Chapter 71: Evil Scheme
Liu Youfu didn’t find work in the county town as claimed; instead, Liu Xiang became pregnant. Liu Fa had no choice but to send them to a distant county town where few people knew them.
During the Chinese New Year period, Liu Xiang frequently went to the town, where he befriended the owner of a dried meat shop. The shop was doing well, and Liu Xiang loved to eat; every time he bought dried meat, the shopkeeper would give him extra pieces. Over time, they became fond of each other.
Initially, there was nothing wrong with this. If the man proposed to visit his family, Zhang Ju would certainly agree, even considering the shop. They’ll get married, and everyone will be happy.
However, the shopkeeper had ulterior motives. He fed Liu Xiang sweet words along with the dried meat, promising him everything. He lured Liu Xiang into the bedroom behind the shop and they became intimate.
When they undressed, Liu Xiang was somewhat repelled by the shopkeeper’s chubby physique and the small size of his private parts. But by then, the man had promised to marry him and provide him with rich food every day. Liu Xiang reluctantly consented, allowing this despicable man to satisfy himself with him several times.
After this incident, Liu Xiang began to visit the town frequently, often staying in the backyard of the meat shop and frolicking with the shopkeeper.
Once, when Liu Fa and his brother caught him in town, he refused to reveal the man’s identity. However, once home, he told his parents everything.
Zhang Ju was ecstatic and started imagining living in town with her second son, enjoying a life of luxury. She encouraged Liu Xiang to visit the town more often.
However, once the shopkeeper learned that Liu Xiang’s family knew about their affair, he suddenly became distant. He eventually refused to see him altogether. Whenever Liu Xiang went to the shop, he would disappear as soon as he entered, and the shop assistants would claim he was out on business.
Liu Xiang tried to visit the backyard, but the shopkeeper wouldn’t let him in.
When Liu Xiang discovered he was pregnant, she told Zhang Ju. Zhang Ju gathered the whole family and went to the shop to confront the shopkeeper.
This time, the shopkeeper was there, but he coldly stated, “Who knows whose child she is carrying? I don’t even know her; she only bought dried meat from me a few times.”
Zhang Ju wanted to cause a scene, but the shop’s assistants were ready to fight.
Liu Xiang cried out, “I’m carrying your child, and you’re so heartless that you won’t even acknowledge your own son?”
The shopkeeper sneered, “Then I ask you, what proof do you have that this child is mine?”
Liu Xiang was speechless for a moment, and before he could respond, the whole family was pushed out of the shop.
The shopkeeper didn’t even need to lift a finger.
As they were being pushed out, he spat on the ground and cursed, “Bah, a bunch of poor people trying to climb up using their clumsy smutty tricks. Dream on!”
After this incident, Liu Xiang wanted to abort the child, but Zhang Ju disagreed.
She was not ready to give up hope yet, saying, “When the child is born, I will show him to his father. I won’t believe he can be so heartless!”
But before her belly grew larger, Zhang Ju learned that the shopkeeper already had a wife and children in the countryside, with three of his six sons not even born to his wife.
Further inquiries revealed that the meat shop had a reputation for being a trouble. Many families, not just Liu Xiang’s, had been deceived. None of the girls had actually married into the shop.
This scandal didn’t bother the shopkeeper, but Liu Xiang’s reputation was at stake.
Now Zhang Ju was desperate. Liu Youfu had no ideas, Liu Yong was barely smarter than a block of wood, and Liu Xiang was crying every day with no solution in sight.
Unable to think of any other way, Zhang Ju went to Liu Fa’s wife.
When Liu Fa’s wife heard the story, she almost fainted. The assistant dared not call her. She personally hitched the ox cart and took the mother and son to the neighboring village’s old doctor.
But after the old doctor examined her, he said, “It’s too late. She’s already three months pregnant. Medicine might not be of any use now. If you force the issue, it might end in tragedy.”
Zhang Ju’s eyes widened in shock, her bony hands clutching the doctor’s arm as she said, “I don’t care if it kills him, just make him lose it! I’ve raised him for so long and still got nothing in return. What’s the use of keeping him alive?”
Hearing this, Liu Xiang burst into tears, kneeling and begging his mother, promising that he would find a solution and ensure his parents could have a better life in the future.
Liu Fa’s wife was alarmed to hear this and hurriedly restrained Zhang Ju. She tried to calm her down, managing to convince her to return home first.
Back home, Liu Fa’s wife and Liu Fa discussed what to do.
They didn’t dare tell Liu Cai and Qi Yinglan, fearing that Qi Yinglan would go back and tell his family, who would look down on them.
The best solution seemed to be finding someone influential to persuade the shopkeeper to admit his responsibility and marry Liu Xiang.
Liu’s family only had contact with a few stewards from wealthy families in the county town, mainly dealing with tofu and dried tofu. They had no acquaintances who could help with this.
