LW chapter 40

 

Zhou Yuan missed the village chief’s daughter-in-law and the others who came to the door; however, at that moment, he saw Chen Qing. Aunt Sun told him about the village chief’s half-century birthday and the two discussed what gift to give.

“You’ve only been in the village for a year, and his birthday is a half-century—fifty-five. The gift can’t be too light, but it shouldn’t be too heavy either. If you don’t want to give money, just pick something impressive.”

Zhou Yuan thought about it. Among the things he had brought back from the capital were two inkstones. Since he couldn’t read or write, he decided to give them away. After all, they were from the capital and quite valuable.

Zhou Yuan nodded. Once the matter was settled, he quietly looked at Chen Qing.

Chen Qing lowered his head to avoid Zhou Yuan’s gaze. It was the first time he had spoken ill of Zhou Yuan behind his back, and he had been caught. He felt embarrassed on the spot.

Seeing Zhou Yuan’s increasingly gloomy eyes, Chen Qing immediately stood up. “I’ll go make dinner.”

Zhou Yuan silently wondered to himself as he glanced at the sun, which had not yet set.

Seeing this, Aunt Sun decided to leave them to it. She stood up and said, “I’ll go pick some vegetables. Let’s have a few simple vegetarian dishes today.”

As she left, she also gave Chen Qing a warning look, telling him not to talk nonsense.

After Aunt Sun left, Zhou Yuan sat down beside Chen Qing. “What did you say to Aunt Sun just now? Did I hear you wrong?”

Chen Qing quickly shook his head. “No, I was talking about Li Xin.”

“Really?”

Chen Qing nodded firmly. Zhou Yuan didn’t ask him any more questions. Chen Qing sniffed and looked at Zhou Yuan, feeling a little strange. “What’s that smell on you?”

Zhou Yuan moved away from him slightly. “I went out to do something this morning.”

“Oh.” Chen Qing didn’t ask any more questions and went outside to help Aunt Sun pick vegetables.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Li Xin and Qi Shuning arrived to offer their New Year’s greetings. Zhou Yuan followed along with a knowing look. But when Li Xin saw what Zhou Yuan was holding, he shouted, “Why’d you buy this?”

Zhou Yuan was completely unfazed. “Mind if I give it to my sweetheart?”

Li Xin rolled his eyes toward the sky. “Who gives a piglet to their sweetheart?”

“What’s it to you?”

The two bickered as they walked toward Chen Qing’s house. Li Xin handed the snacks and fruit to Aunt Sun. “Happy New Year, Aunt.”

Chen Qing was preparing lunch in the kitchen. Even though they knew each other well, proper etiquette still had to be followed, so he was cooking several dishes.

“You could’ve just come. Why did you bring things?” Aunt Sun accepted the offerings, stepped aside to let them in, and then noticed what Zhou Yuan was holding.

She was surprised. “What’s this?”

Zhou Yuan laughed. “I went to town yesterday and saw someone selling it. They were in a hurry to sell, so I bought it. After buying it, I realized that I didn’t know how to take care of it. I’ll just trouble you with it, Aunt.”

Aunt Sun looked at the piglet. She might not know much, but she knew that piglets weren’t cheap. They had to cost at least two taels of silver.

Zhou Yuan said, “That man seemed to be in trouble, so he sold it to me for one and a half taels.”

Aunt Sun took the piglet from him. She was always efficient, but now she was a little unsure.

“How are we going to raise it? There’s no space.”

Zhou Yuan replied, “The chicken and duck area in the back is big enough. Just clean out a spot. I’ll do it for you later.”

Hearing the pig squeal, Chen Qing came out holding a spatula. He saw Aunt Sun holding a piglet. Curious, he leaned over to look. “Mom, it’s a pig.”

Aunt Sun wanted to handed it to Chen Qing, but when she saw the spatula in his hand, she remembered that he was still cooking and decided not to give it to him. “Zhou Yuan gave it to me and told me to raise it at our place.”

