Chapter 128

128 Warmth
Before Ji Xiang arrived at Phoenix Village, an official rode a fast horse to Phoenix Town. When he reached the entrance of the village, he raised his voice and shouted the good news, “The top scholar of Phoenix Village, Zhou Jia, is a Top Scorer…”
When the people plowing the fields heard this, they wiped the mud off their legs and ran towards Li Yu’s house. They shouted, “Xiaoyu, Mr. Zhou is the top scorer.”
Li Yu and Li Mei’s family all ran out of the house and towards the Zhou family.
The bailiff shouted all the way and was led to the entrance of the Zhou family. He shouted, “Congratulations, congratulations, Top Scorer. The Zhou family has received the good news!
Li Yu took the good news with a smile and handed a piece of silver to the bailiff. She smiled and said, “It’s been hard on you.”
The bailiff took it and saw that it was silver. He was so happy that his mouth could not close. “It’s not hard, not hard.” With that, he turned around and mounted his horse.
Ruyi lit the firecrackers. The festive sound of the firecrackers sounded.
Li Yu looked at Uncle Zhou and Ruyi, who were wiping their tears. “Uncle Zhou, when Zhou Jia comes back, we’ll hold a banquet to celebrate.”
Uncle Zhou wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and smiled. “Alright, I’ll listen to you and celebrate.”
After saying that, Uncle Zhou looked up at the sky and prayed, “Old Master, Madam, Young Master has passed the imperial examination. It’s the first place, Top Scorer. Rest in peace! ”
The day after the rankings were released, Zhou Jia attended the banquet hosted by the governor. He rejected the invitation to go on a trip to celebrate and set off for Phoenix Village early in the morning.
As soon as he arrived at the village, he was surrounded by the villagers. Everyone asked excitedly. Some asked, “Is the Deer Dinner all about deer meat?”
Some asked, “Does the governor look the same as he does on the stage?”
After Zhou Jia answered patiently, he smiled and said to everyone, “Uncles, aunties, the Zhou family will hold a banquet tomorrow. Everyone, come and eat.”
Chen Yaohui and the others laughed happily. “That’s good! We’ll starve tonight and wait for your banquet tomorrow.”
Everyone laughed when they heard that.
After Zhou Jia and Li Yu sent the villagers away, Zhou Jia bowed to Li Mei and her husband. “Congratulations on having a son.”
Li Mei looked at Zhou Jia with a smile. “Mr. Zhou, I’m still waiting for you to name my son!”
Liu Changmin smiled and glanced at Li Mei. “We can’t call you Mr. Zhou anymore. It’s Top Scorer now.”
Li Mei rolled her eyes at him. “The Top Scorer is also my niece’s husband.”
Liu Changming nodded with a smile. “Yes, yes.” Everyone smiled and watched the two of them bicker.
Zhou Jia stole a glance at Li Yu, who was standing at the side with a smile. He saw that her long, black hair was as thick as clouds. Her skin was fair and pink, and she had dark eyebrows, cherry lips, long eyelashes, and lively eyes. Zhou Jia couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Zhaodi saw that Zhou Jia kept stealing glances at Li Yu. She smiled and said to Li Mei, “Mother, Brother Pig is going to cry at home. Let’s go home! Let Cousin talk to Mr. Zhou.”
Li Mei pushed Li Yu to Zhou Jia. “Yes, yes. Let’s talk. We’ll go back first.”
After sending Li Mei and the others off, Li Yu looked at the even more elegant and handsome Zhou Jia and teased him with a smile, “Do you think it’s better for me to call you Xiao Xi or Top Scorer in the future?”
“You can call me whatever you want. I’m all yours.” Zhou Jia couldn’t help but hold Li Yu’s hand and say gently, “Yu’er, I missed you so much.”
Li Yu felt as if she had drunk a bowl of honey water. She looked at Zhou Jia with a smile. “Go back next door first. Uncle Zhou has been waiting for you to come back and offer incense to your grandfather and mother.”
Zhou Jia held Li Yu’s hand. “Alright, come with me. I still have something to say to you.”
