Raine: Continuing my tradition of posting on my birthday, here’s a little birthday update (´｡• ᵕ •｡`). I know I should really post more often, but honestly… I hate my job hahaha. The commute alone drains me out every day, and by the time I get home, even opening my laptop feels like a chore (；￣Д￣). So my birthday wish this year is to get into the company I’m applying for. It’s 100% remote, which means I can sneak in some translating during downtime (ง •̀_•́)ง.
Big thanks to everyone who still sends me Kofi. Those coffee sessions were lifesavers. Without them, I probably would’ve lost my mind from all the stress (╥﹏╥).
I’m on leave until Monday hehe, so I actually have time to build up a chapter stash and schedule them. I’ll try to set things up so there’s at least one or two releases every week in September. That way I won’t stress myself out over keeping up or overthinking the posting schedule (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵).
Inside the room.
“What are you thinking about?” Chen Xiaomi asked while pasting cloth fans.
After the round fans sold well for a while, their popularity gradually cooled down. Other shops in town started selling round fans one after another. At this time, the store launched cloth fans similar to paper fans, which brought another wave of popularity.
Cloth fans served pretty much the same purpose as round fans, but many young ladies and wives liked new things.
When cloth fans came out, a lot of people still bought them.
Many people bought fans not to beat the heat anymore, but to show off.
“I was just thinking how scary rumors can be!” Lu Lin answered with a sigh.
After Shen Chi came back from the village last time, his mood wasn’t right. However, Lu Lin had many things to handle, so he didn’t pay much attention.
Then, two nights ago, Chen Xiaocai secretly approached him and said that Shen Chi had gone back to the village and seemed really upset. Something must have happened, so he asked Lu Lin to go to the village to check it out.
Although Lu Lin was busy, he felt that Chen Xiaocai rarely asked him for help, so he should still help out. So he went to the village to investigate. It was only after he got there that he learned some nasty rumors had been spreading because he’d turned down those matchmakers who came for Chen Xiaocai.
Some said that he and Chen Xiaomi had started working in town and gotten all high and mighty, so they looked down on village girls now.
Others said that Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi had been fooling around together long ago, which was why they weren’t interested in anyone else.
This little Shuang’er Shen Chi was quite something. He already knew how to seduce people at such a young age.
Chen Xiaomi had grown used to being criticized, and since they lived in town now, he didn’t really care. But Shen Chi was different. Lu Lin figured Shen Chi must have been really hurt by all this.
After all, Shen Chi was still just a kid. Being suddenly mocked and ridiculed by so many people, he probably felt awful.
When Chen Xiaomi heard about the rumors from Lu Lin, he said angrily, “How could they spread such things? It’s going to be hard for Shen Chi to find a match in the future.”
“Really?” Lu Lin asked.
Chen Xiaomi nodded, “Of course.”
It was already difficult for a Shuang’er to find a husband. Chen Xiaomi had originally prepared himself to grow old alone. If it weren’t for that sudden head tax that was imposed, he wouldn’t have thought about finding a huuband at all.
“The Shen family’s conditions are pretty good too!” Granny Shen probably had some savings and owned several mu of farmland in her hands. It was just that the family was too small.
People here believed that more children meant more blessings. Although having more people in the family meant more mouths to feed, when someone came looking for trouble, having more family members was always an advantage.
“If Shen Chi marries out, after Granny Shen passes away, the farmland will belong to the husband’s family. If they bring in a son-in-law, they probably won’t be able to find a good one.” In this era, it was expected that a woman follows her husband’s family completely. If a woman didn’t have a strong maternal family, after marrying into her husband’s family, she could basically only accept being bullied. It was the same for Shuang’ers.
Lu Lin said teasingly, “You say it’s hard to recruit a good live-in husband, but aren’t I a pretty good one?”
Chen Xiaomi blushed. “I’m not talking about you.”
Lu Lin rubbed his chin. “Well, that’s true.”
Chen Xiaomi suddenly remembered something. There used to be a girl in the village who was quite pretty. A family went to propose marriage for their son. That family’s son was just a hooligan. The girl’s family refused, but that hooligan was a troublemaker who spread rumors everywhere that the girl was having an affair with a traveling peddler.
