Chapter 72: Yang Huai
This year’s Dragon Boat Festival was somewhat special—it marked the 80th birthday of the village chief’s elderly mother.
Village Chief Liu Xishi had been in charge for many years, overseeing both major and minor affairs of the village with authority and widespread respect from the villagers. In the past, whenever his mother celebrated her birthday, to avoid causing trouble for others, the village chief never made a fuss.
However, turning eighty was a rare occasion, so he and his family started preparing more than half a month in advance.
During the recent burglary incident at Qiu Henian’s home, the village chief and his two sons had lent significant help, and although they had treated the Qiu family to meals, it could hardly repay the debt of gratitude they owed.
This time, as the elderly village chief’s family prepared for the celebration, Qingyan and Qiu Henian almost visited their house every day, offering help wherever they could.
On the actual day of the celebration, the birthday banquet was scheduled for noon, and Qingyan and Qiu Henian arrived at the village chief’s house early in the morning.
The preparation resembled the scene when Liu Cai got married last time; almost half of the village’s tables and chairs had been borrowed for the occasion.
Men were moving tables and chairs, burning pig hair, and plucking chicken and duck feathers. Women and children were busy in the kitchen, some arranging bowls and chopsticks, others decorating the celebration hall with auspicious banners and pictures. Occasionally, they had to attend to crying children.
Today, Shen Wen also came. Qingyan invited him to join them in picking vegetables.
Aunt Li looked at Shen Wen and sighed with a smile, “You, this child, seem to get younger as you grow older. You look like you’re only twenty-seven or twenty-eight now.”
Shen Wen smiled and replied, “Aunt Li is teasing me.”
Several people sat together, chatting while working.
From a corner, a man with hands covered in chicken feathers shouted, “The water for washing feathers is full! Who can help change it?”
Seeing many of the vegetable pickers occupied, Qingyan agreed, “I’ll do it.”
The man, seeing it was Qingyan, blushed slightly. He wanted to scratch his head but saw his hands were dirty and didn’t know where to put them.
However, Qingyan paid no attention to this. He rolled up his sleeves, bent down, and lifted the basin of water filled with steam and the unpleasant smell of plucked chicken feathers from the ground.
Today, for the work, Qingyan wore a gray coarse cloth robe, over which he had put on an apron from the village chief’s house. He carried the basin of water to the courtyard gate.
The gate was half open, and a carriage had stopped by the roadside outside the gate at some point. A person was being helped down from the carriage by a groom.
This should be an honored guest coming for the banquet. Qingyan stepped aside with the basin, intending to let the person who had just got off the carriage enter first.
The person’s steps leisurely walked inwards, as if absentmindedly turning his head to look at him, and his steps suddenly stopped.
This person should be quite young, wearing a pair of high-waisted soft boots with leather soles and silk-bound trousers hanging on the shoe surface. The robe was satin, and when the wind blew, the hem of the robe swayed lightly.
Somehow, seeing this scene, Qingyan’s eyelids suddenly twitched, and he had a feeling of heart palpitations.
This person stayed in front of him for too long. Qingyan had to raise his head to look at him.
At just one glance, Qingyan almost dropped the basin in his hand.
This was a young man with slanting eyebrows, phoenix eyes, a high nose, and lips somewhat resembling those of a Buddha—richly red and full. This was the most handsome face Qingyan had seen in this world, but also a presence that terrified him more than nightmares.
He was Yang Huai, the unvirtuous husband of the previous host.
When Qingyan looked at this person, this person was also looking at him.
When the basin in Qingyan’s hand almost fell down, Yang Huai timely stretched out his fair and distinct knuckles, lightly propped up the edge of the basin, and Qingyan quickly grasped it with borrowed force, so the basin didn’t fall to the ground.
Qingyan lowered his eyelids and softly thanked him.
Yang Huai smiled at him, withdrew his hand, took a silk handkerchief handed over by a servant, wiped his hands, and said, “You’re welcome.”
After that, he walked into the courtyard with the servant.
In just a few sentences, hardly anyone noticed this side, but Qingyan felt as if he had endured a century of hardship.
He stiffly walked out to pour water, hearing the village chief’s hearty voice in the courtyard welcoming, “I told you not to come, but you insisted on coming. What a fuss from so far away!”
Yang Huai laughed heartily, “It’s not far. With the carriage running, it only takes a little over an hour. Besides, it’s my great aunt’s 80th birthday. Even if I have to travel for several days, I have to come!”
While it was bustling and lively over there, Qingyan’s heart felt as if it had fallen into an ice cellar.
When he had been in this world for only a few days, he had seen Yang Huai once at the doorstep of his home.
Later, Qingyan also tried to inquire about what Yang Huai was doing in Lixi Village, but the nearby villagers were all unclear.
Now, unexpectedly seeing this person again without any precautions, Qingyan understood that Yang Huai was actually a distant relative of the village chief’s family.
However, there was no mention of this in the information of the original host.
Moreover, according to the original host, he had met and known Yang Huai during a county fair visit, and this person should never have appeared in this village.
Qingyan once again felt that he was like a character in a fixed-outline drama. He could decide on small matters and emotions on his own, but once it involved the main storyline of the book, he seemed to be boxed in, no matter how he hid or concealed himself, he would still meet what was supposed to happen.
Yang Huai was his nemesis and one of the manipulators who, together with the original host, pushed Qiu Henian towards the guillotine.
Qingyan clenched his fists secretly; he would never let himself and Qiu Henian fall into such a situation.
