After a moment of excitement, Qin Zhao led Jing Li home.

"You are already a human, why are you still so afraid of cats?" Qin Zhao sighed.

Jing Li whispered: "I used to be afraid when I was a human being..."

"What did you say?"

"It's okay." Jing Li cleared his throat and spoke righteously, "Cats are so scary, their bites hurt so much!"

He decisively stopped talking about this matter with Qin Zhao and changed the subject: "How was your discussion with Qing'er's father?"

Qin Zhao: "He has already agreed that Lin Qing'er will attend the apprenticeship ceremony at the academy in two days' time."

Jing Li blinked curiously: "How did you persuade me?"

Qin Zhaodao: "I agreed to his request."

Jing Li: “What request?”

Qin Zhao: "Keep it secret."

Jing Li: "..."

What is there to keep secret?

Qin Zhao made up his mind not to tell Jing Li. No matter how he asked, he still couldn't find out the truth.

The two went to water the vegetable field first, and then went home to prepare for the opening of the academy. After the apprenticeship ceremony, formal classes would begin, and Qin Zhao had to prepare the necessary books and teaching content in advance.

Jing Li helped him prepare, but his attention was quickly diverted, and he soon forgot about it.

In the afternoon, Qin Zhao sorted out the catalog of books he needed to use. He looked up from the book and found that Jing Li had fallen asleep on the table.

Qin Zhao reached out and poked his soft cheek.

The boy was sleeping deeply and did not wake up after being teased by him. He only frowned and muttered something in a low voice, then changed the direction and continued sleeping. One of his cheeks had a red mark from the book, which made him look particularly cute.

Qin Zhao stood up and walked to Jing Li. He put his arm around Jing Li's shoulders and lifted him up by grabbing his knees with the other hand.

Jing Li was thin and small, and weighed very little, but it was still difficult for Qin Zhao to hold her. He carried Jing Li step by step towards the bed and gently placed her on the bed.

After doing this, Qin Zhao breathed a sigh of relief silently, his breathing a little unsteady.

The Chen Huan Powder in his body has been completely cured, but his body has been severely damaged by the decoction over the years, and he may not be able to recover in a day or two.

"I have to recover quickly..."

Qin Zhao sighed with unknown meaning, hugged Jing Li and lay down, recalling the content of the negotiation with Father Lin in his mind.

"Give me a wish? Then tell me, what wish is worth my regret?" The Lin family's house was dark, and the furniture and furnishings were very shabby, but everything was wiped clean, and the air was filled with a thick

The smell of wine.

Father Lin sat on a chair in the main room and shook the empty wine bottle on the table.

Qin Zhao: "Jade Lady."

Father Lin made a move.

He sneered: "That damn girl, I told you everything."

"You have been hiding in the village all these years, not daring to interact with people, let alone letting Miss Qing'er go to the town. Are you still worried that the disaster of Yuniang's family will implicate her?" Qin Zhao asked, "What crime did Yuniang's father commit?

?”

Father Lin was silent for a moment and then laughed again: "You don't mean to say that you can help her family clear their grievances, right? I heard that you will take the imperial examination next year and may become an official. But you can't help them.

Forget it."

Qin Zhao seemed to have not heard anything and continued: "Yu Niang has been dead for so many years, but you are still hiding in Tibet. It shows that the crime committed by her father should not be light. Did he kill the nine tribes?"

Father Lin: "Shut up."

Qin Zhao said calmly: "I shouldn't interfere in this matter, but my husband is worried, and I don't want to see him unhappy. I can promise you that if there is a chance in the future, I will investigate the truth of the matter and reverse the case for Yu Niang's family.

"

"As for Miss Qing'er, I will also warn her not to leave the village until this matter is settled. Can you rest assured?"

Father Lin fell silent for a long time.

"I really don't understand you." After a while, he said in a low voice, "Since you have guessed that it is the crime of killing the nine tribes, why are you still wading in this muddy water? Can you fight them if you are nosy?"

Qin Zhaodao: "Miss Qing'er has not yet reached hairpin age. This incident should have happened more than ten years ago. The nearest prefecture to here is Jiangling, so the incident happened in Jiangling Mansion."

"So what?"

Qin Zhao sighed silently, his facial features not clearly visible in the darkness: "Then it's no longer a trivial matter."

The Mengxue Academy held the apprenticeship ceremony as scheduled. Qin Zhao and the village chief sat at the main seats and received the worship of more than ten students.

