Chapter 22: Let’s Try Again
They didn’t eat lunch at home. Instead, they all went out towards the stage.
The stage in Liuxi Village was quite famous. Villagers from nearby villages also came to join in the fun. There were stalls selling food, drinks, and small toys along the road, making it interesting to eat, watch, and play.
The two families each had a bowl of small wontons at a wonton stall and ate various snacks. Their stomachs were soon full.
While watching the opera, children would often run to Qingyan asking for candy. He didn’t have enough candies in his pocket, but fortunately, Qiu Henian had brought more, otherwise he would have been in a mess.
Lan chuckled beside her mother and said, “These little kids also like good-looking things. Candies given by beauties taste even sweeter!”
Although she herself asked for candies from Qingyan quite a bit.
As it got dark, the temperature dropped. Afraid that the children would get cold, they finished their stroll and went back together.
In the evening, Qingyan removed his makeup and washed his face. Under the lamp, Qiu Henian looked at him for a long time.
Qingyan smiled at him and said, “Am I more attractive now, or was I more attractive when I had makeup on during the day?”
Qiu Henian didn’t say anything, but his eyes gradually changed.
Qingyan stood up, lightly touched his lips, and whispered, “Keep a clear mind.”
After saying that, he smiled and left.
He went to the next room, glanced at the table, blushed a bit, and smiled again.
After finishing practicing the calligraphy that Qiu Henian had written for him yesterday, Qingyan wrote another piece today. As expected, when he looked at it again today, Qiu Henian had annotated and modified his characters, rewriting them as his own copybook this time.
Yesterday, Qingyan wrote: “Speaking of the gentleman’s thoughts, warm as jade. In his humble abode, he stirs my heart’s song.”
Using this copybook, Qiu Henian should have understood his meaning. Although he didn’t say anything, he didn’t let his expression fall to the ground without caring, which was a sign.
Qingyan was not in a hurry; he could take his time.
After finishing this piece, Qingyan thought for a moment and wrote a new one and put it on the table.
On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Qiu Henian went to the shop early.
After the Spring Festival, the weather gradually warmed up. Most villagers made a living by farming. While the fields were not fully cultivated yet, many people were making or repairing new farming tools.
When Qiu Henian arrived at the shop, the fifteen or sixteen-year-old apprentice had already arrived. Since today was the first time they were firing up the furnace after the New Year, they didn’t ignite the furnace as early as usual.
The apprentice brought incense and followed behind Qiu Henian. The master and apprentice paid respects to Li Laojun, who was placed in the middle of the shop. After burning incense, they began to light the fire.
Qiu Henian didn’t believe in gods or Buddhas, but as a blacksmith, Li Laojun was regarded as his ancestor, so he followed the customs. He did everything that was supposed to be done.
Following the habits taught by Blacksmith Wang, after the furnace was lit, he first hammered two ingot nails before repairing the farming tools that had been delivered to the shop before the New Year.
The apprentice had only been here for less than half a year and was still growing, so he wasn’t strong enough. He usually assisted by watching carefully while his master repaired meticulously, occasionally extending his hand to help.
The temperature was very high once the furnace was burning, and after swinging dozens of hammers, sweat streamed down his forehead. If his robe got soaked, he might catch a cold on the way back. Qiu Henian took off his upper robe and placed it aside before continuing to swing the hammer.
With each movement, his muscles slightly swelled, firm like steel, built from actual hammering. They were strong but not exaggerated.
The apprentice stood beside him, sometimes assisting and sometimes secretly admiring his master. He wondered when he would grow strong enough to swing the hammer himself.
They had lunch in the shop at noon. Next to the blacksmith shop was a steamed bun shop, which also cooked millet and eggs besides selling steamed buns and dumplings.
Qiu Henian gave the apprentice some copper coins to buy steamed buns and eggs. They also bought some tender and stewed meat from another shop and ate together.
