Back to the Countryside

Chapter 16: Plan

As the wedding date drew nearer day by day , Qi Yue became busy, time was tight and there was so much to prepare that Lin Sheng was also taken by him to be a strong man*. (壯丁:able-bodied man, capable of fighting)

Because he is a foreigner, he didn't know many people in the area and didn't know who to invite. After considering the matter for a long time, he asked the village chief and Lin Sheng for their advice, and handed out invitations to all the families close to them and those with more prestige in the village. After all the posts were delivered, the guests matter was settled.

    The He family has not been very happy recently. When He Ling was here, he was doing all the work of washing clothes and cooking, carrying water and chopping firewood at home.Once he left, they were left to do all these things themselves.

        "They were smoky every day.
I smell like grease and fumes!" Zheng complained dissatisfied as she fiddled with the vegetables in the pot with a shovel.

"Isn't it? my hands are getting thick from washing clothes lately!" Liu agreed, helping to add water to the pot, while helping to add a scoop of water to the pot.

        They used to be so comfortable, just waiting for their meals to arrive, and the dirty clothes were washed wherever it were left, and the heaviest work they ever did was just feeding the chickens and sweeping the floor. Now they have to wash the clothes of the whole family and cook the food. When they run out of water and firewood, they ask their own men to help them, later they are reluctantly complained that they use too much money and don't know how to save.

        "That He Zhen is still not doing anything.He only knows how to eat ready-made food.I washed his clothes yesterday and he still thinks they're not clean!" The more Zheng said, the more annoyed she became, she was also his sister-in-law, but she used that tone to talk to her, "A ger is so lazy, no wonder Qi Yue didn't like him!"

Before her words had even left her mouth, Liu pinched her waist, she turned head back and saw He Zhen standing in the doorway of the kitchen with a sullen face.

  Talking badly about someone behind their back. She was overheard, somewhat feeling guilty,  Zheng smiled awkwardly, "Zhen' ge er, did Mother ask you to come to remind of the meal?"

    "Humph!" He Zhen sneered and said. "You are hardworking, but unfortunately you can't even give birth to a son, just give birth to a money loser*(赔钱货)!"

[赔钱货*( 賠錢貨 )péi qián huò : a money-losing proposition/ thing]

His words hit Zheng right where it hurts. She had been married to He Gui for three years, but had only produced a skinny little girl, and He Tian and Qian treated her less favourably than Liu, who had given birth to a son. She had always felt resentment in her heart, and when He Zhen exposed her scars to her face like this, she became angry, "A money-loser? In that case, you're the money loser, people don't even want the goods*!" (货色: goods/trash )

He Zhen's expression immediately turned particularly fierce as he took a few steps over and slapped her directly across the face.

His slap came suddenly. Neither Liu nor Zheng reacted. Zheng was hit squarely, she covered her face and turned her head in disbelief, "How dare you hit me?"

"How about hitting you?" He Zhen did not apologise in the slightest and looked at her as a matter of course.

"He Zhen!" Zheng screamed, grabbing his hair and scratching him directly in the face with her other hand.

Not expecting her to fight back, He Zhen failed to dodge, and as he was grabbed and pulled by his hair, he reached out and grabbed hers as well, and the two of them instantly wrestled into a ball.

"You guys, you stop fighting!" Liu wanted to pull them apart, but she didn't know where to start, both of their hands were waving and grabbing, and she was afraid that she would be affected.

"What is this?!" He Tian and Qian, who heard the commotion, and He Fu & He Gui all ran in, and He Tian watched in annoyance as they fought.

Qian hurriedly asked her two sons to go over and pull them away, as the stove was right next to them, what if they get burned, how to fix?

When they were separated, both of their hair was a mess and their faces had marks from each other's scratches. Qian hurriedly held He Zhen's face to check and looked at the bloodied nail marks, pointing at Zheng's nose and cursing, "You bitch, look what you've done to my Zhen Ge er' face.Do you want to rebel?"