While they were still pondering, Zhang Ju came back, looking excited and with sparkling eyes.
She entered the house and quickly closed the door tightly, peering out of the window to check if anyone was in the courtyard.
Seeing it empty, she couldn’t contain her joy and rubbed her hands together, saying, “It’s our Liu Xiang who’s smart from a young age!”
Liu Fa snorted coldly and gave her a glare, not wanting to talk.
Liu Fa’s wife sighed and said, “Maybe tomorrow, I and Liu Fa will go to the county and talk to the shopkeeper again…”
Zhang Ju slapped her thigh and cursed, “That fat guy is nothing compared to my little teapot! Who would want to marry such an unlucky thing?”
Her words were vulgar, and Liu Fa’s wife frowned. Liu Fa was also pacing the room in irritation.
“What do you want to do then?” Liu Fa asked impatiently.
Zhang Ju smiled mysteriously, looked at Liu Fa, and said, “I heard your wife say that a few days ago, you were still talking about drinking and playing cards with Qiu Henian?”
“Liu Fa?” Liu Fa didn’t understand her meaning.
He asked, “What does that have to do with this?”
Zhang Ju clapped her hands, “Then these days, you will find him and get Qiu Henian drunk. When he’s passed out, I’ll bring Liu Xiang over, settle this matter, and wait for him to wake up. We’ll break into the room. When he’s awake, we’ll force him to accept his child. It’s his child even if he denies it!”
Liu Fa and his wife looked at each other, both shocked and horrified.
…
Qingyan stewed a pot of fish soup at home and sent half of it to Qiu Henian and Xiao Zhuang. He packed the remaining half in a basin and delivered it to Old Liu’s house.
Worried about the children’s illness, Liu Fa sent his younger brother to take his sister-in-law and children back to their mother’s house for a few days. For these days, there were only the two of them at home.
Liu Fa was so busy that he didn’t even manage his tofu shop. He only delivered goods to a few regular customers in town every day, and he didn’t engage in retail business these days.
When Qingyan arrived at his house, Liu Fa was still busy in the tofu shop. His wife was lying on the kang, her complexion poor, her eyelids swollen, her lips dry and peeling, and she had lost a lot of weight.
While the fish soup was still hot, Qingyan served her a bowl of soup and picked out some fish meat with fewer bones for her to slowly drink.
“Brother Liu said you have no appetite and can’t eat. So I stewed some soup for you. It’s made from river fish, tender with few bones, not at all fishy. Try it,” Qingyan said.
Liu Fa’s wife nodded gratefully and took a sip.
“Your cooking skills are really good. Brother Liu is lucky.”
Qingyan smiled and said, “Liu Ge roughly told me about it. Don’t blame him. He’s worried that you’re troubled and your illness is worsening.”
After Liu Fa finished telling Qiu Henian about this, he explained it to his wife, and she already knew it.
She sighed sadly, “I was ashamed to tell you about this. Since they moved here, I haven’t had a peaceful day. Now with this happening, I feel so distressed!”
She looked at the young Qingyan in front of her, feeling a sigh in her heart.
Liu Fa didn’t even have the heart to tell this young couple how vicious Zhang Ju and Liu Xiang had been towards them.
It was Zhang Ju who admitted herself that before becoming the boss of the meat drying business, both Liu Yongfu and Zhang Ju, along with Liu Xiang, had harassed them.
It was only now that Liu Fa understood why there was a period when Qingyan and Qiu Henian rarely visited their home.
Liu Xiang’s actions were so excessive that this young couple, for the sake of their family’s honor, didn’t let them worry, not even mentioning it to them, let alone talking about it outside.
That day, Zhang Ju suggested making Qiu Henian the scapegoat, and Liu Fa really hesitated for a moment.
After Zhang Ju left, Liu Fa’s wife scolded him.
Liu Fa’s wife said, “You can’t be heartless. They’ve been good to us all along, honest and kind. If you do this, you’re pushing the blame onto others to save yourself. Can you still call yourself a decent person?”
Liu Fa was suddenly awakened by the scolding, slapped himself twice, gritted his teeth and said, “That family can’t stay in the village anymore. Otherwise, even if I do nothing, they might find ways to do dirty things. By then, they might harm cousin Qiu’s family.”
He slapped his thigh and said, “It’s better to spend more money and let them hide in the county!”
At this moment, Qingyan asked, “Where are they living now? Did they really move to the county?”
Liu Fa’s wife nodded helplessly, “Originally wanted to move to another village, but it’s easier to attract attention in a smaller place, so they just rented a house in the county.”
Qingyan frowned, “This must not be cheap.”
Liu Fa’s wife sighed, “It’s not just about being expensive. Liu Fa paid the rent in advance for a year. It saves a lot compared to paying monthly. They also gave them a hundred taels of silver. But now, we have to tighten our belts at home.”