In the afternoon, after a session of making hoes, although the work was not finished, and there wasn’t anything urgent at home, Qiu Henian wanted to go back early.
In the morning when he woke up, Qingyan was still sleeping with his arms around the quilt. His fair arms and long hair were scattered on the pillow, cheeks tinged with a faint blush, and his soft lips slightly parted.
Qiu Henian didn’t dare to look too much and got out of bed.
Out of habit, he first went to the next room to correct the new characters Qingyan had written or to write new copybooks.
Before opening the door, Qiu Henian paused for a moment and stopped, then stepped inside.
Arriving at the table, sure enough, there were new characters on the tabletop.
Qiu Henian lowered his eyes to look. Qingyan’s handwriting had become more and more like his own, but there were subtle differences in the details, making him unexpectedly interested and bringing him unexpected pleasure.
He picked up the paper and saw a folded silk handkerchief underneath. There were no patterns on it.
Qiu Henian picked up the handkerchief, feeling its cool and soft touch, then turned his gaze to the paper and softly read the poem on it, “Without writing new verses or poems, a plain silk handkerchief sends my heart’s thoughts. Upon receiving it, my heart is turned upside down, horizontally and vertically.”
This was the third poem Qingyan had left on the table. The meanings of the previous two were already very clear, but Qiu Henian pretended not to know and dutifully transcribed them, marking their structure and writing style.
This time…
Qiu Henian pondered for a long time, then added fresh water to the inkstone, sat down, and began to transcribe again.
By the afternoon, Qiu Henian knew that according to Qingyan’ habits, after lunch and a short nap, once he finished his chores at home, he would practice calligraphy.
Qiu Henian glanced at the sky outside. At this time, he probably hadn’t gone to the adjacent room yet, so he hadn’t seen the characters he copied down.
Would Qingyan feel disappointed if he saw them?
After a while, the apprentice saw that his master had rested for a while and boldly asked if he could try wielding a couple of hammers. Just then, his master suddenly got up, put on his outer robe, and said, “It’s getting late. Tidy up and lock the door. I’m heading back first.”
Then, the apprentice stared blankly as his master pushed open the door and strode away.
Standing at the doorway, he looked up at the blazing sun, unable to figure out why it was suddenly considered late.
Qingyan was in a bad mood now. He had been arguing with Chen Yu next door in the courtyard for a while.
It started because of a few words he exchanged with Zhang Wensheng yesterday.
Yesterday, after Qingyan finished his makeup and returned to fetch some silver coins to go out, he happened to meet Zhang Wensheng entering the courtyard from outside.
Qingyan originally intended to nod in greeting and enter the house, but Zhang Wensheng stopped him. Perhaps hearing that he was also a scholar from someone else’s home, he seemed somewhat sympathetic, asking Qingyan where he studied and which books he had read, and even seemed inclined to go home and find a book to lend him.
Upon hearing that Qingyan was not pursuing the imperial examination path anymore, Zhang Wensheng lamented it as a pity.
Qingyan didn’t mind him, but he was in a hurry to leave, so he exchanged a few simple words and hurried back home.
This trivial matter wasn’t something he had paid much attention to, but Chen Yu, who was in the house, took it seriously. Early this morning, when Zhang Wensheng left for the county, Chen Yu seized the opportunity to scold Qingyan.
He scolded Qingyan for not following proper husbandly conduct, calling him fickle and accusing him of seducing men and other such things, becoming increasingly harsh with his words.
Qingyan usually ignored Chen Yu’s sarcastic remarks, but this time he was genuinely angered.
He retorted through the fence, “Don’t think your husband is so good that others are interested. As for me myself, I have my own man!”
Chen Yu immediately grabbed a snake stick and retorted, “My husband is good indeed. You must have lacked virtue in your previous life to marry such a useless ugly man!”
Hearing this, Qingyan became even more furious.
“Bullshit! Your husband is useless! My husband does it seven times in one night, I’m just so happy that I could die!”
Bang!
