Chapter 305: Chapter 305

Li Yuzhu looked at the old man coldly and said, "That’s right, since you didn’t see it, why do you believe it? If you insist that what you heard is true, then we can also say that what we heard is true—it was his money you eavesdropped on!"

The big government official, Qin Hu, nodded, "Exactly!"

The old man was so frightened this time that he began to cry, "I didn’t eavesdrop, really! I, I... I was wrong, Lord, I won’t dare talk about Xiao Chengzi anymore. Please forgive me." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽

"Do you know who told you that Xiao Chengzi was peeping at Liu Ya?" Li Yuzhu took the opportunity to ask.

This was a good chance to maybe find out who was framing Xiao Chengzi.

The old man turned around and pointed at a few of the workers inside the room, "I heard them talking, that’s how I heard it."

"Oh? You guys said it?" Government official Qin Hu looked into the room and shouted roughly.

The three workers had quietly hidden inside the dark part of the room, fearing they’d get in trouble after seeing the old man getting scolded, but they were still noticed.

With no choice, the three reluctantly stepped forward.

"So, who saw Xiao Chengzi peeping at Liu Ya?" Government official Qin Hu demanded with arms akimbo.

The three timidly replied, "We heard it from the neighbors chatting."

Li Yuzhu said coldly, "Oh, so it was ’heard again’!"

Qin Hu sneered, "I’ve even heard people say you three stole money from my brother!"

"Please spare us, Lord!" The three of them knelt down together.

"Why should I spare you? You stole money!" Government official Qin Hu barked coldly.

The three cried out, "Lord! It’s a rumor, it can’t be true!"

"Oh, so you also say rumors can’t be true? Then why did you all start scolding Xiao Chengzi? Hmm? Speak up!" Government official Qin Hu glared harshly at the three workers and the old man.

Li Yuzhu and the others watched the scene with hands behind their backs, fully enjoying the spectacle.

Xiao Chengzi stood with a calm expression looking at them.

These people worked with him, even alongside his father for years, yet they were so heartless, spreading rumors.

Xiao Chengzi felt no sympathy for them.

The four of them knelt in a line, continuously pleading for mercy.

Li Yuzhu said, "Now you know how terrible rumors can be, right?"

"Will you spread them again?" Li Yuzhu took the opportunity to warn them.

Even if they couldn’t find the main culprit of the rumors, stopping them from spreading further was good enough.

"We won’t, we won’t." The four nodded fearfully like pecking chickens.

"Then you should apologize to Xiao Chengzi. From now on, treat him as you did before, don’t speak ill of him and don’t look down on him. If so, we won’t pursue this matter further, nor report it to Lord County Magistrate." Li Yuzhu said.

Li Lixing also chimed in, "My father despises those who spread rumors. If he knew you were spreading rumors, he’d surely have you arrested and flogged!"

The four looked up in confusion at Li Lixing.

"What are you looking at? This is the County Magistrate’s son!" Government official Qin Hu snapped.

The four gasped and bowed to Li Lixing.

"Alright, alright, go apologize to Xiao Chengzi." Li Lixing waved them off.

The old man and the three workers heaved a sigh of relief, turned, and with cupped hands said to Xiao Chengzi, "Xiao Chengzi, we’re sorry, we shouldn’t have believed those rumors. We won’t speak ill of you anymore."

Xiao Chengzi said, "Since you’re apologizing, I forgive you."

He was timid and afraid of trouble, but he wasn’t foolish. He still needed to work here, and if things got out of hand, he’d be unable to stay and would lose his job.

The group thanked him repeatedly.

Li Yuzhu told them to get up, "Alright, let’s put this matter behind us. Now let’s talk about proper business." She pointed at Li Lixing, "Mr. Li wants to print some booklets, you guys can start. How much is the processing fee, calculate according to the price."

The old man and the three workers got up from the ground and led everyone into the book society.

"I want to print fifteen booklets with pictures and text," Li Lixing said, "How much is the processing fee?"

"Price matters should be asked of the owner, but the owner is not here," the old man said. "Previously, for fewer than fifty copies, the processing fee was ten wen per booklet. If you print more than a hundred, it’s eight wen per booklet, and more than two hundred is five wen per booklet."

Fifteen booklets would require a processing fee of one hundred and fifty wen, which was indeed quite expensive.

At this time, productivity was low, so anything involving processing was costly.

Li Xing’an frowned, "So expensive."

