TL: Hua
Qi Xiaoyu stared at him with wide eyes.
The eyes that were shining just now were filled with surprise and confusion at the moment.
Xun Qian felt that he was pushing too hard. According to his original plan, he should have taken things step by step. He would have taken him to the banquet first to announce to the world that he was his man, and then he would have taken him to meet his family and let him enter his life gradually.
But today, when he was in the audience, he saw that Qi Xiaoyu’s every move caused the whole audience to exclaim and enchant, and he also saw Rong Qing’s infatuated and admiring eyes. He admitted that he was a little anxious.
He had heard Rong Qing’s name several times in Qi Xiaoyu’s story, but he didn’t know that Rong Qing had such thoughts about Qi Xiaoyu.
According to this development, in the future, there will be other generals or leaders who lead troops to fight in the future who will come to compete with him for the person.
He has to strike first.
Xun Qian took in Qi Xiaoyu’s surprised expression and smiled, “Didn’t you publicly state that I was your financial sponsor in Huanxi Garden that day?
Next time, you can tell others that I’m your lover, not a financial sponsor, and whoever dares to bully you will die.”
Qi Xiaoyu was already frightened by Xun Qian’s words, but when the other party mentioned what happened in Huanxi Garden that day, he blushed even more and couldn’t find a word to refute.
“Commander Xun!” On the side, Qi Fengjian finally took a breath and pulled the little apprentice behind him. “Marriage is not a joke. It’s not up to you to do whatever you want.
Although our small Red Moon Troupe can’t be compared to the commander’s mansion, we also respect the basic etiquette of our ancestors. Commander Xun—”
Qi Fengjian paused here and was unable to say that Xun Qian wanted to marry the little apprentice. It was like a piece of fire tongs was stuffed in his mouth. He struggled hard for a while and then gritted his teeth and said word by word,
“If you really have this plan, then do as you said just now: first propose marriage, then get married, just like in the three books and six rites[mfn]Three Books and Six Rites,” refers to traditional Chinese wedding rituals outlined in the “Book of Rites,” “Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial,” and the “Baihu Tong”. 納采 (nacai) – formal proposal 問名 (wenming) – “ask the name”, the groom’s side ask the bazi (birth time) of the prospective bride for fortune-telling. 納吉 (naji) – placement of the bazi at the ancestral altar to confirm compatibility 納徵 (nazheng) – sending of betrothal gifts to the bride and return gifts to the prospective groom 請期 (qingqi) – selection of an auspicious wedding date 親迎 (qinying) – wedding ceremony[/mfn]; meet the elders of both sides, doing everything according to etiquette.”
Qi Fengjian paused again with a gloomy face, as if he had never encountered such a thing, and he felt embarrassed to say it himself.
Qi Xiaoyu is still only a half-grown child in his heart. Although he has planned for Qi Xiaoyu’s future to have a family, it’s they who should bring a dowry to someone else’s house to propose marriage. Now that the child had just grown up, he was being targeted by a lion.
He felt unhappy no matter what he said. “I would also like to advise Commander Xun not to speak so early. Does your father know about this and agree?”
In Qi Fengjian’s opinion, Xun Qian was young and might be acting on impulse. He might be blinded by greed and talk nonsense, but the elders in his family would not let him do this.
Nevertheless, Xun Qian arched his hands forward and bowed, ”Master Qi is right. I was too impatient.
I will contact my family later and ask them to come to Shanghai as soon as possible to meet Master Qi and Xiaoyu to discuss this matter in detail.”
Qi Fengjian tightly held onto the cigarette pipe in his hand. Seeing that Xun Qian was determined and could not be persuaded, he could only continue with a cold face, “Fine, but before that, I hope Commander Xun will not come to find Xiaoyu.”
Xun Qian glanced at Qi Xiaoyu, who was standing silently behind Qi Fengjian. “How long will Xiaoyu stay in Suzhou?”
Qi Fengjian continued with a cold face, “As short as one month, as long as uncertain.”
Xun Qian knew in his heart that Qi Fengjian wanted to put pressure on him while sending Qi Xiaoyu away to exhaust his feelings, but his feelings toward Qi Xiaoyu weren’t just a moment of freshness. He couldn’t explain these to Qi Fengjian, so he could only let the other party understand slowly in the future.
However, he was far from being upset by Qi Fengjian’s behavior. In this world, besides himself, there were other people who also thought about and cared about his baby.
Now, Xun Qian only smiled slightly, tilted his head, and asked Qi Xiaoyu, “Then you can’t accompany me to the banquet on Thursday?”
Qi Fengjian immediately turned his head and looked at his little apprentice, “What banquet?”
Qi Xiaoyu didn’t expect Xun Qian to act like this and glared at him, “No, please go by yourself, Commander.”
Xun Qian smiled, “You promised me before. Then when you go to Suzhou, remember that you owe me a date.”
Qi Xiaoyu glanced at Qi Fengjian, whose face was ashen, and thought to himself that he still remembered the date. He was about to be infuriated to death by Xun Qian.
Xun Qian smiled slightly with satisfaction, took his leave, and walked out through the backstage under the curious eyes of the troupe’s apprentices.
After coming out, he saw Butler Cheng waiting for him at the door. The first thing he did was ask him to send a telegram back to the Northeast and ask his family to discuss his marriage.
Butler Cheng felt like he was dreaming. He didn’t know what happened tonight and how things could progress so quickly. A few days ago, he thought his young commander was just attracted to an actor and wanted to make him famous like other sponsors. Who knows he actually wants to marry him?!
But as a conscientious butler, he still did his job.
He immediately sent a telegram back to the Northeast.
On the other hand, Qi Xiaoyu took a train to Suzhou the next day and then changed to a small boat to the nearby countryside, where Qi Wanrou’s aunt lived.
