TTLJDFL Chapter 14

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In this era, scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants were strictly ranked in terms of status, so the people who farmers respected the most were scholars.

However, Li Jin had previously been obsessed with the top courtesan at Piaoxiangyuan in town, trying to act like a wealthy young master throwing money around.

But in reality, his family was so poor that they could barely afford meat during the New Year. His husband even had to take on sewing work to support the household.

Because of this, the villagers all looked down on Li Jin.

—At least it showed that the people in this era had simple values. They despised useless men.

Moreover, although the elders of the Li family had claimed that Li Jin was studying under a scholar in town, no one in the village had ever seen him write anything.

Over time, everyone just assumed that Li Jin was wasting money and learning nothing.

Of course, they never said this directly to his face, but it was common knowledge in the village.

However, after watching Li Jin’s chess match against Li Daniu today, the villagers suddenly felt… maybe he actually had learned something in town.

Perhaps he wasn’t entirely useless after all.

After playing three rounds, Li Jin noticed the growing number of onlookers.

He said to Li Daniu, “My husband just gave birth. I shouldn’t stay out too long. Let’s stop here for today—I’ll play with you again next time.”

Li Daniu had the same thought. He had almost been beaten into submission by Li Jin’s chess skills!

Every move he made, he fell into Li Jin’s traps—his pieces were eaten up one after another.

Li Daniu said, “I can’t beat you. Next time, you’ll have to let me take a few moves ahead!”

Li Jin agreed without hesitation. “Alright.”

After Li Jin left, Li Daniu immediately pulled someone from the crowd.

“Er Gouzi, come play with me! Playing against Li Jin is too exhausting—I can’t make a single move without falling into his calculations.”

Er Gouzi looked miserable but still sat down across from Li Daniu.

“Brother, I’m not good at chess…”

Li Daniu took out his coin pouch, counted two copper coins, and handed them to Er Gouzi.

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

Since it was just a little money, Er Gouzi accepted it casually.

Some of the onlookers, who had sharp eyes, noticed Li Daniu’s heavy coin pouch and joked, “Daniu, looks like you’ve struck it rich!”

Li Daniu replied, “It’s just the money Li Jin paid me for the bedding he bought from my family yesterday.”

The villagers: “…” Li Jin again?

Wasn’t his family dirt poor? Where did he get so much money?

Li Daniu didn’t care what they thought. He sighed, “Scholars really do have it easy. All Li Jin had to do was copy a few books at the bookstore in town, and he could afford to buy new cotton bedding. And that was four jin of fresh cotton—enough for a warm quilt!

We farmers have to work through an entire harvest season just to earn that kind of money.”

His tone carried a hint of envy. “After Li Jin took the bedding, I went to the village chief to settle the payment.

The chief used an abacus to calculate the total, but Li Jin just glanced at the receipt and immediately told me the correct amount.

I have to say, that fortune teller back then was right—Li Jin really does have a talent for studying.”

Someone was clearly skeptical. “If that brat Li Jin could make money by studying, then why was his family so often on the verge of starvation, always asking the villagers for food?”

That statement made sense.

As he continued playing chess, Li Daniu said, “Wasn’t it just because he didn’t want to make money before? Now that his husband has just given birth and can’t move, Li Jin has to support the family, so he finally went out to earn some money.”

No one could refute that.

Although Li Daniu’s chess skills weren’t as good as Li Jin’s, he had a good attitude—if someone was better than him, he willingly admitted it.

Thanks to Li Daniu’s words, many of the spectators watching the game had a changed impression of Li Jin.

However, they couldn’t quite articulate exactly how their opinions had shifted.

It was only when they truly interacted with Li Jin that these revised perceptions would solidify.

After finishing his chess game, Li Daniu returned home and handed his money pouch to his wife.

As a man, his job was simply to earn money. Managing finances was his wife’s responsibility.

His wife was surprised. “Li Jin paid you back so quickly?”

Selling a quilt and two mattresses—even if one took them to town—usually meant waiting at least ten days to half a month before getting paid.

Li Daniu, slightly displeased with his wife’s attitude toward Li Jin, said, “Of course! Last night, you were the one urging me to find the village chief to write up that bill.

But I’m telling you, Li Jin is a scholar—why wouldn’t he settle his debts?”

His wife placed the money pouch in a small hole dug beneath the bed and didn’t argue further with her husband.

After all, money in hand was what truly mattered. Regardless of Li Jin’s past reputation, even between blood brothers, financial matters needed to be clear-cut.

That said, Li Jin repaying the debt so quickly did show that he was a straightforward person.

It seemed that becoming a father had truly changed him.

At least, he was no longer idling his days away.

When Li Jin returned home, little Baozi was sleeping soundly beside the young man.

Meanwhile, the young man himself was holding one of Li Jin’s old garments, seemingly measuring its size.

Li Jin remained silent. He had casually mentioned in the morning that the young man could make him some new clothes, but that was mostly to prevent him from taking on embroidery work for extra money.

Since the young man wasn’t the type to sit idle, Li Jin figured it was better to give him something easier to do.

At the end of the day, Li Jin was quite possessive. Now that he had come to terms with his situation, he had mentally categorized both the young man and the child as his family.

So… he didn’t want the young man’s handiwork being sold to others.

Qin Muwen felt a large shadow cast over him. Before he could react, the garment in his hands was taken by Li Jin.