The girl loved to look pretty and often asked the peddler to bring her new hair ribbons. Her relationship with the peddler was completely innocent.
Even though it was a baseless rumor, after it spread enough, the villagers actually believed that the girl was immoral. The girl couldn’t stand the shame and drowned herself in the lake.
After her death, some villagers felt guilty, but what did it matter? She was already gone.
After hearing Chen Xiaomi tell this story, Lu Lin couldn’t help but sigh. Although he had inherited the original owner’s memories, he still couldn’t fully understand the mentality of people in this era.
“How do you think we should handle this situation?” Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiaomi and asked.
Chen Xiaomi thought for a moment. “If both Shen Chi and Xiaocai agree, we can arrange their engagement.”
“Isn’t it a bit early?” Lu Lin asked.
Chen Xiaomi gritted his teeth. “It’s just an engagement. We can talk about the wedding later. Once they’re engaged, no one will gossip if they spend time together.”
Lu Lin nodded and said, “That works.”
Although Lu Lin didn’t think Shen Chi would be so mentally fragile as to drown himself, he was still just a kid after all. It wasn’t good for him to bear too much pressure.
Child brides and arranged marriages before birth were common here. Thinking about it this way, an early engagement seemed pretty good too. Shen Chi could also start learning to help out in the shop earlier. However, they still needed to ask Xiaocai’s opinion first.
“Engagement?” Chen Xiaocai looked at Lu Lin in surprise.
Lu Lin nodded. “Yes. Actually, you’re still quite young, so it could wait, but now there are all these messy rumors in the village.” If they didn’t do anything about the rumors spreading in the village, those rumors might very well get worse and worse.
Chen Xiaocai frowned. “It’s good to settle it early. Ah Chi is pretty nice.”
Lu Lin tilted his head to look at Chen Xiaocai and said, “Shen Chi is a Shuang’er, you know. Think it through.” Most men here still preferred girls. Lu Lin didn’t know what Chen Xiaocai was thinking.
Chen Xiaocai cocked his head. “Shuang’ers are pretty good. Big brother is a Shuang’er too. Don’t you like my big brother, Lin-ge?”
Lu Lin fell silent. This brat was actually using words to trap him.
Looking at Chen Xiaocai, Lu Lin vaguely suspected that Chen Xiaocai liked Shen Chi because Shen Chi resembled Chen Xiaomi. Loving the crow for the sake of its owner, so to speak. [mfn]”爱屋及乌” (ài wū jí wū) literally means “love the house and its crows.” It implies that if you love someone, you extend that affection to everything associated with them, even things others might find unappealing (like crows on the roof).[/mfn]
After asking Chen Xiaocai’s opinion, Lu Lin went to find Granny Shen.
Granny Shen looked at Lu Lin and said, “You want Ah Chi to get engaged to Xiaocai.”
Lu Lin nodded and said, “Yes, I think those two really suit each other. Ah Chi seems like a good kid to me, so I thought it’d be best to get him and Xiaocai engaged sooner rather than later, before someone else snatches him up…” Hearing Lu Lin praise her grandson, Granny Shen was naturally pleased.
“Xiaocai agreed?” Granny Shen secretly hoped for a match between Xiaocai and her grandson, but she also knew that many married Shuang’ers didn’t have an easy life in their husband’s family. Often, men married Shuang’ers only because their families were too poor to afford a wife, so they settled for someone who could work hard.
Lu Lin smiled. “What are you saying? If he didn’t agree, would I bring this up with you? Those two have been close for a long time.”
Granny Shen said somewhat embarrassedly, “It’s my fault.” She was genuinely happy that Lu Lin had taken the initiative to propose. She was getting older, and Granny Shen had always worried about how Shen Chi, a little Shuang’er, would live if she wasn’t around anymore.
Given the Chen brothers’ character, if Shen Chi married Chen Xiaocai, she could rest easy even after she was gone. However…
“Ah Lin, did you hear something?” Granny Shen also knew about people coming to Lu Lin to propose marriage for Chen Xiaocai. Chen Xiaomi’s previous attitude seemed to be that Xiaocai was still young and didn’t need to be settled so early.
