Back to the Countryside

Chapter 23: 上門 ( To Visit) 

He Ling took off the door bolt and pulled the main gate open. When he saw the person standing at the door, his hand stiffened. 

"Ling Ge' er, why are you the one who opened the door? Where is the boy Qi?" Qian looked behind him twice and asked when she didn't see anyone.

He Ling tightened his grip on the door, and when he saw that the other party did not feel guilty at all, his heart grew colder, "My husband (xiang gong) has gone to the field, he is not at home!"

        "Oh , what a comfortable life, you don't even have to go to the field!"

Hearing the hoarse and familiar voice, He Ling just realized that the person standing beside Qian with his head and face wrapped in a cloth and only one pair of eyes showing was actually He Zhen!

He Zhen, this person liked to look good the most, he always made himself look refined and dressed up in bright colour whenever he goes out, so he had never gone out in such a grey cloth scarf like this.

When he saw He Ling looking at him with that doubt look, He Zhen hated him so much that he wanted to gnash his teeth! No one knew how he had survived last night, the pain and itchiness of his body was tormenting him all the time, even his clothes touching the wounds were causing him great pain, and he had to wrap himself in this ugly rag to cover his even uglier face at the moment!

 And what about He Ling whom he hated the most ne? Still wearing his gorgeous face, living in a big house of green bricks and tiles, called out the man he likes the most, husband (xiang gong)!

Being glared by He Zhen with what could be said to be a malicious look, He Ling was a little frightened, and he shrank back behind the door, no longer looking into his eyes.

        "Then we'll go in and sit down, wait for him to return!" Qian said, lifting her leg to enter the door.

        He Ling didn't move aside, he bit his lip and said, "If you have something to say, just say it! I'll pass it on to my husband."

When Qian saw that he wouldn't let them in, she was a bit upset, but thinking that they had to ask Qi Yue for help, she suppressed her anger and said with a smile, "It's not a matter of telling him, Zhen Ge'er has a disease and wants to get Qi xiao zi to take a look at him!" 

"And ......how about Doctor Li?" After what happened last night, he was a little resistant to them, now he was alone at home so he didn't dare let them in.

 "This..Doctor Li already took a look, but he can't cure it, so I thought I'd ask boy Qi to take a look. He have seen a lot and know a lot*, he may be able to find the way out!"

 [ 見多識廣 :jiàn duō shí guǎng: 

experienced and knowledgeable (idiom)]

Qian cursed He Ling in her heart for not put her in his eyes anymore just because he had someone to back him up. What an ungrateful*(养不熟) white eyes wolf*! (白眼狼)

[ 养不熟 means 'Ungrateful' 

It's no matter how good you are, he will not stick to the person. It shows that there is a estrangement between them, trust and understanding have not been established, and he still has a lot of dissatisfaction ]

[白眼狼 ; literally mean 'white eyes wolf'/an ingrate/ it means thankless wrench]

He Ling didn't know what to say now, he had never been good at dealing with the He family.

"Cousin! I know you're still angry with me, Yesterday I was possessed by a ghost*(鬼迷心窍), I'm begging you, just forgive me this time, okay?" He Zhen, who had not spoken, suddenly stepped forward and tugged his hand, his voice trembled with a crying tone, sounding exceptionally pitiful. 

[ 鬼迷心窍 : To be obsessed / to be possessed

Idiom : The ghost is bewildered / Refers to unclear understanding of the problem]

        He Ling suddenly froze for a moment when he was pulled by him. He didn't understand why he was saying such things, but when he saw his hand, he was startled by the wounds on it and subconsciously withdrew his hand. 

He Zhen's feet went weak, and he sat down on the floor, shaking his shoulders and sobbing twice, saying, "Cousin, do you still refuse to forgive me? I already know I was wrong!"

        "My Zhen'er ah! it's all our fault.

It's only right that Ling Ge er hate us!" Qian also cried out and sat beside him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Hey hey hey, 'amiability makes you rich*'(和气生财), 'amiability makes you rich'! Hold your hand! !" A few women passing by stopped and spoke up to advise.

[和气生财 : idiom =amiability makes you rich. It means that treating people and being kind can attract money.]

Seeing them, He Ling finally understood why they were acting like this, so it was for others to see.