The courtyard door suddenly slammed loudly. Shortly after, a person burst in from outside, almost tripping over.
Qingyan was startled. He turned to look and coincidentally made eye contact with Qiu Henian, who had just stabilized himself.
After a moment of shock, Qingyan suddenly looked guilty.
Qiu Henian walked over briskly, picked up Qingyan, and headed into the house.
Qingyan felt uneasy and whispered in his arms, “What are you doing?”
Qiu Henian replied, “Seven times in one night. It’s too late, there’s not enough time.”
Qingyan: “…”
The door was opened, and there was another loud bang as it closed.
No one paid any attention to Chen Yu on the other side of the fence. He watched the two figures disappear behind the door, stomped his feet in anger, feeling bored, turned around, and left.
…
Inside the room, the bed was tightly draped.
But it was still broad daylight. Although the inside of the curtain was dim, everything was still clearly visible.
Qingyan lay half of his body softly on the man, his cheeks flushed red, his eyes hooked like hooks, and asked softly, “Aren’t you unreliable?”
The man’s Adam’s apple moved up and down, his eyes staring at the ceiling, his voice hoarse, “Qingyan, I’m doing this for your own good.”
Qingyan’s fingers climbed onto the man’s lips, gently stroking them. Feeling the lips tremble slightly, his face reddened even more, his heartbeat almost uncontrollably fast, but he still had the courage to say, “Let’s try again.”
The man shook his head, “No.”
Qingyan bit his lip, trying another approach, moving up a bit, leaning against his ear and saying, “Can we not go that far? Isn’t that okay?”
His tone was very aggrieved.
Finally, the man’s gaze met his. Qingyan could feel the heavy beating of his own heart against his chest as he waited expectantly.
Under Qingyan’s hopeful gaze, the man finally relented, “Hmm.”
Having received the answer he wanted, joy that couldn’t be concealed emerged in Qingyan’s eyes, mixed with a hint of shyness. But since he had already taken the plunge, he decided to not stop halfway.
He lowered his head and kissed the man’s lips, clumsily probing his tongue between them to find the other’s tongue.
Suddenly, the back of his head was held by a warm large hand. Originally the passive one, Qingyan was now kissed thoroughly, whimpering softly.
After the kiss ended, tears had already welled up in Qingyan’s beautiful eyes. He gasped and asked in a breathless voice, “Can I see?”
The man asked in a hoarse voice, “See what?”
Qingyan didn’t answer. Like a nimble little snake, his hand moved downward.
But once it reached its destination, it trembled so badly it couldn’t even untie a simple knot. It was the other large hand that reached down and guided it to complete this simple action.
Qingyan’s face was really going to drip blood, but he was true to his word. He said he wanted to look, even if smoke was coming out of his head, he crawled up from the other person and knelt on the bed mattress, like he was seriously observing a scientific experiment.
After just one glance, he couldn’t help but swallow his saliva, feeling that on the night of their wedding, he would hurt so much, not without reason.
After looking, he still wanted to touch.
After touching, he still wanted to lower his head…
At this point, the man who had been letting him do as he pleased finally stopped him, suddenly sitting up, grabbing his thin shoulders with large hands, and pushing him away abruptly.
Qingyan softly exclaimed, and looked up to see the man turning his face away.
This action, Qingyan had seen Qiu Henian do many times before because he didn’t want him to see the half of his face covered in ugly scars. But since Qingyan said he wasn’t afraid, it hadn’t happened again.
Qingyan was stunned and didn’t understand what had happened. Qiu Henian’s eyes were lowered, his expression completely hidden.
Qingyan’s lips moved, wanting to say something, but only managed to say, “I…”
Qiu Henian let go of him already and quickly tidied up his robe, put on his shoes and outer robe, said, “I’m going to the shop,” and left home!
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
“I just want you to hold me, kiss you, touch your body, and even…” His bold confession was cut off as the man’s large hand covered his mouth.