Lu Lin frowned. “I’ve heard a few things. I know Xiaocai well. He’s always liked A’Chi, but he’s too shy to say it. Originally I thought the two kids were still young and didn’t need to rush, but since there are such rumors spreading in the village, it’s better to settle it early.”
Granny Shen nodded and finally said, “That’s good too.”
Granny Shen thought that her grandson was already hard to find a match for, and now with these rumors in the village, it would be even harder. Since Lu Lin had made the offer himself, there was no need for her to play hard to get.
Granny Shen called Shen Chi to her side and mentioned the engagement. Shen Chi couldn’t help but blush.
The next day, Granny Shen took Shen Chi back to the village and immediately busied herself with preparations.
Wealthy families had all sorts of elaborate ceremonies and rituals for weddings, but villagers were different. Those who were better off might pay more attention to formalities, while those with less just kept things simple.
In the countryside, where putting food on the table was already a struggle, there was no need for excessive fuss.
Grandma Shen’s sudden return to the countryside sparked quite a bit of gossip.
Everyone in the village knew she worked at Huaxia Trading Company and only came back occasionally to tend to her land. Since she had just returned a couple of days ago and was back again so soon, people couldn’t help but whisper.
Those who couldn’t stand others doing well jokingly guessed that Granny Shen had actually been kicked out.
Chen Xiaomi was probably worried that Shen Chi’s reputation might affect Chen Xiaocai’s future, so Lu Lin had told Grandma Shen that he would send a matchmaker in a couple of days to discuss the engagement and deliver the betrothal gifts.
After discussing it, both sides felt that the engagement didn’t need to be too complicated. They’d just invite some people over for a meal.
Although everything was kept simple, they still needed to prepare. Granny Shen had been staying in town recently, so her house was a little messy. Dust had settled on the furniture, and many places in the house were in disarray. There wasn’t enough time to buy anything new, but at the very least, she needed to give the place a good cleaning.
“Granny Shen, you’re back.”
Granny Shen looked at Liu Yue and said, “Yes, I’m back.”
Liu Yue looked at Grandma Shen with an apologetic expression. Her aunt Zhang Xiuhe had gone to town to find Lu Lin, using the village head’s name to demand that Grandma Shen removed from her job. Lu Lin didn’t agree, so she came to their house to make a scene, saying Lu Lin was arrogant and didn’t respect the village head, and wanted the old man to reason with him.
Although the village head favored his sister, he couldn’t very well go into town to confront Lu Lin, so he just advised Zhang Xiuhe to drop the matter.
Lu Lin didn’t tell Granny Shen about Zhang Xiuhe’s incident, but nothing could be hidden in the village. Many villagers wanted to sell embroidery to Lu Lin’s shop, and when they met Granny Shen, some people told her about Zhang Xiuhe’s actions. Some kind-hearted ones even told Granny Shen to be careful.
When Granny Shen came back this time, Zhang Xiuhe immediately became smug, guessing that the boss in town had finally gotten tired of the old woman who was just eating for free and kicked her out.
The more Zhang Xiuhe thought about it, the more convinced she became, so she confidently spread the word. Some villagers thought Zhang Xiuhe had gotten some inside information from the village head, so they believed her.
Zhang Xiuhe not only liked to take advantage of the villagers, but even more liked to take advantage of her family. So Liu Yue actually disliked this aunt very much.
Liu Yue looked at Granny Shen and asked somewhat awkwardly, “Grandma, are you planning to stay for long?”
Granny Shen glanced at her and said, “I’m staying for a couple of days, but I’ll go back to town in a few days. There’s not much work lately anyway, so I happen to be free.”
Liu Yue smiled and said, “I see! I’m really sorry about my aunt’s behavior.”
Grandma Shen waved it off casually. “It’s nothing serious. Ah Yue, don’t worry about it.”
Although Granny Shen didn’t like Zhang Xiuhe, she still had a good impression of Liu Yue.
Hearing Grandma Shen’s confirmation that her return had nothing to do with her aunt, Liu Yue felt relieved.
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