He Zhen was still sitting on the ground, crying very sad, "I know I shouldn't have been in love* (心存爱慕)with my cousin's husband, but I promise I won't fight with you anymore, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

[ xīncún 心存 store in heart

àimù 爱慕 to love/to adore/ to admire ]

It was true that what they had done yesterday was not kind and honest but now seeing people crying like this to apologize, several women felt quite pitiful, when a woman and a ger fell in love with a man, they would indeed do something irrational!

        He Ling looked at the man on the ground without saying a word. He Zhen not only wanted to replace him to marry Qi Yue, but also to ruin his innocence and pushed him into the pit of fire*.(火坑) Is this something that can be erased in just a few words? Moreover, they were just putting on a show, not to repent sincerely. 

[ 火坑 (huǒ kēng) :pit of fire / fig. living hell ]

When the women saw that He Ling had no intention to care for them, their hearts could not help but feel that he was hard-hearted. People, they are always more sympathetic to the weaker side.In the past, He Ling was bullied, they will feel pitiful, but now the two people were crying miserably, they felt more sympathetic to them.

        The expressions on their faces were all in He Zhen's eyes, he gritted his teeth and, intending to put more effort into it, reached out and pulled the cloth off his head.

        Some women, at first glance, screaming while took a few steps back, and He Ling was also startled, as he did not expected the other person's face to look like this!

        "Cousin, I look like this now, how can I beat you? You look so good, my cousin's husband will only love you from now on!" He Zhen said, standing up from the ground with difficulty, and fished a silk handkerchief out of his sleeve and handed it to him in 'to curry a favor' way. "I'll give you this silk handkerchief that my cousin's husband gave me, too, okay? I beg you to forgive me for my mistake!"

This handkerchief was left behind by Qi Yue when he was sick last time, it was snatched away by He Zhen, but now it appeared in this way, he took the handkerchief and squeezed it tightly in his hand, he suddenly felt disgusted at this behavior of He Zhen, "You guys go!"

        When the women saw the silk handkerchief, they started to have thoughts in their hearts, giving such a personal thing, this Qi Yue was probably had some interest in this He Zhen earlier, right? It's just that He Ling is more beautiful, is he fascinated by his look? Then was it also true that Qi Yue had received He Zhen's purse, which was rumoured in the village? Qi Yue suddenly want to marry He Ling, did he (HL)seduce him? They was told previously that he was having an affair with that Lin Sheng. Indeed, that face of his, he did not look decent. Didn't everyone say that he was the reincarnation of Hu Mei zi? 

        He Ling's face changed at the sight of the handkerchief, This is jealousy, isn't it? He's really such a narrow minded* person! The other person was already so sick like that, yet he came to apologize sincerely but he just asked him to leave with a cold face, he is too petty*(计较) about it. 

[小心眼 : narrow-minded / petty

计较 :to bother about / to haggle / to bicker / to argue / fuss about]

"I say, Ling Ge er, since Zhen Ge'er had apologized, where it is possible to let people off, one should spare them*ma !" (得饒人處且饒人) One of the women could not refrain from speaking. 

[得饒人處且饒人 : dé ráo rén chù qiě ráo rén = where it is possible to let people off, one should spare them (idiom); anyone can make mistakes, forgive them when possible]

        "That's make sense! You and Qi Yue are now married, and no matter how much disputes, those all already in the past!"

        "Thats right! look at Zhen ge er's face, what a pity! Hey, isn't it Qi Yue know some medical skill? why don't you ask him to have a look?"

        "No matter what, they are still your blood relatives, let Qi Yue treat him. we are all family!"

        "Ger's face is the most important thing, it will affect the marriage, Ling Ge er you have a good marriage, don't forget your cousin, since Qi Yue know how to heal, let him take a look, it will be a good thing if he heals!"

The women were talking* (七嘴八舌)so much that He Ling was unable to intervene at all, he looked at them with an expression as if he should not be so petty and should be more generous, clutching tightly the silk handkerchief in his hand!

[七嘴八舌 (qī zuǐ bā shé ): lively discussion with everybody talking at once]

        Qian was overjoyed that her gerwas so capable that he had discredited He Ling, the white eyes wolf, with just a few words!

        He Zhen looked like he was wiping his tears by lowering his head but he actually had a cold smile on his face, he would never let He Ling get what he wanted and he would take everything away from him!

