Chapter 6: Silent Comfort
After dinner and tidying up, it was still early. Qiu Henian went to tidy up the courtyard while Qingyan washed the clothes they had changed out of yesterday. By the time Qiu Henian finished in the yard, Qingyan had washed and Qiu Henian helped wring out the heavier clothes. Later, Qingyan went outside again to collect yesterday’s dried clothes and hung up the freshly washed ones.
It was chilly in the early morning, and touching the wet clothes made Qingyan’s hands ache from the cold. Qiu Henian insisted Qingyan go back inside. Qingyan brought the frozen clothes back, which resembled ice sculptures, and hung them near the stove to dry completely.
Once this was done, Qiu Henian went to Wang the Blacksmith’s house and took out packets of pastries, dried fruits, two jars of wine, and some expensive-looking fabrics from the remaining two large crimson boxes.
Qingyan watched nearby and asked, swallowing hard, “What are these for?”
Qiu Henian glanced at him and said, “We’re visiting your family tomorrow. These are gifts to bring. Take a look and see if it’s enough, or if we need to add more. I’ll go to town this afternoon to buy more if necessary.”
Qingyan was momentarily stunned, suddenly remembering their upcoming visit in three days. His heart sank, feeling anxious to the core.
Only he knew he was a ger who had crossed over. No one in Liuxi Village knew the original owner. Qiu Henian hadn’t met the original owner before their marriage. As long as Qingyan was careful not to draw attention to himself, there was no need to worry about others finding out.
But returning home was different. Although the original family had largely ignored him, they had known him since childhood. His appearance, features, and temperament were all familiar to them.
Qingyan glanced at himself; even if he resembled the original owner closely enough, differences in body shape, height, and even skin tone were obvious. In just two days since marrying into this family, there was no way he could change so drastically.
Therefore, going back was out of the question. If he did, he might be exposed, suspected of replacing the original owner, and possibly punished as a demon and burned alive.
Qingyan was in a state of panic. He looked at Qiu Henian, who was waiting for his response.
Haltingly, Qingyan said, “It’s enough, it’s enough. No need to add more.”
Qiu Henian seemed to sense something amiss but didn’t press further.
He just gave Qingyan a few more looks and said, “Alright, I’ll go to Aunt Li’s to borrow a cart. Tomorrow we’ll use it to transport these things.”
Qingyan nodded absentmindedly and walked outside.
Qiu Henian called after him, “Qingyan.”
Preoccupied, Qingyan didn’t notice that it was the first time Qiu Henian had called him by name. He turned back reflexively.
Qiu Henian’s lips moved, saying, “After borrowing the cart, I’ll go to the town bookstore to buy books. Let me know if there’s anything interesting you’d like.”
At this point, Qingyan wasn’t thinking about that. He simply said, “Anything interesting will do,” and left without noticing the slight furrow in Qiu Henian’s brow.
However, Qingyan soon returned, pushing the door open again with a hopeful look on his face.
“Can I go to town with you?” he asked.
Qiu Henian hesitated for a moment and said gently, “Alright.”
When Qiu Henian returned with the cart, Qingyan had already changed into a new robe and put on a light blue vest over it, ready to go out. Qiu Henian scrutinized him for a moment and then found a pair of cotton gloves for him to wear.
In a hurry, Qingyan rushed ahead, opening the courtyard gate and looking outside.
He sighed, “It’s so beautiful today…”
Mid-sentence, Qingyan’s mouth hung open as if someone had choked him.
He struggled to say, “It’s so cold…”
A slender young man, not short but lean, stood by the river not far from the courtyard gate, dressed lightly in a satin robe that fluttered in the breeze. When he heard Qingyan’s voice behind him, he turned around. Only half of his face was visible, showing a slanted eyebrow and slightly raised phoenix eye. Qingyan slammed the door shut.
A hand rested on his shoulder, startling Qingyan.
Qiu Henian frowned slightly, gripping his shoulder and turning him around. Seeing Qingyan’s pale, frightened face, his brow furrowed even more.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked.
Tears welled up in Qingyan’s eyes. His lips trembled as he stuttered, “I… I suddenly don’t want to go out.”
Qiu Henian watched him for a while and asked, “Why? What’s out there?”
Qingyan dared not open the door again.
He grabbed the man’s arm, trembling all over, and said, “I’m afraid.”
Qiu Henian was puzzled.
“You’re not afraid of Aunt Li.”
Qingyan nodded and said, “Yeah,” before accepting his explanation.
Qiu Henian held his shoulder and said, “If you don’t want to go out, then don’t. I’ll take you back to the house.”
Qingyan nodded.
As he lay back in bed, Qiu Henian went to pour water for him, and Qingyan’s heart was still pounding.
Outside the courtyard, the man in satin robes, the characters on his head clear in his mind: Yang Huai, wealthy merchant of Liulin County.
He was the former owner’s lover, the one who conspired with him and framed Qiu Henian.
He was also the one who, tired of the former owner, resorted to drugging him when threatened with old matters, and then buried him alive.
Qingyan originally thought this was the former owner’s karma, unrelated to himself. After all, he could never betray Qiu Henian and get involved with such people, not to mention the tragic consequences that followed.
But how could someone who shouldn’t have any connection suddenly appear at his doorstep? There’s no mention of this in the records.
Yang Huai is from the county town, quite far from here. Why would he come to this remote and impoverished village?
Could it be that the plot in the book cannot be changed?
Just like the medicine originally meant for the former owner inexplicably took effect on Qingyan?
Thinking of the former owner’s tragic end, Qingyan felt nauseous.
