TTLJDFL chapter 32

Li Zhuzi knew these tiles were expensive, so he deliberately drove the ox cart a bit slower to make the ride smoother. But even so, Li Jin still had to hold the basket at all times to make sure the tiles didn’t bump against each other.

Li Zhuzi cracked his whip on the ox’s back and said, “Li Jin, are you really that close with that young master?”

Li Jin laughed and said, “We’re both Mr. Song’s students, so you could say we were classmates.”

Li Zhuzi sighed, “That’s good. Your mother used to come to my house often and tell me that when I go to the town, I should keep an eye on you, so you don’t pick up bad habits from others. I think this young master is very good, he doesn’t look down on our village man at all. It’s great if you befriend him.”

Li Zhuzi was about seven or eight years older than Li Jin. In ancient times, village mans would often marry at fifteen, so being seven or eight years older allowed him to speak to Li Jin in this tone.

It was now noon, the time when the sun was at its highest, and Li Jin felt a little dizzy from the heat.

He steadied himself with his other hand on the wooden board beneath him and only managed to recover after a while.

Fragments of memories started to surface in his mind again.

Li Jin gently closed his eyes, and suddenly an image of a woman appeared before him—she wore coarse linen clothes, was short, and extremely thin-limbed.

He knew she was the original owner’s mother.

In the newly surfaced memories, the woman seemed to have endless energy every day, but even so, she still couldn’t finish all the farm work.

Li Jin could still remember what the original owner looked like at around seven or eight years old—thin and dark, like a little scrappy kid.

At that time, the Li family was large, with Li Jin’s father, grandfather, and grandmother all around, and they had quite a bit of land.

But no one in the family was willing to do any farm work.

All eight acres had to be planted by that small woman gritting her teeth, and she still had to water them afterward. The little Li Jin stood on the ridge of the field, waiting for his mother to finish watering a bucket; then he would carry the empty bucket back and, a little while later, bring another bucket of water.

A seven or eight-year-old boy is pretty strong, but he’s not very skilled at carrying water. By the time he carries a full bucket out to the field, more than half of it is already gone.

Seeing this, his mother was really at a loss, half laughing and half crying. She patted his head and told him to go play with his friends.

But little Li Jin shook his head: “Mother, don’t tire yourself out like this.”

He was still young and hadn’t attended school, so he could only express his thoughts in his own way. If he were a little older, he might have said, ‘I’ll help mother with the work so you can be a bit more relaxed.’

The short woman in his memories was always very tired every day, but whenever she saw the original owner, she would still smile.

Occasionally, when villagers gave her eggs, she would hide some and secretly save them for the original owner to eat. At that time, the original owner would even share half with the woman, and they would eat together.

Yet the woman, smiling gently, wouldn’t eat an extra bite, leaving it all for the little original owner.

Li Jin opened his eyes and shook off the distracting thoughts in his mind.

Almost every time he came into contact with Li Zhuzi, this guy would bring up the original owner’s mother, saying things like, ‘Your mother is a pitiable person’ and ‘Your mother asked me to take good care of you.’

Until now, Li Jin hadn’t felt much about it; after all, he was just a time-traveler and really couldn’t grasp the meaning behind Li Zhuzi’s words from just a few sentences.

He had thought that the fragmented memories he had picked up of the original owner’s past two years were enough.

Unexpectedly, getting a bit dazed from the sun somehow brought back some memories from even earlier years.

Li Jin said, “Brother Zhu, my mother…”

He opened his mouth but suddenly felt at a loss for words. Even though he was deeply moved after seeing that memory, he still couldn’t fully put himself in it.

Besides, the original person’s mother had passed away two years ago. Bringing it up now would only add to the sorrow.

Li Zhuzi said, “If your mother knew you made it now and even had a child, she would definitely be very proud.”

Li Jin leaned on his basket, his gaze falling on the fields not far away, and said, “I hope so.”

Li Zhuzi said, “Even now you speak so elegantly, I, a big rough guy, feel embarrassed to talk to you.”

Li Jin forced a bitter smile, “I just thought of my mother, and I’m feeling a bit down.”

Li Zhuzi scratched his head, “It’s all my fault for bringing this up with you.

But your mother really was a good person. I think it was about ten years ago. You were still little back then, I was already married, and you were running around the village naked.”

Li Jin: “…”

Is this the kind of person who brings up exactly the thing you’d rather not talk about, getting more and more worked up the more they talk?

Li Zhuzi continued, “I still remember you were really well-behaved back then. When your mother was worn out from farming, you’d go carry water for her. Your father wouldn’t let you help, but you went secretly anyway.

I think it was around June or July, I remember it being really hot.

You fell into the well while fetching water, and your mother, seeing that you hadn’t brought any water for a long time, rushed to find you. Your father just said you might have gone off to play somewhere.

But, your mother said it was impossible, but later she discovered that the hemp rope that used to draw water was still there. She turned pale and begged the villagers to go down the well to find you.”

Li Jin was stunned for a moment, not expecting this turn of events.

Coincidentally, before he had transmigrated, he also fell into a river when he was about seven or eight years old and stayed in the hospital for a long time before gradually regaining consciousness.

Li Zhuzi said: “In the end, I was the one who went down. The villagers tied me with several hemp ropes, and I went down the well.

Luckily, you were young and still thin at that time, and you knew to curl yourself up in the bucket, so I was able to lift you out. Although you fainted then, fortunately, you were fine in the end.”

Li Jin said, “Brother Zhu not only saved my life, but over the years has also taken care of me. I will never forget it for as long as I live.”

Li Zhuzi waved his hand and said, “If you had seen your mother’s expression when she found out you fell into the well, you would probably have made the same choice I did.”