        "All right, I say, you guys don't stand around here anymore! Ling Ge er, you should take him back and have a good chat. It's better if you could talk it over and let Qi Yue cure Zhen ge er's illness. You all are a family, right?" The woman who spoke first had a dominant tone and waved her hand to let them go home to talk about their problems.

"Yo, You think this is your house, you can just put anyone in there!" A sarcastic voice rang out and they all looked over to see Wu Yulan standing there with a small basket.

        Wu Yulan had finished her work and since it was still early in the morning, she thought that He Ling was alone at home, so she came to nag him with her unfinished clothes, so that she could also learn embroidery from him. But when she arrived at the door, seeing some people standing there, among them were Qian and He Zhen, who seemed to have a strange disease, and when she heard the woman's words, she was immediately annoyed!

        "Lin Sheng's family, how can you say that? I'm just trying to persuade a person!" The woman was a bit upset by her chiding.

        "Persuading people? I think you've made up your mind!" Wu Yulan didn't know exactly what had happened, but looking at He Ling's face, she knew it was no good.These two people are really shameless, it's not enough to bully people before, now they come to the door and bully him! 

"Hey, this Qi Yue knows how to heal, so what's wrong with treating people? He's already rushing to apologize, so it's time to let go of such a trivial matter, it's nothing right? After all, he's still a blood relative!" The woman's anger is up again and she crossed her arms and snapped back.

        A few other women echoed her words that they really felt that there was no need for He Ling to do this, for there is no such thing as a family feud! Besides, it's normal for a man to like a few girls, isn't it? he's the one who he marry in the end so it would be pretentious to be jealous!

        "I'm really sorry, then, this brother Qi is really good at healing people, but he is not an expert in healing a livestock animal*(畜生) , Ling Ge er's parents died early so he has no blood relatives!"Wu Yulan was so angry that her mouth was unforgiving.

[畜生: domestic animal / brute/ bastard]

        "You ......" Hearing her scold him, He Zhen was about to have a flare up but in the end, he held back and just acted like he was miserable and didn't say anything back.

    Wu Yu Lan saw his expression, she was also disgusted, and when she looked at his unbearable face, she was a bit pleased. It was all karma!

The woman was probably so angry that she couldn't stop talking, "I've been told that your family Lin Sheng has something fishy with this He Ling, and you're still helping to speak up, you're really generous!"

"Big brother Lin and I are innocent, don't talk nonsense!" It didn't matter what they said about themselves, but He Ling didn't want to drag others into it.

"Neither tphere's something going on or not, as long as I understand it, it's okay! Ling Ge er, you don't need to explain to people who are not involved! As for some people with petty schemes*(小算盤), I'm afraid they won't get what they want!" Wu Yulan calmly walked over to He Ling and patted him, then looked at Qian and He Zhen, dragged them out of the door and closed it with a 'bang'.

[ 小算盤 xiǎo suàn pán: lit. small abacus / fig. selfish calculations / bean-counting]

        He Zhen's teeth itched with hatred, she was so close to making it, but this busybody Wu Yulan had ruined it.And since Qi Yue was not here, he did not use the bitter trick*(苦肉计) in front of him.

[苦肉计 (kǔ ròu jì) : the trick of injuring oneself to gain the enemy's trust]

But today was not without its rewards, at least He Ling's reputation had been tarnished and he had been given a hard time, and thinking of this, he said to the women with a sobbing voice: "Thank you for these aunties for speaking up for me. It's also my fault for doing something wrong and making my cousin angry, and it's all retribution for turning out like this now!" 

They all told him not to take it into heart, that He Ling was also a bit narrow minded*(小肚鸡肠), and that the He family had raised him into an adult, so he shouldn't hold grudges like that!

[小肚鸡肠 (xiǎo dù jī cháng) lit. small belly, chicken's gut (idiom); narrow-minded / petty]

He Zhen thanked them once more, told them to hurry back since they had been delayed for a long time! He told Qian to leave too, but he had no intention of leaving. He wanted to wait here for Qi Yue to return, and even if he could not be cured here, he wanted him to feel compassion. 

A healer's heart is kind, he would be softened by his miserable appearance.

Once his heart is soft,the future contact will be easier,he would be doing something like this, to make him fed up of He Ling!

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Miki

Mei 11 2021 2:14 pm

Well to bad, brother qi isn’t a healer. So you better watch out there’s a lot of thing that he can do including murdering you