LW chapter 97: Extra 13

 

On the way, Chen Qing was worried that his grandmother would scold them for spending so much money. However, his grandmother didn’t say anything. In fact, she praised Zhou Yuan for cherishing his husband. Chen Qing’s face turned red as he said, “Grandmother, later I’ll measure you and make you two sets of clothes.”

His grandmother nodded. “Xiao Qing, you still have this skill.”

Chen Qing felt a bit embarrassed. “When I was little, I learned from my little uncle. But my work was sloppy and barely wearable.”

“Having this skill is already very good,” Grandmother praised him, then coughed.

Chen Qing hurriedly got up. “Grandmother, I’ll go make your medicine.”

He rushed into the room, found the medicine pot, and started brewing medicine for his grandmother. Zhou Yuan tidied up the things they had bought. Then he said to his grandmother, “Grandmother, I think we still need to repair the house. There isn’t even a proper kitchen.”

Grandmother glanced at him. “Do as you like. But the most important thing now is to settle matters between you and Xiao Qing. I think May 17th is a good date.”

Today was already May 12th.

“So soon?” Zhou Yuan said.

Grandmother pinched the handkerchief in her hands. “Soon? How long has Xiao Qing been at our house? Besides, even if you don’t get married, you’ll still sleep together at night. Otherwise, Xiao Qing can sleep with me.”

“All right, all right. May 17th it is,” Zhou Yuan quickly said. “Then we also need to prepare for the wedding.”

“You two can discuss it yourselves.” Grandmother stood up to stretch. “We’ll just have a proper family meal, worship Heaven and Earth, and pay our respects to the ancestors. Then, Xiao Qing will officially be part of our family.”

Chen Qing stoked the fire, sitting by the stove. He listened to their conversation, burying his head in his knees and staring at the flames. He couldn’t help but dream about the future. Life would surely get better and better.

At night, Chen Qing continued to sleep with Zhou Yuan. With the warmer weather, Zhou Yuan’s presence felt stronger, like having a stove beside him.

On the way back in the afternoon, they talked a lot. Zhou Yuan asked Chen Qing many questions, and he answered each one as if reporting his family background.

After climbing into bed, Zhou Yuan didn’t hurry to turn off the light. He sat cross-legged on the bed and pulled Chen Qing up with him. He looked very serious.

“What’s wrong?” Chen Qing asked.

“Let me explain first.” Zhou Yuan took several pieces of paper out of his pocket and held them up in front of Chen Qing.

Chen Qing couldn’t read, so he didn’t know what they were. He only noticed the red stamps on them.

“These are two one-hundred tael silver notes,” Zhou Yuan said. “I saved a general on the battlefield. When I returned, he gave me these.”

Zhou Yuan then showed Chen Qing the pouch which contained two ten-tael silver bars. “This is a thirty-tael resettlement allowance issued by the court when I returned. I spent a little over six taels today, and this is what’s left.”

Chen Qing’s eyes widened.

Zhou Yuan handed him the silver and the pouch together. “Here. You can buy whatever you want with this in the future.”

Chen Qing felt as if the pouch were burning his hands. Before he could hold it properly, he threw it back to Zhou Yuan. “You keep it. I… I don’t want it.”

Zhou Yuan raised an eyebrow. “It’s not much, but I’ll earn more in the future.”

Chen Qing quickly shrank back. “No, I’ve never seen so much money. You keep it. I… I have money to spend.”

“Your pouch is empty,” Zhou Yuan exposed him.

Chen Qing’s face turned red. He looked up, wanting to glare at Zhou Yuan for looking through his things.

“You left it by the bed. When you were looking for things, you were too forceful and the pouch flew out,” Zhou Yuan explained seriously.

Chen Qing: …

“Keep it.” Zhou Yuan shoved the pouch under Chen Qing’s pillow and blew out the light.

When the light went out, the room fell silent. Zhou Yuan’s breathing sounded especially clearly in the silence. Chen Qing shifted to the side a bit.

Chen Qing didn’t know when he fell asleep. For the first time in a long while, he dreamed of a huge silver bar falling from the sky and hitting him, burying him in a large pit.

Chen Qing struggled to climb out, but before he could reach the ground, an eagle picked him up and slowly set him down again.

The feeling of weightlessness made Chen Qing open his eyes. He realized that, while he was asleep, Zhou Yuan had carried him from inside the bed to outside, pressing his whole body down tightly.

Zhou Yuan held him so tightly that he could hardly breathe. He reached out to push Zhou Yuan away, but he was too weak. Zhou Yuan didn’t move an inch.

“Zhou Yuan.” Chen Qing had no choice but to call him.

Fortunately, Zhou Yuan remained alert even while sleeping. As soon as Chen Qing spoke, Zhou Yuan woke up. He opened his eyes and looked at Chen Qing, who was in his arms. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re holding me too tightly. I can’t breathe.” Chen Qing’s breathing had become rapid. Hearing this, Zhou Yuan finally loosened his grip.

Chen Qing took deep, heavy breaths, and it took a while for him to calm down.

There wasn’t much space, so Chen Qing pressed closely against Zhou Yuan. He tried to get back to his side of the bed, crawling past Zhou Yuan with both hands and feet. But as soon as he got past one arm and one leg, Zhou Yuan reached out and grabbed his waist.

“Let’s just sleep like this.”

Chen Qing ended up lying completely on top of him. Zhou Yuan reached out and gently patted his back. “Sleep.”