Chen Qing’s eyes lit up as he looked at Zhou Yuan. Zhou Yuan’s eyes were filled with a smile.

However, Chen Qing didn’t linger; he went back to the kitchen to cook. The others went to the chicken coop in the backyard, excited to build a pen for the piglet.

By the time Chen Qing finished cooking, they had just finished building the pigpen. Despite being built in a rush, it looked as if it had always been there.

Since it was sunny that day, the table was set in the courtyard. A few people sat together, and the atmosphere was warm.

Zhou Yuan brought out Lihuabai, a slightly stronger wine than osmanthus, which he had bought in town the day before. Since Chen Qing couldn’t remember anything after having a drink the last time, he decided not to drink this time.

However, he hadn’t expected Qi Shuning to have such a low alcohol tolerance. After two cups, he was dizzy and spouting nonsense. Li Xin felt embarrassed and took him home.

After eating, Chen Qing ran to the back to look at the piglet. Zhou Yuan followed him. He was more talkative in front of Zhou Yuan now, so he said, “I was thinking of getting a cat or a puppy for my mom, but I didn’t expect you to give me a piglet.”

“What does it eat? There’s no grass right now.”

“Do you think it can eat what we eat?”

“It’s so cold. Won’t it freeze?”

Zhou Yuan found him amusing. Usually, he would only say a few words, even when teased. Now, however, he was talking a lot.

He was even worried that Chen Qing would be reluctant to butcher the pig once it grew up.

The days of the New Year were leisurely. When they weren’t visiting relatives, the villagers gathered to chat. No one knew where the rumor originated—that Zhou Yuan’s sweetheart was Chen Qing, who lived next door to his family.

When they first heard it, no one took it seriously. After all, Chen Qing was a widow. He kept a low profile in the village. Zhou Yuan had good prospects—why would he be interested in Chen Qing?

But the source of the rumor couldn’t be traced. Initially, the rumors were unpleasant, claiming that Chen Qing was shamelessly seducing Zhou Yuan—a restless widow.

Those who had just heard this instinctively disagreed. Everyone knew what kind of person Chen Qing was. For the past five years, he had been honest and filial. He had remained with the Meng family the entire time and had mourned Meng Tao.

However, some with sharp minds thought about it. Previously, everyone had assumed that if Zhou Yuan and Li Xin were together, Li Xin would go to Zhou Yuan. Now, however, it seemed more likely that he was covering for someone else.

People began to speculate, and gradually, the idea became more convincing—especially since someone saw Zhou Yuan buying a piglet yesterday and later heard a pig squealing inside Chen Qing’s house.

So, was it true? Was Zhou Yuan’s sweetheart actually Chen Qing?

The villagers had no impression of Chen Qing at all. His presence was too faint. If they didn’t think carefully, they might forget he even existed. How could someone like that attract Zhou Yuan’s attention?

The news spread through the village and naturally reached the village chief’s house.

The next day was the sixth day of the first lunar month, and the village chief was holding his fifty-fifth birthday banquet. He was now looking over the prepared dishes outside.

“Do you think Zhou Yuan is deliberately going against you?” Aunt Wang asked the village chief. “It was one thing with Li Xin, but what’s with Chen Qing now?”

The village chief replied impatiently, “We don’t have ger or women in our family, so why worry about it?”

“We may not have ger or women, but my niece on my mother’s side is of marrying age.” Aunt Wang was already scheming. At the village chief’s birthday banquet, she would introduce them. Zhou Yuan was capable. Although he hadn’t given the village chief face before, he hadn’t caused trouble afterward. If they could become in-laws, her family’s status in the village would rise.

“What’s so good about Chen Qing? He couldn’t even beat three sticks into anything useful. What could Zhou Yuan possibly like about him?” Aunt Wang continued to ramble.

“If you really want to marry your niece off to him, find your own way to do it.” The village chief was fed up and left her there.

