Chapter 164
When they returned to their room in the evening, Wu Shuang wanted to wash off the rouge and lipstick on his face but was stopped by Xiao Zhuang, who grabbed his arm.
Wu Shuang turned to look at him, and Xiao Zhuang said, “Let me have another good look.”
Earlier, in his parents’ room next door, Xiao Zhuang had looked at Wu Shuang for a long time, and Xiao Ling had made a fuss about it. His mother had also been coughing persistently, so he quickly averted his gaze.
Now that they were in their own room, Xiao Zhuang naturally wanted to look as much as he wanted.
Wu Shuang glanced at him and then looked down. His fluttering eyelashes almost brushed against Xiao Zhuang’s heart, making him feel a tickling sensation inside.
“You look really beautiful,” Xiao Zhuang remarked.
Wu Shuang asked, “Can I wash up now?”
Xiao Zhuang’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he said, “I still want to kiss.”
Wu Shuang asked, “Kiss where?”
Xiao Zhuang’s mind was buzzing. He had originally just wanted to kiss his cheeks and lips, but now his thoughts were swirling with various ideas.
In the end, he picked him up and placed him on the bed, then proceeded to act out all the thoughts in his mind.
Afterward, while Xiao Zhuang was washing up, he noticed that he had smeared a lot of rouge on his face. He had been affectionate with Wu Shuang while looking like this.
Turning back to Wu Shuang, he saw him lazily leaning against the headboard. Seeing him like that, he said two words and then laughed.
Though he couldn’t hear him, Xiao Zhuang knew he had called him a “fool.”
Xiao Zhuang felt as if his heart was filled with honey and also laughed.
…
Qiuniang planned to sneak a look at the young man but didn’t dare let Nian Sheng know, fearing that he would be upset if he found out. She put in quite a bit of effort to find out where she might encounter him.
The young man was named An Xin and had studied for a few years.
He had been engaged before, but due to the family’s decline, his parents fell ill one after another, depleting their resources, and they couldn’t hold onto the family’s fortunes, leaving only him and his brother.
The family eventually reneged on the engagement.
An Xin wasn’t disheartened by this. He had no strong feelings for the person he was engaged to, and his younger brother An Le was doing well in his studies. Despite his young age, An Le showed great talent, and An Xin had originally wanted to support his brother’s education.
So, after the engagement was broken off, An Xin focused on making money and taking care of his brother rather than dwelling on the matter.
He set up a stall on the county street every morning, taking on tasks such as writing letters, documents, and couplets.
An Xin had spent quite a bit of time practicing his calligraphy, and his handwriting was both beautiful and fast, making his business quite good. Now that An Le had passed the imperial examination, life was getting better.
Qiuniang found out where he set up his stall and pretended to be nearby, observing for a while.
She wanted to talk to him, but if Nian Sheng married him in the future, An Xin would understand what had happened back then, and Qiuniang thought it would be too awkward.
She didn’t dare stand there too long, and after about the time it took to burn an incense stick, she quickly left while An Xin was still unaware.
When she returned, Qiuniang went to find Qingyan and said, “I think this young man is quite good—he has a refined appearance, a good build, speaks softly and politely, and always smiles. He is patient with people of all ages. I really like him.”
“But just from looking at him, it’s hard to be certain,” Qiuniang said.
“Sister-in-law, could you check again next time you go to the county? I trust your judgment. If you say he’s good, then he must be good.”
At that time, Qingyan was seven months pregnant and quite large, but since he had already passed the uncomfortable stage, it wouldn’t be much trouble for him to make a trip.
However, Qingyan said, “I can go and take a look, but Qiuniang, even if we just see him a few times, Nian Sheng knows him much better than we do. He is not someone who only looks at appearances. If he likes someone, it must be because the person is genuinely good. You need to trust Nian Sheng and not treat him like a child anymore.”
Qiuniang thought about it for a while and agreed that meddling might not be ideal.
She gritted her teeth and said, “Alright, I’ll listen to you and won’t interfere.”
In truth, Qiuniang’s hesitation was partly due to her lingering dissatisfaction.
Since Nian Sheng was over fifteen or sixteen, there had been no shortage of marriage proposals at home.
Qiuniang had put her foot down, stating that they would not consider marriage matters for a few years, which had brought some peace.
In the past two years, seeing Nian Sheng become more successful, matchmakers had started to stir again.
Qiuniang originally thought that since Nian Sheng was destined to take the imperial examination and become an official, his marriage should not be taken lightly. It would be best to find a girl or young man from an official’s family.
However, her thoughts on this gradually faded.
Fragrant Melody Pavillion was engaged in business for the entire county, and Qiuniang had dealings with wealthy families in the county, even having visited the county magistrate’s house.
When Shen Min was too busy, Qiuniang helped deliver the ordered accessories and clothing to the county magistrate’s family.
When she arrived at the magistrate’s residence, she was dazzled and admired everything in her heart.
In the back courtyard where the family resided, the women and young men came out to see the items she had delivered. They were polite on the surface, but their underlying arrogance and contempt were hard to hide.
It was a hot day, and Qiuniang had dressed heavily and was sweating profusely, making her look somewhat disheveled.
An older woman offered Qiuniang something to try from the pavilion table. Qiuniang looked at it, thinking it was a type of cake, and took a piece.
It had no taste and was hard to swallow, but she still politely said, “This tastes really good.”
Others, however, laughed while holding their stomachs, and one young man pointed at her and said, “This country bumpkin, she ate the paper holding the cakes instead of the cakes.”
After leaving that house, Qiuniang’s face remained unpleasant for quite some time, and she couldn’t sleep well that night.
It was this experience that caused her to lose interest in marrying into an official’s family.
