TTLJDFL Chapter 27

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The milky-white pig trotter soup let off wisps of steam. It was hard to say what seasonings Li Jin had added, but the soup wasn't greasy at all. Instead, it had a rich and delicious flavor.

The young man held the soup in his hands, sitting on the bed, watching Li Jin copy books.

At that moment, he felt that Li Jin carried the same aura as his father and older brothers—

A strategist, calm and composed.

By the time Li Jin finished his calligraphy practice, the sky outside was completely dark. Apart from the chirping of cicadas, there was nothing else.

He had the nagging feeling that he had forgotten something.

It wasn’t until he had done thirty push-ups in the kitchen and was washing up that it hit him—

He had forgotten to water the vegetable garden!

By now, it was too late. Forget whether he could see anything at night—going out of the village this late would be dangerous.

So the next morning, while the young man stayed home to take care of the child, Li Jin hurried out to water the plants.

It was mid-summer, and the vegetable sprouts were delicate. If they weren’t watered properly, they could dry up and die.

Moreover, watering at midday when the sun was scorching hot would cause the water to evaporate too quickly, leaving the seedlings just as dry.

By the time Li Jin arrived at the academy, he happened to run into Chen Xiran at the entrance.

Chen Xiran smiled and said, "Brother Li, what held you up today?"

Li Jin replied, "I got home late yesterday and forgot to water the vegetable garden, so I had to do it this morning."

Chen Xiran's mouth fell open. He had never imagined that Li Jin’s family situation was like this.

The last time he visited, he saw Li Jin’s husband sewing embroidered pouches to supplement their income. Now, Li Jin had to farm and water crops himself?!

Chen Xiran asked in disbelief, "You study during the day and still have to do farm work? Isn't that too exhausting?"

Li Jin glanced at him, puzzled. "Isn't that how it is for most farming families?"

Chen Xiran firmly refuted, "No! If a farmer’s child shows promise in studying, the clan will provide land and money for their family. That way, they don’t have to worry about farm work—other family members handle it, and the scholar can focus on studying."

Li Jin remained indifferent. "Well, unfortunately, our village is made up of independent households. My surname is Li, but I don’t have a clan here."

Chen Xiran: "..." I take back what I said.

The surname "Li" was indeed quite rare.

Chen Xiran wanted to help, but he also understood that giving money to a fellow student would hurt Li Jin’s reputation.

Besides, Li Jin wasn’t in dire straits—he was just leading his own life.

"Enduring hardships leads to success."

Everyone knew this saying, but how many people could actually live by it?

Chen Xiran had newfound respect for Li Jin.

Before, he thought Li Jin was too boring, like a bookworm who didn’t care about anything.

But now, after thinking from Li Jin’s perspective—balancing studies, farm work, and providing for his family—it made sense that he had no time for poetry and romance.

Just then, the teacher’s young son politely welcomed them into the study room.

"My father said he has matters to attend to today, but Brother Li needs to copy this book, and Brother Chen needs to memorize this one."

The child handed them each a book.

After looking at the covers, he hesitated, realizing he had mixed them up.

"My mistake! This one is for Brother Li, and this one is yours."

Sure enough, Li Jin’s book was a commentary on The Doctrine of the Mean—the child had corrected himself just in time.

The little boy added, "Father said you can’t slack off. He will check your work tomorrow. Once you finish your assignments, you may leave on your own."

After the child left, Li Jin turned to Chen Xiran and asked, "Brother Chen, is there some change with our teacher?"

"Wasn't there an investigation yesterday?"

Chen Xiran was indeed a "walking information hub."

He said, "My father told me that yesterday, the village chief personally interrogated the woman. It turned out she was instructed by someone. Today, she is supposed to apologize to Mr. Song's family, so Mr. Song must be present.

Rest assured, everything has been resolved satisfactorily."

Li Jin recalled that when he went to Xiatan Village to sell wheat straw, he had met this village chief before—indeed, a man of both kindness and authority.

A good village chief.

Chen Xiran only knew what his father had told him and was unaware that, although the woman admitted she had been instructed by someone, she ultimately claimed that it was a local rogue who had put her up to it.

That rogue was known to have some mental issues, so in the end, the matter was left unresolved.

Everyone understood that it was most likely a scholar pulling strings behind the scenes, but no one bothered to expose the truth.

In this society, saving face was still important.

Besides, just based on the woman's testimony, they couldn't be entirely sure it was the scholar she named. Without solid evidence, they had no choice but to put the matter on hold.

At least justice was restored for Mr. Song's family.

If this false accusation had stuck, how would they have continued living in the clan?

After copying the book, the boy handed Li Jin another one to take home and transcribe.

At present, Mr. Song’s teaching method for Li Jin was to first let him copy difficult classical texts to reinforce memory before explaining their meaning in class.

Of course, in most cases, Li Jin also had to copy the annotations during class.

These annotated books were likely gifts from an old friend, as Mr. Song never allowed him to take them home.

After school, Chen Xiran, aware of Li Jin’s financial situation, didn’t insist on going to Baishifang for a meal. Instead, he said, "The way back to your village is long, be careful not to get heatstroke."

Li Jin thought that although Chen Xiran came from a wealthy family, he was quite considerate of the people around him.

He never looked down on Li Jin for his lowly background, nor did he flaunt his wealth after realizing how poor he was.

In short, he had high emotional intelligence.

