TTLJDFL chapter 14

In the social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, the boundaries were clear. So, what Zhuangjia Han admired most were the scholars.

It’s just that before, Li Jin was infatuated with the top courtesan at the Fragrant Garden in town, wanting to spend money like the rich young masters he saw. 　　But his family was actually so poor, where would they get the money to book a top courtesan?

During the New Year, Li Jin’s family might not even be able to eat meat, and they had to rely on his husband sewing clothes to help make ends meet.

This was what made the villagers look down on Li Jin. —At least it proved that this generation was simple-minded; everyone looked down on a weak man.

Besides, the elders in the Li family would say that Li Jin had studied with some scholar in town, but when he got back to the village, no one ever saw him pick up a pen to write.

Over time, everyone thought that Li Jin’s studying was just a waste of money and that he hadn’t learned anything at all. Of course, the villagers didn’t say this to Li Jin’s face, but they all knew it well enough.

Today, Li Jin played chess with Li Daniu, and the move he made suddenly made everyone in the village think… maybe this guy actually learned something from studying in town.

He’s not completely useless, after all.

After three rounds, Li Jin noticed that more and more people were gathering to watch.

He told Li Daniu, “My husband just had a baby, so I can’t be out too long. Let’s call it a day today and I’ll play chess with you next time.”

Li Daniu felt the same way—he was honestly almost driven crazy by Li Jin’s moves!

He thought he made a brilliant move, but it turned out perfectly into Li Jin’s trap, and he lost both his rook and cannon!

Li Daniu said, “I really can’t beat you. Remember to give me a few moves next time we play!”

Li Jin agreed without hesitation: “Okay.”

After Li Jin left, Li Daniu quickly called someone from the onlooking crowd.

“Er Gouzi, come play chess with me! Playing with Li Jin is just too exhausting; I don’t even know my next move—it’s all part of his calculation.”

Er Gouzi frowned but still sat down opposite Li Daniu.

“Brother, I really can’t beat you…”

Li Daniu pulled out a money pouch and counted out two copper coins, handing them to Er Gouzi.

“Here, take these two coins and play a few rounds with me.”

These were just small change, so Ergouzi took them without a second thought.

The onlookers, sharp-eyed, noticed Li Daniu’s heavy money pouch and laughed, saying, “Brother Daniu, looks like you’ve hit it big.”

Li Daniu replied, “It’s nothing, just that Li Jin bought some bedding from me yesterday, and today he gave me the money.”

The villagers watching: “…”

How is it Li Jin again?

Li Jin’s family was so poor, where did he even get this much money?

Li Daniu ignored what the onlookers thought and sighed, saying, “I tell you, scholars are truly remarkable. Just by copying a few books for the town’s bookstore, they can buy quilts. And those are all made of new cotton, four jin per quilt! Our peasant family can only earn this kind of money by harvesting wheat during a busy season.”

His tone carried a hint of envy, “Li Jin brought a quilt back from my house, and I will go to the village chief to settle accounts.”

“Our village chief calculated the money with an abacus, and Li Jin only glanced at the list and directly told me the amount. If you ask me, that fortune teller back then was really spot on—Li Jin really is cut out for studying.”

Someone obviously didn’t believe it: “If that kid Li Jin could make money from studying, how come his family couldn’t even put food on the table so many times before and had to beg the villagers for grain?”

That actually made sense.

Li Daniu said while playing chess, “Isn’t that just because they didn’t want to make money before?”

“Right now, her husband can’t move after giving birth, so Li Jin has to support the whole family, which is why he went out to earn some money.”

No, there’s nothing to argue against. Li Daniu isn’t as good at chess as Li Jin, but he has a good mindset. Whoever can beat him, he respects them.

Because of what Li Daniu said, many of the people who came to watch the game this time have changed their impression of Li Jin. But exactly how their impression changed, even they can’t quite explain.

Only after they really get in touch with Li Jin will this change probably settle in their hearts.

=

Li Daniu finished his game and went home, handing the money bag to his wife.

As a man, all he had to do was earn money. Handling the money was his wife’s job.

His wife was surprised: “Li Jin gave you the money so quickly?”

This quilt and the two mattresses, even if they took them to town to sell, it would take at least ten days or half a month to get the money.

Li Daniu was a bit dissatisfied with his wife’s attitude towards Li Jin: “Of course! Just yesterday you were urging me late at night to go see the village chief and made up this list. If you ask me, Li Jin is a scholar after all, he won’t deny a debt, will he?”

His wife put the money pouch into the little hole dug under the bed and didn’t bother quarreling with her own husband about anything else.

Anyway, as long as the money comes back, it’s fine. Not to mention that Li Jin’s reputation wasn’t good to begin with, even if it’s your own brother taking so much, you still have to settle accounts properly, right?

However, Li Jin repaying the money so quickly does show he’s a reliable person.

It seems that once this person became a father, he’s different from before.

He’s no longer just passing time.

=

When Li Jin got home, Baozi was lying next to the boy, sleeping soundly.

The boy himself was holding Li Jin’s old clothes, seemingly measuring them.

Li Jin didn’t say anything. That morning he had told the boy to make him some clothes when he had time, but he really just didn’t want the boy to take on these little sewing tasks.

After all, the boy couldn’t sit still, so it was better to find something light and easy for him to do.

Ultimately, Li Jin still has a strong sense of possessiveness. Now that he has come to understand things, he has categorized the boy and the child as family.

Therefore… Li Jin does not want the things the boy makes to be sold for money.