Although it was in the countryside, the small village was very elegant. A row of houses with white walls and black tiles was built along the river. In the soft and misty drizzle at the turn of spring and summer, it was winding and quiet, like a thick ink painting with light colors.
Qi Wanrou’s auntie lived in an old house at the end of the river, next to a small bridge.
The two brought a lot of gifts to the host for their stay.
Qi Wanrou’s aunt is in her sixties, with two children, both settled in Shanghai. She lives alone here and feels a little lonely, so she is very enthusiastic about the two people’s arrival. From the moment they met, they had endless things to say.
But it was basically Qi Wanrou who answered her, and Qi Xiaoyu followed behind, just answering whatever she asked.
Qi Wanrou went to make the bed while Qi Xiaoyu silently unpacked his luggage. Auntie brought him a new quilt, and while chatting, she talked about her son and daughter working in Shanghai and asked them about their life in Shanghai.
The time flew by as they were chatting.
After talking about daily necessities, rent, and commodity prices in Shanghai, Auntie lamented, “I heard from Xiaowen that a new commander has recently come to Shanghai. He is very capable. Now you can buy everything in Shanghai at a reasonable price. I originally thought that she was just comforting me, but now I feel relieved learning the news from you two.”
Hearing this, Qi Wanrou glanced at Qi Xiaoyu, who was busy with the clothes, and then smiled and said, “The new commander is very good. Shanghai’s economy is developing very well. Auntie, next time you come to Shanghai, I will take you around.”
“Good, haven’t you met Xiaowen yet?
Next time I go to Shanghai, I must…”
Auntie’s voice drifted away, and Qi Xiaoyu seemed to be occupied by the task in front of him.
After a night of rest yesterday and a half-day journey today, Qi Xiaoyu finally recovered from yesterday’s excessive shock. Now, suddenly hearing “Commander Xun” from someone else’s mouth, he was still a little dazed.
Commander Xun in other people’s mouths and the Xun Qian he knew were completely different, which made him a little puzzled.
That night, the two of them cleaned up the room, had dinner, and stayed at Auntie’s house.
The night in the countryside was quiet. The long street was deserted; all the houses closed their doors and turned off the lights.
Qi Wanrou was in the room next to him and had already fallen asleep.
But he couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned in bed several times and thought of the recent events that happened one after another, surreal like a dream, and became even more awake.
He understood his master’s intentions. Qi Fengjian probably wanted to hide him so as to stop Xun Qian’s improper thoughts, but he could also feel Xun Qian’s obsession and deep affection. Even if his master said all that, Xun Qian would probably really invite his family to Shanghai.
What should he do then?
Is he really going to marry Xun Qian?
Qi Xiaoyu blushed in the dark at the thought of this possibility.
He had never heard of an actor and an official family getting married openly, let alone two men.
There is no electricity here, and when the lights are turned off everywhere, the world seems to fall into an ancient silence and loneliness.
The kerosene lamp on the small table is about to burn out, but fortunately there is moonlight tonight, shining into the room, so it won’t be too dark.
Qi Xiaoyu’s thoughts kept him awake, so he simply got up and went to the window, holding his cheek, counting how many layers of ripples were made on the moon reflected in the river.
He didn’t go back to bed until the moon moved down and fell behind the house.
Because he slept late the day before, he got up a little late the next morning.
He didn’t wake up on his own initiative but woke up to the sound of talking, one after another.
He put on his clothes, washed his face, and went out. He saw many people standing on the street outside, including Auntie and Senior Sister, as well as the neighbors next door and several workers carrying cables on their shoulders.
When Auntie saw him getting up, she said enthusiastically, “Xiaoyu, you’re up. There’s breakfast in the kitchen; have you eaten?”
Qi Xiaoyu thanked Auntie and looked at the scene curiously. “What are they doing here? Installing electric lights?”
Qi Wanrou nodded, “Yes. When you were still sleeping this morning, someone suddenly came and said they wanted to install electric lights in the village.”
Auntie looked at Qi Wanrou and smiled, “If I were to say, it’s you two who brought good luck when you came. I’ve never heard of such a thing before. I’ve never heard of such a thing before; there aren’t many electric lights installed in Suzhou City, but our village got it first.”
After Auntie finished speaking, she sighed as if she couldn’t believe it. “Don’t you think it’s a coincidence? Moreover, they are installing it from this house instead of from the front. I heard from someone that if they were to install it from the other side first, we would have to wait for several days.”
After Auntie finished speaking, Qi Xiaoyu lowered his fluttering eyes: “Only this street?”
Auntie nodded and pointed to the back, “And the riverside. Installing street lights along the river is very odd. I heard that only the Qinhuai River had it.”
Qi Wanrou glanced at Qi Xiaoyu.
Neither of them spoke.
At this time, a little girl of sixteen or seventeen years old from the neighborhood, wearing a blue flowered cloth cheongsam, kept staring at them. After a while, she asked Auntie, “Aunt Liu, is this your guest?”
Auntie said yes and happily introduced the few people.
The little girl timidly looked at Qi Xiaoyu and said, “The Qingming Festival is coming soon. My family picked cattails from the mountains and made green rice balls. We will send them to Aunt Liu and Mr. Qi someday.”
Qi Xiaoyu was a little absent-minded but politely thanked her for the sake of courtesy.
On that day, the cable installation workers first connected electricity to the front and back of Auntie’s house.
There was a street lamp behind the house, just under the window of Qi Xiaoyu’s room.
When Qi Xiaoyu got up at night and opened the window, he saw a lamp in the sky, like the moon falling in front of him.
There was also a lamp reflected in the river, like a golden lotus blooming in the water.