She felt that if they were to find someone from an ordinary family, they should be exceptionally good in all aspects, and not let Nian Sheng be wronged.
An Xin’s family background was indeed not very good, which made her slightly uncomfortable.
However, An Le, having passed the imperial examination at a young age, had limitless potential.
Most importantly, Nian Sheng liked An Xin himself, and Qiuniang placed great importance on Nian Sheng.
After returning from her sister-in-law’s home, Qiuniang pondered and ultimately decided to go along with Nian Sheng’s wishes.
Moreover, Nian Sheng hadn’t even proposed yet, and whether An Xin would like him was still uncertain. Qiuniang began to worry again about whether things would work out for Nian Sheng and felt saddened.
……
At the end of this year, Qingyan was burdened by his heavy health, and all the household affairs were managed by Qiu Henian. On New Year’s Eve, Aunt Li and Qiuniang’s family, along with Shen Min who came back specially from the county, arrived early to help prepare the evening feast together.
A month before the New Year, Qiu Henian was busy himself, so he paid a craftsman to make a new large round table. Now the days were getting better every year, and the Lunar New Year dishes were becoming more abundant as the family grew.
On New Year’s Eve afternoon, the large table was set up, and dishes prepared one by one were placed on top. Although the table was large, it was still packed full of food and drink.
…
At this time, Xiao Zhuang’s family was also having their New Year’s Eve dinner. The day before, Xiao Zhuang’s eldest sister and her husband had returned with their children, making the home lively once again.
In the past, the good food and wine were reserved for entertaining the uncle on the day before New Year’s Eve. On New Year’s Eve, they simply reheated the leftovers, stir-fried a few more dishes, made dumplings, and that was it.
This year was different. Yesterday they had entertained the uncle, and all the leftovers were frozen in the snow shell, untouched on New Year’s Eve. From morning to night, everything was freshly cooked.
This year was different for two reasons: things were better than last year, and most importantly, there were more people in the family. It was Wu Shuang’s first time spending New Year’s at his in-laws’, and since daughter-in-laws were always together with their mothers-in-law, Xiao Zhuang’s mother naturally favored her daughter-in-law more and made the occasion more grand.
Everyone sat around the table. Before picking up their chopsticks, Xiao Zhuang’s mother took out red envelopes and distributed them to the children.
Wu Shuang thought he and Xiao Zhuang were considered one family and would only get one red envelope, but he didn’t expect his mother-in-law to have prepared one separately for him as well.
Everyone received similar amounts, probably a dozen or twenty copper coins each, but the sentiment was different. Wu Shuang held his share in his hand for a long time before putting it away.
Wu Shuang also prepared red envelopes for his younger siblings and handed them out at this time.
The elder brother-in-law had money, and the red envelopes were heavier than those given out by the parents. The younger sister, Xiao Ling, and Xiao Hong were both happy and smiling. Xiao Ling was sweet and spoke, speaking auspicious words to her brother and sister-in-law.
Before the New Year, Wu Shuang gave his mother-in-law the money for New Year, and went to town with Xiao Zhuang to buy two pig elbows, ten hooves, a fan of ribs, two chickens, and five or six fish.
Xiao Zhuang’s mother complained about their extravagant spending, but was very pleased.
As midnight approached, firecrackers rang out outside. Xiao Zhuang and his younger brother, Xiao Hong, also went to the yard to set off fireworks. When they returned, the dumplings in the pot were just cooked, served and placed on the table.
Coins were hidden inside the dumplings, cleaned and washed. Whoever found them would be applauded and called “More money, more luck.”
Xiao Ling and Xiao Hong had each found one, but Xiao Zhuang had found four or five.
Wu Shuang had a small appetite, but in order to find copper coins, he ate several more dumplings than usual, but found nothing.
Xiao Zhuang glanced at her and, after a while, went out, came back, and put a plate of dumplings that he had picked too much on Wu Shuang’s side.
He said, “Eat another one.”
Wu Shuang said, “I can’t eat anymore.”
Xiao Zhuang encouraged him, “Just eat one more, even if you only take a bite. You can give the rest to me.”
Wu Shuang took the chopsticks and picked them up, Xiao Zhuang quickly pushed the chopsticks to him and picked up the dumpling at the top of the plate.
When Wu Shuang picked it up, he saw a crack behind the dumpling and vaguely saw something inside.
His heart raced, looking at Xiao Zhuang.
Xiao Zhuang’s face was full of anticipation, so he pretended not to know, and put the dumpling into his mouth.
Sure enough, when he took a light bite, he felt a hard object. Wu Shuang acted surprised, pulled out the copper coin, and Xiao Zhuang immediately clapped and exclaimed, “More money, more luck!”
Wu Shuang watched him for a moment before shifting his gaze away.
After the meal and clean-up, the parents, exhausted, went to bed.
Xiao Zhuang took his spouse and younger siblings to the frozen river to launch fireworks.
At that time, many adults were on the ice with their children. Xiao Zhuang let his younger brother and sister join in, but they, feeling grown-up, were reluctant to lie down. Xiao Zhuang playfully pushed them down a few times, and they laughed joyfully, refusing to get up.
Xiao Zhuang then asked Wu Shuang, who was bundled up warmly, “Do you want to roll on the ice?”
Wu Shuang said, “Do you also want to put me down?”
Xiao Zhuang’s eyes were bright, whispered, “It’s okay, wait for a while.”
Wu Shuang kicked his leg and ran away.
Xiao Zhuang smiled and chased after him. Inadvertently, he slipped on the ice and sat down.
Wu Shuang turned back, squatted beside him, and looked at him and said, “You really are a fool.”