Qin Muwen just felt a huge shadow cast over his head, and before he could react, the clothes in his hands were taken by Li Jin.

Li Jin asked, “You were planning to make clothes for me this early?”

Qin Muwen’s face suddenly turned red, even though he had already shared the most intimate physical closeness with Li Jin.

When the child was born, it was also Li Jin who held the baby and cut the umbilical cord.

But in these two years of marriage, they rarely talked, almost never kissed, and whenever they were intimate, Li Jin would just go straight in without any tenderness, roughness mixed with disdain.

This was the first time Qin Muwen held Li Jin’s underwear like this, carefully comparing the sizes.

What bad (or good) luck—he got caught by Li Jin on the spot.

Li Jin said, “These clothes are all a bit small. There’s no need to compare sizes with the old clothes. Wait until I get the fabric back, then you can measure directly.”

He’s only eighteen now, the age when your body is still growing. Since he’s getting new clothes, it’s better to measure his current shoulder width, arm length, and leg length directly.

Qin Muwen obediently agreed.

At noon in the sixth lunar month, the sun was so scorching that people lost track of time.

Luckily, there was a persimmon tree in the yard, providing a bit of shade.

Li Jin was doing push-ups under the tree; his body was too weak, so he had to strengthen his training.

——Even after taking off his clothes, even if you can’t see the muscles, you shouldn’t be able to count a few ribs at a glance.

He had only done eighteen push-ups and was already having trouble supporting himself.

But Li Jin gritted his teeth and managed to do thirty. Then he rested for three minutes and continued.

In his previous life, Li Jin was someone who never left the gym. As long as he wasn’t working overtime, he went to the gym every day to work out for an hour and a half and stretch for half an hour.

So in his past life, his muscles were really nice—not like a fitness coach’s, all tight and tense, but more streamlined, wrapped under his skin, the kind that makes you look slim in clothes but muscular when you take them off.

After working out, Li Jin took a bath.

Right now, the sun wasn’t as scorching as it was at noon, so he planned to cut both the wheat and the grass together, then store them to feed the pigs and sheep.

Anyway, there was more grass than wheat in his fields, picking them one by one would take too much time, so it was better to just get rid of it all.

Li Jin asked the boy where the sickle was. The boy paused for a moment, then obediently told Li Jin its location—it was actually under the kitchen cutting board.

Li Jin said, “I’ll go cut the grass in our field. I brought back quite a bit of seeds today, so from now on, our family can grow our own vegetables.”

Back then, gender roles were really clear. If washing clothes, cooking, and mending were the jobs for women and gers, then farming and chopping firewood were the jobs for men.

Earlier, Qin Muwen saw Li Jin going to do the laundry and was so scared he could hardly think straight. Now, hearing Li Jin say he was going to mow the grass, Qin Muwen was even more panicked than when he saw him doing laundry.

But he opened his mouth and didn’t know what to say. Li Jin thought, this kid really is young, he wears his heart on his sleeve.

Li Jin asked, “Are you going to say again that you’ll mow the grass? Doesn’t this kind of work need me to do it?”

——His husband practically treated himself like a child who hadn’t been weaned.

The young man didn’t nod or shake his head, but those big eyes clearly conveyed this meaning.

When Qin Muwen first married in, his mother-in-law, that is, Li Jin’s mother, had the same expectation of him.
“Our Li Jin is a scholar and can’t do farm work. His hands are meant for holding a pen and writing. From now on, you’ll take care of all these things, understand?”

Back then, Qin Muwen was only fifteen. His family had fallen on hard times, and he went from being the son of a minister who never even touched a drop of farm water to learning how to do farm work and serve others.

Now, it’s been two years.

Li Jin ruffled his hair and laughed, saying, “Farming is basically a man’s job, right? I won’t compete with you over the laundry anymore.”

He went out with a sickle and a basket, unaware that the boy had already, without realizing it, tears streaming down his face.

Qin Muwen curled up under the quilt, crying silently. Since his father passed away, no one had ever treated him so well.

Li Jin had done some farm work in his previous life. After all, he was a medical student, and during his eight years of study, he had spent his summer vacations teaching in mountainous areas.

In his free time, he would also help the villagers with some farming tasks. That was when he learned how to harvest and thresh wheat.

Li Jin’s parents both passed away two years ago. Since there were few people in his family, the village chief only allocated two acres of land to him.

After all, more land and more family members meant higher taxes each year. If no one worked the land, it would go to waste.

The original Li Jin was very dissatisfied with the village chief reclaiming his family’s land, but the current Li Jin thinks it was a wise decision. There are now only three people in his family, and two acres are enough.

Even though Li Jin had the basic experience of farm work from his previous life, there was still a difference compared to the villagers who did this regularly.

But luckily, his family’s land was small, and after cutting grass for two hours, he had managed to finish a quarter of his two acres.

The villagers, who usually worked in the fields, had originally intended to show this pampered ‘young master’ how to cut grass when they saw Li Jin coming with a sickle.

After all, when playing chess, Li Jin’s hands holding the pieces were long-boned and his skin was like white jade, even more beautiful than that young lady’s hands.

But these were definitely men’s hands.

None of them had expected that Li Jin’s hands, when picking up a sickle, would cut the grass just as neatly and efficiently.

Although his movements were a bit awkward at first, after working all afternoon, everyone around could clearly see that Li Jin was getting more skilled, and his grass-cutting speed was improving.

As the sky darkened, Li Jin walked back with the villagers.

Some of the people who had previously been distant toward him no longer gave him cold looks, and even some elders praised him, saying, “Li Jin really is different now.”​