“Yes!” The two of them looked at each other and smiled. They went to the Zhou family. Uncle Zhou, Auntie He, and Ruyi looked at Zhou Jia and bowed happily. “Congratulations, Young Master.”
After Zhou Jia helped them up and went to the small ancestral hall to light incense and pay respects, he bowed to Uncle Zhou and said, “Uncle Zhou, thank you. Without you, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”
Uncle Zhou quickly retreated to the side excitedly. “Young Master, you can’t. We’re just doing our best.”
At this moment, Ruyi came over and reported from outside, “Young Master, Town Mayor Zhu and some country officials are here to congratulate you on your promotion.”
When Zhou Jia arrived at the door, he saw Zhu Zhencheng and High Scholar Ye’s butler. There were also a few unfamiliar country squires who came to congratulate him.
When Zhu Zhencheng saw Zhou Jia, he smiled and cupped his hands. “Ha! Ha! I didn’t judge wrongly. Congratulations, Mr. Zhou!”
Zhou Jia smiled and cupped his hands in thanks. “Thank you, Town Mayor. Thank you, villagers.”
For a moment, the Zhou family was filled with guests. Those who knew each other came with gifts. Zhou Jia smiled until his face froze. He only sent the guests away in the evening. After hurriedly washing up, he went to Li Yu’s house. The two of them held hands and stood by the window upstairs. Looking at the resplendent starry sky, their hearts were filled with the joy of reuniting after a short separation.
Zhou Jia kissed Li Yu’s temple and couldn’t help but laugh. “Yu’er, I heard from Zhao Cai that you brought Ruyi to teach High Scholar Ye a lesson. You scared his family so much that they’re still doing the Tao Field until today. You even placed those snakes and insects in the central room and scared Madam Ye half to death and shaved High Scholar Ye’s head and eyebrows?”
Li Yu looked at Zhou Jia from the corner of her eye and smiled roguishly. “Hmph! Who asked him to play tricks on us? It won’t kill him!”
Zhou Jia thought about High Scholar Ye’s pale and beardless face. Then, he thought about how Li Yu had shaved him naked and felt that it was too interesting.
“Naughty.” Zhou Jia couldn’t help but hug Li Yu and laugh.
After laughing, Li Yu recalled what Zhao Cai had brought back and asked Zhou Jia, “Xiao Xi, where did you find out that the Qingzhou government was almost broken through by the refugees? The drought in Qingzhou didn’t ease at all?”
Zhou Jia frowned and said, “Shen Wu told me the news. He said that the rioters had snatched up the government office’s granary. There are also a few places near Qingzhou that didn’t have much harvest. I heard from Shen Wu that the Imperial Court has ordered Tongzhou to transfer food over.”
“If the Imperial Court doesn’t help the victims, the riot won’t be far away. Can Qingzhou City still defend itself without food?”
“That’s right! If we don’t help them, and with Great Qi watching from the side, Qingzhou will probably be in trouble.” Zhou Jia pondered for a moment. “Yu’er, how’s our wheat and rice harvest this year?”
Li Yu looked at Zhou Jia and smiled proudly. “After screening the wheat for planting, there are still more than 600 stones left. There are a lot of grains this year. The average acreage is five stones. Think about it, how much food did we collect?”
Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu in surprise. “Yu’er, you’re too capable! You didn’t know this but I heard from the refugees from Qingzhou that those locusts planted their eggs in the soil. As soon as the weather warmed up, the locusts broke out of the ground. The crops that they painstakingly planted were eaten up again. The refugees had to peel off the bark from trees to eat.”
Li Yu thought for a moment. “Let’s raise more geese, ducks, and chickens. These poultry all like to eat insects. Especially ducks, they like to eat in the soil. If they don’t lack water, put some water in the field and put the ducks in. The locust eggs and larvae will be eaten by the ducks.”
“Yes! Your idea is good, but I wonder if those officials care about the lives of the victims? If they really care, they should ask a farmer. There’s no silver in the Imperial Court at the moment. The officials everywhere either only want to fish silver for their pockets, or they only want to protect their political achievements or get promoted. How many of them will care about the lives of the people?”