Li Lingyun did not return to the side room; instead, he turned and left the house.
He needed to find the Lizheng to buy a plot of land for a house.
Qingquan Village was not large, with a total of thirty households and one hundred sixty-one people.
The village was built between two large mountains running east to west. The distance between the mountains gradually narrowed from west to east, eventually merging into one continuous range.
This valley had seven or eight villages distributed from east to west, with the population increasing further west.
Qingquan Village was in the latter half, where the distance between the two mountains was only a little over three li wide, resulting in less cultivated land and naturally, a smaller population.
Fortunately, there was a large river running east to west right in the middle of the valley, which solved the villagers' problem of obtaining water.
The villagers of Qingquan Village lived on both banks of the river, with fields stretching north and south of the village.
Li Lingyun left his house and walked towards the Lizheng's home.
The Lizheng's home was on the opposite bank of the river; Li Lingyun crossed the large bridge and walked about a hundred meters to reach the Lizheng's home.
The Lizheng's house was also an impressive brick-and-tile building. Unlike the Li family, all of his houses were built of brick, even the woodshed.
It wasn't that the Lizheng was greedy; it was because his eldest son had opened a restaurant in the Town, and business was quite good.
Li Lingyun stepped forward and knocked on the main door. The person who opened the door was the Lizheng's youngest son, Zhao Wenwu.
Zhao Wenwu was fifteen years old this year and appeared strong and robust.
Seeing that it was Li Lingyun, he said in an ill-tempered manner, “What are you doing here? Our family doesn't welcome you.”
Last year, when Li Lingyun returned covered in blood, the villagers, not understanding what had happened, quickly ran to find the Lizheng, Zhao Qinghe.
Zhao Qinghe arrived at the Li family's house and saw Li Lingyun washing the blood from his head with cold water. All the Li family members were watching in the courtyard, not a single one stepping forward to stop him.
Zhao Qinghe and Li Lingyun's father had been good friends since childhood, so he naturally couldn't bear to see Li Chengcai treat his friend's son like that. He turned and scolded Li Chengcai, even offering to take Li Lingyun to the Town's medical clinic for bandaging.
But Li Lingyun, that good-for-nothing, not only refused to go to the clinic but also said that his affairs didn't need outsiders to worry about.
At that time, Li Dashan mocked Zhao Qinghe in front of the villagers, saying that some people just worried needlessly, insisting on giving things that others didn't need.
Li Lingyun stood aside like a quail, allowing others to ridicule Zhao Qinghe, who had always treated him well since he was young.
Zhao Qinghe, angered by Li Lingyun's weakness, turned and left the Li family's house.
Although he later sent medicine over, he himself never inquired about Li Lingyun again.
Li Lingyun inherited the original owner's memories, so he naturally knew about this incident.
The reason the original owner spoke that way at the time was entirely due to Li Dashan's threats.
When he returned home, Liu Shi saw his face covered in blood and scolded him fiercely, saying he had wasted time earning money.
It was only when Li Lingyun took out the one tael of silver compensated by the wealthy family that the family's expressions improved slightly.
Li Dashan heard the villagers outside saying they were going to find the Lizheng and knew Zhao Qinghe would be coming soon.
Fearing that Zhao Qinghe would take Li Lingyun to the Town to buy medicine and spend money, he threatened Li Lingyun, telling him not to follow Zhao Qinghe to the medical clinic, or he would beat him to death upon his return.
Li Lingyun was accustomed to being timid and naturally dared not follow Zhao Qinghe.
This led to the incident where Zhao Qinghe was ridiculed by a junior.
Li Lingyun smiled awkwardly at Zhao Wenwu and said, “Xiao Wu, I came to see Uncle Zhao about something. Is he in?”
Zhao Wenwu glared at him and said angrily, “My father isn't here. Don't come to my house again.”
He felt his father had been giving Li Lingyun food from their home for years, only to find out he was such an ungrateful wretch, watching his father be ridiculed without daring to utter a single word.
Seeing that the other party was determined not to let him see the Lizheng, Li Lingyun felt awkward about pressing the issue and turned to leave.
Just then, a voice came from inside the courtyard: “Xiao Wu, let him in.”
Zhao Wenwu stomped his foot in displeasure upon hearing his father's words, but he still opened the door and said with a sullen face, “Come in. Say what you need to say quickly and then leave quickly.”
Li Lingyun said thanks and entered the main gate.
The Zhao family's courtyard was very large. To the south of the courtyard was a vegetable patch, with many green vegetables growing in it.
To the north of the courtyard was a row of brick-and-tile houses. Li Lingyun saw a man of about forty sitting under the eaves.
The man was relatively thin but looked quite spirited. He had a short beard on his face and was even a little handsome.
His deep eyes were currently looking at Li Lingyun.
Li Lingyun stepped forward, bowed deeply to the other party, and said with full apology, “Uncle Zhao, this nephew was foolish before. I hope Uncle Zhao can forgive this nephew this one time. Lingyun promises never to make such a mistake again.”
Zhao Qinghe didn't speak, just looked steadily at Li Lingyun.
How did he feel that his good friend's good-for-nothing son seemed different somehow?
Li Lingyun saw that he wasn't speaking and couldn't quite gauge his meaning for a moment, so he could only remain bowed and wait.
After a long while, Zhao Qinghe spoke faintly: “Get up. I didn't take this matter to heart. You can go back.”
Li Lingyun stood up but did not leave: “Uncle Zhao, I want to buy a plot of land for a house in the village. I ask Uncle Zhao to make it convenient.”
When the Xia Dynasty was founded, the Equal-Field System was implemented, and land for houses did not need to be purchased. If a family separated, they only needed to apply to the Lizheng.
The Lizheng would allocate land to the separating family based on the number of people in their household.
However, as the dynasty gradually declined, the Equal-Field System had long existed in name only, and land annexation became increasingly severe, to the point where even land for houses needed to be bought with money.
Of course, one could also choose not to buy and find a place to live outside the village's jurisdiction.
But such places were sparsely populated, and Li Lingyun dared not live alone. He couldn't guarantee that his house wouldn't be stolen one day.
Stealing the house would be fine, but if he encountered someone deranged who took his life on a dark and windy night, that would be truly amusing.
Zhao Qinghe asked in surprise, “Why are you buying land for a house?”
Li Lingyun had land for a house.
When the Li family divided their property, he had asked his father to preside over the division, and he remembered very clearly that two of the Li family's five unfinished houses were allocated to Li Chengcai.
Moreover, Li Lingyun lived with Li Chengcai, so there was no need to buy land for a house.
As for Li Lingyun having a change of heart and deciding to separate from the Li family and live alone, Zhao Qinghe hadn't even considered such a possibility.
This child had been trained by the Li family's bunch to have lost his manly spirit and simply dared not speak of separating from the Li family and living alone.
And Li Chengcai would not let go of such a good laborer; otherwise, who would perform his family's corvée labor?
Li Lingyun spoke with a look of disappointment: “Uncle Zhao, my eldest uncle drove me out. I have nowhere to go, so I can only buy a piece of land and build a house myself.”
Although leaving the Li family was a decision he made after receiving the original owner's memories, he couldn't say publicly that he wanted to leave the Li family.
If he said that, others would call him an ungrateful wretch, abandoning his eldest uncle's family once he grew up.
He could only say that the other party had driven him out, which might gain him some sympathy in the village.
Modern people might think Li Lingyun was making a fuss, but Li Lingyun, who had lived in the countryside since childhood, knew deeply how important reputation was in rural areas.