“This time I got sick, not just because of this.”
Qingyan asked, “What else happened?”
Liu Fa’s wife said, “I could barely bear all this before. Before they left, I thought about farming the land. This year hasn’t been good for us, so I hired someone to farm the land. By the time of the autumn harvest, it could have made up for some of it. But… “
Her tears and nasal mucus flowed out, “But Zhang Ju knew they were going to move away and sold those dozens of acres of land, afraid we would stop them. It was sold to a family we don’t know in the neighboring village.”
Qingyan asked, surprised, “The title is still in your hands, isn’t it? How did she sell it?”
Liu Fa’s wife choked, “She told the people I told her to sell it. When they left, the family came to ask me for the deed, and we learned about it. If we didn’t give them the deed, we would have to return the money, and Zhang Ju refused to give me the money, so I had to grit my teeth and give them the deed.”
Saying this, she burst into tears, crying for half a day.
…
In the evening, Qingyan told Qiu Henian about this.
Qiu Henian said, “Liu Fa owes the Liu Yongfu family. This time, even if he is completely cleared, there will be more.”
Qingyan sighed and said, “But after Liu Xiang gives birth, who knows what kind of trouble will come up. That family may not stay quiet.”
They couldn’t do much to help the Liu family, but they could visit often and offer advice. If there was a shortage of silver, they would naturally be willing to help.
The medicine in the outer pot is almost finished. Qingyan got up and went to the outer room to look, with a wet cloth, thinking to lift the pot, but was stopped by a big hand.
Qingyan looked up to see, and Qiu Henian said, “Be careful not to be burned, let me do it.”
He took the cloth from Qingyan’s hand and lifted the boiling pot and poured the medicine into the big bowl on the table.
When he drank the medicine, Qingyan watched on the side, and when he finished, there was a sweetened fruit to put in his mouth.
Qiu Henian had a sweet smile on his face, saying, “Very sweet.”
Qingyan was satisfied, and his eyes were almost squinted with a smile.
…
After that, Qingyan occasionally went to the tofu shop. When Liu Fa’s wife recovered from her illness, the two often went out together to dig wild vegetables. Occasionally, when Qingyan set up a stall, Liu Fa’s wife also helped, and Qingyan gave her some labor costs, treating it as a relaxing activity.
Gradually, Liu Fa’s wife’s mood improved, and Liu Fa was very grateful to Qingyan and invited them to dinner at home.
At the end of April, next door Chen Yu gave birth to a boy, six pounds nine ounces, nicknamed Xiao Jiuliang. Zhang Wensheng was so happy that the usual Chen Yu who disliked his clumsiness in his hands and feet happily agreed to let him hold the baby, with a particularly good temper.
They live so close. And although there were unpleasant things before, out of consideration for Mr. Zhang’s face, Qingyan also sent 30 red-skinned eggs.
After Chen Yu gave birth to a child, his temperament changed a bit. He looked at the basket of eggs Qingyan had brought and finally felt a bit uneasy, and said with a strained face, “I’ll give you twice as much when you have a child.”
Qingyan said, “I’m not here to make money. Let’s talk about the future. You take care. I’m going back.”
Chen Yu called him, “Qingyan!”
Qingyan turned back to see, Chen Yu bit his lips, but couldn’t say the words he wanted to say.
Qingyan smiled, lowered his head and looked at the baby in Chen Yu’s arms, saying, “Xiao Jiuliang looks just like you. He’s very handsome.”
After speaking, he left.
That night Qiu Henian went home, the two had dinner, Qingyan said, “Chen Yu’s child looks just like him, not at all like Zhang Wensheng.”
Qiu Henian stopped his chopsticks, “Hmm.”
Qingyan said again, “But a full-term baby born chubby is much better-looking. Yinglan’s baby now looks watery and clear, but when he first came out, he was really thin!”
“Hmm.”
When the light was extinguished that evening, Qingyan went to Qiu Henian’s arms to turn over and over, with hands everywhere. After a while, his hand was grabbed.
Qingyan hummed, and raised his head to kiss the man’s chin, but his fingertips were bitten twice by the other party.
He wanted to raise his other hand, but he was held by the man’s arm and couldn’t move.
Qingyan still wanted to struggle, but Qiu Henian covered his eyes and said, “Be good, sleep.”
After a while, Qingyan couldn’t help but ask in the man’s ear, “Is it because of that herbal soup?”
In the dark, the man didn’t say a word.
Qingyan wanted to ask again, but was kissed by the man, and his big hand went down.
The two kissed for a while, Qingyan panting heavily, tightly hugged by the man’s arms, and his body shook all at once.
Qiu Henian got out of bed to wash his hands.
Qingyan was comfortable and became lazy, and the question asked just now was gone.
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
While it was bustling and lively over there, Qingyan’s heart felt as if it had fallen into an ice cellar.