Li Jin asked, “Already planning to make me clothes so soon?”

Qin Muwen’s face suddenly turned red.

Although they had already shared the most intimate moments between a couple—Li Jin had even helped deliver the baby and cut the umbilical cord—

During the two years they had been married, they barely spoke to each other.

There were almost no kisses. Every time they were together, Li Jin was rough and indifferent, without a hint of tenderness.

This was the first time Qin Muwen had carefully measured Li Jin’s clothes like this.

And, as luck would have it, he was caught in the act.

Li Jin said, “These clothes are a bit small now. There’s no need to compare them to my old ones. When I get the fabric, you can just take my measurements directly.”

At eighteen years old, this body was still growing. If new clothes were being made, it was better to take current measurements for shoulder width, arm length, and leg length.

Qin Muwen obediently agreed.

By midday in the lunar June, the scorching sun made it hard to tell whether it was day or night.

Fortunately, there was a persimmon tree in the courtyard that provided some shade.

Under the tree, Li Jin started doing push-ups. His body was too weak—he needed to train.

—Even if he couldn’t see muscles when he took off his shirt, at the very least, he shouldn’t look like a walking skeleton.

He barely managed eighteen push-ups before feeling exhausted.

But Li Jin gritted his teeth and pushed through to thirty.

Then, after resting for three minutes, he continued.

In his past life, Li Jin was practically a gym rat. As long as he wasn’t working overtime, he would spend an hour and a half working out every day, followed by a half-hour of stretching.

Because of that, his muscles had been well-defined—not as bulky as a fitness coach’s but sleek and well-proportioned, giving him that "lean but muscular" physique.

After exercising, Li Jin fetched water and took a quick shower.

Now that the sun wasn’t as scorching as before, he planned to harvest the wheat along with the grass, bundling it up to feed pigs and sheep.

There was more grass than wheat in his field anyway. Picking them out one by one would be too time-consuming—it was easier to just cut everything down.

Li Jin asked the young man where the sickle was.

The young man was momentarily stunned before obediently telling him that it was stored under the kitchen cutting board.

Li Jin said, “I’m going to clear out the weeds in our field. I got quite a few vegetable seeds today, so we can start growing our own food.”

In ancient times, the division of labor between men and women was very clear-cut.

Laundry, cooking, and sewing were considered a woman's or a ger's responsibilities, while farming, plowing, and chopping firewood were a man’s work.

Previously, when Qin Muwen saw Li Jin doing laundry, he had been absolutely terrified.

Now, hearing that Li Jin planned to cut the grass himself, he was even more alarmed.

But he opened his mouth and didn’t know what to say.

Li Jin thought to himself: This young man really doesn’t know how to hide his emotions.

He asked, “Are you about to tell me that you’ll go cut the grass instead? That I don’t need to do such work?”

—His husband truly treated him like a child who hadn’t been weaned yet.

Though Qin Muwen neither nodded nor shook his head, his big, expressive eyes clearly held that exact meaning.

When Qin Muwen had first married in, his mother-in-law—Li Jin’s mother—had laid out her expectations for him.

“Our family’s Li Jin is a scholar. He can’t do farm work. His hands are meant for writing. From now on, you’ll take care of everything else. Understand?”

Back then, Qin Muwen was only fifteen years old. His family had fallen into decline, and he had gone from being the pampered son of a high-ranking official to learning how to do farm work and serve others.

Now, it had been two years.

Li Jin rubbed the boy’s head and smiled. "Farm work is a man's job, isn't it? From now on, I won’t compete with you over washing clothes."

He picked up the sickle and the basket and left the house. He didn’t see the tears silently streaming down the young man's face.

Qin Muwen curled up in the blanket, crying without a sound.

Ever since his father died, no one—no one—had ever treated him so kindly.

In his past life, Li Jin had done some farm work. After all, he had been a medical student. During his eight years of studying, he had spent some summer vacations volunteering as a teacher in rural areas.

During those times, he would help the villagers with their farm work. That was how he learned to harvest wheat and thresh grain.

Li Jin’s parents had both passed away two years ago, so the village chief had only assigned him two acres of land.

After all, the more land a family had, the more people they needed to work it, and the higher the taxes they had to pay.

If no one could do the farm work, the land would simply be left to waste.

The original Li Jin had been very dissatisfied when the village chief took back his family’s land. But now, Li Jin thought it was a wise decision.

His household only had three people now. Two acres of land were more than enough.

Even though Li Jin had some experience doing farm work, he was still different from the seasoned farmers.

But luckily, his land was small. After two hours of cutting grass, he had managed to clear a quarter of it.

At first, the village men saw Li Jin holding a sickle and were ready to teach the "pampered young master" how to use it properly.

After all, they had seen Li Jin’s hands while he was playing chess—his fingers were long and slender, his skin as pale as white jade, even more delicate than a young maiden’s.

Yet, those hands were undeniably a man’s hands.

None of them had expected that once Li Jin picked up the sickle, he would cut the grass so cleanly and efficiently.

Although his movements were a little awkward at first, after working all afternoon, everyone could see his actions becoming smoother and his speed increasing.

By the time dusk fell, Li Jin walked home alongside the other villagers.

Some of the people who had previously looked down on him no longer gave him the cold shoulder. An elder even praised him, saying, "Li Jin really is different now."

Tl Notes:

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