        Zheng's face was also scratched, and Qian still scolded her, she naturally did not comply, want to open her mouth to speak back, but He Gui stopped him, he smiled at Qian, "Mother, please calm down, let someone take a look at Zhen'er, it will not be good to leave a scar!"

        Qian plucked out a fierce glance at her before she took He Zhen out, and the others went out with her.

        Zheng pushed He Gui away, "Are you still a man? I've been bullied like this, and you're still looking out for him!"
   
    "Aiyo, my good wife!" He Gui hugged her shoulders, "Don't forget the fifty taels of silver in Mother's hand, before we cut it out. You just bear with it for now!"

At the time of the formal placing of the engagement letter, Qi Yue had given the fifty taels of silver in the presence of the village chief, the money had been in Qian's hand and they hadn't seen it.

When it came to the matter of silver Zheng did calm down a little, But she was still a bit reluctant. "But how could I bear to be bullied like this by He Zhen? What if your mother leaves the money to him?"

He Gui patted her shoulder soothingly, "Don't worry, no matter how much mother loves He Zhen, he will still be married off. I'm only protecting him because I'm afraid he won't be able to marry a good family if he loses his face. In the future, it will be my brother and I who will pay for my parents' retirement. If we please her more, we'll get more."

When he said this, Zheng also had some understanding. He Zhen was still going to marry, no matter how rampant she was. She will not be in her way anymore. If he still can't change his temper in the future, his in-laws will have to deal with him. When she thought about it, Zheng's heart felt much more comfortable.

    Qian sent He Fu to call the Doctor Li, so she dragged He Zhen back to the house, holding his face and carefully checking the nail marks, "If this leaves a scar, how can it be good?"

During the fight he didn't care much but now He Zhen became nervous, the girls and gers scare most about his face and didn't want to have any flaw. "Mother, don't scare me!"

"Now you know scare? Why did you fight with her?" Qian saw that the nail marks were only a few shallow ones and that a little medicine should do the trick, so she was relieved.

Seeing that Qian was still in the mood to lecture him, He Zhen breathed a sigh of relief and began to raise his hand to comb through his messy hair, "Who told her to say that I am a loser*(倒贴) that no one want?"

[倒贴: to lose money instead of being paid (i.e. sb should pay me, but is actually taking my money). More explanation about dao tie here, if you interested : https://www.echineselearning.com/blog/in-a-losing-situation-you-may-be-daotie ]

"This second daughter-in-law is getting bolder and bolder! If she makes you angry again, tell me, you'll be at a disadvantage*( 吃虧) only by yourself!" Qian patted him on the leg, telling him not to be silly next time.

[吃虧 read chī kuī
to suffer losses / to come to grief / to lose out / to get the worst of it / to be at a disadvantage / unfortunately]

        "Yes!" He Zhen replied, and when he had finished fixing his hair, he whispered again, "Mother, did the method you told me before really work?"

        Qian knew what he was talking about and lowered her voice, "Of course, for the sake of face, he had to suffer from sorrow*(吃悶虧) !"

[ 吃悶虧 : it the condition where you could only swallow your anger, can not speak up, kind of unspeakable suffering, you could only bear it or hold it by urself~when you are being wrong or scolded or being angry by other etc.]

        "Mother..." He Zhen was not happy to hear Qian say that the word (吃虧*)

        "Wrong, wrong, it's a blessing, it's a blessing!" Qian hurriedly changed her words.

    He Zhen's face finally burst into a smug smile, look at that time, what would He Ling do?

The day before the wedding, He Ling had to go back to the He family, from where he was to be married off, a condition that had been agreed upon with the He family from the beginning.

    He kept dragging the time until dinner was served, and it was dark for a long time before Qi Yue planned to take him there. Fang was afraid that the two younger generations would not be able to say anything, so she came along.

