LW chapter 46

 

On April 18, Zhou Yuan brought Chen Qing to his parents’ home. Though the two families lived close to each other and interacted like family members during the week, Zhou Yuan did not neglect proper etiquette.

“When did you prepare all this?” Chen Qing asked, looking at the big and small bags in Zhou Yuan’s hands.

“I prepared them while getting ready for the wedding.” Zhou Yuan replied. “Can you walk? If not, I’ll carry you.”

Chen Qing ignored him, raised his hand, and hit his arm. He walked straight ahead. Zhou Yuan followed behind, smiling and matching his pace.

“Don’t be mad. Didn’t I listen to you last night?” After all, they had only just started having sex, and Zhou Yuan had stared at Chen Qing sharply at night.

The wedding night had cast a long shadow over Chen Qing. At night, Chen Qing looked at Zhou Yuan warily. Zhou Yuan did not ignore Chen Qing’s wishes, he simply found it amusing to tease him. After teasing him until his face turned red, Zhou Yuan turned off the light and hugged Chen Qing to sleep.

Chen Qing walked a little faster. Aunt Sun had been waiting at the door for a long time. She had swept the courtyard early that morning. Seeing them play around, she laughed too. “You’re back already. Why did you bring things?”

Zhou Yuan put down the items and said, “Mother, there must still be etiquette.”

Hearing him call her “Mother” stunned Aunt Sun, and it took her a while to recover. “All right, what do you want to eat for lunch?”

Zhou Yuan didn’t bother being polite to her. “How about chicken soup? It’ll be nourishing for Aqing.”

Chen Qing’s eyes widened. He didn’t expect Zhou Yuan to openly admit that he wanted chicken soup and use it as an excuse.

Aunt Sun saw that Chen Qing really did look weak. She hadn’t seen him come out on the second day of the wedding. Looking at Zhou Yuan, a young man full of energy, she understood why.

Without saying a word, she went to the chicken coop and grabbed a chicken. Chen Qing rushed over and said there was no need to kill it only to see Zhou Yuan bring out a piece of meat.

Aunt Sun didn’t listen. “You need nourishment.”

Soon, the whole courtyard was filled with the aroma of chicken soup. Chen Qing was so embarrassed that he wished he could crawl into a hole.

Zhou Yuan helped Aunt Sun light the fire. As he did so, he said, “Mother, I also want to buy some chicks to raise. But there’s no place to feed them over there. It’s better to raise them here with you.”

“Keep them with me?” Aunt Sun looked at him and remembered something. “Your piglet is still here with me, and now you want to raise chickens here, too?”

Zhou Yuan said, “The children will be raised here with you from now on.”

Chen Qing had just come in from outside. When he heard Zhou Yuan talking about children, he wanted to run away again. However, Aunt Sun gave him a sharp look. “Ah Qing, you two shouldn’t stay in the kitchen. Go sit in the house and see if there’s anything you haven’t packed yet.”

Chen Qing took Zhou Yuan into his house. Seeing that traces of his previous life here had not yet disappeared, Chen Qing felt a little more at ease.

This was the second time Zhou Yuan had openly entered Chen Qing’s room, the last time, Zhou Yuan had taken Chen Qing away from there.

Zhou Yuan sat on the bed and watched Chen Qing tidy the nearly empty wardrobe. After a while, Chen Qing stopped and turned to look at Zhou Yuan. “How about we leave these things here?”

Zhou Yuan raised his eyebrows at him. “If I make you angry, will you come back to your mother’s house?”

“No.” Chen Qing replied seriously. “I just don’t want my mother to be too lonely. If my things are here, I can keep her company.”

Zhou Yuan pulled him over. “Stay here.” He found that amusing. “It’s not that I won’t let you come back. You can come here to be with your mother during the day. If I go out, you can come back here to sleep at night.”

Chen Qing lifted his eyes. “You still want to go out?”

Zhou Yuan nodded. “I can’t just sit at home and eat all the food, can I? When things are going well, I want to take you out for a walk too.”

Chen Qing stared at Zhou Yuan, a little dazed, his mind going blank for a moment.

