Chapter 92: After New Year
Visiting started on the second day of the lunar new year. Qinlan and her husband brought their daughter back to her parents’ home. Before nightfall, Ren Xiao returned to the county. Qin Lan and the child stayed at her parents’ home for a few days.
San Yao’s family of three also visited their second brother’s home, bringing along many pastries and snacks.
Qingyan accompanied them, sitting and chatting over tea. Before long, Qiuniang noticed that whenever Second Brother sat with them, he would occasionally nudge the plate of pastries closer to his wife.
Qiuniang was sharp, too. Without saying a word, she lowered her head, smiled at the corner of her mouth, casually picked up a piece and ate it. Only then did the plate of pastries get pulled back to its original place.
It had been over two years since they got married, and these two were becoming more and more affectionate.
…
After seeing San Yao’s family off, Qiu Henian came back and quickly tidied up before going to the inner room. Qingyan sat on the edge of the bed, bent over and played with Ah Miao who was rolling over.
Qiu Henian washed his hands, sat down beside him, and asked softly, “Are you still feeling uncomfortable?”
Qingyan glanced at him, his beautiful eyes lowered, long eyelashes trembling, and he shook his head.
“Do you want to lie down a little longer?” Qiu Henian asked again.
This time, Qingyan nodded. He let the man help him lie down.
Qiu Henian also took off his outer robe and lay down beside him, embracing him from behind, his large hand against his abdomen.
Ah Miao jumped out from between them, trotted to Qingyan’s pillow, rubbed against him, then lay down and closed its eyes to sleep.
They slept from the afternoon until dark. When Qingyan woke up, everything was pitch black in front of him, and he thought he was still dreaming.
He reached out and touched around, wanting to touch Ah Miao who should have been beside his pillow, but instead his hand touched a smooth, muscular chest.
“Awake?” The man’s voice was hoarse, accompanied by a sudden movement under him.
Qingyan hummed, feeling a tingling sensation throughout his body. He realized he had turned over at some point, facing the man.
One of his legs was hanging over the man’s arm, and below was slippery.
In the darkness, he could barely see anything. Even the moonlight that might have existed was blocked by the bed curtain. Qingyan thought of something, raised his hand to push away the man’s chest, “Ah… Ah Miao is still here…”
“I’ve already taken it to the next room.” The man took a deep breath.
Qingyan grabbed his arm tightly, wanting to say something, but the man had already covered his lips with his own, and his actions suddenly became intense.
After a while, Qingyan felt his scalp numb and was almost breathless. The man finally released his lips and the painful root of his tongue, whispering in his ear, “I’ve been waiting for you to wake up. I’ve been waiting for a long time.”
“But… but wasn’t it just last night…” Qingyan whimpered.
The man lightly bit his lips again, “You were lying next to me, and I smelled your scent, so I wanted…”
Qingyan hummed, his body soft and pliable.
In the end, Qiu Henian still remembered to lift him up, sit him on his lap, and this time Qingyan didn’t tire out. He cooperated with a few movements and welcomed the climax.
After being put down, he even knew to clamp down actively, raising his hips.
…
Throughout the New Year period, the two husbands hardly left the house.
By the end, every time Qingyan met Qiu Henian’s gaze, he would feel weak all over.
Qingyan hated his lack of willpower, but as long as the other lightly held his waist, or even did nothing else, he would hum and lean over.
It wasn’t until the evening of the fourth day of the lunar new year that Qingyan finally refused.
The room was dark without an oil lamp. Qiu Henian held him tightly in his arms, his big hands constantly stroking his back, his lips close to him, softly asking, “What’s wrong?”
Qingyan pressed his hand against his chest, said in a small voice, “It hurts.”
Qiu Henian kissed him deeply. After that, he got out of bed, lit the oil lamp, put on his robe, and went out for a while.
When he came back, he brought a basin of snow from outside, wrapped it layer by layer with a clean cloth, and then returned to bed.
Qingyan looked at the bundle, blushed, turned over, and curled up.
The coolness came from behind, easing the burning pain, and he sighed comfortably.
Not long after, the bundle was removed. Qingyan hummed discontentedly. He heard the man behind him say, “Keeping it on too long might cause stomachache. Let me apply some medicine for you.”
After applying the medicine, which seemed to have mint in it, Qingyan felt a cool sensation. Qiu Henian washed his hands and lay back on the bed.
Qingyan opened his eyes. These days and nights had been reversed, and he wasn’t sleepy.
Qiu Henian noticed and took out the book from under the pillow, and the two leaned together to read.
As they read, they occasionally discussed the contents of the book. Sometimes their eyes met, and they suddenly fell silent, looking at each other until they kissed.
Until a large hand reached into Qingyan’s underclothes, Qingyan was afraid of getting out of control, blushing and grabbing through the clothes.
Qiu Henian lowered his head to kiss his eyebrows and eyes, his voice hoarse, “I know you’re in pain, I’ll be gentle.”
Only then did Qingyan let go of his hand and obediently let himself be kissed and touched
…
On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, most of the shops that had been closed for several days were reopening.
As usual on the morning of the fifth day, Qiu Henian took his apprentice Xiao Zhuang to offer incense to their ancestors, then lit the stove and started by traditionally nailing a few ingots.
