Chapter 7: Sweet Tangyuan
The next morning, after breakfast, both of them packed up and dressed in neat new clothes, ready to set off for Yu’s home.
Qingyan had made up his mind that halfway there, he would pretend to have a relapse of his illness. Even if he had to act foolish or crazy, he was determined to stick to the road and not return home.
Qiu Henian secured everything with ropes on the cart, then placed thick cushions and blankets on the board. He helped Qingyan, who was delicate, to sit on them, covered him with a quilt, and prepared to push the cart to hit the road.
Initially, Qingyan refused to sit up there. After all, he was a grown young man and not exactly light, plus there were so many things already on the cart. But Qiu Henian insisted. Knowing Qingyan planned to feign illness halfway, he wouldn’t let him tire himself out too much, so Qingyan reluctantly got on.
As a result, just as the two had locked the door, Qingyan hadn’t even settled onto the warm cushion in the cart, nor had they left the courtyard, when someone banged loudly on the wooden gate. They glanced at each other, and Qiu Henian set down the cart to go and open the door, while Qingyan jumped down from the cart.
Qiu Henian was tall, and Qingyan didn’t see the newcomer’s appearance, only heard him talking.
It was the voice of a middle-aged man who said he had come from town to visit relatives. He mentioned that Yu’s family had asked him to pass on a message, so he came over.
The man had a loud voice and spoke quickly, quickly explaining the message. According to him, it was Yu’s father who asked him to say that they didn’t need to return home today. Qingxi was preparing to participate in the county exam soon, and there was so much to do at home, so they’ll just discuss about his return later.
Qingxi was Qingyan’s half-brother from the same father but a different mother, and unlike Qingyan, he was considered the future pride of the family, destined to bring honor to their ancestors.
This county exam wasn’t Qingxi’s first attempt. If he didn’t pass, their father would only sigh and encourage him kindly to study harder for the next time.
Yu Fengtang himself had passed the academy exam in his youth, becoming an official scholar, but due to limited talent, he hadn’t been able to advance further, which was a regret he carried all his life.
The original owner had never truly attended a private school, relying only on occasional tutoring when their father was in a good mood. But due to their sharp intellect and hard work, they passed both the county and provincial exams on their first attempt.
Yu Fengtang had no real hopes for them. Seeing this, he felt indescribable emotions.
Their stepmother was malicious. She had whispered many times that even if this child became an official, he wouldn’t be entrusted with important tasks. Instead, he would make the whole family a laughingstock.
They wouldn’t let this child go out and make a name for themselves. Besides, they were already old enough to be left at home. They would have to eat their meals, but they still had to occasionally buy books and pens. They couldn’t afford to support two scholars.
Yu Fengtang himself had his personal interests, and so agreed to marry the oldest son.
He was busy with his business and left it to the woman. Although he was not satisfied with his marriage, the woman received a lot of money from him, and he also had a lot given his share.
When the sedan was carried away, the old man was still behind him.
He called out to his son and said, “This is all for the sake of our family, and you will understand in the future that it is a difficult thing for me to be a father.”
The original owner lying half-unconscious in the sedan heard the words loud and clear. When the sedan reached halfway, he bit his tongue and committed suicide.
Now, Yu Fengtang sent someone with a message not to let them return home. Qingyan thought to himself, perhaps this old man was feeling guilty himself, and maybe he also looked down on Qiu Henian as a son-in-law.
However, Qingyan didn’t harbor much resentment or anger. After all, this was the original owner’s father, and it had nothing to do with him. Since they didn’t need to return home, he didn’t need to fake illness anymore, which saved him a lot of trouble.
After this incident, Qingyan thought that if he completely cut ties with the Yu family in the future, it would be justifiable.
After the messenger left, Qiu Henian closed the courtyard door and walked up to Qingyan.
Qingyan kept his head down. In fact, he felt somewhat guilty and uneasy about embarrassing the other party. His hands were nervously gripping each other in front of him.
A warm hand reached out and grasped Qingyan’s wrist. Qiu Henian’s voice was deep and calm, “It’s cold outside. Come inside.”
After returning indoors, Qiu Henian asked Qingyan to lie down in the room while he went out for a while. When he returned, after busying himself in the kitchen for a while, he brought in a bowl of soup.
Qingyan climbed out of bed and saw a large bowl with five or six plump dumplings inside.
Qiu Henian placed the bowl on the table and put a porcelain spoon in it, saying, “The son from Old Chen’s family at the east end of the village makes dumplings every year. I got a few. Try them.”
Dumplings were usually eaten on the fifteenth day of the lunar new year. Qingyan didn’t understand why they were eating dumplings out of season, but he hadn’t eaten enough in the morning due to anxiety, so he sat down and slowly started eating.