Things are what people make of them. While you may encounter what is meant to be, he didn’t believe that what was supposed to happen necessarily would.
After Qingyan finished pouring the water and cleaned the basin, he refilled it with hot water and put it back. The man who was plucking chicken feathers quickly got up to take it.
“Qingyan!”
It was Aunt Li calling him over to boil water and blanch vegetables together. Qingyan agreed and hurried over.
When the work was almost done, Qiu Henian came to find Qingyan to change into fresh robes at home. The banquet would start soon, and wearing old clothes used for work wasn’t quite appropriate for such an occasion.
He had been helping in the celebration hall all morning. There weren’t many literate people in the village, and those who wrote well were just him and Mr. Zhang Wensheng. Mr. Zhang was still busy at the private school, so the task of writing and reading fell on him.
Qingyan had just finished peeling sweet potatoes, with some crumbs still on his hands.
He smiled at Qiu Henian and said, “Let me wash my hands, I’ll be ready in a moment.”
Qiu Henian stood beside him waiting. As Qingyan lowered his head, some stray hair fell onto his nose, tickling him. He wrinkled his nose and turned to look at Qiu Henian.
Without saying a word, Qiu Henian instinctively raised his hand and brushed away the stray hair, tucking it gently behind Qingyan’s ear.
Qingyan smiled at him with narrowed eyes.
Unnoticed by them, someone leisurely leaned against the doorway, observing this scene. Their gaze moved back and forth between Qingyan and Qiu Henian, lingering particularly on the scar on Qiu Henian’s face for quite some time.
After that, they watched Qingyan, who was smiling brightly and looking at the man beside him with reliance, for quite a while, with a trace of regret evident in their expression.
The person shook their head gently, sighed softly, and silently turned away, stepping away quietly in their soft leather-soled boots.
As Qingyan wiped his hands and Qiu Henian turned to look at the spot where the person had been leaning by the door, his gaze darkened.
…
They said it was to change into better robes, but in reality, there was no need to dress too extravagantly. At the birthday banquet, most were villagers who lived quite modestly, so being neat and clean was sufficient.
Qiu Henian changed into a new outer robe, while Qingyan, having worked in the kitchen, was quite dirty, so he changed his entire outfit from inside out.
Worried about delaying time, he hurriedly dressed. Ah Miao saw him return and affectionately rubbed against his legs, meowing and making him afraid to move his feet, for fear of stepping on it.
As he hurriedly tied his sash, a large hand reached out, taking over what he held in his hands. After a few moments of tying, the sash was secure, and then the outer robe was handed over for him to stretch his arms into.
With everything in place, Qingyan patted the hem of his robe and said, “I’m ready, let’s go.”
As he said this, he turned towards the door, but a man grabbed his wrist, and before he could react, he was pulled back into a strong and warm embrace.
Qiu Henian looked down at him, and although Qingyan was surprised, he was naturally happy to be embraced so warmly. He tilted his head up and looked at him.
Seeing that he had been staring at him without speaking, Qingyan asked, “Do I look good?”
Qiu Henian nodded and said, “Hmm.”
Qingyan then smiled, showing his white teeth. Qiu Henian lowered his head and kissed those very beautiful lips that were smiling.
…
Once the two husbands had changed into their robes at home, they returned to the village chief’s house.
They didn’t return for long before the elderly lady, dressed in a brand new robe, was supported by the village chief and his husband and came out joyously to sit in the celebration hall, receiving congratulations and gifts from everyone.
Qingyan had prepared a large peach for the birthday celebration, which he had made himself.
First to pay respects were the family members of the village chief, followed by several respected elderly villagers, and then the villagers who came to congratulate.
The two husbands waited aside, watching people come and go.
Although the village chief’s family lived well, most of the gifts were peach branches, congratulatory couplets, and calligraphy paintings, but then the one who sang out, “Master Yang from Zhijin Tang in Muling County, a pair of jade ruyi,” made everyone stretch their necks to look at the hall.
*T/N: Here’s an image of a jade ruyi (scepter)
They saw that the pair of jade ruyi was green and translucent, obviously very valuable.
Before they could admire it, the handsome Yang Huai stepped gracefully forward, bowed respectfully to the elderly lady, and said loudly, “I offer birthday wishes to Great Aunt, wishing you longevity and eternal youth!”
This made everyone almost stunned. Many young girls, young men, and even some young wives blushed.
The village chief also felt quite proud and happily welcomed him to sit beside him.
Qingyan heard a middle-aged man’s voice behind him say in a low voice, “This jade ruyi must be worth several tens of taels of silver.”
A woman responded, “Not just several tens of taels, it’s worth at least three to four hundred taels!”
The man sighed, “My goodness, he’s even richer than those shopkeepers in town!”
Qingyan found the voice familiar and turned his head to look, seeing Zhang Ju and Liu Youfu looking forward with envy and greed on their faces.
Next to them, Liu Xiang, whose face had noticeably become more plump, was holding a handkerchief, half covering his face, his eyes shining brightly as she looked at Yang Huai sitting at the top.
Qingyan subconsciously glanced at the Liu family members not far away in the crowd, seeing Liu Fayi staring angrily at the several people behind him, her eyes red with anger. Liu Fa was whispering something in her ear, probably trying to comfort her.
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
He stood up from his chair, walked around the table, and sat on Qiu Henian’s lap, tightly hugging his neck, murmuring in his ear, “I really like you so much.”
