LW chapter 48

 

Zhou Yuan didn’t care about this matter at all, but Chen Qing was so anxious that he couldn’t sleep at all that night. When he woke up the next morning, he had blisters on his mouth.

He winced in pain when he got up to wash. Zhou Yuan noticed and held Chen Qing’s face for a long time.

He remembered what Aunt Sun had said: whenever Chen Qing had something on his mind, he wouldn’t eat or sleep, nor would he tell anyone.

Zhou Yuan looked at Chen Qing seriously. “What’s wrong?”

Chen Qing hesitated. “Maybe I haven’t been drinking enough water lately, so I’m dehydrated.”

Zhou Yuan didn’t believe him. Chen Qing was a liar.

“Are you thinking about what happened yesterday? Are you afraid they’ll come cause trouble?” Zhou Yuan could tell what he was thinking just by looking into his eyes. “I told you, even if you poke a hole in the sky, I can patch it up for you.”

“But…”

Zhou Yuan held his head. “No buts. Hurry and eat.”

After Chen Qing finished breakfast, Zhou Yuan was in the courtyard, harnessing the oxcart. They were going to the government office today to have the land lease contract stamped.

Chen Qing hadn’t gone out in a while, so Zhou Yuan wanted to take him for a walk.

However, just as they were about to leave, Zhang Ran’s husband, Meng Bing, arrived at the door.

Yesterday, Zhang Ran had run home soaking wet, and many people in the village had seen it. When he got home, he lost his temper and cursed at his husband, Meng Bing.

He pointed at his nose and scolded Zhang Ran for being immoral and shameless. Zhang Ran had just changed clothes and glared at him. “Then, if you have the guts, divorce me! If you divorce me, you won’t be a cuckolded husband!”

Meng Bing stared at him. “Who pushed you? Go ask their family for money. You’ve caught a cold, and it’ll cost money to treat it!”

Zhang Ran sneered. “Go find Zhou Yuan. His family is rich. His husband hit me. If you don’t, you’re a cuckold.”

Meng Bing was torn, but after Zhang Ran’s provocation, he went to the Zhou house early the next morning.

Not wanting to lose momentum right from the start, he said loudly, “You’re the one who bullied my wife, aren’t you? he had a fever all night, so you need to pay up.”

His voice startled Chen Qing, making his heart tremble. What he had worried about all night had finally come true.

Zhou Yuan didn’t even lift his eyelids. “This is our home. I didn’t go looking for you, you came to my house first.”

He released the ox he was holding and took a step toward Meng Bing. Much shorter than Zhou Yuan, Meng Bing trembled when Zhou Yuan stood in front of him.

“My husband was so worried about yesterday’s incident that he got blisters on his mouth. When he woke up, he couldn’t eat anything. I lost a few jin carrying him. I didn’t come to your house asking for food for my husband, yet you came asking me for money first?”

Meng Bing took another step back. “You’re blaming me!”

Just then, the courtyard gate was pushed open from outside. Li Xin came in carrying something. He froze upon seeing Meng Bing but then walked over to Zhou Yuan, not caring. “Here, this is for you. My father fixed it for you.”

It turned out that Li Xin was holding Zhou Yuan’s long sword. There had been a few cracks in it, so he sent it to Blacksmith Li for repair. The sword had just been fixed today, and Li Xin had brought it over.

Zhou Yuan’s eyes lit up, and he stopped paying attention to Meng Bing. He drew the blade from its sheath to examine it.

Blacksmith Li’s skills were top-notch indeed. The blade looked brand new with a sharp gleam. Zhou Yuan looked away and said, “Please thank father for me.”

“All right, I’ll head back now. Are you two going out?” Li Xin noticed the oxcart they had hitched. “If you’re going to the county, please bring back some things for me.”

He rattled off a list of items and walked away without looking back or glancing at Meng Bing.

Zhou Yuan turned around and asked, “You’re still here?”

Meng Bing swallowed hard. “You—you want compensation…”

Suddenly, Zhou Yuan swung his blade. The whoosh of the blade cutting through the air went straight toward Meng Bing’s face. Terrified, Meng Bing dropped to the ground and scrambled away while Zhou Yuan sheathed his knife.

Meng Bing returned home. Zhang Ran was sitting in the courtyard, staring at the sky and lost in thought. When Meng Bing made a sound, Zhang Ran only glanced back and sneered. “Got beaten?”

Meng Bing kicked a tin can toward the door, smashing it into pieces all over the ground.