Chen Qing’s ears were right by Zhou Yuan’s heart. Most people were drowsy at this time, and Zhou Yuan’s heartbeat was steady and strong. Listening to it, Chen Qing closed his eyes.

The next day, Chen Qing didn’t even notice when Zhou Yuan got up. When he woke up, he could already smell something delicious.

He hurriedly got up and dressed. The aroma came from his grandmother stewing bone soup outside. Zhou Yuan was beside him, gathering wood to repair the house.

“Xiao Qing is up,” his grandmother said from her seat nearby. “Did Ah Yuan wake you?”

Chen Qing quickly shook his head, feeling a little embarrassed. Zhou Yuan had been back for two days, and Chen Qing still hadn’t fulfilled his duties as a husband. He should have gotten up early to help Zhou Yuan arrange clothes, boil water for washing, and prepare breakfast.

Instead, he had slept until the sun was high, leaving Zhou Yuan to do all the household work.

This made Chen Qing a bit flustered. He knew that Zhou Yuan hadn’t initially been willing to accept him, but his grandmother had persuaded him to stay. Yet, he was still performing poorly.

After tying his hair, Chen Qing ran over to Zhou Yuan. “I’ll help. I’ve gotten quite good at fixing windows.”

But Zhou Yuan wouldn’t let him. He didn’t want his husband doing such heavy work. Before, when Zhou Yuan wasn’t here, Chen Qing had no choice but to do it himself. Now that Zhou Yuan was back, Chen Qing didn’t need to work so hard. “You watch the fire. I’ll handle it.”

Chen Qing didn’t insist. He stayed nearby and handed him things occasionally. Zhou Yuan thought that was fine, so he didn’t rush him. It took almost the whole morning to repair all the windows.

Lunch was a big pot of bone soup and freshly steamed buns. The buns were made with no mixed flour; each one was plump and white. Chen Qing swallowed.

They ate lunch in the courtyard. The house had a table with a broken leg, so Zhou Yuan used some leftover wood to prop it up.

The bone soup was milky white and sprinkled with green scallions. It looked beautiful. The buns were soft and, when soaked in the soup, absorbed its flavor, becoming even tastier. Chen Qing soon ate his fill. Grandmother didn’t have much of an appetite and only ate one bun, leaving the rest for Zhou Yuan.

Just after Chen Qing finished washing the dishes, he heard a commotion outside. He stuck his head out to look and was pulled by Zhou Yuan. “Come, I’ll take you to see.”

Grandmother waved at them. “Go ahead.”

As they got closer, they realized the noise was coming from Zhou Mu’s family at the village entrance. Several constables carrying chains and shackles had arrived at Zhou Mu’s house.

Zhou Mu’s family was already nervous after Zhou Yuan’s visit yesterday. Seeing the constables now, they panicked even more. The eldest Zhou thought his wife had reported something that morning, but the constables immediately put the chains and shackles on Zhou Mu.

Zhou Mu’s legs gave out from fright. Assuming he was going to die anyway, he asked for the reason. It turned out that, because he had forcibly taken others’ property and neglected his duties, he was sentenced to two years of imprisonment. He also had to return all the property and pay several years of support fees, totaling ten taels of silver.

Zhou Yuan stood in the crowd, watching Zhou Mu cry. He placed a hand on Chen Qing’s shoulder and asked, “Can you see?”

Chen Qing nodded, able to see Zhou Mu being taken away through the gaps between people.

“Then we go back?”

“Yes.”

Zhou Yuan considered Zhou Mu’s money dirty, but it could be used to smooth relations with the county office. Zhou Yuan didn’t keep the money. He gave it all to the constables with one request: to “look after” Zhou Mu properly.

When they returned home, people were already sitting at the door. They all smiled obsequiously when they saw Zhou Yuan.

The villagers had heard that Zhou Yuan had returned alive with lots of money and had come to visit. Originally, no one ever came to their house. Now, seeing Zhou Yuan back, they thought they might profit from him.

Chen Qing frowned. He didn’t like dealing with strangers. During his poorest times, his grandmother once went to borrow grain but returned empty-handed. Now that Zhou Yuan is back, the villagers want to sit in the courtyard.

Zhou Yuan didn’t want to talk to them either. He grabbed Chen Qing’s hand and turned away. “Let’s go out for a walk.”

Chen Qing didn’t understand but followed him. Soon, they reached a large herb field. It was bare because it was not yet the season to plant new herbs.

Chen Qing told him about his work in the herb field. He explained that he had been transferred to a more valuable field due to his good performance. He also mentioned that some people slacked off while working and that some even stole herbs. Finally, feeling a little embarrassed, he admitted that he had once thought about taking herbs home secretly.

Back when grandmother was sick and drinking licorice tea didn’t help much, he knew the herbs from the field could strengthen the body, so he considered it. However, the next day, he saw someone get caught and never thought about it again. He hadn’t even told his grandmother.

He didn’t know why he told Zhou Yuan today. After speaking, he lowered his head, feeling embarrassed.

After hearing everything, Zhou Yuan looked down at him. The afternoon sunlight was strong, its golden light falling on Chen Qing.

Chen Qing noticed Zhou Yuan looking at him. He glanced up shyly, then lowered his head again.

Zhou Yuan reached out and touched his cheek, causing Chen Qing to raise his head slightly. His eyes were bright, as if to ask what was wrong.

Zhou Yuan lowered his head and lightly pressed his lips to Chen Qing’s forehead. Then, he hugged him. “You’ve worked hard.”

 

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