“I thought that after wandering for so many years, you probably haven’t really taken in the scenery around you. You’ve always been worrying all day long. I want you to walk around with me again. Do you want to go back to your hometown?”

Chen Qing had never thought about going back. Ever since he sold himself, he hadn’t thought about returning.

“Don’t you want to bring your father and little father here? Just like I brought my grandmother back.”

Chen Qing looked up at him. “But I’m afraid…”

“Don’t be afraid. I’m here.” Zhou Yuan told him firmly.

However, it was still too early to talk about it. After all, Zhou Yuan’s escort business was still just a prototype. He could only take Chen Qing back once everything was running smoothly.

They chatted for a while, and then Aunt Sun called them to the table for dinner. Zhou Yuan helped Chen Qing out. The air was filled with the gentle aroma of chicken soup.

Aunt Sun served Chen Qing a bowl of chicken soup, sprinkling chopped green onions and cilantro on top and placing a chicken drumstick in his bowl.

Chen Qing was a little embarrassed, so Aunt Sun said, “Don’t worry. I’ll go to the village in a few days to get some chickens, and we’ll raise them together. You can come back and slaughter them anytime you want to eat.”

He glanced at Zhou Yuan, knowing this was his idea. Not wanting to appear ungrateful, he held the bowl and drank the soup.

Aunt Sun was very good at cooking, but Chen Qing didn’t want her to work too hard, so he offered to cook.

“When will we go to the Li family’s house?” Aunt Sun asked.

“I plan to go tomorrow.” Zhou Yuan replied, “The results will be announced in a few days. If Shu Ning passes the exam, we’ll have to hold a banquet.”

They didn’t understand the imperial exams, so they just listened.

By the time they were married, the wheat had already been harvested and the corn had been planted. It was the first time Chen Qing had spent his days leisurely, but he still couldn’t sit still and would occasionally go to the fields to take a look.

The family that helped them had moved to Luohe Village a year before Zhou Yuan did. Since they had fled there, they hadn’t received any land in Luohe Village. The family relied on the men doing odd jobs to make ends meet.

Because of the wedding, Zhou Yuan asked the village chief to find people to help harvest the wheat. Although he didn’t see it himself, he knew from what he heard that the people they hired worked quickly and efficiently.

One night, while Chen Qing was sleeping, Zhou Yuan sat on the bed and wiped Chen Qing’s feet. Zhou Yuan went to get water to wash his feet. When he returned, he pulled Chen Qing into his arms. After the lights went out, moonlight shone through the windows, dusting the house with a layer of frost.

As soon as Zhou Yuan came close, Chen Qing instinctively felt pain in his waist. He tried to dodge, but was held back. “I want to tell you something.”

Chen Qing didn’t move, letting him hold him. “What is it?”

“This time, we asked the villagers to help harvest the wheat. I thought that family was hardworking, so I leased my land to them.”

Chen Qing hummed, a little dazed.

“I’m going out. It’s too much for you and Mother to farm all this land by yourselves.” Zhou Yuan ran his hand through his hair. “I’ve seen them work. They’re hardworking and do a good job.”

“Alright.” Chen Qing looked at him. “You decide.”

Zhou Yuan frowned. He sat up and pulled Chen Qing into his arms again. “What do you mean by letting me decide? Isn’t this your home? This is all our family’s business.”

Chen Qing scratched his head, realizing he had said the wrong thing. “I… I didn’t mean to react like that…”

Zhou Yuan ignored him and just stared at him seriously.

He knew Zhou Yuan was angry because he hadn’t realized that they were already a family and didn’t need to divide everything so clearly. However, he truly hadn’t thought about it. During his first year living with the Meng family, he had to check Aunt Sun’s mood before eating.

Only in the following years did he slowly come to regard the Meng family as his own. Now that he had moved to a new place, it was understandable that he couldn’t adjust right away. Thinking about this, Chen Qing felt a bit wronged.

“Don’t be mad.” Chen Qing leaned over awkwardly, kissed his chin, and held back his embarrassment.