Zhang Ran suddenly felt incredibly bored. Was he really going to spend the rest of his life with this loser?

He stood up and said, “Meng Bing, divorce me. I don’t want to live with you anymore.”

Meng Bing was stunned for a moment, then rushed at him. “How dare you!”

Zhang Ran slapped his face. “If you don’t want people to find out that you’re a eunuch, then do as I say. Otherwise, every dog in the village will know about it tomorrow.”

He walked off decisively, leaving Meng Bing frozen in place.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yuan turned back to Chen Qing and touched his face. “Someone like that can make you anxious enough to get blisters? You really don’t take me seriously.”

Chen Qing thought about it and still defended himself. “When I was young, my siblings bullied me. I was afraid my father would get angry, so I kept it to myself. Later, when I came to Luohe Village, it was just my mother and me, there were no men in the family. I was afraid of causing trouble, so I became like this.”

Zhou Yuan bent down and kissed his cheek. “From now on, don’t overthink things. Smile when you’re happy and cry when you’re sad. If someone makes you angry, scold them. If someone hits you, hit them back ten times harder. If the sky falls, I’ll hold it up. From now on, our Aqing must have a temper.”

Chen Qing pressed his lips together, smiled, and nodded.

Zhou Yuan lifted him into the ox cart and saw Zhang Xu waiting by the roadside at the village entrance. They were signing the deed today, and someone from his family had to come as well.

Zhang Xu carried a basket on his back. He smiled awkwardly when he saw Zhou Yuan and put the basket in their ox cart. “These are some mountain goods I picked before the New Year. I’ll give them to you.”

Zhou Yuan didn’t respond and glanced at Chen Qing.

Chen Qing’s face stiffened. “No, no.”

Zhang Xu poured everything from his basket into Chen Qing’s. “The kids picked them all. They asked me to give them to you. I couldn’t refuse their request.”

Chen Qing looked at the basket, which contained a messy heap of hazel mushrooms, chestnuts, and pine nuts. There were good intentions behind it, though.

Chen Qing glanced at Zhou Yuan, who nodded. “All right, then we’ll take them. Thank you.”

Zhang Xu smiled sincerely. “Let’s go then.”

Zhou Yuan nodded. However, seeing Zhang Xu walk ahead with his head down, he called out, “Get in the cart and sit down. There’s plenty of space.”

Chen Qing was sitting next to Zhou Yuan. The entire ox cart only contained his basket, leaving lots of room.

Zhang Xu waved his hand quickly. “No, no, I can walk.”

Zhou Yuan frowned. “Get in quickly, or you’ll be late.”

Zhang Xu got into the cart shyly and thanked Zhou Yuan again.

On the way, Zhou Yuan chatted briefly with him and learned that he had fled from a village near the battlefield.

“At that time, the neighboring villages were basically massacred by foreigners. I thought it was terrible, so I hurriedly took my wife and fled south.” Zhang Xu scratched his head. “The journey went smoothly. Sometimes, good people helped us, and we made it here.”

Zhang Xu wiped his eyes again. “I’m really glad we could settle in the village, meet you, and have land to farm.”

Zhou Yuan smiled. “It’s better to let you farm it than to have it sit idle. I don’t know how to farm, and I don’t want my husband or mother to work too hard.”

“Right, right.”

As they talked, they arrived at the government office. The land lease matter wasn’t complicated, so the county magistrate didn’t need to be bothered. The legal adviser could handle it, but he remembered Zhou Yuan, so he informed the magistrate anyway.

While they were waiting for the seal, the magistrate came out. Zhou Yuan, Chen Qing, and Zhang Xu saluted him. The magistrate then called Zhou Yuan aside.

“Have you ever considered becoming a yamen runner at the government office?” The magistrate knew Zhou Yuan was more than qualified to be a yamen runner or security officer.

“Thank you for your kindness, sir.” Zhou Yuan had no desire to enter officialdom, even as a yamen runner or security officer. If he had wanted to, he could have stayed at General Xiao’s residence in the capital or lived directly at the border.

When Zhou Yuan left the border, General Xiao told him that if he didn’t want to be his personal guard, he could rely on his own merit to have the Cui family place him at the frontlines.

The soldiers under General Cui Chaoming all had bright futures.

However, Zhou Yuan didn’t want that kind of life anymore, so he chose Luohe Village. After marrying Chen Qing, he didn’t want to be involved in those matters. He just wanted to travel with Chen Qing.