Aunt Wang thought about how her uncle had asked her to find a good match for her niece. After weighing all the options, Zhou Yuan was the best candidate. If it worked out, she would be considered an elder to Zhou Yuan and could benefit from anything good that came his way.

Soon, she had a plan.

Zhang Ran, who was sweeping the yard, overheard their conversation and sneered. What a lecherous plan—to marry Zhou Yuan!

However, he hadn’t expected the rumor he had spread to not cause Chen Qing to be condemned by everyone as he had hoped. Some even mentioned Chen Qing’s good qualities. Were these people blind? How could Chen Qing be worthy of Zhou Yuan?

On the sixth day of the lunar month, villagers came one after another. Groups of two or three sat together, still talking about Zhou Yuan.

Aunt Wang wasn’t happy when she heard this. Nothing had been decided yet. Besides, how could a widow compare to a pure, unmarried ger?

She attributed Zhou Yuan’s affection for Chen Qing to the lack of unmarried ger in the village. The only eligible ger, Li Xin, was already married. Therefore, Zhou Yuan had to settle for the next best thing—Chen Qing. However, meeting her niece would be an even better choice.

Aunt Wang’s niece, Wang Shan, is nineteen years old and has a seventeen-year-old brother. They were waiting for Wang Shan to marry and bring in a bride price so that he could find a wife.

Sure enough, Wang Shan soon arrived. Seeing the village chief and Aunt Wang welcome him warmly, Aunt Wang quickly pulled him inside to talk.

“Shan’er, you know why your parents called you here today, right?”

Wang Shan nodded, blushing. “I know.” He was naturally handsome, and his flushed face made him look even more like a pretty girl.

Aunt Wang looked him over from head to toe, comparing him to Chen Qing. She decided that Chen Qing was nowhere near as good as her niece. Physically, Wang Shan was much better than Chen Qing’s weak, childless frame.

As he listened to Aunt Wang describe Zhou Yuan, Wang Shan started to have his own thoughts.

His face grew redder. Seeing this, Aunt Wang knew there was hope. Wang Shan asked softly, “Aunt, a good man like that…hasn’t he already been married?”

“He’s in a special situation,” said Aunt Wang. “He’s just a bit stubborn. You should listen to me, like this…”

She leaned close to his ear and whispered her idea.

Wang Shan quickly shook his head. “Aunt, that won’t work. I—”

“I’m not asking you to take off all your clothes for him to see. It’s just an excuse.” Aunt Wang looked at him disapprovingly. “Don’t think you can take your time and just get close to him. He’s so attractive—if you don’t use some tricks, do you think it will be your turn?”

Hearing this, Wang Shan’s initial shyness faded. He thought his aunt was being kind to him, but he hadn’t expected her words to pressure him.

“Wang Shan, you’re not young anymore. Don’t you think your younger brother is old enough to get married, too?” Aunt Wang’s tone turned slightly sharp when she noticed his hesitation.

When he kept his head down, she continued to persuade him. “Zhou Yuan lives alone in that blue-brick house, and his family has a big yellow ox. He can definitely afford a bride price of seven or eight taels. Think about it. With that bride price, wouldn’t it be easy for your brother to get married? In the future, when you earn money, you can return to your parents’ home with confidence. By then, your parents will rely on you for support, and you’ll be able to hold your head high. If you work hard, have a son, and become the head of the household, your parents will rely on you for support.”

Wang Shan clenched his fists and bit his teeth hard. After a while, he raised his head, his eyes red. “Aunt, I’ll listen to you. I’ll do whatever you say.”

Zhang Ran, who was outside in the yard, heard their plan clearly. He scowled, cursing the old woman and Wang Shan for being so shameless.

Then, he eyes lit up. He turned and went to his room, rummaged through a box, and found a bottle of medicine.

Anyone could fall for Zhou Yuan, but he only wanted to sleep with him, which wasn’t such a big sin.

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