Meanwhile, in the town’s Fragrant Incense Workshop, a thousand firecrackers were set off that morning amid the clangor of gongs and drums. Lifelike lion dancers moved through the crowds, creating a lively atmosphere.
Qingyan, Aunt Li, and Qiuniang stood cheerfully in front of their own shop, bowing and greeting customers as they entered.
Before the New Year, people had already done most of their shopping, so the days just after the New Year were relatively quiet. Despite this, Qingyan and the others kept busy.
On the eighth day, there would be yangko dance performances in the streets. At that time, families would all go out together to watch. The fifteenth day was the Lantern Festival, a day of festivity from morning till night. At that time, each shop would naturally use various tactics to attract business.
Qingyan had already taken out the goods specially prepared before the New Year from the storeroom on the second floor, rearranged the shelves, and decorated the entrance and the area just inside the door. They had started preparing early for the upcoming festival.
…
Some were joyful, while others were troubled.
During the New Year period, most families lived comfortably. Even if life was tight, they could relax during these days.
However, the Liu family in Liuxi Village had not been at peace from before New Year’s to after.
Before New Year’s Eve, Liu Cai went to fetch his husband and children. His father-in-law was always greedy for money, and the Liu family was considered wealthy in the village. Normally, the old man treated him well, warmly greeting him every time they met. However, despite Liu Cai bringing bags of gifts this time, he still didn’t receive a warm reception.
Upon returning home after the New Year, they had barely finished celebrating when on the second day, Qiyinlan took the child back to her relatives’ homes to visit. Originally planning to stay for two days, Liu Cai went to pick them up two days later, but they never returned.
The relationship between the young couple was very good, so Liu Cai didn’t argue with Qiyinlan. He understood why his husband didn’t want to come back and didn’t even want to return to that home himself.
Every time he entered the house, he saw the three of them sitting cross-legged like a curse, occupying the warmest spot on the kang. They acted like someone owed them something, controlling everything related to food and drink without lifting a finger to do any work.
If someone said something to them, they would cry and complain about how pitiful they were since their son had died.
This time, when Liu Cai returned home, he went to find his elder brother and said, “Brother, if this continues, not only will Yinglan not come back, but I’m afraid that Big Sister-in-law won’t be able to endure it for long and will return to her mother’s house!”
Liu Fa squatted on the ground, head hanging low, silent.
Liu Cai stomped his foot in anger, “Brother, I know it’s tough for you for the sake of this family’s reputation every day, but you have to understand, not only are you enduring it yourself, but the whole family, young and old, are suffering along with you!”
“But is our reputation any better now? Sure, people won’t accuse us of being ungrateful, but Liu Xiang’s premarital pregnancy has already ruined our reputation. Now that he’s dead, rumors are spreading outside. You have no idea!”
“Furthermore, our family is like a bunch of pests holed up in our home. Have you thought about our children in a few years? A Da will be thinking about marriage soon, but with our situation, even those who have already entered the door will run away. Who would be blind enough to marry into this family?”
In the end, Liu Fa said, “I’ll think about it.”
Liu Cai sighed and turned away.
After the New Year, the yamen opened, and Liu Fa almost went there every day. However, each time he was perfunctorily dealt with and pushed out. Later, he wasn’t even given perfunctory responses, and the door was shut in his face.
This situation was indeed as Qiu Henian had predicted, dragging on like this.
Originally, Liu Fa wanted to wait for the outcome of Liu Xiang’s case before sending Liu Yongfu’s family away. In this way, he would have fulfilled his duty and no one could say anything.
However, seeing the situation at home and noticing the gray hair on his wife’s head that had appeared in just a few months, he finally made up his mind not to wait any longer.
As agreed, Liu Fa gave Liu Yongfu’s family a sum of money and asked them to move back to their hometown.
Zhang Ju’s eyes rolled around as she muttered, “This money won’t be enough to live on. Our Liu Yong still needs to get married.”
This was a case of indulgence leading to more problems, but Liu Fa had no choice but to double the amount of silver for her.
Only then did Zhang Ju agree.
On that day, Zhang Ju’s family of three moved out of the Liu family’s home and went back to the house they had rented in the county to pack up their belongings.
The Liu family breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they had finally gotten rid of this family.
However, they didn’t expect that even after the fifteenth day of the lunar month had passed, that family still hadn’t left.
When Liu Fa went to the house in the county to ask, Zhang Ju said, “We’ll leave sooner or later. It’s just that Liu Xiang’s death was unclear, and Yang Huai should give us an explanation.”
Liu Fa closed his eyes, thinking she must be grieving for her unjustly dead son, so he endured it and asked seriously, “What kind of explanation do you want?”
Zhang Ju smiled and rubbed her hands together, “I’ll consider Liu Xiang as sold to their family. His life and death have nothing to do with me, but there should still be money. The Yang family is so wealthy, they should give us several thousand taels of silver, at least!”
Upon hearing this, Liu Fa’s vision darkened, and he almost fell to the ground.
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
During the daytime, Qingyan wasn’t as open as he was during the dark, and he was very restrained, tightly clasping his legs.