“You have other ambitions, so I won’t try to persuade you. I hear you want to run an escort agency,” the magistrate said.

Zhou Yuan nodded. “I intend to, but nothing’s set yet.”

“Are you familiar with the Zhenwei Escort Agency here?”

Zhou Yuan nodded. Since he was planning to do this, he had naturally done some research. With his skills, it would be easy for him to become the head escort at Zhenwei. However, he didn’t want to be so restricted.

“I hear the Zhenwei Escort Agency is about to change hands,” the magistrate said, clearly well-informed. “If you’re interested, I can help you negotiate.”

Zhou Yuan was stunned. Zhenwei was the largest escort agency in the region. Why would it suddenly change owners?

“It’s difficult to explain the details, but the two owners had a disagreement and want to act quickly. If you’re serious, I can mediate.”

Zhou Yuan bowed, his face full of gratitude. “Thank you, sir.”

Taking over Zhenwei would save him a lot of trouble in the early stages.

“The college exam results will be announced tomorrow. Do you know anyone taking it?” the magistrate asked.

“Yes, my brother-in-law.” Zhou Yuan replied.

“Then you can wait a day and come back after checking the list tomorrow. It may take a few days for the yamen runners to deliver the good news.”

Zhou Yuan nodded. “Thank you for the reminder, sir.”

“If there’s any news about the escort agency, I’ll send someone to inform you.”

Zhou Yuan thanked the magistrate again.

By then, the deed had been stamped. Zhang Xu said that he had other business and would not be going back with them, so Zhou Yuan took Chen Qing into the county town.

It was Chen Qing’s second time in the county. The first time, he had been kidnapped by the Sun family and come to the yamen to seek justice. He had been flustered at the time and hadn’t looked around the county at all.

It took over an hour longer to travel from the county to Luohe Village than from the county to the town. After thinking for a moment, Zhou Yuan said to Chen Qing, “Let’s not go back tonight.”

“Huh?” Chen Qing widened his eyes. “Isn’t that bad? Where would we stay if we don’t go back?”

“At an inn.” Zhou Yuan took his hand. “Let’s stroll around the county.”

“Stay at an inn? That must be expensive, right?” Chen Qing stared at him. “Why don’t we go back?”

“I want you to experience staying at an inn.” Zhou Yuan ignored his protest. “Besides, the college exam results will be announced tomorrow. Let’s help Qi Shuning check.”

“…Alright then.”

Chen Qing had never properly stayed in an inn before. He had traveled for a long time, but when he arrived somewhere, it was always a dilapidated temple or the wilderness. In the winter, innkeepers would sometimes let them stay in the stables to survive the night.

He had never stayed in a proper inn before.

Zhou Yuan took him to an inn and booked a medium-sized room for one hundred coins.

Chen Qing was upset about the cost and tugged at Zhou Yuan’s sleeve, but he ignored him. Gritting his teeth, Chen Qing asked the shopkeeper, “Do you have anything cheaper?”

The shopkeeper smiled politely. “A four-person mixed room would be cheaper, but it might not be very comfortable.”

Chen Qing fell silent. Watching Zhou Yuan pay made his heart ache.

The county town was lively at night. Zhou Yuan took Chen Qing for a walk around town. After all, it was the county seat, and the yamen was inside, with yamen runners patrolling at night, so it was very safe.

Chen Qing was reluctant to spend money, so they shared a bowl of noodles for dinner. They didn’t stay out late before Zhou Yuan followed Chen Qing’s lead and returned to the inn.

Chen Qing was not used to the bed and, after tossing and turning, could not sleep. Zhou Yuan kept him up until midnight, so he didn’t get much sleep either. Perhaps it was the change in environment, Chen Qing was very sensitive and felt different.

The next day, they both slept until the Si hour. After pushing Zhou Yuan a few times, Chen Qing hurried him to wash up and head to the government office where the results were posted.

The announcement area was already packed. Some people were crying with joy while others beat their chests and stomped their feet. Zhou Yuan shielded Chen Qing and led him forward. They looked at the list together, then at each other.

…

Chen Qing was illiterate, and Zhou Yuan could barely recognize a few characters. On such a dense list, however, he couldn’t make them out clearly.

Zhou Yuan asked a nearby scholar for help. The man was impatient, but he carefully asked for the name.

“Qi Shuning.”

“Qi Shuning… found it.”

Zhou Yuan and Chen Qing both pricked up their ears and listened intently.

“Qi Shuning from Luohe Village—third place in the college exam!”

 

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