“There should be a punishment for making mistakes.” Zhou Yuan was unmoved. “A kiss can’t solve the problem.”

Upset, Chen Qing muttered to himself, “You have to give me time, right?”

Zhou Yuan kissed his forehead. “How much time has it been? From when I told you my idea until now—three days after our wedding—and you still haven’t gotten used to it?” He was even more aggrieved than Chen Qing.

Seeing him like this, Chen Qing felt a little flustered and couldn’t stand it.

“Then you have to do something to make it up to me, right?”

Chen Qing felt his ears burn. He thought of the pamphlet he had read with Li Xin for no reason. If he really had to do what was in that pamphlet, he wouldn’t want to see anyone.

“I…”

Before he could finish speaking, he heard Zhou Yuan say, “I’m going to town tomorrow, but I’ve already told the Zhang Xu family to come to our house to discuss the land lease.”

The Zhang Xu family helped them harvest wheat this time.

“I won’t have time, so you’ll have to talk to them.”

Chen Qing didn’t quite understand what he meant. “Huh?”

Then, he realized he had misunderstood. Zhou Yuan’s “compensation” wasn’t what he had thought. Chen Qing’s whole body nearly turned red.

Zhou Yuan looked at the gauze curtain beside the bed and didn’t notice his expression. He pulled Chen Qing over. “We don’t need to set the rent too high. They just need to pay the land tax, and then we can take 20%. No need for too much—we’re all poor.”

“But, but…” Chen Qing wanted to say something. “I can’t do it.”

“You haven’t even tried. How do you know you can’t?” Zhou Yuan took his hand and kissed it. “Just tell them our terms. If they object, you don’t have to agree. We’ll discuss it when I get back.”

Chen Qing felt a little numb at the thought of discussing these things with strangers. “Oh… then I’ll try.”

After all, they shared the same bed. As soon as Chen Qing moved his eyes, Zhou Yuan knew what he was thinking. “Don’t think about asking Mother for help. I’ll tell her about this.”

Chen Qing’s plan fell through. He left Zhou Yuan’s arms and slept in the corner of the bed, only offering Zhou Yuan the back of his head.

Zhou Yuan leaned over and could only see his red earlobes in the moonlight. He didn’t know why Chen Qing had blushed again. Remembering their earlier conversation, Zhou Yuan immediately understood.

He smiled, turned off the light, and pressed his whole body against Chen Qing. Chen Qing wanted to resist, but Zhou Yuan’s voice dropped lower. “What were you just thinking about?”

When Chen Qing ignored him, Zhou Yuan stuck close to him and lightly bit his earlobe. His warm breath fell upon Chen Qing’s neck. Chen Qing had already retreated to the corner but was still caught by Zhou Yuan.

Fortunately, Zhou Yuan knew his limits and didn’t exhaust Chen Qing as he had on their wedding night. He fetched water to wipe Chen Qing’s body, then hugged him tightly. Chen Qing’s hand touched the old injuries on his chest and back.

Chen Qing raised his head to look at him while lying on him. Zhou Yuan’s body bore many such marks, and each one made Chen Qing’s heart tremble.

Zhou Yuan held his hand. “Don’t touch it.”

Chen Qing asked, “Did it hurt back then?”

“I’ve forgotten.” Zhou Yuan kissed his hand again. “If you still don’t want to sleep, how about we do it again?”

Chen Qing immediately stopped. He still wasn’t used to sharing a bed with someone. When he slept with Li Xin, he always slept lightly, partly because of Li Xin’s poor sleeping posture.

Now he slept with Zhou. Zhou Yuan was very tall and almost took up the whole bed. The past few mornings, when Chen Qing woke up, he had almost been lying completely on top of Zhou Yuan.

“Don’t move. Sleep.” Zhou Yuan’s large hand gently patted Chen Qing’s back. Chen Qing quickly fell asleep, and after he was fully asleep, Zhou Yuan pulled him into his arms.

No matter how Chen Qing moved, he could always fit into the space beside Zhou Yuan because he was small.

Soon, a good night’s sleep followed.

 

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