Looking up at the plaque, Li Weizhou saw four large, gilded characters:
Shenglong Money Shop!

……

P.S.: Just to explain, because my editor is on holiday for May Day, I can't submit the contract for signing until the 6th. That's why I can't update the word count too much, otherwise it would have been published much earlier. This book is a pure fantasy novel, which is a huge challenge. I'm almost twenty, and still restless… Anyway, I hope to bring readers a sincere and interesting story. I'll do my best.

(End of this chapter)