He had been worried sick about returning to the door since morning. He had planned to go to the town with Qiu Henian to buy books, then accidentally get lost, hide in the mountains for a few days, and pretend to find his way back to avoid returning to his maternal home.
Now thinking about it, this was clearly a desperate move. Not to mention that if he could avoid the first time, he couldn’t avoid the fifteenth. Moreover, in this icy wilderness, he would either freeze to death or become food for wild beasts if he hid in the mountains.
He hadn’t figured out how to deal with this matter when another bigger scare came: Qingyan suddenly fell ill and developed a high fever.
Qiu Henian begged Aunt Li to take care of him, then walked over ten miles to bring back the shaky old doctor from the neighboring village, pushed in a cart. After the doctor checked Qingyan’s illness, brewed medicine for him to drink, and then sent the old doctor back.
When he returned again, the medicine had taken effect, and Qingyan’s fever had subsided, sleeping peacefully.
Aunt Li gestured for Qiu Henian to speak outside.
She closed the door tightly and whispered, “This child seems to have a heavy heart!”
Qiu Henian’s face darkened. “Hmm.”
Seeing him like this, Aunt Li was a bit anxious.
“Since you’ve noticed, why don’t you ask him?”
Qiu Henian turned his scarred face away, his eyes staring at the dying embers in the stove.
“He will tell me what he wants to say.”
Aunt Li was so anxious she wanted to slap her thigh.
“You two are already husband and wife. Your lives are tied together. What can’t you talk about?”
Qiu Henian’s fingers curled slightly at his side.
Seeing his reluctance to speak, Aunt Li sighed.
Qiu Henian married this wife because of her persuasion. Originally, Qiu Henian didn’t care much about this matter. She saw him dealing with daily cold stoves alone, unable to tolerate his loneliness.
Moreover, he was an outsider with no parents, siblings, or relatives. Marrying a wife and having children would alleviate his loneliness.
She persuaded him for a long time before Qiu Henian reluctantly agreed to let her find a matchmaker.
Qiu Henian was a blacksmith with a good business. Logically, he should have been easy to find a match for. However, his face was injured, and despite Aunt Li asking several young ladies and sons of prominent families, none were willing.
The Yu family was in the town. Aunt Li didn’t know much about them, only that they were scholars. When the matchmaker mentioned them, she never thought it would work out.
Although Qiu Henian spent a lot of silver to propose, the Yu family’s demands like no welcoming ceremony or banquet were too much. But since there were willing parties, Aunt Li thought she could accept it.
She sincerely hoped this couple could live harmoniously and lead a decent life.
But seeing Qiu Henian like this, it seemed they still had to endure.
However, when she was taking care of Qingyan just now, she accidentally saw the white flesh on the child’s waist, with a fading bruise that hadn’t completely disappeared. She was experienced and naturally understood how it came about.
This reassured her a lot. When the two had children in the future, they wouldn’t be able to afford to separate.
Qingyan slept until the evening, woke up and drank a bowl of porridge. Being young, he recovered quite fast.
Unable to sleep after waking up, Qiu Henian found several books from under the bed and placed them on the bed for Qingyan to choose.
Qingyan flipped through them, trying to show a little more interest. But as he expected, he could only understand about half of the words in these books, and could only grasp a third of the meaning because they lacked punctuation, and he could not break them up.
Thinking that he had graduated from university and was now unable to read half of it, he was unfamiliar with life and had to be careful, he had to go to face the former owner’s family in the morning, and his life might not be spared, even if he could mix past,
There was also Yang Huai, who was waiting to kill him, and his heart was full of sorrow, and he couldn’t help but turn his eyes.
He desperately turned his head away, not wanting the person beside him to see his tears.
Usually, when he was alone, he could cry freely, but crying in front of others made him feel ashamed as a grown man.
At that moment, a warm hand suddenly held his chin, turning him back. Qingyan subconsciously looked over and felt everything go dark before the person beside him extinguished the candle, hiding that terrifying half-face in darkness and concealing Qingyan’s heartache and embarrassment.
Then rough fingers touched his face, wiping away the tears he couldn’t hold back.
Qingyan could have held it in, but being treated so gently broke his resolve completely. Overwhelmed with sorrow, his emotional defenses collapsed.
In the pitch-black room where no one could see his embarrassment, he suddenly threw himself into the person’s arms, clutching their neck and crying bitterly.
The man gently wrapped one arm around his shoulder and stroked the back of his head with the other, offering no words of comfort.
The curtains were drawn now, keeping out the moonlight. The man’s body was warm, and his comforting touch on Qingyan’s large hand was very soothing, making Qingyan feel safe.
After a long time, he finally vented all his emotions and, feeling embarrassed, sat up from the man’s embrace.
At that moment, Qiu Henian got up from bed, took a towel from the basin stand in the dark, and returned to bed to wipe Qingyan’s face and hands as if treating a child.
In the quiet night, a deep, gentle voice sounded, “There’s an interesting book called ‘Mountain and River Chronicle’ in these books. Would you like to read it?”
Qingyan choked up and whispered, “I want to hear you read.”
Qiu Henian didn’t refuse.
He had Qingyan sit next to the bed, picked up a book from the bed.
The fire in the hearth was still burning, the room was warm, and the oil lamp was lit again. The firelight reflected Qiu Henian’s strikingly handsome face.
In the quiet and warm night, he sat by the bed and read the book page by page to Qingyan.
Though the room was small, the book depicted vast mountains and rivers, magnificent scenery.
Qingyan closed his eyes, imagining himself measuring every inch of that vast land just like the author, gradually relaxing until he fell asleep.
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
“But what if he expresses a desire? After all, he’s in the prime of his life, and I look so good!”