He wanted Qiu Henian to try them too, but Qiu Henian just shook his head, indicating Qingyan should eat them himself.
The dumplings were glutinous with a filling of mixed nuts, fragrant and sweet. Qingyan ate them with great satisfaction.
After finishing a bowl of dumplings and drinking the warm soup, when Qiu Henian took the empty bowl to wash it, Qingyan looked at his back and suddenly realized that Qiu Henian must be silently comforting him.
When Qingyan got married, he had only a dilapidated sedan, not even a musician to entertain. He hadn’t even seen a dowry item, wearing just the clothes on his back. Now, with their return home being refused, even if Qiu Henian was slow to understand things, he should realize by now how little this new son-in-law wasn’t valued at home, even possibly mistreated.
Moreover, Qiu Henian was not only not slow, but also very sensitive, considerate of others’ feelings in words and actions.
Refusing their return home was a loss of face for Qiu Henian. The loud voice of that person just now might have been heard by nearby households, but he was neither regretful nor annoyed. Instead, he showed considerable understanding of his son-in-law’s difficulties.
Moreover, to avoid embarrassing Qingyan, he didn’t mention the matter at all, expressing comfort silently through actions. Qingyan felt that despite his poverty and loneliness in his youth, and being deceived in love and money as an adult, Heaven had indeed treated him well.
Before bed that night, Qiu Henian read to Qingyan. This time, Qingyan didn’t fall asleep quickly. Instead, by the candlelight, he read the characters together with Qiu Henian and quietly tried to memorize as many characters as possible.
Qiu Henian noticed him reading and shifted the book towards him. The two leaned against the head of the bed, reading together. It seemed like an affectionate scene of an old married couple, not unlike the mandarin ducks embroidered on the quilt.
The next morning after breakfast, Qiu Henian took out a cloth bag from a drawer under Wan Gong’s bed and showed it to Qingyan.
Inside were about fifteen or sixteen taels of silver pieces and around a hundred or so copper coins strung together.
After Qingyan looked at them, Qiu Henian said, “This is all the savings we have at home. I’ll hand it over to you to manage in the future.”
He paused for a moment.
“It’s not much, but seeing that Chinese New Year is approaching, many families will be buying ironware. We might be able to save a bit more before the New Year.”
Qingyan nodded, took the bag, tied it up again, and placed it back deep in the drawer.
Then he smiled and said, “I’ll take care of the money.”
After saying that, he leaned closer, ignoring the man’s attempt to avoid him, and insisted on facing each other, eye to eye, sweetly saying, “Husband, you work hard to support the family.”
His gaze was as if the perfect face was right in front of him, filled with affection and admiration, without a trace of fear or disgust for those terrifying scars.
Qiu Henian quickly looked away, “I have to go to the shop today. Only apprentices have been there these past few days.”
Qingyan showed a look of understanding, took two steps back, and helped the man straighten his robe, saying, “You must have a lot of work to do. Let me see you off.”
After Qiu Henian left, Qingyan returned to the room, lay down on the bed, and took a deep breath.
Just now, he looked fearless and straightforward, but in fact, his heart was as chaotic and confused as a drumbeat. Initially, he wanted to kiss the other person. The original goal was the lips, but then he settled for the cheek.
Later… Qingyan hesitated.
Qiu Henian had a cold temperament, and they had only spent a short time together. Qingyan felt hesitant about “making a move.” Even if kissing was fine, if Qiu Henian wanted more, Qingyan would have no excuse to refuse.
Besides, it would really hurt. Even now, Qingyan felt a lingering pain.
He lay down on the bed, covered himself with the quilt, and his mind wandered in confusion, filled with various adult-rated images.
“Although he’s not particularly muscular, his shoulders are so broad, and his arms are so strong. Why didn’t he crush me that night?”
“But his waist is really slim. It feels so flexible to touch… I heard men with good waists are very enduring. Damn, no wonder I almost got killed!”
“He finally married a wife back home, and he’s still so good to people. Should I grit my teeth and bear it, let him come again?”
Qingyan touched his buttocks, “No, no, it really hurts so much. I can’t bear it!”
“Ah ah ah ah ah!”
Qingyan suddenly sat up from the bed, deeply worried, “Forget it, I’ll prepare myself mentally and wait a while.”
He got out of bed, put on his shoes and padded jacket, intending to go to Aunt Li’s house to sweep the courtyard. However, his actions suddenly froze.
“But what if he expresses a desire? After all, he’s in the prime of his life, and I look so good!”
Qingyan paced back and forth in the room, sighed deeply after a while, and gritted his teeth, “If he really wants to, I’ll cooperate and go all out to death!”
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
He hesitated for a moment, whispering softly, “You go ahead and wash first, I’ll go after you.”
