When he woke up, it was the end of the Yin and the beginning of the Mao. Since he started breathing, his sleep has become very regular and of high quality. This is roughly equivalent to around 5 o'clock in his previous life. It was still dark and the whole town was shrouded in the thick fog unique to the hilly areas. Fortunately, this was not smog.
After a quick wash, Li Ji began to cross his legs and breathe. Half an hour later, he did 3,000 lunges and fencing, and finally 500 push-ups and 200 inverted sit-ups. This was his homework every morning. He didn't know whether it was scientific or not, as long as he felt good. When he finished his homework, it was already past the Mao hour, which was about 7:30. At this time, Cixi Town had begun to wake up. The drivers, vegetable sellers, and breakfast snack vendors added endless vitality to the town.
The sun had risen, and the fog was swept away. The lazy atmosphere of the Jiangnan water town in his previous life came towards him. Walking on the bluestone-paved streets, Li Ji's mood also became much more cheerful. Compared with the previous life, there is no reinforced concrete, no traffic, no mechanical footsteps and hurried crowds here... Life should be like this...
A few young girls and wives turned out from the small alley in front, each holding a wooden bucket or basin filled with clothes. People in the town are used to washing clothes by Cixi River, using a unique soap bean and sweet stream water, and the washed clothes have a fresh sweet fragrance. Li Ji certainly would not do so. He had neither the time nor the mood to fool around with a group of women. The blood-stained clothes he took off had been washed with well water last night. For a person who had lived alone for more than ten years in his previous life, this was not a problem at all, although in this world, it was a bit strange for a grown man to wash his own clothes.
The chattering women walked by happily, but Li Ji didn't pay attention. He was a very indifferent person, and he was so in his previous life, and he was even more introverted in this life. But a young voice called him, "Brother Li, Brother Li..."
The owner of the voice was a young girl, about 17 or 18 years old, with a red face and a rough hand holding the wooden basin due to long-term labor. She was not very beautiful, but she exuded a healthy and youthful aura. There was no ugly girl at 18 or 19, roughly like this. This was Xiaofang, the girl from Feng Tailor's family in the town. She was clever and skillful, and she was also one of the good girls in Cixi Town.
"It's Xiaofang, what's wrong?" Li Ji asked knowingly.
"Brother Li... I, I saw that your clothes were stained with blood when you came back yesterday... Give it to me, I'll help you wash it..." The Cixi woman was gentle as water, but her personality was not at all procrastinated. She dared to think and speak, and would not hide anything. Several women around couldn't help but giggle.
"Thank you for your concern, sister. I have already washed the clothes last night, so I won't bother you anymore. Next time, I will ask you to wash them when I have a basin full. Is that okay with you?"
"It's always like this..." Xiaofang's face showed undisguised disappointment. After hesitating, she finally said nothing more and left with her companions. From afar, they heard the women's fighting and scolding, which seemed to be related to him...
Li Ji shook his head and left on his own. How could he not guess what was on the mind of this girl, who had lived two lives? But in his current situation, how could he consider such a thing? His future was uncertain and his direction was uncertain. It was precisely because she was a good girl that he didn't want to be involved with her. It had nothing to do with her appearance. Keeping a distance and not giving her fantasies would not hurt her. After all, his heart was not here...
The girls in this world, Li Ji sighed, were not like what was written in the online articles of his previous life. There were superb beauties everywhere, with skin as white as cream and stunning looks as soon as they went out. It was not that he was picky, nor that the girls in Cixi were ugly. They were all ordinary people, with ordinary looks, and ordinary. They were working people, working every day. It was unrealistic to expect them to have fair and charming skin. This was a real world... Anyway, Li Ji was still very happy. It was always a pleasant thing to be liked and remembered by others.
Walking through the streets of Zhenxi, turning south, there is an alley with several good breakfast shops. Baozi Zhang is the most famous among them. The country people are honest. The meat buns are as big as an adult's fist. The skin is thin and the filling is large. It is made of minced camel beef unique to Nanli, supplemented with a small amount of scallions and green pepper. It is full of meat. When you bite it, your mouth is full of fragrance. Li Ji has eaten in all the streets and alleys in Cixi, but this is the breakfast he must have.
The alley was crowded with people, "Sanlang is here...", "Youjiao, sit over here...", and the greetings continued. Li Ji had been here for nearly a year, so it was impossible for him to recognize everyone in the town, but everyone knew the famous Li Sanlang. Li Ji nodded to everyone, and someone had already given up his seat. Soon, ten big beef buns and two big earthen bowls of red bean porridge were brought over. Li Ji was in his prime, and he had been working out every day, so he was already hungry. For a moment, he ate like a whirlwind, devouring everything.
Li Ji didn't have to pay for his meals here, not because he was bullying the market, Baozi Zhang wished that Sanlang would come here every day to eat, every meal. No matter how much a person could eat, how much could a food store owner eat? The key point was that since he had been here to eat breakfast, no one in Cixi dared to come here to eat a free meal. For this reason alone, all the breakfast stores in the town were jealous of Baozi Zhang. As the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Li Ji is not a proud person. He is a civil servant in the countryside. If you are too outstanding and too honest, what will others do?
After finishing the meal, he walked out of the alley amid the greetings of the diners. Every day at noon, it is one of the important tasks to report to the town office. Li Ji despises the card swiping system in this world. There are only three formal employees in the whole Cixi town who eat public meals. When there is something, there are a few temporary workers, including Qiangfu Xu Jihai, Guan Lao Xiao Ziming, and himself. It would be so nice for everyone to be relaxed, come when there is something, and go when there is nothing. But Qiangfu Xu Jihai is dull and does not know how to make concessions. He is like a county magistrate who is crazy about becoming an official.
The town office is located in the center of Cixi Town Street, a small courtyard, not much bigger than the one Li Ji lives in, but the location is more eye-catching. When Li Ji entered the house, the other two had already arrived. Usually, Li Ji was always the last one. He had few things to do and did not take power. He had some force, so no one told him what to do.
He exchanged a few words with Qiang's husband Xu Jihai, and chatted with a few idle clerks. He knew that there was nothing important today, so he prepared to go to the town for inspection as usual. The lower-level public officials are generally like this. They are very busy when they have things to do, and they are free when they have nothing to do. They can have fun by themselves, and no one will bother them. Before going out, he met the official Xiao Ziming. Both of them pretended not to see each other and ignored each other.
This Xiao Ziming was the only native local among the three public officials in Cixi Town. He was selected from the village elders, while Li Ji's family was from Shuangcheng. As for Xu Jihai, he was from the imperial examination, and his family was even farther away. Since Xiao Ziming is a local, his network of contacts is unmatched by others. He is mean and cunning by nature. Although he has not committed any major crimes, he has committed many petty schemes and exploitations. Li Ji had just arrived and did not understand the relationship between the two at first. He upheld justice in several disputes, which seriously offended this guy.