But Li Lixing didn’t mind much; he thought that as long as the books were printed, it would gain the admiration of the kiddies from the Sang family.

"I think it’s fine," he said, "So, one hundred and fifty wen it is."

Having understood the book printing costs, Li Yuzhu also said, "That’s fine, let’s print it."

After earning fifteen hundred wen and spending one hundred and fifty wen on processing, there was still a good profit margin left.

Li Yuzhu handed the engraved picture templates and book manuscripts by Xiao Chengzi to the old man.

The old man handed them to a worker, "Quick, start printing."

This was the County Magistrate’s son, and they had also collected a processing fee, so no one dared to slack off.

All the workers put aside their current tasks and took up the job of printing books for Li Lixing.

They divided the work among themselves: some fetched movable type, some proofread, some set up the picture template frames, and some mixed the ink.

The old man was in charge of binding and started adjusting the punching machine.

Li Yuzhu, being interested in ancient book printing, stood behind the worker pushing the ink to watch.

Li Lixing, being a child, also ran over to watch.

Mu Yuanxiu inspected each step of the process.

The others didn’t join the excitement and settled down in places of their own.

The old man, trying to please everyone, even brought tea around.

The workers were skilled, and for fifteen books, each with twenty pages and a total of three hundred pages, including setting up the characters and picture templates, printing, compiling, and binding, it only took half an hour.

The old man neatly stacked the bound books in front of Li Lixing, with a flattering smile, "Young Master, please have a look."

Fifteen books were too heavy, so the government official Qin Hu took them for Li Lixing, only handing him one.

Li Lixing flipped through it page by page, "Not bad, not bad."

He then handed the book to Li Yuzhu to look at.

Li Yuzhu examined it more carefully.

Ensuring the ink was properly printed and the characters weren’t misaligned, she inspected everything.

One has to say, these people worked diligently, without any defects.

"All right, thank you all for today," Li Yuzhu said as she collected the books and called Li Xing’an to pay the processing fee.

The old man accepted it respectfully.

As he held it, he couldn’t help but say, "If this book society was run by me, it would surely be cheaper."

Speaking cautiously, he seemed still intimidated by the previous accusation of theft.

Li Yuzhu replied, "You run a book society; this is your business. It’s only right for me to pay the processing fee. What happened earlier is a different matter, business is business."

The old man was surprised, not expecting this young girl to speak so sensibly despite her age.

With the books printed, everyone packed up to leave.

Government official Qin Hu, being a big man, carried the heavier load of fifteen books.

Li Yuzhu took back the used picture templates.

Leaving them here was of no use, and she worried they might be lost, so she took them back for future use.

With the task completed, everyone boarded the carriage and returned to the County Magistrate Mansion.

After they left, the workers at Qianwen Book Society started packing up to close for the day.

One worker said, "Who would have thought Xiao Chengzi was so capable, befriending the County Magistrate’s son? Think of that Madam Cheng who constantly bullied and scolded him, now she surely wouldn’t dare, would she?"

"If we tell Madam Cheng and her son about this, they’d be scared to death, hahaha," another worker laughed.

The old man, however, wore a stern face and scolded them, "Do you dare speak about Xiao Chengzi’s matters? Have you forgotten what the government officer instructed earlier? I’m telling you, it’s best not to meddle in Xiao Chengzi’s affairs. We should mind our own business. Let Xiao Chengzi handle his matters on his own; you all stay out of it."

The old man’s reminder scared the workers into silence.

Back at the County Magistrate Mansion, Li Lixing couldn’t wait to show the printed books to the County Magistrate and County Magistrate’s Wife.

Though the illustrations were childish, and the humorous content was shallow, the mystery story was simplistic but still impressed the couple.

"Well done, my son," the County Magistrate’s Wife said with a smile.

The County Magistrate patted Li Lixing on the shoulder, "Mm, keep it up, and create even better work."

The couple took turns praising, making Li Lixing even happier.

The next morning, the housekeeper from the Sang family arrived punctually.

He spoke with some guilt, "Mr. Li, if the drawings aren’t finished, then we’ll take what we have."

Li Lixing shook his sleeve, cleared his throat, and said, "How can that be? You’ve already paid, so we must keep our word, right? Qin Hu, where are the books? Bring them for Housekeeper Sang to inspect."

Government official Qin Hu, standing by, responded and brought a stack of books from a shelf in the corner.