As a person who is usually so easygoing and hardworking, at that moment looked at the Li family members as if he were looking at evil spirits.

It was as if if Li Jin were truly gone, this woman would dash her head against the wall.

At first, Li Zhuzi felt pity for her, but he didn’t expect that later, to repay him, this woman would tell his brother about a virtuous wife.

Li Zhuzi then really took Li Jin’s matter to heart. He even regarded Li Jin as half his own brother.

During their conversation, they were almost at the village.

Li Zhuzi said, “Li Jin, even though you’ve got prospects now and your friends are all impressive people, I feel like I’m sucking up to you saying this. But I’ll still say it: if you ever need anything, Brother Zhuzi’s got your back.”

Li Jin recalled all the things he went through when he crossed over and became serious, saying, “Brother Zhuzi, please don’t ever say that again. I remember all the good you’ve done for me. Even if I pass the exams and become a scholar, you’ll still be my brother.”

=

Li Jin adjusted his mood and carried the tiles into the yard.

The young man heard the noise and quickly came out. His body was getting better and better now, and his legs didn’t tremble as much when he walked, so he could stand steadily.

Just looking straight at him, the young man didn’t look like someone who had just given birth at all—his limbs were long and his figure well-proportioned.

Li Jin thought, ‘Recently, all that meat went into whose belly?

But the days are still few; if I take care of him long enough, he’ll naturally put on a bit of weight.’ Li Jin thought to himself.

The young man didn’t notice Li Jin’s thoughts and innocently spun around a couple of times in front of him.

He didn’t notice at all that someone’s eyes had darkened slightly.

Then, he went into the room and brought out a fan he had woven himself from rattan, proudly offering it to Li Jin, letting him sit while he fanned him.

Li Jin: “Did you make this this morning?”

Qin Muwen nodded, then remembered that Li Jin didn’t want him moving around too much.

He said, “Xiao An brought the rattan. He said he wanted to make a few fans as gifts for his husband, but he couldn’t, so he asked me to teach him.”

In the end, Qin Muwen boldly took back what he had made and brought it to Li Jin as a present.

Li Jin praised, “Not bad.”

But it only had the fan frame, so it let wind through.

The young man, receiving compliment, had sparkling eyes, and even the vermilion mole at the edge of his brow looked more charming.

So he enthusiastically fanned Li Jin even more.

But… the effect was half the effort.

Li Jin said, “Who did you learn to weave fans from?”

Qin Muwen replied, “There’s a shop in town that sells bamboo baskets, bamboo trays, and rattan fans. I used to work there, and that’s where the master taught me.”

But the master only taught each person one type, otherwise everyone would learn all his skills and then how would he make money?

Li Jin felt like he had seen this shop before. He said, “Is it the one with two red lanterns hanging at the entrance?”

Qin Muwen nodded: “Yes, the craftsman at that shop is just a regular guy, and he treats us really well.”

Li Jin thought, that shop, huh. That shop is nothing like the young man described, selling bamboo baskets and trays.

Instead, it sells all sorts of seasonal little things.

For example, kites and cuju in spring, fans in summer, back baskets and dustpans in autumn, and lanterns in winter.

It’s just a pity the young man doesn’t go out often, so he doesn’t know what the shop is really like.

And besides, the outside of the fan definitely needs to be covered with two layers of paper, only then will it block the wind. The master still has his secrets.

Li Jin said, “Next month, when your health gets better, I’ll take you to the town to have some fun.”

The young man’s round almond-shaped eyes widened into big circles.

“Really?”

Li Jin: “Of course it’s true. Next month I’ll be at Xinglin Hall for consultations, and I’ll take you to visit Doctor Wu.”

The boy was stunned: “Am I going to take medicine?”

As he spoke, a hint of hesitation even showed on his face, and he wasn’t fanning him as energetically as before.

Li Jin was both amused and exasperated by his reaction. “No, the herbs I collected earlier were all taken care of by Doctor Wu. He’s helped our family a lot, and I wanted to take you to meet him.”

Although the boy was indeed physically weak, he really didn’t need medicine yet.

The boy realized his misunderstanding only after hearing Li Jin’s words.

He obediently moved closer to Li Jin again and vigorously fanned him.

Li Jin felt he had stumbled onto a whole new continent. “Are you afraid of bitter things?” he asked.

The young man hesitated, as if contemplating whether he should admit that he was afraid of bitter things.

After all, his father had taught him not to be delicate.

Seeing his reaction, Li Jin already knew the answer. He changed the question: “Which do you prefer, honey or malt sugar?”

The young man replied, “Honey.”

After Li Jin finished asking, he didn’t speak. The young man secretly observed Li Jin’s expression and whispered, “We haven’t finished the sugar at home yet, so don’t buy more for now.”

Li Jin: “I know.”

The young man was immediately a bit puzzled. If Ah Jin knew, then why did he ask him?

Li Jin said, “In the future, if you obediently take your medicine, I’ll reward you with honey to eat.”

The young man: “???”

Isn’t it that he won’t take the medicine?

Li Jin smiled and gently pinched his not-so-chubby cheek, and he realized that the young man’s obedience didn’t require any pretension.

Because his nature was obedient to the bone.

It was so obvious, yet he still didn’t realize he was joking. After a while, the young man came back to his senses. Li Jin thought he understood that he was joking.

But then he heard the young man say: “If I have to, then I’ll take the medicine.”

The author has something to say:

[Qin Muwen: Pinch my face, and I’ll take the medicine.]

[Li Jin: I refuse.]

[Qin Muwen: Feeling wronged, fine, I’ll obediently take the medicine.]

[Li Jin: No, let me kiss you instead, okay?]​