A leisurely life in the world of cultivation

Chapter 3 Kinship
"Exchange for gold... Oh, your silver is really fresh."

After receiving the gleaming silver ingot from Li Weizhou, the manager of Shenglong Money Shop chuckled and said...

For money shops, exchanging silver for gold was a common business, and it was never unusual for women to buy gold to make jewelry.

Such bright silver ingots are indeed rare.

Li Weizhou understood what was going on. He had bought S925 silver, which is silver with a purity of 92.5%. It was cheaper than 99 silver and its purity was similar to that of the official silver currently circulating in the Great Qian Dynasty. The difference was only slight, which is why the money shop manager hadn't noticed anything unusual.

If it were 99 silver, it probably wouldn't work...

Li Weizhou leaned forward slightly and chuckled, "I don't know about that. I've never seen such shiny silver before. It was Miss Wanwan from Zuixianglou who sent me on a errand to exchange the silver for gold. I don't know much else. Recently, quite a few wealthy merchants from out of town have been coming to the brothel, so this is probably their silver..."

Upon hearing this, the money shop manager said no more and casually took out a steelyard to weigh the gold.

The smallest unit of measurement for a steelyard balance is one li (厘), which, according to Li Weizhou's research, is 31.25 milligrams...

I don't know if it's really that accurate.

The money exchange manager chuckled and said, "At the current exchange rate, one tael of gold is worth nine taels, two mace, and three fen of silver. Since your silver is so pristine, fine, we'll calculate it at nine taels and two mace for one tael of gold. The total is..."

As he spoke, he began to fiddle with the abacus beads: "It's eight taels, six mace, and nine li in total! Let's round it up to eight taels and seven mace! What do you think, young man?"

Li Weizhou readily agreed and nodded, saying, "Please trouble the shopkeeper to prepare the receipt so I can go back and report."

The shopkeeper replied, "Of course."

After taking the gold, packing it in a wooden box and handing it to Li Weizhou, he opened a receipt for Shenglong Money Shop and handed it to Li Weizhou, saying, "If you have any more business like this, just come here. You'll get your share of the profits from every transaction."

As he spoke, he actually stuffed another handful of copper coins into his hand.

Don't underestimate this handful of copper coins. Copper coins are what ordinary people use in their daily lives. These twenty or so copper coins are enough to buy a chicken.

Li Weizhou happily put it away and replied, "Alright, from now on, anything you can do on your own will be exchanged here. But to be honest, if the girls specify to exchange elsewhere, then there's nothing I can do."

The shopkeeper was even happier to hear this and said with a smile, "That's only right. As long as it's within your control, just come to Shenglong Exchange. We won't treat you unfairly."

……

"Brother! You're back!"

When Li Weizhou returned home, he saw Ximei squatting in front of the stove, cooking rice. Her thin face was full of joy, and she was extremely happy.

As for his younger sister, Li Weizhou can only take care of her according to his predecessor's last wish. They have only met a few times, so there is really no deep sibling affection between them.

However, compared to being all alone on the other side, it's not bad to have a blood relative sister now.

The key thing is that this girl is very sensible and not annoying.

Li Weizhou smiled and said, "Why are you so happy?"

Xi Mei's eyes were truly filled with delight as she exclaimed, "Brother, where did you buy this rice? It's so white and fragrant!"

Don't assume that today's rice has no additives and therefore is purely fragrant. Leaving aside the issue of variety improvement, the rice is mainly pounded and ground using stone mortars and mills to remove the outer husk and some of the bran. As a result, the processed rice is often less refined and retains more bran and germ, making it less flavorful than the refined rice produced by modern processing.

Li Weizhou lowered his voice and said, "It was bought from a nobleman at Zuixianglou. Ordinary people can't buy it. When the nobleman gave it to me, he told me not to let outsiders know. You mustn't tell anyone. We've prepared two rice bins at home. My brother and I will eat the good stuff, and when guests come, we'll eat what we bought outside."

Xi Mei was a little dizzy: "So many good things in Zui Xiang Lou? But Aunt Liu and the others said that men like those dirty places..." Then she realized she had spoken out of turn and covered her mouth.

Li Weizhou laughed and said, "That's right, it's definitely not clean."

Xi Mei hurriedly asked, "Brother, are you still going there?"

Li Weizhou said, "I didn't sign a contract of servitude; I'm just a cleaning worker. I'm not going back; I'll quit tomorrow... Let's eat."

When Ximei heard that her brother was no longer going to be a teapot, she was even happier. Just then, the rich aroma of rice wafted out, and she happily hummed a little tune as she went to prepare the bowls and chopsticks.

Yes, that's right, just eating white rice.

Seeing the blissful look on Ximei's face after she took a bite, Li Weizhou suddenly reflected that the life he had lived over there, which he compared to that of cattle, horses, pigs, and dogs, seemed to be alright.

At least he can afford to eat white rice, and he can also have some shredded potatoes.

After the brother and sister finished eating, Xi Mei quickly washed the pots and pans, then moved a small stool to sit next to Li Weizhou and asked, "Brother, what kind of business should we do from now on?"