        On the way, Fang kept tugging on He Ling's hand and explain that he should stay in the room and not go out after he returned, and ignore whatever He's family told him to do. In the past, because of the rumours in the village and He Ling's appearance, she sympathised with him in the past, she did not deal with him much, but in the past half month of living together, she has grown to like his temperament.
   
He Ling looked at Fang's face full of uneasiness, he was touched in his heart, except for the time when he lived with his father when he was young, no elder had ever care for him like this, "You don't have to worry!"

"How can I not worry? There is no one good in that family!" In Fang's view, sending He Ling back to the He family was no different from sending a rabbit into a wolf's den.

"I'll take care of myself!" He Ling knew what she was worried about, but he didn't think they would do anything to him now.

Qi Yue who walk beside him, his heart also reassured, but he didn't say anything more, just raised his hand and gently took him by the shoulder.

When He Ling felt the hand on his shoulder, he turned around and met Qi Yue's eyes, gazing tenderly at him, and he blushed but did not avoid his eyes.

Seeing that he did not lower his head, the smile on Qi Yue's face intensified.

When Fang saw the interaction between the two, she looked less worried and her heart was quite relieved.

        Qi Yue dropped his hold on He Ling's hand and fished out a porcelain bottle from his pocket, similar to the one he had given to He Ling earlier, he shoved the bottle into his side and said, "Keep this close to you, if they dare to bully you again, just sprinkle it over."

        "Qi boy, what's this?" Fang looked at the small bottle, quite curious in her heart.

        "It's a knockout drops!" Qi Yue hooked his lips and smiled, what was in this bottle was indeed knock out drug, only a little more powerful and made people sleep longer. Although he had many more vicious medicines, it would not be good if it scared his little husband boy.

        "Knock out drops?" Fang thought for a moment and clapped her hands together, happy, "This is good stuff, if they touch you, let them lie on the ground and sleep with their heads up!"

After listening to his explanation, He Ling tucked the bottle of medicine up his sleeve and put it away.

When the three of them arrived at He Ling's house, they called at the door and Qian answered it quickly and opened the hidden door.

When she saw He Ling, she almost didn't recognise him. Normally at their house, He Ling was dressed in grey and cowered* (畏畏縮縮)with his head down. Now he was dressed in silk, his face is ruddy and his attitude was much more natural, he look even more seductive than before. She thought, really a Hu Meizi!

(畏畏縮縮: cowering/cringing/the look of coward)

No matter what she thought, Qian welcomed them in with a smile on her face, "Ling Ge er, you have been away for a long time. Big aunt has missed you!"

Fang bristled, thinking she was being hypocritical, wanting He Ling to come back to work for her!

Qi Yue and He Ling went straight to the room where he lived, once again seeing the shabby surroundings, Qi Yue lightly imbricated his eyebrows, "I should have brought a bedding!"

    "It's okay, it's just one night!" He Ling He didn't care, he had lived here for more than ten years, and it was not less than this one night.

Qi Yue sighed lightly, feeling that he hadn't thought it through, "I'll go home later and get it for you!"

"No, don't bother, I'll just sleep for one night, it's fine!" He Ling refused. The things Qi Yue bought at home were all good things and it would be a waste to store them in such a place.

Seeing that he insisted, Qi Yue had no choice but to put the parcel in his hand on the bed, which was He Ling's wedding dress.

After they had spoken a few more words, Qi Yue went out, and Fang and Qian agreed that she should not touch He Ling again, for so many eyes were watching.

After sending both of them out, Qian's smile disappeared and she rolled her eyes and went back to her house. Let's see how long Fang could be proud with herself!

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Translator's rant: when I was reading this chapter, I was also in panic and worry about He ling but since Qi Yue gave him the knockout drops, I quite rest assured.
So Qi Yue actually have more cruel and vicious drug, is he kind of drug master? Poison master?
He is retirement from Jiang Hu so this is a farming genre kind of story with wu xia background.
I love wu xia since I was a child which made me love the ancient time era and its traditional clothes.