Li Jin headed to the main street first. He had a little over a hundred coins with him today and needed to check fabric prices.

Earlier in the morning, he discussed with the young man and learned that one bolt of cloth was about four zhang (thirty-three meters).

A single outfit required only seven or eight meters, but to make a complete set, he would need an entire bolt.

As for the price of a bolt of cloth, the young man himself was unsure.

He had never been in charge of purchasing materials before. All the clothes he wore were old garments that had been altered.

Li Jin entered a fabric store, where the shopkeeper, like a human scanner, glanced at him and immediately led him to the soft cloth section.

"This fabric is made from cotton thread, not hemp. It's soft to the touch, absorbs sweat, and is suitable for scholars like you."

Li Jin felt the fabric—it was indeed nice, similar to the material of his own robe.

But in reality, he wore coarse hemp undergarments beneath his robe.

It was just a polished exterior.

Li Jin asked about the price.

The shopkeeper said, "We don’t sell this fabric by the meter, only by the bolt. The price ranges from one to two taels of silver, depending on the pattern and color."

Li Jin glanced at the hundred coins in his pocket and fell into contemplation.

One tael of silver was equal to one string of cash (one thousand pennies).

Ten times what he had.

With his limited funds, Li Jin inquired about the price of coarse hemp fabric instead.

The shopkeeper, noticing that Li Jin might not be buying cotton fabric, was not upset and kindly provided the pricing details.

Having run the store for years, the shopkeeper rarely encountered scholars with Li Jin’s demeanor. From what he knew, scholars like Li Jin usually ended up taking exams in the capital.

So, he remained friendly.

"Coarse hemp is cheap—only one hundred and fifty pennies per bolt."

Li Jin kept a neutral expression, recalling that when he bought two mattresses from Li Daniu’s family, Li Daniu had told him that a foot of cloth cost three pennies.

That meant one zhang cost thirty pennies, and a full bolt was one hundred and twenty pennies.

Sure enough, the prices in town were higher.

After comparing coarse hemp and cotton, Li Jin decided he still wanted to buy cotton fabric.

After all, they already had enough coarse hemp clothes for farm work and didn't need more.

On the other hand, the young man had recently given birth and was still frail. Wearing coarse hemp could chafe his skin.

But he was truly poor at the moment. A hundred coins were already most of his family's savings. In the end, he left empty-handed.

Li Jin planned to ask Li Daniu’s family if they had any cotton fabric. Since they were struggling financially now, saving wherever possible was necessary.

Just as Li Jin was about to take a detour straight home, someone called out to him.

"Li Jin! Li Jin! Someone’s looking for you!"

It was Chen Xiran, accompanied by Doctor Wu from Xinglintang.

Li Jin stopped in surprise. "Doctor Wu? Chen, how did you two end up together?"

Chen Xiran explained, "Doctor Wu was waiting for you outside Mr. Song's house, but we left early. If my family’s servant hadn't mentioned that someone had been pacing outside, I wouldn’t have known about it."

Doctor Wu invited Li Jin to Xinglintang.

Chen Xiran, ever eager for gossip, insisted on tagging along.

Alright then, Li Jin no longer considered his emotional intelligence that high.

Doctor Wu, seeing no other choice, explained the issue about the prescription in front of the three of them.

Li Jin reassured him, "I wrote down the usage instructions and precautions. Don't worry, just use it as needed."

Doctor Wu, however, was anxious and warned Li Jin that prescriptions should not be shared carelessly. If people found out, he could be accused of betraying his teacher and ancestor, a serious offense.

Hearing this, Li Jin simply smiled and said, "I found this prescription in an ancient book; it has no known origin."

After all, it came from an entirely different parallel world.

Dr. Wu was even more surprised. He hadn’t expected that there were actually physicians willing to record secret prescriptions in books for public reading.

Li Jin said, “If Dr. Wu finds this prescription useful, then I hope that in the future, you won’t keep it hidden. After all, this prescription has great value. If it spreads widely, it may save many lives.

“I thank you in advance, Doctor.”

Dr. Wu quickly stood up and bowed deeply to Li Jin, even changing the way he addressed him.

“Mr. Li, your compassion is admirable. I truly respect you!”

Li Jin dared not take credit. “I think that since the original author of the book was willing to record this prescription, they must have hoped it could save more lives.”

Dr. Wu said, “Since Mr. Li has put it this way, I will do my best to promote this prescription.

“To be honest, my son is preparing for the provincial examination. We don’t have enough money to hire servants, so I will need to accompany him to handle arrangements. I will be gone for about a month.”

Indeed, the autumn examination was held on the 9th, 12th, and 15th of the eighth lunar month, with three rounds of testing.

It was usually held in the provincial capital, and most fathers or uncles would accompany their children to take care of meals and other necessities.

Chen Xiran: “…” So he’s taking the provincial examination already???

Ever since getting to know Li Jin, he felt like he was surrounded by academic geniuses.

Seeing this prescription and the usage warnings, Dr. Wu no longer believed Li Jin’s earlier claim that his medical skills were only “half-baked.”

Dr. Wu said, “Would Mr. Li be willing to sit for consultations at Xinglintang for two hours every afternoon in August? When there are no patients, you are free to study and practice calligraphy. I will discuss this with the shopkeeper.”

Finally, he dropped a bombshell: “Three taels of silver per month.”

Author's note: 

Li Jin: I am a time traveler, a farmer, and I have no money.

Tl Notes:

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