Children from poor families mature early. She was very happy that Li Weizhou was willing to resign from his job as a teapot girl and even redeem her from the Wu family. But she also understood that she couldn't just sit around and do nothing.

Moreover, the brother and sister had no more mountains to eat from.

Li Weizhou chuckled and said, "You don't need to worry about these things. After we move tomorrow, you can rest at home for a while. Afterwards, I'll hire a female tutor to teach you to read. A few years ago, your brother was obsessed and you didn't even get to learn to read. Now it's better. Although we're not rich, we have enough to eat and drink, and we even have some surplus. It'll be perfect for your early education. We can't let you end up illiterate." Ximei's eyes reddened again, and she nestled against her brother, unable to speak.

The early autumn sky is often cloudy, and the heavy clouds that had covered the sky for half a day have now quietly dispersed, revealing a ray of sunshine.

Sensing Ximei's dependence and happiness, Li Weizhou suddenly felt that this kind of life wasn't so bad after all...

"Boom, boom, boom."

The sudden knocking shattered the rare tranquility and peace between the siblings. Xi Mei looked at her brother, puzzled, and asked, "Who is it?"

Over the years, they've stopped even visiting relatives, let alone their neighbors. They avoid the area for fear of the siblings borrowing money or rice. Who would come knocking on their door?

Li Weizhou didn't want to think too much about it. He got up and went to open the door. After the old wooden door with broken corners was opened, he saw a man of average height but quite burly, with a full beard standing at the door with his hands behind his back. Beside him was a young man of above-average appearance, who smiled in a somewhat lazy and unruly manner.

Both of them were wearing official uniforms, one in black and the other in blue.

"Big……"

When Ximei, who was following behind, saw the newcomer, she exclaimed in surprise, but she stopped before she could finish saying "Uncle" and stood silently behind her brother.

The visitor was none other than their uncle, Li Delong, the prison warden of Qingzhou Prefecture.

The young man beside him was his second son, Li Chang'an, the patrol inspector of Qingzhou Prefecture.

The position of local inspector was hereditary in the Great Qian Dynasty. Li Chang'an, a minor official of the ninth rank, inherited it from his father-in-law.

Both father and son were figures who operated in both the legitimate and criminal worlds, not to mention the even more prominent Li Silang in the capital city. Therefore, the Li family was not a small or insignificant family in Qingzhou Prefecture, which was the main reason why the Wu family did not make things difficult for Li Weizhou.

Li Delong didn't speak, but stared at his nephew with a deep gaze, a nephew he had wanted to kill with a single blow countless times in his anger.

Li Chang'an chuckled and said, "Sanlang, are you just going to make us stand at the door?" He then took out an oil paper package from his waist and said to Ximei behind Li Weizhou, "Ximei, go eat some candied hawthorn."

Xi Mei naturally wouldn't accept it, and instead looked at her brother.

Li Weizhou stepped aside and said, "Let's talk inside."

Upon hearing this, Li Delong's dark face immediately softened. He had recently received a letter saying that his nephew had changed somewhat. Although he was still unreliable and had even gone to Zuixianglou to work as a teapot, almost making him vomit blood in anger, his temperament seemed to have changed drastically. He was no longer as full of hostility as before, and he wished he could treat everyone around him as a bad person, especially his uncle, whom he wished he could tear to pieces and feed to the dogs. Now he seemed to have returned to normal.

Today, I also redeemed my sister, whom I had sold.

So I came to see if it was real or fake, and also because I was worried that something else might go wrong.

However, it doesn't seem too bad at the moment...

"Take it!"

After Li Chang'an stuffed the oil paper package into Xi Mei's hand, he followed his father into the small courtyard. Looking at the house and yard, which was about the size of a doghouse, both Li Delong and his son looked rather grim.

Perhaps it was anger at their lack of ambition, coupled with pity for their misfortune.

After carefully observing her brother's expression, Ximei sensibly put the oil paper package aside and brought out two small stools from the house.

However, Li Delong had no intention of sitting down for the time being. He still stood with his hands behind his back, looked at Li Weizhou, and said in a low voice, "How long are you going to be the teapot?"

Li Weizhou did not answer, but instead asked, "Who exactly harmed my parents?"

Upon hearing this, Li Delong's eyes widened, and his anger caused his full beard to bristle like steel needles.

I thought I understood, but I didn't expect him to be so stubborn!
Although his position was only an eighth-rank official, he had connections in both the legitimate and criminal worlds, and without a fierce and ruthless aura, he couldn't possibly control the situation.

At this moment, he was furious and very intimidating, but Li Weizhou simply met his gaze with a clear and unwavering look, showing no sign of backing down.

Of course, Li Weizhou's true nature wasn't actually that brave; he was somewhat apprehensive.

But if this image of a filial son isn't firmly established, many things will be even harder to explain later...

Li Weizhou even hoped that his parents, whom he had never met, had really died in an accident, which would have made things much simpler.

Taking good care of Ximei would be enough to repay this body; seeking revenge against a powerful figure would truly be asking too much of him...

In addition, he deliberately planted a thorn in his side; he had no interest in having a powerful figure to discipline him.

In short, at this moment, we are not inferior to others in terms of courage.

……

(End of this chapter)