The teaching hours of the village academy are the same as those in the town. There are two days off every ten days. Qin Zhao and the village chief take turns teaching, and occasionally Chen Yanan will come to help.

As time went by, the children all found that the village chief was very rigid when teaching, and he was drowsy when reading and was not very interested. As for Chen Yanan, he often took the students to play wildly in the middle of the lecture. For this reason

Qin Zhao said this several times.

Only when it is Qin Zhao's turn to teach, although he is equally serious, his explanations are detailed but not rigid, easy to understand, and are the most popular among students. Therefore, every time it is Qin Zhao's turn to teach, the children in the academy look forward to it and go there early.

Waiting in the school.

There are also shortcomings.

There is nothing to say about Mr. Qin's teaching, but he is not very punctual in class and always has to rush to get there. He even asks for leave from time to time and asks the village chief or Chen Yan'an to teach instead.

The closer it gets to winter, the more frequent it becomes.

It was Qin Zhao's turn to teach again one day, and the school was filled with children early.

——There were only eleven children registered before the academy started, but now there are fifteen children, and the small school seems increasingly crowded.

Lin Qing'er finished the article she talked about yesterday, turned her head and looked out the window, and sighed.

Sir will be late again.

In the bamboo courtyard separated by a wall from the academy, Qin Zhao rubbed the soft head in his arms and whispered: "It's time to get up, wake up."

"Sleepy..." Jing Li burrowed into Qin Zhao's arms and mumbled, "It's too cold to sleep for a little longer."

"..." Qin Zhao said, "That's what you just said."

After winter, it became increasingly difficult for Jing Li to get up.

You can't blame him. Jing Li's body is always cold, and without the protection of fish scales, winter is indeed a bit difficult. Linxi Village does not burn kangs in winter. Qin Zhao had already expected that most of his small fish would be afraid of the cold, so he prepared them at home before winter.

I bought several charcoal basins and a lot of quilts and cotton-padded clothes.

But it still had little effect.

Before getting up every day, Jing Li would lie in Qin Zhao's arms for half an hour, causing Qin Zhao to always be late for class.

Qin Zhao kissed Jing Li's icy side face and whispered: "I promised to teach them the rhythm today. If I don't go, it will be too late."

"..." Jing Li stopped moving, seemed to think for a moment, closed his eyes and moved his body out of Qin Zhao's arms little by little.

Then he turned over wrapped in quilt, only the furry back of his head was exposed.

Qin Zhao: "..."

This means that I plan to skip class again today.

Jing Li did not formally sign up to be a teacher. He just moved a small stool into the school every time it was Qin Zhao's turn to teach. The village chief originally thought this was inappropriate, but who asked Mr. Qin to pamper him, and he had no influence.

As for the progress of the teaching, I can only turn a blind eye.

But that was already a few months ago.

Perhaps because the weather has turned colder, Jing Li has been easily sleepy recently and cannot get up until three o'clock in the morning. Even if he occasionally gets up on time and follows Qin Zhao to school, he can't hold on for long, and he falls asleep on the table after a while.

I heard that some fish will reduce their exercise in order to conserve energy in winter. Is it possible that this little fish is the same?

Qin Zhao thought like this and got up to wash and dress.

There was no one around, and the warm quilt soon became cold again. Jing Li curled up her limbs tightly in the quilt, and her toes touched something warm.

It was the soup that Qin Zhao gave him before leaving.

But this thing can only warm the area, which is far inferior to Qin Zhao's big living person. Jing Li stepped on it and yawned. He still felt sleepy, but he was too cold to sleep.

This weather is really terrible.

It’s just the twelfth lunar month and it’s already so cold, what should we do next?

Jing Li rubbed his eyes and waited until his feet were warm before dragging his groggy body up to get dressed.

In the pot in the kitchen were the porridge and noodles that Qin Zhao had made before going out. They were simmering under the stove and were still hot.

Jing Li was so cold that he had no appetite. He only drank two mouthfuls of porridge and then put it down. He huddled next to the fire to warm himself up for a while.

The faint sound of reading came through the wall.

The warmth in the academy is worse than at home. Sitting there for a long time will make your feet hurt from the cold. This is why Jing Li has become more and more lazy and skipping school recently. But Qin Zhao is not so lucky. After staying there for several hours,

My hands were cold when I came back.
To be continued...